Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 257

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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
Royal Shop (4)
Gremory’s Prison.
This place, renowned for its extreme difficulty, takes the form of a dungeon.
The average monster levels range from 400 to the 470s.
It is a dungeon that current Users cannot possibly attempt.
And at the end of this dungeon.
There stands a man whose skin is entirely blackened like a demon.
He was a handsome man with a strong jaw and two tiny horns protruding from his forehead.
Lucifer the lesser demon. That was the man’s name.
He gazed upon his own legs.
Invisible shackles bound his legs.
Shackles placed by Gremory, the legion commander demon.
Lucifer the lesser demon recalled it.
‘That Outsider who came back then….’
The man was someone who wielded a sword so exceptional that even I had to acknowledge it.
But he was not yet at a level where he could defeat me now.
Lucifer harbored a wish.
‘Grow stronger and return. Come back and grant me eternal peace.’
Lucifer desired eternal rest.
No matter how many years it took, I longed for that man to return and end my existence.
Then a demon race appeared.
In stark contrast to Lucifer, this being evoked the image of an actual demon.
He possessed horns several times larger than Lucifer’s, and his physique was more imposing.
It was Robbs, the demon race who served the demon Gremory and a legion commander.
In Hell’s hierarchical system, the greater demons occupy the highest positions.
Below them exist ordinary demons, and beyond that are other demon races and demonic beasts.
These legion commanders are among the highest-ranking of the demon races, equivalent to commanders in human terms.
Their strength is second only to demons, and Gremory’s Prison is treated as separate from the surface world.
Thus, legion commanders and demon races do not weaken within this place.
[Gremory’s Legion Commander Robbs Lv.475]
A being possessing strength comparable to most human legends.
Or rather, had he been in Hell, saturated with demonic energy, he would easily display the power of level 500 or higher—such are the legion commanders.
The legion commander Robbs, now revealed, gazed at Lucifer with admiration.
“Gremory is truly a remarkable being.”
Lucifer’s face contorted.
“Using me as a vessel to contain demonic energy for so long, transforming me into a true demon—is this not what you are doing!?”
The legion commander Gremory is the one who commands the most demon races and demonic beasts.
Yet she knew.
“To think the experiment conducted to challenge a higher throne would succeed so spectacularly! The one once called the undefeated knight is becoming a complete demon!”
To ascend to an even higher throne, one needed a single individual stronger than countless demons and demonic beasts.
The Undefeated Knight had once been a legendary figure who solidified his position within an entire continent through unparalleled strength.
He had single-handedly repelled the demon Gremory’s invasion and protected his homeland.
Yet what Gremory had truly coveted back then was not the subjugation of his nation.
It was the acquisition of the Undefeated Knight himself—one who never tasted defeat.
Lucifer fought with desperate ferocity.
Weakened though he was, Gremory and his subordinates remained formidable.
But the king he served—the one he never retreated from fighting for—betrayed him, striking at his unguarded back.
By surrendering himself to Gremory, the king found peace for his nation.
Such was the tragic existence Lucifer had endured.
Abandoned after fighting a demon single-handedly for his own country.
Now, through the demon Gremory whom he despised and scorned, he was becoming a ‘lesser demon’—a hollow shell of what he once was.
“In half a year, all your remaining reason shall be stripped away. The emotions and memories you held as human will fade entirely, and you shall be reborn as a true demon—the Undefeated of Hell, Gremory’s faithful hound. Consider it an honor. Khahahaha!”
Legion Commander Robbs had once trembled and cowered when facing Lucifer in his mad, feral state.
The apex of demonkind.
Even Robbs, a legion commander, had feared Lucifer’s strength.
Yet Robbs harbored a deep inferiority complex toward him.
He understood the truth.
The moment Lucifer became a true demon, he would bask in Gremory’s infinite favor, and Robbs himself would be cast aside.
So he would resolve that inferiority before such a day arrived.
“When you become a true demon, your first mission shall be the annihilation of a kingdom.”
Gremory had another reason for cultivating this lesser demon.
One who became a demon while retaining human blood possessed the advantage of remaining unweakened on the mortal plane.
Thus, on the surface world alone, he would rival Gremory himself.
Lucifer heard which kingdom it would be.
“It shall be the Brook Kingdom. Khahahaha!”
Lucifer’s homeland was not the Brook Kingdom.
Yet tears of blood streamed down his face.
His parents were born in different nations.
His gentle mother, who had protected him, was from his own country.
His father, who had been a knight, was born in the Brook Kingdom.
When Lucifer was offered as a sacrifice, his family naturally returned to the Brook Kingdom.
The Brook Kingdom was where Lucifer had been born and raised.
Acquaintances he knew there. Childhood friends.
Every fragment of memory he held as a human—Lucifer would destroy them all by his own hand.
Demons were truly cruel beings.
Lucifer reached out swiftly, attempting to seize Robbs by the throat.
Whoosh—
Robbs moved first, and the demonic energy within Lucifer’s body surged violently, his mind consumed.
“Ughhhh….”
Veins bulged across Lucifer’s face as his mind was dominated.
As his head slowly fell, Robbs planted his foot upon it.
“You bastard should listen better to your master.”
Lucifer’s thoughts crystallized.
Before eternal rest claimed him, he wanted revenge against these creatures.
‘Anyone will do. If there exists someone who can grant me the chance for vengeance, I will do anything.’
Yet Lucifer knew the truth.
Among mere humans, no such being existed.
*
*
*
There is no definition of a lesser demon.
Those were Bahala’s words.
When Hyeon-su heard the information about Lucifer, he attempted to find that data.
But searching for keywords like “lesser demon” or “Lucifer” yielded nothing at all.
Because of this, I could construct a new definition.
“Perhaps Lucifer was once human.”
Upon hearing my words, Bahala slowly nodded his head. His expression remained unchanged.
“That could be so—a human who would threaten the entire Continent.”
Even if that were true, the fact that Bahala must kill him remained unchanged.
I was no different.
‘I do not understand this traitor’s criteria.’
A title that reacts when a talented individual—one who might become a Retainer—exists nearby.
That possibility was merely 0.1%.
Therefore, the decision to eliminate Lucifer remained unchanged.
The two of us entered Gremory’s Prison together.
As Bahala surveyed the surroundings, his expression grew puzzled.
“Why are there no monsters?”
Bahala was someone who had visited this place before.
When he first came, the entire prison had been filled with quite a number of demons and demonic beasts guarding it.
I too grew tense at Bahala’s words.
‘The difference from before must have some reason behind it.’
In that moment, both our hairs stood on end.
“Not long ago, the demons seated upon the throne sensed a single power that threatened them. Though brief, that mysterious force was surely the power to annihilate the evil dwelling in Babylon, cast into hellfire in the distant past.”
Hyeon-su and Bahala were taken aback.
Especially one who walks the Path of the Sword God.
As Bahala, I wished more than anyone to deny the current situation.
‘This way, there is absolutely no chance of victory.’
A desolate and sinister voice.
Like the faint whisper of Satan himself, that voice sent shivers down the spine.
“Gremory judged that even if someone possessed that Babylon, it would not pose a threat to himself, the demons, and the greater demons at present.”
A rational deduction.
The current Annihilation strips away 80% of HP.
The problem was that even if Annihilation activated, there existed no one capable of shaving off 20% of a demon or greater demon’s HP.
“However, the lesser demon Lucifer could certainly be defeated, and the one who attacked Lucifer three months ago must have pursued the Babylon cast into hellfire. Thus, he commanded: Wait for that one, and Retrieve the ‘Babylon.'”
[Gremory’s Legion Commander Robbs has appeared!]
[Lesser demon Lucifer has appeared!]
[The Legion Commander’s wrath.]
[The lesser demon’s fighting spirit.]
[Tremendous demonic energy induces dramatic status abnormalities.]
Status abnormality auras emanating from the two who had walked together.
Bahala’s eyes snapped open.
‘I possess the dignity of the Sword God.’
The Sword God’s dignity he possessed could resist even the status abnormality aura of a lesser demon, which could be called a semi-transcendent being.
But Bahala knew.
In Hyeon-su’s case, as the sole Legend among Users, he could resist status abnormalities up to Legendary Grade, just as he had resisted Hydra’s poison before.
Indeed, Hyeon-su could resist up to Legion Commander Robbs’s aura.
But the lesser demon’s fighting spirit was different.
[You have been afflicted with the status abnormality: Extreme Terror.]
[All Stats decrease by 15%.]
[Agility decreases by 25%.]
[You take 1,613 damage per second.]
Hyeon-su was genuinely flustered.
‘This much damage from just the status abnormality aura?’
And he could see Bahala, bewildered and at a loss.
Bahala’s current confusion.
‘Who should I use it on?’
Annihilation could only be used once.
What worried him was that he still didn’t know what power Legion Commander Robbs possessed.
[Gremory’s Legion Commander Robbs Lv.475]
[Lesser demon Lucifer Lv.615]
Though Legion Commander Robbs’s level was overwhelmingly lower than Lucifer’s, the title of Legion Commander carried weight.
‘If Robbs has the power to heal Lucifer….’
A dilemma with no good choice.
There was another reason for Bahala’s hesitation.
‘If I charge at Lucifer now, Hyeon-su dies.’
There was guilt, but this reality as well.
The moment Hyeon-su died, Robbs would come at Bahala.
Against both the lesser demon Lucifer and Robbs, Bahala had no confidence in victory.
Then.
“I said I wouldn’t be a burden, so I’ll hold on.”
“….”
Hyeon-su lifted the weight from my heart and quelled the chaos.
I could see Hyeon-su’s solid back standing alone before Robbs.
Bahala steadied his resolve.
He saw the lesser demon Lucifer rushing at him like light itself.
A semi-transcendent being at Level 615.
Perhaps the greatest named monster never once raided by Users.
Whether human or demon mattered not.
Hunting that existence would forge Bahala into an even mightier Sword God.
“Annihilate Evil.”
[All evil shall be obliterated!]
A black-light blade, the most sacred power emanating from Babylon.
He swung it from 10 meters behind where Lucifer stood, yet it reached him.
Screeeeeech—
[All evil is severed!]
[80% of HP is deleted!]
Shrieeeeeek—!
For an instant, it seemed Lucifer’s body was split in two.
At that moment, Bahala witnessed something extraordinary.
“Uooooooooo!!”
Hyeon-su, who had insisted he wouldn’t be a burden.
He came charging toward me with all his might, cradling Robbs in his arms.
Wait—Bahala couldn’t comprehend that action.
And the place where Annihilate Evil had dispersed fell silent.
Yet the moment Hyeon-su entered the 30-meter radius with him, Bahala gasped in admiration.
‘Is this how the Blacksmith fights!?’
Bahala understood why Hyeon-su had thrown himself forward while cradling Robbs.
Silence inverted into chaos.
[Splash Damage activates!]
From the beginning, Hyeon-su had been Babylon’s creator, and he understood it most profoundly.
[Deals 2,300% damage to all evil within a 30-meter radius!]
The silence lifted, and like luminous lava boiling up from the ground, it erupted and consumed Robbs.
Shrieeeeeek—!
Steam rose from Robbs’s body as if acid had been poured upon it.
Bahala saw Hyeon-su locked in fierce combat with Robbs within the white lava.
Bahala, who had been about to finish the lesser demon’s remaining 20% HP to honor the time Hyeon-su had bought, suddenly froze in shock.
He had thought Hyeon-su would be crushed mercilessly by Robbs within that splash damage radius.
Suddenly, Bahala’s entire body trembled with genuine awe.
Within that white light.
‘…What is this?’
Bahala’s thoughts came to a halt.
The Passive Skill he possessed—the Path of the Sword God’s eyes—announced it.
[Damage of a magnitude that would astound even the Sword God himself is about to occur.]
And the perpetrator, Hyeon-su.
He was burning with exhilaration.
The Ultimate Technique
[The Ultimate Technique activates.]
Ares’s first instant-death skill was being unleashed.

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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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