“Katherine!” Oliver shouted as the girl was thrown to the ground.
Her armor didn’t seem compromised, but now he had a new problem. Without her distracting the Basilisk, the monster stood before him, ready to attack.
His heart was racing, making it hard for him to focus. He was trying to make the best decision in fractions of a second.
‘Retreat, regroup, or shoot?’ He could run to Katherine, but he might get attacked. He could back away, but the monster would catch him. Was there any reason not to shoot?
Instead of aiming for its legs this time, he began aiming at the Basilisk’s face. If he could manage to damage the creature’s vision, it would make the battle easier.
‘I’m going all out this time!’ He increased the energy input for his weapon. His shots would lose speed but become more powerful.
“PHUM!”
The Basilisk began moving forward, taking two steps, but before it could think of attacking, a shot hit it square in the forehead. For the first time, Oliver saw a reaction from the monster, shaking its head as if dizzy.
The boy took two steps back and continued firing.
“PHUM!”
“PHUM!”
The shots he was trying to land on the monster's eyes continued to hit its head near its nostrils. Without his [Observation], he couldn’t improve his aim enough to hit a tiny target like the monster’s eyes.
On the other side of the fight, Katherine was still conscious. Her ribs might have been broken, but she needed to get up. She pushed herself off the ground with all her effort and stood up.
Once on her feet, she could see the battle between the Basilisk and Oliver. The monster was trying to advance and attack him. The boy was in a bad situation, trying to retreat while firing shots. To her, it was impressive how every shot perfectly hit the monster’s face without missing it, but even so, she could tell that Oliver would soon get tired due to the high energy consumption.
The second stream was on her left side. She could cross it and leave the boy to handle the Basilisk if she ran. It would be the easiest way out.
Katherine shook her head as if to dispel the thoughts.
‘Now’s not the time to think like that.’ She thought.
She raised her sword, took a deep breath, and took advantage of the fact that the monster still had its back to her. Even though she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, she didn’t stop running until she got close.
[Blood Coat]
Her sword began to glow red. She felt weaker as her blood dripped from the tip of the rapier. The blood slowly crystallized around the blade, making it broader and double-edged and turning the rapier into a broadsword. When the sword's glow was barely visible, the girl accelerated.
Once again, she charged toward the Basilisk’s rear. But this time, she made a horizontal slash against one of the monster’s legs using all her strength.
“GHUAR!”
The monster roared as one of its legs was severed. Blood splattered onto Katherine’s armor, but she continued attacking before the beast could recover. Each strike tore through the creature.
The shots may have hurt the Basilisk, but the slashes were doing real damage. The monster could no longer take the risk. It started slamming its tail against the ground, trying to locate its target, forcing the girl to retreat from the fight.
Oliver took the chance to recover. Meanwhile, Katherine kept dodging each of the tail’s movements.
“THUMP!”
“THUMP!”
“THUMP!”
Each impact kicked up dirt and sand, making it harder to get close.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“THUMP!”
Katherine was disoriented, not knowing where the creature was. She tried to squint her eyes to see through the sand and dust in the air. However, before she could react, the monster reappeared. It was no longer focused on Oliver; instead, its gaping maw was trying to devour the girl.
Unable to see what was in front of her, she charged forward once again, aiming to strike one of its hind legs, but was caught off guard by the monster's attack and ended up hitting one of the creature's teeth with her sword.
The girl’s face showed mixed emotions—the surprise of missing her strike and the fear of being face-to-face with a far stronger monster than them. Supporting itself on its remaining hind legs, the Basilisk towered over the girl.
While watching the fight, Oliver regained his strength and saw the Basilisk attempting to attack with its front legs. Katherine blocked and dodged each attack by mere millimeters. While Oliver tried to use his shots to help her, but they seemed to have no effect.
‘Damn! Damn! Damn!’ Oliver cursed.
Their chance of surviving was failing rapidly. Katherine was the only person who could fight the Basilisk in close combat, and with her as the monster’s focus, neither of them could advance in the fight.
‘What do I do?!’ Oliver questioned himself.
The boy tried to think of another way to participate in the battle. His shots were useless, he had no other weapons, and his Boons weren’t suited to this type of opponent.
‘Hmmm, if I can’t be the artillery, I must be the bait.’ He took a deep breath and started running.
It was a terrible idea, but it was the only solution he could think of.
‘Maybe my agility will be enough to keep me alive? There was only one way to find out.’ Oliver questioned his sanity as he advanced.
As the fight continued, Oliver positioned himself to line up with Katherine. As soon as the Basilisk provided an opening, he would try to shoot at its face.
As Olver approached, he started to see the creatures’ attacks. The monster was using its hind legs for support while swinging its claws at Katherine. She parried several attacks, sometimes even striking the monster’s arms.
‘It’s now or never!’
Oliver switched the weapon to his left hand while extending his right shoulder forward and started running. Before the Basilisk could notice him, he had thrown himself with all his weight. Hitting the monster’s side with his shoulder, it barely lifted off the ground, but it was enough to grab its attention.
Meanwhile, his left hand, now close to the monster’s chest, fired off all the remaining Energy in point-blank range.
“GUARH!”
Oliver had caused the monster to roar in pain for the first time. The projectile opened a hole in the Basilisk’s stomach while cauterizing it with all the heat emitted. Unfortunately, it consumed much of the boy’s energy, leaving him with no time or stamina to dodge one of the claws.
The creature, insane with pain, swung one of its long arms and struck Oliver square in the face. It felt as if it would tear his head off if not for the Ranger Armor. Even so, he was thrown several meters away, and his helmet was destroyed.
‘Damn!’ Katherine was worried about the direct hit Oliver had taken.
She had experienced something similar and knew how monstrous the Basilisk’s strength was. Still, she didn’t have time to check on him—she needed to seize the opportunity.
While the monster was still dazed, she prepared to use everything she had left. Running with the last of her strength, she jumped at the beast and thrust her sword into its chest as it staggered.
[Blood Spike]
The girl used all the blood she could muster to unleash the attack Oliver had seen before, but it was even more devastating this time.
The blood accumulated into a small orb at the tip of her sword. From there, hundreds of spikes shot out in all directions, piercing every inch of the Basilisk until they erupted through its pores.
As she pulled the blade back, the red glow of the crystallized blood around the sword had vanished. In its place, the Basilisk’s green blood dripped from the sword and onto the ground. The monster was paralyzed, but it collapsed once the blade was removed.
“THUMP!”
The Basilisk’s body fell completely onto Katherine, pinning her to the ground. Luckily for her, it seemed to be dead.
"Ow! Ow! Oliver!" She used both hands to push the body and tried to crawl out from under the remains.
Oliver was still getting up after being hit by the Basilisk. His helmet was broken, and his head hurt a lot, but overall, it wasn’t as bad as he had imagined. Fortunately, it hadn’t torn his head off.
‘Fuck! It's finally over!’ Oliver cheered. They had managed to defeat a Basilisk.
Some notifications sounded on his gauntlet, but he no longer had the energy to keep his armor functioning. After removing it, he approached the animal’s body and noticed the girl asking for help.
"Push it. I can’t get out," Katherine spoke.
"Okay, okay. 1... 2... 3..." Putting all his strength into it, he started moving the Basilisk’s body.
"Huff! It feels even heavier dead," The girl complained.
Katherine finally emerged from under the monster. She tried to stand but couldn’t move. Maybe the girl had pushed herself too hard. Katherine had lost a lot of blood, not to mention the wound in her abdomen. When she deactivated her armor, she noticed that parts of her uniform were damaged, too.
"Umm... I’ll need more help as well," she said, her face turning red as she asked for help walking.
"Of course!" Oliver knelt and lifted the girl onto his back, holding her by the legs.
The two then looked toward the second stream and began their path, finally with a clear way back to base.