Fifteen minutes has passed since the serpent's retreat. Rina and Izzy are on high alert, looking out for the serpent while Sean is nearly fully healed.
"That's enough, Eva," says Sean, completely disinfected of the poison previously eating his flesh but still with wounds and burns on his fists.
"Just focus here," he holds up his fists, asking Eva to put another protective coating on them.
Eva didn't even bother reasoning back. She knew how stubborn this person was. She proceeds to apply the coating at full effort.
"Agents, the serpent is coming back from the river," they hear a voice over their earpiece. Must be someone from surveillance or mission control. "Be ready."
"We can't wait for it here. Sean, catch up," says Rina.
Rina and Izzy run towards the river, planning to cut off the returning serpent's comeback. They spot the injured serpent just a couple of meters away from them, slithering its way back at full speed.
From out of the trees jumps out Rina, pistols in her hand, heavy bullet fully-charged. A direct hit right on the charging serpent's head, forcing it to stop. The smoke hasn't cleared yet when it rushes Rina, its head covered in smaller snakes that it had used as a meat shield to block the shot. Rina avoids it, continuing to shoot regular bullets with one pistol and charging up a heavy bullet with the other.
Izzy targets the body, specifically the part where Sean has punched a hole in. The serpent hasn't healed its injury as it had no regenerative abilities of any sort. Instead, made up for the large hole in its body by filling it with smaller snakes that it had split from the rest of its body. Although still large, the serpent is now shorter than it originally was.
As Izzy was attempting to hit its body, the serpent splits in half. Now the both of them had individual serpents to fight. Having to fight a shorter and more agile serpent than before, the two struggled even more.
Izzy's serpent covers itself in poison and charges right at him. This was an ideal opportunity for him, he was confident he could just slice it in half. He decides to receive the serpent's wide open mouth with his weapon, like a batter eyeing a home run. But Izzy's homerun is denied, just before he made contact with the serpent, it splits its entire body into a hundred smaller snakes. Izzy distances himself from the swarm of poison-covered snakes out of instinct,
The mini snakes were too fast and too many. But he had a dangerous weapon with incredible range. The stakes are now higher, he had to put just as much focus on defense now with a hundred snakes coming at him. But this also gave him an easier opportunity to exterminate the thing. Every single one of the smaller snakes are all a part of the one large serpent. Killing these smaller ones means permanently reducing the giant serpent's size, essentially killing it piece by piece. In Izzy's mind, a hundred smaller serpents is easier to take out than a single giant one.
Izzy starts hacking at the den of snakes, his weapon's range allowing him to hack at least two with just one swing, snake blood and parts scattering all over the muddy forest. Izzy was too focused at this that he failed to notice the serpent that Rina was fighting was going after him. The serpent's mouth only three meters away from him is swatted away by Sean who has re-entered the battle a second time.
"Thanks."
"You look like you're having fun here, I'll leave this to you," Sean tells Izzy. "I'll go help out with the big guy."
Sean runs toward the serpent he had just sent away. He was nowhere near finished. He turns the serpent's head into his own personal punching bag, sending it swaying into the wind left and right. He lands a large right straight, sending it flying away again. Rina catches it mid-air with two fully-charged heavy bullets. BOOM. The serpent's head is nuked.
The smoke clears revealing half of its upper left head gone, but the serpent still breathing.
"Tough bastard," Sean comments, annoyed.
Izzy, now done with the den of snakes, joins the group battle. He jumps into the serpent's body, still trying to regain some composure, and lodges his weapon right at its body. The serpent wails, half of Izzy's weapon inside its body, blood spraying everywhere.
Sean gets in on the action, jumping on its body as well, a forceful two-handed ground pound. A loud thud followed by the serpent's scream of pain. Rina joins the beatdown as well, both pistols with charged heavy bullets aimed right at its open mouth. Rina and the serpent simultaneously make their move. The moment Rina pulled the triggers, the serpent does its escape tactic again. BOOM. The large energy bullets hit the muddy ground and some of the smaller snakes that were unfortunate enough to not have gotten out of the way. The shot must have taken out at least 20% of the serpent, but a lot still remain. The remaining parts of the snake all flee away deeper into the forest. It was a replay of what had happened earlier but this time, the team wasn't going to let it get away. The serpent was already extremely weakened.
The three chase after the swarm of snakes. With the two being close-range fighters, Rina was the only one who could deal some damage while chasing, shooting after the fleeing snakes but they were too fast. The den widened the gap in just a few seconds and when it had, it started combining again into one giant serpent to prevent Rina from killing it bit by bit. They still had vision on the serpent but it was increasing the distance fast.
The team start to notice that the distance was getting shorter and shorter, the serpent had stopped moving. The team approach the serpent's tail slowly and carefully. It might just be tricking them. Rina shoots at it, no reaction. It wasn't moving, it wasn't splitting, it was just there. The rest of its body deeper inside the trees.
"Is it," Izzy was going to ask what everyone was already thinking.
"Dead," Sean states what was all on their minds.
They venture deeper into the forest, all eager and curious to find what had happened to the overgrown reptile.
"Motherfucker," was all Sean could say.
What they saw was something they were not prepared for. The giant serpent was indeed dead. What's left of its corpse was being devoured by what looked like a massive stone giant. The massive humanoid creature had the same human anatomy with the exception that it was faceless, its skin was gray and coarse like a rock, its feet were hands, and it had a massive mouth on its chest; full of sharp, disproportionately-sized teeth that were munching down on the serpent. The stone giant was kneeling down on one knee while using one of its arms to feed its mouth with the snake carcass whole.
The three were stunned by what they saw.
"Hey, this wasn't the deal," says Sean.
"Hello, surveillance?" Rina speaks to her earpiece. "Mission control? Can anyone explain why there's a stone person munching on the serpent?"
No answer. Apparently, no one was aware of the existence of the stone giant.
"Agents, withdrawal is highly advised," a voice speaks to them telling them to fall back. Although not phrased like an order, it still sounded that way.
"This is not a mandatory target," the voice added, passively insisting that they retreat.
"So, do we..?" Izzy indirectly asking his comrades whether they were going to engage the monster or not.
Sean doesn't answer. Instead, he just looks at Rina, waiting for hers. "Your call, bosslady."
"Eve, where are you?" Rina doesn't answer the question nor come up with a decision.
"Still at the spot where you guys left me," Eva answers through the small communication device in their ear.
"Okay sit tight, we're heading back," Rina finally makes a decision.
The team was starting to leave, but the stone giant who has now noticed their presence had other plans. It bites the serpent's carcass in half with its chest-mouth and hurls the other half at them. They were able to notice this in time, dodging the long serpent corpse-projectile, tens of trees going down as a result. The stone giant gets up and starts running after them while they did the same.
The giant was large, standing at about 20 meters tall. Given this stature, its movement was particularly slow. The team had the advantage when it came to speed but despite this, they still were not able to "outrun" the giant exactly. Despite the giant's sluggish movements, its size still meant that it would take large steps. In the end, it made up for its creeping movement with large paces.
"We can't outrun this thing!" Sean notices this. "We're just gonna end up dragging this thing to where Eva is."
"Wait, what thing?? What's happening over there?" the clueless Eva asks.
Rina realizes this, too. At this moment, they had no other choice but to face the faceless stone giant.
"Mission control, send a second unit ASAP. We're engaging."
At that moment, the three agents all stopped running and faced the giant pacing towards them, scattering in different directions.
The colossus stops and looks around, trying to find where the ants it was chasing had gone off to. All it would see are glimpses of the three running and hiding behind the trees. It couldn't keep up with their speed – something they were counting on.
Rina jumps out of the cluster of trees, shooting out two charged heavy bullets. The giant was very late in noticing both her and her shot, hitting him directly in the face but to no effect. No dent, no crack, it didn't even budge.
From behind, Izzy jumps at its nape, attempting to decapitate it. The small blades in his weapon functioning like a saw were equally ineffective, producing nothing but sparks while sawing the giant's armor-like skin. The giant turns to him, he immediately jumps away.
"Okay, nothing is working," Izzy points out.
Sean runs towards the giants leg, something it doesn't notice right away. "Too soon, I haven't taken a crack at it yet". A large haymaker connects to the giant's left calf, sending a shockwave that even the far away Rina and Izzy felt.
Before readying another blow, Sean looks at the receiving part of the blow. Again, no effect. This annoyed him. Priming for another strike, the giant looks down and stomps on him. The giant misses, he jumps towards its middle body and lands a blow on its abdomen, still no effect. The giant tries to swat him like a mosquito but it is too slow.
"Tough bastard," the annoyed Sean mutters.
The giant was slow, an incredibly easy target on paper. But its lack of mobility, it made up for with incredible durability. In terms of physical strength, Sean is the second-best in all of the Circle. Yet a direct blow from him didn't even leave a millimeter of a crack on the giant's skin.
Sean smiles. He is a person who took immense pride in his strength. This was a challenge, a formidable one. And one he wasn't going to back down on.
"I'll crush this motherfucker, you guys just distract it for me," he tells the two.
Rina continued raining bullets at the giant while continuously moving. Izzy, realizing that he can't hack the giant's skin, retracts the blades on his now blunt weapon, is jumping around and hitting the giant from all directions. The giant was too busy dealing with the two, leaving Sean several brief opportunities to get hits in. He goes in, hits the giant's calf once, and goes away. He couldn't overstay, he knew that the giant would just stomp on him. This way, he could consistently land blows albeit at a few seconds of interval.
Hit, run, hit, run, hit, run. A slow and simple strategy, but one that would prove effective over time. After a couple of hits, the giant starts to notice the man gradually punching away its leg. It now starts focusing below, trying to anticipate the man.
"Up here," Sean appears in front of its face, both his fists engulfed in large flames. He grins at the faceless giant before unleashing a barrage of punches at its face.
The giant tries to swipe him away and instead of jumping away to safety, he grabs hold of its arms and starts battering away at it with one hand like a jackhammer on solid concrete. The blows weren't exactly strong, but they were extremely fast. And with how large his flames were, it already had all the strength it needed.
The giant waved its arms around trying to get the man hammering at it off but he wouldn't let go. Out of desperation, the giant swats at him with its other arm.
A loud thud resonates in the forest. Sean was able to let go in time, smiling and looking at the giant's arms now with large cracks. He was able to put very small cracks at different spots on the giant's arms. Slapping it with the other essentially worsened the minimal damages on its arm.
"Izzy, focus on the cracks," says Rina as she was shooting at the giant's cracked arm.
The giant, unfazed by the damage it has finally sustained, continues swatting away the little people pestering it while the team employed the same strategy.
The flames on Sean's fists now crawled all the way up, covering his forearm. No matter how tough, an immobile and nearly defenseless enemy was the most ideal enemy for him.
He goes in on the giant's leg that he was targeting before, landing a large left hook, leaving a noticeable crack on it. He was done playing hit and run, he lands another blow, and another one. Each punch leaving a larger and deeper crack.
"SIT THE FUCK DOWN!!" part of its calf shatters. The giant is now on one leg.
A huge smile is painted on Sean's face as he watches the stone colossus fall down one knee while one of its legs crumbles and snaps. The giant stops the fall by using its arms as crutches, regaining balance. But the team wasn't going to let it get up again, not like it can, anyway.
This was a window like no other and all three knew it. Rina and Izzy continued their assault on its arms even harder while Sean was going for the other leg. The man was insistent on completely crippling the giant.
Izzy takes a swing at the giant's cracked arm, attempting to snap it off as well. One swing, the crack gets bigger. Two swings, it gets even bigger. The giant was not going to tolerate a third swing. It swipes everything in its front, toppling trees but none of the agents.
It tries to shoo away Sean as well but too late. By the time it had looked below and behind, Sean was already gone. When it faced forward, what it saw was Rina aiming point blank at its arm which was barely holding on. BOOM. It now only has one hand and leg each.
This distraction that only lasted a couple of seconds was the only thing that Sean needed. At this point, he could crush any part of the giant's body in five hits with how large his flames were.
The mouth in the giant's chest starts to open, perhaps a last resort. It starts spitting large amounts of fluid at them – the serpent's poison. Rina and Izzy notice this and back away. They have the upper hand but they knew better than being greedy.
From its chest-mouth filled with sharp teeth also comes out a long tongue covered in what looked like the serpent's poison. The giant used this as a fast, poison-slathered whip while also trying to catch them with its remaining hand. Had the giant employed this tactic much earlier, the tide of battle would have been much different. It might have been the opposite of what was currently happening. But it was much too late.
A quick three-hit combo was enough for Sean to dismantle its last standing leg. The giant is now literally on his knees. As it was losing its balance, Izzy released the blades on his weapon again and sliced off the troublesome tongue.
The beatdown wasn't done. Sean winds up a large haymaker and unleashes it directly at the center of the giant's face, its head exploding into smithereens.
The maimed stone giant's body falls down slowly on its back, thud so loud it was heard throughout almost the entire forest. Despite all this, it was seemingly still alive. It had just lost its ability to move its body. The mouth in its chest still open, what remained of its cut-off tongue still wriggling about.
The team slowly approaches the dying colossus, still cautious. Rina, charging up a shot from both her guns walks up to its chest, climbs on it, and approaches the mouth. This was the nail in the coffin. A blue glow lights up the giant's coarse, gray, stone armor skin. BOOM. Its insides weren't as tough. Most of its upper body is blown to bits. The giant that stole their kill is no more.
They hear muddy footsteps and running heading their way - it's Eva who had decided to find them after all the loud commotion she was hearing.
"What happened, you guys? Wha-- what IS that thing???" she asks, utterly confused at the sight of the remains of a massive, dead stone giant. "Please don't tell me that's the serpent."
"Mission control, both targets are neutralized."
It was a long night for the four-man team. Much longer than they had originally anticipated. The stone giant was another S-rank monster dwelling in the Amazon. But unlike the serpent, it was posing very little to no harm to anyone or anything that came to or lived on the vast rainforest. This is the reason why its existence was unnoticed by Eden the entire time. The giant was serving as the forest's guardian. The serpent was a colossal threat not only to the humans that were touring and admiring the forest's natural beauty, but to the organisms that were inhabiting it as well.
Had the three been just regular humans who stumbled upon the sentinel of the forest, it would have just left them alone. Its duty was to protect its home from any and all danger. It had sensed the same ancient energy and essence from the agents, the same thing it had detected from the serpent terrorizing its forest and immediately deemed them as threats as well, prompting it to attack.
The team was extremely lucky. Sean was the perfect counter to the sentinel's capabilities. Had Sean not been part of the team, they would have struggled mightily against it. Rina and Izzy's skillsets both had bad compatibility with the sentinel's. The two had no way to penetrate its armor, it would have taken them at least a day to leave a noticeable crack at it. They would not have been able to outrun nor defeat the colossus. Sean proved to be extremely invaluable.
"Ahhh we can finally go home!!!" the overjoyed Eva exclaims.
"Nope.", Rina rains on her parade.
"What do you mean "nope"??!!"
"We can't leave until the clean-up team arrives but they're just outside the forest, don't worry," Rina explains. "Sorry, Eve."
"This is nature at its finest, princess," Sean says to the pouting Eve as he takes a comfortable seat on the giant's remains. "Take it in while you can."