The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 264 Demon: Humans have invaded our home!
Gollum is a lowly demon.

Frankly, a demon of his lowly rank shouldn't even deserve a name. Grunt was simply the sound he often made, and that was his name.

As a weak demon in the bottomless abyss, only slightly stronger than the original demon, Gollum was the target of bullying by many more powerful demons.

On the hill where he usually roams, there is a powerful berserker leader who commands Gollum and dozens of weak demons like himself.

"Boss" is the powerful figure that Gulu most admires and wants to become.

This berserker, which looks like a giant toad, not only exudes a black stench that is like a fragrance to demons, but also has skin covered in bumps that is as hard as iron, claws that are incredibly powerful, and the ability to cast some powerful spells.

Gollum dreams—demons don't usually dream, so this is just a metaphor—everyone wants to become as powerful as the boss.

He possesses a physique as strong as the boss, ferocious and sharp teeth, and powerful magic!

Of course, this is just an unrealistic fantasy.

Every day, the boss would casually beat up Gollum or other weaker demons, leaving them covered in bruises, using them as punching bags to vent his demonic brutality.

Under the blazing, blood-red sun, the days passed by one by one.

Gollum has always been a weak and cowardly demon, never receiving the mercy of the will of the abyss to be promoted to a higher demonic form.

Until one day, the seemingly invincible and unbeatable leader, whom Gollum considered almost invincible, suddenly leaped onto the hill and shouted down at the dozens of demon minions below:
"Oops!"

"Those monsters are coming!"

"Let's run, run as far as we can."

The leader of the berserker demons spoke in a guttural abyss language, punctuated by a trembling sound of fear.

Monsters?
Gulu didn't understand what the boss meant.

But he clearly saw that his boss, who had always been domineering and ruthless and only instilled fear in his enemies, now had a face full of terror in his ugly, deformed toad-like features.

Is there some kind of terrifying monster that even makes such a powerful demon as the boss tremble with fear?

Are they higher-level demons such as the six-armed snake demon, the seductive demon, or the giant bull demon?

Gulu's low level of intelligence prevented him from thinking about such complex problems.

He simply followed the leader and a large group of weaker demons down the rocky hill and ran towards the horizon.

"Gurgle, gurgle!"

The Fearful Demon only has a pair of short, green legs and doesn't run very fast. It doesn't have the wings of the Quassamon, nor does it have the muscular physique and short-distance teleportation ability of its leader.

After running for only a short while, he was left far behind by the leader who was running ahead.

Bang bang bang.

Gulu heard it; it was the sound of the monsters coming from behind him.

It was the thumping sound of some giant rock or similar hard object stomping on the earth, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

That was the thumping sound of many shoesed feet on the ground.

"Monster, a terrifying monster..."

"A terrifying monster is catching up!"

"Those terrifying monsters that have terrified the lord to the point of losing his mind!"

The fearful demon's heart pounded, and he turned his head in terror.

The images of those monsters were reflected in Gulu's eyes.

They were a group of creatures with one head, two arms, two legs, walking upright, with a symmetrical build, less than two meters tall, and skin ranging from fair to dark brown, wearing armor or clothing of various colors.

In addition, these creatures also ride skeletons that are reduced to mere skeletons and zombies that are riddled with holes but still able to move, as well as giants made of rock, clay, or pieced-together flesh and blood.

With just a glance, Gulu could sense that the undead and the giant constructs made of strange materials were mindless creatures, servants of those monster masters.

"Alright, let's stop here for now."

"Let's build an empire's forward outpost here."

“Let’s clear out a field in this area and see if there’s any possibility of farming in the abyss.”

"There are so many wild demons here. Let's catch some and take them back. We're just short of test subjects and laborers."

The monsters communicated with each other in a language that Gollum couldn't understand, a language with a structure completely different from the Abyss language (Common Language).

Gulu was completely confused and couldn't figure out what was going on.

Immediately afterwards, he saw several gnoll zombies and skeletons rush over, and a giant net covered in shimmering arcane runes tightly bound him.

Immediately afterwards, a series of obscure incantations rang out.

Gulu's vision went black, and he lost consciousness. ...

When Gollum opened his eyes again, he found himself no longer under the crimson sun of the first level of the abyss, but indoors.

This place looks like a metal building made of steel, and there are many weak demons like Gollum here.

Strong chains with runes bound their feet together, preventing these weak demons from escaping.

"Gurgle, gurgle, where am I? Gurgle..."

Gulu looked around and, among a large number of demons that looked similar to himself, suddenly spotted a completely different figure.

It was a powerful demon, over three meters tall, that looked like a giant toad.

What a powerful berserker! Such enviable muscles and bumpy skin...

It's just like the boss who ran away before...

Gulu thought to himself, lost in memories of endless admiration for his boss.

Two more seconds passed.

Wait... wait...

Isn't this the boss himself?
The boss got arrested too!

"Gurgle, gurgle, strong and mighty boss." Gurgle made a gurgling sound to greet the boss.

“Gulu, you were caught too…” The leader seemed to recognize Gulu as well. Just as he was about to say something, a ring of glowing runes appeared on his body.

A contract composed of thousands of characters appeared on the leader's body, like some kind of invisible shackle with terrifying power, preventing the leader from saying what he originally wanted to say.

A clear, crisp female voice suddenly rang out from within the glowing runes:

"Article 94 of the contract states that all actions must serve the goal of maximizing Eldoron's interests. Do not waste time on things unrelated to work..."

——【Otherworldly Bondage】!
The leader quickly swallowed and addressed the skeleton and the other weaker demons:

"In short, I am your supervisor."

"From this day forward, you must obey my orders in absolute obedience, or my sharp teeth will tear you to pieces."

"Your task is to work at the Molten Lake Forging Plant, following my instructions as the overseer, for 22 hours a day."

The weak Primal Demons and Cowardly Demons trembled and prostrated themselves in allegiance to the powerful Berserker Demon.

The fear of lower demons towards more powerful demons is ingrained in their very bones!
…………

Following that, under the leader's guidance, Gollum and the other weaker demons began a series of arduous tasks.

This large horde of demons carried steel bars, ore, structural components, and other materials in and out of the Great Forge.

The clanging sound from the devil's hinges could be clearly heard throughout the vast forge.

During the process of moving supplies, Gulu saw a series of well-organized factories and workshops.

He saw pipes made of obsidian from the abyss transporting molten iron from the lake, either white or red, into corresponding molds and shaping them into the appropriate forms.

It has been transformed into armor, weapons, construct parts, or other incomprehensible mechanical structures.

He saw a purple magic circle continuously operating, using the energy of the abyss to enchant the equipment that had been created.

He saw that in the huge factory, most of the simple, purely physical, and dangerous manual labor was done by weak demons like himself.

For example, one of Gollum's jobs was to carry obsidian barrels filled with molten iron to a designated location and endure the high temperatures radiated from the molten iron.

—Demons' innate elemental and magical resistance allows them to perform tasks that are difficult for undead and mortal races to complete in harsh environments with high temperatures and dangerous magical radiation!

Some of the more refined and standardized operations are performed by moving skeletons.

Occasionally, Gollum would meet the true owner of the forge.

—Those well-proportioned "monsters" dressed in various work clothes enter the factory, adjust the magic circle, set up the ritual, check the enchanting progress, and so on.

Every time these monsters who truly rule this place walk in, the leader, who originally maintained an arrogant and domineering attitude, immediately changes his expression.

The powerful demon, resembling a giant toad, bowed and scraped, offering a fawning smile to the monsters.
"By the Magic Empire of Eldoron, praise be to His Majesty Elion, and praise be to every Eldoron who has contributed to the exploration of the Abyss!"

"Human beings, welcome to the inspection."

"Gentlemen from the Magic Empire of Eldoron, do you think there's anything that needs improvement?"

"Several Primal Demons and Fearful Demons have been disobedient today, not doing their jobs properly. Gentlemen, do you think we should send them to the living laboratory?"

(End of this chapter)