CHAPTER 259: 259: ROUND TWO- TOAD VS ANT

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Meanwhile... Azhara kicked open a hidden chamber wall. "We found the relic crate!"

Naaro entered with wide eyes. Inside were dozens of egg bundles sealed in silk moss and a glowing obsidian chest humming with energy.

Sha raised her brow. "Is this thing gonna explode if we touch it? The Queen didn’t say anything."

Azhara poked it. "Nope. Still alive."

Sha smacked her hand. "Don’t poke ancient relics like fruit in a market!"

A moment later Vel’s voice came over their antenna. "All the injured and twins are here! Path back to the summit hatch cleared. But we’ve only got ten minutes until the other frogkin army flanks the tunnels. Let’s Hurry!"

Azhara called to Kai through the soul-link. "We got the eggs. You need to end this now."

Kai dodged another Croak Slam, but Toad Daddy’s second fist clipped his shoulder, sending him crashing into a pillar. Rubble rained down. Kai coughed blood and rolled out of the debris.

[HP -120. Aura Shell: 17% integrity.]

He wiped his mouth. "Alright. Let’s do it your way."

The air grew still. Then Kai rose, red aura arcing across his back. "Reflex Mode active."

His body pulsed. His silhouette shimmered. He zipped forward, punching a hole through Toad Daddy’s acidic aura.

Kroak’thul tried to interfere. But Kai grabbed him mid-lunge, spun, and suplexed him headfirst into a stalagmite.

[EXP +500. Target Defeated: Frogkin – Kroak’thul the Prince Avenger]

Kai’s eyes burned gold. He locked eyes with Toad Daddy. "One down."

Toad Daddy’s mouth quivered. "I am a general of slime! I was birthed in royal goo! You cannot—"

Kai charged again. His fist lit with molten aura. Toad Daddy raised both arms to attack or defend it’s unknown.

Kai vanished and reappeared behind him mid swing.

He shouted: "Fist of the Apex Predator!"

BOOM.

The toad flew across the chamber, crashing into the chamber’s far wall.

Toad Daddy roared like a ruptured thundercloud and slammed his fists into the tunnel floor.

Kai did not flinch.

His red exoskeleton pulsed with molten veins. His antennae twitched, locking onto every vibration. His claws flexed, glowing faintly with a compressed aura. Behind him, the tunnel glowed crimson from his Apex transformation.

[System Update: Current EXP: 620 / 1000. Status: Apex Mode Active. Remaining Aura Reserve: 54%]

He was Level 41, and still short of the next threshold. But numbers were numbers. The real threat stood in front of him like a swollen nightmare made of mucus and muscle. After that punch this toad still had so much strength left.

Toad Daddy bared his fangs. "You dare challenge the High General of the Croaking Marsh?! I am Blor’Ghul the Tonguebringer also known as Toad Daddy! You can’t defeat me."

Kai blinked slowly. "Your name sounds like a rejected shampoo brand."

Toad Daddy’s eyes bulged. "You dare mock my sacred name?! What is shampoo?"

"If I had a copper for every you dare line I’ve heard today, I could buy a mountain and build a spa for traumatized ants."

Suddenly, a frog lunged in from the right, his blade gleaming with swamp-venom.

Kai ducked low, then launched upward with a twisting kick, sending the frog into a nearby stalactite. The rock cracked. A few frogs fainted just from the sound.

Toad Daddy moved. This time, he was terrifyingly fast. His tongue lashed out with a wet snap, aiming to bind Kai’s leg. Kai leapt backward, narrowly dodging. The tongue struck a boulder, shattering it.

WHAM!

Kai rebounded off the wall and came down with an elbow smash toward Toad Daddy’s head.

CLANG!

The hit landed, but Toad Daddy barely flinched. His thick skin was like rubberized steel.

"My hide is blessed by the King of Filth!"

Kai made a face. "That explains the smell."

Toad Daddy swung both arms in a wide arc. Kai crossed his forearms, bracing for impact.

BOOOOM!

The blow sent him skidding back, claws digging into stone. Cracks split under his heels. Poison mist coiled toward him. Kai inhaled, then roared, unleashing a wave of aura from his chest.

[Aura Burst Activated. Remaining Reserve: 41%]

The mist parted, momentarily clearing the field. Kai dashed forward again, his spear is out. The frog who attacked him moments ago rejoined the fray with two smaller frogs flanking him. Four-star rankers.

Kai twisted, spun, and sliced. One frog lost his arm. The other, his courage.

[Enemy Defeated: +40 EXP]

Kai kept moving.

Behind him in the egg chamber, the girls were nearly done. Vel carried two unconscious sisters over her back. Azhara led a line of egg carriers down the narrow corridor. Naaro threw bombs made of fermented ant silk.

Sha yelled, "We’ve got fifteen more eggs and some food crates. Do we need more food?"

"Just grab what you can!" Azhara shouted. "We can hunt for food. Don’t waste time."

The frog came again, spinning his halberd in a whirling swamp dance.

"I will fillet you!"

Kai side-stepped and stabbed through the crook of his armpit.

SPLORT!

"And I will ignore your screaming," Kai replied.

[Enemy Injured, it is a Critical hit.]

Toad Daddy jumped again. The ceiling cracked bigger under his weight. Acid fell like rain.

Kai dodged three tongue strikes, landed a backflip kick, and spun into a diving shoulder slam.

Toad Daddy finally growled in pain. His arm sagged. Kai saw his chance.

He summoned his inner hunger.

[Skill: Apex Fang – Unleashed]

Kai’s jaws opened unnaturally wide, biting into Toad Daddy’s shoulder. The frog shrieked.

Kai flared his aura. "You will die today!"

[Skill Triggered: Essence Eater – Emergency Absorption Mode active.]

He absorbed the ambient aura from the toad Daddy. The tongue snapped. But it couldn’t do anything.

The chamber shook. His aura flared white-hot.

The frogs hesitated. Toad Daddy blinked. "What... are you?"

"I’m the exterminator."

The nearby frogs screamed.

From deeper behind, the girls’ voices echoed as they came back.

"We’re ready!" Azhara shouted.

"Eggs secured!" Vel added. "And no frog slime on them, thank the stars."

Vel, watching from the tunnel, shouted, "That looked wrong and also... oddly satisfying."

Sha shouted, "Less flirting, more running!"

Naaro giggled, Azhara kicked a frog who tried to stop Kai.