After a few days of scouting, Rugum and his team had returned from the forest. “Holy Leader, we found frog tracks in the south, a squad of them should be moving towards our old base,” he reported.

"The frogs are planning a direct attack, thinking we still live there. Or they are going to use that small cave as a hideout. They have the terrain advantage, but we know their position," I said.

“Let’s go now. Let’s show these swamp dwellers what we’re made of!” I roared, and the warriors responded in kind.

The terrain was unsuitable for our goats, so we could not ride them into battle. We weaved through the forest, following Rugum’s lead. The enemy squad was making their way to our old home. 15 frogmen were riding atop giant frogs, with stone spears in one hand, and wooden shields in the other. They were unaware of the enemy stalking them through the forest.

“Disks of Stone!” I conjured 3 stone disks and launched them at the riders, their shields could not block the force of the stone. I knocked the mounted frogmen to the ground and disorientated them. The other goblins rushed in and finished them off.

I twisted and contorted my body and arms to control the flying disks of stone. One by one, I slammed each frogman to the ground, the goblins rushed in and executed them. The frogmens’ slingshots and stone spears did little against our armour.

Rugum's snake wrapped around its victim, restraining them, leaving them to die by a spear or by constriction.

The riderless giant frogs did not put up much of a fight, they were big, clumsy and got in each other's way. Before one could even open its mouth, a hunter would stab it 10 times over. Our previous encounter with them now seemed laughable.

A small amount of the frogmen in the back fled further into the forest, leaving their companions to die. The ground was still muddy and wet, thus it posed no difficulty for them. But they could not escape our sights. After a long chase, we cornered the frogmen in a large, unnatural ravine. It seemed as if a great magical force had torn the earth was in half.

There was no exit and they had run out of stamina. Their lives were in the palm of my hand. But before I could crush them, one of them let out a loud croak that echoed throughout the forest.

The muddy walls of the ravine began to rumble, and from them burst forth swathes of frogmen. They ambushed us! Rows of frogs stood atop the ravine, with their primitive bows, aiming down at us. Fortunately, our well-crafted shields completely blocked their crude arrows. But we could not defend from every angle.

“Stone Shaper!” I created walls from the ravine, erecting a protective barricade for each goblin. From underneath their defence, the goblins would launch and counter volley. Having more skill and training, the goblins whittled away at the number of frogmen. Gatrom's [Bombarding Cannon Beryl] knocked down the enemy like bowling pins.

On the far end of the ravine, stood a large frogman. He stood taller compared to the rest of his kin. He was far bulkier, his skin was darker, tougher, redder, wartier and he had small fleshy horns on his head. It looked like a frogman from hell. He yelled a few croaks, and some frogmen warriors jumped down into the ravine, to attack us head-on.

“Disks of Stone!” I fused the disks, forming a large stone shield, and I pushed the enemy warriors away from us. The goblins used the reach of their spears to safely attack the frogs.

Irritated, the hellish frogman took out the magical dagger and began to chant. My eyes grew wide with horror, and I sprinted into action.

I broke up the stone disks and grabbed one. I levitated it and pulled myself out of the ravine to confront the brute of a frogman. It stopped its chanting as it saw me standing in front of it. The freakish frog grinned with its ugly, boil ridden face.

The other frogmen charged at me but it ordered them to continue to fight with the other goblins in the ravine. The beast wanted to toy with me.

I drank one of Voglo’s potions, completely restoring my mana. The hell toad glowed with a fearsome orange light and charged at me, and I rolled out its path of destruction.

“Bloody Barbute!” A glowing red arrow appeared from thin air and launched itself towards the enemy. It dodged it and was readying to charge again, but the arrow flipped midair and stabbed the monster's back. It to let out a low bassy croak of pain. It reached to pull the arrow from its wound but it got confused as the arrow vanished before it could grab it.

With this tiny lapse in concentration, I lunged at the frogman with my spear. The monster dodged once more with unnatural instincts, only receiving a shallow cut.

The enemy gurgled some croaks, and green bubbles engulfed its fingers. It waved its hands shooting the bubbles at me. I raised my shield to block them, but on impact, the bubbles exploded, with the blast sending me flying. My limp body skidded along the muddy ground, before being stopped by a tree. Luckily, my helmet protected me from a concussion.

The demonic frogman leapt at me, with its fist enveloped in a large bubble. With what meagre control I had over my body, I rolled my body to the side and limped away. The freak landed on the ground with a large explosion, knocking many trees down. The force of the explosion made me lose my footing. Taking advantage of this, it leapt towards me, drop kicking me in the chest. I could feel fractures run along my ribcage, but it remained intact. I coughed up globs of blood, and my vision became red and blurry.

Anger swelled within me. "This bastard was kicking me around like a bloody football. Who does this mutated tadpole think it is?" I growled in my mind.

“Disks of stone!” 3 stone slabs began rotating around me in a defensive formation. “Sapphire Spear!” I launched the sharp crystalline rod at the toad, followed by 2 stone disks to his left and right. Using its instincts, the beast sidestepped the magic spear, but a slab of stone crashed into its face. I manipulated the other stone, to spin back around and strike at its legs.

With the last drop of mana, I cast the final spell to kill the infernal frog. “Spiral Jaws Jasper!” The canine jaws spawned at my fingertips, and I sent them to bite the downed enemy. They flew forward, the jasper maw was wide open, ready for a bite, but the enemy tumbled out of the way. The jaws drifted in the air and bit its arm, releasing the sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones. The monstrous frogman shrieked in pain.

Taking advantage of the moment, I charged at it with my spear once more. The monster ignored its pain and launched its frog tongue at me, grabbing my arm and dragging me forward. With its free hand, it took out the magical dagger and slashed at me, cutting my foot off.