The group walked toward the mountains not far from them. It was an area that was slowly turning into pure rock.
"We're entering the lands of the Southern Duke. These areas are the beginning of his mountainous and highlands" said Rodrick, following the three hunters.
"These mountains look incredible; they're surely full of minerals!" exclaimed Klamli excitedly.
"Calm down, Klamli. These aren't our lands to be taking minerals" said Zarasiss, although his face also showed emotion.
The group continued for a few more minutes, the trail looking increasingly fresh. At 10:00 a.m., the group landed on top of a hill and saw a huge creature a little far away from them. The creature has the body and face of a rooster, the neck and tail of a reptile, and the ugly wings of a bat. Its tail is scaly and topped with a few feathers, and its eyes have an intense, supernatural glow. At first glance, the creature could be said to be around 5 meters long.
"There's the bastard!" Halordim exclaimed excitedly as he placed his backpack on the ground.
"Okay, I want you all to listen carefully. This will probably be your first time facing this type of creature" Rodrick spoke, drawing their attention. "Your job is simple: kill the basilisk and get out alive, do you understand?" Rodrick asked, ready to order them to attack, but Annie from Bluegate interrupted him.
"Mr. Rodrick, what about with teamwork? Many of us here haven't worked with each other. Won't that undermine our effectiveness?" Annie asked, and both the Blacklion and Slayers members nodded.
The dwarves, who were preparing to attack, turned to look at the adventurers with confused expressions, then turned to see Rodrick shaking his heads in disappointment. Rodrick touched the bridge of his nose in irritation. He never imagined a C-class group would ask him these kinds of questions.
"What do you mean by teamwork? The monsters aren't going to wait for you to organize and train your coordination" Rodrick said, showing a certain level of disappointment in the adventurers. "Do you think that if someone attack the capital, the invaders will wait for you to organize your teams and be ready for a counterattack!? You're already C-class, you should know how this works by now… Just go and try not to die or get in the way of the others."
The group of adventurers nodded and began to slowly descend with the dwarves, leaving only Rodrick and Lornar on the hill, who were watching the adventurers intently.
"Are you sure you want to leave them on their own? They don't look very… prepared" Lornar said, turning to look at Rodrick.
"Sigh, they're adventurers. They signed up for this. They can't expect everything in life to be easy, not with this job. If they can't handle something as simple as organizing themselves during chaos, then they're not ready to be adventurers" Rodrick assured seriously. "If some of them have to die here because of their recklessness and arrogance, so that they open their eyes, then so be it. It's better to do it here and now than in the middle of a war where they could suffer fates much worse than death…"
"So be it!" Lornar said, putting on a Viking helmet. "It's better to die fighting than to die humiliated!" he said again before launching into the conflict.
—
The adventurers were approaching ever closer with increasing caution. Bluegate's team was advancing head-on; they were the only warriors who could fight head-on. Slayer's team advanced from the side, surrounding the basilisk while drawing their bows ready to fire. The last team, Blacklion's, stayed behind, beginning to prepare a fire spell with the three mages.
The three groups had formed a quick strategy that they considered effective, and curiously, they hadn't included Finn and Darwin, or the dwarves themselves. Duraz and his team waited, curious to see what the adventurers would do, while Finn and Darwin stayed to their side, not wanting to "ruin" the strategy as Reynolds had warned them not to.
"...do you think they know that basilisks have a certain level of resistance to fire and are also sensitive to magic?" Zarasiss asked, watching the fireballs grow more intense.
"We'll see…" Duraz replied, tightening his grip on his axe, ready for any inconvenience.
Team Bluegate positioned themselves a few meters from the sleeping basilisk, waiting for Team Blacklion to give the signal to attack by launching the fireballs. Team Slayer drew their bows tighter, imbuing their arrows with fire magic to cause additional damage.
"I don't think they know about the basilisk's resistance" Finn admitted, seeing the arrows set in fire and beginning to draw his slime from his bracer.
With the mages, everyone seemed ready to cast their spells. John looked at his teammates' spells, checking that they were at maximum potential.
"Are you ready, guys?" John asked, turning to his teammates, who nodded slightly. "Okay, as soon as I give the order, fire your spells…"
Boom!
John couldn't finish when a loud bang was heard, followed by a large layer of dust where the basilisk was supposed to be. Reynolds and his team opened their eyes in disbelief, one second they were staring at the sleeping basilisk, and the next, a large layer of dust rose up, obscuring their view. Ava and her companions began searching everywhere for the basilisk, as they had been able to saw how the basilisk rose, then became a mere blur in their eyes and disappeared, leaving behind a layer of dust.
John and the mages panicked when they saw the layer of dust, only to see the basilisk standing next to them.
'But it was asleep, how did it realize?' John thought, frightened, seeing the enormous figure of the basilisk beside them.
The basilisk let out such a loud scream that it scared John, causing him to fall and cast the spell without any direction. The basilisk launched itself directly at John, who was paralyzed with fear, watching as the basilisk was about to devour him with its beak.
"FUN FACT ABOUT THE BASILISK!!!" Klamli shouted, falling from the sky and hitting the basilisk in the head with his enormous club. "They're sensitive to magic and resistant to fire!"
Boom!
The basilisk's head slammed hard into the ground before it turned and used its tail as a whip to strike the mages. Lornar arrived just in time to position himself in front of the mages and cover most of the impact with his shield, but they all were still hit and thrown several meters away.
"I guess there's no plan anymore…" Darwin said, drawing his sword before jumping and grabbing Finn's arm.
Finn, like Darwin, jumped and used his slime to pull Themself towards the basilisk at high speed.
"HAHA, that's the spirit, just be careful with the eyes or you'll end up petrified!!" Duraz shouted, running with the other dwarves towards the basilisk.
'The eyes…' Finn thought in the air, moving his slime until it covered the basilisk's eyes. "If it can't see, then there's no effect, right!?" Finn asked, then fell into the basilisk, holding onto the basilisk's crest.
"One!..." Darwin shouted as he fell directly on the basilisk's head, plunging his sword into its left eye. "...Out!"
The basilisk groaned in pain, and the slime began to turn red with the basilisk's blood.
"Well done!" Halordim shouted, reaching the basilisk and holding it by the tail to prevent it from moving.
The other dwarves also arrived, beginning to attack the basilisk's legs, but they were so tough that they could barely scratch it. Reynolds, seeing the fight, didn't hesitate to draw his shield and rush toward the basilisk, ramming one of its legs with his shield, causing the basilisk to stagger.
The hunters, seeing this opportunity, attacked with several fire arrows, but they seemed to simply bounce off the basilisk's body. The basilisk, unable to see and feeling surrounded, began to flap its wings, generating strong winds that sent everyone on the ground flying. Then, it leaped high into the air, freeing itself from Finn and Darwin.
Finn pulled Darwin with his telekinesis and then controlled the slime, expanding and falling into it.
"Fire arrows, really!? Didn't you hear what we told you?!" Duraz shouted, looking in the direction of the hunters.
"Tch, I don't have anything else, okay? This is the best we can do to cause more damage!" Ava replied, looking at Duraz.
"Then don't waste magic and energy!" Lornar shouted, standing up and brushing off the dust and dirt.
Finn and Darwin also stood up, looking up, trying to locate the basilisk, but to no avail.
"Where did it go?!" Finn asked, staring up at the empty sky.
At Finn's question, everyone looked up, unable to locate the basilisk. The dwarves tightened their grip on their weapons as if waiting for something, and after a few seconds, a silhouette began to descend from the sky at great speed.
"Hold on!" Lornar ordered, plunging his sword into the ground and raising his shield in front of him.
The other dwarves did something similar with their weapons, making sure they were firmly anchored to the ground. Upon hearing the order, Finn raised his hand, generating an invisible wall with his telekinesis and a second wall with his slime, which would take care of stopping whatever his telekinesis couldn't.
Boom!
The basilisk crashed into the ground with great force, generating strong winds that sent the three teams of adventurers who hadn't taken cover flying. The others were barely able to resist the force of the wind.
'And the dwarves handled this thing all by themselves?' Finn wondered, seeing the other downed teams.
The basilisk emerged from the dust with a powerful roar that deafened everyone for a few seconds. The basilisk raised its head, its beak open, and little by little, green smoke began to rise from its beak, spilling from the corners.
"Everyone back off, it's going to release its venom!" Duraz shouted, running back.
Finn saw this as an opportunity and threw his slime directly at the basilisk's beak, causing it to swell and cover the entire beak, preventing the venom from escaping. Sensing that the venom wasn't coming out, the basilisk began to writhe around, causing a great commotion.
"Well done, Finn!" Lornar said, brandishing his sword and shield again.
The adventurers also stood up quickly, staring determinedly at the basilisk before launching an attack alongside the dwarves. The hunters, being the closest, arrived faster, surrounding the basilisk and launching as many arrows as they could at areas they considered sensitive. However, the arrows simply bounced off the basilisk's body.
"Ugh, it's not working!" Ava exclaimed, stressed.
"Get out of the way!" Reynolds shouted, leaping forward and trying to cut the basilisk's neck with his sword, but it simply broke, alerting the basilisk. "Its skin is very tough!"
The basilisk spun around quickly, striking Reynolds with its tail and sending him tumbling several times to the ground. Reynolds was left lying in a small mound of earth, his chestplate torn and scattered on the ground.
"Reynolds!" Annie and Lucy, Reynolds's companions, exclaimed before running towards him.
"You call that a strike, bastard?!" Klamli asked from under the Basilisk.
Klamli swung his mace with force and speed, striking the basilisk directly in the leg and causing it to fall.
"We're not done yet!" Zarasiss shouted, bringing his massive axe down on one of the basilisk's wings, causing a large gash.
The Basilisk writhed on the ground, trying to quickly stand up, but a powerful blow from Halordin's iron arm knocked it back.
"Where do you think you're going, ugly?!" Halordin shouted, beginning to choke the basilisk.
The mages were also quick to attack, summoning several stone pillars that joined together to form a temporary prison.
"Go ahead! As long as we keep using our magic, the bastard won't get free!" John said, his hands outstretched toward the basilisk.
"You all heard!" Lornar shouted with a big grin as he ran toward the basilisk, sword in hand.
Lornar positioned himself right behind the basilisk, slashing hard at its tail, causing a gust of air from the air pressure.
"Shit... how strong is Lornar?" Darwin asked, amazed by Lornar's strength.
"I hope it's strong enough!" Finn said, running toward the basilisk, along with the hunters.
"I'll take this as a trophy!" Duraz shouted, grabbing the basilisk's tail and beginning to pull hard, tearing at the flesh little by little.
Just then, Reynolds, who had received a healing potion from his team, woke up and went to help Duraz with his team, joining him in pulling on the tail.
"Guys... I think... I think we've got him!" Charles said, seeing that the basilisk couldn't move at all and was slowly causing more damage.
Everyone was hitting the basilisk any way they could, gradually causing damage. Just moments later, Duraz and the three warriors managed to tear off the tail with a strong tug, causing the basilisk to groan in pain. At that moment, the glow in the basilisk's single eye began to increase, and the scales on its body began to glow a deep green.
"What's wrong?" Gellen asked, stopping his bow strike at the basilisk.
"Everyone retreat!" Lornar ordered again. "Magic burst!" Lornar shouted, running.
Everyone tried to run away from the basilisk, but it was too late, and the blast hit them directly. The dwarves flew through the air, landing dozens of meters away. Finn and Darwin were thrown into some hills a few meters away. And Ava and Ana were thrown toward Reynolds and his team, dragging them several meters.
The only one left in there was Gellen, as the basilisk had captured her with one of its legs. The basilisk raised its head with a powerful scream that caused the slime in its mouth to explode into several pieces, releasing all its venom into the sky. The scream quickly caught everyone's attention, as they were now even more irritated by the basilisk.
"Just die already!..." Darwin exclaimed, tired, but a scream interrupted him.
"Gellen!" Ana shouted, seeing Gellen beneath one of the basilisk's legs.
"Let me go, you ugly rooster!" Gellen shouted, starting to create a basic fireball on her left arm.
"Stop, don't use magic!" Klamli shouted, trying to stop Gellen, but it was too late.
The basilisk, enraged by all the damage it had received, felt the magic building up in Gellen's arm and decided not to give her a chance to form her attack. The basilisk tightened its grip on Gellen and, using its beak, tore off Gellen's left arm in one swift motion.
"AGH!!!" Gellen cried, shedding tears of pain.
The groups of adventurers watched in horror as blood gushed from Gellen's missing arm and the basilisk swallowed the severed arm.
"GELLEN!" Ava shouted worriedly.
Without hesitation, they all ran at the basilisk again, intending to retrieve Gellen before she bled out. Finn raised his arm, gathering the slime scattered everywhere, and used it as a whip, whipping the basilisk's face hard where Darwin had stabbed his sword into its eye. The basilisk howled in pain before taking a few steps back, shaking its head.
Darwin took advantage of this moment by diving under the basilisk, grabbing Gellen by the hair and the bow that was lying next to Gellen. Darwin spun around, throwing Gellen toward the hunters and standing a few feet away from the aching basilisk.
"Try this!" Darwin said, drawing the bow and an arrow of fire and lightning appeared.
Darwin shot the arrow right into the basilisk's other eye, causing lightning to spread throughout the basilisk's head, leaving it completely blind.
"That's it, Darwin!" Zarasiss exclaimed, leaping toward the basilisk. "Klamli, now!" he shouted, reaching out with his hand.
"This is the last one we have left; we have to use it properly!" Klamli shouted.
Klamli pulled a long rope from a small leather pouch, which seemed to be made of fine metal threads, and then tossed one end to Zarasiss. Upon receiving the rope, Zarasiss jumped, swinging with it and wrapping it around the basilisk's neck. He then climbed back onto the basilisk's back and began pulling on the rope.
Klamli ran with the rope to tighten it and begin strangling the basilisk. Darwin and Finn, seeing this, didn't hesitate to help Klamli by pulling on the rope with him. The other dwarves, along with Reynolds's team, climbed onto the basilisk and helped pull on the rope as well. The wizards didn't hesitate to act as well, creating ropes of lightning that tangled around the metal rope.
"Pull!" Lornar shouted.
The basilisk writhed all over the place, trying to release its venom, but the rope prevented it from even being able to breathe properly. With each movement of the basilisk, everyone moved under its force. The basilisk began desperately searching for one end of the rope to cut it.
"Oh no, you won't!" Finn shouted, reaching up one of his hands and struggling to stop the basilisk's head with his telekinesis.
The basilisk groaned in pain, its beak thrust skyward. The pressure of Finn's telekinesis on its head was enormous, and it felt like it was slowly being crushed. Darwin, seeing the basilisk's open beak, had an idea.
"Hold him down, I'll end this once and for all!" Darwin shouted, dropping the chain and running toward the basilisk.
Darwin took a great leap, grabbing the basilisk's crest and climbing to its beak, where he began searching in his leather bag. After a few seconds, Darwin pulled out some flasks with a black liquid in them. They were the explosives the bandits had, which Darwin had stolen from one of the bodies.
"Swallow it well, bastard!" Darwin said, pouring all the liquid into the basilisk's mouth. "Run!" Darwin shouted.
Darwin immediately jumped away from the basilisk. The others didn't hesitate to release the ropes and run as far as they could. The basilisk, feeling the ropes loosen, tried to run and escape, but it simply stood still, feeling the magic building up in its own throat. In an instant, the basilisk's neck swelled, causing it great pain, and then it exploded, scattering its blood and remains everywhere.
"Ugh... it got in my mouth" Reynolds said, wiping the blood from his face.
"You had those explosives and you didn't give me any?" Finn asked, disappointed.
"I wanted to take them to Roger to see if he can replicate them" Darwin said, removing a piece of tongue from his hair. "Disgusting."
"HAHAHA, that was a battle!" Halordim shouted excitedly.
Soon, everyone gathered near the hunters, and Rodrick finally came down from the hill, congratulating everyone and checking on Gellen, who was sitting with her bandaged arm.
"How are you feeling? Do you want to return to the capital?" Rodrick asked.
Gellen looked at Rodrick and then at her missing arm. Without it, she could no longer use the bow and continue as an archer.
"...The wound has already healed thanks to the healing potions, but without my arm, I won't be able to use the bow anymore… I'll be nothing but a burden to my team" Gellen said before turning to look at his team. "I think it would be best if I went to the capital…"
Rodrick nodded at Gellen's words, but before he could say anything, Klamli spoke up.
"Nonsense! Just give me a few days, and with the basilisk's scales, I'll create a new and better arm than the old one!" Klamli said with a big smile.
"You can do that?!" Ava asked hopefully.
"Of course I can! Who do you think forged this team's weapons and Halordim's arm?!" Klamli said, dropping his hammer in front of him. "I'll only need some scales and a few pieces of iron, but the remnants of the iron rope should be enough."
"I would be very grateful! How much do you want to forge the arm?" Gellen asked for the price.
"How much do I want? HA, I don't charge money for my work!" said Klamli, earning smiles from the other dwarves.
"So what?" Gellen asked again.
"You'll pay with your body!" exclaimed Klamli. "You'll work yourself to help forge your new arm, just like the others did to forge their weapons!"
"Work myself?" she asked, confused.
"Okay, you heard him, you have to help him create that new arm if you want it" said Rodrick. "Now everyone get ready, we still have a long way to go!"