The basilisks didn't give them any room to breathe as they raced forwards, pounding across the town square.
One narrowed its eyes at Aralynn, who'd taken to the air.
However, their attention was quickly seized by Hadarai, who thrust his shield into the ground before him, forming an immovable wall.
"Eyes on me," he growled.
His flaming blue aura glared, exuding an irresistible pressure as both of the draconic monsters' heads snapped to focus on him. With ear-deafening roars, they sprung at Amon, their eyes pulsing with hypnotic patterns.
Instinctively, Amon knew what was happening and looked away from their eyes. However, his skin began to turn grey nevertheless as the stone-cold affliction began taking hold of his body.
Petrification…!
Soon, Amon's entire body had been solidified into a dull, grey rock as the basilisks tore at him.
Tear at him they did, yet he did not move nor succumb as cracks began to flare out of his stone skin. The affliction removed itself from him like a crust, crumbling to dust on the paved stone floor as he struck out with his sword, wreathed in blue fire.
Hadarai bellowed, and the blue aura surrounding him intensified, seemingly pulling on every ounce of attention that the two draconic monsters had.
It appeared that, for the moment, the basilisks wouldn't be able to take their eyes off him.
No matter how much they tried to push him, to batter him, to utterly crush him, the basilisks weren't able to get past his gleaming armour and shield even though they were much, much larger than the stout dwarf.
However, inside, Hadarai still took the force of the attacks as he felt his arms become battered and bruised. He breathed heavily as sweat rolled down his brow.
That was of no consequence, however, as a cool, refreshing melody sounded that seeped through his armour, soothing his wounds. Hadarai could see Perona racing forwards, her lute hovering midair beside her.
Hadarai couldn't understand the language that she sang in, but the song distilled a sense of stillness, concentration, and hope in Hadarai.
However, as Perona got too close, one of the basilisks somehow managed to break away from Hadarai, prying free from his anchoring ability as its mesmerizing eyes began to pulse, staring at the half-elf as it pounced.
Perona lifted her hands, but before she could act, Aralynn streaked into view like a meteor, her crystalline wings clinking together like windchimes.
The basilisk snapped its head toward her, fangs flashing, but Aralynn twisted into a barrel roll and slipped past its jaws.
Upside down with Objection in her hands, Aralynn instinctively reached for her newfound power.
[Firearm God's Blessing Lv. 2 (Apostle)]
[Article 2, Clause 1. The Apostle may render judgement through their bullets.]
A list of judgments flashed before her eyes, and one sentence rose to the surface.
Aralynn opened her mouth.
"...Basilisk. Your judgement has been chosen. For your crimes, your sentence is…"
She leveled Objection at the beast's glaring eye.
"Blindness."
She squeezed the trigger.
[Firearm God's Judgement: Blindness × Innate Birdfolk Trait: Shape the Wind.]
[Judgements remaining today: 2 / 3]
The shot pierced the basilisk's eye, bursting with concussive force. A gale roared outward, snapping its head back as blood erupted in a crimson spray. The monster bellowed in agony.
As it did so, arrows suddenly whistled past, striking the ground around the basilisk's six clawed limbs. In an instant, the shafts shattered into splinters that writhed and grew, twisting into massive roots that coiled upward and bound the beast like spring reclaiming the earth from winter.
Grango lowered his bow and raised his hunting horn from across the clearing.
A hornblast resounded like thunder, and a surge of wild energy wrapped itself around Aralynn.
[Grango, Apostle of the Lord of the Wild Hunt, has declared a Hunt!]
[Any actions against the quarry of the Hunt (tracking or slaying) will now be twice as effective.]
[Grango, Apostle of the Lord of the Wild Hunt, has marked (Harbinger Basilisk ×2) as the Hunt's quarry!]
Double the effectiveness…? Aralynn blinked as she leveled Objection and squeezed the trigger twice more, cycling the bolt with each shot, shining hot brass ejecting from the rifle and flying through the air.
Both bullets ripped into the bound basilisk with startling ease, sinking far deeper than they should have.
Guess it really does work, huh.
A roar from the basilisk Hadarai and Amon were tag-teaming drew Aralynn's attention.
Hadarai had driven his longsword deep into the basilisk's chest as azure flames were now bursting out from the wound like bloodthirsty dragons with a lust for justice.
The basilisk's maw gaped wide in a thunderous roar. Seizing the opening, Amon drew his rapier-lance back and hurled it forward with all his strength, driving the weapon toward the soft flesh of its gullet.
The impact was brutal—the sharp, cold shadow sank deep into the monster's throat.
However, in the same heartbeat its jaws snapped shut like a bear trap. The crunch was sickening. Amon's scream tore through the square as his hand was crushed and ripped away along with his lance.
"FUUUUUUUCK. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK—"
He shadow-stepped away, stumbling as he clutched the mangled stump where his hand had been.
Perona raised her hands. A wave of magic washed over Amon, stifling his screams and closing the wound. The bleeding ceased—but his hand was gone.
His sacrifice wasn't in vain as his lance exploded with torrential force inside the basilisk, shredding the beast from the inside out. Tendrils of freezing abyssal water utterly shattered the monster with the unbridled force of the depths as it burst and popped like a visceral balloon, water driving out of it in an army of bristling spears.
The riptides sploshed out of the creature, onto the floor, and washed the fresh carmine basilisk blood away.
Hadarai shrugged off the deluge and ran toward the one remaining basilisk.
The fire surrounding his sword evaporated Amon's hadal water and grew to almost reach the same size as Hadarai. The ultramarine flames wafted in a tower that trailed behind the stout dwarf as he ran.
There was no need for him to intervene, however, as Perona raised both of her hands, veins of frost creeping in from her fingertips to her wrists and up her arms.
A singular crystalline music note formed of deep rime formed at her nails.
Perona flicked it.
A single, melancholic note chimed as the basilisk's body swiftly crystallized into frost, Grango's roots and all.
The monster barely had time to react—its roar died in its throat the instant it opened its maw as the sound froze, long before it could escape.
Aralynn flew forwards, hovering in front of the basilisk. She slung Objection back over her shoulder before drawing her revolver, placing the barrel square on the basilisk's forehead.
Bang.
The basilisk shattered into a million bloody icicles, sunlight reflecting and refracting off of each one in a kaleidoscope of colours as they fell to the ground like little glacial needles.
Blood painted the scene like a riptide of carmine watercolour.
Aralynn touched down. She fell over, but Perona grabbed her before she hit the ground.
However, Perona ended up slipping, and the two girls fell to the ground, uncontrollably giggling and exhausted as the power flooded out of them.
Aralynn's feathers returned to their usual fluffy, soft, state, and her orange eyes returned to normal. Her halo wisped away into the wind.
As Aralynn lay on Perona, the half-elf instinctively petted Aralynn's head, to which Aralynn twitched her wing-ears contentedly.
Perona laughed.
"Hey, that tickles."
Aralynn was quite content, lying there on the arms of her friend, absolutely sapped of all energy. She snuggled up to Perona like a child.
"I want to sleep."
Perona petted her head once more, pulling Aralynn tight into her embrace. She felt that Aralynn's feathers and hair were quite fluffy and pleasant to the touch.
The birdfolk smelled of sunshine and rain and oddly, water lillies.
She flushed slightly at the turn of events, but with her friend's cute expression, she could look past it.
Besides, they all had to cope and recharge in some way after what had just happened. Perona's hands still shook. She remembered that pure fear and oppressed feeling she'd felt when the basilisks had first emerged.
Then she looked down at Aralynn, who looked up to her with a curious and sleepy expression, blinking way too innocently for the young woman who'd borderline executed one of the monsters only seconds ago.
Watching her like this was… a lot different from the mature Aralynn that she knew. Like she was watching over a child or younger sister. Perona smiled.
Sigh… Am I playing mom now?
"If you want to sleep, then go to sleep, Aralynn. We'll carry you to an inn later."
"Mmmmmmn~ But I wanna stay here…"
Perona's heart almost died of cuteness overload. She ruffled Aralynn's hair as she glanced up.
Around them, sunshine broke through the towers of grey thunderclouds above as the soft and bright rays made their way back, blessing the city with their radiance.
Amon shuffled into view, clutching the raw stump where his right hand had once been. The skin had sealed under Perona's healing, but he could still feel a phantom weight of fingers that would never move again.
He stared at them awkwardly for a few moments before deciding not to comment.
Perona and Aralynn decided that they were both glad that he didn't.
Hadarai and Grango came back to meet them as well. Derrick, Cozith, and Champagne Pop trailed behind them.
No matter how they felt individually, they were all understandably exhausted after the battle, and happy that it was over.
- - -
[Main Story completed part 1 / 3]