Evolution Island: Kill to Survive

Battle of the titans

A low hissing sound caused the T-Rex to stop in its tracks. A coil of bright green light curled upward from the ground, gradually taking on the form of a scaly reptile. It was a terrifying snake straight out of the Paleocene era. It had scaly brown skin, covered in irregular black smudges, and a soft yellow underbelly.

Uncoiling itself, the snake slowly revealed the full length of its massive body. A pair of big yellow eyes blinked menacingly, as a forked black tongue picked up the scent of the T-Rex. Slithering to a length of 40 feet and weighing over 2000 pounds, the enormous snake was the largest of its kind to have ever lived. A distant relative of the modern boa constrictor, the Titanoboa was almost 5 times the size of the largest anaconda ever recorded.

Both the T-Rex and the Titanoboa were apex predators who had once dominated the food chain. While the T-Rex was great at chasing down slow-moving herbivores and bringing down larger sauropods with its powerful bite, the Titanoboa was more of an ambush hunter, heavily relying on landing a surprise blow to break its opponent’s skull or knock it down. In a head-on encounter, the ‘king of the lizards’ had a clear advantage against the snake. It was up to Aaron and Madeline to turn the tables.

Zach waited for Aaron’s nod, before giving his summoned snake the order to attack the dinosaur. The Titanoboa slithered across the grass, straight towards the massive dinosaur. As the T-Rex came stomping down, the massive snake coiled its tail and lifted its slithering body off the ground. Standing upright in an attacking pose, it lashed out with a powerful strike, biting into the dinosaur’s back. The T-Rex used its frontal claws to tear open the snake’s outer covering of scales, but it failed to land its bite.

As the Titanoboa coiled around the dinosaur’s body, holding it in one place, Aaron gave the order to begin the ranged attack.

“Channel Wind Element! Skill: Windward Scythe!” Madeline conjured a pair of enchanted scythes and swiped her hands across her face. The weapons slashed through the dinosaur’s thick hide, creating a cross-shaped wound on its chest. 10000 points of HP disappeared instantly, inflicting an additional bleeding status.

“Channel Fire Element! Skill: Immolating Spear!”

Aaron’s flaming spear whizzed through the air, penetrating the dinosaur’s chest. The fire damage took out a good chunk of its HP, burning through its soft flesh.

The T-Rex went mad with pain. It made a desperate attempt to shake the Titanoboa off, but the snake wrapped another coil around its neck. The T-Rex’s eyes suddenly flashed red and its body started pulsating with a strange kind of energy. Within seconds, its claws elongated, dark black ridges grew on its back and its scaly green skin turned blood red.

“What the hell’s going on?” Zach gasped.

Aaron ran another scan to find out what had just happened. As soon as he read the stats again, his eyes widened. “It’s HP just doubled!”

[*Warning!*]

[*Tyrannosaurus Rex has evolved!*]

[*New species encountered: Primal T-Rex!*]

The newly evolved T-Rex was far too strong for the Titanoboa. The sharp ridges which had suddenly protruded from its back punctured the snake’s hide. As its coils started losing their grip, the Primal T-Rex broke free from its suffocating embrace. Its powerful jaws snapped shut, tearing the snake in half.

Before Aaron could think of a way to counter it, the T-Rex stomped across the plain and chomped down on Madeline.

“Gaia’s Shield!”

Isabella used her defensive Geomancer skill to conjure a protective barrier, encasing Madeline inside a crystal sphere. It resisted the bite attacks, making the dinosaur even more enraged.

The T-Rex gave up testing its jaw strength after a few tries. Instead, it resorted to its other weapon. Roaring ferociously, it whipped its tail around, smacking the crystal with the spiked end. The impact shattered it to pieces, cracking it open.

“Shield Charge: Full Power!”

Before the T-Rex could make a snack out of Madeline, Isabella charged ahead with her glowing steel shield, knocking the dinosaur back.

Zach supported her from behind by using his Aqua Blast skill to push the T-Rex further back. The high velocity jet of water took all his EP to sustain. The T-Rex kept pushing forward, using the top of its broad head to act as a shield.

Madeline planted her feet on the ground and thrust her palms forward. “Channel Wind Element: Furious Gale!”

A blast of wind hit the T-Rex in the face. Madeline kept going, straining every vein in her body to maintain the windy assault.

“What’s your plan, Aaron?” Madeline yelled. “We can’t hold it back much longer. It’s too strong!”

“I hate to say this, but I agree with her for once. Make a call!” Zach shouted.

The plan had always been to use the Titanoboa to disable the T-Rex and then finish it off with ranged skills. But this sudden evolution had changed everything. Aaron knew they didn’t have enough raw damage to bring down something with such a large amount of HP. The bleeding damage inflicted by Madeline was draining HP at such a slow rate, the T-Rex could keep fighting for hours without any problems.

“I need a deeper scan. Does anyone have an analysis skill?” Aaron said at last.

“I do!” Isabella responded, falling back from the frontline. Thrusting her left palm forward, she turned it anticlockwise. “Analyse threat: Primal T-Rex. Team display enabled.”

A holographic 3D image of the T-Rex popped up, with a list of its basic stats alongside. Aaron examined the image critically, zooming in on every part of its body.

“No no no!” Aaron cried out in frustration. “There’s no way this is possible!”

“Mind telling us what’s going on?” Madeline asked, straining her voice.

Aaron closed the holographic display and replied, “It doesn’t have any weak points. There are no critical boxes.”

“We’re f****d. I knew this was a bad idea!” Zach cursed. His EP was running low and his skill was about to enter a long cooldown timer.

Madeline did her best to support Zach, but the T-Rex was starting to gain ground. Isabella just stood there, looking at Aaron to give a command.

The pressure of failing his whole team was weighing heavily on Aaron's shoulders. He now felt like he should have made the call to flee when he had the chance. Even if they used up all their skills, it wouldn’t be enough to bring down this T-Rex.

“I’m almost out of EP!” Zach yelled.

“Aaron, make a call!”

“Run!”

“What?”

“Just run!”

“It will catch up to us in no time! You know we can’t enter a safe zone while being chased by a Zone Guardian!”

“Just trust me!” Aaron shouted back. Turning to his team’s defender, he spoke his next orders. “I want you to give us a head start. Do anything you can to slow the T-Rex down. You’re gonna have to hold it back on your own. Can you do this?”

“What the f**k, Aaron!” Madeline yelled, giving him a death stare. “I never should have trusted you, asshole!”

“I don’t have time to argue! This is the only way!”

“You’re gonna get us all killed! Argh!” Madeline’s skill came to an end as her EP ran out. Zach’s water jet narrowed too, ended abruptly. The T-Rex was free to move once again.

“Isabella, we’re counting on you!” Aaron put his fingers to his lips and whistled aloud.

Immediately, the 4 duck-billed dinosaurs came running to them. These were the same ones Aaron had left outside, while entering the shrine of the Resting Deity.

“Get on the dinos! She’s got this!”

Before Madeline could stop her, Isabella ran past them and stood before the T-Rex. Her tiny frame was dwarfed by the massive carnivore. The little girl steadied her breathing and looked up to face the T-Rex all alone.