Comprehensive network wizard, magic emperor.

Chapter 260 The Demon Beneath the Brass

Of the players present, only Lin Bo and [Frost Stew Pot] were encountering the boss monster of the Extreme Difficulty level for the first time.

The halfling muttered, "It doesn't look threatening at all."

The Sky Islands leader "Emicodo," whose consciousness was forcibly transferred into a small construct, looks like a discarded robot from a junkyard. This type of construct is indeed designed for tasks such as dealing with garbage and sewer blockages.

"Be careful, that little thing is not to be trifled with; a demon lurks beneath its iron shell." The female dwarf gripped her double axes tightly, causing the hanging golden beard rings to sway slightly.

These teammates who were wiped out while attempting the Inferno difficulty level have the most to say, as they even wrote the strategy guide for the Desperate difficulty level.

Lin Bo observed the leader monster but did not see any invisible connections, which meant that he had not yet mastered its true name.

"Emekodo" is not a human spirit, but as the dwarves say, a deep abyss demon lurks beneath the brass.

The construction workshop and the operating theater stage were deathly silent, as if time had frozen there. The metal, covered with a thin veil of dust, still gleamed under the lights. The air was filled with the pungent smell of sulfur, and the eerie magical energy murmured profound words of corruption.

As the group walked through the workshop and into the operating room, the previously dormant construct "Emikodo" was awakened.

This short, withered, skeletal machine scanned its surroundings, its gaze settling on the rotting corpse on the operating table, before looking down at its own current physical form.

It let out a hoarse sigh. The sound did not come from the construct's loudspeaker, but from the living being within it, speaking in the same tone as in life, but with layers of echoes.

"Such long and arduous labor, just to free all my people from the shackles of birth, aging, sickness and death, yet why does fate play such a cruel trick on me? Why must this great nation be destroyed before dawn? Countless sacrifices and rationality have been reduced to ashes."

Emikodo slowly took steps with its mechanical legs, its footsteps clicking. It grabbed the former human body, dragged it to the ground, and stomped on its face twice, completely crushing the rotting cheeks.

It looked again at the line of blood-written slogans on the ground and laughed, "This is exactly the immortality I want. You think stuffing me into a cleaner's body is an insult?"
"The demons summoned by these fools have corrupted my holy and noble human souls, this is the real insult... It doesn't matter. Even if I fall into the abyss, I will still create an eternal holy kingdom."

Emikodo turned to face the players. Its body was still small and despicable, but the military uniforms of the corpses at its feet seemed to still be on its body. Head held high and chest puffed out, "Despicable thieves, in the name of the Supreme Commander of the Sky Islands Cloud Sea Republic, I sentence you to death. I, 'Emikodo,' the first and last leader, will personally carry out the execution."

Before he finished speaking, a dark, blood-red light flashed through the air, as light and graceful as a shooting star, and in an instant, it split the construct from head to tail into two pieces, left and right.

Emikodo's voice paused, and after a short while, a cloud of dark blue frost surged from the severed head of the construct, and the abyssal magic surged and clamored.

"Foolish. Despicable. Insolent!" A cold, mocking voice rang out.

The dark blue frost mist swelled in the air into a blurry, humanoid cloud, as large as a train carriage, its head almost touching the dome of the Great Library, its face adorned with two scarlet, transparent eyeballs that shone with a pitiful, dark red gaze.

The true form of the demon has appeared in the world.

Not many players are fluent in the local language, so when Emiko spoke, most of his teammates weren't listening at all; instead, they were quietly discussing tactical plans.

Upon seeing the leader monster transform, the paladin's totem pole was the first to arrive, its brilliant white holy light striking the demon's leg and shattering its knee.

Immediately following were three scorching fireballs thrown by the halflings, elves, and tifflin. The orange-red sparks, the size of beans, formed a triangular pattern and landed on the demon's chest, violently expanding into a noisy ball of fire the size of a small house.

The ranger pulled out a high-energy jet gun, slung it over his shoulder, aimed, and fired. A finger-thick beam of cyan-blue plasma struck the demon's brow, creating a hole through which light could pass through from both sides.

Caught off guard and beaten, Emikodo, dizzy and in excruciating pain, let out a shriek. A huge shadow rose into the air, like a dark blue gust of wind, passing over everyone's heads and rushing towards the construct workshop. Midway, it was also hit by an enchanted hammer that flew in from nowhere, the scorching light and demonic energy colliding and hissing.

The leader monster hovered in mid-air, unleashing magical energy like snow falling from dark clouds.

The dormant constructs suddenly awoke, their mouths constantly praising the leader of the Kingdom of Heaven. They stood straight, hands on their chests, chanting loud political songs.

Their presence hindered the player's attack, giving Emikodo, who had been badly beaten, a brief respite.

It took a deep breath downwards, and the mountain of mechanical parts on the ground was swept up by the cold wind, gathering in the demonic shadow's body like withered leaves and debris, gradually piling up into a large mass of metallic polymer.

This was Hermikov's new body: dozens of metal heads fused together to form a skull, hundreds of mechanical arms and legs assembled into a torso, thousands of transmission rods combined into arms, and countless brass gears transformed into gleaming golden tracks. It stared at the crowd with its sculpted face, its head tilted and stacked, and raised its massive, rounded arms, like bronze pillars, to punch them.

A milky white aura enveloped the fist, like a fighter jet sweeping across the sky, its tail end bursting with a sonic boom-like aura.

Just as the teammates were about to dodge, they caught a glimpse of the mage standing calmly in place. So they all stopped their retreat and stood tall, looking at the roaring, mountain-like giant fist crashing down from above.

Lin Bo pointed at the incoming copper pillar, and the Secret Spirit Mercury rose into the air, expanding into a hollow, dark red fist, as large as a house, with distinct joints.

With the support of the torrent, layers of force gathered within the mercury, like thousands of waves, slowly rising towards the bronze pillar.

The two, one gold and one red, clashed instantly. The hollow mercury fist sounded like a resounding bell, and the high-frequency vibrations swept across the space, causing the walls and floor of the Great Library to tremble. Everyone present felt their bodies resonate, their bones shake, their blood boil, their heads go numb, and all sounds around them were utterly silent.

Emikodo's powerful punch was blocked. Not only was it blocked, but its arm couldn't withstand the recoil and exploded into a pile of parts.

Lin Bo took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. When challenging [Giant's Field], he would use this move to wrestle and exchange blows with the giant's undead. In comparison, Emikodo's mechanical aggregate was relatively weak, and he didn't even need to enchant the Mystic Mercury with Dragon Language.

"What a hard fist." A voice came from behind the leader monster.

Following the sound, everyone looked and saw a young human sitting cross-legged in an open space deep inside the workshop. He had dark gray skin and wore a brass shackle around his neck, clearly indicating that he was trapped. However, he seemed to have retained his senses and nodded to his teammates with a smile.

"This guy is our team's monk, [climbing piton]," the ranger shouted as he introduced Lin Bo.

The monk raised his hand in response, and the others also greeted him loudly.

The monk remained seated, restraining the spirit controlling his body to prevent it from causing trouble for the other players.

Emikodo, seeing that they ignored him, laughed in anger and ordered the demon-infected constructs to advance. At the same time, the mechanical arms that had been tightly wrapped around his chest opened, revealing a ball of icy blue demonic heart inside. As it throbbed, a chilling magical aura gathered in his heart and sprayed out as a thick frost tide.

Before the frost even reached the ground, the air had already plummeted to freezing point, enough to push the gray-blue mist, which was frozen and shattered like steel, towards us like a city wall.

Before everyone's eyes was a vast expanse of darkness, except for the fleeting, frigid fog that revealed the figure of a construct rushing towards them.

Suddenly, a loud, mournful scream rang out from the depths of the fog.

"(Incantation) Clear the heavens."

Thunder rumbled across the sky, and the icy air that had swept in suddenly reversed and dissipated, revealing a clear and open view.

The leader monster lay sprawled on the ground, its beating demonic heart having been ripped out and crushed by the giant crimson hand. Its body rapidly disintegrated, leaving only a thin, dark shadow.

The teammates annihilated all the demon-infected constructs that attacked and came before the huddled, panting leader of the Heavenly Kingdom.

The Shadow Demon struggled to stand up, trying to make his slender frame appear taller, but he still had to look up at the players, even the dwarves and halflings.

The monk stepped forward, pressed down on its head, and whispered an order for it to give its name.

"You want to kill me?"

Lin Bo began reciting a string of demonic names.

"Make your move." The shadowy figure's voice was hollow. "I've lost. A holy kingdom without the power to protect it is destined for this end... Perhaps we went astray. Don't follow my example..."

“(The curse) Death.”

The demonic shadow vanished into nothingness.

(End of this chapter)