Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Slaying the Basilisk
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Mr. Thompson said,
“I’ll follow your lead.”
He added under his breath, ‘Whichever choice it is, the number one guy will make a better call than me.’
Phew... yeah, let’s think this through calmly.
I had two options.
One: storm out the exit with those pissed-off guys right now.
Not a bad choice. Sure, there’d be regrets aplenty, but at least my personal safety would be secure.
No gains, but no losses either.
Of course, that hinged on the premise that Aldeon wouldn’t pull any shit on the mages who left.
Two: play along with what these guys want for now.
There were risks—unknown future demands and turning into a criminal—but the payoff could be huge.
I’d clear Lena’s request while officially joining the Aldeon Magic Tower and learning light magic.
Learning light magic aligned perfectly with my build, too.
‘...Do it right, and I might even snag [Essence of Light].’
Above all, there was no easy shortcut through [Devil Fantasy].
Coldly weighing the situation, the conclusion came surprisingly fast.
“I’ll stay.”
“...You serious, number one? You’ve thought this through? This is straight-up illegal.”
Mr. Thompson tried to shake my resolve, but I was already set.
I was a wanted man anyway—what’s a little illegality on top of that?
“If you don’t wanna stay, go ahead and leave now. I won’t stop you.”
“...Tougher guy than you look, huh?”
“...I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Mr. Thompson chuckled and lined up beside me.
“You’re not going?”
“I’m a man too. A big one, at that.”
I had no clue why this chatty old guy was following my lead.
But whatever... not my problem.
He’d survived every evaluation to make it this far, so he surely had his reasons.
Either way, what I needed to focus on now was what came next.
Thud!
“Only this many left, huh...”
After the door slammed shut, I glanced around at Dershion’s words. About sixty percent of the eighty had bailed from the tower.
Counting heads, that left thirty-two, including me and Mr. Thompson.
“Perfect number.”
Dershion eyed us standing in a straight line, then laid out the rules for this evaluation.
Boiled down to the essentials... each team got one demon assigned, two-hour time limit, and the only pass condition was survival.
Sure, “survival” sounded nice, but it basically meant kill them—you couldn’t just run for two hours straight.
Anyway.
The evaluation setup had iron cages scattered at intervals in the lobby, each holding a team and their demon, with everything kicking off simultaneously.
Clank! Creeeak—.
The locks disengaged, and the cage doors creaked open slowly.
Shiiik!
Our assigned demon was this bastard.
[Demon Basilisk].
A snake-shaped demon stretching ten meters long, wrapped in an iron-like hide, with fangs that delivered a potent paralyzing venom on a single bite.
“Number one... am I the only one tensing up here?”
“I’m the type who stays calm the more dangerous it gets.”
“Damn, aren’t you special...”
“Let’s stick to the plan.”
I’d already briefed Mr. Thompson on every detail before the cage opened.
Zzzap!
I calmly wrapped my body in electricity and dropped into a combat stance.
The demon basilisk burst from the cage, slithering across the floor at blinding speed.
“Shiiiik—!”
Dershion had said these demons hadn’t eaten in over a month... looked like the truth.
It drooled like a possessed beast, churning out filthy speed.
Kieee!
It closed in in an instant and gaped its jaws right in my face.
That was when I made my move.
Thump...!
-Entering awakening state.
Flash!
The moment I registered the awakening kicking in, I twisted my shoulder and hurled my body sideways.
Nigh-acrobatic, but I was used to scraps like this by now.
Crunch!
The thing chomped empty air and shot past me.
‘Just don’t get bitten.’
A demon basilisk had nothing scary about it if you dodged the fangs.
The armor-like hide just made it hard to kill, that’s all.
Seizing the gap while momentum carried it forward, I widened the distance, touched down at a good spot, and waited.
The image I conjured: flames.
On the level of Kayla’s explosion spell.
Flaaash!
The magic circle etched into the floor spat red light once before vanishing, but the spell hadn’t failed.
Realizing it had lost its prey in that split second, the beast whipped around and roared at me.
“Kieeeeak—!”
Staring into that gaping maw made me itch to shove holy water down its throat.
It’d thrash like a dance, that much was sure.
But holy water wasn’t cheap, and I didn’t have the luxury to waste it.
Second best: orbs infused with fire, water, and earth, unleashed in a barrage.
Whoooosh—!
Having hit three-circle not long ago, even my go-to attacks had evolved.
Two orbs per cast now, propelled by electricity for triple the speed.
And above all, I wasn’t throwing them by hand anymore—I was firing them from the [Holy Staff].
The result?
Boom! Bang! Boom boom!
Elemental orbs slamming home without respite.
A three-piece combo of scorching heat, crushing weight, and electric jolt.
“Kiek...!”
The thing twisted its head, moaning in agony.
But even amid the onslaught, it was steadily closing the gap.
Sliick, sliiiick.
It trusted its defenses, pushing forward bit by bit.
A quick look at its hide showed scorch marks, but no real damage.
‘...Not gonna cut it, huh.’
Still, I had one shot left.
I kept swinging the staff to lure it while retreating farther back.
My hidden ace triggered the moment it reached my original position, inching forward.
Fwoooosh—!
The red magic circle reignited in full brilliance.
Boom! Roooar!
A crimson pillar of flame erupted from the floor like a landmine going off.
A trap spell inspired by Kayla’s explosion magic—fire-attribute variant.
Hell yeah, perfect for a reptile like this.
Sensing it was about to become snake kebab, the thing writhed like it was dancing.
“Kyaaak! Kaaaaak!”
I sensed victory in that instant.
Fuck, then the unimaginable happened.
Shiiiik—!
A single heated scale fragment shot from within the blazing pillar—straight at me.
Splat!
Before I could blink, it smashed into my right leg.
“Guhk!”
[Hard Ladder Armor] spared me the burns, but a numbing pain shot through.
Unable to bear it, I dropped to one knee without thinking.
Shit... fracture at minimum.
‘...Fuck, these new-gen basilisks do ranged attacks too?’
By then, the pillar died down, revealing the demon inside.
I lifted my head with faint hope, but of course.
The freakishly tough hide was pristine aside from hairline cracks.
Shlick! Shlick!
It flicked its tongue, pupils dilating into vertical slits.
As if saying it was its turn now.
‘...Gotta hit it with stronger magic.’
Even landing every spell hadn’t dropped it—my magic just lacked the raw firepower.
Put simply, not enough damage output.
A trauma for me.
Felt the same as when I couldn’t finish Baal as a zombie swordsman.
Of course, the situation was different now.
I wasn’t this fight’s pure DPS.
“Now!”
Boom!
At my bellow, Mr. Thompson leaped high into the air like he’d been waiting for this exact moment.
The sound hit like a cannon shot.
His thigh—head-sized on its own—bulged with muscle.
He’d spent his whole life before mana awakening on training... the jump power was monstrous.
“Thought I’d die waiting, number one.”
He met my eyes midair, smirked, and began casting.
Whoooosh!
Every scrap of mana he’d gathered in his body, plus all the ambient mana in the air, converted in one go.
-Ah, as you can see, I’m a big guy, right? So I use earth magic to make the most of it...
Mr. Thompson’s specialty, a self-developed earth-attribute variant spell to maximize his bulk.
You could kinda compare it to me wrapping myself in electricity.
Different results, though.
Ruuuuumble!
As he curled into a ball, his body morphed into a massive boulder.
Big enough to punch through steel at a glance.
The rock plummeted straight down onto the basilisk’s head.
Shoooo.
Oh, right—he hadn’t named the technique yet, so I suggested one.
He didn’t get the reference, but nothing fit better.
Namely—.
“Hamburger.”
KABOOM—!
A middle-aged man’s gravelly voice boomed alongside a crash you’d only hear in a car wreck.
The impact shook the ground faintly.
Craaaack! Crunch...!
“Kiiiiieeeeeek—!”
The boulder-turned-uncle crushed the basilisk’s cracked body like a hydraulic press.
Viscous purple blood sprayed everywhere.
Splaaaash!
Drip drip!
The head-exploded demon basilisk crumbled to gray ash soon after.
“Hahaha! This snake punk was nothin’.”
Mr. Thompson canceled the spell and strode over with a hearty laugh.
“Ah, Mr. Thompson. Good work...”
That was when.
My gaze shifted to behind him.
...Guess I got too tunnel-visioned on our fight.
Only now spotting this clusterfuck.
“Hm? Number one, what’s up?”
Sensing my stare, he turned with a puzzled look.
“...Ah.”
He went speechless too.
“Gaaaaah!”
“Stop! I said stooop—!”
“P-Please, somebody...!”
Unlike our victory, a nightmare unfolded behind us.
A slaughterfest courtesy of the demons.
Tock, rollll...
Something tumbled from afar and bumped my foot.
A human head.
Eyes shut tight, I pondered.
With over a dozen demons still rampaging and my leg busted, one way to turn this around.
Exactly one.
‘...If teaming with Mr. Thompson counts as a party.’
And if ‘that system’ existed here too... it just might work.
That was my judgment.
Whooo.
A mysterious energy wafted from the basilisk’s gray ashes.
It sank into my arm, my leg, my body.
Whoooosh!
For a split second, my body flashed with green light.
“...Y-You?”
I stood right up like nothing happened.
Stretching to check my condition.
Crack, craaack.
No issues.
I’d been half-dead moments ago—now fatigue gone, mind sharp, vitality surging.
This unidentified phenomenon meant one thing.
“Your leg was clearly... how the hell?”
“Level up.”
Demons were the only things classified as ‘monsters’ in the game.
I’d taken down my first one since entering this world, and the reward was a level up.
And this would be the turning point for the reversal.