Chapter 162: Basilisk [1]

"Are they seriously expecting us to kill that thing?! This academy is freaking crazy!"

Solenne ran as fast as her legs could carry her, with Elise keeping pace beside her as another roar echoed through the forest behind them.

The ground shook, but she didn’t dare look back, especially after seeing what that thing had done to everyone else.

Solenne had been running ever since her party encountered the Basilisk Tyrant.

Fighting had never been her specialty, so the moment that enormous creature appeared, she had been perfectly content with turning around and getting as far away from it as possible.

Her party apparently hadn’t been fast enough.

The Basilisk had destroyed their formation before they could properly retreat, forcing her teammates’ identification seals to activate one after another until Solenne was the only one left.

She had managed to escape before the creature could do the same to her, only to run into Elise shortly afterward.

And now the damn thing was chasing both of them.

"Why is it still following us?!" Solenne shouted.

"Maybe because you keep screaming!"

"I’m screaming because it’s following us!"

Another crash came from behind them as the Basilisk forced its way through the trees, and Solenne immediately picked up her pace.

"Fuck this test!"

Roooooaaooar——!

"There it is again!" Solenne shouted. "It’s hurting my fucking ears!"

"I can hear it!"

"Then run faster!"

"I am running faster!"

A loud crash came from behind them as several trees burst under the Basilisk’s weight.

Solenne finally risked looking over her shoulder and immediately wished she hadn’t, because the enormous creature was still charging after them, knocking trees aside without even slowing down.

"It’s still following us!"

"Yes, Solenne. That’s generally what happens when something is chasing you!"

"You attacked it!"

"It was already trying to kill us!"

"And then you made it angry!"

Elise looked offended. "It was already angry!"

Another impact shook the forest.

Solenne nearly lost her footing as the ground shifted, but Elise caught her arm before she could fall and pulled her forward without slowing down.

Behind them, a tremendous shadow passed between the trees before another roar erupted, much closer than the last.

Solenne’s face paled.

"E-Elise..."

"I know..."

"...No, I mean it’s getting closer."

"I know!"

"So do something!"

Elise clicked her tongue before abruptly releasing Solenne and turning around.

Mana immediately gathered around her body, brilliant arcs of lightning crawling along her arms as she planted her feet into the ground and stared toward the approaching Basilisk.

Solenne stopped several meters ahead and spun around.

"What are you doing?!"

"You just told me to do something!"

"I meant something that doesn’t involve fighting it!"

"Well, I’m open to suggestions!"

The trees ahead of them exploded apart.

The Basilisk Tyrant emerged through the debris with enough force to shake the ground, its enormous body covered in thick scales that were already scorched and damaged from the attacks it had endured earlier.

Those wounds would have been enough to cripple an ordinary monster, but the Basilisk barely seemed to care as it lowered its massive head toward the two students standing in its path.

Elise raised one hand as lightning gathered around her fingers, but Solenne’s attention immediately shifted toward the Basilisk when mana began building inside its mouth again.

The glow between its jaws grew brighter by the second, and after what had happened the last time it used that attack, Solenne had no intention of standing anywhere near its path.

"Elise, it’s doing it again!"

"I see it!"

"Elise!"

"Fulmen!"

Lightning shot from Elise’s hand just as the Basilisk opened its jaws, striking the side of its head before it could properly release the attack.

Its head jerked sideways, sending the blast across the forest instead, where it tore through several trees.

The Basilisk roared and stumbled to the side.

"Okay!" Solenne shouted. "That actually worked!"

"Don’t sound so surprised!"

"I’ve seen what that thing can take!"

Elise was already preparing another spell before the Basilisk had completely recovered.

Several bolts of lightning formed around her and shot toward the damaged portions of its body, striking the exposed cracks and damaged scales left behind by the students who had fought it earlier, but even after several direct hits, the creature merely lowered itself and continued forward.

"Why won’t it go down?!"

"It’s already injured!" Elise shouted back. "We just have to keep hitting the damaged parts!"

"We?"

"Yes, we!"

Solenne stared at her.

"Elise, look at me."

"What?!"

"Do I look like someone who should be fighting that?"

Crash——!

The Basilisk charged before Elise could answer, forcing both of them to split in opposite directions as its enormous body passed between them.

Solenne nearly tripped trying to avoid its tail, while Elise used the opening to fire another bolt into its side, only for the attack to scatter across its scales without doing nearly as much damage as she wanted.

Elise clicked her tongue.

The armor was the problem.

The students who had encountered the Basilisk before them had already managed to damage several sections of its body, but most of its scales were still intact, and Elise’s lightning wasn’t penetrating deeply enough whenever she struck anywhere else.

If she wanted to bring it down, she needed to keep attacking the existing wounds rather than wasting mana trying to break through another section.

"Solenne!"

"What?!"

"Can you distract it?"

Solenne looked at the Basilisk, then back at Elise.

"Can I what?!"

"Just for a few seconds!"

"Why would you ask me that?!"

"Because there’s nobody else here!"

"That doesn’t make me qualified!"

The Basilisk turned toward Elise again, but Solenne forced herself to stop running and raised both hands.

She wasn’t confident enough to hurt something that large, but hurting it wasn’t what Elise had asked her to do.

Magic circles formed in front of Solenne.

"Fine! But if my seal activates because of this, I’m blaming you!"

"You can blame me after the exam!"

Before she could release anything, however, voices suddenly echoed through the forest.

"Protect the Chairman’s daughter!"

Spells came flying from between the trees before she could even figure out who had shouted, striking the Basilisk from different directions, forcing the creature to turn away from Solenne as explosions covered its armored body.

Students began emerging from the surrounding forest soon after.

"Lady Solenne, get behind us!"

"We’ll handle this!"

"Don’t let that thing anywhere near the Vernet heiress!"

Solenne stared at them in disbelief.

There had to be more than a dozen students rushing toward them, and judging from how quickly several of them positioned themselves between her and the Basilisk, they had apparently decided that protecting her was suddenly the most important objective in the entire examination.

"You don’t have to protect me!" Solenne shouted. "Just attack the damn thing!"

"Yes, Lady Solenne!"

"Anything for Lady Solenne!"

"...That’s not what I meant."

Then someone noticed Elise.

"Wait... Lady Elise is here too!"

Several heads immediately turned.

Elise frowned. "Why are you looking at me?"

Whatever dignity remained in the situation disappeared.

"Protect the magic department’s jewel!"

"Don’t let the Basilisk touch Lady Elise!"

"Lady Elise, I’ll protect you!"

Another student shoved past him.

"Get out of the way, I’ll protect Lady Elise!"

"...."

The Basilisk roared and charged directly toward the gathering students, but instead of scattering, an unreasonable number of them immediately began constructing barriers.

Several layers of defensive magic appeared in front of Elise at once, overlapping so heavily that even Solenne wasn’t sure whether the students were cooperating or competing to see whose barrier Elise would notice first.

"Hold the line!"

"For Lady Elise!"

"For Lady Solenne!"

"For the Magic Department!"

"For love!"

"...."

Solenne slowly lowered the hand she had been preparing to cast with.

"...."

She looked at Elise.

"...."

Elise looked back at her.

Another barrage of spells flew over their heads and crashed into the Basilisk, followed by several students screaming their names as though they were charging into a war.

Solenne stared for another moment before speaking.

"...I think most of yours are here because you’re pretty."

"...."

"Lady Elise, I’ve got this—"

"No, you don’t!"

The student was immediately sent flying. His identification seal activated before he hit the ground, removing him from the examination in a flash of light.