Red Demons in their stone statue form did indeed gain massive physical damage reduction. Bare fists were out of the question; even blades left only faint white marks when they struck, utterly incapable of breaking through their defenses.
Not only that, but Holy Damage was nearly ineffective as well. Holy light could not scorch an utterly ordinary stone statue.
However, in Chosen Space, powerful bonuses usually came at a certain cost. The price Red Demons paid for their immense resistance against Physical Strikes from bare hands, blades, and the like while in stone statue form was...
An extreme fear of targeted attacks from blunt weapons, pickaxes, drills, and similar tools!
And Cheng Tian happened to have an SD Final Fight White Normal big hammer he had looted from a teammate's corpse.
[Big Hammer: White Normal/Lv1, War Hammer. Equipment Requirement: Strength 14. Weapon Damage 12–22. Durability 36/36.]
Neither Cheng Tian nor its previous owner, who had died less than a few minutes after obtaining it, actually met the big hammer's equipment requirements. But that did not mean it was completely unusable.
Equipment requirements usually applied to more advanced Magic Equipment—those green, blue, and higher-grade items that came with attribute bonuses and Special Effects. If the hard requirements were not met, those effects could not be triggered.
But that did not stop Players from forcibly picking those things up and using them anyway.
It was strenuous, sure, but as long as they could swing it and hit someone, the damage still had to be taken.
Of course, Cheng Tian had no idea what the Red Demons' racial talent specifically did. After all, what this Elite Red Demon displayed was an enhancement added by Chosen Space, not something from the original game.
But his many years of gaming experience had given Cheng Tian a wealth of knowledge. By drawing parallels, he could always find a fitting solution.
The moment he noticed that stone-like impact sensation from the Red Demon, information about gargoyles naturally surfaced in his mind.
He had played the Undead race plenty in Warcraft, and he had also used the Dire hero Visage plenty in Dota. He was quite familiar with gargoyles.
So naturally, he came up with the idea of swapping a sharp weapon for a blunt one.
Running away was impossible. Since they had already gone head-to-head, then they had to see it through. Either he or the Red Demon had to die today!
It was just a shame he did not have a pickaxe. Otherwise, a pickaxe would definitely have taken priority over a hammer... As for punching rocks bare-handed, he had stopped doing that back in his Minecraft days.
This big hammer required 14 Strength, which really meant the requirement for being able to wield it freely and effortlessly. Cheng Tian, with only 10 Strength, naturally could not swing it continuously without hindrance. But before his strength gave out, putting everything into a few hard smashes was not too difficult.
The big hammer rose high and came crashing down.
Cheng Tian targeted the back of the Red Demon's left knee.
It was a joint, and also the narrowest part of the body—the easiest place to shatter.
From how he had chopped off its wings earlier, it was clear that the saying, "Better to break one finger than wound all ten," could basically sum up his entire way of thinking.
Bold, meticulous, goal-oriented, fond of dancing on the edge of a blade. Put nicely, he had a spirit for adventure. Put bluntly, he had a bit of a self-destructive streak.
In any case, when that hammer came down, the Red Demon—unable to immediately leave its stone statue form due to its skill cooldown—had its left knee shattered on impact. Its lower leg completely separated from its thigh.
This was not just because Cheng Tian had picked the right spot. The stone statue form also took double full damage from blunt weapon, pickaxe, and drill attacks.
Its HP, which had only just recovered to 170 points, plummeted in one sharp drop to 146.
Because of his insufficient Strength, Cheng Tian's swing had almost only triggered the weapon's minimum damage. But the doubled damage from blunt impacts made up for that shortfall.
Of course, Cheng Tian was still far from exhausted.
After the left foot came the right foot, then the right hand. Cheng Tian circled around and began working on the Red Demon's limbs, faithfully carrying out his limb-severing doctrine.
Cheng Tian was also extremely crafty. He remained on guard against the Red Demon possibly leaving its stone statue form at any moment. Even with its limbs broken, it still had a mouth, and Cheng Tian had not forgotten that this thing could breathe fire. He constantly kept clear of its pointy head, completely extinguishing the Red Demon's last hope of a counterkill.
Its wings severed and limbs smashed apart, the Elite Red Demon beneath Cheng Tian's feet had become the most miserably mutilated limbless torso in its clan's history.
But the facts proved that Cheng Tian's vigilance had been correct.
Worthy of being an elite demon from the Demon World mercenary race, the Red Demon did not beg for mercy or spit out threats before its death. After leaving its stone statue form, all it could do was helplessly unleash a massive blast of black smoke and a Fireball Spit while Cheng Tian stomped on the back of its head and ground its face into the ground.
Even knowing it was doomed to die, the Red Demon, having repeatedly made the wrong choices, still tried to bite a chunk out of Cheng Tian.
But when a bronze-colored treasure chest sprang from the mutilated limbless corpse, the Side Quest to Kill the Elite Red Demon was finally over.
The cunning and ruthless Cheng Tian had even earned the rare achievement of taking no damage throughout the entire battle!
Yes, an achievement.
The instant the Red Demon finally breathed its last, a small notification box popped up in the lower-right corner of Cheng Tian's vision, just like on the STEAM platform. Even the sound effect had been copied exactly.
Not caring whether it was a Treasure Chest Monster or not, Cheng Tian, exhausted enough to have sweat pooling inside his metal boots, plopped down onto the Bronze Treasure Chest. After taking several deep breaths, he opened the record details page with a satisfied expression.
[Limited Achievement: First Kill of Red Demon (Completed)] [Requirement: During your first three Chosen Trials after entering Chosen Space, encounter any Red Demon with a Boss Template or higher and defeat it alone without taking damage.] [Achievement Reward: Title "Enemy of the Red Demons," permanent Agility +2, permanent Flame Resistance +5%.] [You have successfully unlocked the "Achievements" module. Details may be viewed at any time.] [Enemy of the Red Demons: Blue/Excellent, title, can grow. You successfully encountered and solo-killed without taking damage a concept-level Elite Template Red Demon created because it "successfully crushed countless Players' desire to clear Demon World Village throughout gaming history." Not only did this vent the frustration of those Players, but it also thoroughly enraged the Red Demon Clan. [When you equip this title— [You will immediately enter a high-hostility enemy state with any "Red Demon" unit. All Red Demon units that sense your presence will have a high chance of attacking proactively. [All damage you deal to "Red Demon" and "Gargoyle" units will receive a 1% final calculation increase. [For every Red Demon you kill, the final calculation increase rises by 1%. For every non-Red Demon Gargoyle you kill, the final calculation increase rises by 0.5%. [When the final calculation increase reaches 100%, the title will undergo growth evolution.] [While out of combat, you may equip or remove the title at any time.] [You may only equip one title at a time.]
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