The Basilisk swung open its jaws as it began to reach Rayven, venom and blood dripping down from fangs...suddenly, six golden chains burst out towards the Basilisk and wrapped around it, one around each jaw to keep it from being able snap its mouth shut.

I followed the chains, to see that they were coming from Rosary’s hands...must be a Skill of hers. The Basilisk’s paralyzing gaze only paralyzes your body, you can still use Magic, though aiming it is a different story, so she’s done pretty well to ensnare it.

The Basilisk and Rayven had been in her peripheral, so even though she couldn’t turn her eyes that way, she could likely still kinda see what was going on...even so, it’s pretty impressive that she was able to aim her Skill so accurately.

However, with that said...it won’t hold for long. It’s just going to be a matter of seconds before the Basilisk manages to break free of those chains, and then, they’ll all be killed. Without any intervention from a third party, Rosary’s efforts are futile...

"Goddammit, fine...," I relented with a grimace, as I tightened the grip on my whip.

The Basilisk is restrained, and its gaze is currently in the complete opposite direction to where I am. It also doesn’t know that I’m here...with all that in mind, it should be safe enough. But I swear, if I fail to kill it in one hit, I’m out of here. Tch, I can’t believe that I’m really doing this.

I then bent my right arm across and then swung my whip out across with all my strength, a sharp crack echoing out as it sliced through the air and rapidly expanded, hitting the side of the Basilisk’s neck right as it broke free from the chains.

My whip began to slice right through it, and as it got through halfway decapitating the Monster, it suddenly turned its gaze back right in this direction, my blood running cold as I met its gaze...but nothing happened, before my whip fully cut through its neck, slicing off its head.

Its head plummeted down and hit the water with a loud splash, as blood gushed out of its neck before it body began to fall as well, the water slowly turning red around that area as its blood poured out.

I let out a strained sigh as I collapsed onto my knees, my body breaking out into a cold sweat as I contracted my whip. I...I did it. And...I got confirmation, my Universal Resistance works against a Basilisk’s paralyzing gaze.

Which makes it likely that it would also work against the deadly venom of the Basilisk as well...but here’s hoping I’ll never have to put that to the test.

I then got back on my feet and composed myself, stepping out from behind the trees and out into the open. It’s definitely dead now, I don’t sense it anymore with Thought Communication.

I...I can’t believe that I really did that. I took a risk to save these people...well, okay, let’s be honest, I probably would’ve run away if Rosary wasn’t here. I mean, can’t ever tap that if she’s dead.

Probably shouldn’t say that, though. I’ll pretend like I stepped in out of the goodness of my heart...leaving a good impression of me with the Adventurers of Kieph Town will be beneficial in the long run. Now, then...

"Hey, Rayven! Brace yourself, I’m gonna try to pull you back down here with my whip, okay!?" I called out to him loudly, before arching back my arm and swinging my whip forward while extending and blunting it.

It struck and wrapped around Rayven’s waist, before I pulled him back this way, taking a few steps back to avoid getting crashed into by him. As he began to close in on the ground, I turned the ground to a soft pool of sand which he safely crashed into, a dust cloud rising up upon impact.

I then jogged over and pulled him out of the sand since he’d landed in it face first and wouldn’t be able to breathe. Huh, speaking of which...

"Interesting, so this paralysis doesn’t paralyze your breathing. Well, that makes sense, you’d just suffocate and die otherwise," I mused thoughtfully, as I pulled him out of the sand and laid him down on the ground, faceup.

Rosary should be just fine, she didn’t sustain any injuries, just a few scratches. And of the other three Adventurers, one is dead and the other two are unconscious. The one who had the dual blades was battered and bruised, has a few broken ribs and probably a bunch of fractures as well.

He seems to be breathing fine, though, so it’s unlikely that his injures are fatal. But the other survivor is in pretty dire straits...I can heal her easily, but I can’t afford to do so. I should be able to keep her from dying though, with some basic first aid.

I walked over and inspected her injuries. Her left arm is completely mangled, bone shards poking out through her skin, and her left side has sustained immense damage as well. But it’s mostly around her hip and the base of her ribcage, the area around her heart isn’t too badly damaged.

I took some clothes out of the Pocket Dimension and tore them up into strips, tying them around her bleeding spots...I considering putting a splint around her broken arm, but it’s way too much of a mess to straighten out.

Which only leaves me with one way to stop the bleeding...I need to cauterize her arm. Using lightning should be less painful that burning it with fire...a pained grimace appeared on her face as I began zapping the bleeding spots on her arm, slight gasps escaping her lips but she didn’t regain consciousness.

There, that should do it, I’ve stopped the bleeding. She’s still in a pretty bad condition, but she should live so long as we get her to a hospital quickly. Commoner hospitals may be less sophisticated than the ones in the capital, but the main disparity between the two is when it comes to treating diseases and illnesses, physical injuries shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

"Thanks for doing that," Came Rosary’s voice, as she walked over, the paralysis having worn off.

"Sure, don’t mention it. She’s probably not in any immediate danger, but she needs proper treatment as soon as possible. At least, that’s my assessment, but I’m not a doctor, so yeah," I shrugged in response.

"Still, we owe you...if it wasn’t for you, we’d all be dead for sure right now," She replied gratefully, before adding wryly, "I really did think you were going to retreat like you stated that you would. I’m glad you didn’t."

"Yeah, I surprised myself with that. But, to be fair, I had a clear opening with little risk to myself, so I figured I’d try one attack. If that had failed, then I would’ve ran away from sure," I remarked firmly.

"Yes, I’m sure you would h-...," She began with a smirk.

"Finally, I can move again!" Exclaimed Rayven, as he sprang onto his feet with a look of relief on his face.

"Are you okay?" Rosary asked him.

"Yeah, I think so. Got some sand in my mouth, but it’s better than being dead," He replied with a wistful smile.

"Sorry about that, should I have just left you in the air as you were instead?" I responded sheepishly.

"Nah, it’s fine. For all you knew, I could’ve fallen to the water at any given moment, so your call was a good one," He shook his head, before turning to Rosary, "I owe you one too, sis. Your Bind Skill really saved my ass back there."

Ah, so that’s what the Skill she used is called.

"Hmph, you’re most welcome."

"Yeah, if it wasn’t for that, I probably wouldn’t have acted," I chimed in wryly.

"You know, I didn’t get a good look since I couldn’t move my eyes, but since I was facedown, it wasn’t completely out of my sight. And right at the end there...I could’ve sworn that the Basilisk hit you with its paralyzing gaze, when your whip was about halfway through cutting off its head," He frowned uncertainly.

"Oh, you think so? Well, apparently not, since I didn’t get paralyzed," I responded, deciding to play dumb.

"Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point there," He muttered skeptically.

Doesn’t matter if he doesn’t believe me, I’m not revealing what’s arguably my most valuable Skill.

"Anyway, we probably shouldn’t just hang around here. I mean, those other two need medical attention," I pointed out.

"He’s right, we need to get them back quickly. Larrk, could you put them in your Pocket Dimension so that we can get back to town faster?" Requested Rosary, as she glanced at me.

"Yeah, sure. Leave it to me."

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