Chapter 95: The Frog King
The stone slammed straight onto the frog's head, emitting a heavy "thud." Blood splattered, the frog flipped backward then collapsed right into the mud, motionless.
The three girls simultaneously turned, eyes full of surprise at Takeshi's devastating throw.
As for Takeshi, he stood with hands on hips, head held high, looking delightedly at his feat, as if it were a secret ultimate technique.
Observing the small battlefield once, Elyssia marveled:
"These frogs are truly flexible."
Airi nodded, her voice suggestive:
"Hmm, but we have three people who know how to shoot."
Takeshi knew Airi was talking about him; he bristled like a cat and pointed at Airi.
"Hey now, I know you're talking about me."
Airi smiled and didn't bother with Takeshi, making him extremely angry as if catching fire.
Ayaka: "Then let's continue."
Elyssia: "Right, take advantage of the time to return and finish the trial. If we stay in here long, we might get used to this pleasant rhythm and lose focus when going outside."
Airi: "True."
Airi led and began to walk.
There were sections they had to jump very far to reach a standing spot, other sections were very slushy, every step requiring care.
…
The group went deeper, where the swamp was vast like a giant lake. The water surface was covered in a thick layer of duckweed, beneath was pitch-black water, bottomless.
Trees thinned out, revealing a vast open space, like a natural arena. The air was freezing, the sound of frogs simultaneously ceased like sea waves before a storm.
Takeshi looked around.
"We've been walking a long time, still nothing?"
Airi nodded, she jumped over a small patch of land.
"Think about it, we've walked this long without seeing anything..."
Takeshi cut in:
"My legs are so tired."
Airi continued:
"When we killed those frogs, possibly they ran. And they are afraid to come out."
"And now we've come very far, not because fear spread this far. But because this might be the Frog King's territory, for instance, which is why there are none here."
Elyssia nodded.
* "She truly is smart."
"Then going deeper we will surely encounter it."
Airi: "From now on everyone must walk carefully."
Ayaka: "So how to coordinate now?"
Airi shook her head.
"I don't know, we haven't met the Frog King, how can we discuss tactics? When we meet the Frog King we'll talk and coordinate as we go."
Ayaka nodded slightly.
"That works too."
…
They walked further, going another distance. The group stood on a rather large patch of land observing the surroundings.
The water surface now surged, air bubbles rising continuously.
The group was alert, not rushing to step further but continuing to observe.
The mud surface suddenly shook more violently, periodically glub glub glub… Bubbles flickered then burst, followed by a giant black silhouette gradually emerging from the swamp.
Its head surfaced first, wide and flat, eyes glowing red like embers standing out amidst the fog. Its thick skin was covered in moss and mud, looking no different from a living rock. Its stature was over 2 tharns tall; just half of its body emerging was enough to make the group tremble slightly.
"GRUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
A raspy roar echoed, shocking the water surface. The remaining frogs immediately jumped toward the mud as if seeking refuge. The entire swamp seemed locked in that roar, pressing the air down heavily, making it hard to breathe.
Ayaka swallowed, whispering:
"…The Frog King."
Takeshi smirked excitedly.
"Finally decided to crawl up, my legs are tired from walking."
The three girls immediately entered combat state, hands nocking arrows to bows.
Takeshi, with several stones he had picked up along the way, gripped them tight.
Many frogs were surrounding the group (60 frogs).
Ayaka released the arrow already nocked. She reached behind and wedged four arrows into the gaps of her fingers, then placed them on the bow. Pulling the bow tight as her shoulders broadened, a "creak" rang out as the bow was pulled by Ayaka with strong force.
She shouted urgently:
"Shoot many arrows!"
Ayaka released her hand, four arrows tore through the wind. They pierced through four unfortunate frogs on the arrows' flight path.
The shot was like a fuse for the battle; the frog pack rushed in with overwhelming numbers, even the air was compressed tight.
The three girls stood back-to-back, continuously firing a barrage of arrows without pause.
Any frog leading too high was shot down. But the number was very large, they were closing in on the group.
At the same time, Takeshi just thought of a new trick after finding a jagged protruding stone.
He unfastened one side of the bowstring, making the bow straighten to its original state. He tied the stone with one end of the string, the other end still tied to the tip of the bow shaft.
Takeshi picked up the bow shaft and gathered momentum; the stone tied at the other end of the bow was swung by him in a circle above his head. He used more strength to spin faster, causing the stone block to blur at high speed.
As frogs approached close or attacked with tongues, Takeshi excitedly rushed forward. Hand holding the bow shaft, above his head the stone block and string were spinning rapidly.
"Aaaaaaa!"
He rushed straight in, spinning with all his might, then slammed the stone down like thunder.
CRASH!
The strike concentrated all centrifugal force along with his swinging power. Slamming straight onto a frog's head from above, causing the frog's head to splatter blood, then its entire body collapsed onto the mud.
Takeshi continued running around and attacking the frogs rushing toward the three girls. Frogs attacking him during openings were all shot down by the girls in support.
Airi gritted her teeth, continuously drawing and firing without a gap.
"Speed up, everyone!"
Around them now were many frog corpses with numerous arrows stuck in them.
Suddenly, the attacking frogs
immediately retreated.
The Frog King from afar exhaled a thin green smoke from both sides of its mouth; it surrounded the surrounding swamp area. The smoke was quite thin, still allowing clear sight while inside.
The group immediately covered their noses, eyes full of surprise looking at the Frog King's figure.
Frogs that hadn't escaped immediately fell onto the mud, eyes still open but full of fear, their bodies gradually swallowed by the mud.
Suddenly Takeshi felt his body go numb, hard to move. He slowly raised his hand with jerky, difficult movements. His eyes looked at his palm in confusion.
* "I've inhaled this smoke."
His voice was interrupted, trying to speak:
"Everyone, my body is so numb."
The three girls were also aghast, their entire bodies stiff.
Airi: "Not good."
Whoosh!!
Unexpectedly, a large black silhouette had approached the group at some point. The tongue flew over, sweeping across the mist, wanting to strike them down in one blow.
But they weren't that weak, even though their bodies were numb. Airi and Elyssia immediately ducked. Ayaka and Takeshi jumped. They successfully evaded, but they knew it wouldn't be easy.
Airi tried to draw her bow with difficulty, but it wasn't impossible, just hard.
Whoosh!!!
Airi fired an arrow toward the very near Frog King; unexpectedly that arrow struck the Frog King's skin and bounced back then fell beneath the mud. That black skin was like a thick armor protecting the Frog King.
The group was bewildered, all witnessing that scene.
Ayaka gripped her bow; she took three arrows and pulled hard.
Elyssia immediately shouted:
"They're all like that; shoot its eyes!"
Airi reached out and stopped Ayaka, her voice dropping:
"Now we will scatter and create a chance for Ayaka to shoot. Alright?"
Takeshi had grown somewhat used to the discomfort of the mist. He picked up an arrow from the ground, using his significantly superior power generation ability.
"Fine."
Takeshi spread his legs wide, twisting his hips. Right hand gripping the arrow tightly. He immediately threw the arrow at high speed toward the distant Frog King.
The image of Airi appeared in his mind.
"If there were energy, I would be weaker than a girl. But if it's purely muscle, it's different."
After throwing the arrow, he immediately ran and jumped to other land patches.
"Feels like the body isn't flexible at all."
Airi and Elyssia also scattered.
Ayaka backed away and waited for a chance.
The Frog King's tongue now attacked Takeshi as he was jumping across the small land patches around it and making noise to attract attention.
"Hey you stupid frog, I'm over here!"
Left hand still holding the stone mace, the weapon he had just crafted earlier; right hand holding two large stones.
Takeshi popped a stone into his mouth, not caring that it was dirty. He threw a stone toward the Frog King's tongue flying in the air.
The throw hit, making the tongue wobble; it seemed quite painful.
The Frog King roared loudly, its long tongue lashing out powerfully toward Takeshi. He had just jumped to a small patch of soil when the tongue swept across, earth and stones scattering. Takeshi almost fell into the mud but braked in time.
From behind, two arrows from Airi and Elyssia flew from two directions. They were fired straight at the wide head and shoulders of the giant frog, but then bounced off because they could not pierce through.
But the Frog King had noticed and turned its massive body around.
Whoosh!!!
Ayaka's arrow from afar flew over, heading straight for the Frog King's eye. But it was quick enough to swat her arrow away, its face full of ferocity knowing someone wanted to try shooting its eye.
Takeshi tossed the stone in his hand away. He jumped up with the stick spinning the stone and string very fast.
* "Must create another chance; it seems it's more alert now."
Slamming a blow down upon the large frog's lower back.
The Frog King observing the rear immediately shrieked; it seemed that blow was also quite painful.
The Frog King turned, firing the tongue from its mouth. Takeshi quickly jumped to a distant small patch of soil and avoided it.
But it did not easily let Takeshi go. Its tongue, from nowhere, struck from behind Takeshi and wrapped around him.
Takeshi was hoisted into the air; he was also panicking knowing he was in danger and screamed as the giant frog tossed him:
"AAAAAA!"
Elyssia fired an arrow from afar and pierced straight through the Frog King's tongue, making it roar in pain.
Airi fired an arrow that flew toward where Takeshi was falling. The arrow pierced through the thick waistband on his hip and pulled him along to a small patch of land.
"Aaaaa!"
The Frog King having its tongue hit, turned back in rage and looked at Elyssia full of anger; she was hiding behind a tree.
Whoosh!!!
Ayaka's arrow once again pierced through the green mist and tore through the air, flying straight toward the Frog King's right eye.
THWACK!!!