Iron Commandment clearly didn't expect that Edward and the others would reappear with such a large group of people.
Even so, its reaction speed stagnated for a moment before it regrouped the teapot automatons and cage automatons to encircle and capture the Players.
Still, compared to automatons that had a single combat style, the multitude of Players with various classes meant a qualitative leap in combat ability.
The Holy Lancers and the other heavy armor classes formed a formation that easily blocked the Teapot's charge, while the magic classes in the rear used a three-stage firing method similar to that of a matchlock, continuously covering the incoming enemies with an area of effect attack.
Apart from killing monsters, the Shadow Blades and Spirit Swordsmen who could summon spirit familiars were more importantly looking for a possible breakthrough point. * * *
Half an hour later, a piece of good news appeared on the Player forums.
[Terrosche: We've found a hidden room that might be where the Boss is.]
[Silva: The monsters inside are called 'Iron Guardians'. It's a teapot we've never seen before.]
[Edward: Well done. Come back first, don't be rash.]
[Terrosche: We got it!]
[Edward: What?]
[Edward: No, what did you guys get?]
[Terrosche: We're going!]
[Silva: For the glory of the God of Games!]
[Edward:???]
[Terrosche: We're dead!]
[Silva: Those teapots can spit fire.]
[Edward: …]
Were these two people here to be funny?
Whatever the case may be, they had marked the location of the hidden room on the shared minimap that the Players had explored together before they died.
Hence, with Edward's party as the main axis, the elite Players broke out of the Player's camp and charged towards the hidden room like a hot knife through butter.
"Instead of a hidden room …" Joe couldn't help being surprised when he saw the building on the map. "Isn't it obvious?"
It was a super metal building that was over fifty meters tall and looked like a cross. Although it did not stand out in this steel land, it was still quite eye-catching. No wonder the Koi Brothers were able to find it among so many buildings so quickly …
After realizing that the Players' objective was the cross-shaped building, the teapot and the caged automatons became much more aggressive, proving that the Players' objective was not wrong. The boss of this floor, or indeed the crux of the strategy, was definitely inside!
But just as they were about to break into the building, Edward, who was leading the charge, suddenly stopped and turned around.
The others were confused at first, but when they saw Edward's eyes, they immediately realized something and looked back with him.
On the other hand, Marni was startled when the other Players stared at him.
Even if they didn't say it out loud, their eyes were filled with the meaning of 'why don't you die once as a sacrifice first'.
"I've already died once! I was pulled up by a cleric just now!" he exclaimed in shock.
Though there was no telling if such a sacrifice would work, the Players had not lost their humanity just yet and wouldn't really let Marni die.
After a short rest, the party charged straight into the cross-shaped building.
Just as the Koi Brothers had reported on the forum, after entering the building, the monsters changed from ordinary teapots to high-level monsters called Steel Guardians. Almost all of them had basic attributes of around Level 40 and were immune to most debuffs. They were quite difficult to deal with.
If it weren't for the fact that they didn't have many attack methods and their battle strategy was relatively simple, even players of the same level wouldn't be a match for these metal cans.
It was fortunate that the Players present were all top-notch champions. While they were a little restrained against Level 40 enemies in the narrow passageway, it was not as if they couldn't handle them, although there would be a slight hindrance.
Soon, they broke through the Steel Guardians and finally reached the core of the building.
At first, Edward thought that he would see a room filled with cold magical devices and thick steel sheets, but the Players were shocked when they entered.
The room at the center of the building was like a fairytale world. There were gentle and beautiful sceneries everywhere, with lush grass and towering trees. Even the screen that was used to show the state of Steel Earth had been turned into a reflection of a lake, vivid and interesting.
Still, a closer look would reveal that everything in the space was actually made of metal. The lake was a liquid metal similar to mercury, the leaves and grass were made of flexible alloy sheets, and even the butterflies that occasionally perched on the flowers had a pair of wings made of gears …
And at the center of the room was a sphere made of gears, bearings, and various other mechanical structures. Even now, the mechanical parts of the sphere were still operating in an orderly manner.
The words' Steel Commandment 'were written over the mechanical sphere's head.
"It's all over. Surrender! Seeing that you didn't have any killing intent towards us in the beginning, we can also spare your life! "Edward said righteously.
However, Steel Commandment was unmoved, and merely kept repeating, "Master's friend, you need protection, refuge, shelter … please do not resist, it will be over soon, and everything will be fine …"
Edward frowned.
"It's broken." Marni clapped his hand on his shoulder. "We can't communicate with it anymore, and the only thing we can do now is to completely destroy it. If you really feel bad, bring its remains to Miss Kinley and see if she could build it again."
"No, I'm not that weak." Edward dodged Marni's hand without batting an eyelid. "It's just a pity that I can't get information about the final level of the Final Tome."
"Shelter … shelter …" Steel Commandment's spherical body began to mutate, growing a chain saw, a drill, a cleaver, a spear, and a host of other weird objects, as if about to attack the Players.
Even so, it was nothing more than an AI that stood guard at the rear, and its true form was not strong enough. In fact, the teapots of the Fourth Stratum were not as strong as the mutated monsters of the Third Stratum, Dark Sky.
With just a combined strike from several Players, Steel Commandment's body was directly destroyed, reduced into a pile of spare parts that were scattered in the heavy metal fairytale style room.
Steel Earth, Fourth Stratum of the Elven SIN.
Walkthrough complete!
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