The Anaconda King rose, body rearing in a tower of scale and power. His hiss was a tectonic groan, rumbling through the forest.
{Skill: Fortification – Activated.}
Stone erupted across his body—plates of jagged rock forming a living shell. From nose to tail, he became a moving fortress of earth and rage.
The wolves struck first—darting in from all sides, perfectly timed.
Two lunged for the tail. One for the neck. Five more surrounded his midsection.
Bad decision.
The tail whipped once—like a siege weapon—and one wolf shattered against a boulder, ribcage imploding.
Another tried for the throat.
The Anaconda King slammed its head into the ground. Once. Twice. The third time, the wolf no longer moved.
The rest tried to retreat—too late.
{Skill: Earth Spikes – Activated.}
Ten massive spikes erupted from the ground, jagged and swift. Four wolves were impaled mid-run, their howls cut short by brutal silence.
Only the alpha wolf escaped—wounded, limping, growling in disbelief.
Then came the group of monkeys.
From above, from behind, from everywhere—a blur of shrieks and fury. They clawed and pelted his head, trying to find gaps in the rock armor.
They found one.
The silverback alpha smashed a rock against his eye. Blood bloomed.
That earned his wrath.
He reared, twisting his body in a torque of rage, flinging three monkeys high into the trees. Their bones cracked against trunks.
He lunged up—twenty feet in a vertical leap—and caught the silverback mid-swing.
His jaws closed.
The silverback alpha's body writhed for only a second.
The remaining monkeys fled, screeching as they lost their leader.
The reason they were all not attacking together, is simple. These groups of creatures clearly did not trust each other, so the more confident ones went ahead and tried their luck, while the rest remained still.
The Anoconda king stamina will drop, and then the next confident group attacks it.
But the herb was too intoxicating for them, so they couldn't remain there for long and became hasty to defeat it.
The deer charged together—swift, agile, glowing. They aimed for his flanks.
The Anaconda King remained still—watching.
At the last second, he dived under their legs, twisting his body into a knot, and coiled mid-charge.
The three deer never got back up. Ribs crushed. Antlers snapped.
The alpha leapt—its antlers ignited with mana—aiming straight for his head.
He caught it with his armored coils, then squeezed.
The magic-infused antlers cracked.
Then the skull beneath them.
Before he could rest, the jaguars attacked.
One from the front. One from behind. One from the trees.
The first leapt.
Earth Spikes.
One spike through its belly. Another through the throat. It twitched once, then fell limp.
The second made it to his back, clawing at the plates. He rolled, stone grinding against flesh, turning the jaguar into paste beneath his weight.
The alpha jaguar bit into his shoulder—drawing blood through stone.
The Anaconda King roared.
He coiled again, lifting the jaguar into the air like a flag on a mast—and slammed it down with enough force to shatter the ground beneath it.
Then the last creature approached it.
The tiger approached it calmy.
Respectful.
The two titans circled.
Then—
The tiger struck first, claws glowing faintly, aiming for the exposed eye.
Fast. Faster than anything so far.
The King twisted away, but not fast enough.
Blood sprayed.
Then he retaliated.
A tail sweep. A strike. A quake.
The tiger dodged. Then lunged—landing atop the coils, raking down his back.
The Anaconda King hissed and dove underground, tail vanishing into soil.
A lull.
Then—
BOOM.
He erupted from below, catching the tiger's belly mid-air with ten earth spikes.
But the tiger spun—aerial acrobatics born of desperation—and avoided fatal impact.
Only one spike pierced it. Through the leg.
It landed. Limped.
Growled.
The Anaconda King slithered forward, now sluggish, bleeding.
The tiger lunged—final move.
But the King was ready.
He opened his jaw wider than any natural snake ever should, and met the lunge head-on.
There was a struggle.
A roar.
Then silence.
The King swallowed the tiger's skull whole.
Aftermath
The jungle was still.
The Anaconda King lay coiled in blood and silence, battered, victorious.
Five groups. Twenty-eight bodies. One king.
The energy surged. The tiger's Core dissolved within him.
He gained the mana within the Tiger, improving his strength a bit more.
He then started absorbing the other alphas cores, becoming more stronger.
The jungle shifted. Quiet in reverence.
The ground itself seemed to hum, whispering of a monster who didn't rule by fear.
He ruled by strength.
***
Military Research Compound - Amazon Deployment Zone
The war room transformed into an arsenal of scientific ambition and military might. Three days of preparation had turned a research mission into a high-stakes biological capture operation.
General Marcus Thompson unveiled the weapon inventory with a predatory grin.
"Capture priority," he announced, "but we're prepared for every contingency."
The weapon display was a testament to human destructive capability:
Primary Armaments:
RPG-7 Rocket Launchers (Anti-armor capability)
M2 Browning Heavy Machine GunsMK19 Grenade Launchers
FN SCAR-H Assault Rifles with armor-piercing rounds
M107 Sniper Rifles with depleted uranium penetrator rounds
Specialized Capture Equipment:
Reinforced titanium-mesh containment nets
High-voltage immobilization systems
Cryogenic suspension units
Advanced sedation mechanisms
Colonel Sarah Rodriguez walked the team through the tactical breakdown.
"The Anaconda King has demonstrated physical prowess along with the control of earth somehow," she explained. "We need overwhelming force to ensure containment."
Dr. Elena Volkov interjected, her scientific curiosity barely contained. "Alive is the priority. But we're not taking unnecessary risks."
Lieutenant James Carter, weapons specialist, detailed the penetrative capabilities.
"These depleted uranium rounds can punch through tank armor," he explained. "They'll go through that snake's scales like tissue paper.
But we'll use them sparingly. We need a live specimen."
The RPG specialists looked disappointed.
"Rules of engagement," General Thompson stated firmly. "Capture first. Neutralization is a last resort. But if that thing threatens the team, we light it up."
A dark, collective chuckle rippled through the room.
Tactical Teams Composition:
Alpha Team (Capture): 12 personnel
4 primary capture specialists, 4 heavy weapons support and 4 medical/research personnel
Beta Team (Containment): 8 personnel
2 containment system operators, 2 advanced sedation experts, and 4 defensive specialists
Gamma Team (Reconnaissance): 6 personnel
2 environmental analysts, 4 advanced scout/sniper units
Equipment Loadout Rationale:
Maximum firepower, Minimal environmental contamination, and Highest probability of live specimen retrieval
Dr. Volkov's final briefing was clinical. "We're not just hunting a creature. We're attempting to understand a biological revolution."
Forest Entry Point
The Amazon absorbed their approach. Thick vegetation seemed to breathe. Move. Watch.
Lieutenant Carter's voice crackled over the comm. "Movement at two o'clock. Something big."
General Thompson's response was immediate. "Weapons hot. But remember - capture first."
The team moved with practiced precision. Heavy weapons at the ready. Capture units prepared.