Wukongâs white gauntlet struck Karin. However, not a single shard of light fell from her body! Her body dissolved into a pile of sand instead!
She had learned this spell following her death at Diakâs hands. When hit by a fatal attack, Sand Puppet would replace her body with one made of sand, and would take that attack in her place.
âGood thing I learned it!â
Karin popped out of the sand pile that the Sand Puppet had left behind. Soren immediately cast Acceleration Gate.
âKarin, get out of there now!â
Karin passed through the purple ring, and ran as fast as she could to avoid Wukongâs next attack. However, that attack never came. Wukong had hid himself in the cloud once more! Thus, Karin had lived to fight another day.
Wukongâs cloud began to expand.
âWind magic!â Isher yelled urgently.
The mages picked themselves up, and called upon the wind once more. Karin created another sandstorm.
However, they were off balance now. It was only natural. The female mage, whoâd been most proficient in wind magic, had been killed.
Wukong had acted cleverly. He had been willing to take some hits for a few brief moments if it meant killing the female mage. It had certainly paid off.
At this rate, the cloud would encompass the entire area, which would only make the environment more favorable for Wukong!
âItâs better to get it over with. Letâs enter the tigerâs den,â Bart said. In other words, enter Wukongâs cloud.
It was the best option they had. After all, they couldnât attack Wukong as is. So long as Wukong didnât come out of the cloud, that is. If thatâs the case, then why not attack before the cloud expanded any further?
Kang Oh heavily nodded his head.
If you want to catch a tiger, then you need to venture into its den. Their only other option was running away. However, he couldnât afford to do that. Killing Wukong had 500 million won ($500,000 USD) at stake! It was 500 million for godâs sake!
âIf we enter the cloud, then we wonât be able to cover each other. Itâs time for you to show what youâre made of.â
Kang Oh made his decision.
He was the first one to approach the cloud. Kang Oh could see Wukongâs silhouette within. âIs it the real one, or a fake?â
He wasnât sure if it bode well for him or not, but nothing stopped him from entering the cloud. In fact, it felt like Wukong was welcoming him in.
Saliva went down his dry throat. There was no way of knowing when, where, or how Wukong would attack.
âLetâs go too,â Bart said, and the others entered the cloud one or two at a time.
âTch.â Isher clicked his tongue. He really didnât think going inside was a good idea. He was worried that Wukong would divide and conquer them.
They couldnât clump together either. If they did, a single one of Wukongâs attacks could kill them all.
He was more concerned than excited.
Peopleâs cries rang out. Wukong had begun attacking them in earnest.
âOver there!â Kang Oh quickly ran over to the source of the noise. He was so fast that his black tail swished through the air!
Kang Oh found Wukong. He had wrapped five people up with his black gauntlet.
âHuahk!â Wukong grabbed the rope and threw them.
Two of the players managed to survive by using their survival skills at just the right time. However, the other three werenât so lucky.
Two of them died instantly, and the third was unable to fight; one more attack, and their body turned gray.
Eight team members had died. There were seventeen of them left. However, those eight teammates were all a part of Aresâ Warriors.
Wukong had cleverly aimed for the weakest members of their team; compared to Kang Oh or Bart, Aresâ Warriors were indeed the weakest link.
âYou bastard!â Kang Oh launched an Abyss Claw at him.
Others had heard the commotion, gathered here, and began attacking Wukong.
Karinâs Sand Spear pierced through the air, and Sorenâs gravity magic pushed Wukong down. You couldnât exclude Sephiro and Dambiâs arrows either.
Wukongâs white gauntlet radiated light. His cloud wasnât just used for concealment purposes. It helped to replenish his HP, caused attacks to miss, and increased his defense. Above all, it completely erased his presence!
Thus, Sephiro, Dambi, and other archers couldnât track him with their detection skills.
Anyhow, they did manage to land some attacks on him, but the cloud reduced the damage significantly.
After that, Isher, the tanks, Bart, Mulan, and Viper closed in, and engaged in close quarters combat.
Bart used Swift Slash, a combination of the Swordsman skill, Steel Slash, and the Archer skill, Swiftness.
Viper used Mutilator, while Mulan used Wolfâs Hunt and created a group of silver/gold wolves.
Then, Wukong roared and swung his fists one after another.
His fists already held considerable power, but they also unleashed a shockwave on the third strike. It was his black gauntletâs final ability.
When attacking with oneâs fists, there was a certain chance that the gauntlets would unleash a rippling shockwave.
Isher raised his giant shield and managed to hold his ground, but everyone else nearby had lost their balance.
The healers acted quickly. They cast healing spells and barriers. Karin also created sand coffins in front of her teammates.
However, their efforts were in vain.
âUha!â Wukong mercilessly stomped on the floor with both feet, as if he were stomping on bugs.
The barriers and the sand coffins crumbled, and their teammates were flattened like pancakes.
âAttack!â Sephiro yelled. He was urging his fellow damage dealers to take action.
Waryong spewed flames in the shape of a flaming arrow.
A flaming arrow pierced through the cloud like a fire bird! Dambiâs Arrow Hell came right after.
Then, a second arrow came flying. That arrow turned into three, then four, then six. Arrow Hell had caused a rapid proliferation of arrows.
Karinâs Shining Sand Spear and Sorenâs Gravity Cannon hit Wukong dead on too.
Wukongâs white and black gauntlets shined simultaneously.
A black silhouette popped out, concealing Wukongâs body.
The white-furred Wukong faded away, and then completely disappeared. All that was left was the prone forms of the deceased tanks.
Wukongâs cloud covered the entirety of the Stone Monkeyâs Hideout. It was definitely bad news for Kang Ohâs raid team.
Kang Oh stayed a certain distance away from his teammates, and waited for Wukong to show up.
At some point, a silhouette appeared from within the clouds.
The team reacted immediately.
âStop!â Kang Oh and Bart simultaneously yelled. âThatâs bait!â, the two of them thought.
They were absolutely correct.
A bright yellow Ray of Destruction pierced through the cloud.
âIâll stop it!â Isherâs shield unfurled its four wings.
Legendary Protectorâs Shield!
Kang Oh and Bart instinctively launched attacks at the area where the Ray of Destruction came from.
Bart combined Homing Arrow and Lightning Spear to create a Homing Lightning Arrow!
However, Wukong wasnât there. Kang Oh and Bartâs skills disappeared within the clouds and exploded.
Wukong actually had a special ability that no one else had.
When he uses Ray of Destruction, he can turn it 90 degrees just once!
This knowledge wasnât known to the masses, so Kang Oh and Bart assumed that Wukong had to be behind the Ray of Destruction. However, the Ray of Destruction was also just bait!
The real Wukong⌠was someplace else. All of a sudden, he popped out of the clouds.
No one managed to react properly. No, they didnât have the time to respond.
The black gauntletâs ropes caught five people. At least the rope could only wrap around a maximum of five people at once; if it didnât have such a restriction, then theyâd be screwed. Then again, they were still screwed regardless.
Wukong pulled on the rope, and threw the five away.
The five players died instantly, making a sound akin to a watermelon breaking. They werenât players thatâd normally be defeated this easily.
But Wukong was in a league of his own. Plus, he was intelligent too!
Heâd gotten them good. However, it was already spilt milk. They began to attack Wukong once more.
Wukong must be having a blast ambushing them and playing them for fools.
âHahaha.â Wukong laughed wickedly, and vanished within the clouds once more.
âYou damn monkey!â Kang Oh cursed automatically. Who cares if he was recording? He couldnât help it.
In a game, players were the hunters, and monsters were the prey. Monsters were a good source of protein, no, experience points. But occasionally, this relationship would be turned on its head.
Whenever Wukong left his cloud to hunt, he would whittle away at Kang Ohâs team one by one.
Aresâ Warriors had died, and Soren and Sephiro had died too.
Soren was crushed by a boulder Wukong had thrown, and Sephiro had died after shooting one of Wukongâs eyes.
They only had one healer left. She was a priestess that served the God of War and Victory, Rakan.
Their team had been reduced to ten members total. Despite that, they still had hope. Kang Oh, Bart, Viper, Mulan, Karin, and Dambi could do enough damage to finish Wukong. After all, theyâd dealt a ton of damage to him despite their losses.
Unfortunately, they didnât have a way of safely dealing damage to him.
âHeâs a lot stronger than they say.â Kang Oh gritted his teeth.
There werenât a lot of monsters as strong and as fast as Wukong. Scratch that. There werenât any. In other words, Wukongâs very existence made him overpowered!
To add to that, Wukong fought cleverly.
It made sense that the 5 great guilds couldnât take him down. If you made a countermeasure for a certain attack pattern, then heâd laugh wickedly, switch things up, and mock you. That was Wukong in a nutshell!
He was a master of taking advantage of his enemiesâ weaknesses. Wukong seemed smart too, which could be attributed to him being a monkey.
However, Kang Oh had faith in one thing. The skills of the elites heâd gathered here!
He believed that Bart, Viper, Mulan, Dambi, Karin, and even Isher wouldnât go down without a fight! And it also felt like they still had something up their sleeves!
âIf things go our way just once, thenâŚâ Kang Ohâs eyes gleamed. He only needed one shot. Thereâs no way heâd let that opportunity go. And he knew how he could turn things in their favor.
âMr. Bart,â Kang Oh whispered.
âBased on what weâve seen thus far, Wukong will definitely aim for our last priest.â
âThatâs when weâll take him down.â
Kang Ohâs idea was quickly transmitted to his teammates as well.
The priestess, who was the last person to hear the news, bit her lip. She would be targeted soon. However, she soon sported a resolute expression, and clasped her hands in prayer.
âPlease give me strength and courage!â
Her body glowed with faint light.
All of a sudden, they saw a silhouette. There was no way of knowing whether it was the real Wukong, or a fake created by his gauntlet. The Ray of Destruction wouldnât help them either. Through a teammateâs sacrifice, they realized that the Ray of Destruction could bend.
It was the real deal. As expected, he aimed for the priestess.
Now!â Kang Oh yelled. âThis is our last chance to take him down!â