The Contractor Fang Senyan did not know this individual, and naturally, that person's life or death seemed to have no bearing on him or his companions. However, if all the compliant members died while the insubordinate ones survived, it would effectively be a slap in the face to the entire Ace team, whether dead or living.

In that instant, Mogansha roared and hurled his silver javelin, which shot forward like a leaping bolt of lightning, piercing through the Viper Wolves directly in front of Fang Senyan and Jiao Shi. With a dazzling leap, the three Viper Wolves, already low on health, instantly shattered into a mess of mangled flesh.

Simultaneously, Jiao Shi activated his Courage ability, lunging forward at incredible speed. He sank his hips and braced, positioning himself in front of the sniper-type Contractor, raising his shield to absorb the full force of the Bison’s desperate charge.

The sound of rushing wind whistled past...

The sensation of that collision was akin to the entire Alps collapsing simultaneously.

The burly, imposing Jiao Shi was sent flying like a mere pebble the moment the impact struck. Under the sheer force of the blow, the already dull and lifeless Faith Armor covering his body completely fractured, shards of silver plating scattering outward before vanishing instantly. Mercifully, the breaking process had regenerated 100 points of his health.

"The net damage sustained is... 373 points," Fang Senyan calculated the strike’s toll with ease.

It was at this precise moment that he tossed a bottle.

A bottle containing a vial of Curse Agent.

The Bison, having just struck someone, inevitably stuttered to a halt. Fang Senyan seized on that fleeting pause, hurling the bottle toward the creature’s head. By this time, the Bison had already exited its charge state, during which it was immune to crowd control.

An invisible ripple passed through the air. The colossal Bison felt a moment of vertigo, involuntarily dropping to the ground, shaking its head with a low groan. Its momentum halted, but more than that: a thick cloud of pale green mist rapidly billowed out, enveloping it, and began to gnaw at its limbs like pervasive, invisible ants.

"Poison Cloud reduces movement and attack speed of enemies within by 20%."

It had to be admitted that the Bison, a creature of such massive bulk and strength, possessed terrifying charging power. Its sheer weight only amplified the lethality of its brutal attacks. However, it was crucial to note that this terrifying mass also required significantly more time for the Bison to accelerate back up to a full sprint.

And a persistent effect like the Poison Cloud would inevitably inhibit its speed. If it normally took five seconds to regain maximum velocity after fully charging and hitting Jiao Shi, the one second of stunning inflicted by Fang Senyan, combined with the sustained 20% movement reduction, meant the Bison would now require a full fifteen seconds to reach top speed again.

Jiao Shi, violently flung aside, crashed hard onto the ground, sliding another five or six meters, kicking up huge clods of turf and dirt. Just as everyone’s hearts tightened with worry, Jiao Shi executed a rapid roll and returned to a half-kneeling stance, rising up. Blood seeped from his hairline, instantly coating his face, presenting a gruesome spectacle.

Jiao Shi merely wiped the blood from his eyes with the back of his hand. He uttered not a single word, not even a muffled sound, but instead gripped his sword hilt tightly and strode deliberately toward the Bison.

He possessed an air reminiscent of a Spartan marching toward Thermopylae under the setting sun.

As he neared the monstrous beast, Jiao Shi casually cast another Faith Armor buff onto himself. With ample Essence Points available to expend, Jiao Shi’s survivability undoubtedly climbed another tier, as the Faith Armor ability was undeniably monstrous.

Under normal circumstances, with only about a hundred Essence Points, Jiao Shi could only treat this ability as a trump card or a final resort. But supported by three to four hundred Essence Points now, Jiao Shi could utilize one whenever danger loomed—the difference between these two scenarios was immeasurable.

Approaching within twenty meters of the Bison, Jiao Shi simultaneously unleashed a soul-tearing, powerful, and savage shockwave that spread in all directions. Yet, despite having lost some health and experiencing a slight slowdown, the Bison quickly returned to its previous speed.

This was the terrifying, unyielding will of a Legendary Creature.

The Bison lowered its head and charged once more, but the distance it had to accelerate was insufficient, so its speed did not reach its peak. Jiao Shi immediately launched himself in a diving leap, rolled on the ground, and sprang back up, maintaining his guard. However, the massive Bison had committed fully to this charge and found it exceedingly difficult to halt its momentum immediately; it only managed to turn around after thundering past for dozens of meters.

Taking advantage of this opening, Fang Senyan tossed the Endless Vodka to Jiao Shi, who caught it and downed two huge gulps. Fang Senyan made a gesture toward Jiao Shi, whose health was now below half, directing him to move farther out and intercept the five or six fleeing Viper Wolves. Though confused, Jiao Shi abandoned the Bison as his target and complied.

Fang Senyan himself then charged toward a heavily wounded, retreating Slither, pulling out his basic pump-action shotgun and mowing it down with rapid blasts. He appeared to have completely disregarded the Bison.

"If you want it... then let's have it... together," a vicious glint flashed in Fang Senyan’s eyes.

The lumbering Bison looked left and right, letting out a confused, booming bellow. Then, it resolutely fixed its ferocious, gleaming eyes and began searching for a new target. Now disregarding everything else, it plunged into a headlong, reckless rampage, plunging the arena back into chaos. Even though the Bison lacked space to build up speed, any unfortunate soul caught by its horns was often left losing at least half their remaining health.

At this point, the others began loudly cursing the location of the Tank and the frontline fighters. Fang Senyan and Jiao Shi pretended they were deaf, not bothering to respond.

In the short span of three minutes, the entire Western Zone battlefield had descended into pandemonium. When the Bison suddenly let out a long cry and stomped heavily onto the ground, at least three more Contractors had indirectly perished due to its destructive interference. Fortunately, Mogansha and the sniper-type Contractor, protected by Jiao Shi, were able to coordinate their attacks without distraction. By this point, although the Contractors were weary and wounded, the remaining beasts were also riddled with injuries.

As time wore on, the Viper Wolves and Slithers were completely slaughtered, leaving only the Bison rampaging wildly across the field, arrogant and disdainful, occasionally issuing muffled roars. Without the smaller beasts weaving around it, the Bison’s cumbersome nature became its greatest fatal flaw.

Jiao Shi’s health had now recovered to ninety percent, thanks to bandages and consumables. He leaped forward, taking up the role of primary aggro-holder against the behemoth. Fang Senyan resumed his support role, and the situation immediately regained an organized structure. Perhaps due to the ease of the earlier exchanges, the remaining Contractors only then realized how precious and hard-won that previous order had been, realizing the key had always been the Tank who was so obviously being ignored: Fang Senyan.

At this point, some of the Contractors began listening to Jiao Shi. Everyone focused their efforts on attacking the Bison’s left foreleg without distraction. It was noteworthy that as the Bison’s health approached the danger threshold, Fang Senyan and Jiao Shi began to coordinate their ruthlessness. Whenever other melee Contractors attempted to move in, they would frequently, intentionally or accidentally, fail to intercept or block the Bison, preferring to use others as shields.

A dexterity-focused Contractor from the 'Son of Kadang' team, wielding dual blades, tried to rush in for an easy strike. Fang Senyan and Jiao Shi, having roughly mapped out the Bison’s attack patterns, watched for their chance. As the Bison moved, they simultaneously executed a wide sidestep retreat. The dexterity specialist’s dual blades successfully plunged into the Bison’s flesh, dealing a terrifyingly fast amount of damage. But what he hadn't anticipated was that Fang Senyan and Jiao Shi not only refused to move in and block but shamelessly stepped aside to watch.

The Bison immediately turned its wrath toward the closest target—the dual-blade wielder. It roared and swung its head in a violent charge. The unfortunate Contractor frantically crossed his blades for a timely block, but his health, barely topping two hundred points, plummeted instantly from the impact. He desperately activated a life-saving ability and swallowed a physical consumable, barely managing to stabilize his health bar.

But then the Bison reared back its colossal hoof and brought it crashing down.

With a thunderous impact, the shockwave erupted. War Stomp severely wounded the Contractor in an instant. The Bison charged again and delivered a final shove, causing the poor soul to scream, fly seven or eight meters, and drop to zero health, dead. At this point, the Bison seemed to shift its focus of hatred toward Mogansha in the distance, but Fang Senyan and Jiao Shi simultaneously appeared back within its line of sight, blocking its path.

Facing this colossal beast, Fang Senyan felt a small measure of redemption for the utter devastation inflicted upon him by the Brutes in the previous world. While the Bison’s attacks were indeed formidable—the theoretical damage output was at least 150-250 points—after calculating various factors, Fang Senyan's Stamina had reached a terrifying 45 points. His Defense provided an absorption ratio of 49%, and the 25 points of damage reduced by his passive ability accounted for nearly a quarter of all incoming damage—a very respectable defensive profile indeed.