Logan and Zhu Peiniang ultimately suffered from their disadvantage in size.
Although Logan's limbs were thick and well-developed, and his strength was not inferior to the Tobi-Kadachi's, his body weight was far less. This led to the situation where, when the Tobi-Kadachi suddenly exerted force and violently swung its massive body, Logan—who had been momentarily careless—was directly flung away.
After breaking free, the Tobi-Kadachi quickly leaped several times in succession. In the blink of an eye, it reached a sturdy large tree. Using the rough, cracked bark, it swiftly climbed up like an agile squirrel. Then, it hung upside down from the trunk, looking down at Logan and Zhu Peiniang from above.
The flowing blood stained its disheveled fur with large patches of mottled pale red, making it look quite wretched. The claw mark on its face ran straight across its entire visage, nearly blinding one of its eyes.
The Tobi-Kadachi's chest heaved violently. Its eyes, already reddened from anger, became bloodshot under the dual stimulation of rage and pain. The two rows of sharp electrode spines on its back stood erect amid the bristled fur. Under the discharge effect at their tips, clear arcs of electricity bloomed, crackling and flashing.
Logan stuck out his tongue, slowly licking the blood at the corner of his mouth as he silently watched the Tobi-Kadachi repeatedly rubbing its tail against the trunk, seemingly accumulating an even stronger current.
To him, this phenomenon was truly puzzling. The principle of generating electricity through friction was easy to understand, but in reality, it was a method with extremely low energy conversion efficiency.
It was like rubbing a ruler against hair to produce static electricity—the proportion of kinetic energy converted to electrical energy was not even 1%. Even under the most ideal extreme conditions, the maximum conversion efficiency through friction was only around 80-90%.
Judging from the Tobi-Kadachi's behavior of rubbing against the tree trunk, the generated electricity should not even be enough to light a household bulb, yet it was producing such a powerful current right now.
Perhaps the friction was merely a trigger, and what was truly being converted into electricity was the electromagnetic energy in the environment, along with the ubiquitous bioenergy of the New World?
Logan couldn't figure it out, nor did he intend to dwell on it. Instead, he took the opportunity to regulate his breathing, preparing for an even fiercer assault. The lingering blood of the Tobi-Kadachi at the corner of his mouth tasted exceptionally delicious to him, seeming to promote his physical development beneficially.
After all, as the old saying goes, you are what you eat. As fellow creatures capable of manipulating electricity, the Tobi-Kadachi's body undoubtedly contained elements beneficial to power-generating organs—perhaps some special neural structures or rare trace metals.
In any case, Logan was determined not to let this Tobi-Kadachi go, and he had no worry that it could escape. Together with Zhu Peiniang, one on the left and one on the right, they steadily blocked the Tobi-Kadachi's retreat paths.
He was in no hurry to launch an attack, because time was on his side. Not only because his injuries were lighter and he had lost less blood, but more importantly, that powerful current generated through friction definitely could not be sustained for long.
Sure enough, when the electricity coursing around the Tobi-Kadachi reached a certain peak, it suddenly pounced down from the tree, charging straight at Zhu Peiniang, who appeared smaller in size. The earlier battle had made it recognize reality—it no longer harbored hopes of capturing prey and only wanted to break through the encirclement and escape quickly.
Compared to the Tobi-Kadachi, which was over 13 meters long, Zhu Peiniang was only about 5 meters, appearing petite and delicate. However, her proportions were far more robust, like the contrast between a slender fanged wyvern and a burly brute wyvern. Facing the incoming pounce, Zhu Peiniang fiercely shook the erect mane on her body and charged forward without hesitation.
In just a single exchange, Zhu Peiniang was directly sent flying, tumbling heavily into a tree behind her. But with this brief delay, Logan had already pounced over. He reared up his upper body like a human, standing upright, and violently swung his thick right claw.
Having learned from before, the Tobi-Kadachi was unwilling to engage in close-quarters melee with Logan again. It nimbly sidestepped backward to dodge. Logan pursued closely from behind. Just as the Tobi-Kadachi attempted to repeat its old trick and climb a large tree, Logan suddenly whipped his tail.
Several white streaks seemed to flash through the air in an instant, followed by a crisp explosive sound echoing out. The Tobi-Kadachi, busy climbing upward, had no time to react to what had happened. It only felt a sudden intense pain in its extended foreclaw, and a spray of blood burst forth.
A feathered scale nearly a foot long had pierced through the scales on its forearm, embedding deeply into the flesh. The tail end was still trembling slightly, bringing not only excruciating pain but also waves of numbness.
"Tsk! I missed—the accuracy is a bit low. Only one out of five scales hit."
Thin white mist lingered around Logan's tail, but it was rapidly dissipating with time.
He had originally aimed for the Tobi-Kadachi's head, but the trajectory inexplicably deviated after whipping his tail. Fortunately, the result was still acceptable—he had successfully crippled the Tobi-Kadachi's most powerful mobility.
The feathered scale lodged in the Tobi-Kadachi's flesh would not easily dislodge. With every movement the Tobi-Kadachi made, it would continuously tear the surrounding tissue. Moreover, the toxin it carried would paralyze nerves and impair blood clotting, causing the wound to bleed incessantly.
In this world's monsters, bodies were tough enough—if it were an ordinary creature, that single strike might have pierced straight through the foreclaw. But Logan was no less impressive; the thickest parts of his scales exceeded two centimeters, with performance far surpassing steel of the same volume. Ordinary firearm bullets would simply ricochet off.
Logan gave the Tobi-Kadachi no chance to catch its breath and pounced fiercely once more. Soon, the two giant beasts were tangled in combat again, rolling and fighting on the ground.
Driven into a corner, the Tobi-Kadachi fully unleashed its ferocity. Electricity surged chaotically over its body as it madly counterattacked without regard, tearing, biting, slapping, and ramming. For a time, scales and fur flew everywhere, blood splattering in all directions. Zhu Peiniang quickly arrived from the side, harassing from the periphery and occasionally tearing at the Tobi-Kadachi's broad tail.
This brutal fight flattened large patches of shrubs on the ground, and falling leaves were dyed crimson. It only gradually came to an end when Logan's thick canine teeth pierced through the Tobi-Kadachi's throat.
A pale blue text flashed before his eyes: Hunted Tobi-Kadachi, Evolution Points +7.
Only then did Logan release his tightly clamped jaws. A large gush of hot blood poured into his mouth, which he swallowed directly, staining his forest-white teeth a deep red.
Next came harvest time. For creatures like Logan and Zhu Peiniang, the meat of an electricity-based monster like the Tobi-Kadachi was an absolute rare tonic. To eat it at its freshest, Logan didn't even bother treating his own wounds. He directly used his sharp wrist blade to slice open the Tobi-Kadachi's abdomen and began devouring it ravenously.
No matter when, nutrient-rich organs were always the most succulent and the first to be enjoyed. As the Tobi-Kadachi's heart, liver, and other parts entered the stomachs of Logan and Zhu Peiniang, another pale blue text flashed before Logan's eyes: Consumed Tobi-Kadachi, Evolution Points +5.
---