Wendy and Meliodas walked through the ruined fields, looking at the scraps left behind by the moles. Traces of food remained from their last raid, with the ends of carrots and corn left between mounds of kicked up dirt and mud.
"This is terrible. We need to stop them. But...I don't know where to begin." Wendy commented as she looked around. There was a long moment of silence as Wendy thought of what to do. Meliodas glanced over at her and saw a shakily determined look on her face.
'If I could just find a way to give her some confidence somehow.' Meliodas thought to himself. They continued walking through the ravaged fields for a few more minutes in silence when Meliodas decided to break the silence.
"Hmm...well the farmer said there was a leader, right? I'm sure if we defeat the leader, the moles will stop coming here. If anything, this is no different from hunting." Meliodas said, trying to lead Wendy in the right direction with a plan. He looked at Wendy and waited to hear her response to what he had just said. He could have taken the initiative with his own plan, but with what Makarov told him before they left, he decided to have Wendy come up with it herself.
"Well…from what I know about moles, they have a good sense of smell. Maybe we can lure one out with food and catch it?" Wendy suggested.
Meliodas nodded in approval at the plan. Wendy and Meliodas walked back across the fields to the farmer's barn. The farmer was surprised to see them back so soon.
"You two already got rid of those damn moles?" Marco asked.
"No. But we're working on it." Meliodas replied.
"We were going to lure them back out with food. You wouldn't happen to have any food leftover we could use right?" Wendy asked.
"Food huh?" Marco said. He reached into his overall pocket and pulled out an unopened candy bar and handed it over to Wendy. Wendy and Meliodas both looked at the candy bar. It was in a blue wrapper with the words "Peanut Butter Surprise."
"Peanut Butter Surprise?" Wendy questioned as she read it out loud.
"Listen, that was gonna be my snack but if it helps you kids get rid of those moles, then take it." Marco said. "Besides, it's peanut butter. Everybody loves peanut butter."
"I-I guess so." Wendy replied. Meliodas looked curiously at the candy bar. 'Peanut butter? I don't think I've had that before.' Meliodas thought to himself. The two bid the farmer farewell once again as they walked back to their initial spot in the fields. Wendy set up the bait and the two of them hid behind a tree, downwind from where the bait was.
Several minutes passed as nothing eventful happened. Wendy continued to watch the bait as Meliodas looked at their surroundings.
"Meliodas! Look!" Wendy whispered as she tugged on his shirt to get his attention. Meliodas looked over at the candy bar bait and saw a mole had popped his head out of the ground. The mole's nose twitched as it sniffed the candy bar.
"Well that's a big mole." Meliodas commented quietly as the mole continued to climb out of its hole. The mole was slightly larger than Happy and Carla.
"That farmer said those moles can talk. Hit it fast and hard with some magic to knock it out then we'll interrogate it." Meliodas whispered to Wendy.
"Ummm... about that...I don't have any offensive magic…" Wendy said as she gave Meliodas a nervous smile. Meliodas returned a blank expression to her.
"Guess I'll catch it then." Meliodas said.
"But how are you going to sneak-"
Meliodas suddenly leaped up into the air before Wendy could finish speaking. As the mole was sniffing the Peanut Butter Surprise, it felt an incoming presence above it and quickly dug back into the ground. Meliodas grinned and landed on top of the hole with great force, causing a small cloud of dust to kick up. Meliodas stuck his hand into the hole and grabbed the mole, pulling it out and firmly grasping it in his hand. He walked back over to Wendy with a large grin on his face while holding the mole up in front of him.
"Like that." Meliodas said. Wendy remained silent with awe written all over her face until the silence was broken by the mole's screaming.
"Let me go! The boss will have your head for this!" The mole yelled as it tried to break out of Meliodas's grip. Despite its struggles, it could not break free. The mole decided to stop struggling as it glared at Meliodas.
"Oh, so you guys really can talk." Meliodas commented. "So where's your boss?"
"He'll come for you soon enough." The mole said confidently. Meliodas looked around the area, anticipating the boss to show up at any moment.
"Wahhh!" Wendy screamed as the ground started to shake violently. Meliodas maintained his composure and continued to hold onto the mole as the ground beneath him started to open. Meliodas jumped back to a more sturdy piece of land as a figure rose from the soil in front of him.
"W-what is that thing?!" Wendy exclaimed. Meliodas watched as a bipedal mole began to walk towards Meliodas and Wendy. The mole appeared to be over a meter tall and had a dark brown coat of fur and massive gray colored claws supported by its stout body and short legs. Its face was long, white and thin and over its eyes, it wore a pair of V shaped black glasses. On its head was a shiny golden crown adorned with red and green jewels.
"B-boss! You're here! Please save me!" The mole in Meliodas's grasp cried out.
"The Mole King has arrived! The Mole King demands you let go of that mole in your hands child!" The bipedal mole yelled as it pointed its polished, large claws at Meliodas. The sun's rays reflected off the mole's claw's causing Meliodas to slightly squint his eyes at the glint.
"W-wait!" Wendy yelled. "We don't mean you any harm. We just want you to stop taking food from the farms here!"
"Hmph. The Mole King listens to no child." The large, bipedal mole said as it crossed its arms. "For years, we have lived underground, our homes torn apart by the filthy human race, leaving us with no food. But that shall happen no longer! With the magical power granted upon the Mole King at birth, the Mole King will make the moles prosper!" The Mole King declared loudly. He raised his right claw up in the air with his legs spread apart, his claw appearing to shine in the sunlight.
The Mole King turned his attention back to Meliodas and walked closer to him, until he was standing less than a meter across.
"Drop the mole, child. The Mole King is conflicted about fighting mere children." The Mole King demanded as he looked up at Meliodas.
"Little children? But you're smaller than both of us." Meliodas retorted. The Mole King's confident expression vanished, as it grit its teeth angrily at hearing Meliodas' comment. Meliodas' eyes widened as the ground began to shake and he felt a large amount of magic being emitted from the mole. 'I didn't think a mole could have this kind of magic.' Meliodas thought as he stared at the mole.
"Wendy catch!" Meliodas quickly turned around and threw the mole in his hands at Wendy. Wendy caught it in both arms when suddenly, the ground beneath them cracked further. Dozens of tiny mole heads popped out from the cracks in the earth.
"Brothers and sisters! We must get our brethren back! The Mole King will deal with this insolent human!" The Mole King ordered.
"Wendy, run! I'll deal with this!" Meliodas yelled. Wendy nodded and with the mole firmly held in her grasp, she ran across the fields, with dozens of moles trailing behind her.
"Foolish child! The Mole King will end you!" The Mole King said as he faced Meliodas. A cheeky smile formed on Meliodas' face as he slammed his left fist into his right palm out in front of him.
"Sorry Mole King, but I'm going to have to dethrone you."