My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 66: Azure basilisk (6)

"You’ve got to be kidding me—"

The basilisk wasted no time and slammed the two kids with its tail. They both shot up through the sky, the harsh wind blew into the two kid and they both got separated. Jaster landed on the bloody pavement, while Stella’s back slammed into a building.

Jaster blinked a couple times and forcefully lifted his head. His head was bleeding, and all of his clothes got stained by the blood on the street. He looked at Stella and saw her back pressed against the wall.

His eyes shifted toward the snake and saw it slithering toward Stella. He bit his lips and used all his strength to get up. He started running toward the girl, and when he finally reached her, he shook her violently.

"WAKE UP!" He screamed at the girl. Stella’s eyes slowly rose open. Her vision was blurry; she saw a boy with white hair shaking and screaming at her. She held out her hand and touched his silky....And oily hair.

"Jaster, is that you?" Her voice was weak, like she mustered up all her strength just to talk.

"YES, AND WE HAVE NO TIME—" The basilisk was right behind them. He leaped sideways just in time with Stella. The beast slammed into the building while charging at them. The building’s upper part started to crumble, and a bunch of rubble came raining down onto the serpent, burying the beast.

Meanwhile, Jaster and Stella managed to dodge the snake just in time. He looked back at the mountain of rocks burying the colossal beast.

"The snake got buried under the rubble. This is our time to run away!" He forcefully got up with one leg limping and pulled Stella up, putting her arm on his shoulder while they both slowly walked away from the monster.

While walking, Stella finally woke up again and coughed up blood. She held her bleeding stomach as she tried to muster up all her strength to speak.

"Jaster... What should we do now?" Jaster didn’t know the answer to that question, but seeing the state Stella was in, he decided to sugarcoat the future.

"After the Silver City warden hears that the SWAT team got defeated easily by the snake, he’ll definitely send stronger reinforcements, so don’t worry!"

They were going to go back to the café, but Jaster stopped mid-walk. He thought for a bit.

If we go to the café and the snake can’t find us, it’ll definitely target the café. And there are many injured people inside...

He turned around and decided to head toward the road, following the sidewalk away from the city center.

After walking a short distance, he heard rustling from the mountain of rubble.

He turned around, his eyes widening as a sharp metallic blade pierced through the rocks.

It began to move, rotating like a wheel, carving through the debris, while more blades followed in the same rhythm, tearing the rubble apart.

Soon the blade extracted itself from the mountain of rubble, and each tiny rock that had been sliced started dropping down like rain. Dust and debris fell to the ground, and the basilisk’s sapphire skin emerged from the mountain and stood proudly on top of it.

Jaster’s mouth gaped open. The snake’s eyes drifted toward the two kids trying to get away, and its pupils dilated.

Jaster quickly turned his head away and started running faster.

"Jaster... Slow down..." Stella begged him, but he couldn’t stop his pace—if he did, he’d surely get eaten by the monster.

"I’m sorry, but we have to go faster. The snake got out of the rubble!"

Jaster keep running until he reaches an intersection and looked straight ahead. The road lay wide and exposed, nothing but empty asphalt and abandoned cars. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

To the right, storefronts crowded together—convenience stores, small restaurants, a drugstore offering cover, but also too many corners.

To the left, a narrow alley cut between two looming apartment blocks, their shadows choking the light, turning the path into a dark, cramped corridor.

"Where should we go....?"

"SHAKKKKKKKKK!" He shivered after hearing a scream that sounded like it came from the depths of hell. Jaster turned around and was faced with the snake now charging faster than ever. Its tail whipped a nearby building, crashing it down.

He thought of something quickly and whispered in Stella’s ear.

Stella, with her tired, weak eyes, suddenly shot up. She looked at Jaster as if making sure what she was hearing was right.

He nodded at her, and she smiled and nodded back. Without further explanation, they decided to split up.

Jaster went left, leading toward the dark, narrow pathway. Meanwhile, Stella went right, where she immediately pushed open the nearby convenience store and hid behind one of the shelves.

The snake finally reached the intersection and looked to the right where Stella had hidden. Seeing no one in sight, the monster’s eyes shifted toward the left and spotted white hair moving through a tight alleyway.

"SHAKKKKK!" Its scream tore through the sound barrier, and it decided to slither toward Jaster.

---

The white-haired boy reached a dead end in the narrow path and noticed a small gap beside one of the apartment buildings. It was cramped, filthy, and almost completely dark, but what choice did he have?

Making sure Purple was secure in his pocket, he stepped inside. His foot sank into the mushy, wet ground.

Gritting his teeth, he turned his body sideways and sidled through the narrow gap, his chest tightening as the walls pressed in on him.

The smells were horrible in the tight space. He had to hold his breath for a couple minutes and then breathe in the humid air.

He continued sidling sideways until he heard a voice.

"Shkkkk....." It was the low voice of a snake. Due to the limited space, Jaster couldn’t look at what made that sound, but he could already guess.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!" He started sidling sideways faster and faster as the noises of the snake grew closer and closer.

He didn’t know what the basilisk was doing, but being in a cramped space with nowhere to go but keep moving sideways, and only being able to look forward and not at what was behind you—it was truly an adrenaline moment.

"Shaaaa....." He could basically hear it a couple inches away from him now. Jaster’s vision had been blurry ever since entering the sideway due to the lack of oxygen.

But all of a sudden, his vision cleared up, and what was in front of him made his jaw drop.