Meera activated Shadow Coating and covered her chakrams with shadows. With the prince gone, she had no backup, and she prayed the same was true for the basilisk as well.

She prayed that whoever was in the treehouse would continue humming, oblivious to their fight. Or better yet, didn't know this creature. But the fact that it was staring down like she was a rat and completely ignoring the sounds coming from the treehouse didn't give her comfort.

I cannot think about that. She reminded herself. I just need to focus on killing a mythic creature.

She was surprised that they weren't calling it something else, and it had the same name as the one back home, and even the same powers. It made her wonder if the legends of the basilisk came from these worlds.

The basilisk hissed one more time and came for Meera. She flew to the side as she hurled a chakram at its face. He dodged to the side with such frightening speed that Meera gaped. But she wasn't without her tricks, either.

She put a Death Mark on the overgrown snake and brought the chakram back around to cut off its neck. This time, the creature didn't see it coming. She had hoped to cut off its neck, but instead, all the chakram managed to do was leave a shallow cut.

It wasn't deep enough to do any major damage, but still sufficient to draw blood.

So, your hide is tough just like the dragons. Though not tough enough.

If it were a dragon she was facing, her chakram would've barely managed to scratch its scales. But the basilisk wasn't without its tricks. It whipped his head around so fast that Meera felt the air shift around her, and she was almost drawn in. She hurled a chakram to the side to use it as a jump point for the inevitable bite that was coming.

It didn't lunge for her, and instead spat a clear poison, the size of a large boulder. She teleported to her chakram, but even from this far away, the poison was so toxic that its vapors made her nostrils burn. It landed on some trees that immediately sizzled, releasing more noxious vapors into the air, making it harder to breathe. The trees themselves just broke as the poison ate through their bark, leaves, and all.

Meera was so thankful that she had dodged that thing and made a point to continue doing so.

She desperately thought of her next attack while the snake swung its massive tail at her. She dodged to the right. For a moment, she wanted to activate Druvis Might and try out her luck in punching it away. But that thought evaporated when the tail crushed the trees where it landed and cracked the ground from the force of the blow.

As an afterthought, she activated Bastian's Strength, just in case she took a blow like that, at least her next attack will be that much more powerful. Then, before she could've done anything else, the basilisk lunged for her again, followed by a quick succession of furious tail swipes that she barely dodged.

Meera groaned and rose higher into the night sky, where the snake couldn't touch her, and where she would have a moment's peace on how to tackle this infuriating beast. The basilisk stared at her, as if trying to pull her down with just its gaze or trying to petrify her again. None of them worked.

She had just opened her skills to figure out a plan of attack when the basilisk did something that even in her nightmare, she wouldn't have thought possible.

It hissed as if in pain, but the next moment, wings sprouted from its back—massive, scaly, bat-like wings. Ones that belonged on a dragon, not a snake.

This was getting too much. What other tricks did this thing have up its sleeve? With two beats of its massive wings, the basilisk took flight. Then Meera saw the true size of the thing and her jaw dropped. It was comparable in size to Ignis and Tigris, possibly even larger than them. Aside from their father, they were the biggest dragons she had seen.

Even more surprisingly, it had two sets of wings. One big ones that sprouted from its middle and another smaller ones that were around its tail. It was a majestic creature, and Meera would've stood there in awe if it hadn't been coming to eat her.

She needed to ground this thing and fast, or she would have had no chance in hell against this thing. She pulled off a dozen chakrams and activated Shadow Coating on each of them. With a flick of her hand, she hurled them all at the snake's wings.

The basilisk dove, but her chakrams gave chase. The snake's bulk was its undoing as it couldn't maneuver fast enough, at least not fast enough for her chakrams. They cut through the leathery part of its wings, leaving enough holes in it that the basilisk's bulk did the rest as it drove it down to the ground.

The snake landed with a thud, shaking the entire jungle around it, save for the treehouse's tree, which Meera knew was enchanted to protect against such things. Birds were rudely awakened from their nests as they flew off to save themselves from the unnatural earthquake.

Meera activated her trusty Ambush Tactics, which she had obtained from an untrustworthy Cosmarian. But the skill had never failed her before, and it didn't this time either. In the moments that it took the basilisk to regain composure, she knew how she would bring this thing down. It was almost too easy. She wished someone was watching because she was about to humiliate a mythic creature.

Meera dropped down into the jungle as the snake uncoiled itself, but before it lunged for her, she made her move. She littered the ground with mirror shards and activated Mirror Phantom, using many shards as the core for her phantoms.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

The basilisk paused as a few dozen Meera appeared around it. She made the phantoms taunt the overgrown snake. It paused as it considered the many identical enemies. Then its eyes landed on Meera. It ignored everyone else as it came for her. She didn't know how it knew which one was the real her, but somehow he did. She figured maybe it could hear her breathing or her heartbeat, or something of the like.

She had no time and had to switch strategies on the fly or be engulfed by an enraged snake. She did the first thing that came to mind. She activated Dusk Veil and filled the area with dark smoke. She could still see, but this gave the basilisk some pause. She hovered a few feet off the ground, hoping that it would be enough to mask any involuntary sounds that she might make.

To her horror, the basilisk vanished. One moment it was there, the next it was gone. She could hear the rustle of leaves as it slithered on the ground, and the slight noise as it flicked its tongue, which told her that it was still here, but she couldn't see it.

She activated Spectral Dominion and called four shadow warriors and had them stand guard around her, hoping they would be enough. She used one of her Ascendant abilities to watch for the Mana lines inside the snake's body, all the while the predator's sounds came from all around her, making it next to impossible to pin it down where it was.

She drew a deep breath to calm her nerves and decided it was best to shoot up into the sky again. She must've flown a few feet when the basilisk made its move.

It constricted her from all sides and caught her.

Then it began to crush her bones, as it constricted its body around her. A primal fear awoke in her, as it materialized the moment it caught Meera, cutting her off from seeing her through mirror shards. She couldn't see any mirror shards, so she couldn't escape. She screamed as it tightened and broke one of Meera's bones. She couldn't tell which one, maybe several. She could feel herself turn to jelly.

The basilisk's head rose, its tongue flicking in and out, and as it stared at Meera, waiting to feast on its prey.

In her desperation, she mentally commanded the shadow warriors to hack into the snake, but they might as well have not even been there. The massive snake ignored them completely. Its scales were hard enough that it could weather their attacks for a bit longer, while it killed and devoured Meera. But she wasn't making it easy for the snake. She had activated Greater Vitalize, and the pain had stopped, but she wasn't sure if her bones were being healed. After all, there was no space for them to heal. All she heard was cracking and popping. She couldn't tell if they were being broken or mended.

Then, to Meera's sheer terror, the basilisk opened its mouth to swallow her.

No. No. No…

A few drops of its poison dripped from the basilisk's mouth onto her shoulder. Her armor held for the first few drops, but then it sizzled and dissolved. The poison ate through her shoulder, and it was something that even Greater Vitalize couldn't completely keep the pain away. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, which jolted her out of her terror.

She used the first skill that came to her mind. She opened a slit in her helmet wide enough for her mouth and breathed out dark flames from the Shadowflame Devastation skill. What her shadow warriors couldn't do. Her fire skill did.

The basilisk hissed as finally it loosened its grip as it fled from Meera. She dropped to the ground and saw the extent of the damage done to her body. If it weren't for Greater Vitalize, she was sure that she would be dead already. Her arms were completely broken, bent at odd angles. Her legs were equally mushy, and she could tell that several of her ribs were damaged as well.

No one, no dragon, or any other beast, not even the Cosmarians, had come done such extensive damage to her body. And this made her absolutely livid.

She was equal parts angry at her as she was at the snake.

She had become overconfident. Too overconfident. Something that Veridiana had constantly warned her against. She had drilled into her body that she must take out all her foes, no matter their level, as if they were the strongest being she had ever faced.

She took this basilisk for granted. A mistake she would fix presently.

She focused her healing skill on her right arm. It snapped itself together in a series of cracking sounds. She reached into her Hoard Belt and pulled out her ultimate weapon. In the darkness of Dusk Veil, the weapon shone like a white sun. She knew she could probably kill the basilisk without the Level 3 chakram, but she was angry and wanted it to pay.

The snake had mainly recovered, but not without taking some considerable damage to its body. Shadowflame had eaten through the snake's scales right down to its bones. It dripped dark blood from its body in droves.

The basilisk was equally furious at her, and it lunged for her. She would've loved to hack it to bits, but her body was not put together enough, and its poison was making her see double of everything. She hurled her chakram at the snake, who tried to dodge it, but this wasn't any regular chakram.

She flew it directly into its mouth. She activated the chakram's size ability and made it the size of a cartwheel. The chakram was so bright that she was sure its starry white light was going to leave spots in her vision.

No matter how strong the basilisk was, it was not nearly as strong as her chakram. It cut the oversized snake in half from snout to tail.

By the time the snake reached her, it fell apart into two. It's two halves sailing on by, harmlessly.

Meera huffed on the ground for several moments as her body finally stitched itself together. She immediately recalled her chakram and placed it into her Hoard Belt.

Her Mana was dangerously low when she finally stood. Though it made her world swoon. Greater Vitalize must've still been working on the poison as she was still seeing double and had a terrible headache. She figured it would take care of it, eventually.

She drank another Mana potion and jumped up to the treehouse.

She swooned as she landed. She had to place a hand on the treehouse to steady herself.

Is Greater Vitalize not working on the poison?

If that were the case, she needed help, and fast. She stumbled to the door and banged on it with everything she had, which wasn't much. She tried again, this time with more strength, but the second pound made her fall to the floor.

She breathed heavily on the ground, hoping that her non-functioning limbs were just temporary. She tried to scream, but hardly a sound came out. Her Greater Vitalize was active, but the healing skill was malfunctioning.

She kicked the door pathetically with her foot, and even that took everything she had.

Just when she had lost hope, the door to the treehouse opened up. Light washing over her, nearly driving her blind. In her double vision, she saw a man emerge from the treehouse.

His eyes immediately widened. He walked to the railing, as if in a daze. After a long moment, he finally turned back to her, horror clearly etched on his face.

"What have you done…"

Darkness encroached on her vision from all sides, her head throbbed in pain, but before she succumbed to the darkness, she managed to croak out a single word.

"Help…"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.