Chapter 86: The Factory Floor

Chapter 86: Chapter 86: The Factory Floor

The Abyssal factory-citadel was a towering nightmare of jagged black iron and glowing red vents. It didn’t have a front door. It had a massive, fifty-foot-tall loading bay where rivers of molten dimensional steel flowed directly into the heart of the facility.

Donald, Evelyn, and Sylvia crouched behind a ridge of obsidian rocks, safely inside their golden bubble of filtered air.

"The perimeter is heavily guarded," Sylvia observed. Her violet eyes scanned the heavily armored Orcs and Lesser Demons patrolling the catwalks above the liquid metal. "If we go in loud, they’ll lock down the production floor."

"Then we go in quiet," Donald said. "You’re up, Sylvia. Clear a path."

Sylvia nodded. She stepped out of the golden bubble, holding her breath to avoid the toxic air, and instantly sank into her shadow.

With her A-Rank [Shadow Sovereign] skill active, she moved across the dark, rocky ground like a phantom. She reappeared directly behind a pair of Orc guards on the lowest catwalk. She didn’t stab them. She simply expanded the shadow beneath their feet and dropped both of them entirely into her shadow-inventory, violently suffocating them in the airless void before tossing their bodies into the molten steel below.

She flashed Donald a thumbs-up from the shadows.

"Show-off," Evelyn smirked, her black hair tied tightly out of her face.

Donald and Evelyn moved up, using the blind spots Sylvia created. They slipped into the massive, echoing belly of the citadel.

The heat inside was staggering. Massive gears ground against each other, powering conveyor belts loaded with raw purple mana crystals. At the very center of the facility was the Forge—a massive, glowing crater of liquid hellfire.

Standing in front of the Forge was a demon the size of a dump truck.

He had four massive arms, skin that looked like cooled magma, and a chest that glowed with an internal furnace. He held a colossal, flat-headed iron hammer in two of his hands, effortlessly shaping a massive slab of dark steel.

[WARNING: High-Density Target Detected.]

[Target: Abyssal Forge-Master (Level 78)]

[Passive Ability: Absolute Density. Physical attacks below S-Rank are completely negated.]

"That’s the plant manager," Donald whispered, crouching behind a stack of steel crates. "He’s producing the weapons for the invasion forces."

"Absolute density?" Evelyn read the System prompt, a fierce, competitive grin spreading across her face. She drew the Bloodhound’s Fang, the silver blade humming with holy energy. "Let’s test that."

"Wait, Evie," Donald warned, checking his interface. "His armor is thick. Don’t rush—"

Before Donald could finish, the Forge-Master suddenly stopped hammering. The massive demon slowly turned around. His glowing yellow eyes locked directly onto the stack of crates where Donald and Evelyn were hiding.

"Angels," the Forge-Master rumbled, his voice sounding like grinding tectonic plates. "In my forge."

He didn’t hesitate. The giant demon swung his colossal hammer, not at them, but at the ground.

BOOM.

A shockwave of liquid hellfire erupted from the floor, ripping the steel crates to shreds. Donald was thrown backward, the golden air-bubble perfectly absorbing the heat but not the kinetic force.

Evelyn didn’t fall back. She launched herself forward through the fire.

Her massive sapphire-and-gold wings flared, blowing the flames away. She closed the distance in a microsecond, channeling every ounce of her S-Rank holy fire into the Bloodhound’s Fang. The silver blade burned white-hot as she swung a devastating overhead strike, aiming right for the demon’s glowing chest.

"Break!" Evelyn roared.

The Forge-Master sneered. He didn’t try to dodge. He raised his lower two arms and crossed them over his chest. His magma-like skin suddenly hardened, turning the color of deep, impenetrable void-iron.

[Enemy Skill Triggered: Unbreakable Anvil.]

The silver blade of the Bloodhound’s Fang slammed into the demon’s crossed arms.

The impact created a deafening, high-pitched screech. Evelyn pushed harder, her boots cracking the steel grating beneath her. But the holy fire wasn’t cutting through. The demon’s defense was absolute.

Then, a terrifying sound echoed through the massive chamber.

SNAP.

Evelyn’s eyes widened in sheer shock.

The Bloodhound’s Fang—the blade that had carried her from the slums of Genesis City to the top of the Awakened food chain—shattered. The pristine silver metal exploded into a thousand glittering shards, leaving her holding nothing but a broken hilt.

"Your metal is weak, human," the Forge-Master mocked.

He uncrossed his lower arms and used his massive iron hammer to swat Evelyn out of the air. The blow connected squarely with her ribs. Evelyn gasped in pain as she was launched backward like a cannonball, crashing through two heavy brick pillars before tumbling to a halt.

"Evie!" Donald yelled, scrambling to his feet.

"I’m fine!" Evelyn coughed, pushing herself out of the rubble. She looked at the broken hilt in her hand, her blue eyes flashing with genuine anger. "But I really loved this sword."

The Forge-Master raised his hammer to finish her off.

Suddenly, a blur of shadowy wings darted out from the dark ceiling. Nyx dive-bombed the giant demon, phasing straight through his massive, glowing chest furnace.

The Forge-Master gagged, dropping his hammer as his internal mana violently seized.

[Familiar (Nyx) engaged target: Abyssal Forge-Master (Level 78).]

[Skill Triggered: Phantasmal Siphon.]

[Nyx has stolen: +35 Strength, +25 Defense, +30 Mana.]

[Transferring stats to Investor...]

Donald’s Level 22 baseline violently spiked. His Strength shattered the 120-point mark. His muscles coiled with unnatural, stolen demonic density.

"Sylvia! Now!" Donald commanded.

Sylvia erupted from the shadow directly beneath the Forge-Master’s feet. She knew her B-Rank daggers wouldn’t scratch his armor. Instead, she reached into her shadow-inventory and pulled out the heavy, live A-Rank mana-turret they had dismantled from the mercenary blockade.

She slammed the turret directly against the demon’s kneecap and pulled the manual firing pin.

The point-blank blue energy blast blew the demon’s leg completely off.

The Forge-Master roared in agony, collapsing to one knee.

Donald was already moving. He sprinted across the factory floor, his boosted speed turning him into a blur. He pulled back his left arm, the Abyssal Impact Pile Bunker whining as it drew in all the ambient heat from the molten forge.

Evelyn’s sword broke because it was standard human steel facing dimensional iron. But Donald’s weapon was forged from the armor of an Abyssal Warlord.

Donald jumped into the air, leveling his left fist directly at the Forge-Master’s face.

"Quality control," Donald whispered.

He pulled the trigger.

The B-Rank thunder core detonated, fueled by his temporarily boosted 116 Mana. A concentrated beam of blue lightning and crimson hellfire erupted from the gauntlet, hitting the Forge-Master perfectly between the eyes.

The demon’s head snapped backward and simply exploded.

The massive, headless body swayed for a second before crashing backward into the pool of liquid metal.

The factory went completely silent.

[Target Defeated: Abyssal Forge-Master (Level 78).]

[Massive Experience Awarded.]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Current Level: 24]

Donald landed softly, venting the blue smoke from his gauntlet. Nyx fluttered down, landing on his shoulder as the stolen stats slowly bled out of his system.

He walked over to the rubble where Evelyn was sitting. The Valkyrie was staring at the broken hilt of the Bloodhound’s Fang. The silver shards were scattered across the floor.

"Are you hurt?" Donald asked, offering her a hand.

Evelyn took it, letting him pull her up. "Bruised ribs. Bruised ego. He just completely shattered it, Donald. It didn’t even scratch his armor."

"It was an early-game sword, Evie," Donald said gently. "It was meant to fight C-Rank monsters, not Level 78 Abyssal Lords. You outgrew it."

"So what do I hit things with now?" Evelyn asked, kicking a piece of rubble in frustration.

Sylvia walked over, her violet eyes scanning the massive, empty factory. She pointed toward a heavy set of reinforced vault doors at the far end of the facility.

"We are standing inside the primary manufacturing hub for a Demon King," Sylvia noted, a small smile creeping onto her face. "I bet they have something you can hit things with in there."

Donald checked his interface. He had 150,000 Credits left. He was practically broke.

He looked at the vault doors, his golden [Valuation Eye] already calculating the potential profit.

"Let’s go raid the company safe," Donald smiled, adjusting his cuffs. "Garrick is going to need top-tier materials if he’s going to forge you a new weapon, Evie. Let’s get to work."