feiniaonovel Chapter 137: The Iron Demon (2)
Chapter 137: The Iron Demon (2)
At the same time, Ethan fired the Grappling Hook and dragged himself backward, barely managing to evade the punch after slowing it down with the debris and creating distance through the hook.
All of that—
Just to avoid a single attack.
And the moment he escaped it, another came immediately after.
The Iron Demon charged forward again and erased the distance between them in less than a second.
Ethan was instantly dragged back to square one.
This time, he hurled the Executioner’s Sword itself at the demon.
The sword spun violently through the air.
This was its strongest ability—
A rotating strike capable of tearing through metal itself.
The Iron Demon met the spinning blade with nothing more than a sideways punch using the back of his fist.
Metal collided against metal.
The shrill sound of impact exploded through the street hard enough to rupture ears.
The clash lasted barely a second before Ethan watched his beloved sword fly away into the distance, knocked aside by the back of the demon’s fist alone.
’I didn’t even use the Night Lord’s Aura...’
’But this is still my strongest attack.’
Ethan was genuinely shaken by the Iron Demon’s sheer power.
He had always known defeating a King-rank monster was impossible for him.
But in Ordeal, even players far below a boss’s level could still injure stronger enemies little by little.
Countless players defeated monsters vastly stronger than themselves by dodging every attack and slowly shaving away their health through hundreds of strikes.
Reality, however—
Was far crueler than the game.
The Iron Demon’s health had not moved even slightly since the battle began despite tanking two of Ethan’s strongest attacks head-on.
Ethan was completely at the demon’s mercy now.
So he activated his human arm this time.
The blessing of the Legendary Weapons Master ignited, covering his arm with glowing blue runes.
"Storage Release!"
With a single motion, hundreds of weapons burst into existence.
Swords.
Axes.
Spears.
And countless others.
There were so many that they completely obscured Ethan from sight, creating a wall of steel between him and the demon.
Using that brief cover, Ethan barely escaped the next punch.
He threw himself away and rolled violently across the ground before springing back to his feet, terror filling his eyes as dozens of summoned weapons shattered apart into fragments of metal after enduring only one strike from the Iron Demon.
"This thing is way beyond anything I can handle!!"
The worst part—
Barely a minute had passed since the fight started.
Every exchange between them had happened within that tiny span of time.
A single minute.
And it had achieved absolutely nothing.
"It’s impossible for him to be this strong..."
"He’s not even the boss!!"
Ethan’s crimson eyes glowed fiercely as he pushed the Wise Raven’s Vision to its absolute limit, staring obsessively at the raging demon charging toward him.
What disturbed him most—
Was the fact that none of his attacks had caused even the slightest damage.
’There has to be a reason.’
’There has to be.’
Like a madman, Ethan analyzed every detail through the Wise Raven’s Vision until his eyes nearly burst from strain.
Then—
He finally understood.
"I see..."
"It’s not his body..."
"It’s the armor!"
The Flaming Stake.
The rotating sword strike.
Every single attack had been blocked by the strange dark armor covering parts of the Iron Demon’s body.
That armor was absurdly durable.
Strong enough to nullify the damage entirely.
Which meant Ethan had to strike somewhere unprotected.
But that itself was nearly impossible.
The black iron armor covered almost everything—
Chest.
Back.
Arms.
Legs.
Even the head.
The only exposed flesh existed in tiny hidden gaps that were incredibly difficult to target.
The neck.
The joints.
Under the arms.
And the demon clearly understood his own weak points.
He guarded them instinctively at all times.
’I need to hit him from a blind spot...’
’Or land something so fast he can’t react to it.’
’But how the hell am I supposed to do that?’
For the first time since entering Ordeal, Ethan felt utterly powerless.
Every ability he possessed was meaningless before a monster of this level.
And right now—
The Iron Demon was already preparing his next strike.
Ethan’s mind emptied completely.
Even using the Grappling Hook again would not save him.
Escape was impossible unless he somehow stopped that incoming blow.
’Think...’
"Should I use Eventual Greatness and boost my stats? No... it won’t change anything. The increase I’d gain wouldn’t be enough against him..."
The demon’s fist drew closer and closer to Ethan’s skull.
Eventual Greatness.
The Legendary Weapons Master.
Night Lord Aura.
Class change.
The Demonic Body.
Wise Raven’s Vision.
One after another, Ethan ran through every blessing he possessed.
None of them could save him.
Except for the Blood of the Old Gods—
The hidden trump card that could revive him even after death.
But Ethan refused to reveal it no matter what.
That was the strongest secret he possessed.
’Think!!’
The Iron Demon’s fist was moments away from blowing his head apart.
The seven blessings were useless.
The eighth blessing remained hidden behind question marks he still could not understand.
Everything was useless ...
Except for one ability.
The one he had acquired recently.
At the very last moment, Ethan moved his lips and spoke a single word.
"Overcharge."
The Legion Arm erupted with blinding light.
From nowhere, a tiny yellow spark of electricity appeared.
It flared violently— Turning sky blue.
Then brighter still ...
Until it became a deep violet current overflowing with terrifying lightning.
Overcharge: 6/10.
The condition for activating the Legion Arm’s third ability was simple—
Damage enemies repeatedly without taking a hit in return.
And Ethan had somehow managed to fulfill it.
The Flaming Stake.
The flying debris.
The Executioner’s Sword.
Every successful strike had built charge inside the arm until the electricity reached six stacks out of ten.
Then it exploded outward.
A devastating storm of lightning crashed into the demon’s body with enough force to finally slow him down, allowing Ethan to escape death by the narrowest possible margin.
Ethan threw himself away and rolled across the ground while the Legion Arm emitted a strange metallic screech before shutting down completely.
That was the price of unleashing the electrical discharge.
The attack had slowed the demon—
But it had not stopped him.
The Iron Demon slowly turned toward Ethan.
Steam rose from his massive body while arcs of electricity still crawled across the black armor.
Yet the demon showed no sign of pain.
Only fury.
A terrifying, monstrous fury that Ethan was now forced to face head-on.
And after less than two minutes of fighting—
The cursed hunter laughed weakly from exhaustion.
"Damn, you’re tough..."