Soren's feet sank into the muddy jungle floor, his arms still tingling from the impact of the King Anaconda's tail.
"Damn..." He muttered, shaking out his fingers. "That tail strike had enough force to level a truck. You're grumpy lizard... and not your average one, either."
The King Anaconda coiled and hissed violently, its massive body writhing through the destroyed forest. Each movement of its scales scraped across trees and shattered branches like thunder rolling through the underbrush.
Class C…
Soren noted silently to himself, his mind analyzing the beast in front of him. An anaconda of this caliber is rare.
Despite the creature's imposing size and strength, Soren didn't seem fazed.
The snake hissed again, louder this time, a sound that rattled Soren's senses. Its tongue flicked in and out, tasting the air around Soren. The tension between them thickened.
It was watching and waiting for a mistake.
Soren took a careful step back, the snake's eyes never leaving him. The creature was sizing him up, circling.
He has to move carefully... The blood orchid must have enhanced its growth, but this snake's aggression is unwelcoming.
The moment the thought crossed his mind.
It attacks!
In a blur of motion, the King Anaconda coiled its massive body and launched forward. But Soren wasn't looking at its head. No, this time the strike came from behind him.
A massive snake tail swung from the jungle's dense foliage, the air itself bending from the sheer force of its speed. The tail shot forward, aiming directly at Soren's back.
Before Soren could react, the tail was already within mere meters of him, its trajectory impossible to avoid for anyone else.
But he wasn't anyone.
With a flash of blue energy surrounding him, he vanished and reappeared a few meters ahead, narrowly dodging the tail.
However, they weren't finished. As the tail came crashing down again, he grinned, the adrenaline coursing through his cells.
"Is that all you've got?" Soren muttered softly but filled with excitement.
He could feel the raw power within his body beginning to surge as he activated Hulk Strength Lv 7.
Soren stepped forward and swung his fist with all his might directly at the oncoming tail.
BOOM!
The impact echoed across the jungle like a massive explosion, two titanic forces colliding in midair. The ground beneath Soren's feet trembled, and the force sent a shockwave rippling through the air.
Soren's feet dug deep into the mud, leaving two deep ruts in the ground as he tried to maintain his balance against the retaliatory force.
The tail of the King Anaconda, though stunned, was not easily deterred. The beast recoiled briefly before shooting forward again, a display of terrifying tenacity.
"You're tougher than I expected…" A grin tugged at the corner of his lips. "But let's see how you handle this."
With his muscles roaring, Soren shifted his stance and summoned another burst of power. The Hulk Strength coursed through him, multiplying his already impressive strength tenfold.
He rushed forward, closing the distance between himself and the giant serpent.
"Come on!"
In an instant, Soren was on the attack. His fist flew forward, aiming directly at the King Anaconda's massive, armored head.
But the creature, sensing the danger, responded with lightning reflexes. It whipped its head to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow and slamming its tail down in counter.
Soren's heart was racing with the thrill of battle.
He teleported again, vanishing in a flash of blue light. As the King Anaconda's tail struck the empty space where he had been, Soren reappeared directly in front of the beast's head, using his psychokinesis to halt the enormous tail mid-air.
The tail froze.
Soren looked the creature dead in the eyes, his expression shifting to one of intrigue. "Impressive."
"But you're still just a beast…"
With a final pulse of Strength, Soren threw himself forward, punching the King Anaconda's head with all the force he could muster.
The King Anaconda staggered backward, its massive head snapping back. The creature let out a screech of rage and pain.
Soren's eyes narrowed, his fist had delivered a solid blow to the King Anaconda, but the creature's massive form had hardly been damaged.
The beast's monstrous size and defense were annoying. His physical strength alone wouldn't bring this beast down.
Soren was slowly reaching out his hand.
A blade shimmered into existence, its edge gleaming with a vibration so intense it distorted the air around it.
The blade was unlike any other… crafted from Adamantium, a metal known for its unmatched sharpness and near-indestructibility. It had been a gift from the military, who had seen Soren's skills in healing and wanted to ensure his continued cooperation.
"You felt that punch, didn't you?" Soren called out to the serpent, lips curling. "How do you like steel."
The King Anaconda hissed loudly, baring its teeth.
The King Anaconda launched again.
"Tch~gotcha."
As the tail snapped toward him again, he surged forward, timing it perfectly.
"RRAAH!"
His muscles rippled as he swung his arm, and steel met scale.
STAB!
The Adamantium blade sank into the anaconda's side, cutting through its tough, scaly hide like butter.
The creature recoiled in pain, letting out a guttural, ear-splitting roar that reverberated through the jungle. The wound ran the length of the serpent's body, but wasn't enough to incapacitate the beast.
The serpent hissed in fury, and with an explosive movement, its massive tail whipped around with crushing force.
"Try again."
The blue haze of his teleportation flared again, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
The tail hit nothing but air, and Soren reappeared on the far side of the King Anaconda's immense body, already in the midst of another deadly strike.
His knife flashed and carved a second deep wound into the creature's side. Blood sprayed, hot and sticky, splattering across Soren's coat.
The King Anaconda let out another shrieking roar, it was clear that the beast was starting to feel the sting.
The anaconda, a behemoth over thirty meters long and the undisputed king of this rainforest, had been wounded twice.
Blood seeped through the deep cuts along its armored scales, and madness took over its ancient, primal mind. It had never suffered like this before, not once in its long reign.
But the one provoking it now… wasn't normal prey.
Soren's body blurred as he dodged with ease, teleporting just beyond the serpent's swing.
With a flash of silver, his Adamantium blade sang through the air, each strike sharp enough to shear steel, let alone reptilian hide.
Despite its fury, the anaconda was no match.
Teleportation. Speed. Critical Strikes.
To the king of the forest, it must've felt like fighting a ghost.
The jungle itself bore witness to the battle. Trees that had stood for centuries were smashed flat like twigs beneath the thrashing titan's mass.
The serpent rolled through the forest like a deranged bulldozer. Its muscles rippled beneath emerald scales, its tail split boulders, its fangs dripped venom thick as tar.
But despite its rage, the King Anaconda was collapsing. The blood orchid's influence seemed to have transformed it, given it power beyond its original form…
"Poor thing… this was never close."
The fight soon turned into a one-sided display. Soren's blade cut wound after wound. The serpent's body was torn in places, raw muscle and twitching nerves exposed.
Yet the beast fought on. It had no intention of escaping. Its pride wouldn't allow it.
"Stubborn till the end…"
With one final cut, a long, spiraling slash down its side, the mighty serpent collapsed, tail thumping weakly against the ground. Blood pooled beneath it, steaming on the devastated forest floor.
The anaconda's defiance was gone. Its eyes glazed, body still.
But Soren didn't strike the final blow.
Panting, he sheathed his blade. "I didn't come to kill you, big guy." Soren approached the motionless titan. "I came to recruit you."
He turned away, gaze scanning the jungle.
"Now… where are those blood orchids?"
Using Psychokinesis, Soren reached through the soil and rubble where the mountain wall had once stood. The orchids were there, buried under layers of earth and rock, but not beyond his reach. Roots twisted upward unnaturally, drawn by unseen hands.
Gently uprooting a cluster of glowing red orchids and placing them into his storage.
"Hey. You still with me?" He whispered. "Come on. I'm not done with you yet."
He focused, preparing for the teleport.
Then he felt the strain. Teleporting himself was one thing. But moving a 30-meter, multi-ton mutant serpent? Big difference.
His body trembled. Energy drained rapidly from him. Blood rushed to his ears. His limbs felt like they were sinking in stone.
"Just…a … a bit… more…"
Light exploded outward.
Space-ripping energy tore through the jungle, both man and beast vanished, leaving behind only chaos: splintered trees, crushed brush, and a deep silence in their confrontation.
Everlife Medical Center
The air shimmered. Reality groaned.
Shan was already sprinting through the halls, alerted by the spatial disturbance.
BOOOM!
A shockwave blasted through the courtyard as light collapsed inward. In its place, Soren and the massive anaconda crashed to the ground.
"AHHHHH!" Shan screamed at the top of her lungs, stumbling backward at the sight of the Killer snake
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Fellow Phantoms and aspiring Phantoms to be, if you seek to access advanced parts of this story procced to my shadowy realm of p@treon.
PhantomDream