Chapter 79: Hunting Toads (2)

With so many subdivision groups in the goblin hunting faction, Rino had to employ more pixies from the farm to act as his eyes. He wanted to know everything going on in this hunting game.

The ladies were doing very well in the makeshift outdoor kitchen. Rino did not know if undead could taste or eat, but he never tried. He might try some of the food they made later. Even if he had a dull sense of smell, they still looked extremely appetising.

Mutt was still fighting with the king toad. His tenacity was proving to be his strong point, and the king toad was starting to show signs of stress, pulling big moves while the sabre tooth wolf continued to dodge swiftly. The pixie reporting the battle sounded bored at how long this fight was dragging out.

On the other hand, Rino listened to the enthusiastic live commentary from the pixie following the human hunter group, noting how many tricks they were employing to lure that toad off a ravine. Rino did not know there was a forest ravine there, but he trusted them to bring the toad back somehow. It wasn't just about killing prey. It was also about getting the corpse back for the hunting game.

Rino was keener to listen and borrow the eyes of the pixies who shadowed the goblin army.

The fairies made very good scouts, informing the goblin chief about the whereabouts of king toads they spotted. The king commanded that they remain near those 'marked' toads and coordinated a series of attacks using goblin warriors and earth fairies as distractions while the fire fairies slowly dried the toad out with the help of water fairies removing moisture in the area.

The idea was extremely brutal but effective. Rino couldn't believe he did not think about drying a toad out to death. However, it made more sense that they were playing a drawn-out battle with their size disadvantage. What they lacked in power, they made up with sheer numbers.

That wasn't to imply that the goblin king was not wise. In fact, Rino liked how he made full use of everyone's strengths to create this advantage against his stronger opponents. In the scriptures, the God of War mentioned that understanding the five elements and situations will result in victory every single time. There was no miracle in wars, only understanding.

That would explain why the toad had its tongue hanging out when they carried the first corpse to Rino. It would also explain how they could take it down so quickly, even if it wasn't anywhere near Rino's record. This goblin chief was a talent that Rino wanted to groom. He had the knowledge that he might not have before when fighting against the sabre tooth wolf that outmatched them completely.

The goblins did not really have weapons when they fought. Most of them simply collected stones using their clothes and hurled them at the enraged toad to catch its attention. Rino decided that his good warrior needed some weapons and perhaps armour. Thankfully, the enchantment on their clothes was better than any chain, metal or leather protection. Rino only needed to make weapons.

The fairies were the silent MVPs of the decisive battle between the goblins and the king toad. They stayed way above the skies and hid behind trees at intervals along the 'path' that the goblin chief wanted. The finishing blow would be by the goblin shaman if the king toad made it past the fairies. Rino did not know why the shaman wasn't moving. In fact, the goblin magician just stood beside the goblin chief, doing nothing.

Curious, Rino observed the shaman a little more. Was the shaman a final trump card to win the battle if all the other measures in place failed?

Thankfully, Rino was lucky. This king toad that the goblin army lured was tenacious and made it past all the fairies. It was hellbent on eating some goblin skeletons, and one poor sap was snatched by that long purple tongue.

The poor goblin screamed in panic as its comrades threw rocks at the king toad, trying to save it. Unfortunately, the king toad was not easily distracted. Of all the toads that Rino saw getting hunted, this had to be the most aggressive king toad tonight.

The king toad did not stop at one goblin skeleton. It turned its large head towards the other goblins spread out among the trees and refused to give chase. This king toad was not as dumb as the rest of the king toads that trotted on the same path down the forest where the fairies attacked it.

The goblins quickly reported the unusual situation to the king, who ordered a retreat. One by one, the goblins slunk away, but when the last goblin was about to leave the area, the king toad struck.

Rino held his breath as he watched that one brave goblin warrior ran for his life down the path where fairies attacked the king toad. It was so nimble, and Rino wondered if this was deliberate. The last goblin to leave was a bait to lure it into the path of doom, but most of the fairies missed their mark from the erratic movements of this toad. 

The lich had to admit, this young goblin was very nimble and quick-witted as it dodged branches and hopped over roots. The young thing zig-zag through trees that the king toad could not follow, and the clumsy oaf crashed into them. The pace slowed significantly enough for the fairies to rain spells on it from above, and Rino realised that this brave young goblin purposely avoided the trees that his fairy comrades were hiding in.

Was this the goblin's ace warrior? Rino couldn't tell. However, he was rooting for this little goblin.

The king toad was severely dehydrated, but he would not relent in his pursuit. After suffering so much humiliation from his prey, the king toad wanted this annoying skeleton dead. He was so focused that he failed to realise where he was going.

The goblin chief and shaman stood their ground and were ready to intercept this huge toad. The goblin warrior sprinted the last few stretches and jumped onto the teleportation pad with the angry giant right at his heel.

The goblin chief shouted, and on his mark, the shaman activated a huge spell that they prepared while the army was fighting. The huge toad was not expecting to fall into a pit in the middle of nowhere and wanted to climb out of it when it saw something raining from the heavens.

Rino was impressed that the shaman was capable of conjuring an intermediate level spell like earth spikes. Naturally, the king toad stood no chance after getting impaled by so many sharp earth spikes.

The corpse was gruesome as the shaman undid the spell and raised the ground back to normal levels. Rino grimaced at the skewered corpse. Could they still turn this into frog leather? The skin was so riddled with puncture wounds. It might be better to dismantle this particular frog immediately when it arrived. Rino did not want the poison spreading everywhere.