Chapter 161 - Wake Up Call (3)

Iliana hummed at the unfolding scene she was witnessing. She knew it was logically impossible for Basil to herd those Demons, but the scene conveniently supported the thought.

Of course given the situation, she didn't entertain the thought for long. "Well, I guess we won't have to bother ourselves entering the Dungeon." She shrugged. "I will call him to announce—well, he is already looking at here."

Iliana had wanted to call Basil at first, but upon seeing Basil had been looking at her, she had quickly stopped her attempt.

"Rather than just LOOKING at here, he is POINTING his sword at us," Cray commented.

Just like he had said, Basil was pointing his glowing Sealing Sword at their direction—at the place behind them.

They were a little bit puzzled at first. However upon recalling the fact that Basil had always been a "unique" individual, they quickly shrugged it off.

And, that was also the moment they regretted shrugging off Basil's cue.

Rumble!

The ground shook, as if something wanting to come out of it. The three students were quick to step away, as their defense mechanism was screaming loudly in their mind.

Boom!

As if proving their instinct to move away was correct, a second after they had moved away, a similar cavity like the one surrounding Basil mysteriously appeared in the ground. Its role was also the same.

It became the Demons' exit way.

"For Akasha's sake, what in the bloody hell is that?!" Cray cursed out loud. Whitney, who had remained silent up till then, also couldn't help chiming in this time. "That's a bloody horde of Demons!"

Contrary to the two rather dramatic duo, Iliana took a look at the situation calmly. She didn't need to think long, before her eyes discreetly went to Basil.

Looking at the glowing Sealing Sword in his hand, she could instantly deduce he was the culprit behind it. Of course, she knew he didn't mean to harm them in slightest.

The reason why he had pointed his sword at them earlier must have been to warn them; such gesture was unnecessary to activate the Runes Carved on the Sealing Sword, after all.

Quickly brushing the thought off, she quickly focused herself on the more important thing. "Whitney, Cray, let's head to Basil's side! That is the safest spot we can get!" She quickly ran toward Basil's way right after.

"I can see that. These Monsters are chasing our butts, after all!" Whitney exclaimed. "Holy cow, these Monsters' love for my butt has transcended any love I wish I can get from people!" Cray, too, gave his own two cents in.

Even though they were heard like a bunch of inexperienced brats, they handled the situation very well. They kept successfully killing any Demons that managed to get close enough to them while running toward Basil.

On the other hand, Iliana only had to run since Cray and Whitney took care of the Demons for her; she deserved it as their ... Superior, as she liked to refer herself to them.

"Tsk. These Monsters really love our butts, aren't they?"

Of course, that doesn't mean she didn't have to face any hurdle at all. She might be safe from the back, but not from the front.

The closer she got to Basil, the more of the Demons coming out of the cavities around him noticed her. Although not all of them coming at her, some of the Demons coming at her were pretty troublesome to deal with.

Shriek!

Just like the Gutter that was twenty steps away from her. She didn't emit that much of Mana to make her look dangerous, but the Gutter was ready to explode its guts out as it deemed Iliana was a dangerous individual.

Of course, she was knowledgeable enough to not let it happen. Quickly casting one of the Spells she got in her repertoire, Mana quickly gathered on her hand. A fireball quickly formed above her palm, as she pointed it at the gutter.

"You can die by yourself, annoying pest. [Fire Cannon]!"

A fireball of a size of a cannonball was shot at the incoming Gutter with a high speed. It was simply too fast for an ordinary eye to catch up; so was the case for the Gutter. Despite of having three eyes, none of them could follow the fireball.

In the end, it ended up getting its chest punctured by the fireball. Not stopping just killing it, the fireball headed to the other Monsters coming at Iliana, and killed them in the same manner it had killed the Gutter.

It charred their skin, and made a hole in their chest. Although it had a straight trajectory, it wasn't that easy to dodge it due to its high velocity; many got flustered, and could only helplessly forfeit their life.

Of course, it wasn't the best part of Iliana's simple yet lethal Spell. Upon reaching a certain point—the spot with the most Demons—the fireball stopped midair, then exploded itself.

Boom!

Although the explosion wasn't that big, it was enough to kill a couple of Demons, and heavily injured many of them. The only disadvantage was, of course, the amount of attention it attracted.

Almost half of the Demons coming out of one of the cavities were now turning their heads at her, glaring at her with apparent hatred; close to a fourth of them were even on the verge of chasing her.

However by the time they wanted to take their first step to chase her, she propelled herself forward, sending her beside Basil instantly. Cray also did the same with his Wind Magic, carrying Whitney with him.

"Huuh..." A sigh of relief came out of Cray's mouth, upon reaching Basil's side. "That was insane! Did you see how enthusiastic these Demons chasing our butts?" He turned to Whitney.

Whitney merely raised his hand, and faintly shook his head. "Give me a moment to settle this distorting sensation down first." He wasn't used to flying. "Blergh! I guess this what makes me suck in Wind Magic," he muttered.

Iliana lightly smiled at the two, and quickly turned her head at the person she hadn't seen for two months; she had to look up as Basil had gotten taller yet again.

Basil looked down at her, and tilted his head. "You feel different," he said softly. Iliana lightly smirked, and replied, "That should be my word, boy."

Basil hummed to himself, then returned his attention to the front. Some of the Demons had gotten out of the horde, and were currently looking at him—the people beside him—in apparent annoyance.

He gazed at them neutrally, then opened his mouth. "|||•|||•||||•|||"

The people's attention quickly turned to Basil as he had just spoken a foreign language that they were sure they had never heard of. Much to their bewilderment, some of the demons replied Basil's word.

"|••|||••••||||•||||?!"

Basil and the Demons were talking in Lesser Tongue: the language some of the High Class Demons, and every Middle Class Demons and below spoke. The content of their conversation was, as one might expect, concerning about the people beside him.

—They have killed our brothers! They have to take responsibility!

—I don't think the death of 43 of you is worth starting a conflict between us.

As usual, Basil faced the situation calmly and overbearingly. He didn't show any particular expression, but the Demons could somehow feel the disdain he directed at them.

—Human! We, Demons, cherish our deal. You shall do the same!

—The deal is supposed to be me not killing any of you. Have I killed any of you?

Basil quirked his eyebrow, and the Demons were close to jump at him. He didn't say anything wrong; he had promised to not kill any of them as long as they did him a favor. He had basically signed a deal with Demons, with him as the initiator.

—You lowly human! Just as dirty as your ancestors!

—I don't want to hear that from a bunch of failed products.

A commotion was evoked amongst the Demons, as they were busy condemning Basil for his "dirty act." However, none of them dare to jump at him.

They merely looked at him in grudge, before joining the moving horde once again. They knew it would be useless to start a with fight Basil there; they still had a better thing to do, after all.

Basil smirked lightly at that, then turned his head to the bewildered people. He had felt their gaze since the moment he had spoken Lesser Tongue.

Looking at them one by one, he could feel their well-hidden cautiousness toward him. "This is why staying in the Dungeon is more rewarding than staying in Magic Institute." He shrugged lightly.

He had just lied as natural as breathing; he had actually learnt Lesser Tongue from the information the Guide had provided him. Of course, he couldn't say that, unless he wanted to dumbly reveal all of his cards.

Unsurprisingly, the people quickly accept his explanation. It wasn't that weird for a Mage to learn weird things ... They were "eccentric," after all.

"Basil, good to see you are okay." Whitney was genuinely glad Basil was okay. " I'm sorry for my incompetence back then." He bowed his head lightly.

Basil's response was a simple nod, and a hum of acknowledgement.

"I know this might be insensitive, but I can't believe you actually survived it, mate!" Cray excitedly exclaimed. "Even my foot," he pointed at his right foot, "was healed only after a full month of recuperation! That old man was nuts!"

Basil turned his gaze to Whitney, and Whitney bowed his head in apology on behalf of Cray. Sometimes, Cray's natural brightness was exceptionally overwhelming indeed.

"Basil ..." At the call, Basil turned his head to Iliana. "Why are they avoiding us? I can't feel any Magic Barrier to repel them is set here." Iliana looked at him in slight puzzlement.

"I made a deal with them."

"Deal?" Iliana quirked her eyebrow.

"Yes, a deal. They asked me to open the Dungeon, and I asked them to not jump at me."

"That is all?"

Basil lightly nodded his head.

Iliana's puzzlement became worse: she didn't get Basil's purpose of making a deal with them. If he had the control over the Dungeon to let the Demons out, why didn't he use that to entrap them for a moment to escape?

She knew there was something more to it, but she decided to not pursue the matter. Everything Basil had done up till now had been always for a purpose; she was sure this one was too.

Therefore, she nodded her head in acceptance, and so did the other two.

Basil turned his gaze to the horde once again, before slightly smiling in satisfaction. He had been nothing in the past, when this Outbreak had occured; this time, he held full control of it.

Basil had provided the Demons the location of some of the crucial parts of Fortescher County, and asked them to take over it. That way, the County would fall in their hands faster, and in turn would also throw the Kingdom into a distraught state faster.

In the moment of chaos, Basil would fully take advantage of it.