The sand shined like gold underneath the hot rays of the sun.

This was the Golden Desert.

10,000 of the Arabas Kingdom's army stood side by side, along with their Insect and Sand Mages. Dukeram, Jegal, the captains, and the guild's elite troops/high rankers were also in attendance.

They had come to hunt the Ruler of the Golden Desert, Mamonas.

It was a spectacular sight.

As the Commander in Chief, Dukeram took charge of their troops. 

"The army will stay back. General Dalton, please assume command over them," Dukeram said, referring to an old, white-haired man with plenty of scars on his face.

The elderly man looked quite intimidating, as his battle scars resembled a tiger's stripes. He was the Arabas Kingdom's Guardian Angel, Dalton. 

He was the kingdom's most talented general, and was also a Master!

"Understood," Dalton said curtly.

"Moby Dick, Tainos, Ridgeley, I want you to take on the Mamonas head-on," Dukeram said.

Dukeram usually spoke formally to his captains or guild members, but today was different. He was the Commander in Chief, so he adjusted his speech to reflect that.

"Yes, sir!" the three captains replied simultaneously.

"I want the Yellow Dragon Squad on the right flank, and the Glacier Squad on the left."

"Yes, sir." 

Erik and Irene, the captains of Yellow Dragon and Glacier respectively, nodded their heads.

Dukeram shifted his gaze towards the leaders of the Insect and Sand Mages. 

Sand Mage Sadry.

Insect Mage Tiagon.

"I want the Sand Mages to support the Yellow Dragon Squad, and I want the Insect Mages to support the Glacier Squad."

"As you wish," Sadry said. 

"Understood," Tiagon replied.

Dukeram turned his attention to someone else.

"Divide your squad into two groups and protect the mages."

"Yes, sir," Kuskal said. Half of his face was covered by a piece of red cloth.

"Black Wolf," Dukeram said.

"Yes, sir." Black Wolf, who wore black fur clothing, stared at Dukeram.

"I'm giving you the most important mission. You'll be in charge of Serena's Water, so make sure you keep dousing it during the battle."

Serena's Water was like the Mamonas' natural enemy; it would weaken it without fail.

"I permit the use of Black Wing."

Black Wing was something they'd been preparing to conquer the continent.

"Leave it to me." Black Wolf tapped his chest.

Dukeram nodded his head and said, "The Iron Horse Squad and I will attack from the rear."

"Understood."

Dukeram looked at Jegal last. 'It's your turn now.'

Jegal slightly nodded his head. "The mages and healers will be divided up amongst the squads like normal."

The Empire Guild had two squads consisting of mages and healers. However, these squads would be evenly divided amongst their eight squads whenever they started an operation.

For example, the first group of mages would go to the Yellow Dragon Squad, while the third group of healers would go to the Glacier Squad.

That was the reason the Empire Guild's eight squads had no mages or healers within their ranks.

"I'm sure you've all memorized all of the information by now."

Both the Empire Guild and the three kingdoms' scholars had read through the texts in the Arabas Kingdom's library, as well as any ancient texts within the large cities' libraries, the academic institutions or colleges. 

The information had already been disseminated to all of their guild members, and they had made preparations accordingly.

"However, we don't know everything there is to know about it. Please keep this in mind. And..."

After that, Jegal did his duty as Dukeram's adviser. He went over the more fine details of this operation, and made sure everyone had plenty of supplies.

They were ready for battle.

It was time for monster hunting.

* * *

"It's here."

That's what they had been waiting for.

Dukeram suddenly opened his eyes.

"Brown Bear, Moby Dick, Giant Soldier, go out and attack the Mamonas. Everyone else, remain on standby until you're given further orders."

A portion of the Empire Guild's elites moved out.

"Giddyap!"

"Let's go!"

The Brown Bear Squad rushed into the fray. They wore brown bear armbands around their shoulders, and had a roaring lion, the symbol of their guild, emblazoned on their chests.

They were Ridgeley's elites.

The Brown Bear Squad was both courageous and foolhardy. Thus, they often charged into battle as the vanguard. This time was no different.

"Haha!"

Brown Bear's captain, Ridgeley, rested his halberd on his shoulder. His giant red horse was at the forefront.

"We're going too!" Moby Dick yelled.

"Yes, sir!"

The Moby Dick Squad consisted of shield bearers.

Swoosh!

Tainos, the leader of the Giant Soldier Squad, thrust his huge double-bladed axe forward. 'Let's go!'

His in-game character was over 2 meters tall. Like Kang Oh, he had scanned his character, which allowed him to pilot an exact duplicate of his real body. 

In any case, the Empire Guild's elites galloped across the desert.

A short while later...

A ton of sand rose into the air.

Bam!

A huge whale came out of the sand. It was more than 500 meters long, and had a height of more than 200 meters.

This was the Ruler of the Golden Desert, Mamonas!

It had a total of eight eyes, four on the left and four on the right. Its mouth was both huge in both length and width. The monster's back was also filled with bumps.

The Mamonas opened its mouth and unleashed a tremendous roar.

Guhaaaahk!

It was an ear-piercing noise. 

[You have heard Mamonas's roar.]

[Its power is absolute.]

[Please run away!]

Mamonas's roar had no effect whatsoever. It was simply a message of intent.

It was basically saying, 'I'll eat you all!'.

"Spread out!"

"Scatter!"

"Go at it as planned!"

Ridgeley, Moby Dick, and Tainos simultaneously yelled.

Then, their subordinates moved as one. It was clear why they were considered the Empire Guild's elite troops.

However, the Mamonas was basically the embodiment of a natural disaster. It didn't matter what a human did before a natural disaster; they would be completely powerless before mother nature.

Clean Up!

Mamonas opened its mouth and sucked everything in like an electric vacuum cleaner.

The horses fell and were sucked into its mouth. 

Protector's Shield!

Absolute Defense!

Great Barrier!

The three squads had already discarded their horses, and were using their respective survival skills.

Dukeram, who was assessing the situation, said, "Black Wolf, go in when it's done sucking everything in. Spray it with Serena's Water."

"Understood."

"Everyone else, do as you were instructed once it's done."

"Yes, sir!"

Mamonas's 'Clean Up' lasted for 5 minutes, and inevitably, some of their guild members were sucked into its gaping maw.

However, that wasn't nearly enough to satisfy its hunger.

Mamonas struck the ground with its Y-shaped tail, and slid forward.

Ride Sand!

It was as if an avalanche was coming at them... No, it was actually much worse than that.

"Dodge!"

"Where!?"

Bam!

The Empire Guild's members were devoured by the Mamonas's giant mouth.

Although they had spread out, the Mamonas was so big that several of their troops had died regardless.

At that moment...

The Empire Guild began to fight back.

Giant black eagles flew through the air in a V formation.

They were called the Predators of the Azure Sky, and their beaks and talons could cut through even the hardest steel with ease!

These Death Eagles had collars around their necks, and people riding on top of them.

The Black Wolf Squad.

They were filled with Tamers. Their leader, Black Wolf, was considered the best Tamer player in the game.

This squad of Death Eagles was one of their trump cards that would help them conquer the continent.

It was called the 'Black Wing' project!

Death Eagles were powerful flying monsters. One of them was capable of taking on ten wyverns at once, after all.

However, taming a wild Death Eagle was impossible. One had to raise it from birth.

There was also a problem with procuring such a large supply of eggs. Then there was the fact that they only had a 5% chance of hatching.

Plus, even if they did hatch, there were very few that could actually be tamed and become a Tamer's pet.

In other words, getting just one Death Eagle would require an incredible amount of manpower, skill, and resources.

Thus, even the Empire Guild, the greatest guild of them all, didn't have that many of them. They only had about thirty of them.

Twenty of them had been brought out to aid in their operation.

"Drop!" Black Wolf yelled. He stood at the very end of their V formation.

His Death Eagle let go of the giant bottle it was holding.

"Drop!"

The other Death Eagles followed suit.

Barrels of water fell down towards the Mamonas's back. 

"Explode!" Black Wolf yelled.

Whir!

The Death Eagles unleashed fierce winds from their mouths.

Blade Wind!

The fierce winds cut through the barrels.

Spurt!

Clear water spilled from the barrels. It was Serena's Water.

Hiss!

Upon contact, the Mamonas's body shrunk and its body smoked.

That wasn't all. All of its abilities and strength had been reduced significantly.

Guooh!

The Mamonas unleashed another weighty cry. At the same time, the bumps on its back unleashed clumps of sand at them.

Bam, bam, bam!

It was like the combination of a shotgun and a submachine gun. It fired repeatedly, but it also had a huge radius.

However, the Death Eagles were unequalled in the air.

"Dodge!"

The Death Eagles quickly flew through the air. They were like black falling stars. Black feathers fell from their wings and swooshed through the air.

"Next!"

Black Wolf pulled out a scroll from his inventory. The rest of his squad did the same.

Rip!

He ripped the scroll, and a barrel appeared in its place. It was obviously another barrel containing Serena's Water.

The Death Eagles unleashed another barrage of Blade Wind. And once again, Serena's Water doused the Mamonas's body.

Hiss!

The Mamonas's body gradually diminished in size.

Sometime later...

Black Wolf and his subordinates had completed their mission. They had doused the Mamonas's body with their entire supply of Serena's Water.

The Mamonas, which was originally 500 meters long and 200 meters tall, had been reduced to 1/4 that size.

Everything had gone according to plan.

They had reduced an unbeatable monster to a level 600 raid boss.

* * *

"Everyone, charge!" Dukeram yelled. He charged, and was accompanied by the Iron Horse Squad.

Yellow Dragon, Glacier, Red King, and the Insect/Sand Mages began their attack.

Once they began their full-scale assault, the Mamonas fiercely fought back.

It would hide itself in the sand, and then suddenly pop out and attack. Or it would unleash a tsunami of sand that spread in every direction whenever it surged out of the ground.

"Fight as one! It may be weaker than before, but it's still a powerful monster. Don't overextend yourself and go at it alone!"

Moby Dick was a Guardian, and wielded a mace and a shield.

His squad consisted of Guardians and Paladins! They were garbed in tough armor and wielded nigh unbreakable shields.

They were their guild's tanks. After all, they had the highest defense amongst the guild.

The Moby Dick Squad stood side by side with their shields at the ready. Then, they released energy which combined into one giant wall.

The wall was capable of blocking both the coming sand and the Mamonas's charge!

Then, the Brown Bear Squad and Giant Soldier Squad joined in. The rash Brown Bears charged in without looking back, and the Giant Soldiers rushed in with their sharp axes.

The Yellow Dragon Squad and Glacier Squad attacked from the monster's sides.

Yellow Dragon was the Empire Guild's most powerful squad. Each member was higher than level 400.

In other words, they were all rankers.

Their captain, Erik, was the second strongest member of the Empire Guild.

Whir.

He swung his blade, which glowed with dim golden light.

Great Spirit's Aura!

A powerful blue energy blast struck the Mamonas's side.

Bam!

The energy swirled around and then exploded.

After that, his troops and the Sand Mages unleashed their skills/spells, which led to a repeated sequence of explosions.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Then...

The Mamonas pierced through the dust cloud, suddenly turned around, and aimed for Erik and the Yellow Dragon Squad.

Whir! Whir!

A ton of energy was gathered in its mouth.

"Not a chance!"

Spirit Swordsman Erik unleashed his secret move. 

Spiritization!

He had chosen a great wind spirit!

His body swelled, and his body unleashed golden energy. Waves of yellow energy rose from his back.

Erik's blade, which had matched his size, unleashed a whirlwind.

Great Wind Spirit's Fury!

He swung his sword downwards.

In an instant, the whirlwind, which had wrapped around his body, became much larger.

At that moment...

Ray of Destruction!

Boom!

A pillar of light shot out of the Mamonas's mouth.