Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 14
The Undead should have been incapable of pain—that was the nature of their existence—yet they writhed across the ground, crying out in agony as the black flames of Adhesive Hellfire consumed them.
‘What the hell. So Adhesive Hellfire really does burn the soul itself? I thought it was just infernal fire, but this…’
A new discovery in the midst of chaos.
Even as that realization struck, his legs pumped furiously beneath him—he had to break through this nightmare if he wanted to live.
The Imp Butler kept pace, hovering at his side, and spoke with an infuriatingly calm tone.
“Weak Berserker Mode, sir. A Dark Magic spell that touches both mind and body. It ignites your will to fight and strips away pain. The word ‘weak’ in its name ensures you retain your reason—you won’t lose yourself to madness.”
“That sounds perfect. Teach me now!”
There was no time for explanations—only action.
“I shall grant it to you. You will learn as I do.”
“Do it!”
Now! Move!
“Your will exalted, your fury kindled—press forward without mercy. Weak Berserker Mode.”
Flash!
Dark Magic surged through Tay’s body.
-Weak Berserker Mode has been granted.
-Madness Accumulation negates mental effects.
-Physical capabilities increased by 30%.
-[Status Abnormality: Numbness] applied.
-Physical body takes damage.
-Madness Measurement activates.
-[Spell: Weak Berserker Mode] learned.
The temporary, weakened transformation hardened his body, made it more durable, more resilient.
His heart hammered like a piston, and heat radiated from every muscle.
But.
His mind remained exactly as it was.
The Madness Accumulation skill had swallowed the mental component of the berserker transformation whole.
‘This is… absolutely broken in my favor.’
The Berserker spell.
It was both a mental and physical magic.
It flooding the mind with madness while granting the body tremendous strength and numbing pain—a perfect tool for destruction.
But Madness Accumulation consumed the mental side entirely, leaving him with the body boost and nothing else. Completely, absurdly broken.
‘I should think about combinations later—this has potential.’
His body groaned under the strain of Dark Magic, groaned further under Weak Berserker Mode layered on top.
Berserker magic worked by shattering the body’s natural limits, not by summoning power from nothing—so the strain was inevitable.
But right now, he needed this.
Boom-boom-boom!
He ran with impossible speed.
His legs drove between corpses faster than they could rise as Undead; those that did stagger upright caught Soul Theft before they could move. Dark Magic flowed back into him as he sprinted.
By the time he reached a region empty of bodies, he’d recovered enough to think.
“The water flows this way. It would seem the exit lies in that direction, though there appears to be a complication.”
“Indeed, master! It sounds as though a tremendous battle is raging ahead! Oh! Do you think we’ll witness a great battle?”
The Imp Butler had clearly lost a screw somewhere, his voice bright with anticipation.
‘Of course. A creature bought by Gwangdol. Whether the master dies or not is irrelevant to him.’
Thinking that sourly, Tay kept sprinting forward.
But Undead already transformed came stumbling out of the darkness.
He fired hellish arrows while running, then Adhesive Hellfire bursts.
Bang! Crackle!
A shriek tore from the corpse.
The dead thing convulsed and collapsed; he leaped over it, still answering the Imp Butler.
“I don’t know what’s ahead, but I’ve already burned through Berserker Mode. I need to punch through fast and get out—my body won’t hold up much longer!”
Soul Fragments were, literally, scraps of spirit compressed into solid form, capable of restoring the soul itself.
Which meant they replenished mental clarity and Dark Magic Power, but not the body.
‘Life Force Absorption is the main Dark Magic spell for physical recovery… Glashalavolias would certainly know that incantation, but the problem is I can’t use it effectively right now.’
Everything here was either Undead or Golem.
Using Life Force Absorption on them wouldn’t yield any real benefit.
In other words: zero recovery options.
He’d brought no potions because they were too expensive.
Ah, the miserable life of a pauper mercenary!
And as he lamented, a mass of corpses appeared ahead.
There are more than thirty of them!
Use fire? Soul Theft? No. This is the moment for volume.
“Hellfire Arrow!”
Three arrows of infernal power coalesce at the tip of my staff, taking shape.
Of course, the Mouth Dialogue perched on my shoulder adds three more arrows to the volley.
But it doesn’t stop there.
“Hellfire arrow, hellfire arrow, hellfire arrow, hellfire arrow, hellfire arrow, hellfire arrow, hellfire arrow, hellfire arrow, hellfire arrow….”
Like rapid-fire rapping, the incantation spills forth in machine-gun bursts, and crimson arrows multiply and pour out without number.
It resembles the fire of an automatic weapon.
Ping-ping-ping-ping-ping!
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Splash! Splash-splash!
Dozens of arrows streak toward dozens of Undead, boring holes through their bodies.
In an instant, the corpses crumble into scattered chunks of carrion.
Moreover, the Hellfire arrows inflict agony and trauma upon their very souls; the corpses scatter with the shrieks of the damned.
“Extraordinary! How do you command such power….”
While the Imp Butler stands aghast, Tay pushes forward.
The last volley cost him a third of his Dark Magic Power reserves.
So he presses onward, casting Soul Theft against the remaining Undead to replenish his reserves.
‘How is the body? There’s no pain—I can’t tell if I’ve reached my limit yet. Damn it. Either way, I have to push through to the end.’
“Glashalavolias! Life Force Absorption!”
He hurls a Soul Fragment. The Imp Butler catches it deftly and nods.
“Understood. Allow me to demonstrate. When you spot a living creature, observe how I use it and learn.”
“Do it!”
And so Tay found himself with an unexpected opportunity to master the new Dark Magic of Life Force Absorption far more quickly than he’d anticipated.
The reason was simple.
He’d reached the chamber where a Necromancer commanding corpses now battled against Golems.
* * *
“Damn it! Curse it! Rot in it! You dogs!”
A sallow-faced middle-aged man continuously spits bitter oaths, his Bone Skull Staff raised as Necromantic Power pours from every fiber of his being.
The instigator of the Great Purification catastrophe.
Kendal Jakenp, the Necromancer.
Among Necromancers, some observe Imperial Law and live respectable lives. But many also turn to crime.
In truth, not only Necromancers but ordinary Mages and spirit users become criminals as well, so one cannot say Necromancers are inherently more wicked than the rest.
Yet Kendal Jakenp, cursing that his rank and cultivation advanced too slowly, eventually committed acts forbidden by Imperial Law and became a wanted criminal.
His transgression was this:
Human sacrifice.
Though it was strictly forbidden to kill sentient beings and offer their souls and bodies as sacrifice, he had done precisely that.
As a result, he became both a Necromancer and a Demonizer, and by the barest margin clawed his way from Third Rank to Fourth Rank, acquiring the power of a Mage.
Having furnished his contracted demon with numerous sacrifices to gain strength, that power would not easily fade.
He had remained hidden in this ancient sewage system, gradually capturing vagabonds from the city and mercenaries who ventured down to clean the tunnels, hoarding power through repeated sacrifices.
Now, with just a bit more time, he could aspire to break through to Fifth Rank, and he had delighted in this prospect.
The problem, however,
was that in the midst of performing his ascension ritual, the ancient sewer suddenly began to move.
That’s right.
His wicked ceremony had awakened the maintenance functions dormant within the ancient sewage system.
That was why the Great Purification had been triggered!
Though Kendal Jakenp did not know this fact, when Golems poured forth to impede his ascension, he could only rage and curse.
“Ahahaha! Isn’t this a laughable predicament! A villain who strove to abandon humanity, only to face death at the hands of a mere sewer-cleaning Golem!”
“Silence! Do you dare mock me, whom your master has contracted with!”
“Hahahaha! I am but a small demon lending magical power to your pitiful self at my master’s command. The work of this lowly jester is mockery and contempt! What else would you expect!”
In the empty space near Kendal Jakenp,
something in the form of a human wearing jester’s motley floated and danced languidly.
Its height was approximately 1.7 meters.
Neither small nor large, but lean and nimble.
A smiling mask covered its face, obscuring all expression.
Yet the Dark Magic Power that wreathed its form suggested a demon of considerable strength.
And.
Before them both, horrific entities formed from entangled corpses clashed violently against a multitude of Golems.
“Damn it! This insane sewer!”
“Well then! Shouldn’t you be retreating? It seems you cannot complete the ritual here?”
“Arghhhhhh! Damn it all! Ten years of preparation! Ten years! And now because of this wretched disaster!!”
“Hahahaha! What will you do now, you foolish dark mage?”
“Retreat…….”
That was when it happened.
A sharp whistle cut through the air!
Something flew at tremendous speed, piercing straight through his back and bursting out through his chest.
Thud!
It was a twisted Bone Spear!
“Hack!?”
He staggered, coughing blood. The impact sent the dark mage reeling into confusion.
But then.
True to a dark mage who’d spent decades fleeing,
he grasped the situation at once.
He immediately thrust his hand into his robe, pulled out a Glass Vial, and swung it against his own body.
Shatter!
The vial broke, spilling its contents across him.
The pain vanished in an instant, and the blood flowing from his wound stopped. Yet he did not pull the spear from his back.
He had the instinct that removing it would cause blood to spray forth uncontrollably.
“Who in the…”
He spun around with a shout.
A sharp whistle cut through the air again!
Something else came hurtling at an incredible speed!
“Block it!”
He cried out desperately.
The demon wearing the jester’s mask spun through the air and swatted the incoming spear aside.
But then.
Whoosh!
The spear bounced to the side, only to change direction and fly back in again!
Crack!
And it struck his flank with precision.
“Hack!”
And in that moment.
“Strike! Beautiful hit!”
Someone called out as they stepped from the corridor.
It was Tay, the debt collector mercenary, his two fingers dangling broken at his sides.
“Behold. I make my grand entrance.”
The dark mage was far too easy a smith
Author |
Automaton G
Publisher |
Samyang C&C
Chief Editor |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C – Dream Books
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UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260511100
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blog.naver.com/dreambookss
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Submission |
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The contents of this book may not be used in any form or manner without written permission from Samyang C&C – Dream Books.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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