I had made significant progress in a short time.

To think that the same me, who could only use Tail Severing, now had movement techniques, breathing and circulation techniques (ungijo-sik), and Tenfold Poison Immunity. It was an impressive achievement.

But that was the end of it.

There wasn’t a single proper attack skill.

Status Window!

I still don’t have an attack skill!

It gives me skills like Acid Resistance and Paralysis Resistance so easily, but why won’t it give me an offensive skill?

Smack.

I clicked my tongue in frustration.

Something like Tail Whip or Strong Bite would be nice. I’d be incredibly grateful for even that.

As I am now, I’m a pretty deformed creature.

I have MP, but no way to use it.

The only skills that use that resource are Tail Severing and Dash, but I hardly use them anymore.

I have no choice but to get stronger as quickly as possible.

Maybe by eating that noisy toad in the distance.

Beelzebub toads were practically my natural enemies.

Their bodies were much bigger than mine, and they even had poison. I didn’t dare to mess with them.

But things are a bit different now.

A body with Tenfold Poison Immunity.

A movement technique named Dragon Ascension Steps.

Internal energy gained through Small Heavenly Circulation and White Orchid Heart Technique.

And, of course, Tus and Pus.

“Kieeek?”

Why are you looking at me like that?

Did they somehow read my thoughts? The spiders looked at me in shock.

Clever creatures.

“Kek kek.”

I tapped the spot next to me.

Come here.

“Kieeng…”

They came, but reluctantly, judging by their expressions.

Pus pointed out his shrunken belly.

I guess he’s trying to say he’s out of webbing.

What a drama queen.

I lightly tapped his rear.

Splat!

The web came out just fine.

“Kiiiing…”

Pus sulked back to his place.

Tus, who seemed to be watching the scene like a spectator at a distant fire, observed the web extraction from afar.

I wiggled my front leg.

“Keeng?”

He gave me an innocent look, but that wasn’t going to work on me.

You too—come here.

Rain was falling.

The cold rain soaking my body felt oddly pleasant.

Lizards are cold-blooded creatures, but getting rained on didn’t bother me.

Maybe because I’m a water-dwelling lizard? In fact, it felt rather nice.

My body is a bit special.

It’s too lizard-like to be human, yet still retains some human traits.

For one, my vision is much better than that of a normal lizard.

It’s almost no different from when I was human.

At the same time, I haven’t lost the advantages of being a lizard—like my enhanced sense of smell.

I flicked my tongue.

I could feel the faint scents in the air being amplified.

The smell of rain, the scent of earth.

The distant scent of prey, and the smell of toads.

With my sense of smell, combined with sight and hearing, I pinpointed the enemy’s location.

One of the toads had strayed from its group.

As long as it didn’t wander into the piranha-infested area, it wouldn’t be in danger. It probably knew that too, which is why it was moving alone.

The enemy was alone.

No, my prey was alone.

This was my chance.

I lifted my front legs.

Both legs touched the surface of the water.

At the exact moment a raindrop hit the surface, I exploded forward, pushing off the water with tremendous force.

Splash splash splash.

Even the sound of the rain couldn’t drown out my noisy footsteps.

I could’ve dampened the sound a bit using Dragon Ascension Steps instead of relying on the basilisk’s natural abilities.

But I didn’t.

Making noise was part of my plan.

I dashed toward the Beelzebub Toad at full speed.

Tap tap tap tap!

Even if it wasn’t good at hearing, it wouldn’t miss this sound.

The toad spotted me.

It looked startled at first, but once it realized the source of the noise was just a small lizard, it got into a battle stance.

Toads, unlike frogs, don’t usually hunt from a distance with their tongues. There are exceptions, of course, but with a toad this size, it’d probably prefer to ram its body into me rather than use its tongue.

【Beelzebub LV7】 【Status】 「Hungry」「Alert」

Level 7. This one was the weakest of the ones I’d seen before.

It wasn’t fully mature yet. Its skin was entirely green, unlike the more mature ones that had a golden hue.

I slowed myself by dipping my tail into the water.

Splash!

Water splashed in all directions as my tail sliced through the water.

The moment the droplets hit its body, the Beelzebub Toad made its move.

It lunged at me, ramming its huge body forward.

The ground trembled with a massive impact that made me think the earth itself might shatter.

It was stronger than any enemy I had faced so far.

Even an Oviraptor would be left dazed after getting hit by that charge.

But if it didn’t hit, there was no problem.

Like a small dragon soaring through the air, I easily leaped over it.

Thud!

“Kwek!”

The toad rammed its head into the ground and slid a few more steps due to inertia.

It had hit the ground headfirst, so I thought it might be stunned.

But, as tough as it looked, it shook off the impact by shaking its head a couple of times, then immediately turned to face me again.

Its eyes were filled with surprise.

An ordinary lizard wouldn’t have been able to avoid that attack.

But this was no time for it to be surprised.

I still had more in store.

I stretched out my arm.

I moved my arm as smoothly as flowing water. The movement started from my right hand, flowed through my elbow, shoulder, and down to my opposite hand.

“Kek kek kek.”

It was a taunt.

“Kek kek. Kek kek.”

The toad wouldn’t understand my words.

But it would understand the intention. There was only one message this strange-posing lizard was conveying.

You’re really slow.

The effect was immediate.

The toad flipped its eyes and rushed at me in a rage.

I focused all my attention on its movements.

Like a matador dodging a charging bull, I evaded its attacks with the bare minimum of movement.

Just barely out of reach.

Close enough to make it think it might get me if it tried just a little harder.

I let out a taunting cry each time its attack missed, driving it further into a frenzy.

As I kept dodging, I tripped and fell to the ground.

Thud.

It was the perfect moment for the toad to strike, and it didn’t waste the opportunity.

Its pent-up rage and frustration had built to the point where it couldn’t control the power and speed of its own charge.

If that hit me, I’d probably die instantly.

Thud!

The massive body of the toad tumbled.

It didn’t stop after one fall; it kept rolling and thrashing around.

“Kek kek kek.”

I had woven together dozens of layers of spiderweb to make a trap.

Even something as ridiculously tough as this toad would be feeling the impact.

It probably had a concussion by now.

I immediately used my movement technique and approached the toad.

“Kwaeeeeek!”

It struggled to resist, but I wasn’t planning on fighting it head-on.

I held in my hands the prepared spider silk.

Arthrocopus doesn’t build its nest using spider silk.

That’s because, unlike other spiders’ webs, its silk is waterproof but not sticky.

However, its strength was not inferior.

Like using silver thread, I quickly moved, wrapping the toad’s body in webs.

“Kwek!”

The webs tightened, restricting the toad’s breathing.

Snap.

Several strands of web snapped as it resisted fiercely.

It was stronger than I expected.

The tension in the web made my body shake.

Tap tap tap!

I tightened the webs even further.

Snap snap.

More strands of web broke.

At the same time, small wounds began to appear on its massive body.

Tiny wounds.

But they were enough.

The webs dug deeper into the exposed skin.

“Kwaeeeeek!”

The toad let out a scream.

Its thrashing grew more intense, but gradually, its strength began to fade.

“Kwoooook…”

Thud.

The huge body of the Beelzebub Toad collapsed.

That massive creature couldn’t have been brought down by just these tiny wounds.

But I didn’t think it was faking.

These webs had poison on them.

No matter how much of a poison toad it was, it couldn’t withstand poison being injected directly into its body.

[Level up.]

“Kek kek kek!”

I stood triumphantly on its body and let out a proud roar.

“…Kek kek.”

But I lowered my voice just in case its friends came.

The rain was getting heavier.

Dragging this heavy toad back to my lair in this downpour was going to be exhausting.

Still, it would be worth it.

The spiders and I gazed expectantly at the toad’s body.

I’d heard that frog meat tasted like chicken.

So, toad meat should taste like duck, right?

With a graceful motion, I peeled away the toad’s skin.

What was revealed was red meat.

It looked quite appetizing. And given its large size, there was plenty to eat.

Chomp.

I took a large bite of the toad meat.

There was a slight bitterness, but it definitely tasted like meat.

“Kieeeng…”

The spiders drooled as they watched me.

I slapped the ground with my tail.

You guys can’t eat this.

This meat is poisonous.

Just stick to the water beetles.

“Kioooong…”

The spiders looked disappointed.

I wanted to give them some, but I had no choice.

What’s harmful to the body, I have to eat.

It’s not because I want to eat it all by myself. I swear.

My body started to feel slightly warm.

Sigh, so there was poison in it after all.

My stomach feels a bit upset.

But with Tenfold Poison Immunity, it shouldn’t be a big problem.

Chomp.

I took another bite, this time from the large, dry breast meat. But my jaws were soon drawn to the toad’s legs.

It’s common knowledge that leg meat is better than breast meat.

With reverence, I took a bite of the leg.

Chomp.

The perfect combination of fat and muscle created an exceptional texture.

It wasn’t too dry, yet not too soft—the perfect balance of meat.

It had a slight bitterness but no fishy taste at all.

It felt like eating high-quality raw meat.

Yes, this is it.

This is fine dining.

I couldn’t see it, but I was sure that the Gourmet skill was probably enjoying this too.

As I devoured the toad, I noticed something strange inside it.

A small, black orb.

It didn’t seem to be one of the toad’s eggs, and it was too small to be an inner core (naedan).

No matter how much I stared at it, there was no explanation.

Well, I probably won’t die if I eat it.

I do have Tenfold Poison Immunity.

Chomp.

Gulp.

I swallowed the mysterious orb.

It tasted slightly bitter, but nothing seemed wrong.

[You have acquired 「Danger Detection LV1」.]

Huh? I got a skill at such an unexpected time.

Is it because I just ate that?

Or maybe...

A chill ran down my spine.

I immediately dropped the food and prepared myself.

“Gek!”

I scattered the spiders and braced for the incoming threat.

【Beelzebub LV12】 【Status】 「Fury」「Hostility」

【Astrotelaris Radiata LV11】 【Status】 「Sync」「Hostility」

It was my two former neighbors.

I should’ve been quieter when I roared.

But still, these two weren’t particularly scary.

One-on-one, I could easily take them, and even if there were more, I could just run away.

…So why is my body trembling like this?

[「Danger Detection LV1」 has leveled up.]

[「Danger Detection LV2」 has leveled up.]

[「Danger Detection LV3」 has leveled up.]

The skill level was rising like crazy.

[「Danger Detection LV4」 has leveled up.]

[「Danger Detection LV5」 has leveled up.]

My whole body was warning me.

Run away now.

The creatures in front of me weren’t the problem.

Even the monsters that had come up here to eat me were no longer looking at me.

They were staring at the distant water surface.

The swamp, which seemed to hold nothing.

But I could sense something approaching.

A black shadow.

The black shadow grew larger as it rapidly closed in.

The moment I turned to flee, it emerged from the water.

【Piranha Cayman LV30 (+)】

The ruler of the swamp had appeared.