Barbarian in a Failed Game

Chapter 56



Chapter 056: The Basilisk Subjugation (1)

Al-Rasdel, a city known for supplying high-bred warhorses throughout the kingdom, was among the wealthiest cities in the north. Naturally, expansive pastures for grazing these horses were also present, managed either by priests worshipping the god of abundance, who were hired at great cost to bless the lands, or by a significant workforce tasked with the maintenance of these grazing fields. And now, with the city of Al-Rasdel having fallen due to the “living corpse” plague, the situation had drastically changed.

Screeeeech─────!

What was typically a pasture filled with numerous horses had transformed into a resting place for an entirely different being. With a body resembling a gigantic lizard, stretching over 4 meters in length, covered in sharp, spike-like scales and possessing vicious claws capable of tearing through rock. Its tail split into two, each end adorned with something resembling a metal ball. And lastly, a massive head that, while reminiscent of reptiles, was fundamentally different.

‘Basilisk!’

Khan, with his knowledge from games, immediately recognized the identity of this serpent-dragon and instinctively drew his axe and magic sword. Despite having been struck by the dragon’s fear, a sensation that even the overwhelming will of the Goddess of Justice had resisted, Khan thought to himself, ‘…A bit stiff, but that’s all.’

However, his companions did not fare as well.

“Cough!”

“Ugh…!”

Ron and Maya, mere humans, trembled as if seized by convulsions. Gasping for breath, as if in difficulty, they were seemingly deprived of control over their bodies due to the fear, collapsing face-first onto the ground.

The most challenging aspect of battling a basilisk was its “Petrifying Roar,” a debuff that rendered characters below a certain level incapacitated. Elena, who would later become the apostle of the goddess, was only slightly affected thanks to the protection of a holy spell. However, the rest of the party was not in any condition to join the fight immediately.

‘Damn it. Just my luck…’

This was why basilisks were classified as Named Monsters specialized in prey weakening. It was common practice to hire knights or mages NPC capable of protecting themselves against the ‘Petrifying Roar.’ For Khan’s party, which consisted largely of ordinary humans, their compatibility couldn’t be worse.

“Sir warrior…!”

The first to regain his composure was Jan, the mage.

Having calmed the mana within his body to regain control, he began to chant a spell preemptively.

“Minor spells won’t work! Use at least an intermediate-level spell, one that concentrates power into a single point!” Khan shouted, then took a powerful step forward.

The debuff from the Petrifying Roar varied individually, usually wearing off between two to four minutes.

‘Am I supposed to hold out on my own until then?’

Khan, facing the enormous bulk of the basilisk, grinned, “Well, when have we ever been used to fighting together?”

“Screeeeech─!”

Perhaps sensing the barbarian’s intent to fight, the basilisk prepared to roar once more, evidently displeased that a mere human had resisted its roar.

“Screeech…!”

[Shut─up──!]

Khan’s ‘War Cry’ swallowed not only the basilisk’s roar but all other noises around. Even the sound of him leaping into the air was engulfed.

His body, shot forth like a cannonball, rapidly closed in on the basilisk, specifically its side, jumping right up to it.

[Leap (B) – 01%]

─B-grade effect, Freedom of Movement: Directional restrictions disappear completely. The direction and height of the leap can be perfectly controlled.

“Screech!”

The basilisk, keeping up with Khan’s movement, swung its bifurcated tail like a whip with a loud Bang─! Its massive body exerted considerable force, sending the tail rushing forward, leaving a long afterimage as Khan gripped his Draupnir tightly.

[End it! Slay the dragon… now!]

Responding to this, the red aura enveloping the sword deepened in color. For once, their thoughts align.

Thunk──!

It was as if a giant swung a siege ram. Khan’s eyes widened at the collision – a sensation beyond his imagination from countless battles with basilisks in games.

‘This is insane…!’

There was no giving in.

It was like trying to push over an ancient tree, deeply rooted for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The body of the basilisk, supported on its short yet thick legs, was immovable even for Khan, who possessed the strength of a superhuman.

Swish!It wasn’t that he was overpowered. With a twist in midair to counter the force pushing him back, Khan wielded his axe with a mighty swing. The air vibrated with a metallic clang as the steel ball attached at the end of the tail collided with the dwarf-made hand axe, blessed by the goddess, sending shockwaves through the air. Khan’s hair whipped about in the fierce wind that followed, nearly blinding him.

‘This is beyond what I imagined!’

The weight behind Khan’s strike was immense, capable of crushing an armored knight from above, and the axe, made heavier by the goddess’s blessing, might well have been considered siege weaponry.

Yet, it didn’t budge. Instead, the remaining tail seemed to coil with the intent to crush Khan then and there.

Khan made a simple decision. Instead of resisting the pushing force, he used it to propel himself backward.

As he shot back with uncontrollable speed, the basilisk let out a high-frequency roar, a clear precursor to its next attack pattern.

‘Poison needles!’

Khan noticed the scale-like spikes and instinctively knew the danger. The basilisk’s venom was notoriously difficult to cure, even with divine spells.

He pulled his axe back, initially planning to throw it to disrupt the pattern but quickly rolled on the ground, changing tactics.

“Screech!”

[Grasp of Arseys]

This was a mid-level spell from the Gray Tower, once used by Jan’s mentor Jerome during Darkin Subjugation, now manifested by the disciple, Jan.

An invisible giant’s grasp seemingly crushed the basilisk, causing the ground beneath it to crack and split under the pressure.

“Warrior!”

“I know.”

[Leap]

The basilisk twisted violently, as if to free itself from the spell’s bind. Jan might not have been able to hold it for long – a testament to his current limit compared to his master, Jerom.

But that brief moment was all Khan needed.

In an instant, he closed the distance and with both hands, gripped his magic sword tightly.

[Strike! Tear through the heart of the dragon!]

‘Was planning to, anyway!’

Though his swordsmanship consisted of what he learned as a child and the practical experience gained through real combat, it was more than enough.

With a strength stat of 61, Khan’s superhuman strength, mistaken by some for divine, was evident in his swift, almost unseen movements.

A luminous slash grazed the basilisk’s face diagonally in a flash.

Khan immediately leapt back, creating distance as basilisk blood spurted onto where he had just stood. Even with his increased endurance and physical constitution, the basilisk’s blood venom was not something to be taken lightly.

“Ssss!”

The venom dissolved the grass it touched instantly, forming a deadly pool as the basilisk’s screams filled the air.

Approaching it now seemed almost impossible.

However, most dragon breeds – and the basilisk was no exception – possessed regenerative abilities, a tricky situation for anyone relying on close combat.

But Khan was not in a hurry.

─Wound Aggravation :: The malice within Draupnir hinders healing. It nullifies potions and healing spells below a certain grade.

This was why Khan had chosen to strike with Draupnir. Although given enough time, the basilisk might recover…

Crack.

Now, Khan readied his goddess-blessed axe for a throw, sensing an impending skill level-up from this encounter.

With his physical stats increased, the charging limit of his throwing skill had also improved, promising a devastating blow to the already battered basilisk.

‘It’s surprisingly simple…’

In games, basilisks were known for their difficulty: impervious defense, petrifying roars that turned lower-level NPCs to scarecrows, overwhelming strength that denied close quarters battle even to warriors, agility that belied their size, tricky patterns, and venom that turned minor injuries deadly.

Yet, Khan had brought the basilisk to the brink of death in moments, awaiting only the finishing blow.

Even with Jan’s help, the effort and time invested were minimal. The outcome would likely have been the same without it.

‘A 25th level warrior achieving this? Unthinkable. Definitely.’Khan had quickly gauged the extent of his own strength in a fleeting moment, as he brought his consciousness back to the present. How much experience had the basilisk given again? Such thoughts crossed his mind as he was about to throw his axe when.

“You should stop right there. It would be problematic if that monster dies by the hands of someone unexpected at this time.”

“Kyah!”

As the emotionless voice of a man sounded from behind, a string of high-pitched screams from Elena followed immediately.

“Sister Elena!”

“My lady…! What do you think you’re doing all of a sudden!”

Unable to fully shake off the petrifying roar, Maya and Ron yelled out angrily, while the soft chanting of a spell by Jan could be heard faintly.

“Keep chanting the spell, mage of the Tower. Unless you don’t mind this priestess getting hurt.”

“You! Are you doing this under the orders of Count Perran? To betray us so suddenly…!”

“Count Perran?”

The man, who held Elena’s slender body from behind and had a sword smeared with the monster’s blood to her neck, sneered.

“As if I would listen to orders from such a coward. Enough of this nonsense. And you too, barbarian. As I said before, the moment you attempt any harm on the basilisk, I will kill this priestess.”

“Despicable!”

Jan’s face reddened with anger, but the guard captain showed no signs of disturbance, merely glancing over Khan’s shoulder.

“If you understand, then back away.”

Having roughly grasped the situation from the sequence of dialogues, Khan nodded. Taking it as an acceptance of his terms, the guard captain’s lips twisted upwards.

“I had no intention of revealing my identity, but if you all were to die at the hands of the basilisk here, then it wouldn’t matter. Hah… It’s unfortunate but unavoidable. That damned dragon is… partly necessary for our plans…”

“Then. It must be killed.”

“What…?”

The guard captain, taken aback by Khan’s abrupt declaration, grimaced and moved the sword he had at Elena’s neck, thinking to make an example to force a stop.

However—.

[Throwing]

Boom──!

The axe, released from Khan’s hand, spiraled through the air and embedded itself into the basilisk’s face, right into the wounds opened by Draupnir, the axe buried so deep that only the handle was barely visible. The following skill-induced tornado tore through the basilisk’s face.

Screeeeek…!

The guard captain had moved too soon, intending to cut the priestess’s neck and deal with the mage of bewildered expression and the rest of the group, who were still paralyzed.

But things did not go according to the guard captain’s calculations.

Because his calculations were fundamentally flawed from the start.

As Khan checked the experience points gained from defeating the basilisk and turned away with a sneer,

‘If you’re going to take hostages, you should’ve chosen your opponent more wisely.’

Elena grabbed the descending sword with her bare hands.

Elena’s vigorous response, unlike her appearance of a cheerful girl, momentarily stunned the guard captain. In the meantime, she brought her other hand to her thigh.

As Elena lifted her nun’s habit, the hidden flesh and the object concealed with it were revealed.

It was a shape all too familiar to Khan.

A flail, with a short handle connected to a chain and a metal ball at the end, a weapon favored by ‘Goddess’s Scale’ in the future.

‘I’ve died to that before.’

As Khan leisurely recalled his memories, Elena, who had escaped the guard captain’s restraint with bizarre movements, suddenly lept up, swinging the flail. The guard captain, delayed in his reaction due to shock, was grazed by the metal ball and staggered.

“Please, stay still…!”

Once Elena’s safety was secured, Jan bound the guard captain with a secretly prepared spell.

“Phew! That was almost a disaster!”

Elena adjusted her disheveled attire with a lively tone that suggested she thought nothing of the sort.

“So. Now’s the time to find out why our guard captain resorted to such an act, isn’t it?”

“Ugh…!”

“Ah! Of course, you don’t have to worry about dying! I am a priestess, after all!”

As she declared she would torture him while healing him with holy spells, she revealed a chilling promise with a beaming smile. Elena approached the immobilized guard captain, intending to interrogate him after knocking him out first.

Elena walked buoyantly, excited to experiment with the interrogation methods she learned from Berta for the first time.

However, the guard captain’s sudden action broke Elena’s smile.

“You have made a great mistake─! Realize what you have done and die regretting it!”

Was this his last act of defiance? Bleeding from his head, eyes, nose, and mouth, the guard captain burst into a laugh filled with anger and exhilaration.

At that moment, Khan leapt toward the direction where the basilisk had been, towards the castle of Al-Rasdel.

And at the same time.

Boom──!

A colossal breath of flames descended from the sky, engulfing Khan’s figure.


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