39 Ekans

Hisssssss!

Kai was the first, and the only one, to understand this hiss. No, he didn't understand it. He just knew. Like a language forgotten, Kai knew it meant danger. A fatal threat.

Then he saw it. It couldn't have been anything other than what Kai had thought. A giant snake. It had a striking purple color and its belly glowed yellow. There was a bright yellow band behind its head, and a yellow rattle at the tip of its tail.

Those eyes met him then. Kai saw two large yellow reptilian slits, looking down at him. Even though it was coiled, Kai had to look up to meet its gaze.

3 meters, Kai guessed. The snake was at least or over 3 meters.

Kai's eyes shone then. He could scarcely use the longsword with all his strength, but the prospects of obtaining this snake injected a dose of thrill into him.

Kill it! Get its corpse! Devour it! The voices in his head didn't shut up. His Glitch had gone into hibernation, and he could only awaken it after returning to the Tower. It was the sole reason he had to kill the Great Redshank. Neither Desmond nor Arlen knew a method to store live beasts in the Inventory. He just hoped that his Glitch would work on dead magical creatures too.

Hope! Kai saw it in that ball. The red and white sphere had returned to the man's hand.

Get it!

The snake looked back and hissed at the man. His whisker-like mustaches shook hearing that. Kai recognized that hiss too.

Defiance!

"SHUT UP!" Kai shouted out, annoyed by the voices. He shook his head and fought with the sleep and darkening vision.

The snake snapped its head back at the trio. The man roared, "Ekans! Use Snare."

A dangerous feeling rose in Kai's mind. The Perception's engine was blasting fuel to his legs, imploring him to run. Run, fool! Run! The voices had come back.

"NO!" Kai took a step forward, hotness spreading through his entire body.

Suddenly, the creature's eyes seemed to enlarge. A purple-yellow swirl in those slits and an ethereal wave emitted out, engulfing Kai and others.

Bang!

[Damage Taken: 10 Points (SP)]

A hammer struck Kai's head. Or so he thought. The ethereal pain made him tremble, and he would have lost everything if it wasn't for the heat. His chest was screeching bloody murder within him now.

Thump!

Kai snapped his head back and saw Shae falling face down over the rocks. Even Simon's knees had buckled, and he was panting. One more attack and Kai was sure the one-eyed man would die.

'But the damage wasn't enough for them to suffer like this, 'Kai thought, thinking about the number of SP lost. And then the idea hit him. 'Was it because of my Glitch?'

But Kai couldn't think about it more. The man had given another order to the creature. "Ekans! Use Wrap."

The magical creature lunged at Kai. Among the three of them, only Kai could face it. Only he was standing. Only he had the weapon. And only he knew how.

The creature slithered, and so did Kai. It came at Kai with its mouth wide open, larger than Kai's head. A foul breath hit Kai's nostrils, and he ducked. The creature jerked and coiled around, trying to trap Kai, but he slid away.

The longsword slashed at the creature's defenseless head.

[Damage Done: 40 Points]

A blood-shower, that was Kai expecting. Instead, he saw a shallow cut, barely deep enough to make him see the snake's blood. A color of deep red-blue.

'Fuck!' Kai cursed. 'What is this defense?!'

Hissssss!

The snake hissed in pain, and its tail came for Kai's open back. Kai didn't turn around but put the longsword's flat in between his back and the tail's bash.

Cough!

[Damage Taken: 10 Points]

A shower of blood he wanted. A shower of blood he got. The taste of his own blood felt bitter to Kai. But this wasn't the end of his misfortune.

[Warning: The Castle Forged Longsword's Quality has dropped to 20%. The Item will disappear once the Quality becomes 0.]

The creature came for Kai again. It coiled around him, trying to squeeze out his breath. Its forked tongue kept coming out, hissing at him. Meanwhile, his chest was burning up, hotter and hotter.

Before the snake could put strength in its muscles, three water bullets hit its head. One went straight into its eye, and the creature hissed in tremendous pain. Kai managed to take the advantage of its confusion and slithered out of its grip. Suddenly, a misshapen piece of rock fell over the creature's head. The creature backed away, and then Kai sensed why. There were two more of such rocks, hovering just above its head.

'Who?!' Kai asked, looking back. His eyes went wide when he saw Shae's blood-covered figure, her eyes staring at the rocks without blinking. 'How is she doing this? Is she like Simon? But she isn't dancing. Is this Magic?! But she doesn't have a wand either.'

Questions after questions appeared in Kai's mind. And he would have found an answer if it wasn't for Simon's call. "Bloody!" he shouted, falling back on the rocks. "Attack!"

Shae couldn't seem to hold any longer too. Kai saw the two rocks getting hurled at the snake. He followed them. He knew how the snake would dodge the rocks, and where it would end up. Kai was familiar with the movements of these types of creatures.

'And then,' Kai thought, narrowing his eyes. 'I would thrust the sword into its mouth.'

It was a perfect plan. Yes. If the snake had dodged the rocks. But it didn't.

"Ekans!" the man shouted, playing with his beard. "Use Sludge Bomb."

From where had it come, and how had it come, Kai did not know. He saw the snake opening its mouth and then shooting out an enormous ball of mud like a cannonball. It was powerful enough to trap the rocks and bring them along with it.

'No!' Kai was in its path. He lunged sideways, but the ball of mud caught the longsword. Kai had to let it go. Shae and Simon weren't that lucky. They couldn't even move.

Boom.

"Haha!" the man laughed, his hands outstretched and his face pale. "I knew it. This creature is the perfect slave. It does whatever I tell it to do."

Kai kneeled over the rocks, blood dripping out of his mouth and nose. He had lost his weapon, and his strength had almost vanished. His head was drooping low, and the sound of panting was even louder than the man's outrageous words.

But… Kai was grinning. Like a maniac.

'How could I forget that?' Kai asked himself, his eyes turning into slits. A wriggling snake tattoo appeared on his right arm. The surrounding water sensed the heat coming off him and evaporated.

[

Elementary Snake Language Activated

Time Limit: 30 seconds

]