With a high note, the snake lunged with precision.
Ryn barely got his sword up in time as the Basilisk's head crashed into his blade with a force that sent him sliding back, boots skidding across the mud.
He caught himself before hitting a crystal outcrop, just in time to see the serpent recoil, readying the next strike.
With a low note, the snake's tail shot out in a wide area sweep. Luckily, since the snake was so big, Ryn had time to jump in the air to dodge the attack.
Unluckily, the Administrator knew what he would do.
Another high note pierced through the cave as the snake lunged again. Ryn was stuck in the air, with no options to dodge.
Shit!
He raised his sword, preparing for the worse. Then, a ball of fire crashed into the snake's head, knocking it over and stopping the attack.
Amelia stood hand raised, smoke coming out of her palms.
"You okay!?" she shouted.
He landed hard, rolling once to regain footing. A slight nod to reply to Amelia's question.
Then, a low note thrummed.
The Basilisk's tail was already coming. This time, unnaturally fast for a beast of its size.
BOOM!
The impact caught him like a battering ram.
Ryn launched across the cavern, smashing into a collection of crystals that shattered under the force. He hit the floor on his shoulder, vision exploding white.
[HP: 53/100]
"Ryn!" Amelia's voice was sharp with panic.
Pain washed over him in steady waves, ribs throbbing with every inhale. His sword felt distant, as though his hand had forgotten how to close around it.
Amelia's voice reached him as if from behind glass—muffled, frantic, straining to break through the haze.
Think. Breathe.
Another high note echoed through the chamber.
Ryn flinched instinctively, bracing for the serpent's head to strike.
But the Basilisk didn't reach him. It slammed into the ground beside him, jaws crushing stone in the wrong direction. The Administrator seemed frustrated that something didn't go his way.
Ryn blinked, breath ragged.
A thought occurred in his head. Maybe the Administrator didn't have full control over the Basilisk as he first thought?
He looked over again and heard a low note. The serpent's tail moved, swatting some nearby crystals.
Ryn felt like a moron for not figuring this out sooner. A high note corresponded with a head attack, while a low note was a tail attack.
Just two blunt commands, amplified and distorted by the cavern's reflective acoustics into something that only sounded intricate.
The Administrator had no idea how powerful the flute truly was.
This was his chance to win.
Ryn exhaled slowly, pushing himself onto one knee. Pain lanced through his ribs, but clarity steadied him more than any breath could.
He wiped the blood trailing down his lip, gaze sharpening on the Administrator, finally getting control of the Basilisk.
Time for Round Two.
Ryn checked his MP, confirming the resources he had left.
[MP: 90/110]
It's enough. Aquila flared in his vision, his mind ready for what's to come next.
The moment the next high note cut through the cavern, he was already moving, sword angled low as he sprinted toward the Administrator.
The Basilisk lunged to intercept him, its head carving a path through the air like a falling boulder. But Aquila's guidance whispered a different truth, as he followed the light to jump right over the snake's head.
[MP: 70/110]
He didn't slow. As soon as he landed, Ryn continued to sprint toward the conductor.
The Administrator froze mid-note.
Another command, sharp and low.
The Basilisk's tail came sweeping across the cavern floor, a wall of muscle and stone scales meant to pulp him flat.
Aquila shimmered again, letting Ryn fuse instinct with foresight. He saw the gap underneath the serpent's attack—and immediately slid underneath it.
The Basilisk's tail slammed into a nearby wall, debris falling from the ceiling as it did.
[MP: 50/110]
Two uses left.
The Administrator's posture faltered for the first time, a tiny hitch in his stance as he realized Ryn wasn't playing defense anymore. He brought the flute back to his lips out of reflex, hands tightening as he prepared to force the Basilisk into another crushing angle.
With a blink, Ryn closed the final distance in three strides. Faster than even both snake and man.
[MP: 30/110]
The black-masked figure jerked backward, flute rising reflexively toward his lips. He clearly meant to force a desperate command, any command, into the Basilisk's ears.
Ryn stepped into the man's guard with a fluid, almost serene ease, redirecting one of the Administrator's arms with the flat of his blade. With a twist, he bent the man's arm, forcing him to drop the flute.
It rattled on the stone floor, echoing the demise of the Administrator.
Ryn's sword rose.
For a moment, the world hushed. The Administrator looked up at him, a hint of bewilderment leaking through the eye-slits of his mask.
As if only now, in this final suspended instant, he realized…that Ryn was the threat all along.
"You—" he began.
Ryn cut him off, with steel of course.
The blade drove cleanly through the Administrator's chest, sliding between the ribs with precision, laced with cold aura to confirm the kill.
Ryn pushed forward, grounding the strike until the Administrator crumpled to his knees. A breath later, the Administrator toppled, a thud sound resounded through the cavern.
He pulled his sword free in one steady motion, breath shaking but controlled. The cavern filled with a sudden silence, which lasted only long enough for the consequences of the kill to take shape.
A deep, guttural roar tore through the chamber.
The Basilisk convulsed violently, its coils thrashing in every possible direction. With the conductor dead, the illusion vanished as well. The beast's eyes widened, pupils contracting to pinpoints as it searched blindly for its next target.
Unfortunately, it found Amelia first.
A panic-driven reflex kicked in as its eyes concentrated, lit with that sickly yellow-green glow.
"No—!"
The beam was already forming.
Amelia didn't even have time to fully turn before the Stone Stare burst outward. She threw an arm up, fire flickering uselessly against the sickly beam. It crashed into the ground beneath her feet, crystal dust exploding upward.
A sharp cry tore from her throat as she staggered back, boots dragging across the floor.
Ryn saw it—the creeping gray spreading up her shins, transforming her legs to stone.
Amelia gasped, dropping to one knee.
There was no time to think.
Ryn ran, ignoring all the pains in his body.
The Basilisk's head crashed down toward her, jaws widening, teeth glinting with reflected crystal light. A certain killing blow, one she couldn't dodge.
As Amelia raised her hand, in a futile attempt against the coming doom, Ryn cut across the chamber in a blur.
He felt the spent weight of Aquila's final use evaporate behind him.
[MP: 10/110]
The pattern of light flickered, as he burst upward. His blade slammed into the underside of the serpent's jaw. The force of the strike sent a shock through his arms, but he pushed deeper, bracing one foot in the ground to ram the steel straight through bone.
A guttural choke tore from the Basilisk as the sword erupted from the top of its skull.
But Ryn didn't let go.
Cold Aura surged as he yelled.
"Frost Bloom!"
The temperature plummeted.
A bloom of ice burst outward from the blade's entry point, white fissures racing across the Basilisk's throat and up its skull. Cracks spiderwebbed through its scales. Its entire body turned opaque and brittle.
With a shallow breath, Ryn ripped the sword out. The force shattered the Basilisk's body into a cascade of ice fragments, scattering across the cavern floor like falling glass.
Then Amelia gasped.
The petrified gray flaked away from her legs like brittle clay.
Warmth surged back into her limbs so suddenly she almost fell.
"Ryn—!"
He was already starting to collapse.
Ryn staggered forward as the last threads of adrenaline drained from his body. His sword slipped from his fingers, clattering uselessly against crystal.
Amelia lunged, catching him before he hit the ground. His weight slumped into her arms; warm and exhausted.
She pulled him close, heart pounding, hands still shaking from terror and relief in equal measure.
"You idiot," she breathed, voice cracking. "You could've died."
Ryn's eyelids fluttered. He forced them open long enough to meet her eyes.
There was no bravado left. Any of the multiple masks he had to put on to survive in this world.
Just a soft, tired smile.
"I…" He swallowed, breath hitching.
"Amelia… I protected you."
Then the world faded to black.