The entire head of the Wood Puppet Monster was engulfed in roaring flames, from the inside out.
"Ah… ah... ah..."
The agonizing pain from the inside caused it to let out piercing screams.
"You little bastard, you tricked me…you tricked me…ah…ah..."
The Wood Puppet Monster's legs had just been injured by the torch, rendering them immobile, but the pain from the head made it struggle and roar continuously, the large sword wildly striking the ground, naturally aiming for Bruce who it had already flung away.
Boom… boom… boom…
It frantically swung at Bruce, each strike making the ground of the entire valley tremble endlessly, while its mouth incessantly emitted cries of pain and venomous curses:
"Tricked me… you little bastard, how dare you trick me… ah…"
The air waves created by the ten-meter-long sword's swings almost plowed through the entire valley floor.
Although Bruce was its sole target, everyone else, whether it was Lex, Matthew, George's four men, or even Clark and Tony far away, all frantically scattered and evaded.
If the others were in such a state, Bruce, being the target, had it even worse.
Bruce stumbled and dodged in desperation, not daring to look back at the Wood Puppet Monster, but sensing the decreasing strength of its sword strikes, a hint of a cold smile crept across his slightly pale face.
Others might not understand the Wood Puppet Monster's frenzy, but he knew.
The Wood Puppet Monster was talking about Solidified Fire Oil!
From the beginning, when entering the valley, Bruce was aware that every move they made was likely being observed by the enemy.
So he didn't take out the Solidified Fire Oil right away to confront them, but followed George and the others into the wooden cabin.
What happened afterward in the wooden cabin was exactly as he expected: the Wood Puppet Monster used those fake puppets mixed in with real people to deplete his Solidified Fire Oil.
This undoubtedly further confirmed that the enemy greatly feared the Solidified Fire Oil.
At that moment, Bruce deliberately concealed the fact that he had brought four pieces of Solidified Fire Oil with him this time.
He had given one to Charlie earlier, and he still had three on him, but he told George he only had two.
In fact, those words were intentionally said for the Wood Puppet Monster to hear.
And when they reached the outside, after the Giant Wooden Puppet had expended those two pieces of Solidified Fire Oil, the Wood Puppet Monster revealed itself.
At that point, Bruce realized that the lie he had previously told had taken effect.
From observing how the Wood Puppet Monster could simultaneously handle all seven of them without losing ground, one could infer it was purposely tangled with Lex and Matthew on the mountaintop.
It wasn't afraid of the two of them, but of the Solidified Fire Oil.
Yet, one must admit, the Wood Puppet Monster was excessively cautious.
Even when it appeared, it didn't dare assert that Bruce truly had no more Solidified Fire Oil.
Hence, when besieged by the seven and forced into a corner, it chose to break through near George and Matthew rather than Bruce.
But this made Bruce all the more certain of his earlier suspicions.
The torch was Bruce's final test.
When approaching the Wood Puppet Monster's legs, Bruce didn't take out the Solidified Fire Oil because he knew the Wood Puppet Monster could separate any part of its body at will.
So he used the torch, intending to make the Wood Puppet Monster lower its guard.
Everything Bruce did was to lull the Wood Puppet Monster into a false sense of security, buying himself the chance to approach its head.
The Wood Puppet Monster used those transparent White Threads to control other puppets, and the puppets they previously faced, including the Giant Wooden Puppet, had the densest threads in the head.
Moreover, George completely dealt with the Giant Wooden Puppet by injecting Solidified Fire Oil into its head.
So the head was probably the Wood Puppet Monster's weak point.
"Ah... ah..."
As the flames on the head grew more intense, the Wood Puppet Monster's shrieks grew louder, and its Black Blade strikes on Bruce began to miss, even halting.
The fleeing Bruce finally had a chance to catch his breath.
Taking in the twisted and struggling form of the Wood Puppet Monster, he turned to look at the massive sword wound on his shoulder, nearly exposing the bone, eyes still filled with fear.
Evading that slash just now wasn't so simple.
Though he completely avoided the Black Blade, the shockwave from the slash still struck him.
Had the shockwave moved another inch toward his neck, he wouldn't have survived.
Just when everyone thought they could sit back and watch the flames finally incinerate the Wood Puppet Monster, Lex moved.
A glint of excitement flashed in his eyes as he shouted to Matthew.
"Matthew, join me, let's kill it!"
Matthew was similarly excited, a gleam of anticipation in his eyes, as he charged with Lex towards the burning Wood Puppet Monster.
Witnessing their actions, George's eyes flickered but he said nothing.
Meanwhile, Bruce also felt a stirring, but grasping the wound on his shoulder, he glanced at Tony, Clark, and the other five people beside him, hesitated for a moment, then didn't move.
"Those two get all the glory."
Killing the Wood Puppet Monster definitely has immense benefits.
When Bruce first heard about Lex and Matthew's affairs from William, he only had some initial guesses.
But after seeing Lex and Matthew with his own eyes, forming an impression of them, his illusions about Manhattan Town shattered, and Bruce was almost certain.
These two, clearly, are not good people, nor do they seem like warm-hearted individuals.
They wouldn't risk their lives to kill monsters without expecting any reward, just for the sake of irrelevant people around Redwood Ridge.
With their personalities, they would never do such a thing.
So, the only explanation is that killing the Wood Puppet Monster has benefits.
Moreover, Bruce also noticed George's change in expression just now.
No surprise, George is also aware of this.
While Bruce was contemplating, Lex and Matthew had already climbed onto the Wood Puppet Monster's head.
Lex raised the silver longsword in his hand and frantically stabbed at the already fragmented head of the Wood Puppet Monster, almost turning its interior upside down.
The silver longsword proved effective; with each stab, the massive body of the Wood Puppet Monster trembled incessantly, obviously in great pain.
The Wood Puppet Monster could no longer scream; it was extremely weak, clearly reaching the end of its strength.
"Kekeke, I'm going… I'm going… even if I die, I won't let you have it easy, kekeke…"
Everyone's faces changed drastically; no one expected that the Wood Puppet Monster, whose head was almost half burnt away, could still speak.
Its voice was extremely weak, yet the venom and hatred in its tone sent shivers down everyone's spine.
"Die, die, come die with me…"
The Wood Puppet Monster roared to the sky, stirring the surrounding smoke, instantly causing the entire sky over the valley to change color, the earth trembling without end.
Lex and Matthew, the closest to the Wood Puppet Monster, had already sensed something was wrong and frantically fled towards the rock wall on the right side of the valley.
"Stick to the wall, retreat, run outside, quickly!"
George turned and shouted to the large group of people on the west side of the valley, then led Lucas and the others to flee towards the left rock wall.
The large group on the west side of the valley, about a hundred people, included ordinary people previously rescued from the wooden house by George and Bruce, as well as people from the camps of Benhong and others.
Upon hearing George's shout, the hundred-odd people immediately split into three groups by position, running towards the left and right sides of the valley and the western valley entrance.
The debris pile at the valley entrance had just been chopped open by the Wood Puppet Monster, revealing the entrance.
Bruce and the others were just on this western side, so they also ran towards the entrance.
Boom…
Unfortunately, just as they hadn't run far, the Wood Puppet Monster exploded.
Its more than twenty meters high body was filled with corpses from Rogel Camp.
With the explosion, all the broken bodies turned into a rain of flesh, scattering across the valley floor.
Even the walls were stained blood red.
The power of the explosion imbued the flying flesh with terrifying force, killing many ordinary people who were too slow to dodge, even catapulting some from the Axeheart Realm over ten meters away, leaving them coughing blood endlessly.
The Wood Puppet Monster's dying blow left cries of anguish throughout the valley once again.
At the west side entrance, Bruce, hiding behind a large rock, glanced back at the five from Tony, finding only Clint and Clark slightly injured, feeling grateful.
Then he stood up, looking at the now completely disappeared massive body of the Wood Puppet Monster, finally able to breathe a true sigh of relief.
"This Wood Puppet Monster, could it self-destruct?"
Before Bruce could fully process this confusion, two voices interrupted him.
"Self-destruct? Monsters can self-destruct?"
"This beast, it even had this trick up its sleeve!"
Lex and Matthew, who were the first to reach the Wood Puppet Monster's self-destruct location, were rummaging through the remnants, looking extremely grim and slightly angry.
Bruce was stunned, immediately furrowing his brow, deep in thought.
Even they didn't know that monsters could self-destruct?
Bruce certainly wouldn't doubt them; in terms of understanding monsters, Lex and Matthew were undoubtedly far superior to people like himself.
"Let's get out first; the smell inside the cave might take a long time to clear."
"The mountaintop seems to be shaking; we can't stay here."
"Yes, let's get out quickly, or falling rocks could kill us!"
No, wait!
Bruce suddenly lifted his head, looking behind him; not only those who had just fled to the cave entrance, but also those hiding by the rock walls on both sides, were all heading out of the cave entrance.
"We can't leave, no one can leave the valley!"
Bruce shouted, causing the hundred or so people already inside the passage, about to leave the cave, to stop immediately.
On the other side, Lex, Matthew, and George, upon hearing Bruce's shout, were stunned for a moment but soon reacted, their faces changing sharply, running quickly towards the west cave entrance, shouting together with Bruce:
"We can't leave the valley, indeed!"
"No one is allowed to leave."
"Everyone stop, don't move."
If monster self-destruction defies logic and habit, it proves that the Wood Puppet Monster did that on purpose.
Creating such a scene before death, merely out of spite?
With the Wood Puppet Monster's cautious and cunning nature, Bruce immediately sensed a problem, noting that the explosion just now killed many ordinary people.
Killing and then disguising as the dead, the Wood Puppet Monster could swiftly accomplish this.
Without a doubt, that Wood Puppet Monster likely wasn't completely dead.
Most likely, it's hiding among the group at the cave entrance.
Unclear about the Wood Puppet Monster's current state, Bruce didn't rashly rush into the crowd at the cave entrance, instead slowly approaching, waiting until Lex, Matthew, and George came over before walking to the passage entrance together.
Keep in mind, Rogel Camp's valley passage is a full thirty meters long; the hundred or so people crowded in earlier hadn't completely blocked it, but took up a substantial portion.
"Everyone get back, move back one by one, don't panic!"
Lex was anxious, ordering everyone to retreat back into the valley through the tunnel.
The ordinary people obediently headed back.
But suddenly, a voice came from the back of the crowd.
"Someone's still trying to get out, stop, brother!"
Upon hearing this, Bruce and the others inside the cave turned pale.
The tunnel was only thirty meters long; no one could fail to hear their words.
The one still rushing out at this time could only be the Wood Puppet Monster!
"Get out of my way!"
Matthew roared, ignoring the people blocking the entrance, lunging forward, scattering them all aside.
Lex was even faster, leaping forward, stepping on people's heads, charging into the tunnel.
As the crowd dispersed, Bruce and the trio with George quickly followed.
"Ah…"
But just as they entered the cave entrance, a pitiful weak scream sounded from outside.
It was the Wood Puppet Monster's cry.
"You little bastard, stop it now!"
Bruce suddenly remembered something, his expression froze for a moment, then upon hearing Matthew's furious shout from behind, he sped up, rushing outside.