Chapter Thirty-One: Tempest-Tossed as the Pill Tribulation Descends [Please Subscribe]

The moment the battle broke out, accompanied by a deafening roar of artillery, billowing black smoke rose from the earth. Li Yang’s estate bore the brunt of the assault, a vast section of it collapsing instantly amidst two rounds of heavy bombardment.

As for the werewolf clan, although agile in movement, they were numerous in number. Under the dense and heavy firepower net of the military, a full third of them were brought down within a split second.

"Kill... Tear them apart... Shred them..."
"Roar... Snap... Boom, boom, boom..."
"Do not let them close in! Man your positions, open fire!"
"Bang, bang, bang... Rat-a-tat-tat... Swish, swish, swish..."
"......"

Though the werewolves suffered an unfavorable opening, once they made contact with the human soldiers, they surged forward like wolves entering a flock of sheep, whipping up a bloody storm of carnage.

Faced with the savage and ferocious werewolves, the human soldiers stood virtually no chance, instantly routed and shattered into complete disarray.

"Hold them off! I am going to deal with those rats hiding in the rear."
"Swish, swish, swish... Clang, clang, clang..."

Amidst the surging crowd of soldiers, a towering silver-furred werewolf stood upright. As his massive claws swept through the air, any soldier in his path was invariably disemboweled, meeting an exceptionally gruesome death. Roaring fiercely at his subordinates, this werewolf plowed straight ahead into the depths of the military formation.

"Charge through!"

On the other side, the moment she closed in on the human soldiers, Emilia cast aside the firearm in her hand, drew the twin longswords from her back, and led a group of bloodline warlocks to carve a path at the vanguard. Like a swimming fish, she wielded her twin blades to harvest lives one after another.

Whenever she encountered a crowd that was too densely packed, she would open her mouth to spew a fine, pale-golden toxic mist, instantly clearing the human throng before her like a venomous black widow.

Although it looked less bloody than Lucian’s method, the number of human soldiers who perished by her hands was by no means any fewer.

"Suicide squad, are you ready?"

Smelling the sickening stench of blood in the air and watching the werewolves wantonly slaughtering the soldiers, Colonel James wore a look of cold, unyielding sternness. His eyes brimmed with absolute resolve as he roared to those behind him.

"Suicide squad is fully prepared and ready to strike at any moment!"
"Then what are you waiting for? Move out!"

Gazing at the soldiers behind him—each clad in black military uniform, laden with heavy packs, and bearing the grim determination of the doomed—a flash of heartache crossed Colonel James's eyes.

These soldiers were the elite of the navy, the most formidable warriors under Marshal Hawke. Yet today, most of them likely wouldn't make it back. Still, as long as these werewolves could be eradicated, all of this sacrifice was worth it.

Watching the werewolves still wreaking havoc and slaughtering troops within the formation, a fierce murderous glint flared in James's eyes. He knew that these must be the elite core of the werewolf race. Once they were completely wiped out, the remaining old, weak, sick, and wounded would be nothing more than lambs to the slaughter, posing no further threat.

"Come on, you beasts!"
"Warriors of the British Empire, charge!"

Amidst stirring, morale-boosting battle cries, the suicide squad surged directly into the milling crowd, hurling themselves straight at the werewolves.

"Boom, boom, boom... Rattle, rattle... Bang, bang, bang..."
"Roar... Awooo..."

Those blood-crazed werewolves, seeing prey deliver themselves right to their doorsteps, naturally showed no courtesy and lunged forward to meet them.

In an instant, accompanied by flashes of brilliant fire blooming amidst the crowd, the charging werewolves were blasted into countless fragments.

That was not even the worst of it. The explosives carried by the suicide squad were clearly engineered with specific countermeasures. With every explosion, countless silver projectiles scattered like falling blossoms, detonating indiscriminately among friend and foe alike. In a single breath, massive gaps were violently cleared out from the dense clusters of combatants.

"Awooo... You fools, get back!"

Seeing his clansmen suffering devastating casualties, Lucian in the center of the crowd let out an enraged roar, rearing up on his hind legs as he bellowed.

"Boom, boom, boom... Bang, bang, bang..."
"Screech, screech, screech..."

However, Lucian’s commands had virtually no effect. Aside from the bloodline warlocks and a few of the older, wiser members of the pack, the rest of the werewolves had completely lost their minds to bloodlust. Stimulated by the thick stench of fresh gore, they charged forward in a suicidal assault against the human soldiers as if bereft of their senses.

"Hahaha... Excellent!"
"Quickly... Inform the tank division to prepare for the final containment and annihilation!"

Observing the battlefield results achieved by the suicide squad, Colonel James, stationed in the rear to monitor the combat, picked up his wireless transceiver and issued his commands.

"Clank, rattle, screech..."
"Boom... rumble... rumble... boom..."

Just as both sides were locked in fierce, inseparable combat, a thunderous roar echoed across the earth. Columns of tanks and armored vehicles came thundering toward the battlefield, unleashing indiscriminate waves of artillery fire upon friend and foe alike.

"Awooo... Damn it all!"

Gazing at the heavy losses inflicted upon his clansmen nearby, Lucian’s eyes turned bloodshot. He tilted his head back and emitted a furious, wrathful howl before instantly transforming into a silvery streak of light that charged straight toward the armored divisions in the rear.

"Open fire! Stop him!"
"Bang, bang, bang... Boom, rumble, rumble..."
"......"

Catching sight of Lucian’s charging figure, the tank and armored vehicle crews hurriedly swiveled their turrets, unleashing a fierce barrage of heavy shells toward him, while lines of suicide squad members formed human walls to block his advance.

Yet, predictably, this yielded little effect. Given Lucian's terrifying speed, artillery shells were virtually incapable of hitting him, and small-payload explosives could hardly inflict any fatal damage unless detonated directly against his body.

"Bang, bang, bang..."
"Screech... crunch... snap... rip..."

Amidst a teeth-setting shriek of tearing metal, a heavy armored vehicle was forcibly ripped apart with brute force by Lucian, leaving the surrounding human soldiers staring in dropped-jaw astonishment.

Even so, this could not alter the overarching situation. Under the relentless bombardment of a massive fleet of tanks and armored vehicles, the numbers of the werewolf pack continued to dwindle. Naturally, aside from a tiny fraction who managed to flee, the human soldiers were also practically wiped out to the last man.

"Oh, great God of Bloodline Warlocks, please grant us your divine protection and grant us victory in this war!"

At that moment, Emilia retrieved a three-legged toad from within her robes, whispering an incantation as she prayed fervently.

Since Li Yang had entrusted this toad to her, she had rarely ever utilized it. In her eyes, this was a sacred artifact bestowed by the divine; how could it be summoned away lightly?

"Sniff, sniff, sniff... Croak... Gurgle..."

Amidst a violent intake of breath, a three-legged toad the size of a small mountain materialized, crouching squarely in the center of the battlefield.

"Oh... My god... What is that..."
"Heavens... Could this be the monster worshipped by vampires and werewolves..."
"......"
"Open fire!"

Amidst an uproar of profound shock, Colonel James clutched his wireless transceiver and roared at the top of his lungs.

"Boom, rumble, rumble... Bang, bang, bang..."

Artillery shells struck the golden toad’s body, blasting out shallow craters, only to be entirely deflected by the thick, warty hide covering its skin, failing to inflict the slightest bit of damage.

As the exotic beast that had practiced under Li Yang for the longest duration, the golden toad’s cultivation had long since reached the threshold of undergoing the heavenly tribulation. It was by no means inferior to the six-winged golden centipede before its own tribulation; the artillery shells of this era were naturally powerless against it.

"Croak... Bang, bang, bang... Thump, thump, thump..."

Accompanied by a thunderous, earth-shaking frog croak, a thick, muscular tongue whipped out from the golden toad’s mouth, sweeping horizontally across the field. The armored tanks of the human forces suffered devastating destruction in an instant.

"Croak..."

Following another deafening croak, an oppressive wave of aura radiated from the toad's entire body. Stimulated by this ancient, primordial pressure, the blood-crazed werewolves finally snapped back to their senses.

"Boom, rumble, rumble... Crack, snap..."

Right at that moment, the sky, which had been clear and sunny just moments before, inexplicably gathered a massive expanse of dark, churning thunderclouds. Lightning roared across the heavens, and blinding arcs of electricity crisscrossed the entire firmament.

"Croak... Gurgle, gurgle..."

Raising its head to glance at the thunderclouds brewing overhead, the golden toad gave an involuntary start. Its lazy, bulbous eyes snapped completely open. Casting a glance at the werewolves and bloodline warlocks scattered across the ground, it let out a sharp, stern croak.

"Fall back..."

Though they could not understand the toad’s language, the intent behind its projection was conveyed with absolute clarity to the bloodline warlocks.

Watching as the human forces were on the verge of total annihilation, retreating now left them deeply unsatisfied and full of reluctance; yet, none dared to defy the golden toad's command.

"Inhale, inhale, inhale... Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
"Ah... Shit... NO—!"
"Boom, rumble, rumble... Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

As soon as the werewolves and bloodline warlocks had retreated to a safe distance, the golden toad opened its massive maw wide. A terrifying tempest instantly swept across the entire battlefield, and its gaping mouth transformed into something resembling a black hole. Everything on the battlefield was sucked away and vacuumed clean in an instant. Not only that, but even the ground across a radius of several thousand meters appeared to have been scraped completely raw, stripped of a deep layer of soil to expose barren, dark-yellow earth beneath.

"This..."
"Hiss..."
"Heh... Did we misunderstand something the whole time?"

Looking at the ground that had been cleanly sheared away by a single layer, along with the human soldiers and armored vehicles that had vanished without a trace, Lucian and Emilia exchanged glances, unable to help themselves from drawing in sharp, freezing breaths of air.

They had fought tooth and nail for so long without managing to wipe out the human forces, yet this toad bestowed by His Excellency had swallowed up the entire battlefield with a single breath. The realization left them feeling utterly awkward, and they finally understood that they had completely misinterpreted Li Yang's intentions.

Had they known this would happen, they should have released the golden toad much sooner. If they had, not only would they have avoided the brutal, bloody struggle, but they could have prevented all casualties among their clansmen. At this thought, Lucian looked back at the heavily depleted ranks of his people and felt like weeping tears of blood.

Yet, this could not entirely be blamed upon them. When Li Yang bestowed the golden toad upon them, he had explicitly stated it was meant for self-defense.

In their minds, 'self-defense' carried its literal meaning; unless an absolute crisis arose, naturally one would not casually deploy it.

In truth, they had overthought the matter somewhat. If the golden toad truly acted without any constraints, Li Yang would hardly need to harbor any wariness toward human governments. To put it bluntly, the current golden toad—while appearing capable of swallowing all things—still possessed exploitable vulnerabilities if one devised the right strategy. For instance, a high-yield explosive detonated deep within its throat would undoubtedly result in severe consequences.

It was simply that this time marked the golden toad’s maiden appearance, coupled with the human forces' total lack of preparation, which allowed it to sweep the field clean in one fell swoop.

Naturally, had it been replaced by a fully matured three-legged golden toad, such cautions would be entirely unnecessary. Aside from a nuclear warhead, it could act with absolute impunity, fearing nothing under the sun.

"Gurgle!"

Belching with profound satisfaction after its meal, the golden toad’s colossal form rapidly shrunk down, and it bounded away light-footedly in the direction of the estate.