Chapter 201: What Are We Even Doing This For?!

In the rain-washed forest, the leaves shone a dripping, vibrant green, and a faint scent of damp earth hung in the air. The gnoll chieftain, Hogg Riverclaw, tilted his head back and sniffed.

Gurgalu stood behind the gnoll, cradling the Combat Staff of Caucasus in his arms. Once Hogg finished, he asked, "Well? Find anything?"

Hogg Riverclaw started walking in a certain direction, answering as he went.

"That way. I smell rotting corpses."

Gur complained, "If I'd known, we would've brought the Harpies. Those winged ones make perfect scouts."

The gnoll ignored Gur's grumbling, his nose twitching as he walked, searching for the source of the stench.

One was an Ogre with strength rivaling a legendary practitioner, and the other was a Master Tier gnoll. Naturally, they wouldn't hunt small targets like ordinary monsters. They were searching for worthy prey—corrupted beasts on par with the Legendary Rank.

The most terrifying trait of corrupted beasts was their fearless, suicidal aggression.

Normal people had no desire to risk their lives against these mindless beasts. They either picked weaker corrupted beasts to crush with overwhelming strength, or formed teams like the gnoll squads, using superior gear and sheer numbers to hunt them down.

But Gurgalu and Hogg Riverclaw were a different case entirely. Wielding the Combat Staff of Caucasus, the Two-Headed Ogre Chieftain was the last person to fear a head-on clash. No matter how powerful the enemy, a single Greater Disjunction would reduce them to ash.

As a result, Gurgalu and the sharp-nosed gnoll chieftain hit it off immediately. They teamed up to hunt corrupted creatures that rivaled the Legendary Rank, with Gurgalu handling combat and Hogg Riverclaw taking charge of tracking.

Thus, this scene unfolded.

In the damp forest, a towering gnoll led the way with his nose twitching, while a terrifying two-headed ogre trailed behind.

Finally, the pair emerged from the trees and spotted a ruined village in a valley.

The village had been reduced to ruins, its houses left as shattered walls. Corpses mangled beyond human recognition lay scattered in rainwater puddles, radiating a putrid stench. Only the crows and flies lingered.

The two monster commanders didn't enter the village. Their attention was drawn to a series of massive footprints on the ground.

The gnoll chieftain glanced at the tracks and spoke.

"Found it! These are the footprints of a corrupted giant lizard!"

The corrupted giant lizard was a corrupted Transcendent Beast with strength rivaling the Legendary Rank. Even before its corruption, it possessed Master Tier power.

Generally, a Transcendent Beast of this caliber had a certain resistance to abyssal demonic energy, making it difficult to infect with low concentrations. But once the infection took hold, the consequences were horrific.

Just three days ago, this corrupted giant lizard slaughtered a small city of several thousand people. Upon hearing the news, Gurgalu and the gnoll rushed over to hunt it down.

Smelling the foul stench in the air, the gnoll spoke calmly.

"These people have been dead for at least two days. The corrupted giant lizard has probably gone far by now."

"No."

The ogre chieftain stared at the footprints stretching toward the horizon.

"After a full meal, it might be resting. Let's track it and see."

The gnoll chieftain nodded. He and the ogre chieftain followed the footprints into the distance.

Before long, the pair reached another forest, only to find that the footprints vanished once they entered the trees.

Garu frowned.

"It actually retained its habit of concealing its tracks. It seems the corrupted giant lizard hasn't entirely lost its mind."

The gnoll chieftain replied calmly.

"But that also means it's nearby, otherwise it wouldn't need to hide them. Watch me find it."

The gnoll chieftain strode onto the grassy forest floor, his nose twitching as he followed the scent deeper into the woods. Gurgalu followed close behind.

After walking for a while, Hogg suddenly halted. He looked back, nodded to Gurgalu, and drew the enchanted spear from his back.

Gurgalu understood, murmuring a magical incantation.

Buffs layered over himself and the gnoll, capped off by a Silent Barrier enveloping them both. The two carefully crept toward the corrupted giant lizard.

Before long, they heard the heavy breathing of a massive sleeping creature.

Cresting a small knoll, Gurgalu spotted a behemoth sleeping below.

Even lying on the ground, the colossal beast stood five meters tall, and its curled-up body stretched ten meters long. Its wrinkled gray skin was covered in twisted black veins. Its massive, triangular head rested on its two claws, and its nearly three-meter-long talons clearly screamed danger.

Within the Silent Barrier, Gur muttered.

"Sleeping pretty soundly, isn't it?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the corrupted giant lizard opened its eyes, revealing diamond-shaped crimson pupils that stared coldly at the two on the knoll.

The gnoll shot Gur a speechless look and stepped back. He was only responsible for leading the way; the fighting was best left to the Ogre.

Roar!

The corrupted giant lizard rose to its feet, throwing its flat jaws wide in a furious bellow, its forked scarlet tongue flicking.

Gurgalu bent his knees to gather power, then violently launched himself into the air. He raised the Combat Staff of Caucasus high, smashing it down at the corrupted giant lizard below.

The corrupted giant lizard threw its head back and gaped its maw, looking as though it were waiting for Gurgalu to jump right in.

Slighted by a mere beast, blood rushed to Gurgalu's head. He let out an angry roar and activated the Dragon Wing Spell bound to his black armor. A pair of massive dragon wings unfurled from the Ogre's back.

With a beat of his dragon wings, Gurgalu forcefully altered his falling trajectory, jumping toward the corrupted giant lizard's back.

The corrupted giant lizard whipped its thick tail, lashing out at the airborne Ogre.

The ogre chieftain sneered, pointing his wooden club of a staff at the incoming massive tail.

Greater Disjunction!

The corrupted giant lizard didn't even have time to shriek. The instant it made contact with the black staff, its colossal body crumbled into fine dust, scattering into the air.

Silent! Deadly!

Gurgalu passed through the dust and landed heavily on the ground. Only a puddle of foul-smelling drool from when the corrupted giant lizard had been sleeping remained to prove it had ever existed.

Up on the hillside, the gnoll chieftain watched in shock. No matter how many times he saw it, a scene like this still left him in awe.

Fortunately, Gurgalu is on our side,

Hogg Riverclaw couldn't help but think to himself.

However, he suddenly thought of a very serious problem.

"Commander Gurgalu, if we do things this way... first, there is no corpse to claim the bounty, and second, we can't harvest any materials from the corrupted beast."

"What are we even doing this for?!"

Hearing the gnoll's shout, Gurgalu awkwardly scratched his head.

"Hmm... that is a problem."