**[Five minutes earlier in the Untamed Jungle ]**
Black shadows shot through the tree canopy of the Untamed Jungle with rapid speed.
Two groups of Blood Oath Demon Monkeys moved silently but swiftly, arriving right next to a small group of Kitsun Summons. The Kitsun grasped their bows tightly while vigilantly observing their surroundings.
However, being unable to perceive every inch of the Untamed Jungle simultaneously, the Kitsun reacted a quarter of a second too late. They moved to the first group of five Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, nocked arrows on their bowstring and pulled back.
Just as they released their arrows with a twang, the group of monkeys grasped the branches next to them and pulled with great force, swinging themselves to the side near-instantly. They moved several meters away from the arrows' range, easily evading them. The five monkeys were unable to attack the Kitsun immediately for they'd changed their movement pattern a mere second ago. But that was no problem. The second monkey group used the opening to barge through the thicket, arriving next to the Kitsun.
Three Kitsun pulled back in surprise, leaving six Kitsun directly facing the monkeys. The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys didn't hesitate to pick up the Kitsun and use their great physical strength to pluck their heads and tear them apart.
Only two Kitsun barely received enough time to scream in horror and drop their wooden bows before the monkeys ripped their bodies apart as well. Their blood sprayed through the surroundings and their organs spilled out of their bodies, leaving a grotesque sight on display. The Kitsun, who had pulled back, stared at the gory remains of their brethren, their eyes trembling in fright.
Their cloudy lower body wavered as the monkeys averted their attention to the remaining Kitsun. They were just about to push ahead and kill the remaining Kitsun when the Kitsun's expression changed once again. A vibrant smile formed on their lips, and their trembling eyes began to shine as they stared down at the monkeys like they were already dead.
No warning was issued but the monkeys noticed that something went wrong. The five Blood Oath Demon Monkeys who'd torn apart the Kitsun realized too late that their partner group had yet to arrive. The other monkey group that had been with them didn't make a single sound. It was almost like they hadn't even been present.
It was too late when the five monkeys smelled the fear and blood of their own brethren.
All of a sudden, a loud sound reverberated through the Untamed Jungle. Blood spilled from the head of the monkey at the front and it collapsed in the next second, its face filled with shock rather than pain. The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys died on the spot.
The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were extremely fast and strong. Not even Mid Tier-2 Awakened were fast enough to catch up to them. They knew the Untamed Jungle the best, and might even be capable of escaping a Late Tier-2 Awakened if they were vigilant enough. But they were not in their right state of mind at this moment.
None of the Kitsun had been able to stop them before. Their enemies died way too easily since they were unable to react to the surprise attacks from the blind spots. A simple feint was enough to outwit the Kitsun – or so the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys thought.
They didn't realize that they had only killed the weakest Kitsun who had been sent out to scout the monkey troupe's position before acting as a living bait.
Several loud sounds resounded through the surroundings ending the remaining Blood Oath Demon Monkeys on the spot. There was only one wound all over their bodies; a small bullet hole in their heads.
As the last Blood Oath Demon Monkey of the two groups died, the surroundings flickered. Ripples passed through the surroundings right after, changing everything in the vicinity. A group of Kitsun Awakened, and close to a hundred Kitsun wielding swords, axes and a wide variety of other weapons appeared out of nowhere.
"Your Veil of Invisibility has grown weaker. How did this brute beast at the end notice me?" One of the Kitsun Awakened glared at the Awakened next to him.
The Awakened shrugged and turned away like it was not his business. He approached the corpses of the monkeys and squatted down to inspect them.
Another Awakened appeared next to the Kitsun leading the group. "Your Thunder Bullet has grown much stronger. You can kill Low Tier-2 Monsters with one hit now. The bullets are also much faster than before. You've grown a lot stronger, Pustan."
The Awakened continued to praise the leader, Pustan, but Pustan didn't seem impressed. He looked through the vicinity to spot the corpses of the 10 Blood Oath Demon Monkeys and narrowed his eyes.
"My power is great, I know. However, these monkeys are a problem. Their strategic attacks killed more than a quarter of the reinforcement, and they stalled our advance greatly. From the looks of it, we won't have a chance of leaving the Untamed Jungle without losing another 25% of the reinforcement. It will take too long as well," Pustan revealed, his head flicking to the vice-leader of the reinforcement, who moved around the monkey corpse.
"Those are Blood Oath Demon Monkeys. They shouldn't have a habitat anywhere nearby…" The Kitsun inspecting the corpses remarked with a deep frown on his face.
"The southern part of the Untamed Jungle has a small spot with mutated fiendish great trees. Maybe they're living over there? What do you think, Zaram?" Another Awakened inquired, his guess spot on.
"That should be possible. It sounds plausible. In that case, we can also confirm that the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys are working together with those other brutes," Zaram concluded, staring intently at the communication crystal attached to his belt.
It was almost as if he expected the communication crystal to light up at any moment. Never in his life did he hope that the communication crystal would stay shut like now. The last 24 hours were truly horrendous.
First, the main settlement had been attacked, and then the Soul Pact of the Elemental nobility was triggered, killing everyone in the Elementals Cave and destroying years of their hard work in the process. To make matters worse, the Elemental Empress was still alive and with another Lord who was raining down attacks on the territory while flying on the back of two Greater Eagles.
The Kitsun Lord was in fury, not because he lost his entire fortune, but because someone else had stolen what belonged rightfully to him; the Elemental Empress.
If she couldn't be with him, the Elemental Empress ought to be dead. That was her fate. The Elemental Empress wasn't supposed to run around freely, setting the world on fire.
She ought to be in the Kitsun Lord's grasp, chained to the wall, unmoving and beautiful.
Just as the Awakened Kitsun were about to leave the place, a commotion rang out from behind. All 100+ Kitsun exclaimed in shock simultaneously. Their attention moved to several groups of Blood Oath Demon Monkeys, who'd appeared out of nowhere.
The monkeys saw their fallen brethren and began to scream their lungs out. Their shrill screams reverberated through the surroundings, their fury apparent. None of the monkeys hesitated to barge into the group of Kitsun where they began to wreak havoc.
They jumped down from the trees and crashed into the Kitsun, their impact squashing some of their enemies. However, the Blood Oath Demon Monkey didn't even pay attention to the Kitsun they had squashed. They kept looking around and pounced at the nearest enemy, clawing at them and soaking in their blood before moving to the next Kitsun to repeat the same. Their movements were rapid and powerful, just like before. But now there was something else as well. A sudden addition that changed the combat prowess of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys completely.
Instead of fighting like intelligent monsters and making use of proper tactics to kill the Kitsun while avoiding head-on fights as much as possible, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys began to fight viciously. They let their wild instincts and the rage that surfaced from the bottom of their hearts take over.
The Kitsun were torn apart but the Awakened simply watched the massacre. A joyous smile blossomed on their faces while witnessing how much their people suffered. Even if the Kitsun were their brethren, watching them suffer and get squashed under the vicious blows of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys was delightful.
Zaram moved next to the other Awakened after savoring the bloodbath for a second. He activated the Veil of Invisibility, hiding every Kitsun from the Monkeys' eyes. Even the Kitsun under the attack of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys disappeared from their sight. However, they didn't actually vanish from the spot, they were just rendered invisible to the eyes of the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys.
Despite the invisibility, the monkeys continued to attack the invisible enemies after staring around a second in shock. They first presumed that their enemies ran away and used some sort of magical power to vanish. However, the smell of metal was still apparent. The smell of blood, metal, and fear hung heavy in the air, and the monkeys could smell it all, everywhere around them – wherever the Kitsun were located.
They started to attack where they presumed their enemies to be without wasting a moment. Instead of running away, and re-organizing their groups, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys began kicking and clawing, drawing their enemies' blood, and rendering the Veil of Invisibility partially useless as the newly drawn blood smeared all over the veil.
Despite that, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys couldn't see the razor-sharp weapons in the Kitsun's hands. They sometimes smashed their fists right at the great axe swinging at them and reacted too slowly to the sound of swords and axes cutting through the air as the Kitsun swung their sharp weapons at them.
It turned out to be a gruesome battle in which many Blood Oath Demon Monkeys died. Too many.
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