The journey pressed on.
After her toxic slaughter at the river, Thien Thanh showed signs of exhaustion. She retracted into herself, coiling around Thien Anh's neck in a deep slumber to replenish her venom.
For now, the heavy lifting fell to Thien Lang. With a bulk comparable to a compact vehicle, Thien Lang waded through the water with ease, becoming the most stable living vessel for his master.
CRASH!
A mutant turtle as wide as a round dining table, its shell bristling with jagged spikes, suddenly breached the surface to attack.
"Hmph."
Thien Lang didn't even bother to dodge. He unhinged his massive jaws and delivered a devastating snap against the turtle's stone-hard shell.
CRUNCH!
The sound of the carapace shattering was dry and brittle. Following his evolution, Thien Lang's fangs were now sharper and harder than industrial diamonds. A massive section of the turtle was pulverized, blood geysering out. Thien Lang tossed the carcass aside with a flick of his neck and continued wading.
Thien Anh, perched on his back, narrowed his eyes at the floating remains. Blood continued to pour from the bite wounds without ceasing, staining a wide patch of water crimson with no sign of clotting.
"Anticoagulants?" Thien Anh murmured. "Impressive. It's not just a painful bite; it causes continuous hemorrhaging. The longer the fight lasts, the more the enemy bleeds out."
He patted Thien Lang's neck gently. "Good work, Mutt. I thought you only had brute force, but it turns out you've got some 'hidden heat' in that mouth of yours."
Thien Thanh, who had been dozing, forced one eye open to interject:
"He might look like a derpy idiot, but he's got a bit of a devious streak in him, doesn't he?"
Thien Lang huffed, his sodden tail splashing water everywhere.
"You bet. I am a Celestial Wolf, not some common street cur."
...
After traveling a while longer, the atmosphere turned eerily still.
There were no more croaking frogs, no silhouettes of mutant fish or scurrying rats. The water's surface was as flat as a sheet of glass.
"Stop."
Thien Anh commanded. His assassin's instincts whispered that something was wrong. "Why is it so quiet? Where did all the monsters go?"
Thien Lang skidded to a halt, ears pricked and swiveling like radar dishes. His nostrils flared incessantly.
"Southeast wind… about two miles out…" Thien Lang's voice dropped into a low rumble. "The scent of gunpowder. The drone of engines. And a very heavy stench of blood."
"A battle?" Thien Anh calculated.
If there were people, there was an organization. And if they were shooting, there was either a high-tier mutant or a massive swarm.
"Go check it out. But keep your distance. I don't care about playing the scavenger, but I don't want to get caught in the crossfire either."
"Understood, Master."
Thien Lang shifted direction, moving with renewed stealth, minimizing the splash of his stride.
As they drew closer to the southeast, the trail of destruction became more evident. Ruined buildings were strangled by overgrown vines. Trees had erupted through reinforced concrete, creating a primordial jungle in the heart of the city.
Suddenly, Thien Lang froze, his hackles standing up like a bed of needles.
"Watch out! Ahead." he whispered, retreating behind a crumbled wall.
Thien Anh drew his binoculars, scanning the area. He saw only massive ancient trees, their roots snaking around the buildings. Not a single beast was in sight.
"Where?"
"In the trees. The musk of a reptile."
Thien Anh narrowed his eyes, focusing intently on the gnarled, ash-grey trunks. And then, a shiver ran down his spine. Those weren't tree trunks. Those were snakes.
Three gargantuan serpents were coiled tightly around the ancient trees, their skin possessing a color and texture identical to dry bark, blending perfectly into the environment. If one didn't look closely at the slit pupils hidden within that mimicry, they would be impossible to detect.
"Tier-2 Mutants," Thien Anh identified immediately. "They can camouflage and ambush. Their intelligence is evolving."
The largest was nearly thirty meters long, as thick as a temple pillar. The two smaller ones were still over twenty meters each.
Thien Lang growled low in his throat; he knew he couldn't take on three high-tier monsters at once.
"Fall back. Keep a safe distance."
Thien Anh ordered. After retreating about 500 meters, he climbed to a high vantage point—the third floor of a half-collapsed building.
He unslung the heavy anti-materiel rifle from Thien Lang's side. The weapon was a matte-black beast, its barrel nearly a meter and a half long, designed specifically to punch through armored vehicle engines.
"Little Thanh, give me some 'flavoring.'"
Thien Thanh understood. She slithered over, unhinging her jaw to let a single drop of deep violet venom fall onto the tip of the 12.7mm armor-piercing round.
Drip.
The toxin quickly seeped into the grooves etched into the bullet's head.
"Armor-piercing rounds coupled with neurotoxins. Let's see how thick your hide really is."
Thien Anh lay prone, tucking the stock firmly into his shoulder, and took a deep breath. The crosshairs locked onto the right eye of the largest serpent.
A light breeze. A click on the torque wrench for adjustment.
Target locked.
"Die."
BOOM!
A thunderous crack tore through the dead silence.
The terrifying recoil of the heavy weapon sent Thien Anh sliding back half a meter. The stock slammed into his shoulder with the force of a sledgehammer, leaving his bones numb and vibrating. Dust billowed up from the floorboards.
The round shrieked through the air.
SQUELCH!
"ROAAAAAR!"
Blood geysered from the monster's eye socket. Its agonizing howl echoed through the concrete jungle.
Rumble!
The entire ancient tree shook violently as the beast began to thrash. The war had begun.