Elite Subordinate

While Mohai was wondering about the Nine-Tailed Fox's plan, a Fire Raven flew towards the Monolith Stronghold from the Magma Zone.

It hovered around the Monolith Stronghold for a while before landing on a big rock in front of Mohai.

"Are you the most powerful bandit leader of the Monolith Stronghold? Not bad. You do look stronger than other bandit leaders." The Fire Raven was sizing Mohai up from the grayish white rock.

"What is a Fire Raven doing here? This isn't your territory," said Mohai with a plain expression.

The Fire Raven was unique to the Magma Zone, or more specifically, the Magma Cave.

"Why can't I be here? This area is still within the Magma Lord's rule. It is your honor that I've graced you with my presence," said the Fire Raven arrogantly with its chest puffed up.

The Magma Lord was the strongest monster in Guggenheim. The witch in the Black Witch Forest was not even close to the Magma Lord.

"So, tell me what brings you here." Mohai was not in the mood to watch the raven act cool. He stretched his body as he questioned the raven's intention.

"You are in luck! The Magma Lord has sent me here to make a deal with you. I've heard that you've gotten a mission scroll which is what the Magma Lord seeks after. If you offer it to the Magma Lord, he will make you the owner of the Monolith Stronghold. No other bandit leaders will ever disturb you again!" the Fire Raven revealed its intention in a serious tone.

'Yes, I knew it!'

Mohai actually had a hunch about the Fire Raven's intention.

When the Nine-Tailed Fox had sent him the mission scroll and the two pieces of equipment, she must have sent someone to inform the Magma Golem about it as well.

The Magma Golem was a Level 20 Boss. To become stronger, a monster could only switch its template, and the mission scroll from the Nine-Tailed Fox was also what the Magma Golem sought after.

Since the Magma Golem was informed that Mohai had the mission scroll, he would try to get his hands on the scroll by all means necessary.

As a low-level bandit leader, should Mohai give the Magma Golem the mission scroll or not?

If he gave the scroll to the Magma Golem, it would almost be impossible for him to get another similar mission scroll as a bandit leader in the future. If he kept it for himself, he would be going against the local Boss.

Giving the weak hope to become strong just so the weak could struggle in pain was expected of the wretched Nine-Tailed Fox.

Monsters were not afraid of death, but the Nine-Tailed Fox beautifully put Mohai on a fence since it was much smarter than killing him once.

If Mohai was just a mere bandit leader, even if he did not die from the Nine-Tailed Fox's plan, he would be severely crippled. Regardless of which, Nine-Tailed Fox must be looking forward to the outcome.

'That f*cking bitch. Trying to trick me? You are still too inexperienced, you cunning fox! Don't you fall into my hands one day. I'll tie you up and skin you alive, strip you naked and…'

Mohai was cursing the Nine-Tailed Fox in his heart.

He already had all kinds of guesses about the Nine-Tailed Fox's true plan, so the Fire Raven's appearance was not a surprise. He would have been rather surprised if the Fire Raven did not appear instead.

However, he really had to criticize the Magma Golem for being stingy. As the strongest Boss in the area, he did not even bring any bargaining chips to the table and simply demanded Mohai to hand the scroll over.

"You've got the wrong guy. I don't have what you call the mission scroll," Mohai said as he shook his head.

If the Magma Golem could offer enough to move him, Mohai would consider a trade. The mission scroll was not essential to him, and if he could get his hands on better things, he would gladly trade it away. 

However, since the Magma Golem was being stingy, negotiating would be a waste of time.

"No? Don't you lie to the Magma Lord! You are simply wasting his mercy! If you don't want to get punished, you'd better hand over the scroll. The Magma Lord will deliver the benefits as promised, but if you lie and disobey his order, you are simply digging your own grave. Not only will you lose the mission scroll, but you will also lose the Reincarnation Pool and you won't be able to respawn!" the Fire Raven threatened Mohai after he refused to hand it over.

Although monsters were not afraid of death, there were ways to completely erase a monster from existence. Forcefully occupying another monster's Reincarnation Pool was one of those ways.

Similar to when Mohai killed the bandit leader, since he had also seized the Reincarnation Pool for himself, so the bandit leader failed to respawn.

"I've told you. I don't have the scroll that you are looking for. If the Magma Lord doesn't believe me, he can bring his men over to check." Mohai shook his head.

If it had been the Nine-Tailed Fox asking for the scroll, Mohai would not have been able to fight back, all he could do was run. However, as a Level 20 Boss, the Magma Golem was still too inexperienced to threaten him.

"Hmph! You are digging your own grave! You will regret this!" The Fire Raven stopped coercing him. 

'This bandit leader is just being stubborn. He will regret it later tonight! It's a piece of cake for the Magma Lord to get the scroll from him!

'No, wait! The Magma Lord said that if this bandit leader is dumb enough to resist, he won't just snatch the scroll, but he will burn the entire the Monolith Stronghold to the ground!'

Flapping its fiery wings, the Fire Raven flew away.

"What the hell, man? It seems like monsters are confined to the norms as well." Mohai shrugged as the Fire Raven flew away.

Conflicts barely happened between monsters but there were not entirely none.

In the past, Mohai had witnessed conflicts between monsters many times though he could not understand why back then. Now, it seemed like every conflict between monsters revolved around huge benefits under the table.

"I'll level up first. The Magma Golem will be here tonight," said Mohai.

Based on what he experienced before, conflicts between monsters usually broke out at night, and since he still had some time, he must first reach Level 13 before the fight.

…

The two pieces of Platinum equipment from the Nine-Tailed Fox were powerful. With the two pieces of equipment with him, Mohai was able to kill the players quicker with his goons.

The Oath Cross was a platinum necklace equipped with healing capabilities. When used by a normal monster, it could recover 3,000 HP instantly. When used by an Elite monster or above, it could recover 2,000 HP instantly and also healed allies within a 50-meter radius.

The cooldown of the healing skill took 10 minutes. With the cross in hand, Mohai and his 15 goons no longer had to worry about dying anymore.

Windy Boots' stats were quite decent as well. It was a skill that could increase speed.

When used by a normal monster, it could increase speed by 50% for 30 seconds. When used by an Elite monster or above, it could increase speed by 30% for 20 seconds and it could also buff allies.

The cooldown of the boots skill was only 5 minutes. Be it hunting or escaping, the buff could perform outstandingly.

With these two pieces of monster-exclusive Platinum equipment, Mohai reached Level 13 before the sky turned dark.

Other than himself, his 15 goons leveled up too. Among his bandit goons, the lowest level was 9 and the highest was 11.

After reaching Level 13, Mohai's HP increased to 8,000. His Attack and Defense were slightly bumped up, and coupled with his gears, Mohai's normal attack could chip off around 180 points of damage which was far stronger than other bandit leaders.

All his goons also received power-ups though they were not that obvious.

After he checked his increased stats, he stared at the Template Manager as thoughts ran through his mind. 

He was looking at the Ruler ability. His effort brought the XP bar to nearly 40%, but after a rough calculation, Mohai felt that even if he leveled up all his goons to Level 15, he would not be able to level up Ruler to Rank E just yet.

"I guess I'll have to test it out." Mohai made up his mind after he weighed the consequences in his heart. He alone was not enough to fight the Magma Golem, and even if he could escape, his goons could not.

Therefore, he decided to test out a theory that he had in mind for a long time.

…

Mohai and his 15 goons appeared in front of another bandit leader's den.

The bandit leader was none other than No. 11, whose treasure chest had been stolen before this, so he marched to Mohai's doorstep, demanding justice.

No. 11 was still afraid of Mohai but he bellowed nonetheless, "No. 22, what is the meaning of this? This is my territory!"

"Kill him!" Mohai did not want to talk to a monster who could not even think for himself. Bandit leader No. 11 was probably weaker than his goon, No. 13.

All 15 of his goons were loyal, so right after Mohai gave the order, they jumped on bandit leader No. 11 ferociously.

Six of No. 11's men were swiftly taken out and No. 11 was losing HP swiftly.

When No. 11's HP dropped to 10%, he wanted to use [Powerful Sweep], but Mohai smashed his head with [Heavy Bash].

When bandit leader No. 11 had only a little HP left, Mohai told the other goons to stop, leaving the enhanced No. 13 to take the last hit. "No. 13, kill him."

No. 13 stepped up and killed the weak bandit leader easily.

Swoosh!

The moment No. 11 died, No. 13 was covered in a purple flash. His template powered up again, and he evolved from a bandit goon to a bandit leader!