Chapter 40: Toad in a Hole

The dreadtoad was acting exactly as planned.

By the time it landed where they were, Sun Mengmeng and the others had all dashed away.

Zhang Lie's instructions at this point was very clear: after loosing a volley of missiles at the toad, run away immediately. Given the skill that Zhang Lie had displayed, no one dared disobey his instructions.

After all, no hunter would be foolish enough to risk dying unnecessarily. Their prey was a superior-grade lifeform, and any incaution during a fight could easily lead to their death. And since they didn't have enough strength to fight such a lifeform head-on, they would have to make do with their intellect—well, they were just kiting the toad from spot to spot.

Sun Mengmeng and Fang Yi, who had dashed in the direction of its right flank, again began harassing it with ranged attacks. Their behavior completely enraged the dreadtoad.

It croaked a few times, and its skin seemed to be covered by a mysterious blackwater film. It tensed its legs, as if intending to leap after them once more.

Just as it rose into the air, a silver figure appeared out of nowhere. He swung his violet sword and stabbed it deep into one of the toad's legs. The toad's upward momentum rent a dreadful wound in its leg, one that stretched all the way from the upper part of its leg to its feet.

Zhang Lie had succeeded in his sneak attack!

Even a superior-grade lifeform like the dreadtoad could be severely wounded with Venombane.

Furthermore, Venombane possessed extremely severe poison, and the blood that was leaking out of the wound, initially a pale blue color, had turned a ghastly green.

And because of its initial momentum, the dreadtoad's body was careening unwillingly toward Sun Mengmeng and Fang Yi.

However, the cry it had released the moment it leapt still caused Zhang Lie significant problems. The aural waves led to a localized hurricane that quickly swept over Zhang Lie, who was planning on retreating after his sneak attack.

It tore his surroundings to shreds, and Zhang Lie's chest felt so stuffed up that he thought his entire body was about to explode. Fortunately, he had prepared for this eventuality, and he had manifested two large earmuffs in his white-grub helmet to protect himself.

Genetic energy permeated his body, fortifying it from the wind. With his right palm, he activated [Fists of the Silent Sea], defending against the assault of the wind with the impermeable force of water.

The repeated clash of water and wind successfully managed to hold back the storm for a single instant. In that instant, Zhang Lie dashed away with [Rippling Walk].

It was then that the dreadtoad finally landed right where Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng were waiting. However, not only had it lost its target once again, it had even ended up in the trap that had been carefully laid out for it: a deep hole tens of meters deep, filled with all sorts of sharp weapons.

As a superior-grade lifeform, the dreadtoad could shrug off blows from regular bladed weapons without any harm. Of course, this was only true if it were uninjured, and it certainly was not uninjured.

The dreadtoad had to expend much of its genetic energy in order to suppress the poison coursing through its veins. As a result, it couldn't toughen up its skin, and it had jumped straight into a pit of spears unprotected.

But a superior-grade constitution wasn't a joke, and this seemingly serious injury was actually little more than superficial.

However, the next few moments would be a life-or-death trial for the dreadtoad. Because one of its legs was injured, and because of the poison, the dreadtoad was unable to leap out of the hole. This meant that it, unable to retreat, could well die an ignoble death at the hand of these puny hunters it despised.

Before it could react, a torrent of violet liquid surged toward its head. The dreadtoad cried out, diffusing the attack with its aural waves, turning the violet liquid into mist.

At the same time, arrows, spears, and thrown axes began to fill up the hole. The dreadtoad began to cry out over and over again, dispersing each attack with yet another aural wave. However, this would dramatically speed up its rate of genetic energy consumption.

Wreathed in violet fog, the dreadtoad didn't seem to realize that its body was slowly becoming paralyzed. It tried to jump out of the hole again, but its heavily injured leg, along with its lack of genetic energy, caused it to falter.

The dreadtoad had no choice but to calm down and focus on purging the poison from within its body.

Outside the hole, after hearing nothing coming from within for quite some time, Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng were both chomping at the bit to rush toward the hole to claim their spoils.

Fang Yi asked Zhang Lie impatiently, "Captain, we haven't heard anything, surely the toad's almost dead by now?"

Zhang Lie smiled. "Haven't you heard the saying that a wounded animal is the most dangerous? And a wounded lifeform is even worse than that. If you want to commit suicide, feel free to go ahead!"

Upon hearing his words, Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng both stilled, but they could barely resist the temptation of superior gene fragments and the possibility of a superior-grade soulshard. Sun Mengmeng couldn't help asking, "But didn't you say that the poison on your blade was particularly domineering?"

"Poison still takes time to activate, especially against superior-grade lifeforms, after all. Furthermore, you do realize that both of you will die if the dreadtoad launches an aural wave straight at you, don't you? Caution should be your top priority."

Zhang Lie explained himself again patiently, well understanding the reason for their impatience. Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng, not daring to head toward the hole but too impatient to stand still, ended up pacing around him.

"Alright, alright, stop moving around! There's still a long while to go yet, so if we want to minimize the risk, you'll all have to be patient. Fang Yi, keep guard with the rest of these hunters and make sure no one's around to disturb us. Sun Mengmeng and I will be sufficient to handle the dreadtoad!"

Fang Yi immediately turned toward him, his eyes probing.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"What, you don't trust me?"

"No, no! Even without us, I'm sure you'd be able to take down this dreadtoad. We'll set up a patrol immediately!" Fang Yi reacted near-instantaneously.

Zhang Lie smiled. "Don't worry, I don't have any intention of cutting you out. I'm claiming its soulshard for myself, of course, but I certainly will share a portion of the meat with everyone.

Fang Yi, along with his team, sighed in relief.

After all, faced with Zhang Lie's dominating power, they wouldn't be able to refute anything he said or did. Even if he refused to share any of the spoils with them, what could they do? They would even have to thank him for not killing them.