In a large hall deep within the labyrinth, Kris’s companions continued to battle the lone Basilisk.

“Sylvia, Eliza. Stall the Basilisk for as long as possible.” (Lily)

With Kris missing in action, the role as leader passed to Lily and she executed commands efficiently.

“Sylvia! Let’s go!” (Eliza)

“Right!” (Sylvia)

“Gale, stay here and cover me while I begin the spell.” (Lily)

“Understood!” (Gale)

Eliza, Sylvia, and Gale knew this ahead of time, and so there was no fighting for command. Each party member knew their job perfectly.

{SO YOU BASTARDS DECIDED TO FINALLY FIGHT? WONDERFUL! I WILL MAKE YOUR DEATHS AS PAINFUL AS POSSIBLE!} (Basilisk)

Raising a delighted voice, the Basilisk charged at the heroes.

Eliza and Sylvia rushed forward to meet the Basilisk while Gale took his position in front of Lily, who had started her chant.

The Basilisk opened its mouth, its fangs ready to slice the heroes into mincemeat.

Just before contact, Eliza and Sylvia dodged to the left and right respectively. Without losing momentum, they launched their own consecutive attacks.

Eliza repositioned the grip on her sword and performed a series of strikes.

Sylvia collected mana into her right arm, which partially transformed until it resembled a dragon’s claw, and punched the snake’s body with enough force to crush a wall.

Unfortunately, neither of their attacks succeeded in penetrating the tough scales of the Basilisk.

In addition, the Basilisk ignored their attacks and continued on its current trajectory with Gale and the defenseless Lily as its targets.

Certain of its imminent victory, the Basilisk merrily opened its mouth to receive the two motionless heroes.

“Spirit Mirror!” (Liliy)

Though Lily had finished chanting the Spirit magic and shouted out its name, there did not appear to be a reaction.

Once its mouth had completely enclosed around the duo, its jaws snapped shut.

However, the Basilisk was baffled when it realized its mouth remained empty, and began searching its surroundings repeatedly while cursing its missing prey.

{WHERE DID YOU GO YOU DAMN INSECTS!? HOW DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OF ME!} (Basilisk)

Unbeknownst to the Basilisk, Lily had already anticipated Eliza and Sylvia would fail to attract the Basilisk’s attention.

Since one of its only weaknesses was magic, Lily predicted that as the sole mage of the group, she would naturally be targeted first.

Lily knew Gale did not have the strength to face the Basilisk’s attack head on, so instead of chanting an attack spell, the Spirit Magic she invoked involved a two step process.

First, the spell erased their visible presence completely, and then in their place, illusions of themselves formed immediately so that an enemy could not see the change. If timed perfectly, the opponent would be caught off guard, allowing the mage to escape or counterattack.

After retreating to its left flank with Gale, Lily finished chanting another high-level spell before the Basilisk could defend.

“Solid Binding!” (Lily)

Calling out the spell, Lily simultaneously jammed her staff into the floor.

Three slabs of stone instantly jumped out from both sides of the Basilisk as if they were given life and curved over so that the pieces connected, forming three solid stone arks that coiled around its body.

{WHAT IS THIS!? YOU DAMN ELF! LET ME GOOO!} (Basilisk)

The Basilisk struggled to break free from Lily’s magic, but to no avail. Lily’s Earth Magic skills were superior to most Earth mages in the world, a fact evidenced by the easy capture of this fearsome beast.

“Eliza, Sylvia! Now!” (Lily)

“Right!” (Eiza & Sylvia)

Upon receiving the signal, Eliza and Sylvia jumped high into the air above the restrained Basilisk.

Eliza bounced off of the nearest wall and landed on the ceiling above the Basilisk.

Pointing her sword down in a reverse grip, Eliza plummeted towards the squirming head of the beast.

“Hahhhhh!” (Eliza)

As soon as it made contact, the tip of Eliza’s sword disappeared into its flesh.

{HOW-!?} (Basilisk)

Sensing the cold steel of Eliza’s blade planted firmly within its skin caused the Basilisk to shout in astonishment.

Eliza knew her sword did not have the power to penetrate the hardened scales so she aimed at the soft flesh in between the scales while hanging from the ceiling.

For a normal warrior, this would be impossible to accomplish, but for the extraordinary senses of the White Wolf swordswoman, this was a simple task.

However, even without the protection of its scales, the Basilisk’s skin absorbed most of the impact and Eliza’s attack failed to inflict serious harm.

Eliza backflipped off of the large head, leaving her sword embedded in the immobile beast.

Witnessing the futility of that attack, the Basilisk laughed confidently.

{HAHAHA! YOU HEROES NEVER LEARN! AS IF THAT KIND OF ATTACK COULD-GAHH!?} (Basilisk)

Before the snake could finish speaking, Eliza had already reached the right side of its head, where she promptly grabbed the object jabbed into its eye, and pulled.

The Basilisk cried out in pain as Kris’s sword was forcibly removed from its damaged eye, causing emerald blood to gush from the reopened wound.

Without skipping a beat, Eliza fluidly leaped over the snake’s mouth while gripping her missing comrade’s weapon and stabbed the Basilisk’s remaining eye, completely blinding the giant serpent.

{GAHHH! MY EYES! MY EYES!} (Basilisk)

“We’re not done yet!” (Eliza)

Retreating a few steps with her new sword in hand, Eliza looked up and smiled as she saw her companion floating in the air.

With two large wings spreading from her back, the partially transformed Sylvia appeared majestic as she hovered above the battleground.

Green light covered her dragon's arm, releasing an intense pressure that even the heroes below could feel.

Retracting her wings, Sylvia nose-dived towards the ground with her right hand stretched out.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” (Sylvia)

Sylvia released a powerful roar as she shot towards the Basilisk.

Sensing danger, the blind Basilisk desperately struggled to escape its bondage, but it was useless.

With incomprehensible speed, Sylvia immediately closed the gap and her right fist made contact with her desired target: Eliza’s sword.

Under the sudden pressure, the hilt crumbled and part of the blade melted from the excessive heat, but the goal was achieved.

The remaining part of the blade sunk deep into the snake’s skull, directly piercing its brain.

In addition, the mana contained within Sylvia's fist exploded and discharged into the opening that she had made, scorching everything inside the Basilisk's head.

{GAHH!.....} (Basilisk)

The Basilisk convulsed once upon impact before becoming deathly silent.

Sylvia stood atop the motionless snake and examined its body for any signs of life, but its chest remained as still as stone.

Satisfied that the Basilisk had met its demise, Sylvia showed a small smile as she turned around to face her companion and lightly nodded to indicate their victory.

****

“Good work, you two.” (Lily)

Lily gave a compliment as she and Gale reunited with the victorious duo a few meters from the hall’s exit.

“It wasn’t anything special.” (Eliza)

Eliza scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

“As if. I didn’t get to do a thing. I was all fired up and everything, but you guys stole my chance to shine.” (Gale)

In contrast to his words, Gale’s face expressed how relieved he was that the Basilisk had finally been defeated.

As if Gale’s words caused her to remember something, Lily directed her gaze towards Sylvia.

“That reminds me. I’ve never seen that kind of attack before, Sylvia. What was it?” (Lily)

Being asked so suddenly, Sylvia was troubled on how to respond, but before she could, Eliza chimed in excitedly.

“That’s right! Kris used that same attack earlier! Is it some kind of special move only Drakes can use?” (Eliza)

Lily placed her hand on her chin while listening to Eliza’s exclamation.

“It appeared as if you had concentrated a large amount of mana into your hand, and then released it on impact with Eliza’s sword. Is that correct?”

With her technique revealed, Sylvia found no reason to deny it and so she answered honestly.

“...Yes, that’s correct. Though Drakes cannot use magic, we have the natural talent to manipulate our large mana capacities easily. This was merely the result of that ability.” (Sylvia)

Lily nodded in understanding before continuing her questioning.

“Eliza said that Kris used the same technique, so is this an attack passed down through your race?” (Lily)

“No, this was actually my first attempt at using it. As far as I know, Kris is the only person to use such a technique.” (Sylvia)

“Then did he teach it to you?” (Lily)

To Lily’s question, Sylvia smiled wryly before answering.

“He didn’t necessarily teach it to me. During my bout with him in Druein, he used that attack to beat me. However, I sensed he had significantly reduced its power in order to lessen the damage. If he had used its full potential, it would have easily killed me on impact." (Sylvia)

The four heroes were shocked by Sylvia’s prediction.

Despite their humanoid appearance, the Drake have long been regarded as having the strongest physiology on the continent.

Only the Demon race could boast as their rivals in terms of sheer strength, but in their absence the other four races cannot even come close.

Saying Kris’s attack could instantly kill a Drake further demonstrated his immense strength, causing shivers to run down their spines.

"Once I understood the mechanics of the attack, I began practicing it in secret, though presently I'm nowhere near achieving the same level of output that Kris can produce.” (Sylvia)

"I see." (Lily)

Lily nodded once before facing the group again.

“Anyway shall we move on?” (Lily)

“Yes!” (Everyone)

Assembling in their usual formation, the four Saviors were about to exit the hall when Eliza’s sensitive ears detected movement behind them and she turned around to investigate.

Her face distorted in horror and she was about to scream a warning to Sylvia when -

“Guack!” (Sylvia)

Sylvia lurched forward due to a sudden impact from behind as she struggled to regain her balance. Violet blood spurted from her mouth and her face was warped by pain and confusion.

Lowering her eyes, she discovered a familiar half-melted sword protruding from her chest.