Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

There could be any number of reasons for the Basilisk to slow down.

It could have grown tired after chasing after Zach and the others. It was dead just recently, after all.

It could have run into an obstacle like a big tree or a mountain, which forced to to slow down and take another route.

It could have encountered a monster powerful enough to threaten it instead of stirring its hunger.

Maybe the principal had come to save his precious students.

Out of all of those options, the last one was the least likely, but not by much.

The most likely reason for the Basilisk to slow down could be only one thing. It had arrived at the Hole and was preparing to descend.

Zach, however, had not arrived at his intended destination. He could feel his stomach rise as the snake's upper body soared upwards, only to take a sudden turn and plunge downward again.

Yanael reacted quickly and unsheathed her sword, stabbing it into the relatively soft flesh of the canal they had slipped into. She held onto Zach, and the other familiars held onto her as their inertia tried to hold them in place while the Basilisk moved.

Since the Basilisk moved downward, the barrier beneath their feet was only in the way. If Zach hadn't dispelled it, it would have cost them part of their progress toward the Basilisk's head.

Even now, they had lost valuable progress that would be hard to get back for a few moments until they caught up to the Basilisk's speed.

So, with a distorted sense of what was up and down, Zach and his familiars started first climbing and then running along the Basilisk's insides to get as far up—down?—as possible.

The things the others were doing were important since any damage to the Basilisk would speed up its death. But there was only one way they could almost guarantee that the Basilisk didn't restore itself upon contact with underworld energy.

That task was up to Zach. Fortunately, the path to the Basilisk's head wasn't complicated. As soon as they hit an intersection or a wall blocking their straightforward advance, Yanael led the charge straight ahead by bulldozing through anything that came in their way.

It came at a cost, though, as her arms already had stone creeping up on them. She couldn't let go of her sword even if she wanted. But she could still move them, and she could still use her sacred energy to unleash attacks and open a path for the others.

Before long, they had carved a bloody path to a large dome occupied by a wriggling mass connected to the bridge of the spinal cord they had rode on the last bit.

Zach took a deep breath and withdrew his hand as he stood in front of the Basilisk's brain. The petrification had already spread and covered Yanael's torso. It wouldn't be long before her entire body was encased in it, despite her sacred energy's fierce attempts at fighting it off.

Zach closed his eyes and focused.

This wasn't a battle. He had the leeway to gather all of his strength in one strike and unleash it at once. From the soles of his feets and the tips of his toes to the knees to the hips to the waist to the shoulders to the upper arms to the forearms and to the clenched fist, Zach concentrated on his muscles, manually contracting each one to draw out as much of their latent potential as possible.

As he did so, he sensed something else responding to his movements.

The world essence energy.

It was still mostly asleep, despite Zach going through torture to try and wake up his squatting, symbiotic energy. But a part of it was active. And like it could feel the determination and willpower from Zach, it responded to him.

No, it didn't quite respond to him. If he tried to tell it what to do, it would go back to ignoring him and just swim around in his body. It heard him but didn't listen to him. It resonated with his actions.

A sliver of the world essence energy inside his body slipped away from the rest and suddenly expanded, gently infusing itself into the muscles Zach had activated while throwing his punch.

Zach felt like he was breathing fresh air for the first time in his life. He felt like he had been carrying a boulder on his back his entire life. As soon as the world essence energy touched his muscles, that boulder turned into dust.

Seemingly bottomless strength filled his body as his fist shot forward without looking like it had moved. One instant, it was right in front of his body, the next, it was lodged inside the swampy flesh of the Basilisk's brain.

There hadn't been anything in between those two instants.

However, the fist still carried the force and momentum of movement, and it sent tremors into the Basilisk's brain, causing its body to tremble and shake like it was having a seizure. It wouldn't be strange if it was having one. It had received massive brain damage, after all.

Brain fluids dripped along Zach's arm and down onto the barrier he was standing on. His grip on the brain's insides helped keep him steady as the Basilisk tossed and turned in the narrow Hole.

Zach, still with his eyes closed, focused. Since the Basilisk was still moving, it meant it was alive. That meant it could recover.

That was a possibility as long as it still had something to heal and a heart to pump blood.

It would have been great if Dukiel and Anerias had made it to the heart and destroyed it, but it was unlikely.

There was only one way they could guarantee the Basilisk wouldn't recover and become a threat again.

If it didn't have a brain, it didn't matter how much underworld energy it absorbed. It would be nothing but a powerful, unmoving, living doll.

Zach grabbed a handful of brain meat as he clenched his fist tightly, focusing on the mental image of what he was doing. He took a deep breath.

He could probably try again even if he failed the first time. The Hole was deep. They had time.

But the material would be better if he pulled out all of it in one go.

He yanked out his arm. Your journey continues with empire