Chapter 72 – When the Jungle Chose a King
The purple crystal lay in the mud.
Steam curled around it in thin threads, rising from the damp ground like breath in cold air. It pulsed faintly, not wildly, not violently — just enough to remind anyone looking at it that it wasn't ordinary.
Tèt Pikan didn't move.
Neither did Lobo.
Neither did Kemi.
The mud anaconda lowered its massive head slowly, jaws parting just enough to expose rows of curved fangs. Its red eyes reflected the glow of the crystal as if it were staring into a fire.
"Don't," Lobo muttered under his breath.
The snake flicked its tongue once.
And swallowed the crystal whole.
There was no dramatic explosion.
No instant transformation.
The shard disappeared down its throat like a pebble dropped into a well.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Kemi let out a slow breath. "That's it?"
Tèt didn't answer.
Because the snake froze.
Its entire body stiffened mid-motion. The jungle went quiet again — not in fear this time, but in anticipation.
Then the anaconda's throat bulged.
A ripple moved down its body, visible beneath the mud-coated scales. The purple glow flickered faintly from within, like lightning trapped under skin.
Lobo stared. "Tell me that's indigestion."
The snake's body convulsed violently.
Mud cracked and fell from its scales in chunks as something inside it reacted.
Tèt's eyes narrowed. "Get ready."
The anaconda lifted its head higher than before.
Higher than the treetops.
And then it roared.
Not a hiss.
Not a screech.
A roar that shook the canopy and sent birds scattering in every direction.
Purple light erupted beneath its scales in veins, branching outward from its throat down through its massive body. The hardened mud armor fused tighter, thickening. Its coils expanded slightly — not growing dramatically larger, but denser.
Heavier.
Stronger.
Kemi felt it first.
The pressure.
It wasn't physical.
It was presence.
"Why does it feel like the air just got heavier?" she whispered.
Tèt's jaw tightened. "Because it did."
The snake moved.
Fast.
Too fast for something that size.
It lunged for Tèt again.
He barely twisted aside in time, the jaws slamming into the ground where he'd stood. Mud exploded upward.
Lobo fired instinctively, rapid bursts of flame slamming into the creature's neck.
This time, the fire didn't just fizzle.
It dimmed.
As if the snake's scales were absorbing the heat.
"What?!" Lobo shouted. "No, no, no — that's cheating!"
Kemi slammed both palms forward, releasing a controlled stream of concentrated flame at the snake's side.
The mud hardened further instead of cracking.
The heat evaporated uselessly.
"It's not taking damage like before!" she yelled.
Tèt sprinted forward anyway.
Axes blazing.
He leapt and carved both blades into the same injured spot he'd struck earlier.
The steel bit in.
But not deep.
Not like before.
The snake twisted midair, tail whipping around with terrifying speed.
Tèt raised his axes to block.
The impact sent him flying backward, slamming into a tree hard enough to crack bark.
He dropped to one knee, breath leaving his lungs in a violent rush.
Lobo stared. "Tèt!"
"I'm fine!" Tèt snapped, coughing. "I'm fine — keep pressure on it!"
The snake's red eyes glowed brighter now, faint purple threads flickering through them.
It opened its mouth again.
This time, the breath that escaped wasn't just steam.
It was heat.
Mud near its jaws began to bubble.
"Since when does a mud beast breathe heat?" Kemi asked.
"Since five seconds ago!" Lobo replied.
The snake slammed its body down again, forcing them apart.
Tèt rolled, coming up on his feet, blood dripping from his shoulder wound.
He could feel it.
The crystal wasn't being digested.
It wasn't being destroyed.
It was… empowering.
Not integrated.
But active.
Like a foreign battery jammed into a machine.
"Don't let it corner you!" he shouted.
The snake's tail whipped again.
This time it caught Kemi.
She tried to brace — flame igniting along her arms — but the impact sent her skidding through mud, slamming into a low tree stump.
Pain shot up her side.
She sucked in air sharply. "Okay — that one hurt."
Lobo sprinted to her. "Are you alright?"
"Ask me that later!"
The snake coiled again, preparing to strike down.
And then—
The ground to the right exploded.
Mud and broken branches scattered as three figures burst through the tree line.
Jean-Daniel came first.
With his Warhammer already mid-swing.
The massive earth-infused weapon slammed into the snake's lower coil with a thunderous crack.
The hit was strong it fractured the mud on the beast.
The impact forced the anaconda's body sideways, disrupting its strike.
Wilkens followed in a blur of lightning.
His boots crackled green as he flash-stepped between trees, daggers igniting blue as he slashed at the creature's underbelly.
Rolo came in last, fists blazing, launching a heavy fire-charged punch into the snake's exposed side.
The clearing erupted into chaos again.
Tèt blinked once.
Then grinned. "Well I'll be damned."
Jean-Daniel planted his hammer into the ground, breathing hard. "You look like you needed help."
Tèt wiped blood from his mouth. "Took you long enough."
Wilkens darted back, eyes locked on the snake's midsection. "Is that the crystal from the mud Rhino,
? It swallowed it."
"We noticed!" Lobo shouted.
"No," Wilkens snapped. "The glow — it's still intact inside it."
All eyes flicked briefly to the faint purple veins pulsing beneath the snake's scales.
Jean-Daniel's grip tightened. "So we cut it out."
The anaconda roared again.
This time, the roar carried weight.
Pressure.
The ground trembled violently as its coils slammed outward, forcing everyone back.
The six of them regrouped quickly.
Jean-Daniel and Tèt at the front.
Wilkens hovering near the flanks.
Rolo and Lobo slightly behind.
Kemi stabilizing her stance.
"This thing just got upgraded," Tèt muttered.
Jean-Daniel exhaled slowly. "Yeah. I can feel it."
The snake lunged again.
Jean-Daniel stepped forward.
His chest piece flared blue.
Mud from the surrounding ground surged upward, layering over his body in thick plates.
His armor bulked, hardening.
His hammer grew larger in his grip.
He met the snake's descending head head-on.
The hammer collided with the creature's jaw in a shockwave of earth and flame.
The impact cracked scales.
But didn't stop the momentum.
Jean-Daniel skidded backward, boots digging trenches through mud.
"Little help!" he grunted.
Tèt launched in from the side, axes carving into the snake's injured throat again.
This time blood spilled freely.
The snake thrashed violently.
Wilkens flash-stepped up its side, daggers stabbing into weaker joints beneath overlapping scales.
"Left side is thinner!" he shouted.
Rolo roared, slamming fire-coated fists into the same weak area.
For a moment—
It worked.
The snake recoiled.
Blood stained the mud.
Lobo laughed breathlessly. "That's more like it!"
Then the purple veins flared brighter.
The snake's entire body tightened.
A pulse of energy burst outward.
Not visible like fire.
But felt.
Every single one of them staggered.
Wilkens dropped to one knee, vision swimming.
Kemi grabbed her head. "What is that?!"
Tèt clenched his teeth. "Crystal activation."
The snake rose higher.
Its scales darkened further.
Its coils slammed downward again — faster than before.
Rolo barely dodged.
Lobo wasn't fast enough.
The tail caught him across the ribs and sent him spinning into a tree.
He didn't get up immediately.
Wilkens rushed to him. "Stay with me!"
"I'm—" Lobo coughed violently. "—regretting my life choices."
Jean-Daniel swung again, hammer smashing into the snake's midsection.
This time the impact barely moved it.
The snake's jaws snapped down at him.
He raised his hammer to block.
The force drove him knee-deep into mud.
The teeth scraped against earth-hardened armor.
Cracks formed.
"Okay," Jean-Daniel growled through clenched teeth, "that's new."
Tèt slashed repeatedly at its side, but each strike now met denser resistance.
Wilkens looked up.
The purple glow inside the snake was intensifying.
Not spreading.
Condensing.
"Guys," he said slowly, "it's not just stronger. It's stabilizing."
The snake's head lowered again.
But this time, it didn't attack immediately.
It inhaled.
Deeply.
The air around them seemed to distort slightly.
Heat shimmered.
Pressure mounted.
Tèt's instincts screamed.
"Move!" he roared.
They scattered just as the snake exhaled.
A concentrated blast of superheated mud and steam shot forward like a cannon.
Trees disintegrated.
The ground exploded.
Rolo barely escaped, diving behind a shattered trunk.
Wilkens rolled through mud, heart pounding.
Jean-Daniel staggered upright, armor cracked but holding.
Tèt stared at the devastation.
"Yeah," he muttered. "We're not finishing this today."
The snake reared again.
Purple aura flickered around its entire body now.
Not bright.
But undeniable.
A territorial declaration.
A warning.
Kemi whispered, voice tight, "It feels like it's looking at us differently."
Wilkens swallowed. "It is."
Jean-Daniel met Tèt's gaze.
"We stay and die," Jean-Daniel said plainly.
Tèt hesitated only half a second.
"Retreat," he ordered.
Lobo blinked. "Wait — what?"
"You heard me!"
The snake lunged again.
They all started running trying to escape from the mud snake gaze.
They did not do it in a panic.
But In coordination.
Wilkens used his lightning boots to guide paths through denser brush.
Jean-Daniel cleared obstacles with hammer swings.
Tèt covered the rear, axes blazing as he deflected near strikes.
The snake pursued.
Fast.
Too fast.
Its massive body plowed through trees like they were reeds.
The jungle shattered behind them.
Rolo glanced back once and paled. "It's catching up to us too quick!"
Wilkens gritted his teeth. "Keep moving!"
The pressure in the air increased again.
The aura flared brighter.
And for the first time—
They all understood.
This wasn't just a beast anymore.
The jungle had chosen a king.
And it was hunting and they are its prey.
The ground trembled as the anaconda closed the distance.
Purple veins pulsed violently beneath its scales.
And the sound of something massive crashing through trees behind them.
End of Chapter 72
Author's Note : ( I just moved to a new apartment, I had a Busy month sorting thing out )