Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 167

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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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The Genius Blacksmith’s Game
Friend, Help Me (2)
The primary reason demons do not manifest their true forms is the Ares Church.
The Ares Church, which wields holy power as its primary weapon, exerts formidable strength against demons, which can be called evil incarnate.
However, this knowledge comes from human speculation and conjecture.
Of course, demons refrain from manifesting their true forms partly out of fear of the Ares Church, but there were other reasons as well.
Among humans existed those who bore the name of legend.
They were strong.
Long ago, when demons confidently believed they would easily conquer the Human Realm in the Human-Demon War, their occupation failed—proof of this truth.
Humans are fragile.
But legends are not.
Graut knew this well.
‘Humans are creatures who align according to their tier.’
The strong befriend the strong, and the weak band together.
Where did Hyeon-su stand?
Neither among the strong nor the weak.
This was Graut’s assessment.
‘Should his so-called friends arrive….’
I would tear them to shreds.
I would demonstrate my power to these insects.
Like a human crushing a mosquito with a single finger, I would do the same.
But then.
Shiver—
Graut’s body trembled.
[Sword King’s Killing Intent]
[The killing intent emanating from the Sword King dominates the battlefield.]
[You have been afflicted with the abnormal status: Fear.]
Watching the first legend standing beside Hyeon-su and supporting him, I questioned the current situation.
[Spear Heaven’s Wrath]
[The wrath of the spear is revealed. Immense pressure strangles the breath from enemies.]
[You have been afflicted with the abnormal status: Asphyxiation.]
Upon witnessing the second legend, I took a step back, cold sweat trickling down my spine.
‘This makes no sense….’
To summarize the situation:
The average level of the demon race was between 400 and 450.
Conversely, the demons of the Demon Realm averaged levels of 700 to 800.
This current situation was equivalent to the demon race crying out, “Friend, please help me!” and summoning a demon.
And the demons had rushed forth merely to protect a single member of the demon race.
“Is it you? The one who did this to my friend, Hyeon-su?”
At the words of the one called Spear Heaven, Graut nearly responded thus.
‘No?’
Denial, avoidance—I nearly fled.
A disgrace as a demon. But I had no choice.
[Sword King Barad Lv.478]
[Spear Heaven Ben Lv.488]
Graut, descended in his true form, was level 500-range.
The tiger spirit’s effects had already worn off.
‘Am I being overwhelmed by their momentum?’
My failure to resist the status ailment proved it.
The legends’ status ailment skills were the finest in Ares, and the demon’s resistance had weakened due to the toll of manifesting my true form.
I held my breath, tension coiling through me.
At last, Sword King Barad moved.
I watched his face, twisted with fury.
He asked simply.
‘Why?’
How could this happen because of just one bastard?
Moreover, there exists a clear distinction between the strong and the weak.
The weak ruin their battles through anger and excitement; the strong use it as a medium to fight with greater composure.
I tried to prepare myself.
Then.
Screeeee!
Barad had already cut through me and passed.
[You have taken 33,301 damage.]
The damage Hyeon-su had taken before ranged from ten thousand to seventeen thousand.
Averaging between ten and twelve thousand, spiking to seventeen thousand when Critical Hits landed.
But Barad was different. A single Basic Attack dealt damage of over thirty-three thousand.
Here’s the crux of it.
At that time, Hyeon-su’s sword attack power had risen to 200% due to the rampaging sword’s mysteries.
And this—a concept of training for NPCs, a skill for Users.
[Sword King’s Sword Mastery Lv.7]
Swordsmen possess Sword Mastery.
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Supreme.
Among Users, none have yet surpassed Supreme.
But even if they did, they would never possess the Sword King’s Sword Mastery.
The Sword King’s Sword Mastery is a rank beyond Supreme.
Moreover, while ordinary Sword Mastery increases sword attack power and cutting force by 3% each, Barad had been increasing his by 4.5%.
A swordsman who transcends the ordinary by a vast margin—Ares’ finest blade.
Crash!
He struck me upward.
Launched skyward, I prepared to respond.
But he was positioned higher than me.
“Sword King Swordsmanship.”
Kurrrr—!
A crimson heat shimmer bloomed into existence.
One of the powers contained within Sword King Swordsmanship.
Wave Slash.
Recently, I had leveled up Sword King Swordsmanship once.
As a result, my Wave Slash had grown stronger, transforming from 150% additional damage to 200% additional damage on critical hits.
But then.
[Deals 400% additional damage on attack, and applies 600% additional damage on successful critical hits.]
Barad’s transcended mine by an immeasurable margin.
Graut instinctively tried to defend his vital points.
Yet the blade of the greatest swordsman could not be blocked, no matter how desperately one wished to.
Fwoosh—!
[You have taken 157,875 damage.]
“Krraaagh, aaahhhhh!”
Graut felt the sensation of the blade tearing through his flesh. Instinctively, he grasped his sword with both hands and screamed.
Damage output that defied all reason.
“…How dare you grasp the Sword King’s blade.”
And as payment for daring(?) to seize the Sword King’s blade, he was slashed to ribbons in mid-air.
Shing-shing-shing-shing-shing—!
More than three swift cuts per second carved into Graut.
[You have taken 36,313 damage.]
[Critical Hit triggered.]
[You have taken 47,971 damage.]
[You have taken 31,041 damage.]
Of course, Graut was not merely taking punishment.
His viscous blood erupted upward, splattering across Barad’s body in countless places.
Blood was the source of his power.
Though I could not match him in swordsmanship, with this I could overwhelm him.
The blood sprayed across Barad’s body triggered a chain reaction of explosions.
Boom—!
Crash, boom-boom-boom, crash—!
[Barad’s HP drops below 70%.]
Graut was capable of dealing damage one tier above Barad.
In the midst of the chain explosions engulfing him in mid-air, a groan escaped Barad’s lips.
“Kugh….”
And yet.
Shing-shing-shing-shing-shing—!
‘This madman…!’
Withstanding the explosions, I continued to strike down Graut.
Then.
Tsk tsk tsk….
The sound of an old man’s tongue clicking in disapproval.
“This is why swordsmen are useless—all flash and no substance.”
Swordsmen?
Graut doubted his own ears. To speak such words to someone of this caliber?
Immediately, something unidentifiable surged upward, seized Barad’s arm, and hurled him to the ground.
“Rest now.”
Though he called him a swordsman, affection laced his voice.
An elderly man with thick white hair appeared, holding a spear, and looked toward Graut.
And then, the substance he had spoken of revealed itself.
Thwack!
[You have taken 45,031 damage.]
In an instant, the spear pierced through Graut.
The basic attack damage of that spear overwhelmingly surpassed Barad’s from before.
The reason people primarily use swords is because they are the most convenient weapons to wield.
The range is adequate, and damage can be inflicted on enemies simply by swinging.
Spears are different.
Because spears have greater reach, attacks take 30% longer than with a sword, making them not easy weapons to master.
However, spears allow one to maintain distance while fighting and are efficient at striking vital points.
Of course, the advantage only manifests upon successfully striking those vital points, but to Spear Heaven’s eyes, they were all visible.
Hundreds of vital points possessed by humans.
Demons, after all, possessed the same bodily structure as humans.
Thrust, thrust thrust thrust thrust thrust, thrust thrust thrust thrust thrust!
Relentless attacks targeting vital points.
Resulting in exponentially escalating Critical Damage.
[Critical Hit triggered.]
[You have taken 64,805 damage.]
[Critical Hit triggered.]
[You have taken 56,319 damage.]
Just as he had said, Ben was someone who gave the spear true substance.
Yet this was merely an infinitesimal fraction of his power.
“Extreme Spear.”
The force that created the current Spear Heaven.
A secret technique possessed since before the creation of Ghost Step.
All of Spear Heaven’s stats and attack power rose to transcendent levels.
Kuhooooooo—
The old man’s thick white hair scattered in the wind, and at last, attacks came pouring in from all directions.
[You have taken 74,805 damage.]
[You have taken 68,319 damage.]
Graut could not comprehend what was happening.
Merely thirty seconds since the battle began.
Yet his HP had plummeted to an absurd degree in that span of time.
[Graut’s HP has fallen below 50%.]
Graut writhed in agony as his blood erupted endlessly from his body.
Soon, thousands of blood droplets bursting forth from him coalesced into a singular mass.
Beneath Ben, that convergence unleashed a tremendous force.
[Blood Tempest]
Krrrrrrraaaaaagh—
The maelstrom that consumed everything around it even drew in Spear Heaven itself.
And yet….
Thwack—
An elderly man being sucked into the tempest seized Graut by the collar.
The caster of Blood Tempest takes no damage.
Crrrrraaaaaagh—
The old man’s voice remained composed even as his entire body was shredded to ribbons within the maelstrom.
“Hoh, not bad?”
“…!?”
The old man demonstrated extraordinary mental fortitude, and while plummeting through the tempest, he thrust his blade endlessly forward.
Thrust thrust thrust thrust, thrust thrust—!
[Graut’s HP has fallen below 45%.]
And together, both plunged toward the earth.
Booooom—!
“I may have grown old, yet I did not expect to struggle this much.”
Ben wiped across his bleeding body.
He swayed momentarily, seized by vertigo.
Graut perceived this as his opportunity.
If both Ben and Barad attacked simultaneously, he would struggle to endure.
Under that assessment, a wry smile crossed Graut’s lips as he moved.
“…?”
The insignificant insects he had dismissed had already surrounded him.
He had taken them for mere Outsiders of no consequence.
In that instant.
Whoooooosh—
“Arrow of Perfection.”
The Horn Bow grasped by Ian drew in searing flames.
“Dragon’s Cry.”
Writhe writhe—
The dragon within the Dragon Light Sword held by Dragon Knight Risel stirred to life.
“Frost Wave.”
A numbing cold that could freeze anything flowed from a single shield, assailing Graut.
“Iron Blood Arrow.”
“Iron Blood Slash.”
“Iron Blood Horn.”
Han-ul, Hye-ji, Tae-hoon. Three geniuses ignite the shimmer.
And all at once.
Whoosh!
Crackle—
Boom!
Sizzzzzzzzle—
Shrieeeeeeeek!
[You have taken 73,319 damage.]
The moment the arrow pierced through him, Graut’s mind went blank.
Those he had deemed insignificant.
A single strike from them defied all reason—they fought like the Sword King, like Spear Heaven.
[You have taken 71,001 damage.]
[You have taken 63,578 damage.]
[You have taken 58,010 damage.]
Assailed from all directions, he could not gather his wits.
Thud, thud-thud-thud—
And as Tae-hoon’s kick landed, he was sent sliding backward.
[Graut’s HP has fallen below 15%.]
Graut felt fear. His HP had never been reduced to this degree before.
Of course, measured individually, Graut would prevail.
Yet the peculiarly exceptional(?) power possessed by Hyeon-su’s companions pressed down upon him.
But soon, Graut regained his composure.
Just as Named NPCs do.
Demons too possess traits.
The trait representative of the 72 demons is formidable and wondrous.
By virtue of that trait, even becoming a demon from the demon race would be justified.
That trait now manifested.
[Blood Demon]
Whoooooosh—
Blood scattered throughout the vicinity.
His own blood, the blood of his enemies—without distinction, those tiny droplets were absorbed into Graut’s body.
[You can continue to recover as long as blood is present nearby.]
[HP recovered by 15%.]
[HP recovered by 13%.]
[HP recovered by 16%.]
[Graut’s HP recovers to 75%.]
This was the trait of the Blood Demon.
Infinite Regeneration itself.
Ssssshhhhh—
With his sluggish wounds healed, Graut drew a refreshing breath.
“Haa, are you done?”
Fear had made me forget.
Who I was, what power I possessed.
And I felt it—they would be astounded and terrified by a force that defied their common sense.
But I was wrong.
“Hoh? That works out well.”
“…You’re thinking the same thing, spear wielder.”
Barad and Ben, who had regained their composure, exchanged words.
“I haven’t faced a worthy opponent in ages, so I was curious how much damage I could inflict on an enemy when fighting with all my strength.”
“I feel the same way.”
“So you’re saying we can keep beating him?”
“Exactly. We can keep beating him. It would’ve been a waste to kill him outright. I wanted to beat him more.”
“…”
Graut was bewildered.
Because there was no falsehood in their expressions—only sincerity.
And they possessed the skill to prove it.
‘I… I, a demon…!’
The demon Graut had become a damage meter.
A high-performance one at that.
Meanwhile.
Hyeon-su, receiving treatment from Belia, understood.
‘This is dangerous…’
Barad, Ben, Guild Gwangmyeong.
Combined, they could overwhelm Graut.
The problem was that Graut’s Regeneration was infinite while their power was finite.
Both Users and NPCs incurred cooldown periods after using a skill once.
Moreover, while Graut’s infinite Regeneration meant he never tired, humans grew weary.
‘There’s only one way.’
Kill him without giving him time to recover.
That was the problem.
Having witnessed that trait activation just now, I felt fear.
‘It’s too fast.’
The fact that he recovered in less than two seconds after absorbing blood.
The strongest powers had to bring Graut down in a single burst.
For this, I needed damage comparable to Sword King Barad and Spear Heaven Ben.
‘But I possess the power to manifest that level of strength….’
Then.
[Skill Creation Complete.]
A custom skill born from the inspiration of “Friend, Help Me.”
[You have unlocked the Legendary Skill: Karma.]
[It is Legendary Grade.]
Hyeon-su gasped upon reading it.
‘An offensive skill….’
Hyeon-su marveled.
With this power, I could become as formidable as the Sword King, as mighty as Spear Heaven, even if only for a moment.
My chest burned with fervor.
“I’ll join in as well.”
The mere thought of the reward for slaying a demon with my own hands set my heart ablaze.

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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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