Chapter 62: Signs of War (Part 1)

After Rose Cyclamen’s homunculus died, we, who had entered the depths of the dungeon, could see the already cold

corpse of a huge snake.

It, with an appearance that resembled a dragon at first glance, was one of the magical beasts that Leticia and I knew well.

The King of Snakes, Basilisk.

Its huge and long body could easily take the lives of dozens of human soldiers with a single swing of its tail.

The poisonous fog and fangs it spewed from its mouth were poisonous enough to make it difficult for even high-

ranking demons to survive, so it was a fairly strong and troublesome magical beast.

That’s why I remembered it clearly.

And the name was floating above the corpse’s head.

In the first place, it was a magical beast with high intelligence that could communicate with humans and demons,

and it was one of the really strong magical beasts, but apart from its strength, there were few individuals, so it was a

magical beast that went to the brink of extinction in the last war.

As far as I know, the Basilisks that survived the war hid their whereabouts completely to survive, so I didn’t expect to

see them as corpses here.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s been dead for long. Look, Charlotte. Poison is dripping from the fangs.”

“It seems someone came first and killed the Basilisk.”

If it’s someone strong enough to kill a Basilisk, I could tell without saying.

Rose Cyclamen.

I don’t know why she killed the Basilisk, but even if it was a homunculus, that woman could have easily killed the Basilisk.

Come to think of it, even in this fight, if Rose Cyclamen had been serious, it was impossible to know how the fight would have turned out.

‘Come to think of it, that woman didn’t seem to have any intention of fighting seriously.’

I opened my eyes wide.

Why didn’t I think of such a simple thing?

Did I just assume that she was fighting seriously because she simply overwhelmed me?

Or was it because she was so easily defeated by Leticia’s holy magic?

Rose Cyclamen could have avoided or deflected holy magic, even if not all of it.

At that moment, a scene from my memory flashed and I let out a hollow laugh, running my hand roughly through my hair.

“Ha, no way.”

“Charlotte?”

“What the heck is that woman thinking? I can’t understand the thoughts of a strange person, but I really don’t know

what that woman is thinking.”

Was I really looked down upon to the point where she fought while holding back?

Clench, I bit my lip.

Or was there really a bit of maternal affection left because she’s my biological mother?

“Ha. What nonsense am I saying?”

…It’s really nonsense.

Maternal affection now, really.

What parent would kill all their flesh and blood and vassals and save only one child?

Does she still love such a child?

It’s an overestimation of oneself.

If the real Charlotte had heard it, she would have slapped my cheek and spat out hateful words, making it impossible

for me to say anything.

I shook my head inwardly.

She must have just come out on patrol to check Leticia’s strength.

Didn’t she say it herself that she appeared to check Leticia’s strength?

It must be an unnecessary conjecture.

…Still, why did she seal Charlotte instead of killing her cleanly?

Hiding such an uncomfortable thought inside, I scratched my head and looked at Leticia.

She was sitting in front of the Basilisk’s huge mouth and collecting the poison dripping from the fangs in a test tube-

like bottle, and I asked with a bewildered expression.

“Leticia?”

“…Huh? Ah, Charlotte.”

“Where did you get that bottle from… No. Since you have magic, you can easily take out a bottle like that. More than

that, what are you going to use the Basilisk’s poison for?”

“Of course, it’s for magic research material. Where can I research the poison of a Basilisk, which is not only rare in

number but also strong?”

Leticia’s eyes gleam with madness, saying that she will definitely research the Basilisk’s poison on this occasion and

find a way to make it into a magic tool and utilize it.

The madness of a magician is familiar.

It’s familiar, so it’s not surprising, but the obsession of a magician is scary, so I took a step back and blinked at the

thought that suddenly came to mind.

Was there any result from researching the Basilisk’s poison?

I tilted my head, making question marks above my head, and asked Leticia.

“Basilisk’s poison as a magic tool? Why would you make such a dangerous magic tool, no, in the first place, Basilisk’s

poison can be made into a magic tool… Ah?”

“That woman said it earlier. A war of the gods, or something, a war incomparable to the wars we’ve experienced so

far. It could be empty words, but it doesn’t seem like that at all.”

“…You’re saying you’re going to prepare at least one?”

“Yes. Basilisk’s poison is so powerful that even high-ranking demons can be in danger if they don’t detoxify it

immediately. If we can make that into a magic tool for this war and use it, the sacrifices of the soldiers will be reduced

even a little.”

Leticia’s opinion was correct.

Certainly, if it’s not a demon with resistance to Basilisk’s poison, even if you just apply the poison to a normal sword,

humans will get a weapon that can threaten demons as well as other races.

However, so far, no magician or alchemist has been able to make the Basilisk’s poison into a magic tool, whether it’s a

demon or a human, the result was the same.

Failure.

All kinds of experiments were conducted, but they couldn’t develop a magic tool that could usefully use the Basilisk’s poison.

Well, I’ve seen people who fight by applying Basilisk’s poison to their weapons, but that was an inefficient method.

Why is that?

The reason was simple.

The reality was that the poison of the Basilisk weakened in a short time after the main body of the Basilisk died, and

eventually became useless.

And although the poison itself doesn’t threaten the Basilisk itself, if the user of the poison is not the Basilisk, if it’s a

human or a demon wielding the weapon, the poison applied to the sword could be dangerous enough to take the life

of the user if used incorrectly, as well as the enemy.

In fact, after those who applied poison to their weapons were harmed, research on the Basilisk’s poison was forcibly stopped.

I frowned and pointed to the mysterious flask containing the Basilisk’s poison with my finger.

“Leticia. You know very well that Basilisk’s poison can’t be used as a weapon, right? That poison will become useless

even if you get poisoned in a short time, and there will be no abnormalities in the body.”

“What if I found a way to use Basilisk’s poison as a weapon?”

“…What?”

“After the war ended, I conducted various experiments by myself. I researched all kinds of magic and made it my

own. Basilisk’s poison was one of them. The problem was that the Basilisk samples disappeared without a trace.”

I couldn’t experiment without experimental samples, and in the end, I came to the conclusion that it was

theoretically possible to make the Basilisk’s poison into a magic tool, Leticia said, narrowing her eyes and shaking the

flask, adding.

“But now I have that sample in front of me? If possible, I’d like to move this whole corpse, but it seems difficult, and

the dungeon seems to be collapsing soon, so I’ll have to be satisfied with this.”

“Huh?”

“The owner of this dungeon must have been the Basilisk. But the Basilisk, the owner of the dungeon, was defeated?

By someone I don’t know and don’t want to know. Then now this dungeon?”

“Will collapse? Ah, damn it.”

Rumbleㅡ.

Crack, crack.

Timing is also luck. Is that a saying? You don’t know? Of course. It’s a saying i just came up with. The ground vibrates

and cracks appear in the ceiling, and pieces of stone fall.

[Emergency. The Basilisk, designated as the owner of the dungeon, has died and the dungeon is collapsing. Players in

the dungeon, please exit the dungeon quickly.]

Without even having time to see the system’s warning that appeared with red letters saying it was an emergency

warning, Leticia’s teleportation magic made us disappear from the Basilisk’s room.

Boom!

The moment we disappeared, the space ruled by the King of Snakes collapsed with a loud noise.

*******

“Teleportation is convenient, as expected.”

“As convenient as it is, it’s quite tricky. Not only the coordinates, but if the location where the coordinates were pre-

marked is even slightly off, the space cannot be distorted.”

Because it’s that difficult, there were only a handful of magicians who used teleportation, a magic that opens space

and moves.

Come to think of it, there was a magician on Mephisto’s side who could handle space magic.

I looked at the entrance of the dungeon, which was cracking and eventually collapsing, with a dark face.

The dungeon maker is also annoying, Ryuryeon, Rose Cyclamen, and an existence higher than her are in place.

Maybe even if humans and demons join forces, it might be difficult.

……There’s no guarantee that there won’t be humans or demons who betray and join that side.

At that time, I opened my eyes wide at the soft touch that quietly wrapped around my neck and touched my cheek.

“It’s okay.”

“….”

“I know you’re worried about that woman’s words, the war of the ancients, or whatever, but what’s the point of being

afraid of a fight that hasn’t even started?”

“…That’s, true.”

That’s right.

We will never lose.

Because she and I always found the answer in each other.