Monkey Horde!
"Casper, my dear friend, you really are not that good with names, are you?" Draco glanced upwards at the flying billboard, seeing their team's name. He didn't whether to laugh or cry.
"Why, doesn't 'Strong Team' sound threatening?" Casper asked with a confused gaze.
"No, it makes us look like morons." Sophia put her hand on her forehead.
"Hey, for how much longer do I have to do this?" Noah pleaded for his life, dodging another punch from a frenzied monkey. Quite unfortunately, Noah wasn't the most agile type, so dodging wasn't his strong point.
"For a few more minutes," Casper said coldly from the side as if he was enjoying the spectacle. In truth, he was just evaluating the monster's capabilities. Whilst they were doing so, Draco glanced at the billboard above. One team, called "Death Harbingers" already collected a total of 7 points. The second spot was taken by "Cool Dudes" with 5 points. It seems that Casper wasn't the only one with a bad taste in names.
"Alright, Noah. Kill him." Casper said and Noah immediately acted. His hand suddenly hardened, and strange protrusions formed on his skin. Sidestepping, Noah forced the monkey to miss, whilst punching with overwhelming power from above. The monkey's body collided with the ground and blood splattered all over Noah.
Draco glanced away from the scene, seeing a point appear near their team's name. Additionally, Draco noticed a timer in the corner of the screen with 32 hours counting down. It appears that they had a day and a half for this mission.
"It seems that beasts' power is not that great. They are also really crazy and continue pestering the person they saw first, so we can take advantage of that by forcing all the aggro on Draco's shadow." Casper concluded. "We have prepared for such a situation. Let's get into battle formation and advance into the forest before the gap grows too big."
And so, they did. Draco summoned Minotaur, nodding towards him as if seeing a good comrade. They both stood at the front of the formation, while Joy and Casper moved inwards. Then, they advanced into the forest.
In the beginning, there weren't any enemies at all. However, as they moved deeper and deeper inside, Draco saw a bunch of monkeys moving in the trees. They were almost flying toward their team, but what caused Draco to frown was their overwhelming number. There were at least a hundred of them.
"Hmm...this is unexpected." Casper put his thumb on his chin, looking over the horizon of enemies. "I thought that since they were so aggressive, they would attack each other, but that doesn't seem to be the case."
"Does it matter?" Sophia mumbled from the side, excitement clear in her voice. "I don't see any enemies, but just points!"
"Well, that isn't far from the truth," Casper stated, his face becoming stone cold. "Draco, hold the line. We are going on a massacre."
As he finished those words, the monkeys finally reached them as they jumped from the trees. Draco, who was at the front, was the first obstacle in their way. Yet, instead of panicking, Draco smiled.
"Minotaur, you know what to do," Draco said with a sly voice, and Minotaur instantly opened his mouth, producing an earth-shattering shriek. For a moment, everything stopped. Then, all the monkeys in the vicinity started falling from the trees, colliding with the ground.
Before the stun duration ended, Draco and Minotaur rushed together, unaffected by the skill. Unfortunately, his skill also affected the entire team, so they were useless in the meantime.
Taking out his daggers, Draco sliced a paralyzed monkey's neck. Immediately, he moved towards another two victims lying in a bush, efficiently killing them. He heard a tremor a few feet away from him, turned, and saw Minotaur ripping monkeys apart like they were just some walking beef.
By the time the stunt had lost its effect, Draco's daggers had become completely bloodied, while Minotaur looked even more threatening. They had killed at least twenty monkeys in just ten seconds, and it was going to become an even bigger number now.
"Nice," Noah said as he came back to his senses. Draco got back into formation, nodding to everyone as they slowly stretched their muscles, preparing for the incoming onslaught. Monkies, even angrier than before, rushed towards them like a wave, yet the number of them seemed hardly as threatening as before.
Draco sent his Minotaur to slaughter while taking a more defensive stance himself. Dodging a strike from one monkey, he threw a dagger toward another one. Yet, another enemy appeared before Draco could even take one breath in. Rushing forward, Draco maneuvered through three monkeys, slicing their legs and biding their movements.
However, another enemy appeared from above, falling toward Draco and forcing him to evade sideways. Yet, there was another enemy there, already waiting for Draco. Draco had no way of escape, yet just when the monkey moved to attack, it suddenly stopped.
"Thanks, Casper," Draco mumbled, slicing the monkey's head off, and continuing onwards to kill even more. At some point, he tripped, and one monkey bit into his shoulder, but Joy reacted promptly and healed him, so he was as good as new.
Draco fought and slaughtered, until eventually, he understood that there were no longer any enemies in sight. Beneath him, there was a bond of blood portraying his reflection. He looked disheveled and composed, yet it was impossible not to see the hint of craziness hidden within.
Turning his head around, Draco saw all his teammates staring back at him, as even the regular Sophia had a grimace on her face. Upon closer inspection, Draco understood that they were actually staring at his hand since he was still holding and strangling one monkey.
"Sorry, just some habits." Draco retorted with a smile, instead glancing at his shadow Minotaur, who had come back. For some reason, Minotaur looked even more menacing and strong than before, especially considering that there were numerous monkeys beneath his feet, splattered into unrecognizable creatures.
Above the Minotaur, Draco saw the huge screen.
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[First Place: Death Harbingers - 324 points]
[Second Place: Strong Team - 121 points]
[Third Place: Cool Dudes - 109 points]
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Draco frowned upon seeing it. 324 points? That seemed like an absurd amount. No, it was actually something impossible. As if to answer him, Casper came forward.
"It seems that there is another way to earn points," Casper said. "While we were fighting, I was intently watching the board. Both teams in the top three had an increase of 100 points in one second. Besides these weak monsters, there are over kinds of creatures, and we have to find them if we want to win."