My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 62: Azure basilisk (2)

Stella looked to her left and saw a small, tight alleyway. The volley of lightning beams got closer and closer toward the gray wolf. She reached out her hand. The wolf jumped, and in the last second, she managed to grab the canine’s fur and leaped into the alleyway, taking the crying kid with her.

The lightning beams penetrated through the wall, destroying building after building behind it. When the beams faded, a massive crater remained, the ground crushed inward and littered with shattered debris.

Stella lay on the wet concrete floor, panting, her chest rising and falling rapidly. After a moment, she got up and saw her spirit animal beside the child.

She walked over to her wolf and touched his fur.

"Thank you, Snowy. You’re safer inside me." The wolf somehow understood Stella and looked down. The canine’s shape began to break into many spirit orbs, and they all flowed into Stella’s chest.

The kid watched as she returned her wolf to her chest, her eyes sparkling at the sight.

"Wow, amazing!" She smiled at Stella, and Stella smiled back, but her smile quickly faded after hearing a faint rustling.

She peeked out and her eyes shot up, seeing the basilisk coming toward the alleyway. It was slithering through the giant crater, its eyes still burning with revenge.

"Oh shit!" She grabbed the little kid’s arm and sprinted fast. The confused kid tried to keep up with her speed.

"What is it? Why are we running?" She tilted her head. Stella didn’t answer because ahead of her, the exit through the tight alley was still far, far away.

Then she heard a voice that made her shiver.

"Shhhkkkk." She looked behind them and saw the basilisk peering into the small alleyway. The beast’s snake-like eyes locked onto Stella, then its pupils dilated at the sight of the two.

Oh no.

It retreated its head. The monster slithered in front of the alley and opened its giant maw, then began charging the electric beam again. Every piece of debris and dust got swept inside the electric blue orb.

"Damn it!" Stella looked ahead, and they were still far from the exit. Her eyes darted everywhere, trying to find something, then they landed on a rusted ladder.

She looked up, following the ladder’s path. It reached towards the roof.

"Perfect!" Stella stopped running. The kid panted, out of breath. Stella bent down and held the girl by her shoulders.

"Look, we can get out of here with that ladder." She pointed at the rusted ladder.

"I need you to climb that until we reach the roof, okay?" Stella tried to contain the panic in her voice, but she knew the girl could tell.

The little girl nodded, and Stella hurriedly told her to climb up. While the girl climbed slowly, Stella looked toward the beast and saw that it was almost done charging that deadly beam. Stella even felt like she was being sucked toward it, hinting at its sheer power.

The student looked up at the ladder and saw the girl had already climbed a decent number of rungs. Stella took a deep breath before climbing up the rusted ladder.

She could feel the ladder shake every time they climbed at the same time. Stella lifted her head, seeing the little girl was already safe from the electrical beam’s wide range. Stella though, wasn’t safe.

"Hey, kid!" she shouted, and the girl looked down.

"I’m afraid the ladder will fall off or break from the pressure we’re putting on it. Can you stop climbing while I catch up to you?!"

The little girl understood Stella and stopped climbing, while Stella continued upward. Now the ladder didn’t shake or rattle every time she climbed, which relieved the student a bit.

The wind grew harsher and harsher, and the electrical orb became brighter and brighter, but Stella wasn’t in the safety range yet.

After climbing more rusted rungs, that’s when she heard it—

She looked toward the snake. After the orb grew bigger and bigger to the point it touched the snake’s teeth, the monster finally unleashed its destruction.

"SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT!" Stella climbed faster, while the electric blue beam rushed through the tight alleyway. It obliterated everything in its path, creating a huge line of crater.

Stella closed her eyes but kept climbing. She could hear the loud buzzing and rustling from the beam, and in the last moment when she thought she was done for, she grabbed one of the rungs, but instead of the rusted, dirty metal, she felt someone’s shoes.

She opened her eyes and saw that she had caught up to the little girl. The kid tilted her head, seeing Stella’s relieved expression.

"Oh my god.... No way...." Stella looked above her and saw the electric beam pass over them and into the many buildings in the distance.

"We did it.... Kid, we did it!" She smiled while laughing a little, while the kid’s stoic face remained the same.

---

They finally reached the rooftop. The kid got up first, and Stella soon followed. They were on a high building and could see everything that was happening.

"No way...." Stella’s eyes were wide with terror mixed with fear at the sight of Silver City.

Buildings crashed into each other. Civilians screamed, either asking for help or trying to find their loved ones. The streets were covered in blood, with thousands of dead bodies lying on the ground.

Stella couldn’t handle seeing the brutal sights. She tried to hold it in, but eventually instinctively puked, letting the waste drop onto the ground.

Then she heard a sob. She saw the kid hyperventilating, her breath uneven, hiccuping at the same time.

"My mom... I want my mom..." The girl wiped her teary eyes with her dirtied clothes.

Feeling bad, Stella walked toward the kid and hugged her tight. The kid’s eyes widened, but soon she embraced herself in Stella’s warmth. Stella then whispered to the kid.

"Don’t worry... I’m here. Everything will be fine i promise..."