Elite monsters appearing in groups? It was never heard of, yet these players encountered such a thing! Had their luck run out?
The Shield Knight was on the verge of collapsing. No wonder his party members would give up at such a critical moment.
If another bandit leader came by, or two if they were extremely unlucky, there was still hope to turn this around by utilizing the bait-and-stall tactic. They could have killed the bandit leader with the lowest HP first and then escape the other. The worst-case scenario would be to sacrifice one or two party members.
However, with 11 bandit leaders appearing all of a sudden, even if each member lured one away, they were still outnumbered by the bandit leaders. They would not even have the chance to escape.
It was not about misfortune anymore.
Killing a single bandit leader was difficult enough. The Shield Knight really hoped that the group of bandit leaders was just passing by. However, when he saw the group of bandit leaders jump on his party members and tear them to shreds easily, he knew it was wishful thinking.
“A group of Elites has appeared in the Monolith Stronghold!”
Soon enough, the video of 11 bandit leaders running rampant in the area appeared in the game forum. Players in Guggenheim who were browsing the forum noticed the thread right away.
“Holy sh*t! This is grand! I’ve never seen this before!”
“I wonder how many items will they drop if we can kill all of them?”
“Keep dreaming! You will be lucky enough if you can escape alive!”
“Speaking of which, isn’t the bandit leader in the Monolith Stronghold a little too strong? He’s a lot stronger than the other Elite monsters of the same level.”
Everyone was in awe when they watched the video in the thread. The players that Mohai killed for XP commented furiously and complained about the imbalance of strength.
In other places, whenever players discovered an Elite monster, they would be eager to take it down for better loot, but in the Monolith Stronghold, everyone would run for their lives.
Now, with a group of Elites appearing, most of the players gave up on the thought of killing them because being able to escape in one piece was lucky enough.
“The one at the front, is he the one?”
As for WhiteNightFirefly and the others who had made multiple contacts with Mohai and lost something in the process, they could not help but wonder when they saw the video.
“It’s him! I’m sure it’s him!”
Only FallenMoon and LadyDragon, who had witnessed Mohai’s evolution from the start, were sure of it. After all, Mohai had left a deep impression on them. Even though all the bandit leaders looked more or less the same, the ladies were able to quickly recognize him.
‘Are all the other Elites under his command?’ They could not help but wonder.
As they pondered about this bandit leader, who was once hired by other players to ambush GrayFox, maybe the two of them were able to understand something different.
…
[Activity log]
[Bandit goon No. 14’s template has leveled up]
[Loyalty]: +2
After 13 bandit goons evolved into bandit leaders, the Ruler ability also reached Rank E.
[Ruler]: Rank E. You have a better ruling over your men. Number of subordinates increased by 30%, HP of subordinates increased by 20%, Physical and Magical Attacks of subordinates increased by 20%.
Rank E Ruler! Mohai did not know whether to cry or laugh at the ability after he read through the description.
It was not because the ability did not meet his expectation. On quite the contrary, Rank E Ruler was so powerful that it rendered Mohai speechless. The reason why he had a mixed feeling about the ability was the 20% increase in his subordinate’s HP. After the 20% increase, No. 13’s HP was already better than his own.
If Mohai’s gears were any worse, his Attack would be behind No. 13 as well.
A subordinate being stronger than the leader? Something as ridiculous as this could probably only happen to Mohai in the whole game.
‘Two more.’
Mohai glanced over at his excited subordinates behind him.
The sky was getting dark and the temperature in the game was dropping, but it did not stop the commotion in the Monolith Stronghold!
….
Night arrived. The Monolith Stronghold returned to its peaceful state. There were fewer players and monsters compared to the day. Even the buzzes of the summer bugs could be heard in the air.
All of a sudden, a ball of fire broke the silence of the Monolith Stronghold.
The ball of fire came from a blazing humanoid figure which was no stranger to the monsters of the Monolith Stronghold. It was none other than one of the four Fiery Demons beside the Magma Golem.
They had once seen the Fiery Demon picking a fight with a bandit leader in the Monolith Stronghold, and ever since that night, that bandit leader stopped respawning.
“You, you, and you! After Lord Fiery Demon destroys that fool who disobeys the Magma Lord, you must snatch the mission scroll from him! You will be rewarded if you get it, but if you fail, don’t blame me for what happens then.”
Beside the Fiery Demon was the Fire Raven who went to negotiate with Mohai earlier in the day. Other than the Fire Raven, there were three more bandit leaders on their side.
Given the previous example, the three bandit leaders dared not defy the Fire Raven’s command. They nodded nervously and repeatedly.
“Still not going there yet?” The Fiery Demon was running out of patience.
After the Fiery Demon left Magma Zone, the lava on his body dripped as he moved and his powers decreased over time. However, no matter how weak he got, killing a bandit leader with almost no Magic Defense was simple. Still, the feeling of weakening was uncomfortable.
“Don’t worry. We will be there soon. It won’t take long,” consoled the Fire Raven. It knew that the Fiery Demon was a hot-tempered one.
It was not bluffing though as they would soon reach Mohai’s den.
“Come out, you little b*stard! This is the last chance from the great Magma Lord. Hand over the mission scroll and we will spare your puny life. Otherwise, you will disappear from the Monolith Stronghold tonight!” Fire Raven cawed loudly at the den.
They were all monsters, hence no vision was needed. Fire Raven’s aggro radius told it that Mohai was inside the stone house.
“Hmph! What are you blabbering about? I got all the way out here for some action. He will die regardless,” grunted the Fiery Demon.
The Fiery Demon had traveled all the way here not because he wanted to show off his ‘hot’ presence and leave without doing anything.
“Sigh. Look at what you’ve done. I told you to hand over the scroll. Now, it’s too late for you to even regret.” The Fire Raven feigned sympathy.
Amidst the arrogant taunts, Mohai came out from the stone house alone.
“Where are your men? I heard you have quite a number of them. Bring them all out! If they are still hiding inside, I guess I’ll have to burn this place to the ground!” The Fiery Demon was furious when he did not see the bandit goons with Mohai.
Those bandit goons were garbage in his opinion. A single skill from him could wipe them all out, so the Fiery Demon did not want to waste time dealing with them one by one.
“Yeah, bring them all out! It’s no use hiding them now,” cawed the Fire Raven.
“Are you sure?” Mohai asked.
“Cut the crap and bring them all out, or I’ll kill you right away!” the Fiery Demon bellowed furiously.
“Okay, fine.” Mohai shrugged. He had met a lot of players who got tired of living, but meeting a monster who got tired of living was a first. Since the Fiery Demon was practically begging for death, he would have to send him to hell.
“Come out, guys.” Mohai waved his hand.
Illuminated by the light from the Fiery Demon, 15 buff figures came out from the stone house and stood behind Mohai.
“Tell me, how do you want to die?” Mohai grinned and taunted the Fire Raven and the Fiery Demon.