Bab 20: Mole Serpent
"There's a trail." Farmer Andrew added, examining the trap sites. "It's going west, toward the plantations."
"There's more here." Riki pointed. "And there too. They all go toward the west."
"Should we follow?" Farmer Andrew asked, rubbing his chin.
"Yeah!" Riki exclaimed immediately.
"Let's grab weapons and follow them!" Farmer Andrew exclaimed, mirroring Riki's enthusiasm.
"Uh… I don't really have any weapons." Riki grimaced.
"Huh. Come with me." Farmer Andrew led Riki to his shed, and then made an offer. "You can take the hoe, the pitchfork, or the machete. Which one do you want?"
"I'll take the machete!" Riki said at once. A sword! He finally had a sword! Even if it was basically just a gardening knife, a machete was a proper blade!
He tried a few clumsy swings with it, personally adding in the necessary sound effects. "Hyaah! Hiya! Whoosh!"
"You look like you're all ready to go." Farmer Andrew said, excitedly. Even his wife grabbed up a saucepan and joined up. "Let's GO!"
On the way, they passed by Cody.
"Cody! I found a way to get lots of credits fast!" Riki said excitedly.
"Really? How?"
"It's called a bounty!"
"Riki! You took a bounty? But…"
"Never mind! Just come! We're on the trail!"
They followed the trail.
The trail led straight to Melinda.
"It was YOU!" Riki roared. "YOU'RE the Mole Serpent!"
Melinda looked at him blankly. "Wha…?"
Beside her, Laila looked at Cody, stunned. "Melinda is the Mole Serpent?!"
"I would never have guessed!" Cody exclaimed.
Melinda gave them both a flat look. "Seriously, guys?"
Laila just burst out laughing.
"It's you, dastardly villain!" Riki pointed the machete at Melinda. "Reveal your true form!"
"This IS my true form!" Melinda glanced at Cody. "Tell him!"
"H-hey, I didn't see anything about your form!" Cody protested his innocence.
Then the nearby shed door burst open and a huge maw opened up and surged directly toward Laila's head.
"Laila!" Cody tackled her, knocking her aside. They rolled in the dirt to one side as Melinda let out an ear-piercing shriek, and Riki almost cut his ear off as he moved to cover his ears with both hands while still holding on to the machete.
"Kill it!" Farmer Andrew yelled, coming around the side with his hoe raised high. His wife was there by his side, with her trusty saucepan in hand.
Cody turned around hurriedly raising his practice sword as he and Laila scrambled to their feet.
Only then did he finally get a good look at the Mole Serpent.
That thing was huge! The front half, the mole part, had a head as big as a bear's, large enough to take off Cody's entire skull in a single bite. There were large fangs growing out of that mouth, and its red eyes were larger than both of Cody's hands put together. The snake body that followed was thicker than old bamboo, and much, much, much longer than the two feet Cody had expected. How long was it? Twenty feet? Thirty?
It was also injured. Several bear traps had bitten into it and broken through its lower scales. It was bleeding all over, but still it survived, and it was angry.
"Scrap. This practice sword isn't going to cut it. Pun intended." Cody grimaced.
"I have a machete!" Farmer Andrew offered. "Except…"
"Except, what?"
"Riki has it." Farmer Amos grimaced.
Cody shook his head.
The Mole Serpent lunged. Cody barely had time to raise his practice sword to block it before he realized his mistake.
Uta was not a Form suitable for blocking. It wasn't good at blocking other swords. It wasn't good at blocking heavy items moving at him at fast speed. It certainly was NOT good for blocking giant Mole Serpents attempting to bite his head off.
The impact literally sent him flying. Cody went numb, completely numb as he tumbled several feet through the air until he crashed into the wall of a nearby house.
"Charge!" Riki yelled, swinging his machete dangerously as he closed in on the Mole Serpent.
Laila darted in to flank the Serpent on the left. Melinda, Farmer Andrew and his wife swept at it from the right. The Mole Serpent hissed, and fell back defensively for a moment.
Then, it surged forward again, and full battle was joined.
In a moment, the Serpent had Farmer Amos' hoe stuck into its teeth, with his wife banging her saucepan over its head frantically. Melinda had her own practice sword stabbing at the Mole Serpent's face, trying to gauge out an eye, while Laila stabbed it in the side with her rod's electrifier crackling, only to have it bounce off its thick, heavy scales. She angled for a strike at its lower, softer belly, but the Mole Serpent thrashed around, trying to knock Andrew and his hoe away, or at least close its mouth, or something. It failed to brush Andrew off, but successfully sent his wife and her saucepan tumbling away to one side, and Laila to another.
Meanwhile, Riki was trying to jump on its back and was apparently trying to cut its head off, but he wasn't faring any better than Laila at piercing its scales. With a flick of its head, Riki, too, went flying, separated from his beloved machete as it fell out of his hands and landed six feet away from Cody.
Cody's hands and legs were shaking, but he knew the moment of truth had come. As numb as his body was, he could only charge forward and pray that his muscles would hold out just a bit more.
His hands closed around the hilt of Riki's machete. Gripping it tightly, he tried his best to brace his arms and legs.
"Get clear!!" Cody roared, and charged straight for the Mole Serpent, the machete pointed right at front of the creature's giant Mole throat.
The Mole Serpent saw him coming, but didn't dodge. Enraged at his impunity, it lunged right at him in turn, and took a single, quick bite.
All Cody saw was the teeth and the maw cover his vision.
Then everything went black.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
VicL
VicL Here it is. In order to make up a shortage of 6 KotW chapters this month, I have no choice but to release 6 chapters of Guardians Academy (latest rewrite). They will be scheduled for release every 15 minutes until they're all out.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone