**CHAPTER 31: The Serpent Gambit**
Zodac saw the massive shield he had materialized surging back toward him—too fast, too heavy, too close.
His instincts screamed.
He twisted his body sideways and launched himself away just as the enormous wooden barrier slammed into the cavern wall behind him.
**BOOM.**
The impact shook the entire cavern. Dust rained from the ceiling. Cracks spider-webbed across the stone as if the mountain itself had flinched. Zodac landed hard on one knee, sliding across the ground before digging the edge of his boot into the stone to stop himself.
His breath came out ragged.
No hesitation.
His eyes snapped back to the battlefield.
The cobra's tail—still partially embedded in the shattered remains of the Air Stroke Shield—was exposed.
An opening.
Zodac moved.
He pushed off the ground, muscles screaming in protest, blade already rising above his head.
"Kogestu—"
The word never finished.
Something cut through the air.
Not a sound—pressure.
Zodac's instincts overrode thought. He aborted the attack mid-leap, twisting sharply and throwing himself backward.
A **green blur** tore past the space his head had occupied a heartbeat earlier.
He barely had time to react.
"Hectorgon!"
A cluster of hexagonal shields formed instinctively in front of him.
The projectile struck.
The shields **shattered instantly**, exploding into fragments of light.
Zodac crashed to the ground, rolling twice before stopping on his side. His ribs screamed. His lungs burned.
He forced himself up onto one elbow and stared at the object embedded in the stone nearby.
A spike.
Long. Jagged. Green-black.
It pulsed faintly, slick with venom.
Zodac's eyes narrowed.
"…So it can fire its own scales."
He lifted his gaze slowly.
Nagendra hadn't moved.
The massive serpent remained upright, coiled calmly, watching him.
Not enraged.
Not desperate.
**Bored.**
That realization sent a colder fear through Zodac than any injury had.
"It's not even trying yet," he muttered. "It's testing me."
His jaw clenched.
"If this drags on, I die."
His fingers tightened around Kogestu's hilt.
"Then I end it now—while it still thinks I'm insignificant."
He inhaled sharply.
"Blitz. Drain."
The world snapped.
Red light surged through his veins, burning, violent, intoxicating.
His pupils dilated.
The cavern slowed.
Zodac launched forward.
Stone cracked beneath his feet as he crossed the distance in a blur.
Nagendra reacted instantly.
The serpent ripped its tail free from the shield remains and lashed it forward—not in a straight line, but in a **violent zigzag**, faster than before, unpredictable.
Zodac didn't stop.
He leaned into the charge.
The tail closed in.
A Hectorgon shield snapped into existence directly in front of him.
Zodac stepped on it.
Jumped.
The shield shattered behind him as the spike tore through it.
Mid-air, the tail adjusted—twisting upward, tracking him.
Zodac felt the wind of it pass his face.
Too close.
Another Hectorgon shield formed above.
Then another.
Zodac ran—**not on the ground, but on light itself**, sprinting across floating hexagonal platforms suspended over the cavern floor.
One mistake here meant death.
Nagendra hissed.
A low, vibrating sound that rattled Zodac's bones.
Then the serpent's body shifted.
Its scales **rose**.
Every single one.
Zodac's blood ran cold.
"…That's not good."
The scales launched.
A storm.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of hardened, razor-edged projectiles tore through the air like shrapnel.
"Hectorgon!"
More shields formed in front of him.
They shattered instantly.
Zodac cursed and kept moving, jumping from shield to shield as they disintegrated beneath him.
The scales hit him.
One pierced his shoulder.
Another tore through his side.
A third embedded itself in his thigh.
Pain exploded through his body.
"Ah—!"
Blood sprayed into the air, trailing behind him as he ran.
But he didn't stop.
Didn't slow.
Didn't scream again.
He gritted his teeth and pushed harder.
The serpent lashed its tail again.
Faster.
Smarter.
The spike shot toward him as his movements faltered.
Zodac twisted mid-air, barely clearing it—
—but not completely.
The spike **raked his right leg**, slicing from ankle to knee.
Armor split.
Flesh opened.
Blood poured freely.
Zodac screamed—raw, hoarse—but forced himself to stay upright, spinning in mid-air as agony threatened to drag him under.
"I will not fall," he snarled.
"I will not fall."
His vision blurred red.
"Blitz Mana—drain. Full power."
The remaining energy detonated.
Kogestu ignited with a brilliant crimson glow, humming violently in his hands.
"Kogestu—Whirlwind!"
He swung.
Everything slowed.
The slash wave tore forward, compressed and lethal.
It struck Nagendra's body—not the head, not the neck, but the **midsection**, exactly where the serpent's massive form needed stability.
The cut landed.
Clean.
For half a second—nothing happened.
Then the serpent's **entire lower body separated**.
Its tail hit the ground with a thunderous crash.
Nagendra screamed.
A deafening, furious sound that shook the cavern walls.
It thrashed wildly, smashing its head into stone, roaring in agony as blood sprayed across the ground.
The cavern trembled.
Zodac didn't stop.
He ran.
Hectorgon shields formed beneath him, carrying him forward through the chaos.
Blood dripped from his wounds, leaving a trail behind him as he closed the distance.
Nagendra halted its thrashing.
Slowly.
Its massive head turned.
Its glowing eyes locked onto Zodac.
Not bored now.
Not amused.
**Angry.**
Zodac raised Kogestu, breathing hard, bloodied, barely standing—but unbroken.
"Your mistake," he said coldly, eyes sharp despite the pain, "was thinking I couldn't hurt you."
The serpent hissed.
The air vibrated.
And Zodac charged straight toward its face.