MTLNOVEL Chapter 93: Basilisk
The dimly lit room shook as the half of the torches hanging on the walls were extinguished. Luckily it didn't matter, because soon huge cracks appeared on the ground and magma started creeping out of them.
The temperature in the room was getting hit and Leo cursed knowing that if they didn't manage to rule the monster out of the room, his teammates would be useless.
Lowering his body he made sure that he wouldn't lose his balance easily and warned the others.
" Get ready, a big ass snake is about to show itself! "
Looking towards magma seeping out of the ground he sighed feeling that the tremors suddenly stopped.
3... 2... 1...
𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗺!
A huge cloud of dust was thrown into the air as a massive silhouette emerged from the ground. Its black scales reflected the troches' light while the head of the beast was yet to be visible, hidden in the dust.
Leo felt his hand slightly shake, he was no fun of reptiles, especially snakes.
𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘀...
The snake lowered its huge head revealing its ugly face. The boss's face looked pretty much like the snakes, but its fangs were protruding from its mouth. The monster's whole body also had centipede-like legs that were somehow supporting its weight, Leo and his party members also noticed that it had a forked tail with stingers at the end of it.
The Basilisk was pretty much a massive snake with some centipede body parts.
[ 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗞 ]
-- 𝗔 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝘀𝘀
-- 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸'𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁
-- 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗲; 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹
[ 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 ]
-- 𝗔 𝗺𝗶𝘅 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘀𝗻𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝘆 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲. 𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻...
< 𝘼𝙏𝙏𝙍𝙄𝘽𝙐𝙏𝙀𝙎 >
[ 𝙇𝙫. 𝟱𝟬 ]
𝙃𝙋: 𝟯𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 || 𝘼𝙂𝙇: 𝟱𝟬𝟬
𝗠𝗣: 𝟱𝟬𝟬 || 𝙋𝘿𝙀𝙁: 𝟭,𝟱𝟬𝟬
𝙎𝙏𝙍: 𝟮,𝟱𝟬𝟬 || 𝙈𝘿𝙀𝙁: 𝟭,𝟱𝟬𝟬
𝙄𝙉𝙏: 𝟭,𝟮𝟱𝟬 || 𝙎𝙉: 𝟱𝟬
~~~~
< 𝙎𝙋𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙎 >
1️⃣ 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝘁 < 𝗟𝘃. 𝟰 >
-- 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝘀
2️⃣ 𝗦𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 < 𝗠𝗮𝘅. 𝗟𝘃. >
-- 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗶𝗿... 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘆!
3️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 < 𝗠𝗮𝘅. 𝗟𝘃. >
-- 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗣 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝟭𝟬% 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗸
4️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗺𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘄𝗮𝘃𝗲 < 𝗠𝗮𝘅. 𝗟𝘃. >
-- 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗺𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘄𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲
~~~~
< 𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝙎𝙆𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙎 >
1️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗲 < 𝗟𝘃.𝟰 >
-- 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲
2️⃣ 𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗽𝗲 < 𝗟𝘃. 𝟳 >
-- 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗰 𝟱𝟬 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳
3️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗲 < 𝗟𝘃. 𝟱 >
-- 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘇𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗲
~~~~
< 𝙋𝘼𝙎𝙎𝙄𝙑𝙀 𝙎𝙆𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙎 >
1️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁 < 𝗠𝗮𝘅. 𝗟𝘃. >
-- 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗻𝗮𝗸𝗲, 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵
2️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 < 𝗟𝘃. 𝟴 >
-- 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀
3️⃣ 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿 < 𝗠𝗮𝘅. 𝗟𝘃. >
-- 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁
~~~~
The Status screen of the monster appeared above our eyes making Leo's party members gasp in surprise.
They knew that the boss of the dungeon was strong, but they didn't expect it to have such a long list of spells and skills.
Seeing that David and Charles were contemplating if it was worth continuing the raid and losing the levels, Paul just took a deep breath. It was too late to flee, the monster had already noticed them and running was not an option.
" Slowly lead it towards the exit! "
Paul shouted, gesturing Leo to cast a spell at the huge snake that was aiming to swallow him whole. He barely managed to evade it as its huge scaly body passed right by his side, making him lose balance and fall on his but.
𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗵...
Leo did not waste anymore time and gave his Lightning Bolt a try.
- 𝟮𝟰𝟱 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲!
He pursed his lips seeing the damage graph, the beast was definitely a dungeon boss for a reason. He knew that if baited outside the monster would lose almost half of its defensive properties, but that didn't help, because now they still had no chance to leave, the monster would simply kill them while they were opening the door.
" Open the door, I can hold it for a few seconds! "
Seeing Paul evading the huge range of the beast's tail Leo shouted while pointing towards the closed door.
Paul didn't even look towards Leo and only nodded his head dashing towards the door of the boss room. Since the monster thought he was trying to escape, its body suddenly turned eerie red and the Mana was gathered somewhere around its belly.
" Hide behind me! "
Feeling the sudden change in temperature around them Leo shouted to Charles and David. They both weren't seriously wounded, but had some injuries that accumulated on their bodies along the fight.
Seeing that Paul was smart enough to squeeze himself in the small crack on the ground Leo deployed Shadow Protection with Charles and David stationed behind him.
𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗺!
Like an atomic bomb something suddenly exploded and the shockwave of fire was launched in all the directions at the speed of sound.
Leo wasn't able to follow the movement of the shockwave as one second everything was almost dark and the other, the room was on fire.
𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸...
His shield shattering woke Leo up from his stupor, he even momentarily went blind from the flash of the explosion, but quickly downed a healing potion and recovered his sight.
Helping his teammates to consume the potions as well, Leo glared at the snake who was looking around the field, seeing if the enemies were still alive.
In a few seconds its eyes met Leo's and its huge body head with open jaws was thrown towards his direction.
He barely managed to avoid the attack, because [ 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗺𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘄𝗮𝘃𝗲 ] had momentarily slowed down his thought process.
' Wake up! '
Slapping his cheeks as hard as he could Leo created another Lightning Bolt and threw at the leg of the moving monster.
- 𝟰𝟲𝟭 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲!
Some of the boss's centipede-like legs were instantly broken and blue blood started seeping out of its wounded limbs.
𝗦𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗸...
Even the voice of the monster was no longer that of a snake, but of an insect.
𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗸... 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗸...
Both of his allies, Charles and David, hit their swords against the sturdy scales of the monster, dealing some decent yet small damage to the boss.
- 𝟴𝟬 𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲!
- 𝟵𝟮 𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲!
Suddenly Leo noticed David's tip of the sword glowing in red color as if had drunk some blood.
' Vampiric gear... '
Looking at the sword held in the hand's of his party member Leo felt that his teammates weren't so useless he thought they were.
" David, leave it stuck in the monster's body! "
Leo immediately thought of a plan and hoped that David would agree. Leo knew that Vampiric weapons require blood to become stronger throughout the fight, but the time it took for a weapon to be fully charged was immense, making Leo think this was the best option.
" Are you crazy! "
Looking towards Leo David shouted while almost spitting saliva, it was the only weapon he had and he wasn't so willing to let it go on command.
" Trust me! "
Trying to shout through all the noise in the room Leo pleaded for the man to listen. He didn't know if Paul was stuck in the crack he jumped in earlier or if he had yet to open the door, but it was currently the only chance to kill the boss without it leaving its Domain.
𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵...
The reptile screeched and David let go of his sword looking at the direction of Charles.
" Give me a spare weapon! "
His shout was heard and soon he held a steel sword that seemed to be at least bronze tier equipment.
' They are surprisingly prepared for this... '
Looking at both of them Leo suddenly saw a system message he had expected to see some time ago.
[ 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 '𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹' 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱! ]
Looking behind Leo noticed a huge Magma ravine behind them and guessed that it probably opened right underneath Paul's feet.
' Unlucky... '
𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗵...
Suddenly the huge snake used thousands of its legs to jump into the air and started levitating above the battlefield.
' Why is every snake able to fly? '
Leo tried to relax his shaking hands, but couldn't, he had a severe case of ophidiophobia. Looking towards the huge silhouette hovering above him he couldn't help, but allow himself to slightly tremble seeing the snake spitting poison right below itself.
𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗱... 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗱... 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗱...
Green substance fell everywhere forcing Leo, David and Charles to do whatever they could to dodge it. They saw that the poison was acidic and could even corrode the rocks meaning that they would instantly die if touched by the attack.
𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗵...
Finally Leo got a chance to counterattack and immediately threw a Lightning Bolt at the boss's face.
- 𝟮𝟲𝟱 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲!
The damage was miniscule, but it managed to get the creature to abruptly land and hit its body against the side of the arena.
- 𝟭𝟱𝟲𝟰 𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲!
David's pale face regained its color seeing that the battle was not yet over, he thought that upon the death of Paul their plans would be ruined and they would surely lose 2 levels, but now he was starting to see hope.
It was similar for Charles as well, at first he felt pessimistic, but his mind was fully set on killing the thing that took the life of his comrade.
" Attack it before it has a chanc... "
Leo wanted to shout, but his body suddenly came to a stop, he couldn't move his tongue. The Basilisk was looking towards his direction, using its skill [ 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲 ] and making him freeze in place.
Luckily both of his group members understood that and leaped towards the monster aiming to strike its soft centipede legs.
- 𝟭𝟲𝟭 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲!
- 𝟭𝟱𝟵 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲!
They both managed to cut one leg each before the beast recovered its balance and almost sent them flying by using its forked tail to perform a vertical strike.
Fortunately both devourer's were not so bad at the game not to notice the incoming attack and dodge it by jumping high in the air.
𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵...
Suddenly the beast's body turned red and without exchanging any words both demons ran besides Leo waiting for him to deploy a shield.
" Good Job... "
Looking at their faces Leo smirked seeing that both of them were really focused on the fight. Shifting his gaze back on the beast he closed his eyes before deploying Shadow Protection able to withstand the Magma Shockwave.
𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗺!
The white flash of flames once again hit the shield and shattered it, but this time not blinding the people behind it.
" It's halfway full... "
Said Leo while looking at the sword stuck in between the monster's scales.