Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

If the problem with attacking the Basilisk was that it would turn them into stone, wouldn't it be fine if they were already made of stone? Dukiel shot his Sentinel a glance. It understood and, to be safe, drifted further away from the rest while unfolding its lasers and pointing them at the Basilisk.

Even with its quick, slithering movements that turned the forest beneath it into flat fields, the damn thing was too big for the Sentinel even to consider the possibility of missing. It would be fine if it fired while it moved. It didn't need to gather maximum power when it was just testing the waters anyway.

The Sentinel charged and fired its lasers before Zach or anyone else could react. They had been too busy running to care about the Sentinel's exact positioning. Currently, the group's numbers, familiars included, was twenty-five, after all. Anerias, Dukiel, Nessa, and Violina and their three familiars plus Zach and his four familiars.

It would take considerable perception and thought to keep track of everyone's exact positioning and actions when under the Basilisk's heavy gaze.

It was too late to stop the Sentinel. They could only watch as the red laser struck the Basilisk's jaw.

To everyone's surprise, it actually left a mark. It looked to be nothing but soot generated by the heat, but it was still something. It had made the Basilisk react.

Since it had just been a light attack, it might be possible for them to counterattack.

However, things weren't that simple.

Since the attack had landed without issue, Zach and the others turned their eyes to the Sentinel. It was the moment of truth. Would the Basilisk turn whoever attacked them into stone, and would it work on something that was already made of stone?

It would. It did.

A layer of ash grey covered the red marbles of the Sentinel's laser arms. The stony layer grew like fast-spreading mold and covered the entire marbles before crawling down its arms.

The Sentinel reacted quickly and pulled out a pair of sword arms to cut off the laser arms before the petrification spread to its body.

Attacking the Basilisk wouldn't work unless they could defeat it in one blow and were willing to sacrifice the one who could do that.

"Girls?" Zach asked his familiars for help.

"I can't kill it before the petrification takes over, Master. I apologize." Yanael could not stop the Basilisk.

"I can do something about the petrification if I have the time, Master." Alzara couldn't do it right now.

"Something is strange with that thing's life force. I need to take a closer look before I can do anything, Master." Soara might be able to do something.

"I can slow down the petrification process, but I don't have enough firepower to injure it in my current state, Master." Mandra could do a little.

"So, that skin and the petrification are the problems. And we can do something about the petrification. Sounds like it's doable." Zach nodded. He glanced at Nessa, Dukiel, Anerias, and Violina.

"Do you trust me?" He asked.

"Not really."

"Nope."

"Not quite."

"Never."

"Harsh. Gather on me. I have a plan."

Despite what they said, Nessa, Dukiel, Anerias, and Violina converged on Zach's location while all of them were still moving forward. Their familiars also gathered with them in a tight clump.

"Mandra, Yanael, I might need your help a little with this one," Zach said while slowing down.

The others looked at him with worry once he lowered their pace enough for the Basilisk to catch up to them. But their legs stung and their throats and lungs burned after running for their lives. Instead of doubting Zach, they took the opportunity to gather themselves as quickly as possible.

The Basilisk closed in on them. Its mind was still muddy and unclear. The hunt had only spurred its hunger, and it needed to put something in its belly. It wasn't concerned with the sudden behavioral change of its prey. It was just a stroke of luck that it had all gathered in one spot and slowed down.

Its tongue slipped out and flickered through the air with a hiss. It could taste the fear in the air. The Basilisk's lower jaw dropped open slightly as it gulped, its hunger filling its mouth with saliva.

With the ferocity to make up for its earlier failure, the Basilisk shot forward like an arrow loosened from the string and lunged with its maw open to swallow the group whole.

There was no error in its aim or calculation, and the entire group of bright flames entered its mouth. The Basilisk was so hungry that it didn't even care to think about how it felt like it had swallowed a singular unit and not two dozen smaller ones.

It didn't need to think. Whether it was one or twenty-five, it would end up nutrients after being melted by its stomach acid.

The Basilisk swallowed the slightly golden-blue orb with Zach, Nessa, Dukiel, Anerias, and Violina and all the familiars whole.

The orb pressed and squished against the Basilisk's comparatively softer insides, which were still solid as rocks. Zach had made the orb as small as possible, but due to a certain Millipede who shan't be named, the orb was still a size bigger than he would have liked. Fortunately, it still flowed downward without much issue.

Now, it would be too late for the Basilisk to cough them up even if it wanted, which it didn't.

The group shuffled, huffled, and scuffled in mostly silence in the darkness of the Basilisk's insides until Mandra threw up a ball of light, casting ghastly blue shadows on everyone's faces.

"Puff. I feel I was completely justified in saying I didn't trust you, Zach," Nessa said during a temporary lull in the orb's movements.

"Don't worry, this is just the first step of my plan."

"That doesn't help," Dukiel said.

"Yeah, what's your second step? Take the exit?"

"..." The others did not like Anerias' suggestion, and they gave Zach very stern looks. If he had asked them to trust him for that, they might just have to do something. No idea what, but they would not let it stand.

"Of course not."

Zach was silent for a moment as he sensed. The orb had stopped moving in relation to the snake, but the Basilisk was still slithering through the forest.

"Does anyone know where we're headed?" He asked.