Spearbound Ch. 46

Kade timed his reentry well.

The mole used one of its claws to shield its face from the frequent sand spikes sent by Eliza while its other claw was busy trying to swat Hellion out of the sky. With how slow the mole’s movements were, that would be of little worry, but its tail had joined in.

It was far quicker—as he experienced. Similar to a whip. Hellion had multiple close calls, and he revealed his fear with ear-piercing shrieks, but the bird was a trooper. He refused to flee and kept being a distraction to help.

Kade would remember that. Later.

At the moment, he was busy using the ridges on its spine to climb the mole. There were plenty of times when the mole’s tail looked like it would switch its target to him, but Hellion always came through at the last moment.

Kade shouldn’t have had so much trouble climbing the length of the mole, but each step required him to take preventive measures. He frequently speared his [Soulrend] down into the gaps between armor to get them to close shut.

He wasn’t sure what would happen if he stepped over one of the gaps, but he didn’t intend to allow the mole the chance to show him. Instead of possibly dealing with some sort of defense that came from the slightly exposed skin, he prevented that by offensive strikes that activated its natural defense.

The sharp sound of his [Soulrend]’s blade glancing off the armor plates was frequent as Kade climbed to his target.

The mole let out a deafening roar of rage when he was over three-quarters of the way up. He feared for a moment that it had enough and would put its entire focus on him, but a twist of its head revealed a sand spike buried in its eye.

It tried to use a claw to remove the sand spike, but Hellion tried to light its whiskers on fire every time. The mole could only choose to do one. Protect its whiskers or remove the sand spike, since its other claw was blocking the continued attacks from Eliza.

The mole protected its whiskers.

Kade took this opportunity to speed up and become just a little more careless. He still did his best to close the gaps between the armor plates on the mole’s body, but he allowed himself to be freer to use his speed to run up the mole’s spine.

He reached its neck and made his move.

Kade directed Hellion to expend all his energy before getting out of range. A burst of flames exploded before the mole’s massive face, singeing its snout and its whiskers. The roar of pure rage that exploded out of the titanic beast nearly blew him off its shoulder if not for his [Soulrend] lodging him in place by using a ridge on its body.

Eliza seemed to read his mind and stopped her constant attacks. The rate of the sand spike she had been shooting at the mole revealed her impressive [MP], and he hoped she still had some left in the tank in case it was needed.

Kade leaped up in the middle of the mole’s frustrated roar. He reached the peak of his jump right above the mole snout, hovering between its eyes. They were conveniently closed, hiding him temporarily as he readied his [Soulrend].

He didn’t make a sound as he descended towards the mole’s face. He aimed his [Soulrend]’s blade at one of the mole’s closed eyes, the one that wasn’t damaged by the sand spike sticking out of it.

Kade activated [Inferno Burst] right before he made contact. He finally released a grunt as he drove down his [Soulrend] to impale it through the eye and reach the mole’s brain. Flames erupted from the blade and quickly spread across the mole’s face.

He expected a sickening squelch and, if not that, a give as the [Soulrend]’s blade sank into the mole’s eye.

Instead, Kade’s arms shook from the recoil of the [Soulrend] being repelled. The sound pointed to the eye being made of the same material as the mole’s body armor.

He stumbled back several steps on its snout as he tried to regain control of his body, the recoil still affecting him. The flames disappeared with surprising speed in the next several seconds, revealing the mole’s face in its entirety.

There were no eyes. Where the amber eyes used to be, there was a blank space with just the continuation of the mole’s skin.

Kade could barely register that the sand spike that he thought had been buried in an eye crumbled into nothing to reveal undamaged skin. The thought flashed past his mind when he was yanked up with a harsh force around his waist.

The mole’s tail constricted around him with a force that he realized he couldn’t break free from by ordinary means. He could hear Hellion’s screech as the bird dove back down to offer support, and the sand spikes from Eliza made a reappearance and splashed off the mole’s face harmlessly.

It wasn’t difficult for Kade to understand that the mole had been playing with them. Its whiskers were the ‘eyes,’ and it only showed those amber spots as a distraction and a false point of weakness. It wanted him to offer himself up to easy defeat.

As much as Kade wanted to curse the mole for its surprising intelligence and cowardice at how it tried to take care of the strongest member of the group, he respected it. After all, it worked.

The beast’s wide mouth had a grin that looked as if it was mocking him. He was shifted until he dangled over its open maw, and its whiskers twitched with increased speed. He took that as excitement.

Kade stored his [Soulrend] to avoid having it out of reach for what was to come. He directed Hellion to stay away until needed, but couldn’t reassure Eliza in the same way. He could feel the repeated attacks on the mole’s tail despite being unsuccessful.

Her screams of his name, possibly motivated by self-preservation since his death also meant hers, were enough to finally convince him that she could be trusted.

Look at me, thinking such sappy things right before I’m swallowed whole.

Kade stared into the open mouth lined by countless sharp teeth. He wasn’t afraid, not when there was no other option left. If he didn’t succeed, he would die. It would be more gruesome than was ideal, but that made no difference to him.

Kade was suddenly shunted towards the open mouth with a speed that shouldn’t have surprised him, but when the world blurred before he was slammed against a tongue that scraped the top layer of his skin off, he couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

Luckily, he regained his composure moments before the mole’s jaw slammed shut. He activated [Ethereal Glide].

Kade ignored the thundering sound of teeth clashing together and dove to the back of the mole’s mouth. He thanked the powers that be that there was an opening that led up and jumped, hoping he remained lucky.

The opening led directly to the mole’s brain, and that was enough. [Ethereal Glide] would end soon. He used the precious second left to locate the point where the brain connected to the rest of the mole’s body.

Kade positioned himself and had his hands ready. He only had one chance to get this right.

The mole raged, realizing he hadn’t been chewed up. The rapid movement caused the brain to shift in the fluid that filled the space he was in. He didn’t care.

He waited, and when he felt [Ethereal Glide] deactivate, he summoned his [Soulrend].

Kade held his breath and ignored the way the fluid ate at his skin like an acid. He activated [Inferno Burst], depleting the last of his [MP], and rammed his [Soulrend] into the connection.

Kade heard the muffled roar of the mole through the fluid but didn’t pay it any mind. He helped the flames that burned their way through everything they touched by repeatedly piercing the connection until the brain was severed from the body.

He continued maniacally driving his [Soulrend] into any part of the brain in reach until it was no longer physically possible.

He depleted his stamina.

Kade grunted when the air was knocked out of him as he flew to the cavity wall and slammed into it. The brain followed and crushed him underneath it.

Warning: Your health has fallen below 25%!

When the interface alerted him of his health, he had nothing to look at other than the interface. He refused to breathe to avoid taking in any of the acidic fluid and hoped that Eliza or Hellion could finish the mole off.

He thought that it would have died when the brain had been so severely damaged, but it hadn’t turned into a white powder like he had hoped.

Kade widened his eyes when everything in the cavity shifted again. The force of the shift threw the brain against the opposite wall. He followed, but at least this time, he landed on the spongy brain.

Your Soulrend has been shattered.

He lost his [Soulrend] the first time he was thrown around. It was unfortunate, but he wasn’t sure how much help it would be even if he had it in his possession.

Kade would’ve loved to leave, but the brain surface was so sticky that it was impossible for him to move a finger. He was stuck and helpless.

Warning: Your health has fallen below 10%!

[Adrenaline Rush] active: +20% on [Dexterity] and [Speed]

That did nothing to help him when he couldn’t move in the first place. He tried to focus on his bond with Hellion, but the bird’s rage was so intense that he could barely sense any other emotion.

Just when Kade thought that this truly was the end, he found himself staring at a blue sky. He fell a short distance and landed in white powder.

The mole was destroyed. Kade let out a peal of hysterical laughter at escaping death once again. The interface lit up and showed a slew of messages.