Chapter 70 – When the Jungle Watches Back
Cité Madeline wasn't quiet.
It just waited.
Tèt Pikan preferred it that way.
He walked at the front of his unit, boots sinking into wet soil that steamed faintly beneath the heat radiating from his body. Mud didn't slow him. It dried before it could cling, sizzling softly around his steps.
Behind him, two members followed—Lobo and Kemi. Both D-Rank flame users. Competent. Not exceptional. But competent was enough when you were standing behind an A-Rank.
"Feels too easy," Lobo muttered, wiping sweat from his temple.
Tèt didn't slow. "You complaining?"
"No," Lobo replied quickly. "Just saying. Compared to what Bega described… this ain't that bad."
Kemi snorted. "That's because he sent us."
Tèt grinned slightly.
They'd already cut through three separate territories.
First wave: mud dogs.
Low to mid E-Rank. Fast. Pack hunters. Annoying. They burned quick once flames caught their fur.
Second wave: mud boars.
D-Rank. Thick skulls. Hard charges. Took coordination to bring down cleanly. Tèt handled most of those personally—axes flashing in twin arcs of red-hot steel.
Third wave: mud bears.
B-Rank.
Those were fun.
The bears were slower but heavy hitters. One swipe could crush ribs if you weren't ready. Tèt stepped into their territory with a smile and walked out with their crystals.
Two of those bears dropped purple shards.
Two.
That alone was worth the trip.
Lobo still looked impressed. "Two epic drops in one sector… that's insane."
Tèt shrugged. "Luck favors strength."
Kemi tilted her head. "That's not how luck works."
Tèt glanced back. "It does when I'm around."
They laughed.
And it was true.
Nothing had slowed them.
Nothing below A-Rank had even come close.
And if something was A-Rank?
Tèt wasn't worried.
He'd handled A-Rank before.
Not easily. Not casually.
But he'd handled them.
They moved deeper.
The terrain changed slowly.
Mud thinned into heavier vegetation. Trees grew taller, thicker. Vines hung low. The air shifted—less swamp, more jungle.
Mosquitoes swarmed in thicker clusters.
Kemi slapped her neck. "I swear, if I die to bugs before a beast, I'm haunting this place."
Lobo laughed. "You? A ghost? Please."
"Shut up."
Tèt stopped walking.
Not dramatically.
Just… stopped.
The jungle felt different.
No growls.
No distant movement.
Just silence.
Too much silence.
Lobo noticed first. "You hear that?"
Kemi frowned. "Hear what?"
"Exactly."
Tèt's grip tightened slightly on his axes.
His instincts weren't subtle. They didn't whisper.
They screamed.
He slowly lifted his gaze.
Above.
Between branches.
Two red eyes stared back at them.
Unblinking.
Kemi froze.
"That's… not a bear."
The branches shifted.
Not wind.
Weight.
Something was moving through the trees—long, thick, slow.
Then they saw it.
A body.
Massive.
Coiling.
Mud-covered scales slid over bark as the creature repositioned, circling without ever touching the ground.
A mud anaconda.
Not like the smaller swamp serpents they'd seen before.
This one was enormous.
Its body alone was thicker than the bus they'd arrived in. Mud clung to its scales in hardened ridges, natural armor layered over muscle. Its head lowered slightly, tongue flicking out as it studied them.
Tèt's eyes narrowed.
He didn't smile this time.
"Get ready," he said quietly.
Lobo swallowed. "Rank?"
Tèt didn't answer immediately.
The creature's presence pressed down on the clearing. The way birds refused to land nearby. The way even insects seemed to scatter.
It wasn't normal.
It wasn't B.
It might not even be A.
"Could be A," Tèt said slowly.
The anaconda's body shifted again, circling wider.
"Could be S."
Kemi's throat went dry.
The snake's coils tightened, mud cracking as it flexed.
"Hell," Tèt muttered. "Could be anything above that."
Lobo's voice cracked slightly. "You're joking, right?"
Tèt's flames flared higher along his arms.
"Does it look like I'm joking?"
The ground trembled faintly as the anaconda repositioned. It wasn't rushing. It wasn't charging.
It was measuring them.
Smart.
That bothered him more than size.
"Formation," Tèt snapped.
Lobo shifted left.
Kemi stepped right.
Tèt rolled his shoulders once, heat intensifying around him as both axes ignited fully.
"Listen carefully," he said, voice lower now. Serious. "This isn't a mud bear. This isn't a boar. This thing wraps, constricts, crushes."
The anaconda's head lowered further.
Red eyes locked onto Tèt.
"Stay mobile," Tèt continued. "Don't let it coil around you. If it grabs one of you—"
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
Kemi swallowed. "You think we can take it?"
Tèt exhaled slowly.
"If it's A-Rank? Yes."
The snake's body tightened further around the clearing.
"If it's S?"
He grinned faintly, but there was no humor in it.
"Then we fight like hell and hope the others hear the noise."
The anaconda struck.
Not at them.
At the ground.
Its tail slammed down, sending a shockwave of mud and shattered roots outward. Trees bent violently as the force rolled through the clearing.
Lobo stumbled back.
Kemi barely kept her footing.
Tèt didn't move.
Flames erupted outward from his body in a controlled burst, evaporating mud that threatened to harden around his boots.
"See?" he muttered. "Not typical."
The snake shifted again.
Above them.
Behind them.
It was everywhere.
Coiling through branches like a living wall.
"Eyes up!" Tèt barked.
The red gaze vanished.
Then reappeared on the opposite side.
Fast.
Too fast for something that large.
Lobo cursed under his breath. "It's testing us."
"Good," Tèt said. "Let it."
He stepped forward, axes spinning once in his grip.
"Burn the canopy if you have to," he ordered. "Flush it down."
Kemi nodded, flames igniting along her palms.
Lobo inhaled deeply, fire forming at his fingertips.
The jungle shifted again.
Branches cracked.
Mud fell from above in thick clumps.
The anaconda's massive body tightened its circle, enclosing them completely now.
Red eyes gleamed through the foliage.
Watching.
Waiting.
Tèt Pikan's instincts screamed again.
This wasn't territorial aggression.
This was predatory patience.
"Whatever you are," he muttered under his breath, axes blazing brighter, "you picked the wrong squad."
The snake's head lowered fully into view now, descending from above like a living executioner.
Its mouth opened slightly.
Rows of mud-coated fangs gleamed faintly.
Steam rose from Tèt's shoulders as he activated his full flame output.
"Alright," he said calmly.
"Let's see what you've got."
Flames erupted around the trio as they prepared to clash.
And the jungle held its breath.
End of Chapter 70