"The Awakened MT is certainly no pushover," Fang Senyan thought to himself after witnessing Hedykuri's performance. He clearly saw a glow emanating from Vasily’s switched body, indicating not only continuous health regeneration but also an increase in movement speed.

Since both parties were classified as allies at this moment, and Hedykuri’s perception utterly dominated Fang Senyan’s, he quickly discerned the specific attributes of this ability: Awakening Skill: Phase Shift. Usage: Instantly swaps the positions of the caster and the target. For the duration of the swap (0.5 seconds), both parties exist in an alternate plane, where attacks from the current plane cannot harm either individual. Post-Use Effect (on target, ally only): Recovers 15% of health and gains an additional 50% movement speed for ten seconds. After ten seconds, the bonus movement speed vanishes, and the target’s movement speed is reduced by 50% for twenty seconds. If used against an enemy creature: Both the target and the caster have their movement speed reduced by 50% for five seconds. Post-Use Effect (on caster): Caster’s movement speed is reduced by 33% for ten seconds. The first use incurs no cost but triggers a 120-second cooldown. If the caster attempts to use this ability again during the cooldown, it requires a cost of 10,000 Universal Points, 5 Potential Points, and 1 Merit Point, and the cooldown refreshes, extending it to 240 seconds. Note: Only Contractors who have mastered an Awakening Skill are capable of ascending to the next tier.

Hedykuri, after shifting to face the Slime Toad, promptly raised his shield to guard himself. The Slime Toad raked its claws down, producing a sound faintly reminiscent of metal clashing. Silver light scattered upon impact with the shield, and the creature dragged its claws downward.

Fang Senyan further observed that during its attack, the suction-cup-like appendages on the inner side of the Slime Toad’s claws began to spin rapidly. They secreted a viscous, pale blue fluid, giving the downward strike an extra repulsive force as the foul substance sprayed out.

Normally, a shield exceeding seventy centimeters in diameter is classified as a heavy shield, and one as tall as a person requires two hands and enters the category of a greatshield. The shield Hedykuri employed looked rather small, about the size of a washbasin—undeniably a light shield.

However, he appeared to possess some ability to enhance shields. The surface of the shield currently parrying the enemy was adorned with a cross shape formed by light, giving it a surprisingly holy aura.

Due to the insufficient coverage area of the shield, Hedykuri was still affected by the shockwave of the behemoth's downward strike. A trickle of blood stained his thick arm, and he staggered back a few steps. Naturally, the giant Slime Toad was also momentarily stiffened by the recoil force.

Seizing this opening, Ronnie ghosted forward with uncanny speed. As he neared the Slime Toad, his forward-leaning posture blurred until he vanished completely from sight. When he reappeared, he had impossibly traversed nearly ten meters, shifting from the Slime Toad’s left flank to its right.

As Ronnie rematerialized, the Slime Toad let out a series of agonizing groans. A deep gash had been strangely sliced across its thick leg, causing bright crimson blood to spurt forth.

At this moment, the Death Mark hovering above the Slime Toad’s head suddenly cackled. The skull shape latched onto the beast’s thick right leg, chewing with palpable viciousness, as if it were tangible flesh. One could distinctly hear the sound of the muscle fibers being severed by those jagged teeth…

But this was merely the prelude. Ronnie’s attack merely indicated the precise point of assault for the rest of the team. Before the behemoth could mount any effective response, William’s rifle cracked through the valley once more. Daldarion ejected an aggressive seed that burrowed into the mangled wound, Paul hurled a solidified metal spear, and Vasily’s Vulcan minigun began to spin up to maximum velocity again…

This terrifying concentration of firepower drilled into the Slime Toad’s right leg, instantly stripping away the developed musculature. There was no dramatic splash of gore; only the hard bone remained, though it too was heavily scored and marred. It was fortunate that this colossal beast likely relied on powerful jumps, as its leg bones were exceptionally thick, preventing immediate fracture.

As a highly intelligent creature, the Slime Toad instantly sensed immense peril after enduring such a sudden barrage. Ignoring its injuries, it immediately crouched slightly lower and lunged towards the nearby riverbank.

Though one heavy leg was crippled, the Slime Toad leaped downwards from its elevated position, covering five or six meters. It appeared that upon landing, it would only be about ten meters from the turbulent river. That area was beyond the protective stone wall that Bokan had conjured in the river earlier—just ten more meters, and it would reach the vast freedom of the water.

However, just as it descended, Bokan suddenly waved his staff. From the gravel and earth on the riverbank where the Slime Toad was landing, three wickedly sharp stalagmites erupted with unnatural speed! These stone spikes were over a meter in diameter and at least three meters long, razor-sharp! As the Slime Toad landed, it seemed to deliver itself right onto the waiting points!

Despite this, it shrieked wildly, its two muscular forelimbs furiously clawing, managing to shatter two of the stone spikes. But the third spike ruthlessly tore open a long gash across its slack belly, leaving it a bloody mess with internal organs threatening to spill out.

Interrupted by this, Ronnie stealthily moved closer to his target once more. Even Fang Senyan had to admit that while Ronnie’s mouth was foul and his self-regard excessive, his offensive capability was formidable when others held the front line.

Ronnie’s dagger scraped viciously against the Slime Toad’s bone. The blade appeared to possess a violent vibrating function; upon contact, it cut like a chainsaw, ejecting clouds of gray-white bone powder mixed with bright red marrow fluid!

The Slime Toad roared in pain and swiped back with a claw, seemingly too fast for Ronnie to evade. But Aziza was not standing idly by. Her eyes flashed, and the hand holding a diamond-shaped light shield suddenly struck the empty air before her.

One could clearly see a bizarre black void appear where Aziza’s right hand was aimed—resembling a miniature black hole—and it swallowed her right hand completely.

Immediately afterward, a similar strange black void opened above the Slime Toad’s right shoulder, just as Ronnie was about to be struck. Then, Aziza’s right hand, gripping the diamond shield, emerged from that black void and cleanly deflected the Slime Toad’s blow.

Fang Senyan watched in astonishment as deep blue light sparked off Aziza’s diamond shield upon impact. The light particles, however, remained clustered rather than dispersing, suggesting it was a deep blue shield reinforced to at least +7. Likely possessing absurd stats similar to the +7 Wester, its high reinforcement made it no less formidable than a Silver Plot Shield.

The Slime Toad’s right leg was finally severed completely. It lost all mobility, but for the creature, crawling the remaining ten-plus meters to the river using its two forelimbs and one remaining intact left leg still seemed a faint possibility. It stubbornly continued to crawl, enduring the pain to escape, showing no desperate urge to turn and fight a trapped beast.

The group then initiated free-fire, concentrating their attacks primarily on the monster’s head, a location likely to increase the chance of a critical hit. After crawling two or three meters under the onslaught, the creature found its path blocked by another stone wall, five or six meters high and nearly ten meters long—Bokan’s handiwork!

Its desperate options were now limited to flanking or destroying the wall. Either choice would inevitably expose it fully to the enemy’s sustained assault. Fang Senyan pressed his advantage, tossing a bottle of Curse Potion, stunning the beast for three seconds before engulfing it in toxic vapor…

Finally, thanks to Bokan’s malicious interference, the Slime Toad took a full twenty seconds to crawl to the river's edge. But just as it leaped hopefully toward the water, Hedykuri used Phase Shift again, swapping it back to the shore fifty meters away from the river…

What happened next was predictable: they eliminated the behemoth without further suspense.

The division of spoils followed their established custom: valuable parts or organs from the Slime Toad were listed and auctioned internally at a low price.

The Universal Points generated from the auction were divided into thirteen shares: the two MTs receiving double shares, and the MVP, chosen for the greatest contribution in the fight, also receiving a double share. Everyone else received one share apiece. This allocation was deemed quite fair.

Fang Senyan and his group raised no objections. The MVP for this battle went to Bokan; without his repeated use of terrain manipulation to trap the Slime Toad, defeating the creature would have been extremely difficult!

However, as the androids began meticulously cutting and dissecting the slain Slime Toad, Android Unit One suddenly stood up, raising a bloody object. "My Lords, I believe you must see this!"

All eyes focused on the object. This time, even the expressions of Hedykuri and Aziza, and indeed Fang Senyan himself, changed dramatically! (To be continued)