Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 86

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

Chapter 86
But one problem remained.
Thump. Thump-thump-thump!
Sounds began erupting from within the Bone Tomb.
With the Bone Wizard dead, the mid-tier Undead he had controlled broke free of his dominion.
Undead without a master move on instinct alone—they rampage toward the nearest living thing as a matter of nature.
But.
They were buried in the Bone Tomb. They couldn’t do anything.
They thrashed about wildly inside, that much was clear.
But they couldn’t get out.
The structure was built from ten thousand bone fragments lashed together through skeletal craftsmanship. No matter how violently they raged within, escape was impossible.
Tay sighed as he looked upon the sight.
“When am I going to smash through all of these…”
Hundreds of mid-tier Undead. All trapped inside the Bone Tomb, thrashing about.
Without control, he couldn’t use them as his own forces—but if left as they were, the Bone Tomb itself might eventually shatter. They had to be dealt with.
The solution was clear enough: he’d have to resort to hard labor.
“Haa…”
Tay’s deep sigh hung heavy over the battlefield.
Rant crossed his arms beside him and spoke.
“The cleanup is tedious, considering you won so easily.”
“We won easily?”
“Didn’t we crush them through sheer numerical force? If that isn’t winning easily, what is?”
“…Fair point.”
Tay gazed up at the Bone Tomb and rolled up his sleeves.
Work had to be done.
Thus the Plague wave was brought to a close.
* * *
Tay found himself frantically busy.
His intention to rest through winter proved laughably naive.
The aftermath of battle demanded attention—it couldn’t be helped.
The immediate priority was dismantling the Bone Tomb.
Simple in theory, but the reality was grueling drudgery.
A massive structure of ten thousand bone fragments bound tightly together through skeletal craftsmanship, with hundreds of mid-tier Undead raging uncontrolled inside.
He couldn’t simply smash it apart.
If the Undead poured out all at once, the casualties would be catastrophic.
So there was only one method.
Drill holes gradually.
Deal with each Undead that squeezed through one by one. Once done, widen the hole. Then deal with more.
And repeat that same process endlessly.
Naturally, his subordinate Necromancers were deployed as well.
He spent an entire month doing this.
A full month!
From dawn to dusk every day, drilling holes in the Bone Tomb and suppressing the Ghouls that burst out with swarms of Skeleton Soldiers, crushing Skeleton Warriors with barrages of bone spears—after repeating that process hundreds of times, he had destroyed nearly all the Undead inside the tomb.
Nearly, not all.
Some he deliberately left alone, for a simple reason.
They were mid-tier Undead. You don’t make these easily.
Thirty-two Skeleton Warriors. Fifteen Ghouls.
He seized dominion over them using the Lord of Death skill and incorporated them into his own forces.
Mid-tier Undead are always useful.
While Tay couldn’t yet produce mid-tier Undead of his own from scratch, commanding ones already created was possible—so that’s what he did.
Free elite troops acquired through circumstance. There was no reason to waste them.
But everything else proved to be a headache.
First: the losses among Skeleton Soldiers.
The Medium Skeleton Soldiers lost in this battle numbered in the thousands.
The price of the Crushing Tactic, one might say. To crush the enemy, he had thrown his own bodies forward without hesitation, so consumption was severe—and vast quantities of Skeleton Soldier corpses had been used in the skeletal craftsmanship to construct the Bone Tomb.
Thousands of them destroyed!
The losses were catastrophic!
Of course, with bones he could rebuild them, but production took time.
Monthly output was substantial, but replenishing thousands would require several months.
And that wasn’t all.
Plague.
The Bone Wizard’s plague had been contained before it could spread widely, but already the rat population had swelled and the infection had begun to take hold in scattered pockets.
In the southern reaches of the Territory, several residents had fallen ill with fever, and in one of the poultry farms, chickens had begun to die in alarming numbers.
The Temple’s priests had mobilized to treat the sick and purify the contaminated areas, but quarantine work was slow by its nature.
The rats had to be exterminated, the infected zones disinfected, the afflicted isolated.
There was simply too much to do.
Kael was marshaling every resource to establish a quarantine system, while Partan deployed Skeleton Soldiers in a rat-elimination campaign.
Rant had been assigned to purify the areas where Necrotic Power lingered using Dark Magic.
Everyone in the Territory had to work ceaselessly.
Dismantle the Bone Tomb. Raise new troops. Control the plague. And somehow keep the Territory running all the while.
‘I won’t see sleep anytime soon…….’
Tay’s sigh dissolved into the spring breeze.
* * *
A month had passed.
The dismantling of the Bone Tomb was nearly complete.
In the heart of the tomb, in its deepest chamber, the Bone Wizard’s remains were unearthed.
What had once been little more than bone and desiccated skin had been further ravaged by the Shadow Hound’s fangs—now only broken bone fragments and tattered scraps remained.
And there, among the remains, an artifact of extraordinary power was discovered.
A black jewel, lodged between the Bone Wizard’s ribs.
“What is this?”
Tay picked up the jewel.
The moment it touched his skin, cold Necrotic Power flowed through his palm and into his hand.
Because Tay himself was a Black Mage, the sensation felt strangely familiar.
-Madness Measurement Eye activates.
With the system message came a flood of information about the jewel.
[Item: Crown Jewel of the Lich Lord]
Grade: Unique
Type: Equipment (Crown Socket, Insertable)
One of the jewels that was set into the crown worn by a powerful Lich Lord.
It is presumed to be the sole survivor of the crown’s destruction.
Residual traces of the Lich Lord’s authority remain within the jewel itself.
Effect: User’s Undead Control Range increases by 100%
Effect: User’s Undead Control Power increases by 100%
Effect: The combat prowess of Undead under the user’s command increases.
Effect: Absorbs Necrotic Power from nearby corpses and supplies it to the user.
Note: Other jewels from the crown are believed to exist. If multiple jewels are collected, the crown can presumably be restored.
Tay stared at the jewel for a long time.
“The Crown Jewel of the Lich Lord……?”
Unique Grade.
Just one tier below Legendary—already remarkable as a relic, but the effects make it extraordinary.
Vastly expanded Undead Control Range.
This has insane Synergy with the Lord of Death skill.
Lower-tier Undead can already be controlled in unlimited numbers, but if the range expands as well?
That means direct control would extend to Skeleton Soldiers far more distant than before.
And the 100% increase to Control Power is equally broken.
But what catches the eye most is the note.
Other jewels from the crown are believed to exist. If multiple jewels are collected, the crown can be restored.
‘The Crown of the Lich Lord…….’
Tay’s eyes gleamed.
This is no mere relic.
It’s a Set Item!!
When the jewels are gathered, they form the crown—but what happens when the crown is complete?
The Lich Lord.
I don’t know what rank that title signifies, but given that it bears the name of a crown, it must be formidable.
“Keh…….”
A smile spread across Tay’s face.
The Bone Wizard—a madman who spread plague and attacked the Territory—yet he carried such artifacts.
‘Thanks to you, I’ve gained something precious. This loss I can bear.’
After offering silent thanks to the corpse he had slain.
Tay, his eyes weary with exhaustion, tucked his prize into his breast.
* * *
“Has madness taken hold of me……?”
Tay turned the black jewel over in his hand, lost in thought.
It had only been a few years since he created the Territory.
It was true that the Territory’s expansion had been astonishingly swift, but even he hadn’t anticipated facing two unhinged Black Mages launching direct attacks on his domain.
A Territorial Dispute?
He’d expected that much.
After all, if a rapidly growing Territory suddenly appeared near your own borders with seemingly no military forces yet, it would be nearly impossible to resist the urge to strike.
You know how it is.
Like placing meat in front of a lion.
Grrrr. I can’t help myself!
That sort of thing.
Of course, it would turn out that the meat wasn’t food at all—it was a trap.
The moment they rushed in to feed, they would be the ones destroyed.
Indeed, that’s exactly how his first Territorial Dispute had unfolded, and he’d won.
Word spread from that victory, and afterward, no one had dared challenge his Territory.
But these Black Mages—whether mad or foolish—had thrown themselves at him regardless, and two of them had ended up dead.
Now that such maniacs were attacking, he didn’t expect the Territory itself to suffer catastrophic collapse, but the accumulated damage was becoming a problem.
In the case of Parkan, there had been minimal losses, but this latest invasion by that Necromancer who’d transformed himself into an Undead had been costly.
The Territory itself hadn’t sustained major damage, but his military forces had taken a heavy toll……
“Perhaps it’s simply a matter of misfortune on your part.”
“Indeed! Master, no matter how I look at it, you seem to be cursed with bad luck, don’t you think? These are events that might happen once in a lifetime in other Territories, if ever!”
“So is that what you call consolation?”
“Consolation? Contractor, I believe I have never offered you comfort.”
“Fine, fine. You’re so clever.”
Tay clicked his tongue.
Of course these creatures would respond that way.
“In any case…… what should I do with this.”
The jewel was a powerful artifact, but Tay found it quite inconvenient to use in its current form.
He could have a new staff crafted and use it as the core.
Or perhaps fashion it into a bracelet or necklace.
Carrying it around like this in his bare hand was simply too impractical.
But which form should he choose?
And should Tay craft it himself, or should he commission someone to do it?
If he were to commission it, did he know anyone trustworthy?
“Ugh…… this is troublesome.”
Even acquiring a fine item left him with much to deliberate, and his head ached somewhat from it.
Was this what they called the worry of excess?
Then his gaze fell upon Asu.
“Asu.”
“Yes, Master?”
“If I were to give this to you, what could you offer me in return?”
Tay was well aware that Asu, his contracted Imp Butler, was no ordinary demon.
The very concept of an Imp Butler was already rare among demons, but Asu possessed capabilities that transcended even that classification.
He had never asked questions about his true nature.
There was little point; the answers to such questions were rarely forthcoming.
Black Mage Is Too Easy as a Blacksmith
Author |
Automaton G
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Inc.
Editorial Director |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C Inc. – Dream Books
Address |
7F Kwang Sung Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260511100
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
© Samyang C&C — The contents of this book may not be used in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Dream Books.

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