Sword Saint's Reincarnation
Book 2 Chapter 22: The Basilisk (3)

Rylan stared at the System windows in front of him with surprise. His experience allowed him to instantly tell what had happened.

It got rid of the condition in exchange for a weaker version of the spell.

If things were so simple, it would have done so from the start. But now that it had realized that its life was at serious risk, the Basilisk pulled out its trump card. Petrifying Gaze was an ability that effectively put Rylan on a timer. It was also something that Gerard hadn’t talked about when they had discussed Basilisks. Was it an ability that usually belonged only to older specimens? Or was this variation unique to this Boss? In the end, it didn’t matter.

If I look into its eyes, I’ll probably get petrified much faster. But it doesn’t need me to do that anymore.

He slightly frowned as he began to run, keeping his eyes on the monster’s neck. Still, it would take one hundred seconds under the spell for him to be petrified. All he needed to do was kill the Basilisk before those seconds were up. His mana roared within his body, wrapping itself around it in the shape of a blue hue. The energy did the same to Rylan’s blade. It was the precursor to Tempest Break. At the same time, he lowered his center of gravity, his body tensing up like a taut bowstring.

At that moment, he widened his eyes slightly. The Boss was smiling again. A bad feeling crept up within him. He needed to end this now.

The Basilisk opened its mouth and spewed out more green smoke. This time, however, it aimed straight down. At the same time, Rylan shot forward at blinding speed. The mana coating his blade extended into an ethereal sword, and the mana within him crackled like lightning during a storm. To Rylan’s senses, which had reached their current pinnacle, it was as if time had slowed down. He watched the green smoke crash against the ground and rise in the shape of a wall that buried the Basilisk under it. Through it, he could still feel the Basilisk’s gaze fixed on him.

A fraction of a second later, he got within three meters of the Boss, less than ten centimeters away from the smoke that continued to crawl toward him. His mind raced. If he allowed the smoke to touch the sword, would it be able to destroy it as it had done to the trees and grass? His current self still needed an actual sword to express his powers, unlike Roland. His spells weren’t powerful enough yet to pierce through the Boss’ defenses on their own. He made a decision in a split second.

Rylan sank his feet into the ground, upturning the earth, and swung his sword as strong as he could. His mana roared around him. The ethereal blade forced the smoke to part, then reached the Basilisk’s underbelly. The sharp mana sliced straight through its hide and created a large gash. However, because he had been forced to slow down, the wound wasn’t deep enough to kill the monster. The smoke dissipated due to the Sword Art’s sheer power and its ability to shift the atmosphere, but more of the poisonous fog didn’t stop coming out of the Boss’ maw, even as blood gushed out of it.

Left with no other choice, Rylan jumped backward with Drifting, then used Snowfall to float in the air, a few meters above the Basilisk itself. Just like before, it aimed its mouth straight down while keeping its eyes fixed on him. Smoke flooded the clearing and covered virtually all of its ground in moments. Due to the sheer volume, the smoke started to rise slowly. The Basilisk’s plan was now clear.

It'll keep me from getting closer with the smoke until I’m petrified.

It was an effective strategy that took perfect advantage of the fact that he didn’t know how much damage the smoke could inflict on his body or his sword. Rylan clicked his tongue.

This is why monsters with intelligence are annoying.

To begin with, the Basilisk had high stats. The fact that it hadn’t fallen when hit by Tempest Break was evidence of this, even if the technique wasn’t complete without Aura. On top of this, it had the poisonous smoke and Petrifying Gaze, both powerful ranged options. If they failed, it could rely on its powerful body that was still holding itself together after several Sword Arts and spells. It was a dangerous enemy that would have easily dealt with anyone Rylan had faced in this life.

But his current self could do the same.

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Rylan let out a breath as the smoke roiled across the earth and reached the intact trees in the distance, which crumbled under their own weight under the fog’s slightest touch. An aura of death spread throughout the heart of the Dungeon, but none of that mattered to him. Only the enemy in front of him existed.

The Basilisk was now completely covered in its own poisonous smoke. It moved its head around to fill in the gaps that occurred naturally. Under the fog, two yellow eyes shone brightly, brimming with bloodthirst. Rylan only shook his head.

“You’re forgetting someone, snake.”

The Basilisk flinched at his words, as if it could understand them. He grinned and looked up. A moment later, enormous blades of wind descended like guillotines. The spell dug into the Basilisk’s wounds, then veritably exploded in a burst of raging currents. The green smoke was immediately thrown into disarray, but the winds kept it from reaching Rylan.

Gerard’s winds created a minute gap in the smoke curtain as they kept trying to push it aside faster than the Basilisk could spew more of it. At the same time, a System notification appeared on the edge of Rylan’s vision.

[You now have five stacks of Petrification. Partial effects will be applied.]

He could feel his muscles growing more rigid. No, even his blood was changing. It was as if his entire body were turning into stone. He narrowed his eyes. It was an annoying ability, but that didn’t mean he was out of options.

I need to destroy its eyes.

The moment he succeeded, it would be the end of the battle. With Gerard’s assistance, he could do it.

Rylan decisively shot forward, stepping on the air itself.

***

The beast kept its eyes on the swordsman as it desperately struggled to keep up with the Mage’s casting. Spells bombarded it from above and forced its Miasma aside. Its entire body hurt. The pain from the gaping slash wounds and several large burns hindered its thoughts and movements. The injury that hurt the most was the one on its back, where the swordsman had hit it with that unknown Skill. The Mage was powerful, but the swordsman was the most troublesome one by far.

Why was this happening? How could such a human exist?

From birth, it had dominated the forest. There were enemies that surpassed it in Strength and Agility, but none had its cunning. In the short time it’d had to grow, it had become powerful enough to be acknowledged as the ruler of this stretch of the forest. The only thing limiting its growth and conquest was the city at the edge of the forest’s limits.

The beast had seen how the humans had butchered its servants for body parts and battle experience. It had witnessed how they encroached on the forest, unsatisfied with what they already had. It was different from how the forest’s beasts killed each other to survive or to defend themselves.

Humans were an evil that overruled the laws of nature.

As such, it had naturally been glad when humans had willingly stepped into the domain that the System had given it. Finally, the beast would have an opportunity to retaliate. It would be the beginning of its tale to become even more than this.

So what was this?

The beast’s gaze shook as the swordsman lowered his center of gravity. It could feel a great amount of mana flowing through the human’s small frame, comparable to the mana the beast itself could wield. It desperately spewed more Miasma towards him, but its heart skipped a beat once the mana focused on the blade’s edge.

Simultaneously, strong winds fell from above, pushing the Miasma away as if it were a joke. This battle had been the first time the beast had resented the nature of its poison. It widened its eyes, pupils getting even narrower. All it needed was for the swordsman to slip up. One glance at its eyes, and it would only need to worry about the Mage above. Petrifying Gaze was not effective enough against an enemy like this. It needed the swordsman to look into its eyes.

But that moment never came.

The beast struggled, even as its Miasma was pushed away by the winds and as the swordsman’s unknown, powerful Skills landed on its body. Even as its scales were torn to shreds and its organs leaked out of its wounds, it didn’t stop fighting. Every time the blade touched it, it was pushed back, despite its size. It was as if the tens-of-meters-long body it had carefully nurtured was being mocked by the steel weapon that hurt more than anything else it had faced.

Since its Miasma had been crippled, its only choice was to use its tail and bites. But its efforts were fruitless. To begin with, there was no chance it would have been able to overcome the swordsman in a physical battle; this was something that it had realized at the start of the battle.

The seconds ticked by slowly, as if the world were trying to prolong its suffering. It resented Petrifying Gaze’s speed as bitterness filled its chest. Its blood kept flowing out of its wounds. Slowly, the world started to become darker. The beast knew what this meant.

At one point, the swordsman only floated in the air and looked at its neck.

“You were a powerful opponent,” the human said in a serious tone.

The beast never stopped staring at him, even as his blue mana wrapped itself around his body and weapon. The swordsman disappeared from its tired vision. It resisted the urge to smile bitterly.

Until the end, the human had never met its eyes.

Everything went dark.

***

Alice looked at the System notification floating in front of her, completely dumbfounded.

[Basilisk Wilds has been cleared. You are now free to leave the Dungeon.]

“…What the fuck?”

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