Chapter Fifty-Three: Combo

The terrain near the pond was low-lying, so Shen Lie and the other two found a slightly higher spot and looked down through binoculars. Beside them, Duan Yu began to explain in a low voice.

"Over there, that's the gourd vine—see it? It's covered in gourds, and there are a few big ones there too, those must have even more capacity!"

"Over there, look at those big bushes—that's where the wasps are hiding. Those ripples in the water are the fish making them. Those mutant fish can spit water arrows, and they're incredibly fast, so don't get anywhere near the pond."

"And that giant toad—huh, where did the giant toad go?"

As Duan Yu was talking, he suddenly let out a soft exclamation, and then the three of them felt a suffocating wave of heat howling down from above their heads.

All three were veteran Awakened who had been through countless battles. They reacted in an instant, without hesitation throwing themselves to the sides in a roll!

"Whoosh!"

A massive fireball over a meter in diameter came crashing down from the sky, slamming right into the spot where the three of them had just been hiding. It blasted a huge crater into the ground, and the surrounding plants were scorched to black ash.

The three of them scrambled to their feet, hearts still pounding, and immediately went on alert as they scanned for whatever had attacked them. Then they saw it—a colossal creature crouching on the grass about a hundred meters away, its two bulging giant eyes staring at them with a look of contempt.

Although Duan Yu had described it beforehand, Shen Lie still couldn't help but twitch violently at the corner of his mouth when he saw the giant toad. This wasn't a toad at all—this was a tiger wearing a toad's skin!

"Is this the toad you were talking about?" Shen Lie swallowed hard as he stared at the scaly monster in the distance.

"That's right, that's it. Once we take care of this guy, the wasps and little fish won't be able to stop us!" Duan Yu glanced at the monster in the distance, his expression serious but with a hint of excitement.

"Take care of it?" Shen Lie rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, You sure make it sound easy—why don't you go take care of it yourself? This thing clearly wasn't someone to mess with. He and Du Lili would probably have a hard time handling it.

"What do you think?" Although he was somewhat intimidated, Shen Lie still asked for Du Lili's opinion. He still couldn't gauge how powerful Du Lili truly was—maybe she had some way to counter this monster.

"I'm afraid not. This monster's flame is extremely high-level. I'm also a fire ability user, so I doubt I can suppress it." Du Lili pointed at the crater the fireball had just made.

Shen Lie and Duan Yu both followed her gaze and saw that two large slabs of blue stone beside the crater had been split open by the heat, their halves lying scattered on the ground, some blue and some white.

This is practically Samadhi Fire, Shen Lie thought to himself, and his heart began to waver again. But retreat wasn't an option anymore—the giant toad had already locked onto them, its massive body hopping toward them in great leaps, each jump leaving four shallow craters in the ground.

The giant toad looked bloated, but it was actually extremely agile. In just a few bounds it was right in front of them, and with no other choice, the three of them braced for battle.

"Fire Dragon Technique!" Du Lili struck first. A flaming dragon over six meters long materialized in the air, whipping its head and tail as it shot toward the toad monster's head like a beam of light.

The Fire Dragon Technique was blindingly fast, giving the giant toad no chance to dodge. It slammed hard into the creature's skull, and the searing heat combined with the force of the impact sent the toad screeching in pain as it tumbled across the ground several times before coming to a stop.

"King Du, magnificent!" Both Shen Lie and Duan Yu were stunned by Du Lili's strike. Duan Yu, convinced the toad was dead, let out a yell and charged forward.

Like Wang Qingshan back then, Duan Yu was a speed-type Awakened. He carried a long blade forged from refined steel, and a handgun was holstered at his waist.

In a flash, Duan Yu's figure appeared beside the toad monster. He raised his long blade high, intending to land a finishing blow on the thing.

Suddenly, Shen Lie noticed that the toad monster's throat seemed to twitch slightly. His face went pale in an instant, and he shouted urgently, "Watch out—Duan Yu, run!"

Credit where credit was due, Duan Yu was obedient. The moment Shen Lie's shout rang out, he threw down his steel blade, pushed his speed ability to the absolute limit, and shot away to the side like a line streaking across the ground.

Just as Duan Yu's body began to move, the toad monster lying on the ground suddenly snapped its two giant eyes wide open, gaped its enormous mouth, and blasted out a wave of fire!

The fire wave was an area attack, and it came completely without warning. Even with Shen Lie's warning, Duan Yu still caught the edge of it—a stray ember flew onto his back and he let out a miserable howl, dropping to the ground and rolling frantically until he reached the feet of Shen Lie and Du Lili.

Du Lili used the Fire Dragon Technique again to interrupt the toad monster's assault, while Shen Lie pulled out the healing ointment Professor Liu had developed and applied it to Duan Yu's burn, keeping his cold eyes fixed on the toad monster's movements.

"Damn it, this monster actually evolved intelligence? It knows how to play dead?" Professor Liu's ointment worked wonders—Duan Yu's pain disappeared as soon as it was applied, and he stood up, still shaken as he stared at the toad monster.

Shen Lie also felt the difficulty. No matter how powerful a monster was, it wasn't truly terrifying—but once it gained intelligence, it couldn't be dealt with by conventional reasoning. Humanity's strength lay in its wisdom, far surpassing that of animals. But the toad monster's behavior now made his heart tremble slightly. Could humanity truly continue to stand above all the other lives in this world?

"I hope this phenomenon is just a one-off." Du Lili clearly understood the implications of this change as well, and her tone was equally grave.

But this wasn't the time for such thoughts. Dealing with the current crisis came first. Shen Lie gave the short hammer in his hand a spin, then glanced at Du Lili.

"Together!"

Shen Lie let out a soft shout, swinging the short hammer overhead as World-Destroying Hammer skill activated!

As Shen Lie triggered his skill, Du Lili launched her Fire Dragon Technique again. Duan Yu, lacking any ranged attack ability, didn't use his power, but he drew his handgun and started firing off shots in a rapid stream—it couldn't hurt the toad monster, but it served to distract its attention.

The moment the three of them worked in tandem, the effect was completely different. The toad monster was relatively slow, and it couldn't avoid either Shen Lie's World-Destroying Hammer or Du Lili's Fire Dragon Technique. It was first struck square on the head by the World-Destroying Hammer, which left it stunned stiff, and then got hit hard by the Fire Dragon Technique. This time it was genuinely battered. With a mournful cry, it turned and fled.

Shen Lie realized that the lightning energy within the World-Destroying Hammer seemed to deal enormous damage to the toad monster. Even his weak lightning ability could leave it paralyzed and with greatly reduced defenses. A weight lifted from his heart even as a fierce, bloodthirsty spirit surged up within him.

Strike while the iron is hot! His entire body suddenly turned golden, and faint silhouettes of two golden bull horns seemed to appear above his head.

"You think you can run, beast? Moo!" Shen Lie pushed off the ground with both feet and charged out with a mighty roar.

"Barbarian Charge!"

It was the first time Shen Lie had used this new skill in actual combat. His body was filled with a savage, explosive energy, as if he himself had become a living cannonball that could only be satisfied by slamming into the target and blowing it apart.

Du Lili and Duan Yu were both dumbfounded as well. In their understanding, Shen Lie had always been steady, shrewd, and low-key—how had he suddenly turned into such a savage berserker?

Shen Lie's golden body collided with the toad monster in an instant. The impact was no less than Mars hitting Earth. A stomach-churning grinding sound rang through the air, and then the toad monster went flying with a whoosh, tracing a smooth arc through the sky before slamming perfectly into the ground not far away!

Having landed a decisive blow, Shen Lie pressed his advantage without mercy. He swung his short hammer, activating the World-Destroying Hammer skill again. Before the toad monster could even get up, it was knocked flat once more by the massive golden hammer phantom. Then Shen Lie hit it with another Barbarian Charge, sending the creature flying again.

Shen Lie felt like he'd found the rhythm of a King of Fighters combo chain—the more he fought, the more exhilarating it became, the more he hit, the more pumped he got. But as he kept attacking, he realized the giant toad had already gone limp and motionless. Finally, a fiery red pearl was spat from its mouth, and the creature gradually lost all signs of life.