Chapter : 144

“Kieeeeeek!!!”

The snake’s roar echoed throughout the world.

As if sympathizing with the basilisk’s rage, the snakes that were already charging madly now poured out in truly endless numbers.

“Living my life, I’ve really seen it all now!”

My body was already screaming that it was at its limit.

Of course it was.

He was not originally the type of person to stick his neck out for such dangerous work.

A life of living day to day.

A mercenary’s life was always like that, and he had never once been ashamed of such a life.

It was an ordinary life. Yes, an ordinary life so damn dull it was sickening!

A life far removed from life-or-death struggles!

But that didn't mean he wanted to live a shameful life as an adult!

There was no way he could abandon children the age of his own and run away!!

The captain gritted his teeth and swung his sword.

The tip of his blade trembled, but it wasn’t impossible to slice through the snakes.

“Duck for a second!”

At the shout from above his head, he ducked his body.

His exhaustion-worn body creaked, but he narrowly managed to avoid a vital spot.

Thwack!

An arrow of ice flew and pierced the snake’s torso, embedding itself fiercely in the ground.

So he wasn't an Academy student for nothing.

However, Theo’s mana was not infinite, and he couldn't use his magic solely to check the rear.

If he could have, he would have moved to the back with Laurel from the start.

The fact that he hadn't meant there was magic he needed to use at the front.

“I can only provide cover five times at most, so please be careful!”

“Thanks! Theo!”

The captain shouted and swung his sword once more.

Five more chances to have his life saved. Sweat beaded on his palms.

He could feel death squirming at his feet. As a long-time mercenary, he knew it instinctively.

I don’t want to die.

But there is something more frightening than death.

“I cannot become a shameful adult!”

The man shouted as if to reaffirm his own resolve.

* * *

“Peep!”

At the sensation of my cheek being poked, I sharpened my focus.

“Thanks, Lou.”

I’ll give you some dried sweet potatoes when we get back, I whispered softly, then once again pierced the head of a snake the mercenary captain hadn’t spotted.

While the mercenary captain was fighting his own battle to protect Laurel at the rear, over here, Cecilia and Lilia’s battle was unfolding.

“Unni!”

With Lilia’s shout, flames erupted from within the basilisk’s mouth, and black smoke billowed up.

While the basilisk was disoriented, Cecilia stabbed its body with her rapier.

Unlike magical attacks, which were ineffective unless they were on the level of great magic, physical attacks worked reasonably well.

Even so, it was still so damn hard it was like hitting a wall!

In the end, with a cracking sound, Cecilia’s rapier shattered into pieces.

The basilisk did not miss the moment the human attacking it became defenseless.

Just as it opened its massive mouth towards Cecilia, attempting to swallow her whole along with the space around her!

Thwack!

The sound of a fist hitting a wall rang out. Lilia had struck first, hitting the basilisk.

It seemed Lilia was ready to attack.

I hadn't even realized it, but beads of sweat had formed on the tip of my chin.

The heat was enough to make one’s mind go blank, yet Cecilia and Lilia paid it no mind and beat the basilisk like mad.

“At this point, I almost feel sorry for the basilisk.”

I muttered quietly amidst the stinging heat.

“Kyaaaaaak!!!”

The basilisk roared as if telling the snakes to do something.

This time, I created two arrows and fired them at once.

With my remaining mana, I could use magic just one more time.

If I scraped the very bottom, I might just barely manage three times.

But any more than that, and it would cause problems for the magic I was preparing.

“……”

If I fail, not only me, but four others will be in danger.

My breathing became a little ragged at that fact.

It’s scary. The fact that people’s lives depended on my hands was so scary.

I was just a sucker who enjoyed playing games, yet I was faced with life-or-death battles time and again.

If it were only my own life on the line, the burden would be less, but this damned world was pressing me to save countless other lives as well.

“Pyak!”

《Calm down, Theo.》

“…I was never excited.”

I stomped my foot lightly, crushing the fear that was climbing up my body.

I raised the corners of my lips. It felt as though smiling in situations like this had somehow become a habit.

I constructed the formula, mobilizing all the knowledge I had accumulated about this world.

If a problem arose in the flow of mana, I straightened it out as soon as I saw it.

But even so, the magic might still fail.

It felt like walking a tightrope.

《I will organize the conflicting formulas. Do not worry about the magic failing.》

“I’m counting on you.”

“Peep peep!”

It was as if Lou was shouting, ‘I’ll help too!’

As a light spirit, he would be able to assist with magic just like Albedo.

However, Albedo spoke to Lou as if reprimanding him.

《Lou, you will not help. It will cause a conflict.》

At Albedo's words, Lou flapped his wings in discontent before remembering he had another role and waited quietly for his moment.

While the demon and the spirit came to their own sort of agreement, I fired a final two ice arrows, dispatching two snakes that were targeting Laurel.

I ceased using the wind magic that had kept me afloat, slowly descended to the ground, and looked up at the basilisk.

“It’s so damn big.”

The basilisk didn't even pay any attention to me.

To the giant snake, the only insignificant creatures that mattered were the two humans holding onto it and another human who was interfering with its efforts to kill the one holding its tail.

It didn't have the luxury to care about a single human who looked like a magician when the annoying bugs right in front of it just wouldn't die.

Shwiiiiik─

The basilisk was a monster, but it knew it was the natural enemy of magicians.

The mana gathered by humans was threatening, but its own sturdy skin could withstand it as much as needed.

It was an arrogant but wise judgment.

That is, if its opponent hadn't been ‘Theo Lisitoel,’ a human who had already confirmed how to exploit a monster's sturdy skin using a ‘fissure.’

“Freeze!”

A single strike, into which I poured all my mana, came crashing down toward the basilisk.

“Kaaaaaaak!!!”

The basilisk’s pained cry echoed through the passage.

* * *

Unlike Laurel-sunbae, Lilia-sunbae was a magical girl who mainly used magic.

The only person who could endure the basilisk’s strength and hold onto its tail was Laurel-sunbae. And Laurel-sunbae's cover was the mercenary captain’s job.

In that case, we had to face the basilisk with two magicians capable of physical attacks and one swordsman who had poured everything into physical attack power.

A monster that held an absolute defensive advantage against magicians.

‘This difficulty is insane.’

It was basically no different from being pushed to my death.

If this were a game, I would have said the party composition sucks and tried again, but this was reality.

And then I remembered how I dealt with the Geothermal Hound during the Flowering Festival.

As it happened, Lilia-sunbae primarily handled fire magic, and I used ice magic as my main—

“Kuaaaack!!!!”

This time, a scream that sounded just like a human’s echoed from the basilisk.

My body momentarily staggered from the roar that coursed through its skin.

I tried to forcibly brace myself as my body was pushed back, but in the end, the strength left my legs and I plopped down.

“Cough.”

With a cough, something hot gushed out from within me.

Wiping the blood from my mouth, I swallowed what still remained.

Lou, perched on my shoulder, shed tears drop by drop and caressed my cheek with his wings over and over, and the pain subsided slightly.

The basilisk was still screaming and thrashing in pain.

Pouring mana onto its skin, which was heated to the extreme, and then bombarding it with large-scale cold magic with Albedo’s help, even a hide as tough as that was bound to crack.

“Push it!”

Laurel-sunbae, having confirmed the clear turn of events, shouted fiercely.

Lilia-sunbae also didn’t miss the opening and threw flames.

Amidst the barrage of attacks, the basilisk’s massive body twisted and shook.

“Lou, please.”

At Theo's cry, Lou flew up into the sky.

Paaat!

A dazzling light burst from Lou’s wings.

At the sudden visual attack, the basilisk squeezed its eyes shut and moved its body violently.

“Uaaack!”

The resistance was so fierce that Laurel-sunbae’s body, which had been holding the tail from behind, flapped about helplessly.

It seemed even Laurel-sunbae, who boasted the strongest physical power, was running out of strength.

“Sunbae, you can let go now!”

The moment Laurel-sunbae promptly let go at my shout, her body floated up.

Let’s wring out my mana!

Thanks to Lou, as I wrung out my mana in a stable state, I felt something gush up once more.

“Sunbae! I’m counting on you!!”

I created a gust of wind with a circle of wind behind them.

I confirmed that Laurel-sunbae caught the captain’s body, which had been lifted by the wind.

I faced the frenzied basilisk head-on.

“Cecilia-sunbae!!”

At my shout, Cecilia-sunbae, who had been concentrating mana into her sword, swung it.

A single swing.

The flower petals of pure white aura bloomed from within.

The aura, which bloomed like a flower, shot up rapidly and surged toward the heavily cracked skin of the basilisk.

“Kyaaaaaaaaak!!!!!”

The basilisk’s roar burst out.

Its huge body staggered, and the surroundings vibrated.

It was its final, desperate struggle to survive. Everyone here knew that and prepared for the final blow.

Thud!

Finally, the basilisk collapsed and fell to the ground.

Soon after, its body went limp, and the snakes that had been rampaging madly following the basilisk’s rage also began to foam at the mouth and die off at some point.

Cecilia-sunbae, catching her breath, approached the basilisk and stabbed its neck with her rapier.

There was not the slightest twitch from the basilisk’s body.

Cecilia-sunbae quietly sheathed her sword.

Only a giant carcass remained on the ground, and the endless monstrous screams were heard no more.

In the silence, only the sound of harsh, ragged breathing was distinct.

“It’s over….”

It was finally over.

At that fact, the strength drained from my body, and I lay down on the floor.

“Haha….”

It ended without anyone dying. The basilisk was dead.

At that fact, a wave of relief washed over me.

“Old man, are you crying?!”

A laugh escaped me at Laurel-sunbae’s voice, which seemed to be teasing the mercenary captain.

Ah, it’s really over.