Crouching low, the Fire Demons raced forward at speed; their muscular serpentine tails lashed from side to side like enraged vipers.
Instead of flicking out forked tongues like snakes, each gripped a crude, black, heavy trident over two meters long in their claws. The weapon was covered in rust spots, and its three prongs with barbed hooks at the ends inspired genuine terror.
These two Fire Demons had rich combat experience.
They pressed low to the ground, lurking among the other beasts, waiting for the moment when Reyn finished another Charge and paused for an instant, then attacked suddenly. Striking simultaneously from both sides, they hurled their massive tridents, aiming at Reyn's chest and back.
"Watch out!" came Kenji's shout from the warehouse entrance.
Reyn had already figured out their plan. He lunged toward the demon on the right, took a wide step, and, channeling all his power into his arms, brought his warhammer crashing down in a frontal assault.
Clang!
A deafening metallic clash tore through the air, showering nearby beasts with sparks.
The Fire Demon's trident flew aside, pinning several unlucky lesser imps to the floor along the way. The monstrous force of the blow snapped the demon's arms gripping the weapon, and it let out a gut-wrenching scream.
Dragging his warhammer, Reyn surged forward. Only slightly shorter than the Fire Demon, he slammed his forehead into its chin with full force.
Crack!
The demon's skull split open with a repulsive sound, like an eggshell smashed against a rock.
At that exact moment, the second Fire Demon arrived. Its trident plunged into Reyn's back with force; the beast's eyes blazed with cruelty and fury.
Clang!
The trident struck as if against a steel ingot and rebounded, leaving only a shallow white scratch on Reyn's back.
The demon's arms went numb from the recoil, bewilderment frozen in its eyes.
From the trident's impact, Reyn staggered and took two steps forward, immediately transitioning into a new Charge. Spinning 180 degrees, he swept aside several sulfur hounds and lesser imps, positioning himself to the side of the second Fire Demon, and brought the hammer down with full swing.
Explosive force and bone-chilling cold erupted simultaneously.
The still-stunned Fire Demon exploded into chunks, turning into a pile of frozen flesh.
Reyn caught his breath. Several demonic souls rushed toward him and were absorbed. The charge indicator on his phone climbed rapidly, bars filling in jumps.
Each of these two Fire Demons had yielded five charge bars. After absorbing souls from the other beasts, the charge reached ninety-eight percent—the second battery bar was nearly full.
Souls were absorbed not only from demons he killed himself but also from those felled by others. The process never stopped for a second.
Reyn recalled what happened last time the charge maxed out: Soul Ascension, the vibration of the entire World Soul Tree. The sensation was pleasant but could hinder him in battle.
He quickly scanned around: plenty of demons remained in the warehouse, enough to fill the charge bar several times over.
"Can't level up now," he decided instantly. "Need to spend this charge."
Reyn opened the interface and found icons for several elements. Without hesitation, he poured spiritual power into "Steel Body."
This was his strongest survival ability. Previously, he lacked spiritual power to upgrade it, but now with the chance, he had to enhance "Steel Body." If more powerful demons appeared, it would be his main salvation.
No sooner had he thought it than the charge dropped sharply, and the progress bar under "Steel Body" began filling. Every two charge bars advanced the "Steel Body" progress by one.
A new crowd of demons was already surrounding him.
Demons can't be permanently killed outside the Void; their souls return there and reincarnate. So demons always fight without fear of death, accustomed to overwhelming stronger foes with sheer numbers.
Reyn fully unleashed himself.
He knew these demons couldn't harm him. He let fireballs hit him, didn't dodge sulfur hound bites—he either killed them on direct collision or crushed them with the warhammer!
Charge! Hammer strike!
Charge! Hammer strike!
Charge...
Reyn's figure darted through the warehouse, sweeping everything in his path like a soulless killing machine. Wherever he passed, rivers of blood remained, instantly freezing from the hammer's chill, coating the floor in a thick layer of bloody ice.
Mangled demon corpses piled up, the stench of blood assaulted the nose; the entire warehouse resembled a monstrous slaughterhouse.
Demons came wave after wave, one annihilated batch replaced by another, seemingly endless.
Several times demons swarmed Reyn, sacrificing their lives to knock him down. The remaining beasts piled on top, forming a mountain of bodies, trying to crush him.
But each time Reyn rose again, intact and unharmed. Not a single hair on his head was harmed.
Occasionally, Fire Demons' tridents left marks on his body, but they healed and vanished in seconds.
Moreover, Reyn grew more excited, his hammer blows heavier, his power greater, as if his endurance was limitless and he'd never tire.
Kenji and his two companions at the warehouse entrance were stunned by the scene. Their souls trembled, and they mentally invoked gods' names countless times.
They'd never seen such a ferocious fighting style! Couldn't even imagine it.
These low-level demons were utterly helpless against Reyn; none could withstand a single blow. Like lambs to the slaughter, they faced merciless extermination.
Numerical superiority was powerless against Absolute Defense and power.
Reyn himself was in a frenzy. If he didn't wipe out these demons, he couldn't break free to attack Trevichi inside the rune array.
The mad, savage slaughter lasted nearly a minute.
Boom!
Reyn used Charge again for acceleration, letting a Fire Demon's flames scorch him, then turned the beast into bloody pulp with one powerful hammer blow.
Suddenly, space cleared before him; the packed warehouse emptied.
Reyn looked around and saw the entire floor littered with demon remains. No more than a dozen still on their feet, all keeping their distance.
"Already killed them all?"
He suddenly felt a bit uneasy, missing something. The "Steel Body" progress bar had reached only ninety-seven percent, one step from level two.
This upgrade had consumed as much spiritual power as two full level-ups for himself.
The Void Gates continued spewing demons, but the passage was too narrow, and their spawn rate couldn't keep up with Reyn's kill speed.
The huge number of demons here had actually accumulated for over an hour.
Reyn ignored the Void Gates and looked at Trevichi in the ritual circle.
The Fallen seemed oblivious to the warehouse chaos, fully focused on maintaining the Void Gates.
Reyn took a deep breath and surged forward in Charge.
He covered a dozen meters in an instant.
Reaching the altar's edge, Reyn channeled all his accumulated power into the warhammer and struck the rune array.
A golden, almost material Protective Shield appeared. A layer like flowing metal gathered at the impact point. The hammer crashed into it heavily, producing a deafening roar, and the entire altar shook.
Thud...
The hammer rebounded. Reyn's arms went numb; he nearly dropped the weapon.
A strong ripple passed over the Protective Shield, but it immediately restored, without a single crack.
Trevichi inside stared at Reyn in astonishment but, seeing the shield hold, refocused on the Void Gates.
"What a tough shield!"
"Not easy..."
Reyn was shocked but guessed the reason. This Protective Shield drew power from the magical smelter and was sustained by the rune array, making it so sturdy—not due to Trevichi's own strength.
In disbelief, he struck twice more with the hammer but couldn't breach this seemingly fragile yet unbreakable barrier.
At the warehouse entrance, Kenji and Pollock finally dealt with their surrounding demons and, stepping over piles of remains, rushed to him.
Kenji's voice came from inside the mechanical armor:
"This Protective Shield is the Mechanicum's 'Liquid Gold Shield'! He's merged himself with the rune array, expanding the shield to barrier size. Unless you cut off the energy from the magical smelter, it's very hard to break with brute force."
Before he finished, demons fresh from the Void Gates were charging at them.
"You're a mechanic too—quick, figure out how to break it!" Reyn shouted, swinging his hammer and charging the new wave of demons.
One Charge—and bones crunch, skulls split.
Leaving a mountain of corpses behind, Reyn cleared space around with two or three skillful hammer blows.
Then he stood right before the Void Gates.
Every demon emerging—be it lesser imp, sulfur hound, or Fire Demon—barely stepping onto Ellunes soil and not yet seeing the world, met a crushing hammer blow.
After killing a demon, Reyn tossed its corpse aside to avoid blocking the passage.
Souls were absorbed one after another, charge steadily rising.
Reyn felt like he was playing "whack-a-mole," and his mood inexplicably improved.
Finally, after killing a few more demons, the "Steel Body" progress bar reached the end, flashed, the "1" changed to "2," and the bar instantly reset.
Reyn felt his entire body shudder, then sensed the changes.
Countless invisible energy streams surged from all sides into his body, generating burning heat. At unimaginable speed, they reinforced every muscle, every bone, restructuring his body from within at a deeper level.
His skin became tougher, gleaming with metallic sheen.
His weight increased rapidly, though outwardly he slimmed a bit, looking leaner and more harmonious. He still appeared as a tall, athletically built man, but without excess bulk.
Every second, his defense and power grew.
Reyn, still killing demons from the Void Gates, listened to his sensations.
The three around the rune array didn't notice his transformation, fully absorbed in attacking the Protective Shield.
Perhaps due to the existing foundation, this "Steel Body" upgrade was much faster than the first. The whole process took less than thirty seconds.
The metallic skin gleam faded, returning to normal color; no external signs remained.
In the rush, Reyn couldn't precisely gauge "Steel Body" level two effects, only knowing he was definitely tougher, much harder to kill!
The "Steel Body" upgrade also boosted the Force element—they were interconnected. The third-level Force progress bar filled halfway.
Reyn distinctly felt the warhammer in his hands become a bit lighter.
Before he could fully process the changes, the Void Gates suddenly transformed—sharply increasing in height and width, the passage expanding by one and a half times!
A piercing roar echoed from the gates, and a tall demonic figure burst forth.