Dungeon Predator (WN)

Whack!

Wukong's white gauntlet struck Karin. However, not a single shard of light fell from her body! Her body dissolved into a pile of sand instead!

Sand Puppet!

She had learned this spell following her death at Diak's 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.

'Good thing I learned it!'

Karin popped out of the sand pile that the Sand Puppet had left behind. Soren immediately cast Acceleration Gate.

"Karin, get out of there now!"

Karin passed through the purple ring, and ran as fast as she could to avoid Wukong's next attack. However, that attack never came. Wukong had hid himself in the cloud once more! Thus, Karin had lived to fight another day.

A short while later...

Wukong's cloud began to expand.

"Wind magic!" 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, who'd 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!

"It's better to get it over with. Let's enter the tiger's den," Bart said. In other words, enter Wukong's cloud.

It was the best option they had. After all, they couldn't attack Wukong as is. So long as Wukong didn't come out of the cloud, that is. If that's the case, then why not attack before the cloud expanded any further?

Kang Oh heavily nodded his head.

Bart was right.

If you want to catch a tiger, then you need to venture into its den. Their only other option was running away. However, he couldn't afford to do that. Killing Wukong had 500 million won ($500,000 USD) at stake! It was 500 million for god's sake!

"If we enter the cloud, then we won't be able to cover each other. It's time for you to show what you're made of."

Kang Oh made his decision.

He was the first one to approach the cloud. Kang Oh could see Wukong's silhouette within. 'Is it the real one, or a fake?'

He wasn't 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.

Gulp.

Saliva went down his dry throat. There was no way of knowing when, where, or how Wukong would attack.

"Let's go too," Bart said, and the others entered the cloud one or two at a time.

"Tch." Isher clicked his tongue. He really didn't think going inside was a good idea. He was worried that Wukong would divide and conquer them.

They couldn't clump together either. If they did, a single one of Wukong's attacks could kill them all.

'This isn't good.'

He was more concerned than excited.

* * *

"Gyahk!"

"Ugh."

People's cries rang out. Wukong had begun attacking them in earnest.

'Over there!' Kang Oh quickly ran over to the source of the noise. He was so fast that his black tail swished through the air!

A short while later...

Kang Oh found Wukong. He had wrapped five people up with his black gauntlet.

"Huahk!" Wukong grabbed the rope and threw them.

Bam!

Two of the players managed to survive by using their survival skills at just the right time. However, the other three weren't 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 Ares' Warriors.

Wukong had cleverly aimed for the weakest members of their team; compared to Kang Oh or Bart, Ares' Warriors were indeed the weakest link.

"You bastard!" Kang Oh launched an Abyss Claw at him.

Others had heard the commotion, gathered here, and began attacking Wukong.

Karin's Sand Spear pierced through the air, and Soren's gravity magic pushed Wukong down. You couldn't exclude Sephiro and Dambi's arrows either.

Wukong's white gauntlet radiated light. His cloud wasn't 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 couldn't 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 Wolf's Hunt and created a group of silver/gold wolves.

Kuhahk!

Then, Wukong roared and swung his fists one after another.

Monkey King's Fist!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

His fists already held considerable power, but they also unleashed a shockwave on the third strike. It was his black gauntlet's final ability.

Storm Bringing Fist!

When attacking with one's 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.

"I need healing!"

"I need protection!"

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.

"Uha!" Wukong mercilessly stomped on the floor with both feet, as if he were stomping on bugs.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The barriers and the sand coffins crumbled, and their teammates were flattened like pancakes.

"Attack!" Sephiro yelled. He was urging his fellow damage dealers to take action.

Gyaa!

Waryong spewed flames in the shape of a flaming arrow.

Fire Dragon's Arrow!

A flaming arrow pierced through the cloud like a fire bird! Dambi's Arrow Hell came right after.

Intense flames surged.

Then, a second arrow came flying. That arrow turned into three, then four, then six. Arrow Hell had caused a rapid proliferation of arrows.

Karin's Shining Sand Spear and Soren's Gravity Cannon hit Wukong dead on too.

Wukong's white and black gauntlets shined simultaneously.

Silhouette!

A black silhouette popped out, concealing Wukong's body.

At the same time...

Cloud Concealment!

The white-furred Wukong faded away, and then completely disappeared. All that was left was the prone forms of the deceased tanks.

* * *

Wukong's cloud covered the entirety of the Stone Monkey's Hideout. It was definitely bad news for Kang Oh's 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.

"Att...!"

The team reacted immediately.

"Stop!" Kang Oh and Bart simultaneously yelled. 'That's bait!', the two of them thought.

They were absolutely correct.

Bam!

A bright yellow Ray of Destruction pierced through the cloud.

"I'll stop it!" Isher's shield unfurled its four wings.

Legendary Protector's Shield!

Kang Oh and Bart instinctively launched attacks at the area where the Ray of Destruction came from.

Tempest Tiger!

Bart combined Homing Arrow and Lightning Spear to create a Homing Lightning Arrow!

However, Wukong wasn't there. Kang Oh and Bart's skills disappeared within the clouds and exploded.

'What's going on?'

Wukong actually had a special ability that no one else had.

Refraction!

When he uses Ray of Destruction, he can turn it 90 degrees just once!

This knowledge wasn't 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 didn't have the time to respond.

The black gauntlet's ropes caught five people. At least the rope could only wrap around a maximum of five people at once; if it didn't have such a restriction, then they'd be screwed. Then again, they were still screwed regardless.

Wukong pulled on the rope, and threw the five away.

Crack! Boom!

The five players died instantly, making a sound akin to a watermelon breaking. They weren't players that'd normally be defeated this easily.

But Wukong was in a league of his own. Plus, he was intelligent too!

"Damn it!"

He'd 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.

"Hahaha." Wukong laughed wickedly, and vanished within the clouds once more.

"You damn monkey!" Kang Oh cursed automatically. Who cares if he was recording? He couldn't 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.

Like right now.

Whenever Wukong left his cloud to hunt, he would whittle away at Kang Oh's team one by one.

Ares' 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 Wukong's 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, they'd dealt a ton of damage to him despite their losses.

Unfortunately, they didn't have a way of safely dealing damage to him.

'He's a lot stronger than they say.' Kang Oh gritted his teeth.

There weren't a lot of monsters as strong and as fast as Wukong. Scratch that. There weren't any. In other words, Wukong's very existence made him overpowered!

To add to that, Wukong fought cleverly.

It made sense that the 5 great guilds couldn't take him down. If you made a countermeasure for a certain attack pattern, then he'd laugh wickedly, switch things up, and mock you. That was Wukong in a nutshell!

He was a master of taking advantage of his enemies' 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 he'd gathered here!

He believed that Bart, Viper, Mulan, Dambi, Karin, and even Isher wouldn't go down without a fight! And it also felt like they still had something up their sleeves!

'If things go our way just once, then...' Kang Oh's eyes gleamed. He only needed one shot. There's no way he'd let that opportunity go. And he knew how he could turn things in their favor.

"Mr. Bart," Kang Oh whispered.

"Yes."

"Based on what we've seen thus far, Wukong will definitely aim for our last priest."

"It's likely."

"That's when we'll take him down."

"Understood."

Kang Oh's 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.

"Lord Rakan!"

'Please give me strength and courage!'

Her body glowed with faint light.

Bam.

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 wouldn't help them either. Through a teammate's sacrifice, they realized that the Ray of Destruction could bend.

Bam!

It was the real deal. As expected, he aimed for the priestess.

Now!" Kang Oh yelled. 'This is our last chance to take him down!'