The frog was a gigantic being at least 25 heads high and 10 heads wide. Its wet leaf green skin glistened under the dying embers of the escaping sun. An aggressive pattern of swirling black lines and dots covered its whole body, from face to the bottom; while its belly was chalk white and the front of its legs were marble yellow. Its hands were huge in their own right and fingered not clawed, rear legs long and muscular. Its sinuous and characteristically long slimy tongue induced fear int eh hearts of the soldiers; it was a weapon specially evolved to hunt anything the lazy frog could fit in its mouth.
There was a set of large black eyes fixed to the side of its immovable head and sat on the ground with its rear legs at tension, ready to leap him away from danger at all times. However, the same leap that could take it away from a predator could also bring it closer to prey. Beating it was going to be tough, but first, we needed to get rid of the fear spreading in our midst like wildfire.
Another frog wasn’t supposed to join the battle. We still had no idea whether the one in the well was dead or alive! The new addition was not welcome by any of us.
The frog passive as a rock, stood among our broken lines, looking with its head kept parallel to the ground, determining where to start feeding.
Bushtit reports and plans —didn’t I say the ground situation is different? The hateful one scowled. You are responsible for whatever happens next. She poked me on the flank and kept cursing me. 5555th scolded her for being shallow-minded and even 2K came in for support, but I couldn’t pay them attention.
She was right. It was my plan.
I dug away from reality into my mind and hid in the depths of my flooding thoughts.
I considered why something so woefully huge had fewer legs compared to something small as I. Maybe the answer was hidden in the way it sat on its rear legs in a deep squat? And I wondered how it could communicate without antennae; all the bugs and insects had them. I wondered where the frogs had dropped theirs. However, I had to admit, if the frogs had antennae they would have been releasing enough pheromones to saturate everything around them, creating a dead zone for other insects like us ants.
So maybe it was a good thing that their form of communication was so intrusive and open. Anyone could spy upon them, but they were also pretty conspicuous thanks to their blunderingly huge body. So maybe it didn’t matter? Although their croaks definitely had a longer range, it was not without pitfalls. The frogs had exchanged range for privacy and it was only a matter of time before a larger predator —though I doubted there was anything larger than the frogs— located them.
There were even more questions.
How could its body keep shape? Just how large was its heart to keep such a huge body inflated? How much did it eat every day? How large was its hunting zone? Why had I never heard of them before?
Thankfully, the frog took its time swallowing the soldiers. That sudden pause gave our leaders precious time to judge their next steps.
The frog straightened its body to lift its head.
There were crunches. It crushed the soldiers by rapidly clenching throat muscles, and swallowed them. Even the frog didn’t dare engulf them alive and have them carve a way out from the inside.
The soldiers were overwhelmed at first, but the respite got them out of the daze.
Snap out of it! My inner voice rattled, and I followed its suggestion. There was a message in the air: a burning passage of passion. Attack! It read, one word, the only action needed. I saw Star commanding a large group toward the frog for a head-on collision. Our troop leader was closely following behind him.
The soldiers followed the order. They were all over the place and in fear, but not lost.
Fear wasn’t enough to take their fire out. There were no weak ones among them; only those who were yet not strong enough. However, no matter the case, the soldiers didn’t run from a fight. They had wanted an adventure. This was it.
What else could they do? The backup plan demanded a retreat. An undoing of everything we had accomplished. We had brought the frog away from its puddle where it was invincible and had stranded it in the middle of a wet patch of land with flood breakers to mount and drain lanes to hide. This was our best opportunity. Losing this chance meant letting the frogs eat away at the city’s strength one hunting group at a time. It meant giving up.
Those near the frog had already decided to take a leap of faith and see what they could accomplish; the leader’s agreement to support them only filled them with more confidence. I was at the back with my group rearing to have a go.
The frog had its fear, but the group led by captain Star only amused it. It turned toward the charging lot of them and leaped straight up after it finished eating.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that this was the frog that had reared its clawless naked fingers at the city tower alone, and had been baptized by the resident's poison and stings. It had survived a much-much larger group of ants and now it was confident. It knew what to expect. And what it expected didn’t scare it one bit.
Therefore it dropped right in their middle of the group led by captain Star, crushing a few too many, and scrambling the tight group with the burst of wind that it created.
The frog gave a croak, an invitation to the others of its kind to enjoy a free meal. That boiled my blood, but also reminded me what the hateful one had said. The soldiers had died like she had predicted and more were going to die.
Is it truly my fault?
The little voice inside my head had a few words for me.
Does it matter? It said. Did you believe it’s possible to take down a predator without losing anyone? Are you that naïve?
The frog came into action. Its tongue flickered, picked up another group of soldiers, and took them into its mouth. We at the back released fear and remorse, but the ones at the front released determination and focus. Death of their companions only drove them forward.
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It was a moment none were waiting for, but this was our chance for payback. The frog had to stop moving to crush the soldiers it had swallowed.
Soldiers rushed the frog from all directions. Mandibles pierced into its leaf green skin. The frog continued its task unperturbed, but that didn’t stop the soldiers burning with revenge. Its legs were stung countless times, the burning acid of our specialty injected into its body without any reserve.
There was a reaction!
The stung leg jittered slowly at first, the skin rippling before the muscles unrented started having heavy contractions. It creaked in annoyance, finally understanding its mistake. It wanted to leap away, but the soldiers in its throat hadn’t stopped moving yet. It had to kill them before going about escaping.
A few soldiers clamped their mandibles around the slippers skin of its large fingered hands. They drew something, a liquid red in color and scent familiar and horrifying. Everyone else was too invested in injuring the frog, but I remembered the scent. It was exactly the same as the liquid that the bloodsuckers drank. I remembered it exactly because the scent had left quite an impression on my mind.
But-but, what did this mean? Were my observations, my thoughts right? Was the moving mountain… alive?
It couldn’t be! How could that be right? No-no, I was wrong. I must have thought wrong. How could something like that exist in the word? But a single lick of the air was enough to prove me wrong and right. The red blood of the frog was the same as the moving mountain. It was the same, the same thing.
I ringed back. 5555th asked for my well being, but I knew she wouldn’t understand what I had learned. Everything was a lie. The protection of the city was a lie. We were insignificant. The frog? It was nothing! It wasn’t even worth a hair on the mountain back. Back! That’s what we had climbed. And those brown strands weren’t grass, but hair! It all made sense. Suddenly, everything made sense!
It was all too much for my mind to comprehend. So I lost consciousness for some time. When I came back, the frog was still trying to shake the ants clinging to its hands. As if that would do it.
Our mandibles might be smaller than those of a jawbreaker, but there was enough strength behind them to grip until death; that’s what the frog was going to have to go through. It would learn to fear us slowly.
Yes. Keep going. A drone added to my monologue. Keep thinking about these useless things. Distract yourself.
We might be of the same species, but the embers of the 43rd were smoldering hot. Star admitted it and the beast was feeling it personally. The soldiers held despite its efforts, and the frog croaked for the first time, in pain.
I wanted to stay hiding, but the status had a different plan for me. It colored my sight bright and gave me confidence.
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You have observed and understood one of the many Truths.
Greed has converted TRUTH into a skill.
Skill: Truth acquired.
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[Truth][Lv-1][Special]
[Learn truths to acquire skills.]
[Skill: Confidence has unlocked.]
***
[Confidence] [Tier-1] [Lv-1/10][Passive]
[The skill will help you get through tough times when you are feeling low and maybe shading suicidal even. Remember, no wall is insurmountable, no problem too big. Have some confidence.]
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No problem is too big? Well, I begged to differ. However, it also made a point. Maybe the system was trying to be ironic, but we had indeed mounted the mountain. Confidence, as straightforward as it was, didn’t erase my fear or reasoned it away, but it did make me decisive. I conclude that it wasn’t the time to be worried about something that had never posed a problem for me or my city. How could something that never interfered with our life be a disaster; the frogs, however, as hell-bent on destroying the 43rd city. Dealing with them was should be my utmost priority. I could lose my mind later.
I knew I could function again when I starting wondering how Princess Tinbuji would react to the truth about the mountain.
I would have to ask our troop leader behind this reason for choosing the place to hunt, but he was nowhere to be found, and the frog was acting up again. It was done feeding.
It’s when I noticed that one daring soldier had climbed onto the frogs back. The soldiers tried to bite its left eye, but she missed the mark as the frog clawed her to the ground. She fell unconscious. I hurried to drag her away from the mayhem as soldiers entered a state of panicked rush around me. The frog retaliated by slamming its hands upon them, crushing soldiers with brute strength.
Its tongue flickered every now and then, leaving a rancid odor behind as it took soldiers into the bloody maw. But that’s when something odd occurred. The soldiers in frenzy released death odor, which stirred the frog. It shook away from them in haste as if worried about getting contaminated by them.
We can kill it! FORWARD! Attack its limbs. Death to the beast!
The soldiers cried. Mixed in-between them was Star’s official order.
Open its wounds and then it will be nothing. He had ordered. The scent was light, unlike the war cry’s that covered the ground, and floated at a height where my antennae could catch it.
The soldiers were confident. The death odor they released worked like a charm and had the frog befuddled. it couldn't figure out why its food suddenly smelled of rot and decomposing.
However, just when we thought the frog was in our grasp, it leaped away; well, it tried, but couldn’t. The leg that the front line soldiers had stunned beyond belief was swollen blue. The venom had reacted. The frog fell to the back of our group. It tried to run away still, but its leg seized and refused to budge. We overran it. Solders started drumming in victory, but the frog proved us wrong.
It made a defiant croak and licked the soldiers holding onto its skin. It didn’t eat them but spat them out. The ball of slime fell upon three soldiers who were instantly covered in the slimy glue, stuck to each other, and unable to move. The soldiers attack unperturbed, but it proved to be a foe worthy of being called a beast.
The frog licked another group off the ground, this one containing a well over ten soldiers; but it didn’t eat them, instead spat them at a group equally large.
The next group it swallowed it tried to eat, but they were determined to resist and defied its strength to the very end. They held their own against the frogs crushing throat muscles, maybe even managed to take hold of its slippery insides, because the frog croaked in pain, cursing.
Soldiers took charge to hurt the beast while it was immobile. Star had tried attacking it head-on, but he had only proved our troop leaders point that it was a foolish tactic. He had failed and it was time for a change of plan.
The promise came awake in my mind when I saw him standing dull-witted, staring blankly at the soldiers rushing at the frog. 43rd city was not the end of my journey. We needed to get through the frogs. This place was only a way station on the path, my destination was still far and the time was slipping. The frog was dangerous, but the termites endangered the safety of our whole kingdom! I couldn’t stop there; I had to keep moving. Princess was waiting for me.