The Giant Monster — Cedric

To be precise, it wasn't a small mountain .

It was a giant alligator snapping turtle instead. 

It stretched over ten meters long, adorned with spikes along its back. Its lifted head resembled a massive boulder, with lantern-sized eyes glowing red.

Slowly, it swam towards the shore.

At this moment, even without Amy's reminder, Enzo sensed the danger.

He immediately commanded, "Retreat! Everyone, move back!"

The group quickly retreated hundreds of meters away.

Before long, the giant reached the shore, revealing its full form to Enzo and his companions.

The crowd was stunned.

On the shore, the colossal form of the giant turtle exuded a tremendous sense of presence and awe.

Fortunately, the giant turtle did not launch an attack.

However, those supernatural crocodiles who fell into a coma suffered. The thick scales had no effect and were easily bitten and swallowed by giant turtles. The fruit juice contained in them also had no effect.

Enzo could even feel the giant turtle's glowing red eyes mocking them, ridiculing their limited intelligence.

In the face of such a colossal creature, their strategies seemed utterly insignificant.

It was infuriating to see the supernatural giant alligator they had worked so hard to obtain being swallowed by the turtle.Anyone would be enraged.

Enzo was no exception.

But it was clear they were no match for the turtle.

Enzo frowned in resignation, issuing the command again, "Return to the tribe."

Yet, before they could take more than a few steps, the ground trembled. The giant turtle, just moments ago calmly feeding, now charged ferociously towards Enzo and his group with incredible speed and immense strength.

"Scatter and evade!" Tia commanded.

Enzo quickly moved to avoid the turtle, but it seemed fixated only on him. It adjusted its course midway and charged once more towards his hiding spot.

"Damn it!" Enzo cursed.

He pushed Clara, who was guarding in front of him, aside and said, "This monster is after me. Take Amy and get away. Use your bows to attack its eyes while I try to distract it."

Clara nodded without objection.

In such critical moments, obeying commands was crucial, and it was currently the best course of action. Nourished by the power of the totem of life, Enzo's physical prowess was no less than Tia's when she tapped into the strength of the boar.

However, his combat skills were slightly weaker.

The giant turtle could sprint in a straight line quickly, but its massive size limited its agility.

With Enzo's current agility, dodging shouldn't have been too difficult.

Yet, Enzo underestimated this particular giant turtle.

Faced with Enzo's continuous evasive maneuvers, the mockery in the giant turtle's eyes became more pronounced. It lifted its massive head and unleashed a gust of wind so powerful that nearby trees snapped and fell, severely limiting Enzo's movements.

Others had to jump down from trees, resulting in several injuries.

"We can't handle this!"

This was the thought that surged through everyone's minds.

Tia, frantic, emitted a shimmering silver light and dashed swiftly towards the giant turtle.

Then, with a swift punch, she struck its head.

The giant turtle's steps halted.

The people were filled with joy, but in the next moment, Tia was sent flying and crashed heavily into a large tree.

Although she was alive, her limbs trembled, making it difficult for her to stand.

Meanwhile, dozens of arrows flew towards the giant turtle.

It closed its eyes, and the arrows bounced harmlessly off its shell, failing to inflict any damage.

"How can such a terrifying creature exist!" Clara cursed, guiding Amy to evade the fallen trees while moving towards Tia's location.

Enzo continued to evade.

This kind of monster was simply beyond what humans could handle.

Not long after, the trees along the edge of the lake were destroyed, leaving a flat expanse. Thanks to Enzo's maneuvers, Clara, Tia, and a few members of the combat team managed to retreat to a safe distance. Amy stayed behind to tend to the injured Tia, while Clara returned towards Enzo's position.

Now, only Enzo and Clara remained in the battlefield.

Seeing that the giant turtle was still relentlessly pursuing them, Enzo paused for a moment. He infused some restored totemic strength into several vine seeds and hurled them towards the turtle's path.

Instantly, the vines grew wildly.

They climbed up the turtle's massive body. However, they only provided a brief obstruction as the vines were torn apart, further enraging the turtle.

At that moment, there was a disturbance in the jungle.

A large swarm of killer bees emerged, attacking the giant turtle.

Jessica, Priest Lucy, and some members of the Venom Tribe ran out.

Jessica called out, "Enzo, come quickly!"

Upon hearing this, Enzo moved towards Jessica and signaled for Clara to follow.

However, even the killer bees couldn't harm the giant turtle.

But the dense swarm of killer bees blocked the giant turtle's vision, making it extremely agitated.

Taking advantage of this moment, Enzo and Clara caught their breath.

Enzo then turned to Jessica and asked, "Jessica, how did you all come here?"

Jessica replied, "The golden leeches in our tribe became highly agitated. Ms. Lucy sensed something was wrong and led us out to investigate. That's when we saw Cedric."

"Cedric?" Enzo and Clara both looked puzzled.

This was a name they had never heard before.

Priest Lucy, controlling the swarm of killer bees, explained, "In this world, while supernatural creatures are powerful, they are not at the pinnacle of the natural hierarchy. Above supernatural beings, there exist even more powerful creatures. That giant turtle—Cedric—is one such creature. In the writings of the Barren Mountain, the name Cedric signifies a colossal turtle resembling a mountain. You can also refer to it as the Giant Mountain Turtle."

Enzo pressed further, "Why did the Giant Mountain Turtle appear here?"

Lucy shook her head and replied, "It didn't appear here. It has always been here. When I led our people to establish the Venom Tribe here, it was sleeping at the bottom of the lake. Something must have awakened it."

Enzo felt somewhat embarrassed.

It was evident that the Giant Mountain Turtle had been drawn by the power of the totems.

Lucy seemed to understand the situation and continued, "Cedric won't remain active for too long, at most about half an hour. After that, it will return to the bottom of the lake to sleep again."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

However, this time, the situation did not unfold as Priest Lucy had guessed.

The Giant Mountain Turtle unleashed another gust of wind from its mouth, dispersing the killer bees and charging once more towards Enzo's direction. Lucy's face turned extremely grave, unable to hold back her question, "What have you done?"

Enzo admitted openly, "It craves my power."

Lucy's expression shifted again.

Craving power?

Cedric, such a colossal entity capable of nearly destroying everything, viewed even supernatural beings as mere food.

Yet Enzo claimed Cedric craved the power within him.

At this moment, Enzo had no reason to lie.

It was at this moment that Priest Lucy put away the arrogance hidden beneath her gentle demeanor and realized that Enzo's totemic power was absolutely unique. It could accelerate Jessica's totemic formation and make Cedric relentlessly pursue. Such a totem was definitely not an ordinary leaf totem!

She had a faint suspicion in her heart.

But now was not the time to discuss this.

Lucy suggested, "Let's leave first. Deep in this jungle, there's a cave that can hide us from Cedric's pursuit."

However, Enzo shook his head and said, "No, I want to give it a try."

After finishing his words, Enzo requested a bow and arrow from Clara. He tied a vine seed filled with totemic power onto the arrow and took aim at Cedric's nostrils — its only vulnerable spot.

Lucy, unsure of Enzo's plan, didn't object.

She continued to manipulate insects with the golden worm, causing distractions nearby.

Seizing the opportunity, Enzo released the arrow.

It flew perfectly, striking directly into Cedric's darkened nasal cavity.

Enzo triggered the totemic power within the vine seed.

The rapidly growing vines sprouted from Cedric's nostrils, causing him to violently shake his head in irritation, unable to shake off the vines.

Though uncomfortable, it wasn't lethal.

After song thought, Enzo decided to take a daring risk.

The potential rewards of slaying the Giant Mountain Turtle were immense.

Ignoring the stunned onlookers, Enzo charged towards the turtle...

As the turtle extended its head, Enzo leaped onto it, grabbing hold of the spreading vines, and then infused all the totemic power into them!