Back in the large hall, the four heroes Eliza, Lily, Gale, and Sylvia were confronted by the same monster Kris had managed to narrowly escape from no more than an hour before.

Though roughly ten meters separated the Saviors from the giant snake, it did not make the Basilisk seem any less frightening.

“It can’t be...a Basilisk here...that’s impossible…” (Lily)

Lily’s face was frozen in shock and muttered words that were trying to deny the reality in front of her.

Gale stood motionless with his mouth opening and closing repeatedly. The hands that gripped his axe were shaking violently.

Sylvia’s expression could no longer hide her disbelief at the sight in front of her. Furrowing her eyebrows, she did not remove her gaze from the monster of legend before them.

With no emotion evident on her face, Eliza stared at the Basilisk with her mouth agape.

Considering her species's history, this reaction could be considered logical. After all, this beast was of the same race of monsters as those who massacred her species centuries ago. It would not be unusual for Eliza to feel the same despair that her ancestors felt 500 years ago.

However, Eliza was not staring at the Basilisk itself, but the object protruding from its right eye.

A silvery sword, gleaming in the light shining off of the lone light crystal in the ceiling.

That’s...that’s…

Eliza knew the owner of that sword. It was the leader of the group.

The one who she did not want to believe had perished.

Her important friend, Kris Arondight.

If that’s Kris’s sword, then...then!

Before coming to her own conclusion, the Basilisk shouted at the heroes again.

{NOW I CAN HAVE MY VENGEANCE ON THAT MAN! I’LL MAKE HIM PAY FOR WHAT HE DID TO ME! I’LL KILL HIS FRIENDS FIRST AND THEN I’LL KILL HIM!} (Basilisk)

This statement confirmed Eliza’s beliefs.

Eliza got back to her feet and gave a piercing glare towards the large snake ahead of her.

No longer crying, her eyes were filled with a different emotion: rage.

“...Hey, snake.” (Eliza)

{WHAT IS IT DEMI-HUMAN? ARE YOU GOING TO BEG FOR YOUR LIFE LIKE A GOOD LITTLE PUPPY~?} (Basilisk)

Ignoring the Basilisk’s sarcastic reply, Eliza continued her words.

“The man you fought, what was his name?” (Eliza)

{I DID NOT ASK.} (Basilisk)

“Then, what happened to him?” (Eliza)

{I HAVE NO REASON TO TELL YOU THAT. YOU’LL BE DEAD SOON ENOUGH...JUST LIKE HIM.} (Basilisk)

“!!!” (Eliza)

At first Eliza’s face froze in shock, but then immediately distorted into an expression seething with hatred towards the giant snake. She directed her gaze at the floor, unable to bear the pain and anger any longer.

“...First, your kind killed my people...and now...you threaten...my friends…” (Eliza)

{HMMM?} (Basilisk)

The Basilisk did not understand the words Eliza spit out.

“...You’ve already taken...so much from me…” (Eliza)

Eliza gritted her teeth to indure the rage that started to burn wildly inside her. Her hands shook uncontrollably while her whole body trembled, ready to explode at any moment.

“...Never...again...I won’t...I won’t…” (Eliza)

Finally lifting her head to face the Basilisk, Eliza released all of her pain, sadness, hatred, and anger in one loud cry.

“I WON’T LET YOU TAKE ANYTHING ELSE FROM ME AGAINNNN!” (Eliza)

With those words as the signal, Eliza charged at the monster towering above her.

*

Owww...what...was that...

That was Kris's first thought after regaining consciousness.

A searing pain from his left side forced his groggy mind to wake up. Once his eyes could open, Kris surveyed his surroundings.

He found himself in a sitting position with his back propped against a wall. A large crater had formed on the portion of the wall his back leaned against.

Kris inferred this was caused by the impact of his body after the golem knocked him away.

Trying to move his body, a sudden surge of nausea overcame him and he violently vomited the contents of his stomach.

When he looked at his left side, he noticed the reason why he couldn’t move his left arm was because it had been crushed. He could also feel most of the ribs on his left side had fractured from the hit. Fortunately, his vital organs had been spared from any serious damage.

“...Could have been worse...I guess…” (Kris)

In the split-second before the golem’s punch connected with Kris, he used his father’s body strengthening ability.

Similar to how a Drake can partially transform their body into a dragon’s, Kris’s father taught him how to use mana to strengthen the body without going through the transformation process.

However, due to him being a half-Drake, he could not activate it for long periods of time, unlike the pure-blooded Sylvia who could use the ability for a few hours. In addition, while the body did become tougher and stronger, it did not provide the same amount of protection a dragon’s body with hardened scales could.

In spite of its shortcomings, Kris was thankful for having this technique.

After assessing the damage to his left side, Kris noticed his right side was almost completely undamaged. Moving the fingers of his only good hand, Kris realized the hilt of his once prized sword had remained with him.

The bladeless handle did not give Kris a peace of mind.

“Not that it matters having a sword with no blade...but what in the world is that thing made of?” (Kris)

Moving his gaze to the golem guarding the sarcophagus, Kris asked the most troubling question on his mind.

Breaking a sword made of mithril-iron alloy is no easy feat, yet the golem only needed to position its arm to intercept the sword for it to shatter on impact.

With that little effort, Kris inferred the materials used to construct the golem must somehow be stronger than even mithril.

It appeared the golem had not moved all that much from its previous position.

For some reason, it did not take advantage of its powerful attack to finish off the wounded hero. Instead, it merely turned its body to face Kris while keeping its master’s sarcophagus behind it.

Seems its only purpose is to defend...don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse…

Although Kris believed the golem would not attack him if he didn’t provoke it, without his sword, there were few offensive measures he could use.

Taking advantage of the golem’s inactivity, Kris drank his last remaining health potion.

Unfortunately, it did not have the ability to heal his left arm completely.

The weak potion made the pain bearable enough for Kris to move around, as well as accelerate the time needed for his body to repair his fractured bones and torn muscles. That was the extent to which it could help Kris. He would need a high-level healing spell from Lily in order to return his arm to normal.

After resting for a few more minutes, Kris rose to his feet with his back still supported by the wall.

He took one last look at the remains of his father’s congratulatory gift before angrily throwing the now worthless item away. He also removed the swords’ scabbards that were still attached to his back and tossed them aside as they would only become a hindrance at this point.

Using bandages and a large piece of his broken sword as a makeshift sling for his broken arm, Kris took the time to carefully check his remaining equipment. Luckily, the crumbled mithril gauntlet on his left arm was the only part of his armor that suffered any major damage from the punch. Except for a few scratches and indentations on the left side of his chest plate, his armor remained intact.

Looking for offensive weaponry, his expression turned grim.

Other than the set of throwing knives on his right thigh, his attacks were limited to his single-use magic attack, but he had no way of knowing if that would work against this kind of enemy.

Considering the state he was in, Kris also predicted the rebound of the attack could prove fatal. Therefore, he decided to only use it if left with no other options.

With his preparations completed, Kris turned his attention to the difficult opponent in front of him. In return, the golem lowered its oversized head so that its line of sight was directed at Kris.

The second clash between the hero and the guardian was about to begin.

****

“Eliza! Wait!” (Lily)

Lily’s scream came too late to register to the Demi-Human Savior consumed by rage as she dashed towards the giant Basilisk alone.

{AHAHAHA! DID I ANGER YOU? GREAT! COME FORTH TO YOUR DEATH~!} (Basilisk)

The Basilisk shouted in ecstasy and lunged at the White Wolf girl.

Eliza did not waver and continued her charge, letting out a ferocious growl.

“GRRRRRAAAAAA!” (Eliza)

As the two foes closed the distance on each other, Eliza brandished her short sword and leaped into the air while the Basilisk opened its mouth to fully receive its prey.

When Eliza was within reach, the Basilisk closed it mouth with a snap -

- only to realize its prey had escaped.

By the time Eliza perceived what had happened to her, she found herself dangling under someone's arm before being dropped onto the floor.

Bewildered, she got to a kneeling position and looked at the person in question: Sylvia.

Sylvia knew trying to stop Eliza’s attack would be futile, so she used the opportunity when both Eliza and the Basilisk were distracted by the other’s attack to make her move.

Slipping near the Basilisk’s flank unnoticed, Sylvia imbued body reinforcement onto her legs and jumped towards Eliza. Catching Eliza by the waist within a hair’s breath of being crushed by the enormous jaws, Sylvia bounced off a wall and retreated to her previous location 10 meters away from the monster.

“S-Sylvia!? Wha-What are you doing!? Why did you-” (Eliza)

“Are you a fool!?” (Sylvia)

“!!?” (Eliza)

Eliza tried questioning Sylvia about her actions, but Sylvia interjected with a tone that greatly surprised Eliza.

Grabbing Eliza’s shoulders firmly and lifting her off the ground, Sylvia confronted her friend with a voice shaking in anger.

“We might have already lost Kris, and here you are killing yourself just as quickly!? What is the matter with you!?” (Sylvia)

“...” (Eliza)

Sylvia continued to ridicule Eliza with a voice that did not leave any room for rebuttal.

Her face no longer expressionless, emotions she had repressed up until then began leaking out.

She couldn’t hold back the tears that flowed endlessly, nor hide her face that was twisted in anger and desperation from almost witnessing the death of another precious friend.

“You would be willing to throw away your life immediately after finding out a comrade was lost!? What about us!? Did you even think how we would feel by losing another friend!?” (Sylvia)

“...I...I...” (Eliza)

“Don’t be so heartless! We care what happens to you as well! Watching someone die for no reason! I couldn’t bear it! Especially if she’s one of the few friends I have in this world!” (Sylvia)

Not only Eliza, even Lily and Gale were shocked by Sylvia’s words.

As far as they knew, Sylvia was a quiet person who was not very good at getting along with other people.

Once they had left the Elven capital, she opened up to them a little and after entering the labyrinth, they felt they could trust her as a valued member of the team.

However, this was the first time she had ever called any of them her “friend”. Not once had she given any indication that they were anything more than companions joined together by a common goal.

Though they cherished her as their friend, they questioned if she felt the same way towards them.

To find out the reserved Sylvia valued them so greatly was a great surprise to them.

On the opposite end, Sylvia’s emotions were in turmoil. Her calm demeanor was no more and she found herself unable to stop the words coming straight from her heart.

As a result, her face flushed red from embarrassment and she had to regain her composure in order to continue talking.

Releasing Eliza from her grip, this time, she faced Lily and Gale before speaking.

“...It may be presumptuous of me to say that since I had not shown feelings of goodwill towards any of you before. However, these are my true feelings. Back in my home country, the only one I could rely on was myself. For a long time, I felt that is how it should be, but after meeting all of you, I realized I wanted to remain as your comrade...no, as your friend for the rest of my life. I may be selfish in asking this, but would all of you please be friends with me?” (Sylvia)

Showing the dumbfounded trio a genuine smile for the first time in their two month journey, Sylvia asked the question she had been wanting to ask for a long time.

The one to answer Sylvia first was -

“...Really, Sylvia, aren’t you the fool now?” (Eliza)

- the White Wolf girl she had just saved.

After gently removing the dried tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand, Eliza placed her right hand on Sylvia’s shoulder.

“We’ve always been friends. From the first time we met till now, you’ve been an important friend, and because of that, I’m sorry for worrying you. I guess I was also afraid to lose anyone else and so I did not care if my own life was taken...but I forgot about all of your feelings in my anger.” (Eliza)

Eliza directed her gaze to Lily and Gale, expecting them to give their answers as well.

They did not hesitate in saying their personal feelings.

“Eliza’s right, Sylvia. We are not just individuals bearing the same title as Saviors. We are comrades who have forged eternal friendship in this dark place. The bonds made here will never break for as long as we live.” (Lily)

“Well, I can’t exactly compete with Lily’s passionate speech, but I feel the same way. No matter what we may face in the future, we’ll stay together through the end. I also don’t believe that stubborn kid is dead, so once we defeat this monster, we’ll all go looking for Kris together. Sound good?” (Gale)

Hearing all of their heartfelt opinions, Sylvia’s smile grew wider and she nodded while wiping the tears from her eyes.

Unbeknownst to them, the person being ignored at this moment was infuriated at the heartwarming spectacle in front of it.

With a voice full of anger and hatred, the neglected Basilisk spat out words while grinding its teeth.

{IS THIS....SUPPOSED TO BE...SOME KIND OF JOKE?} (Basilisk)

The heroes were startled by the sudden words of the enemy that had yet to be defeated.

{OR MAYBE...YOU'RE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE? MAKING FUN OF ME BY SHOWING OFF YOUR FRIENDSHIP...HOW CRUEL. NO ONE EVER...I NEVER HAD...} (Basilisk)

The Basilisk's voice trailed off by the end of its speech, but it instantly roared with a voice that shook the entire room and the heroes struggled to keep their balance.

{I REFUSED TO BE MOCKKEEDD!!! YOU'RE JUST WEAKLINGS COMPARED TO ME!!! I DON’T NEED FRIENDS WHEN I CAN JUST MAKE PLAYTHINGS OUT OF ALL OF YOUUU!!!} (Basilisk)

Even though some interesting words were mixed into the Basilisk’s proclamation, the party of heroes knew this beast was a serious threat.

All of them took a battle stance immediately after taking a quick glance at each other, their faces hardening with determined expressions.

The curtain rises on the battle between the Saviors and the Demon...