Chapter 16

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We arrived at the marked location. The snake is living somewhere near the southern road. It's sand as far as the eye can see, with no signs of giant snakes whatsoever.

The guild lent us a below-ground tracking device that could detect large monsters. It looked like a normal metal detector.

"You see anything?"

"Nope."

Nia continued swinging the metal detector around. The metal detector could detect up to 250 meters away and could detect as deep as 50 meters. However, it only detects large monsters, so we still need to be wary of smaller monsters.

We were told the snake was half the size of a king salamander, but it was twice as long. Its head was the most dangerous part, as it was so large it could eat you whole. The snake's tail is also strong, and a swing from it could slice you into two.

There was an accident near here three days ago when a merchant carriage was eaten whole by the snake. Luckily, everyone manages to escape unharmed.

"So... how do you find this thing again?"

There are no instructions from the guild. Maybe we'll need a merchant carriage as bait?

"Is there any information regarding what that merchant carriage is carrying?"

Emma took a look at the request and shook her head.

"No info about that."

The desert in front of us is far too wide for us to scan manually. If we can't find this snake before dark, we might as well cancel it and return to the inn.

And of course, something's going to happen right after I thought about that.

"Projectile moving in fast from the northwest!"

Nia warned us. She then pointed in the direction of the incoming snake. A cloud of sand is moving fast from the place she is pointing towards.

Projectile is an interesting choice of word, but seeing how fast it's coming towards us, that description is appropriate. A dark-gray long rock-like shape is heading straight toward us, slicing through the sand like a torpedo in the water.

Emma moved back and grabbed her sniper. She started firing bolts of paralyze toward the snake. Paralyze moves faster compared to sleep, and is a better choice in these kinds of situations.

However, the snake is far faster than the bolt. Sensing danger, it drifted away from the bolt, changing directions in an instant.

"What is that? A missile?"

Emma complained. The snake is so fast and maneuverable it put air-to-air missiles to shame.

"What's a missile?"

Of course, Nia didn't know, but we don't have time to explain it.

I grabbed LIAR and pulled the trigger. Bolts of paralyze rained on the snake. Recognizing the threat, the snake dove below the sand. We could still see a faint trail mark that it created, but the sand covers up the snake, blocking our bolts.

This is bad.

This is really bad. If the snake continues being underground, we won't be able to kill it.

"Watch out!"

I screamed as I jumped back. The snake jumped from the sand, revealing its entire body. Its body had a dark gray color, and the surface was rough. I dodged its mouth which was heading straight to me.

I managed to just barely evade that attack and fall back to the sand.

"Willy, are you alright?"

Emma, who was watching from a distance, shouted to me.

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