Chapter 87: Abyssal Thunder Toad Versus the Thunder Marsh Electric Lizard

Strangely enough, after the colossal toad leapt out of the pit, it did not immediately attack Bai Yuxi and the others, who stood at the edge of the chasm. Instead, it turned around, lowered its body, and aimed the spiral horn on its forehead at the mouth of the hole, as though guarding against something. Only then did Bai Yuxi and his companions realize what the pillar of electricity erupting from underground had been about. Judging by the giant toad's wary reaction, it seemed that there was something lurking beneath the earth that even it dreaded.

The group exchanged pale, uneasy glances, realizing that their supposedly routine investigation had likely led them into a calamity of extraordinary proportions.

A sudden hush descended upon the sinkhole. The thousands of plasma toads lay flat upon the ground, silent as winter insects, not daring to make a sound for fear of drawing the attention of the monstrous toad at the bottom.

In the near-suffocating atmosphere, it was impossible to tell how much time passed. Suddenly, a flash of electricity arced across the spiral horn on the giant toad's forehead. An immense energy gathered rapidly at the tip of the horn, swelling with wild intensity. In the blink of an eye, it condensed into a massive azure plasma sphere, as large as a round tabletop. Even the faint arcs of electricity radiating from it carried a terrifying sense of oppression.

The next moment, the enormous plasma sphere detached from the toad’s horn and drifted down toward the mouth of the pit, floating like a weightless balloon.

A resonant hum filled the air as a violent column of electricity erupted once more. Arcing bolts crawled along the barrier wall, making the invisible structure flicker in and out of sight. Amidst the blinding flashes, Bai Yuxi, whose data visor struggled to adjust to the searing light, caught a glimpse—just as the colossal plasma ball fell into the depths—of something darting out from the hole, trailing a streak of lightning behind it.

When everyone’s vision cleared, the giant toad remained on high alert, but now, across from it at the other side of the pit’s mouth… was a lizard?

The group was dumbfounded. Instinctively, they rubbed their eyes. Yes, they weren’t mistaken—a lizard! Barely a foot long, its body was clad in vibrant blue skin.

Along its spine ran streaks of blue-black lightning-shaped markings, extending all the way to a tail longer than its body. At the center of its forehead sprouted a tiny horn, scarcely longer than a pinky finger, slanting back over its skull. Behind its eyes, where ears ought to have been, a pair of long, flexible protrusions—perhaps horns, perhaps ear flaps—twitched and trembled. Using its slender tail for balance, it stood upright in a near-human posture, short claws resting against its chest. Its large, orange-red eyes darted about with lively curiosity, surveying its surroundings and pointedly ignoring the titanic toad that dwarfed it by hundreds of times.

Was this diminutive creature truly the one that had driven the colossal toad from its underground lair?

As the members of Squad Seven felt their understanding of the extraordinary world upended, Bai Yuxi, for reasons he couldn’t explain, blurted out while staring at the two supernatural creatures locked in a standoff, “Abyssal Thunder Toad? Raizawa Electric Lizard?”

“What?” His muttered words sounded jarringly out of place in the silence. But everyone’s attention was so focused on the two bizarre entities that only Su Xiaoke, standing nearby, heard what he said.

“Uh?” Bai Yuxi snapped out of his daze, blinking in confusion. He had no idea why those two names had surfaced in his mind. Nevertheless, he had a creeping feeling that both the so-called “Abyssal Thunder Toad” and the “Raizawa Electric Lizard”—if those were indeed what they were—were not beings that apprentice-level anomaly fighters like themselves could possibly handle.

Bai Yuxi gestured to Su Xiaoke, signaling for her to quietly set up the pair of particle disruptors she was still clutching. But Su Xiaoke looked around helplessly and held up two slender fingers, indicating that she needed at least one or two square meters of space. At the moment, the group was huddled tightly against the barrier, surrounded on all sides by heaps of plasma toads packed together.

Though the nearby plasma toads, cowed by the presence of the two powerful entities in the pit, lay motionless as if in hibernation and hadn’t attacked, there was simply no way to carve out enough room to deploy the disruptors.

Nervously licking his dry lips, Bai Yuxi glanced at the two monsters facing off in the pit and signaled for Su Xiaoke to be ready.

If the two monsters began to fight, he would immediately attack the surrounding plasma toads, risking everything to clear a patch of ground. Even if this provoked the entire horde, that was preferable to remaining where they might be swept up at any moment in the battle below. Bai Yuxi had no illusions that his active shield could withstand a blast from those massive columns of electricity.

An energy level of over half a million sounded impressive, but in the world of the extraordinary, that was merely the mark of an F-rank apprentice anomaly fighter. In other words, when faced with highly dangerous anomalous beings, an F-rank was little more than cannon fodder. Judging by the destructive force of the lightning just now, Bai Yuxi knew that he would likely be reduced to ash just like the plasma toads before even getting close.

The other members of Squad Seven, noticing the silent exchange between Bai Yuxi and Su Xiaoke, tensed up as well, preparing to withstand an onslaught from the plasma toads.

The Abyssal Thunder Toad and the Raizawa Electric Lizard seemed intensely wary of each other, neither making a move for a long time. If not for the occasional flicker of movement in the electric lizard’s orange-red eyes, Bai Yuxi might have thought they had both fallen asleep.

Just as everyone assumed that this silent standoff would persist indefinitely, a hapless plasma toad, for reasons unknown, suddenly slipped from the pile and tumbled down the slope of the sinkhole, rolling and bouncing until it landed right between the two titans. As it arced through the air, about to fall into the pit’s opening, two blinding bolts of lightning flashed from either side, striking it simultaneously and reducing it to ash in an instant.

At that moment, the previously motionless Abyssal Thunder Toad suddenly shot out its long tongue, lashing toward the Raizawa Electric Lizard on the other side of the pit. Yet, despite its small size, the electric lizard moved with astonishing speed—a blur crackling with arcs of electricity flitted across the giant toad’s broad back, and with a sharp crack, a bolt of lightning exploded forth.