Chapter 136: The Iron Demon (1)
Chapter 136: The Iron Demon (1)
The Golden Knight vanished.
Time began to move again, releasing every hunter from the strange stillness that had frozen them in place.
Ethan found himself sitting exactly where he had been moments ago, beside Luna and Raiden, as if the meeting with the Golden Knight had never happened at all.
Like a dream.
No... more like a nightmare.
But the creature he had seen approaching from the distance was no illusion.
It was real.
And it was coming for them.
Cold sweat covered Ethan’s body as he snapped his head from side to side, panic written clearly across his face.
Raiden and Luna immediately noticed something was wrong. Both of them spoke almost at the same time, asking what had happened.
Ethan ignored them completely.
His bloodshot eyes stayed fixed somewhere far away before he suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs—
"What the hell do you mean one minute?!"
His roar startled everyone in the camp.
Then Ethan realized the truth.
It was not even a full minute anymore.
Far less.
Maybe forty seconds at best.
Some time had already been wasted.
’If you wanted to warn me, you damned bastard, then you should’ve given me five minutes at least!’
’What the hell am I supposed to do now?!’
His thoughts burned inside his skull.
At this point, Ethan was convinced the Golden Knight had done this on purpose.
There was no more time to think.
So he acted.
Drawing in a deep breath, Ethan screamed with everything he had—
"ATTACK!!"
"WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!!"
"IT’S A MONSTER FROM THE CATHEDRAL!!"
The terror in his voice was enough to make several hunters jump to their feet instantly.
Others froze in confusion, unable to react fast enough.
They were scattered randomly throughout the camp.
Ethan knew gathering everyone and reorganizing them would take several minutes.
Time they did not have.
The monster would tear through the camp long before that happened.
People would die before they even understood what was going on.
There was only one thing Ethan could do.
Buy them time himself.
He fired the Grappling Hook through one of the windows and launched himself outside, leaving the terrified hunters behind.
The moment he activated the Wise Raven’s Vision, his enhanced sight locked onto the creature.
It was already close.
Far too close.
Information flooded into Ethan’s mind through the Raven’s eyes, and the moment he understood what he was looking at, his expression darkened.
Only one monster had come.
But it was enough to become a disaster on its own.
A gigantic demon.
Its body was massive, covered in black, rotten flesh.
Over three meters tall.
Its arms were grotesquely large compared to the rest of its body, giving it the appearance of some monstrous demonic golem.
Dark metal covered parts of its body like armor.
Its chest, arms, even its face ...
All hidden beneath black steel that made it resemble an ancient demonic knight.
The Iron Demon.
That was its name.
A King-rank monster.
The same rank as Jackson.
And that was the worst part.
Ethan knew monsters and humans of the same rank were rarely equal.
Most of the time, monsters were stronger thanks to the power granted by the Curse.
Which meant fighting this thing would be unbelievably difficult ...
Even with Jackson helping.
"And I’m supposed to stop this thing?"
Ethan frowned hard.
But he had no choice except trying.
The Iron Demon had almost no visible weaknesses.
The Wise Raven’s Vision revealed only one thing ...
It was weak against fire.
Unfortunately, fire was the one thing Ethan lacked entirely.
Other than that, the creature resisted almost everything.
Bleeding was useless.
Poison did nothing.
Even elemental attacks had little effect.
It truly was an Iron Demon.
Ethan summoned the Executioner’s Sword and unleashed his Aura Armor with everything he had.
After reaching the Elite Rank, his aura had become far denser and stronger than before.
His speed and explosive power had increased dramatically as well.
Meanwhile, the demon charged forward like a rampaging siege weapon, threatening to crush everything in its path.
Ethan stepped directly into its way.
The demon rushed toward the camp.
Ethan rushed toward the demon.
Both of them looked like dark projectiles about to collide.
But one was clearly far more terrifying than the other.
The Iron Demon’s aura dwarfed Ethan’s several times over.
Even so—
Ethan stood his ground.
As they closed the distance between them, Ethan noticed something horrifying.
The demon never even looked at him.
Its eyes stayed fixed on the camp behind him where the hunters were gathered.
It did not see Ethan as a threat.
Did not even acknowledge him.
To the demon, he was nothing more than an insect standing in the road.
And insects could never stop it.
Ethan was grateful for that arrogance.
Because it gave him one chance to strike.
He lunged forward and extended the Legion Arm, unleashing the only fire-based attack he possessed.
The mechanical arm glowed brightly.
Metal plates split apart as the flaming stake ignited and fired directly into the demon’s chest.
A massive explosion erupted on impact.
Far stronger than before thanks to the Legion Arm reaching Level Three.
Flames exploded outward alongside smoke, shattered stone, and debris as the ground around them cracked apart violently.
This time, Ethan managed to withstand the recoil thanks to his Elite-rank Aura Armor.
He was not blown backward like before.
The Flaming Stake had landed perfectly.
There was no doubt about that.
And since the demon had not trampled him instantly, Ethan assumed the attack had at least forced it to stop.
Maybe—
Just maybe—
It had done some damage.
That hope lasted less than a second.
The smoke cleared.
And the Iron Demon stood there right in front of him, staring down with savage gray eyes.
His chest was completely unharmed.
Not even a scratch remained.
He had endured the Flaming Stake head-on using nothing but its aura.
"You’ve got to be kidding me..."
Ethan laughed nervously, fear written plainly across his face as he finally understood the overwhelming gap between himself and the monster before him.
And this Iron Demon was not even the dungeon’s final boss.
The demon unleashed a savage roar straight into Ethan’s face before swinging his massive arm forward, throwing a punch like a launched missile.
Ethan instantly realized that taking a direct hit from something like that would turn him into a pile of blood and shattered bones.
Not even his Demonic Body would save him.
He had no choice except avoiding it with everything he had.
Using the Executioner’s Sword as a medium, Ethan pushed his telekinesis to the limit, manipulating the rubble left behind by the Flaming Stake explosion.
Chunks of stone shot toward the Iron Demon and clung to him like metal drawn toward a powerful magnet.
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