Ch.58Basilisk Hunt (1)

In the past, a certain variant basilisk was the “Master of the Otherworld” ruling a small forest otherworld.

It possessed special privileges and powers over the otherworld’s unique environment, and furthermore, received enhancements from the otherworld’s magical energy, making it more powerful than ordinary specimens.

This essentially proved that this variant basilisk was the apex predator in this otherworld environment. For an abandoned baby variant basilisk, reaching such a position was truly groundbreaking.

And this variant basilisk, a creature that should normally inhabit swamps or wetlands, had adapted to the forest environment and was living as the Master of the Otherworld, when….

【Oh my. Hello, lizard friend.】

One day, the basilisk, by chance… or perhaps due to someone’s mischief, encountered a being whose existence it could never have conceived with its tiny brain.

[….G-growl!]

At first glance, the creature had a human form with striking long purple hair.

The flowing outer shell (dress) it wore was delicate, unlike the stiff clothing worn by humans the basilisk had encountered before. Though difficult to determine its exact appearance, it seemed closer to a female.

But the reason the basilisk trembled in fear at the sight of this seemingly harmless human—one that appeared far from combat-capable and similar to humans it had encountered before—was….

Different, something was different. This might appear to be just one of those small, strange species (humans) occasionally seen, but the basilisk was truly tense because of the unknown entity hiding beneath this skin.

The basilisk, the “Master of the Otherworld” variant basilisk, was so tense in the presence of this powerful being that it could barely breathe.

The basilisk’s sharp wild instincts allowed it to notice that while this being appeared human on the surface, it was actually a hideous and evil monster hiding something far more terrible beneath its skin.

And almost simultaneously with this realization, the basilisk could see various overlapping forms from her.

Maggots writhing inside eyeballs, flies rubbing their front legs and buzzing maliciously, a bull raising its horns, a spider making clicking sounds and strange cries, even a rotting, decaying human corpse.

The sight of something not of this world forcibly wearing that skin and imitating someone was enough to completely shake the basilisk’s mind.

A monster beyond self, a demon transcending cognition. Like someone playing a mythological TRPG who loses their sanity after seeing something strange, the basilisk’s tiny brain became completely filled with fear of the being before it.

【If you stay here…. I’ll kill you?】

And the moment “it” conveyed its intention to the basilisk.

Upon hearing “its” voice piercing and contaminating its brain, the basilisk completely lost its reason and began to flee without looking back, trying to escape “its” sight.

Somehow, somehow it had to get away from that thing.

Following this intuition born from faint reason and survival instinct, the basilisk fled without looking back, and went even further by causing havoc.

It completely destroyed a werewolf village that stood in what it considered the safest escape route, and hunted large predators blocking its path, unintentionally collapsing the balanced ecosystem.

In this process, its connection to the deepest part of the otherworld was severed, stripping it of its “Master of the Otherworld” position, and as a bonus, it destroyed the forest ecosystem which, while not large, was certainly not small either.

And on this day too, the basilisk was sprinting through the forest, desperately trying to get as far away as possible with all its might.

A runaway locomotive driven not by any specific purpose but by the primal desire to survive.

Following this path, the basilisk was moving close to entering human territory when suddenly, a fragrant smell entered its nostrils.

The rich aroma of meat left abandoned, slightly rotting and aging. Though it had eaten whatever it could while fleeing frantically, the basilisk was still hungry, and this scent was too enticing to resist.

The basilisk species consumes enormous energy producing toxins—acidic fluid in this specimen’s case—and requires a tremendous amount of food to maintain and move its muscular body exceeding 10 meters in length.

But in the current situation, did the basilisk have time to leisurely tear into prey?

Nevertheless, feeling hungry enough to affect its combat ability, the basilisk ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation of this smell and moved toward it.

[Grrrr….]

The source of this smell that drew the basilisk was the carcass of a stag, its belly emptied as if eaten by some carnivorous creature.

The nutritious, fatty innards had all been devoured, leaving only the truly tough meat barely remaining.

While slightly rotten by human standards, to the basilisk it smelled perfectly aged and delicious.

Of course, had the basilisk maintained even a little composure, it might have noticed some strange-colored liquid smeared on the half-eaten deer carcass.

But the starving basilisk, already not in its right mind, lacked the reason to pay attention to such trivial matters, and so it opened its maw and stepped forward without suspicion to devour this attractive prey, and….

-Thud—BOOM!!

At that moment, the ground near the deer carcass suddenly collapsed downward, revealing a pit large enough to contain the basilisk’s entire body.

A pit trap cleverly concealed by experienced hunters. This pit, sized to accommodate the basilisk’s 10-meter-plus bulk, was filled with sharpened wooden stakes pointing upward.

Of course, under normal circumstances, wooden stakes wouldn’t penetrate the basilisk’s armor-like scales and muscles, which is why they were targeting the relatively softer and less durable belly.

Adding to this was the pressure of gravity—the basilisk’s own massive weight driving it onto the stakes—and each stake tip was coated with deadly poison.

The basilisk, exposed defenseless to this deliberately prepared pit trap, was about to fall and be impaled, but…

Human malice didn’t end there.

-Click—WHOOSH!!!

Giant crossbows—ballistas—cleverly hidden and camouflaged in the treetops, triggered by the pit trap’s activation, fired massive arrows more like stakes.

Twenty ballistas in total, normally used only for hunting large magical beasts.

The power of these ballistas, made as disposable items with no concern for durability, was extremely formidable.

Moreover, each massive arrow was tipped with spearhead-sized arrowheads purchased with personal fortunes, and like the wooden stakes, coated with synthetic magical poison.

Each trap was sufficient to be effective against mid-level magical beasts, and even a basilisk would not be an exception, but…

If there was one variable, it was that this basilisk was by no means an ordinary specimen.

[■■■■■■■■■─!!!]

What burst from the basilisk’s mouth was a sound wave imbued with magical power, giving it physical force, and simultaneously, what erupted from its body—specifically its back—was magical energy of overwhelming density.

-─BOOOOOOM!!!

These opposing forces erupted explosively with a tremendous boom. The shock wave-like sound pulverized the wooden stakes below, while the magical energy discharged from its back deflected the incoming ballista bolts.

Of course, exerting such powerful force didn’t come without cost to the basilisk; by crudely discharging magical energy from its back, it consumed about half of its internal magical power.

“….Trap failed. We’ll engage directly.”

“Yes, sir!”

Three mid-level hunters who had been watching from a distance using magical means immediately rushed forward after recognizing the failure of their trap.

This was the true beginning of the “basilisk hunt.”