Speed Is King

"Why have you summoned me, my glorious Master?" A hellish and distorted voice made more creepy by the fact that it was also girly sounded powerfully from Hila's mouth.

"Hila. Defeat them for me. But make sure you do not wound them too heavily." Monkey King pointed at Elliot and his Beast Apostles.

"Oh? Another Beast Apostle? You're disciplining your little disciple, I see. Very well, I will be your rod of discipline today. Do not forget to visit me sometime soon in return." Hila said in her hellish and distorted voice.

"You don't need to remind me. I know what our deal entails." Monkey King said with a slightly grim smile.

"Good. Bull, birdie and croc. Stand down and don't bother me." Hila said as she stepped forward casually.

"As you wish, Princess of the Night." All three of them bowed respectfully and stood still.

Monkey King merely sighed and shook his head lightly.

Hila was a loose cannon. A powerful one, but loose, nonetheless. He wasn't able to control her apart from very general commands like the one he just gave her. More specific than that would incur her wrath and cause her to ignore him completely, details of their Beast Apostle contract be damned.

However, in spite of all that, Monkey King didn't regret picking her as his Dark Apostle. Because for all her eccentricity and stubbornness, she was the most powerful Dark Apostle. Period.

Not a single Dark Apostle in all of Frosthaven Empire was able to match her strength. She had brought glory to Monkey King countless times before, and he was certain that she would do it again then, in front of his beloved Jules.

"I'll go." Wu Kong finally said after studying the Hila rather intensely.

"Hmmm? Why not Rom? He can fly, and that seems to be a better fit." Frosty asked curiously.

"She is extremely powerful. And we need to bait out her skills first to know exactly how to deal with her. And among us, only I have a summon." Wu Kong explained quickly.

"Fair enough. All the best." Frosty conceded.

"Teach her a lesson." Elliot said quietly. "Hold nothing back."

"As you wish, Master." Wu Kong bowed and stepped out to meet Hila in battle.

"Just you alone, monkey? I don't have the mood to fight multiple battles. Just come at me, all of you." Hila said condescendingly at Wu Kong.

"Don't worry, little Princess. You'll fight just once today. I don't think you'll be able to fight another battle after I beat you into pulp and send you back to whatever hellhole you come from." Wu Kong replied scathingly to break her composure.

"Hahaha! You! You sound just like my Master! In fact, you even look a little bit like him!" Hila let out a fearsome wail of laughter that caused Elliot to burst out in goosebumps. However, her next words caused his heart to skip a beat.

"Hmmmmm? You look a little bit TOO much like him. Could you be his relative?" Hila frowned deeply and turned her head around to look at Monkey King suspiciously.

Monkey King merely shrugged at her noncommitally.

Wu Kong merely smirked at her obvious "attempt" to confuse him and hefted his powerful rod on his right hand.

"Enough chit chat. Time for you to get beaten to pulp, little girl."

"Hahaha! Big words from a little monkey. Come then!" Hila laughed and unleashed a deeply terrifying aura that surged at Wu Kong and shot straight into his heart.

However, Wu Kong merely gritted his teeth and resisted the growing horror in his heart.

"Darklight Descent. Mammoth." Wu Kong growled softly. Instantly, a portal opened up in front of him and a powerful three meter tall Darklight Mammoth Warrior wielding a massive war hammer leapt out of it!

KRAAAAA!!

It charged at Hila fearlessly and swung his war hammer at her!

WHAMMM!!!

The war hammer passed through Hila harmlessly and smashed into the sand beneath her feet!

The power behind the swing was so great that apart from a spray of sand from the fringes of the impact that shot out in all directions, most of the sand beneath her was smashed into dust!

Hila stretched out her ethereal hand and touched the Darklight Mammoth Warrior.

A green glow appeared on her hand for a quick moment before dimming immediately.

"Hmmmmm??? Impervious?" Hila couldn't help but cry out in surprise. In all of her long years of experience, she had never met anything which was impervious to her "Soul-Bind" skill!

"Hooo. Interesting. Interesting!" Monkey King exclaimed loudly.

KRAAAA!

The Darklight Mammoth Warrior didn't give up and continued to attack Hila with its violent swings.

WHAM!

WHAM!

WHAMM!!

But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't touch her, much less deal any damage to her!

"Keep attacking." Wu Kong commanded the Darklight Mammoth Warrior. "I refuse to believe that you can remain ethereal forever."

"You're a very smart one." Hila laughed in approval. "Very much like my Master. He too made the very same guess as you when he fought me and defeated me. Let's see if you're as good as him!"

Hila smiled eerily at Wu Kong and began to walk very casually towards him. In fact, she looked like she was merely taking a lazy stroll through the park!

Wham! Wham! Wham!

The enraged Darklight Mammoth Warrior smashed his war hammer at Hila relentlessly!

Hila merely ignored him and continued to walk slowly towards Wu Kong. As she did that, an ethereal blade appeared on her right hand. It was blood red in colour, and the heavy contrast with her black dress and green eyes made her look all the more scary!

Suddenly, she disappeared.

"Whoa! Did she just execute Astral Steps? Monkey! You taught her Astral Steps??" Jul'Taras asked Monkey King in shock.

"Nono, you're mistaken. I did not teach her Astral Steps. As a matter of fact, I didn't teach her a single thing after she became my Dark Apostle. She was much more powerful than me then. On the other hand, she did teach me a few things. One of the more powerful skills she taught me was… Astral Steps." Monkey King replied with a smile.

Jul'Taras, Jessica and Aunt Hillary's jaw dropped open in shock.