Chapter 521: Subjugation of the Basilisk
For the first time in two weeks, Tauro and the rest of the Black-Golden Wings were able to rest in a safe place, with a roof over their heads.
Those two weeks spent wandering through the Antas Mountain Range had, of course, meant camping out in the wild. The monsters they encountered were all formidable foes, and for Tauro and the others it felt as though their training in the “Dragon’s Den” had simply been extended—there was never a moment when they could let their guard down.
That was why their stay in the village of Nol 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 if they weren’t the adventurers originally hired, the fact that they had defeated a troublesome, seemingly legendary monster left him with nothing but gratitude.
“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 a formidable foe, but do many of those come down to the foot of the mountain?”
Ankh asked Ragune, who seemed knowledgeable, as they walked.
“Who knows? That giant wolf-shaped stone marker was made by our dragon-man elders as a landmark, but at the same time, it also had 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 just before that, right?”
Ragune shared this valuable bit of information.
“…No wonder I sensed something sacred coming from that stone,”
Zion nodded in admiration.
“But it’s not perfect, right? Maybe what the villagers saw wasn’t the one we defeated,”
Eris pointed out, knowing from the village chief’s account that the size didn’t quite match.
“Yeah. The ward just makes monsters feel uncomfortable and reluctant to go further. It wouldn’t be strange for a some to be insensitive to it and to pass through anyway,”
Ragune replied.
“Then for now, let’s have Eris set up a barrier to keep them from approaching Noll 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,”
Eris agreed, and the others nodded as well.
After a while, something caught in Tauro’s increasingly refined Presence Detection.
He immediately activated True Eye and looked in that direction, seeing the silhouettes of two creatures about two sizes smaller than yesterday’s King Basilisk.
“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.
Eris and the others followed, keeping pace with his speed as they cut through the trees.
They arrived at a small clearing where two basilisk were lounging.
Noticing them, the basilisks immediately unleashed their Petrifying Gaze.
Of course, such status attacks had no effect on Tauro and his companions.
However, parts of the surrounding trees were turned to stone by the attack.
Petrified sections of several trees crumble and the trees fall.
Aeris ignores this and casts a spell to increase everyone’s fire resistance.
Ankh and Zion each charged toward one of the basilisks.
Ankh raised his great magic sword. Normally he would release a flying slash, but knowing such attacks were ineffective against basilisks, he instead rushed in to close the distance.
The basilisk understood his intent and blew its fiery breath at him.
Ankh cleaved the flames apart with the wind attribute of his great sword, then brought the blade down on the basilisk’s head, severing 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 magic gauntlets, driving several punches into the creature’s belly.
Multiple deep dents formed in its abdomen from her blows, and the basilisk let out a shrill “Gweh!” of pain.
At that moment, Ragune—magic spear in hand—thrust upward from beneath the basilisk’s jaw through its head, skewering it.
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 children?”
Eris tilted her head as she looked down at the two bodies.
“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 to the village chief. The villagers only mentioned one sighting, and there might be more,”
Tauro decided. He stored the two basilisks in his 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—more than capable of taking that down. If it really were a legendary basilisk, you’d need multiple teams at our level with plenty of preparation to 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 was real…”
The village chief protested.
“King… Basilisk? What’s that supposed to be? A basilisk is a basilisk. And it’s just a legend, as the village chief said. I’ve never even heard of a ‘King Basilisk.’ Hahaha!”
The adventurer laughed off the village chief’s words.
“…Ah! Lord Tauro and everyone, welcome back. How was it? 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 also realized they weren’t a team they had seen at 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 dragon peoples’ village.