Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 260

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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 (7)
Crack, crackle.
From within Robbs’s corpse, a being emerges alongside surging black demonic energy, stretching languidly.
“Ahhhhh.”
The elegant stretch contrasts with the sound of bones clicking into place, joint by joint.
If Saint Aria is beautiful like virtue itself, then she is beautiful like vice incarnate.
Voluptuous flesh draped in obsidian skin.
A being where decadence and beauty coexist in perfect harmony.
Simply beautiful to behold, yet her very presence reveals who she is.
[Legion Commander Gremory is the sole demon commanding twenty-two legions.]
She, too, is a type of Tamer, just like Legion Commander Robbs.
Yet she stands in an entirely different class from Legion Commander Robbs.
Robbs was merely a legion commander leading Demon Race and demonic beasts between levels 370 and 430.
But she commands twenty-two legion commanders like Robbs, reigning as queen and sovereign over more than a million souls combined.
In the Demon Realm, no being has ever formed an army as uniquely dominant as hers.
Furthermore.
[Demonic Descent.]
[Even the dignity of the Sword King cannot resist it.]
[Status Abnormality: Extreme Despair has been inflicted.]
[Status Abnormality: Extreme Frustration has been inflicted.]
[Status Abnormality: Extreme Terror has been inflicted.]
[Status Abnormality: Insurmountable Wall has been inflicted.]
[Status Abnormality: Infinite Helplessness has been inflicted.]
Bahala and Hyeon-su desperately wanted to deny it.
‘How is this even possible?’
‘A single being inflicting five status abnormalities….’
[All Stats decrease by 20%.]
[All Attack Power decreases by 20%.]
[All Defense decreases by 23%.]
[All Agility decreases by 28%.]
[Skill activation may fail.]
Hyeon-su and Bahala had been weakened by approximately 25%.
Merely encountering her suffocates the breath from their lungs, their legs trembling like aspen leaves.
And finally, Lesser Demon Luxiu, who only needs the finishing touch.
The two, frozen mid-strike against him, attempt to muster strength.
But as their eyes meet Gremory’s eerie gaze, they cannot move their arms at all.
[Users encounter a Transcendent Being for the first time.]
Transcendent Being.
Entities that will gradually be released beginning in the Second Ares.
Yet even if she were to break free in the Second Ares, true hunting would only become possible in the Third Ares—such was the nature of this existence.
Hyeon-su and Bahala felt an enormous wall before them.
‘Why now of all times!’
Bahala was on the verge of completing the Sword King Quest, and Hyeon-su was moments away from making Lesser Demon Luxiu his Retainer!
Yet there was one saving grace.
[Demon Gremory has cast Vessel Descent.]
Vessel Descent.
In other words, awakening upon the mortal realm by using one’s subordinates as a medium.
[Demon Gremory’s level has been updated!]
[Demon Gremory is restricted from summoning Legion Commanders, Demon Race, and demonic beasts to the surface.]
[However, Demon Gremory’s physical strength remains intact.]
[Should you succeed in hunting Demon Gremory, she will be sealed rather than slain.]
A transcendent being. One might assume her physical prowess amounts to merely 604 levels of power.
That assumption would be wrong.
Demon Gremory, bearing the epithet of “Demon Legion Commander,” derives all her strength from her armies—she is an existence born from legions themselves.
When all those forces are unified, Gremory becomes a being even formidable demons dare not touch.
For a single demon to wield 600-level power while commanding such an army is nothing short of broken.
At last, having finished her stretching, Gremory smiled with decadent lips.
“Are you so afraid you cannot even move?”
Though her words were spoken plainly, her voice carried an alien quality—like Satan’s whisper.
Indeed, Hyeon-su and Bahala found themselves paralyzed by her majesty.
And the power of the Sword King that Bahala possessed stirred to life.
[This is an existence even the Sword King cannot challenge.]
The phrase “even the Sword King” referred to Bahala herself and the current situation.
[Victory probability: 0%.]
[I urge you to advance, hoping for a future day, and vanquish evil.]
Bahala had never seen a 0% victory probability before.
Of course, she now stood at a level comparable to Lesser Demon Luxiu.
Yet there was a crucial difference to consider.
With Lesser Demon Luxiu, their levels were similar at the time, but they had started with her HP already reduced by 80%.
Moreover, Hyeon-su had given Bahala the hint that Lesser Demon Luxiu had once been human.
Lesser Demon Luxiu was certainly formidable, but her total HP was only about twice that of legendary humans.
A grave weakness of lesser demons.
But Gremory was different.
Even now, the true demon Gremory’s HP reached twice that of Lesser Demon Luxiu.
Her mana reserves would likely be twice as much, and she possessed far more traits.
Even at this moment, the number of status ailments she could trigger far exceeded Luxiu’s—proof of her superiority.
Thus Bahala, facing status ailments as a colossal force, could not even perceive the possibility of victory.
‘What can I do?’
No path forward revealed itself.
For the first time playing the game Ares, I flounder in helplessness, frustration, and despair.
‘As long as Gremory guards him, there’s no chance of defeating Lesser Demon Luxiu.’
The futility is so complete that even laughter won’t come.
Then, in that moment.
Screech—!
“…?”
A sharp, clean cutting sound rings out.
Unlike Bahala, whose body had gone rigid and frozen his sword in place, Hyeon-su overcomes the paralysis.
Crash—!
Lesser Demon Luxiu, slashed by the Twin Dragon Sword, crashes into the wall and loses consciousness.
Bahala stares at his own arm.
Pop—
His hand trembles violently as he hastily uncorks a potion bottle.
Despite his fear, he moved—and if he had overcome the paralysis just now and struck, Lesser Demon Luxiu would be dead.
“You planning to keep trolling?”
Hyeon-su, whom I had hoped would be nothing but dead weight, overcomes the paralysis.
[Master Craftsman’s Pride]
[You gain resistance to all status abnormalities.]
Contrasting with the thought that there’s no way to achieve the Sword King Quest, Hyeon-su still burns with pride, determined to obtain Lesser Demon Luxiu.
Does he not hear the 0% probability?
No—today Bahala learns one more thing about Hyeon-su.
That he is a man of such pride that he finds a way even in impossible situations.
Pop—
Bahala uncorks a potion bottle as well.
‘Thank you.’
He says it silently, then gulps the potion down.
Hyeon-su sends a signal with his eyes.
[Hyeon-su: If you just buy me time, I can…]
Crash—!
In that instant, Hyeon-su is struck by a massive wave of demonic energy and flies backward, crashing into the wall.
“Insects.”
Gremory shows no interest in someone like Hyeon-su.
She too could sense the aura humans possessed.
Even Bahala’s aura seemed trivial to her.
And so Hyeon-su’s aura feels like nothing more than an insect.
“All he has is audacity.”
That’s genuinely how she sees it.
In the depths of terror, when the weak resist before the strong, it can only appear as recklessness.
“Luxiu is a masterpiece I’ve cultivated. I’ve always kept him prepared for dangerous situations.”
With each step she takes, an aura of demonic energy swirls in her wake.
“I learned through the aura that posed a threat to demons three months ago. I knew you would arrive wielding the new Babylon.”
As Gremory drew closer, tension coiled through Bahala’s body.
“Yet you yourself are insignificant. Your trembling eyes, your flesh—all of it worthless. The only thing of value is that single Babylon blade.”
She laughed.
But as Bahala’s trembling subsided, he swept his sword-wielding arm downward with renewed force.
Shing—
He extended the Babylon violently through mid-air, reclaiming his own pride.
This Bahala now—impossible though it seemed alongside Hyeon-su—possessed pride nonetheless.
Gremory’s lips parted.
“I am.”
In that instant, Bahala moved like light itself.
Slash—
The moment he killed the unconscious Lesser Demon Luxiu, Bahala awakened.
That awakening opened the possibility of this battle.
“You who.”
Rumble—!
Five concentrated spheres of demonic energy descended upon Bahala.
“Cling to possibility.”
Bahala’s blade severed three of them.
But the moment two spheres struck him—
Boom—!
A massive explosion sent Bahala flying backward.
“I know. After slaying Lesser Demon Luxiu, you intended to embrace your ally and escape this place… hmm?”
But Gremory’s eyes shifted.
Caught in the explosion’s fury, Bahala regained his balance mid-air.
He slid through the void, bending his knees while drawing the Babylon back.
The reason Gremory could call Bahala insignificant.
This current Bahala.
Who exhausted every skill merely to shave twenty percent of a Lesser Demon’s health, now locked in cooldown.
Yet he channeled the explosion’s force and accelerated through it.
All within Bahala’s calculations.
Like light, he severed Gremory’s neck.
Transcendent control—near-Sword King level mastery. Control worthy of every ounce of his power.
Blood trickled from Gremory’s throat.
Her face contorted.
She realized her prediction had failed.
And in that opening—
Left, right, right, up, up.
Take advantage of that opening.
Left, right, right, up, up.
Slash, crack, screech—!
The idol of Users carved through Gremory’s form with nothing but Basic Attacks.
“Tch.”
The first groan escaped her lips.
Babylon was a blade that smote evil itself.
The shallow cuts and trivial damage—or perhaps the immense aura behind them—filled her with displeasure.
Crack—
With a swift twist of his feet, Bahala’s blade drew across her throat once, and from there—
Screech—
Seven cuts in total.
As he carved, Gremory found herself thinking.
‘If the Sword King had access to all his power in this state, it would have been formidable. I too would have suffered grievous wounds. But then again, that’s precisely how he reduced Lucifer to such a state.’
It was an honest assessment.
Yet the meaning of “assessment” was to understand and appreciate a work of art.
The current Bahala was nothing more than a copy left behind by the true Sword King—such was her evaluation.
Dozens of concentrated demonic auras erupted before Bahala’s blade could even strike, piercing through him.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—!
His HP plummeted, yet even then, he did not release Babylon, striking her throat once more.
Crash—!
“I have not even shown half my power. And you—you have taken nothing from me.”
[Gremory’s HP has fallen below 96%.]
Bahala’s direct Basic Attack. At least ten strikes or more.
And just moments ago, the blade he wielded had clearly embedded itself in her throat.
Gremory concluded once more that an abnormal status had been triggered, and that he feared it.
But something strange occurred.
Crunch—
Bahala did not lose his fighting spirit; instead, he drove the blade deeper still.
Crack—!
“You said it yourself—that everything except Babylon was worthless.”
Gremory still did not change that conviction.
But the words that followed sought to alter her thinking.
“I’m sorry, but Babylon is not just one blade.”
“…!?”
Her mind froze.
In that instant, a tremendous aura began to manifest behind her.
The moment she turned to look back.
There stood a man descending from the heavens, wielding another Babylon.
*
*
*
[Reversal activates.]
Gremory spoke. The only thing of consequence in this place was Babylon.
Hyeon-su, who had been sent flying, caught another Babylon descending from the sky in both hands.
“I ask you this.”
“….”
Gremory’s composed expression twisted. She recalled it.
‘The only thing of consequence is merely a single Sword—Babylon.’
The words she herself had spoken.
And the insignificant insect she had deemed the blood-soaked hair to be.
In an instant, emanating a fighting spirit reminiscent of the Sword King, the man in the brown coat fixed his gaze upon the transcendent Gremory, his lips twisting into a snarl.
“Then what manner of being am I, who forged Babylon?”
“…!!!?!?!?!”
Gremory’s hair turned deathly pale.
[Overwhelming Pressure]
It was happening for the first time.
The demon Gremory, who had deemed all humanity beneath contempt throughout her existence, now trembled before a mere human.
It was.
[Status Abnormality: Fear has taken hold.]
[Status Abnormality: Dread has taken hold.]
[Status Abnormality: Panic has taken hold.]
The first status abnormalities a demon could suffer, overwhelmed by human fighting spirit.
Not fear of the Babylon being wielded.
[I annihilate all evil!]
But terror of the human who had forged it.

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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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