A drop of water fell on Tsuoma's new armor. "Damn, I just bought that," he groaned, and the cave began to rumble. "Shit, I made a noise."
More drops of water began to fall on the party. "This isn't water," Natael whispered. "It's drool."
Suddenly, animal sounds were heard, but they abruptly went quiet. Smashing sounds followed, accompanied by a heavy slithering noise. "The basilisk is coming. We must not let it see us," Tsuoma said, looking for a place to hide.
"What do we do? Its gaze can turn us to stone! Where can we hide?" Jiyoki asked, her voice laced with fear. Her question got Tsuoma angry.
"You're the most powerful among us! Why don't you find a way, huh?" he said, glaring at her. She glared back, and Tsuoma looked away. "Fine, just ignore us, you blasted creature. I never liked your kind, anyway."
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Tsuoma..." Teruki began.
"Not now, Teruki," he snapped. He quickly scrolled through his Light Magic spells. He chose a small spell that made them all invisible, all except the Kitsune.
"Tsuoma, let her join us," Teruki said appealingly, as the basilisk's sound drew nearer. He sighed. He couldn't say no to Teruki. He pointed to Jiyoki, and a white glow covered her, rendering her invisible as well.
The basilisk entered the chamber. It didn't see anyone and growled angrily. Tsuoma quickly checked its stats.
STATS
Name: Basilisk
Specie: three-headed basilisk
Rank: Level 100, Rank S
Health: 3000/3000
Agility: 2000/2000
Speed: 1500/1500
Strength: 4000/4000
Stamina: 90/100
Mana: 200/200
Magic & Skills Used: death stare
The basilisk was strong, but its stamina was poor. If they could get it to use up its stamina, they might stand a chance. Its raw strength was still a problem, though. He decided to use a new spell, one that consumed 20 strength points, 30 stamina points, and 10 mana points.
"Light Magic: Judgement Blast!"
A massive beam of light appeared and blasted the basilisk. The light continued, destroying everything in the cave as the ground began to crack.
"Sasha!" Tsuoma yelled. She ran to the basilisk, which was already dead, and conjured a sword. She used it to slash off its head, touched it, and stored it with her magic. The group ran out of the cave as it began to collapse. They were able to get out just before it fully collapsed.
"Woohoo! That was a close one," Jiyoki said, sighing.
"You didn't even do anything, you cunning vixen," Tsuoma said, his voice cold.
She growled, her eyes changing, and got directly in his face. "Can we not fight now, please? We've gotten what we came here for. Can we go?" Teruki said, standing between the two. The remaining party members laughed loudly.
They began to walk home when the place they were standing in became dark. "No! Not now!" Jiyoki said, suddenly afraid and shivering. "The evil empress. It's her."
The party members stood rooted to the spot as a black smoke swirled around them. From the smoke, a woman with a crown on her head appeared, smiling evilly and menacingly.
"Hello, kids. You must have surely heard of me," she said, looking at Tsuoma and Teruki. "Hmm, that scent. You two are not from this world, isn't that right, heroes?"
Sigrid spoke up in Tsuoma's mind. "That is Urea, one of the most powerful demons. He is speaking through her. Even I had a problem battling him during the war."
"Hello, humans. I see you were able to kill my basilisk," the Empress said. "It's okay. I only wish to speak to him." She pointed at Tsuoma. They all raised their weapons, but they couldn't move. Time had stopped. Only Tsuoma, Teruki, and the Empress were unaffected.
"Interesting," she mused. "She is not affected. Perhaps she is connected to your life source, so killing you would kill her. Interesting. I have learned something important today. And now, I will kill you before your heroic adventure begins."
She raised her hands, and dark-red energy began to form, taking the shape of spears. "It's over. Crushing God Spears! This technique was used to destroy the gods during the war. So long, hero... or should I say heroes?"
The spears moved at the speed of sound toward them. Tsuoma was about to use a spell when a blinding light orb appeared, multiplied into a thousand, and sucked all the spears in before they vanished. The Empress groaned angrily.
"Supreme Mage Agnolia, welcome to the party," the Empress sneered.
Agnolia grinned as two other people joined her: a Holy Knight and the princess. "Hey, Urea, what do you think you're doing with our hero?" Agnolia asked in a mocking tone.
The Empress began to fade. "It's not over yet. Mark my words, I will be back, and by then, I will surely kill you all," she said and vanished.
"Well, that was a close one," the princess said, sighing in relief.
"Your highness, Supreme Mage Agnolia, and Head of the Holy Knights. What on Earth are you doing here?" Natael asked in shock. Time had already returned to normal, and the party was freed from the time spell.
"Take us to an inconspicuous place. We'll talk once we get there," Agnolia said.
Tsuoma caught the princess looking at him, and she immediately looked away, a pink blush staining her fair cheeks. This was noticed by Teruki, who growled.
"Her goddess visited her and told her where you were," Agnolia explained. "She called me, and I had to leave everything I was doing behind. I was able to successfully connect to her goddess just for only once anyway, and taking a bit of power, I searched for you. I saw you killed a basilisk, which is impossible to do except by Holy Knights and high mages. That's by the way. I also sensed an evil aura around the cave and knew who it belonged to. And so I was able to draw a transportation circle. I did it fast, and we got here. If I had delayed even for a minute, you would have turned to ashes by now."
Teruki shivered in fear as she heard that and gripped Tsuoma's hand tightly. He patted her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm here, Teruki. It's okay. Thanks for saving us, Mrs. Agnolia."
All of them were shocked he called her that. "What? That's her name, right?" he said.
Natael slapped his back and whispered in his ears, "She hates being called a 'Mrs.'"
"Why? She looks like a fifty-year-old," Tsuoma said, chuckling.
Agnolia was shaking furiously. "I will kill you, hero!"
The princess suddenly began laughing wildly. They turned to look at her and saw her talking with Teruki. "Teruki, what are you telling her highness?"
"Oh, I'm telling her a lot of things about you," she said, smirking.
"Can we leave now? Natael, please take us to the safe house." Tsuoma's face was pink with embarrassment as he imagined all the things Teruki must be telling the princess. It was strange how the two had become such good friends in the space of just an hour.