347 – Petrification

“AA, AaAAA, AAAAAaaaAaah!!”

The basilisk’s old man head howls as it rushes forwards.
Its sclera-less eyes glint a demonic red.
As I receive its gaze head-on, a chill runs through my body.

This is its [Petrifying Demon Eye].
I sense the flow of magic power through me and counter it.
There’s no change in my body.
The difference in our magic stats is so large that it not able to cause a status condition.
The basilisk’s eyes twitch in surprise.

I attempt to pin it down with the claw of my foreleg, but it spreads its wings to jump back and avoid me.

Th-the nerve of this chicken… As I thought, the effect of the magic enhancement on its speed can’t be overstated.
Though if I’m land a single hit, it shouldn’t be hard to inflict a fatal wound.

I spread my wings and use the [Wind Slash] skill to shoot a blade of wind.
As the blade of wind chases it down, I close the distance.

“Aaah!”

Once again, the basilisk springs to the left to dodge, avoiding the [Wind Slash].
I was running right behind the blade of wind, but kick off the ground to follow it.

This is it! Now I can nail its face in with all my strength.
The basilisk’s wrinkled face swells up.
Its skill list races through my mind as I work out what it’s about to do.
I’m sure of it, [Extreme Poison] is coming! I resist my impulse to dodge and hold my ground.

“Agyuoh!”

As expected, a black liquid scatters from its pursed lips.
T-that’s dirty.
Both its [Poison Sash] skill and its [Extreme Poison] skill are level 8… The poison is ridiculously deadly.
But if I step back here, I’ll have failed to catch it again.

“GruoOOh!”

I swing my arm wide, thrusting my forefoot through the venom.
I can’t see with my vision is blocked, but I feel my forefoot hit it.

Th-there’s a response.
I hit.
But it has [High Rest], so I need to force it to use up all its MP in order to drive it to the verge of death.
As a result I can’t afford to play around with it.
In order to cure the treant’s petrification, I need to inflict serious damage then, before it can heal, break its legs.

With a splash, the venom covers me.
There’s no helping it… I knew this would happen.
I have [Poison Resistance: Lv6], and my vitality is also high.
If it wants to share the pain, then it can bring it on.

I feel a sharp, burning pain from the scales it covers.
Oww… In particular, my face and my foreleg hurt, feeling as though they’re pierced by needles… I look towards my arm, then freeze in shock for a moment.

Taking advantage of the venom, the old man face has bitten into my arm.
Its countless teeth are sinking into my scales with a cracking sound.

Now that I think of it, the basilisk, or rather most likely its snake tail, had the [Heat Perception] skill… Even if the visibility drops, as long it has that head, my position will be revealed.
Accurately biting into my foreleg must have been easy.

Having stopped my blow with the side of its head, its face is caved in, creating a huge bruise, but it’s far from a fatal wound.
In the first place, it was only ever a reckless attack made while I couldn’t see.
It didn’t hit directly.

“Aaaa…”

A warm, sticky sensation runs up my arm.
The basilisk’s mouth has split open, and a forked bluish-purple tongue licks my arm.
My foreleg shivers with a sudden chill as my strength fades from it.

Th-this guy…! I try to pin it down with my foreleg, but can’t put enough power into it.
It had a skill called [Tongue of Defilement].
It seems it inflicts some kind of status condition.
I try to force its head into the ground with my other foreleg, but I notice the snake’s eyes starting down at me.

“Shaaah!”

The moment the snake hisses as it stretches out, a black light appears from its mouth.
I-is it [High Slow]!? It’s speed-reducing magic.
I haven’t got any good memories of that magic.
Struggling as I am with speed already, if I receive it, it’ll all be over.
I slam my tail into the basilisk, using the recoil to launch myself away from it, avoiding the [High Slow].

Th-that was dangerous… I managed to close the distance and yet had to open it up again myself… There was no helping it, right? For that matter, I did avoid it, right? I’ll check just to be sure…

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Species: Ouroboros
Condition: Poisoned, Reduced Resistance, Petrified (minor)
Lv: 96/125
HP: 2304/2517
MP: 2496/2520
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

I-it’s a parade of status conditions.
I’m glad I’m not slowed, but… Reduced resistance and petrified… Did it give the reduced resistance to me when it licked me? That’s all I can think of.
For that matter, the petrification must be the reason my foreleg is so sluggish…

I look down at my foreleg that it bit into.
The end has turned grey and hard, the hardened area slowly spreading upwards.

I-it got me!? Because of the petrification of my foreleg, my speed has collapsed.
I won’t be able to catch it any more.
That’s not all, but at this rate I’ll be entirely petrified.
In the first place, since I’m not in peak condition, there’s a chance the basilisk could pressure me in close quarters too.
As expected from one that managed to reach maximum level on this island.
It’s got quite the nasty fighting style.

Sh-should I cut it off and regenerate? No… Completely regenerating a foreleg would takea lot of time, magic power, and concentration.
The basilisk would certainly aim for that opening.
Wh-what do I do?

The next moment, I hear a rustling sound from behind.
I glance back to see the nightmare peeping from between trees.
It looks me in the eyes and jerks its head.
I get the feeling it’s telling me to go that way.
It then quickly disappears into the trees.

N-nightmare…! I thought for sure you’d hidden, but you were preparing a trap all this time? B-but, the difference in stats and physique between the basilisk and the nightmare is too big, so I don’t think threads will be able to do much… No, this is the nightmare that has trapped countless enemies we’re talking about.
It must have some sort of idea.

I glare at the basilisk as I slowly step back.
Perhaps pleased, it rushes towards me.
I keep stepping backwards towards where the nightmare was, then when I’m sure it’s chasing me, I turn and run.

When I glance back to check its position, I see treant-san, petrified in the corner of my vision.
Wait for me, treant-san, I’ll definitely do something about this…!