Ariel's world slowed to a crawl as she watched Seraphina being swallowed whole from only a few meters away. Every detail sharpened with unbearable clarity. The flex of the basilisk's jaw, the slick pull of muscle drawing Seraphina inward, the helpless drag of her friend's body disappearing past rows of fangs. Ariel could only watch, frozen mid-breath, as the last trace of Seraphina vanished down the serpent's throat.
"How dare you!" Ariel whispered, raising both guns on her hips.
A burning rage ignited in her heart, spreading through every part of her body with each surging pulse. Her mana flared, creating a tornado around her, whipping her hair in the wind.
"How dare you!" she said as she flapped her wings to gain elevation.
Seraphina was the person she considered the most important in her life. She gave her freedom, power, and a chance to live beyond the confines of her father's gilded cage. She was the anchor that allowed her to roam freely, and now that anchor had been swallowed whole by this abominable snake.
"HOW DARE YOU!" she screamed at the top of her lungs while opening fire.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!
All three basilisks found themselves pelted by Rank 1 bullets concentrated on each of their eyes. The groupings were tight and, despite only having two autocannons, Ariel managed to target all six of their eyes simultaneously through precise, minute adjustments between each bullet fired.
Still, despite how impressive her aim was, the damage remained minimal as the basilisks simply turned away to avoid being completely blinded, although she did manage to impair their vision by scratching their spectacles.
Dissatisfied with the damage she was able to cause, Ariel stored Bastion's autocannon and held her own with both hands for better aim before activating Frenzied Shot, Bunker Buster, and Covering Fire all at once. Then she circled the basilisk that had swallowed Seraphina until she had a clear shot at its eyes.
"GIVE HER BACK!" Ariel screamed as she fired.
The bullet exited the barrel and immediately split into two due to her Frenzied Shot before landing on both of her target's eyes. With the damage enhancement from Frenzied Shot and the penetration boost from Bunker Buster, both bullets pierced the spectacle and severely damaged the eye balls.
ROAR!
The basilisk roared in fury at being blinded, but Ariel wasn't done. To ensure she truly blinded the snake, she repeated the same combo not only on her target but also on the other two basilisks that were beginning to hunt for Bastion.
"GIVE HER BACK TO ME!" Ariel screamed with all her might.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Now all three basilisks were blind, but they had never relied on sight alone. They also used scent, vibrations, and heat to track their prey, which allowed them to continue fighting back.
"Not enough!" Ariel said, her eyes wild.
"I need more. MORE!" she screamed before darting straight for Bastion at full speed.
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Bastion, meanwhile, struggled against his second basilisk. The problem was that his opponent was toying with him. It refused to go for the kill and present an opening. Instead, it lashed its tail and reveled in its prey struggling to dodge.
A tail slammed down from above, aiming straight for Bastion, and he barely avoided being flattened like a pancake as he activated Dodge at the last second. He retaliated by activating Diamond Edge and unleashed Slash, sending three jagged, diamond-encrusted strikes toward the basilisk's eyes. The damage was minimal, but his goal was to enrage the creature rather than harm it.
It was futile. The basilisk's tail lashed again like a whip, sweeping horizontally across the ground. Bastion leapt into the air to evade, but this time the creature was ready. Its eyes gleamed with hunger as they locked onto him.
While he was unable to dodge mid-air, the basilisk lunged, its jaw wide open. Bastion took that moment to fire his shot, but he missed as the creature weaved at the last second, the bullet barely grazing the side of its mouth. It then swooped down on him and swallowed him in a single, terrifying bite.
As Bastion was being forced through the esophagus, he decided to try the same trick he had used on the giant frogs.
Diamond Armor!
Diamond Shatter!
THUD!
The basilisk groaned from mild indigestion, struggling with the annoying prey in its stomach. But things were about to get far worse.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Multiple shots from the cannon pierced holes through the basilisk as Bastion fought for his life inside its esophagus. One random shot luckily struck the heart, finally bringing the massive creature down.
Meanwhile, Bastion writhed in pain, bathing in Rank 3 acid that spilled from the creature's stomach. The acid melted his armor in just a few seconds and began dissolving his skin.
He dug his way through the creature's throat before finally exiting through the open mouth, naked, with his skin completely red and patches missing. He was dying.
He quickly chugged down potion after potion while using water and wind to remove as much acid from his body as possible.
Finally, he managed to survive the ordeal. He swapped clothes to wear his usual attire before donning a new white mask to avoid being poisoned.
"That was horrible," Bastion took a moment to say before he started thinking about how to bring down the rest of the basilisks without armor. On second thought, his armor was useless against the basilisks given their rank and strength. He was better off just wearing his normal attire.
Suddenly, a gust of wind exploded beside him, nearly throwing him off into the distance, but a hand grabbed his ankle and yanked him back before he heard Ariel scream,
"GIVE ME MORE!"
Bastion didn't understand what was happening, but he recognized that Ariel wasn't in the right state of mind, judging by her reddened, wild eyes, until Elyra explained through telepathy.
'She wants your cannon, Master, to take down the basilisks and save Seraphina. Don't worry, Seraphina is fine. She's just stuck.'
Bastion immediately tossed his cannon along with a few dozen bullets.
Ariel caught them effortlessly, stored the bullets, and took flight, soaring back toward the basilisks.
Seraphina, on the other hand, was trapped inside the snake's esophagus, using a dagger Elyra had driven into the creature's flesh, positioned for Seraphina to hold herself in place. To avoid being crushed, she took out her alchemy table, which was rated for Rank 2 and built to withstand both corrosion and explosions. She also used Eternal Flame to keep the stomach acid at bay, but she was still completely unable to escape on her own.
Suddenly, the muscles of the basilisk that was constricting her and the table eased up finally giving her the chance to escape. She crawled through the disgusting thick flesh while keeping the flooding acid at bay with Eternal Flame and wind magic. Finally, she managed to exit the creature's mouth just in time to see Ariel finish the rest of the basilisks off.
Ariel swooped toward the two basilisks she was tasked with keeping distracted. She activated Frenzied Shot, Charged Shot, and Bunker Buster, empowering a Rank 2 bullet enough to pierce the basilisk's damaged eyes and penetrate all the way to its brain. She then used Rapid Fire to quickly reload and repeated the process on the second.
Both basilisks were eliminated in short order, but Ariel wasn't finished. She darted toward the last one, which was still being distracted by Akari, the phoenix. With a single shot, she took it down as well, finally ending the fight with the basilisks.
Before they could even regroup, Ariel shot toward Seraphina at full speed, arms wide and trembling.
"Seraphina…" she cried, tackling her to the muddy swamp.
"Seraphina! Seraphina! Seraphina!" she repeated, burying her face against Seraphina's chest, shaking with relief and fear.
"Shhh… it's okay. I'm fine. I knew what I was doing. Everything's okay," Seraphina murmured, trying to console her as Ariel sobbed uncontrollably, clinging to her like she'd never let go.
Bastion and Lilia finally regrouped with the pair, who were covered in mud and snake fluids.
"What happened?" Lilia asked.
"I think Seraphina must have taken a hit for Ariel, causing her to fly into a rage," Bastion replied. "She took my cannon and finished off all four basilisks by herself."
Lilia's eyes widened. "Wow. We should have made her a cannon of her own."
"That cannon isn't something we can make yet," Bastion said, shaking his head. "It's made from Rank 2 materials by Professor Hammerfist. We would have to be Rank 2 with a special flame to create one of those."
"Doesn't Seraphina have special flames? Can't we use that to melt Rank 2 metal?"
"We could, but Seraphina would have to be Rank 2 as well. It would be best if she could raise her Intelligence to at least Rank 2 50."
"Well, after today, it shouldn't take us very long. What level are you now?"
Bastion did a quick check and furrowed his brows. "I'm level 170."
"Oh, me too," Lilia said after checking her own status. "Neat! We'll be Rank 2 by the time we get out of the Great Forest."
Bastion remained quiet, so Lilia asked, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, just that we're missing a few levels. I must have gotten my math wrong."
"You probably didn't count Akari when you should have."
"Yeah, maybe."
"Anyway, isn't it about time we checked out that hidden underground cavern?" Lilia asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Bastion pushed his suspicions aside and grinned.
"Yeah, let's see what's inside."
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