CHAPTER 275: 275: FIGHT MORE, TALK LESS.

---

Sha struck next, sliding under its leg and carving a glowing rune onto its ankle. The rune flared and detonated, sending the creature stumbling.

Azhara tossed a net of her bag onto its back. It moved like dancing nightmares.

Naaro emerged from the shadow of the beast’s own tail and stabbed two daggers into the soft spot between scales. The basilisk hissed, its movements were slowing down.

Akayoroi leapt high and landed atop its back, thrusting her blade straight into the spine. A cascade of magma burst from the wound, igniting the net and causing an aura explosion.

Kai summoned a vortex of compressed aura in his spear tip. He leapt, turned mid-air, and stabbed the tip into the basilisk’s chest / heart.

The creature screamed in pain.

It flailed, tail swinging wildly. But its movements slowed further. Blood sizzled on the rocks. Its blue flame dimmed.

Kai landed beside his girls. His breath was ragged. His aura flickered.

"It is not dead yet," Akayoroi said.

"No," Kai agreed. "But it will be, soon."

The basilisk took one last breath and surged. It lunged toward Kai with a wide mouth.

Vel shoved Kai aside.

The beast clamped down on nothing but ground.

Naaro’s shadow trick activated. A clone had taken the hit. Then, as the real Kai rose, all six women moved together.

Vel ignited three more aura bombs in unison. Sha threw her dagger at the basilisk’s eye. Naaro slammed an illusion orb into its jaws.

Azhara wanted to kiss Kai’s cheek mid-cast, for a power boost. But the situation wasn’t right, she didn’t dare to ask for it.

Akayoroi summoned a final molten attack and drove it upward into the belly.

Kai raised the spear in the air. Aura surged. And struck.

The basilisk’s heart’s aura veins shattered. Its body convulsed. Then collapsed. Stone split from the impact. The crater deepened. Smoke rose like incense.

Silence fell.

Kai stood over the beast’s corpse, breathing hard. Then, because it was him, he muttered, "That counts as cardio."

Vel threw herself into his arms. "We are alive!"

Sha tackled her side. "You idiot."

Naaro sighed. "That was reckless."

Azhara climbed up his back like a sloth. "That was hot."

Akayoroi stood calmly. "Well done. King."

The twins cheered from afar. Alka, still watching the ant eggs and the injured four ants, waved a leafy flag. "Yay! Monster slayer ritual successful!"

Kai groaned. "This better not awaken something in you all."

"It already did," Azhara whispered.

But far away, beyond the fading smoke, the forge girl paused her hammering. Her ears twitched. "Aura spike detected."

She wiped her brow, tied her cloak, and whispered to her sword. "I am coming."

The battlefield still smoked. The corpse of the Cindervore Basilisk lay cracked open like a broken forge, its obsidian plates steaming, blue nectar flames flickering out as its essence blood bled into the soil. Sha, stood over the body, cleaning her blade with a rag that had once been part of Azhara’s shirt. Azhara did not complain. In fact, she was too busy posing dramatically over Kai’s shoulder.

Kai sat on a warm rock, half-slumped, barely breathing as the girls buzzed around him like concerned bees over a deliciously overworked flower.

"I’m fine," he muttered.

Vel pressed a palm to his chest. "No. You are sweating nectar."

"That might be your fault. Give me some space. All of you are clinging to me. I will sweat more."

Sha frowned and looked south. "I do not like this. That basilisk did not wander here by chance. It was tracking something."

Akayoroi nodded. Her antennae were still twitching. "It came seeking aura... Strong aura."

"Mine?" Kai asked.

"Yours," she confirmed. "And perhaps... Alka."

"Hers?" Kai echoed. One minute later...

Kai’s legs groaned as he stood up, muscles tight, aura flickering along the edges of his limbs like hot wires twitching in exhaustion. The body of the Cindervore Basilisk lay before him, split open like a massive furnace, its plated scales cracked, heart cavity twitching. Steam hissed from its wounds. A lingering flame sputtered from its throat. The silence was thick, except for the occasional bubbling of molten ichor slipping into the cratered stone.

Then he checked. The system notifications.

[Ding! System Notification: Kill confirmed — Predator Class Cindervore Basilisk (Sir Star Rank) defeated.

Experience gained: +600 EXP]

’I am hungry." Kai said.

"It was more of a brunch fight," Naaro commented, casually tossing one of her illusion orbs in the air. "You slept through breakfast."

"I will cook you breakfast later," Vel added sweetly, still latched onto his arm.

Kai stepped forward, his eyes locked on the basilisk’s shattered chest. The bones were still glowing faintly, as if the creature’s heart did not want to admit it was dead yet. Kai’s claws clicked softly as he crouched and shoved his arm deep into the cavity. A horrible wet squelch followed.

"Oh gods," Azhara groaned. "He is doing the thing again. The ’eating the heart essence’ thing."

"It is necessary," Akayoroi said calmly. "He gains power through devouring. It is his path."

"It is scary," Naaro said.

"It is hot," Azhara whispered under her breath.

Kai ignored them. His fingers found the trembling organ, still semi-solid with condensed aura. He closed his hand around it and pulled it free. The shattered heart pulsed once, then stopped. In one smooth motion, he opened his mouth and bit into the dense, syrupy flesh. Hot, spicy essence liquid poured down his throat, burning and invigorating at once. His eyes shimmered.

[Ding! Essence fully consumed. Essence digestion successful. Extracted 10 unallocated stat points added to stats.

Unallocated stat points earned: +10]

Kai exhaled. "Only ten stat points?" he muttered. "Come on, that thing tried to eat me for breakfast."

He wiped his mouth. "Tastes like overcooked lizard pepper stew."

"Sounds nutritious," Sha said, unimpressed.

"Scary," Vel muttered. "But strangely attractive."

Before Kai could say another word, a huge shadow blocked the sun. Alka standing beside the corpse with a flutter of her massive wings, her eyes blinking slowly. She sniffed the air, then peered at the basilisk’s remains. Her tongue flicked out once.