Chapter 39: 39

The Scent Of Blood

 

One, two, three, four…the corpse count continued to increase as time passed.

 

There were a total of 11 people in the『Scythe of the Grim Reaper』. Since I took 3 of them back to the city, 8 of them remained here. Half of their remaining members have already gone to the other side. 

 

They died in all kinds of different ways.

 

One was hit with a poisonous liquid directly and lost half of his face.

One looked like he was cut in half at his waist by claws or something. 

One had his neck bent in an unbelievable manner and turned into a bloody pool.

One had his body flattened like a frog who got stepped on.

 

 

Perhaps the third victim was hit by a strong tail that crushed his neck, and the fourth victim was crushed by something similar to the size of a huge boulder.

No matter how they died, there were signs of corruption near their bodies.

 

At this point, I’m sure that we’re up against the basilisk. Judging from the condition of their corpses, they were probably attacked soon after we left for Ishka.

If we took a bit longer to retreat, we might have been attacked by the basilisk as well.

 

While thinking about that, I discovered two more bodies.

Was this person trying to shield the other person with his own body? The poisonous liquid was melting both of their upper bodies as one laid on top of the other. 

The puddles that formed from the demonic beast’s poisonous liquid melting the humans’ flesh was creating a terrible stench. The poison fumes in the air stung my nose and made me tear up.  

I couldn’t bear it anymore and went ahead to avoid the puddles.

 

Then, I came across the most tragic scene I’ve witnessed up until now, not even a hundred steps away. 

 

…That, in short, was a sea of blood.

 

As if it were a scene of carnage right out of a legend, the ground was hollowed, the grass was torn out, the trees were destroyed. And what was splattered on all of those things was blood, blood, and more blood. 

 

Just what happened here that could have blood splatter all over the place like this? This area was bloody enough to raise that question in my head.

In this sea of blood, several blocks of red and black flesh scattered all around.

The largest chunk was about as big as a human’s torso.

When I tried to focus my eyes to look closer for the answer, I recognized the clothes that were stained in blood and mud. I also recognized the iron equipment that was covered by the thin, long chunks of flesh that scattered all around.

 

That was what the human who was once called Perry had become.

 

「…I didn’t make it, huh」

 

*Chi*, I clicked my tongue.

 

Judging that he could no longer escape, Perry tried to repel the basilisk here, and was killed in return– was most likely what happened.

In that case, the possibility is high that the last person of their clan also met their end here.

After I decided to examine the chunks of flesh around me with that in mind, I raised my eyebrow at the first one that I looked into.

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That piece of flesh with scales on it was not from a human no matter how I looked at it.

 

「Is this a basilisk’s leg? One, two, three…Hm」

 

Perry did this, huh?

The result of the scene of carnage in this place might be because of the pain that Perry inflicted upon the basilisk with his counter attacks.

I decided to look around again and confirm the number of chunks of flesh here.

There were too few pieces to say that two people were killed here. Perry was definitely dead because of his noticeably huge body, but it’s still possible that the last person had escaped. Well, but it’s also possible that they might have gotten eaten by the basilisk.

 

「I don’t want to go back with nothing. I guess I’ll investigate a bit further. Moreover, it seems that the basilisk was quite wounded as well. To leave that wounded poisonous beast as it is…I don’t think it’s going to end well」 

 

The basilisk goes on a frenzy. Other demonic beasts escape. Then they hit Ishka.

It’ll surely go like that. 

 

Thinking about it now, the herd of manticores that I encountered in the forest before…they might be a group that got chased out of their home by the basilisk.

If demonic beasts of that level appear in the outskirts of the forest, it wouldn’t even be possible for people to gather herbs peacefully. 

Right when I was about to leave with that, the nearby bush suddenly shook.

I dashed away from that spot out of reflex, and readied my black sword in that direction. 

I did not feel the presence of a monster, but…honestly, my senses weren’t working too great due to the overflowing smell of blood.

 

I became tense thinking that the basilisk had been waiting here for me, but then I thought that it would be strange for it not to show itself the entire time…

Judging from the corpses, the basilisk seemed like the type that sees humans as nothing but fodder and would attack mercilessly upon encounter…

As the strange situation of a stalemate continued, I suddenly thought of another possibility and cautiously searched through the bushes.

There, I found a person who was trembling with a pale face as he kept his eyes closed and mouth shut- the last member of the 『Scythe of the Grim Reaper』.   

 

◆◆◆

 

After that, I called the indigo wyvern from the ground and put the remaining survivor of the 『Scythe of the Grim Reaper』 on the saddle.

However, he’ll be the only one riding the wyvern. I’m going to remain in this forest. I told the wyvern that it can take a break once it took the remaining survivor back to Ishka.

According to the story of the survivor, Perry was the first one who engaged in combat with the basilisk when it attacked them and its injury was caused by him. 

Perry did not use his troops as decoys for him to escape up to here, it was his men who were trying to get him out.

The people of the 『Scythe of the Grim Reaper』 were trying to protect Perry who got hit by the basilisk’s poison and they were killed one after another before Perry and him were finally cornered here. 

After Perry realized that he would no longer make it, he hid his last subordinate in this bush and challenged the basilisk to a fight to the death. In exchange for his life, he took three of the basilisk’s legs.   

Perhaps the reason why the basilisk stomped Perry’s body into bits and pieces after was to vent its anger. The horrifying scene here was the remnants of that.

 

Then, the basilisk tried to eat Perry, but it suddenly stopped moving for some reason.

After a short pause, it spat Perry’s corpse back out and then it seemed to have headed north…Either it did not notice the hidden human…or it chose to ignore him.

After the remaining survivor told me the chain of events in a trembling voice, he broke down from the guilt of leaving his leader to die.

I did not say anything back to him. What can I say to him when we just met today? I’ll leave the follow-up care to their vice captain. 

 

I decided to pursue the basilisk up north. With the wounds that Perry inflicted on it, now is probably the best time for me to subjugate the king of snakes.

 

Moreover, I am curious about what had captured the basilisk’s attention.

 

After I saw the wyvern fly off, I immediately turned around and started running north.

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