Chapter 71: Azure basilisk (11)
Stella looked around at the poor state of the corner store.
The store was in complete disarray. Shelves had been toppled over, their contents spilled across the floor—crushed snacks, rolling cans, shattered bottles leaking sticky liquid.
It looked like people had fled in a hurry, leaving everything behind. The faint hum of the lights was the only sound left.
She remembered what Jaster had told her to do:
"Grab a bunch of oil and pour it to form a circle in the city center..." Stella rehearsed what Jaster had said, so she wouldn’t forget anything.
"Then, throw me a match when I signal you." She opened her eyes again after making sure everything was set. Then her eyes darted toward all the items on the ground.
"Bread... No. Milk... No. Banana... No." Seeing nothing useful on the floor, she walked forward, stepping on rotten and smashed produce.
She checked behind the register and saw a white-colored lighter. Her eyes lit up. She jumped over the counter, knocking over a candy display in the process, and grabbed the white lighter.
"For some reason... this lighter reminds me of him..." Stella’s mind drifted to the white-haired boy. She proceeded to punch herself in the face.
"What are you thinking about, Stella?! Why are you thinking about him?!" She shook her head and walked toward the cooking aisle.
She passed through all the different spices, all types of pasta shapes, a variety of instant noodles, and finally—
"Aha!" Stella found a liter of cooking oil on the shelves. She grabbed a cart and hurriedly loaded all the oil she could fit inside it.
After filling the cart with loads of oil, she put the lighter in her pocket and pushed the shelf that was in front of the door. Then she came out of the store with different types of oil and one white lighter.
"Well, this mission is suspiciously easy. I just hope Jaster is fine—"
"HELPPP!!" Just as she was about to walk to the city center, she heard a man’s voice shouting in the distance. Her female lead instinct kicked in, and she ran toward the sound.
Stella saw the person asking for help. It was a bald-headed guy wearing a work uniform. His legs were buried under large rubble while he lay on the floor. "Somebody! Please help!"
"Wait, I’ll help you!" Stella rushed toward the man. She bent down to check his leg.
"Ah, kid, please help me!" He pleaded.
"Don’t worry, I’ll try my best—" Stella’s gaze froze when she managed to lift a bit of the rubble. She saw his legs crushed under the rocks, blood staining the gravel.
"What happened? Did something happen to my leg?" He asked, his eyes shaking as he tried to see what happened, but his position wouldn’t let him.
"I think your legs got crushed. Don’t move—I have to remove the rock first!" The man’s eyes widened in terror, and he started sobbing.
Stella put her hand on her chest, and it began to glow cyan. Particles of light started coming out and colliding, forming a wolf figure.
The gray wolf formed perfectly and stood beside Stella. It looked at her, as if waiting for direction.
"Snowy, help me push this big boulder off the poor man’s legs!" The canine nodded without saying anything further, and the two of them started pushing the boulder off the man.
The man moaned when they slightly moved the rock. "STOP—Please... It hurts!" He complained, waving his hands.
"I understand, sir, but we need to move this boulder first before we can get you out!" Stella exclaimed. The man was about to say something but stopped at the last second.
He sighed and flopped onto the ground, his face toward the floor. "Okay... Do it!" He shouted.
Stella nodded. She signaled the canine to keep pushing. The man gritted his teeth while his nails dug deep into the pavement.
They kept pushing and pushing until the boulder rolled off the man. It tumbled across the ground a couple times before hitting a building and shattering into tiny pebbles.
"Okay... okay." Stella wiped the sweat from her forehead. She looked down and saw the poor state of the man’s lower body.
His lower legs were completely crushed, limbs bent wrong, blood soaking through the fabric as it began to swell rapidly.
Stella tried her best not to puke or make any remarks. "Sir, there’s no way you can walk in the state you’re in right now. We should find you a place to hide while you wait for the police to come..." Stella scanned her surroundings and spotted a nearby motorcycle. Her eyes sparkled.
She ran toward the bike and traced her finger along the seat. "God damn, this is the latest Drakon Motors – Stormreaver X. If this still has the keys, I can ride it and take the man to the café in the meantime..." She looked at the ignition switch but immediately frowned, seeing no keys in sight.
Bummer.
Since there was no way to transport the man to the café, Stella decided to carry him in a bridal carry style and gently set him inside the convenience store.
The wounded man coughed, trying to force out words. "Thank—you... so much, young girl..." He tried to speak with his sore throat.
Stella’s face softened, and she smiled at him. "No problem. Don’t worry—you’ll be safe here. I’m sure the monster won’t make its way here."
The injured man nodded. Suddenly, his chest glowed brown, and particles flew into the air, forming a shape. Stella’s gaze locked onto them. They finished forming and dropped onto the man’s body.
It turned out to be a white-colored weasel. It sniffed its surroundings for a moment, then its tiny eyes met the bald man. The weasel squealed and leaped forward to rub its head against him.
Stella watched the two of them while her gray wolf sat beside her. She patted the gray wolf, her gaze still lingering on the pair.
"Don’t worry, Snowy... Everything will be alright."
