Jujutsushi 77

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Chapter 77: Basilisk Subjugation

Me and the Rems had to make 3 round trips to and from the Fairy Square and the crescent moat in order to carry over all the stuff.

“haah… haah… I, need, a break.”

We’d set out full of energy and determination, but all that heavy lifting really took it out of me. I took a short break before setting everything up on location.

I wasn’t rushing. The Basilisk wouldn’t be going anywhere today, or tomorrow, or the day after for that matter. Our prey is guaranteed to stay put and we had the advantage of choosing when to attack. This was one of the only merits of a Boss battle.

“And… done. Not too shabby huh.”

I was done drawing the Hexagram Eye to my liking. I’d already repeated this many times for practice, so I’d like to think I got somewhat good at it.

I spent a lot of time thinking about where it’d be best to draw this magic circle, finally settling on a spot at a corner of the Mandragora farm. If I got any closer, the Basilisk was likely to sense me as an invader, so I chose the nearest spot out of its range. If I wasn’t willing to take this risk, it might even give up chasing after the bait, not want to get too far from its territory.

And right now, I was ready. I gathered up my courage and set my plan into motion.

“Alright, Rem. Do it.”

“GAGA!!”

“GuGyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

Rem stabbed our little live bait Goma with a knife, not to kill it, but to have it bleed out little by little. So I had it stabbed in its flank, and it shrieked in pain. Of course, it was unable to move, or even thrash around, since I also had it tied up hard and tight.

The smell of blood and loud screaming was sure to attract the Basilisk’s full attention. And it was fine if the Goma somehow ended up escaping its bindings, since it’d bleed out and die anyway.

And damn was it loud. With the bound, madly wailing Goma now affixed firmly onto #2’s back, the Mud Doll set off in the Basilisk’s direction.

“Rem, you hide over there.”

“GA!”

Rem and I laid down in our handmade ghillies and patiently waited for the big fish to take the bait.

The path from here to the Basilisk was open, without any large obstacles on the way, and gave me a clear view of the Boss in the distance. #2 was walking straight to the target without faltering and the Basilisk was still sitting in its usual spot.

“… Got ‘em.”

Once #2 passed the half way point, the Basilisk stiffly raised its body. This timing was within my expectations as it always showed some reaction once moving prey got that close. It didn’t seem to act any differently this time too.

“That’s far enough, stop.”

It’d be a bad idea to wait for the Basilisk to start chasing #2 since she wasn’t all that fast, and it’d just catch her before she made it back. She was also carrying a Goma, so there was that extra weight too.

In order to successfully lure it into our trap, #2 still needed to maintain some distance.

“Yeah, yeah, almost… now!”

#2 turned back and went into a sprint, acting as if she was a dumb Goma that only just realized that there was a Basilisk there. The Boss in question reacted to this and started running after her, albeit somewhat slowly.

It took the bait!

“Come on, come on…”

#2 ran. The Basilisk chased. It ran in a way that didn’t look fast and furthermore, didn’t make any sound. But it was slowly and surely closing in on #2.

Wait, is it gonna, no, they’re too far, but then again, wait no, uh, maybe?

“―― Oh shit!!”

While worrying if it’d even make it all the way here, the Basilisk practically was.

“GA!”

Rem yelled powerfully, and in the same moment, #2 dived right at the center of the ritual circle like a high school batter sliding into the home plate.

The ingredients were all in position at their respective points. The center had an offering of an almost fresh Matango corpse.

And on top of that, #2 swerved and threw the bleeding Goma she’d been carrying. With this, the final piece of the sacrifice was in place.

#2, now on all fours, made like a cockroach, and scuttled out of the way. And then――

“Boaaaah!”

The Basilisk opened its maw wide and went in for the writhing Goma.

Perfect timing.

“Putrefy, in the depths of vile red―― Rotten Bog!”

The scene changed vividly, yet in an instant. The circle and offerings transformed into blood red bog, and stretched out like a flood.

Yes, get wider, get deeper. Get so big that you can swallow that acid breath monster whole.

“Bubgh, baaaaah!”

Half of the Basilisk’s body was now within my bog. I heard it’s ear-piercing, shrill scream along with, yes, a very satisfying sizzle of melting flesh.

It was working. Its skin wasn’t tough enough to withstand my Rotten Bog. Its front and back legs along with the bottom half of its torso was under acid and it was definitely in a lot of pain. Of course it was. I’d never seen it scream like that before.

“Now die in my acid――”

In my right hand I held not a blade but a collection of small core fragments I’d accumulated from mobs, while in my left hand, I had some Power Seeds. Hadn’t used these in forever.

I tossed the offerings in both of my hands into the giant bog.

“――Blackhair Bind!”

And the jet black tentacles that then rose from within the super powered bog was similarly powerful. These blackhair tentacles were the thickest and longest I’d ever made.

The ritual would not only grant power to Rotten Bog, but also to my binding Curse, Blackhair Bind, depending on the ingredients offered, of course. Though, the only things I found to be effective for this purpose were the core fragments which supplemented my mana and Power Seeds that slightly increased the Curse’s strength.

But a slight increase was better than none at all. This battle was going to be a true test of strength for my Blackhair Bind. I was better off using up the cores shards that hadn’t been useful at all so far.

A total of 4 tentacles appeared. They all wrapped around the Basilisk’s head, tightening around its rubbery skin. I had now sealed its mouth shut, disabling its corrosive breath.

I’d heard that crocodiles, despite having insane biting force, didn’t possess as much strength in terms of opening their maws. I really hoped this big guy was built the same way and focused my mana on binding its mouth shut.

“Ugh, a, damn it, uuh… uuuuuurrgh!”

The Basilisk was thrashing around, obviously, but now that I was holding it, I bodily felt its strength, a strength fitting for its massive frame. I felt a tremendous resistance that, if I were to relax my concentration for an instant, would tear all the blackhairs apart.

Currently I was standing right in front of the beast’s nose with my arms stretched out in front of me, trying to stand stock still with my utmost effort. I realized that I must look like a really dumb sidewalk mime artist.

But right now, I couldn’t afford to think about stepping to the side and out of the way, or taking up a weapon and striking the Basilisk since, the moment my hold on it breaks, it will rush forward to escape my bog, and really, one tackle from its massive frame should be more than enough to finish me off.

This was ridiculous. In my head I was standing in a much safer position than this ‘face-off’.

“Gh! Garrgghhhh!”

It whined in pain with its mouth bound. Must be the Rems attacking.

I could see black smoke rising from behind the Basilisk’s back. Looks like they set it on fire as per my instructions.

The albino beast squirmed in pain as its ass was literally on fire. Its bulky legs kicked around inside the bog as it tried to swerve its body from side to side.

“Shit… dammit, damn you, die… just die, you fuck…”

Maybe the Rotten Bog wasn’t as effective as I thought. No wait, maybe, right now, it was just my sense of time that had slowed down due to the adrenaline, and my bog was actually making quick work of its lower body.

But the fact of the matter was that I was reaching the limits of my stamina, while the Boss still had strength to spare, what with the way it was rocking violently.

Looks like they ran out of oil. Rem and #2 were currently busy throwing all the random weapons we’d gathered. Some hit, some were knocked away, but overall, it didn’t look like there was much of an effect.

We lacked a decisive blow. The hell. The hell is this. I’m gonna die. Mei-chan, where are you.

“Urrghhhh…”

No. I won’t wish for miracles. I still have strenght left, so I refuse to just give in. I can’t hope that she’ll save me.

“Save me, Nii-san.”

The image of Souma Sakura wishing to be saved was playing back inside my head.

And she was saved. We were all saved. By her brother, by the Hero, by Souma Yuuto. He’d rescued us in the nick of time. I realized then just what he was. I understood how she could believe in him. Believe that he’d be there.

But I won’t. I refuse to believe that someone will just come and save me.

It wasn’t like I didn’t believe in anyone. I was sure that Mei-chan was doing her best to search for me even now.

What I couldn’t believe in, what I couldn’t put faith in, was luck. I didn’t think I was particularly lucky. But I didn’t think I was born unlucky either. In this dungeon, I’d been saved many times by outside intervention, by someone else. And I considered that pretty lucky for me despite ending up a weak Shaman.

But in the face of true hopelessness, in the even of a crisis that spelled almost certain doom, in those moments of utter despair, something like a hero swooping in to save me, believing 100% that I’d be saved no matter what, was just not something I could do.

Why would I? Us humans had limits, all of us. Reality would always catch up. There is no hero. And even if there was, that hero won’t appear every time. He won’t even appear most times, really. He can’t save everyone.

Seeing Souma Sakura, I felt like she just didn’t get that, it was like she didn’t even know such a thing was possible. She believed in him with every fiber of her being. She believed in her brother, in Souma Yuuto.

In short, she believed from the bottom of her heart that she’d be saved, definitely, and from any crisis.

And me, I couldn’t stand to become that idiotic.

“Gghhhaaaaaaaaaaa!”

So I won’t give up. I’ll put up a fight, I’ll struggle till the bitter end.

“GAGAA!!”

It was then that I saw that Rem was climbing up on the Basilisk.

Throwing wasn’t working out, so she’d done this to attack directly. Wait, but I hadn’t ordered her to do that.

No, was Rem actually acting on her own initiative?

“GA! GA!!”

Rem used one hand to stab the Red Knife into the Basilisk and, using it as a hold, she swiped down the Mantis Blade on her other arm over and over.

Stop, get off, if you fall off, it’s all over, dammit.

“GAGAAAAA!!”

Rem payed no heed to my worries and kept stabbing and slashing like crazy.

She got close to falling off many times, but managed to stab into the Basilisk to brace herself.

“―― oooo, bauooh.”

Finally, finally, the Basilisk’s frantic resistance was weakening.

“Al, most…”

It was still moving and I had no intention of relaxing my hold on it. But I could definitely feel its strength waning.

Soon. Very soon. I was fine. My mana and concentration were both nearing their ends but I was fine. Now, it only had to slowly melt away. Rotten Bog would do the rest.

“Hah, hahaha… You did it, Rem!”

I hadn’t let up. My hands were still raised. I wouldn’t mess up now.

So, what happened next could only be called a surprise, it was simply the Basilisk doing something completely off my expectations.

“Buoooohhhhh!!”

In an instant, my world was died purple.

“Eh?”

Wait what? It’s not the breath attack is it? It’s not the damn Basilisk’s acid breath, right?

How? Why? It’s mouth is still clothed shut.

“Ah, oh…”

So that was it. It was those gill slits it had on its face, like the ones on a lamprey. It shot out all this purple from there. It happened all too fast, but I’d caught a glimpse. I saw those creepy whatever-holes spewing out the stuff like a pinched water hose. And then, everything went a very venomous purple.

Shit, shit dammit. How was I supposed to even know about that…

And while in the middle of complaining, I came to a quick and obvious realization:

Oh, I died.

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This chapter was sponsored by Nolan N.

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