MTLNOVEL Chapter 361: Exit
"Anerias, you were skeptical of using the Basliks's exit, right?" Nessa asked as they climbed upward through the big snake's intestinal system.
"If it saves my life, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Besides, this thing hasn't used that exit in several years, right? How bad can it be?"
"Good. I think the only way to survive is by leaving the Basilisk. All of us can delay our landing somehow. I can have my Bat and Butterfly try and carry me. Violina, you can stab cling to the wall with ice if your familiars can't carry you.
"Dukiel, your familiars can hover and cling to the walls, too, right?
"Anerias, you have your Darkwing. It's S-rank, so it's strong enough to carry your Hound as well, right?"
"He might need some help to get a good hold of the Hound, considering it's mostly turned to stone." Anerias glanced at his Blackfire Hound, whose front half had turned to stone after it helped out by digging through the Basilisk's flesh. Right now, it was running on its hindlegs while the Darkwing carried its front on its back.
"We'll work together," Dukiel said, looking at the stone Sentinel on the Hound's back. He would need some help to carry that one.
The Transformaion Cube could turn into a rope or net, and the Symbiotic Slime could attach to the Darkwing. That should be enough to at least slow their descent to a survivable speed.
"But, what about your Millipede…?" Dukiel asked, looking backward. There was no sign of Nessa's Serpentine Millipede. It was understandable.
It was the biggest familiar, yet it had the weakest resistance against the Basilisk's petrification. It had helped Nessa and Violina open up a hole in the Basilisk's stomach sac. It had sacrificed itself to do it.
By the time Dukiel and Anerias returned to the stomach, it had already turned into stone. There was no way they could carry it when the second biggest familiar, Anerias' Hound, was also mostly stone. The remaining familiars weren't strong enough to carry the Millipede and climb with it without falling behind. It didn't help that the Millipede was too big to fit through large portions of the path they had to take.
"..." Nessa didn't answer Dukiel's question.
For her survival, for everyone's survival, they had to leave the Millipede behind. They were already in a situation where survival wasn't guaranteed. Trying to bring the petrified Millipede would only bring their odds of survival even closer to zero.
There was also the fact that there was no way they could avoid falling to their deaths if they tried carrying the Millipede.
There was just no way they could survive if they brought it along with them.
It was the correct and logical choice to leave it behind.
But that didn't stop Nessa's heart from bleeding and her eyes from stinging.
The Millipede was her first familiar, but it wasn't just a familiar. It wasn't some thing she had summoned to use as a tool and dispose when she no longer had a need for it. Read the latest on empire
It was a friend. It was someone she could vent and open her heart to without worrying about being judged. It wasn't the softest and cuddliest creature around, but it was warm. There was nothing more comfortable than lying on top of the Millipede on a warm, sunny day.
The Millipede had saved her life multiple times. It had been injured for her sake multiple times. It had worked hard for her. It had eaten itself sick for her, though that was also for its own sake.
Nessa had been through a lot with the Millipede, and now she was leaving it for dead.
At least it could take some posthumous pleasure in that it was going down with a monster like the Basilisk. It hadn't been the one to deliver the final blow, but battling the Basilisk at its level was incredible nonetheless.
If there was an afterlife that honored brave warriors, Nessa was sure that's where the Millipede would end up.
She couldn't help but glance back. She couldn't see anything other than the dark grayish red flesh of the Basilisk's insides. Her night vision let her see in the darkness, not through physical matter.
Still, somewhere behind them, the Millipede was either already dead, dying to the petrification, or waiting for death through catastropically rapid deeccelaration.
"Hey, does anyone know what Zach's plan is?" Nessa asked, reminded of their last member by looking back in the direction he should be in.
"No."
"Nope."
"He's probably fine. If anyone's handling this whole situation without panic, it's him. If we're lucky, he might even be waiting for us down there when we arrive," Dukiel said lightly.
Nessa wanted to agree.
Out of all of them, Zach was undoubtedly the one with the most tricks up his sleeve and the one most likely to survive a fall long enough for them to fall straight down for several long minutes. They had to have been falling for well over ten minutes by now.
Still, Nessa couldn't help but worry. Something felt off.
"Let's hurry."
With how long they had fallen, it couldn't be much left. They had to get out of the Basilisk as soon as possible. They couldn't afford to even take a break, much less go back and see if they could find Zach.
The others didn't mind Nessa suggestion, and they hurried along the Basilisk's insides as best as they could. At Nessa's words, they also realized how long they and the Basilisk had been falling for. It couldn't be much longer until they reached the bottom. If they were still inside the Basilisk by then, they could forget about graduating early. They wouldn't be graduating at all.
Naturally, they put their all into getting out of the Basilisk's dead body. Fortunately, they were no longer getting petrified by attacking and destroying it from within to open up a smoother path.
Somehow, they managed to get far enough they could feel the toughness of the stony skin through the relatively softer meat. Now, they just had to find the exit.