MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

While Li Yi had no use for any equipment dropped by the demon bosses, he would still get a lot more EXP beating the bosses than if he farmed monsterlings. Killing a boss gave more EXP that killing a hundred monsterlings.

As Li Yi was leveling in the Demon God Castle, the other players also began to gather at the Demon God Halls. This was an ultimate monster-farming map where death meant getting sent back to their respective countries, so unless they bumped into their mortal enemies, almost every player had the awareness to not clash with players from other camps.

The entrance to the Demon God Castle was very unwieldy designed, allowing only one player to enter at a time. It was impossible for many players to rush in simultaneously, so they could only take it slow, going in one after the other.

However, every player who entered the Demon God Halls immediately ended up dead. The ones with faster reflexes could squeeze in one blow before dying, while the slower ones died instantly. Practically nobody could last more than three seconds in there.

Genghis’ bone spur disregarded all damage reduction skills, so Holy Shield Protection, Phantom Footprints, Shield Wall, and Megashield were all rendered ineffective. Players with more health could survive for a few more seconds, but those with less health died as soon as they set foot inside.

A day passed in the blink of an eye, and everyone had lost count of the number of players who had died in the Demon God Halls. Brother Windcloud Nine held the current best record, having stayed in there for 11 seconds and slashing Genghis several times.

“It’s unwinnable. Who could ever withstand 7 bosses attacking at once?”

“The GMs are at it again. This is clearly a bug, but they just refuse to admit their mistake. Well, their stubbornness is costing us.”

“I don’t believe anyone can kill seven of the First Demon God at once. That’s just impossible.”

The players who lost the challenge ran back to the forums and spammed their opinions again, trying to claim that there was a bug again.

The Pantheon developers did not respond at all to their claims. Their stance was clear, and that was that the seven Genghises were perfectly legal and not a bug, so the developers ignored all complaints about them completely.

Three days passed in a flash, and the Third Demon God in charge of guarding the Demon God Castle’s main gates respawned. With that, the flow of players challenging Genghis at the Demon God Castle stopped too.

It was not that they did not want to continue. They just could not get past the Third Demon God.

The seven Genghises existing at once meant that the other Demon Gods were seven times stronger than before too. Forget normal players, even Li Yi could not be sure that he would be able to overcome such tremendous power.

When the players stood helpless against the Third Demon God, Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut appeared before it, having reached Level 200 with her Territory Power at Rank 10.

She released her silver-white Territory. Surrounded by a layer of golden aura, Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut dashed at the Third Demon God like a god.

Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut’s Territory barrier reduced damage, so she lasted a long time against the Third Demon God. When the Third Demon God entered its second form, however, she crumbled.

Its ATK was just too high. Any random blow would be enough to kill.

Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut could not survive the second stage. She only managed to hang in there for a short while before she fell at the Third Demon God’s feet.

She was at Level 200, the highest possible level. She also had a Rank 10 Territory and more than 3000 Holy Points, and yet, even such a peak-tiered player like her could not kill the Third Demon God. When this news broke, the players who were kicking up a fuss on the Pantheon official site grew even more agitated.

“It’s a bug! It’s a bug!”

“Restore the game’s balance!”

“Game masters, come out here and suffer my wrath!”

“These demons are so strong it doesn’t even make sense! Even a top-tier player with the best equipment can’t beat it, so what can we possibly do?”

“Even leveling up is an exercise in masochism! What the f*ck is the meaning of this? Are you dead, Pantheon?”

The matter blew up again…

Perhaps they thought having seven bosses at once really was too much, so the Pantheon developers finally bent to the pressure and promised that they would return Genghis to its original state after two days.

The entire time, Li Yi had been leveling in the Demon God Castle. It was not that he did not want to challenge Genghis, it was just that his level was not high enough yet, so it was too much of a risk to go.

When he saw the announcement by the Pantheon developers, however, he immediately dropped whatever he was doing and headed straight for the Demon God Castle, preparing to give it a shot.

The Third Demon God standing in the way meant that there were not many players left in the Demon God Castle, and not a single one dared to challenge Genghis. The most they did here was farm monsterlings and level up.

Li Yi was currently at Level 197, with a Rank 12 Territory.

At the entrance to the Demon God Castle, Li Yi ate a Cuisine that temporarily increased his vitality, and then he used an extremely powerful scroll that increased his vitality by 1,000 Points. Finally, he summoned the Violent Bear King and used Violent Bear’s Protection.

Li Yi’s equipment changed too. Instead of wearing a full set of Hall of Fame Equipment, he especially chose equipment that increased his vitality in an attempt to give himself as much health as possible.

If he wanted to tank hits from all seven Genghises at once, he would not even stand a chance without more health. If he wanted to defeat it, the first thing he had to do was increase his HP to a certain extent.

After a few more enhancements, Li Yi’s health rose abruptly to 2,000,000. At the same time, his ATK was halved.

First, Li Yi tried a trial run. He walked inside, waited for three seconds, and came back out.

When he checked his health bar, he saw that he only had about 800,000HP left. The rate at which he lost his health was utterly ridiculous.

Li Yi sat on the floor and ate until he completely recovered his health. Only then did he stand and take the Mercenary Summons in his hand.

“Let’s go!”

Li Yi strode inside.

“Whoosh—”

Li Yi activated the Rocket Propellant and his body flew straight toward Genghis.

“Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!”

The seven Genghises used Resistant Shadow Beam at once, preventing Li Yi from approaching.

Just as Li Yi’s body was halfway there, three meters away from the Genghises, his HP fell to zero and he died, pierced through by bone spurs.

“Resurrect!”

Li Yi got up from the ground and rushed at the Genghises, activating his Mercenary Summons.

With that, he summoned all fifty mercenaries.

Aside from the Mysterious Leader, every member of the Defiants’ Confederation was here.

Li Yi aimed the Mercenary Summons at just the right place. When the Defiants’ Confederation members appeared, many of them just happened to be standing on the Genghises.

This was Li Yi’s final aim!

The bone spurs shot out twice in a row, and then the seven Genghises stopped attacking altogether.

It was a success!

“Holy Light Illumination!”

Once she was free from the punch-through effect, the mercenaries’ Kobold Priest seized the opportunity to use Holy Light Illumination.

While they could not move, the party members’ HP began to recover.

“Breath of Fresh Air!” Another one of the mercenaries, a Human Vagabond, also used a group healing skill, increasing everyone’s HP recovery rate again.

Now, as long as the mercenaries stacked on top of Genghis did not move, the battle was as good as won.

After the two bone spurs attacks, both Genghis and the mercenaries on top of it could not move. However, the other mercenaries and Li Yi were not affected. As long as they continued to run, they could avoid bone south’s punch-through effect.

From then on, there was only one way to victory: Grind them!

“Aaah, someone’s actually fighting… Aaahh…”

Just as Li Yi was trying to grind down the seven Genghises, a Summoner appeared at the entrance. However, he had barely managed to get a word in before he was stabbed by seven bone spurs at the same time, falling to the ground as a corpse.

Li Yi turned around and saw the Summoner’s face. He was stunned for a second.

It was…

None other than The Mountain!

“Why are you here?!”

“Why are you here?!”

The two of them recognized each other at the same time and cried out in unison.

The Pantheon developers had given in and were about to adjust Genghis, so anyone who could kill it now would make an enormous statement about their abilities. That was what Li Yi had in mind, but he was not the only one. The Mountain was one of the others with the same idea.

Before Li Yi and The Mountain could recover from their shock, another Thief dressed in black ran in through the entrance and was pierced through by seven bone spurs at once. Just like The Mountain, he died instantly to Genghis.

Genghis’ bone spur attack was automatically adjusted to match the number of players. There would always be as many bone spurs as there were players, so Genghis would never miss.

The Thief in black fell right beside The Mountain.

“Hi, friend.” The Mountain greeted the Thief in black cheerfully.

The Mountain did not know the Thief in black, or else he would never say that.

On the other hand, Li Yi was stunned yet again.

He recognized the Thief in black. It was none other than the first Emperor of the Continent in the past life, Ghostly Walker.

Just as before, Ghostly Walker was dressed in pathetic equipment, either white or blue.

Ghostly Walker ignored The Mountain, lying on the ground wordlessly. He did not even release his soul, so no one knew what he was thinking.

“Hi, friend. Are you from the Ninth Continent? Why haven’t I seen you before? So your name’s Ghostly Walker, huh? Haha, that name’s a little cringy.”

The Mountain was very talkative. Be it with friends or strangers, as soon as his engine got running, he would never stop. He could be a real pain.

Ghostly Walker harrumphed crossly. If he were not a corpse right now, he would definitely turn his head so he could not see The Mountain’s annoying face.

‘My name is cringy, you say? Well, what about you? You don’t even dare to display your name! You must be even cringier!’

Ghostly Walker thought to himself in contempt.

All of a sudden, there were two more people in the Demon God Halls. Although they were both dead now, any player who could make their way into the Demon God Halls must have a few Holy Talismans on them.

Li Yi did not fear anyone in a one-on-one fight, but right now, he was completely occupied with the boss, so he could not afford to be distracted. If someone disturbed him now, there was a chance he would die too…

The Mountain tried to talk to Ghostly Walker a bit more, but the latter acted all cool and stoic, much to The Mountain’s disappointment. He had no choice but to turn around and yell, “Don’t worry, Dark Wing, I won’t get up now. I’ll only resurrect on the spot once you die, then I’ll use my Swamp King to envelop the entire hall and kill the seven Genghises.”

If a regular Summoner said that, Li Yi might not believe him, but since it was The Mountain, he had no choice but to believe him.

After all, The Mountain’s Territory Skill was Natural Emulation. Although he could not emulate Genghis completely, the moment he summoned the Swamp King, he was perfectly capable of turning into a Swamp King himself.

Perhaps a regular Summoner could not do it, but The Mountain definitely could!

As soon as The Mountain said that, Ghostly Walker said, “Genghis is mine!”

Ghostly Walker stood up where he lay…

“Pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft!”

Seven bone spurs pierced his body at once, but he did not lose any health!

…