Chapter 521: Basilisk Subjugation

For the first time in two weeks, Tauro and the rest of Black-Gold Wings were able to rest somewhere safe, with a roof over their heads.

Those two weeks wandering through the Antas Mountain Range had, of course, meant camping in the wild. Every monster they encountered was formidable, and for Tauro and the others it felt as though their Dragon’s Den training had simply continued; there had never been a moment when they could let their guard down.

That was why staying in Nor Village allowed them to relax for the first time in quite a while.

Tauro tried to pay something for their lodging, but the village chief refused to accept it.

Even though they weren’t the adventurers originally requested, the chief could only be grateful to the people who had defeated the troublesome monster that seemed to come straight out of legend.

“Just to be safe, we’ll go check the area around where the villagers said they saw it,” Tauro said.

That morning, the group set out from the village chief’s house.

“The King Basilisk we took down yesterday was formidable, but do monsters like that come down to the foothills often?”

Ankh asked Ragune, who seemed knowledgeable, as they walked.

“Who knows? That giant wolf-shaped stone marker was made by earlier generations of dragonfolk as a landmark, but it also has the power to ward off monsters. It’s meant to keep them from easily crossing into the foothills. So the King Basilisk we encountered yesterday must have been on this side of it, right?”

Ragune shared this valuable bit of information.

“…No wonder I sensed something sacred coming from that stone.”

Zion nodded in admiration.

“But the ward isn’t perfect, right? Maybe what the villagers saw wasn’t the one we defeated.”

Aeris pointed this out, remembering that the village chief’s description hadn’t quite matched the King Basilisk’s size.

“Yeah. The ward just makes monsters feel uncomfortable and reluctant to go farther. It wouldn’t be strange for some monsters to be insensitive to it and pass through anyway.”

Ragune replied.

“Then for now, let’s have Aeris put up a barrier so they won’t approach Nor Village. After that, we’ll patrol the surrounding area for a few days, make sure it’s safe, and then move on.”

Tauro proposed as he led the way through the forest.

“That sounds good,”

Aeris agreed, and the others nodded as well.

After a while, something entered the range of Tauro’s increasingly refined [Presence Detection].

He immediately activated [True Eye] and looked in that direction, spotting the silhouettes of two creatures roughly two sizes smaller than the King Basilisk they had fought the day before.

“There they are! They’re smaller, but these might be the ones the villagers saw.”

With that, Tauro sprinted through the forest toward the monsters.

Aeris and the others followed, keeping pace with his speed as they cut through the trees.

They reached a small clearing where two basilisks were resting.

Noticing them, the basilisks immediately turned their petrifying gazes on the group.

Of course, such abnormal-status attacks had no effect on Tauro and his companions.

Parts of the surrounding trees, however, were turned to stone by the gazes.

The petrified sections of several trees crumbled, causing the trees to fall.

Aeris ignored the damage and cast a spell that increased everyone’s fire resistance.

Ankh and Zion each charged toward one of the basilisks.

Ankh raised his magic greatsword. Normally he would have released a flying slash, but knowing that such attacks were ineffective against basilisks, he rushed in to close the distance instead.

The basilisk understood his intent and breathed fire at him.

Ankh split the flames apart with the wind attribute of his magic greatsword, then brought the blade down on the basilisk’s head and severed it cleanly.

Meanwhile, Zion circled to the side of the other basilisk, closing the distance while dodging its fiery breath.

“This time, I’m going all out!”

Learning from the previous fight with the King Basilisk, Zion fully unleashed the power of her Opposing Demon Gauntlets and drove several punches into the creature’s belly.

Her blows left multiple deep dents in its abdomen, and the basilisk let out a shrill “Gweh!” of pain.

At that moment, Ragune thrust upward with her magic spear from beneath the basilisk’s jaw and pierced straight through its head.

Just like that, the two basilisks were subjugated with ease.

“Compared to the King Basilisk, they were really weak,”

Tauro said. He had been ready to follow up with another attack, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

“Yesterday’s one was bigger, and the fact that magic didn’t work on it made things harder… Could these be young ones?”

Aeris tilted her head as she looked down at the two corpses.

“Either way, at this level, other adventurers should be able to handle them too, right?”

Ankh judged that there was probably nothing to worry about.

“Still, let’s collect them properly and report back to the village chief. The villagers only mentioned one sighting, and there might be more.”

Tauro decided to do so. He stored the two basilisks in [Magic Storage], and the group returned to the village.

When they got back to the village, a crowd had gathered.

It seemed someone else had arrived, and the village chief was at the center of the crowd, dealing with them.

Trying not to interfere, Tauro and the others moved to the side and watched as they passed.

“The legendary basilisk? Hahaha! That’s quite an exaggeration. It’s probably just a large Fire-Breathing Lizard. We’re B-rank adventurers—we’re more than capable of taking one of those down. If it really were a legendary basilisk, you’d need multiple teams at our level and plenty of preparation before you could even think about subjugating it!”

A voice came from the center of the crowd, facing the village chief.

“But the adventurers who came yesterday showed us the large corpse of a King Basilisk, so I believe it really was one…”

The village chief protested.

“King… Basilisk? What’s that supposed to be? A basilisk is a basilisk. And basilisks are just legends, as you said yourself, Village Chief. I’ve never even heard of a ‘King Basilisk.’ Hahaha!”

The adventurer laughed off the village chief’s words.

“…Ah! Lord Tauro, everyone, welcome back. How did it go? Were there any others?”

The village chief, frustrated at not being believed, noticed Tauro and the others returning and called out to them.

“Hmm? An adventurer I haven’t seen before, huh?”

The B-rank adventurers noticed Tauro’s group as well. From their appearance, they judged them to be adventurers, but they could also tell they weren’t a team they recognized from the local guild branch.

“It’s our first time coming here,”

Tauro replied, unable, of course, to say that they had only just arrived after a two-week journey from the Dragonfolk Village.