Lee continued to raise Walls of Earth as he kept his eyes peeled on the towering foreleg that erupted from the ground. It was truly staggering in size. If he had to compare it, it would be nearly half the size of the Giant he had seen back in the monster siege. Easily able to crush him underfoot without a second thought.

Another deep warhorn-like call rumbled outwards from the creature as it attempted to rise to the surface. It wasn’t a howl, hiss, or any other sound he could attribute to any creature he knew of. Stupidly, the first thoughts that came to his adrenaline-fueled mind were the tripods from the movie War of The Worlds. A deep-seated instinctual fear took root, and goosebumps rose along his arms from the call.

Less than a few seconds had passed since the first leg braced itself on the surface of a former building, but another soon joined the first. Once properly braced, even from a quarter of the way across the village, he saw the rippling, bound steel cord-like muscles flex as they heaved the creature out of the depths.

Crawling and heaving itself into the open sky was a mythical creature of staggering size Lee had never seen, heard of, or even fathomed before. A hexapod with dark green, murky scale-like skin, cleated hooves, little to no neck, and a wide frame settled on the ground. The face of the creature was similar to that of a pug. They were scrunched up and had many folds. It had three eyes—Two positioned where he would usually assume, but a third rested on its forehead—closed and unmoving.

It turned its whole body to gaze around, unable to swivel a head as its neck was nearly nonexistent. It was slow-moving, obviously taking its time to observe its surroundings. Once apparently satisfied, it opened its maw, revealing thick blocks of yellowish teeth used to grinding material, and cried out its call again.

Lee stared at the creature, trying his best to find any recollection of it in his memory, but failed to find any comparison he could make. Deciding that his best course of action was to let the professionals handle it, Lee turned to go back to camp to regroup with the others.

As soon as he turned his head to leave, he came face to face with a statue mere inches from his neck. The horde of villagers fleeing and adventurers slamming into similar stone creatures around him reminded him of the other threats presented. Quickly and out of panic, Lee cast Gale Burst to jettison himself across the ground, away from the statue.

Once at a safe distance, Lee was about to cast Spear of Eternity to finish it off, but in the crowded street full of panic, he was reminded of the piercing quality of the spell. Thankfully, the adventurers filling the streets had more martial means of dispatching foes. One group, noticing his statue, came over and cleaved into it, chopping splitters off the durable stone until it crumbled from the unrelenting onslaught.

Lee rose, kept his eyes peeled for similar threats, and activated Healer’s Beacon. A torrent of silvery light flooded his immediate surroundings, washing over everyone he passed as he made haste toward their camp. Hopefully, Regina—or at least Em- awaited him when he arrived.

As he sprinted through Lopus, signs of more normal debris and devastation found their way into his view. Enormous boulders and rocky, hardened clumps of earth caved in walls and roofs throughout the village. Normal citizens collapsed and hid in the streets and alleyways in fear of injury. Some were coddling mangled, lifeless bodies as they wept from loss. Lee’s heart was growing heavy, but an ember of anger was also rising in his chest.

He barely healed anyone along his trek to camp. Most current combat was against the statues, easily handled with so many eyes darting around in the daylight. Those who were dead or injured were caught by surprise and died without much pause. Lee could heal many things but could not prevent a meeting with Death. Not yet.

When he began to sprint up the small hill leading to their camp, others were racing into the village—donned with their equipment and prepared for battle. As he wormed his way through the current of bodies, Lee saw Jeremy pacing as his eyes locked onto the slowly roaming creature, crushing its way through the numerous buildings in the village. Lee spared it a quick glance as he slowed in his sprint, spotting the colorful flare of numerous spells clashing against its study, scaly hide.

“Jeremy! What the fuck is that?!” Lee spoke as he heaved in air, winded from his sprint through the village.

Finally spotting his arrival, Jeremy peeled his eyes away from the monstrous creature and heaved a sigh of relief. He had both his sword and shield ready and was aware of the threat. Although it would have been nearly impossible not to notice, Lee wouldn’t put it past the rejects from the Wall of Shadows.

“No clue, but Hemsworth is on his way. He left as soon as it started.” Said, Jeremy.

Lee glanced around for Kendri or Em but didn’t find them around. “Where are the others? We should group and prepare.”

Jeremy looked worriedly at Lee, causing another knot to form in his stomach. “What?” Lee asked impatiently.

After a moment of silence, Jeremy came out with it. “Em went with some of the other adventurers to help. Kendri was in the village grabbing provisions… Lee, I don’t think this is our responsibility…”

Without pause, Lee responded with sarcasm leaking from his words. “No shit? Well then, I guess I’ll just submit to death when it comes along to stomp me into a paste. I said we should group and prepare, not run into certain death.”

At this time, the wind picked up in intensity. Lee’s robes fluttered in the wind as he raised a hand to shield his eyes to look up above him. Regina was slowly hovering down from up high from her flight spell, and Ross was nowhere to be seen.

She landed softly, barely needing to brace for the impact of her landing. Her eyes were locked onto the creature from the depths, casually destroying all it walked across.

Not wanting to take the lead, Lee spoke first. “Regina, what do we do? I assume the knights and adventurers can deal with this… thing?” He waved a hand at the creature.

Her eyes never left the creature as she responded in her monotone voice. “Knight-Captain Hemsworth is a capable combatant. If he requires more assistance, I will help, but I doubt assassination is possible against a creature of that magnitude and its skills. I am more suited to human-sized opponents and susceptible to its curses. You will stay here. You’re my responsibility, not the residents of this village.”

Lee took in her words, but Jeremy seemed to catch on to the bits of information he himself had missed. “You know what that is?”

Regina gave a slight nod and flicked an errant hair away from her face. “A unique creature. One that was theorized from the curse of petrification. Although deemed unlikely. It’s a basilisk—an enormous and old one at that.”

The name rang a bell, but Lee couldn’t really place an image to the name. Well, not until now. Lee tried to use Identify on the basilisk but apparently was too far away. He turned off Healer’s Beacon and cast Aquavista. The swirling pool of water formed and gave him a clear telescopic sight of the battle at hand. Flaming spears, blades of wind, lances of earth, and tendrils of darkness all pelted the basilisk as it slowly and lazily stomped its way through the village. He couldn’t see many of the casters of these spells, as the buildings still hid them from view. He also tried to cast Identify again, through the vista, but it failed.

Regina strode over and peered over his shoulder to view along with him, but as the spell didn’t allow multiple people and he had seen enough, he stepped aside to let her use it. She settled into place, and Lee tilted the spell to fit her height. She raised a brow when she could see clearly.

“It doesnt appear to be in any hurry. Nor does it seem to be taking much damage. I’m not familiar with basilisks, but it may have a form of magic resistance. It’s also much too large to fight martially with traditional tactics. Hemsworth will do well against this creature.” She said.

Jeremy attempted to use the spell as well but quickly realized that it only allowed one person. “Is it a monster? Animal?”

“Animal or creature. Similar to that of dragons. Highly dangerous and has intelligence. Its third eye is capable of petrification if you gaze into it.” She responded.

Lee watched as it ever so slowly moved it’s way across the village. It was tramping buildings and abodes along its path, but It was slow, very slow. Lee estimated it would take an hour to cross the distance if that’s where its objective lay. “These statues, are they its minions or something?”

Regina shrugged as she continued to peer into the Aquavista. “I’m not sure. Normally, petrification is death and that’s it. Perhaps this basilisk has some unique ability or skills.”

“Animals get skills and abilities?” Lee asked.

“Sometimes. It depends.” Jeremy helpfully supplied.

The forlorn atmosphere around them was settling in, and he was growing worried about Em. Kendri could rot for all he cared about, but Em was his friend. She was daring and adventurous, and he hoped that she wasn’t foolish enough to try and contest a creature of this size. She was strong, but not that strong. Lee didn’t need identify to tell him that.

“Can you identify it?” Lee asked.

Regina shook her head. “No, but it’s not a catastrophe. I surmise. It’s not anywhere above level a hundred and twenty. With all the adventurers and Hemsworth, they should be capable of defeating it.”

“Should? What if they aren’t?” Lee asked as he shifted to look at her.

She side-eyed him and seemed to appraise him. “Then either all is lost, or someone else will have to handle it. Do you perhaps have any ideas?”

It was a leading question, and he knew it. But would hiding some of his valuable skills be worth leaving this creature to its whims? This thing killed Belgrate. For that alone, he was willing to leak some of his own information.

He narrowed his eyes but asked a question instead of answering. “How much HP do you think it has?”