Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 267

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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
The Party of the Supremes (7)
“By then, I shall be king.”
The words carried the weight of a royal decree. Gremory felt it acutely.
The conviction in his voice just now, the fearlessness etched across his face—it was unmistakable.
This was no arrogance. This was absolute certainty.
‘A king…?’
The word stirred memories of ancient kings so formidable that even demons had dreaded facing them.
The Tyrant who had never fallen to demons.
The despot who had ravaged the Demon Realm like a madman.
And during the Human-Demon War.
‘One human king unified the entire Continent.’
His retainers were composed of humanity’s finest warriors.
When the demon Ares marched toward the Human Realm with millions at his back, intent on invasion, even he felt terror.
That king had succeeded in turning back Ares and his legions.
Kings themselves were not what demons feared.
It was kings bearing extraordinary titles that struck dread into their hearts.
And now.
From the twin dragon blades tilted backward, a sacred aura radiated outward.
‘He has been granted the authority to wield righteousness, having saved the Ares Church.’
That power flowed from Hyeon-su like a living force.
[The Saint’s aura flows forth.]
The world around Gremory fell silent.
All sound ceased; time itself seemed to slow to a crawl.
His vision encompassed Kabel, Bahala, and Lucifer rushing toward him.
Though few in number, he had gathered humanity’s mightiest warriors.
‘One destined to become a Holy Sovereign…?’
Gremory’s gaze fixed once more on the figure’s back.
The blacksmith suspended in the heavens—no, the one destined to become king.
An army of over a million materialized in his mind’s eye, ready to face Gremory and his forces when he awakened from his seal two years hence.
The reason he felt no fear.
Because in this very moment, he was ascending the path of kingship.
Gremory’s thoughts crystallized with clarity.
‘My seal will….’
Gather more allies to my side.
‘My spoils of war will.’
Strengthen my retainers beyond measure.
‘And two years….’
A mere blink of time, yet for this man of infinite potential, it was more than sufficient to claim the throne.
At last, the silence shattered—sound rushed back with a deafening roar.
[Cry of the Sword]
Hundreds of unprecedented, overwhelmingly powerful blades descended upon her.
Among those present, Hyeon-su remained the weakest.
Kuakuakuakuakuakuakuakuon—!
Yet the damage she inflicted was no less than theirs.
Through the Twin Dragon Sword’s exquisite technique, her Artifacts shattered into fragments.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaagh!”
The demon swept by the blades, and the final inscription carved into the Twin Dragon Sword announced the current situation.
[Blood Stains the Mountains and Rivers]
The demon’s blood dyed the world crimson.
The end of the demon hunt was drawing near.
*
*
*
[Gremory’s HP has fallen below 17%.]
A 13% HP deletion. A triumph achieved by Hyeon-su.
Yet the situation was far from favorable.
Hyeon-su’s current HP stood at 44%.
Kabel and Bahala were both below 15%.
Lucifer held 28%, but afflicted with the abnormal status ‘Burn’, his movements were sluggish, and his attack and defense power had surged dramatically.
[Hyeon-su: I will stand at the front.]
He commanded Bahala and Kabel, who were closing the distance at rapid speed.
Unlike them, if Hyeon-su’s HP fell below 10%, he could manifest Ashenium’s power to avoid forced logout.
[Kair’s Power.]
Dense demonic energy erupted from Gremory’s battered body.
Kair.
He was the current commander of the 1st Legion. Uniquely, Kair served as a priest within the legion.
His authority was buffs.
Gremory had been wielding only 70% of her power by borrowing the strength of the legion commanders.
[For 1 minute, you can draw and utilize 100% of all legion commanders’ power.]
[The duration of using the legion commanders’ power is halved!]
Even the minimum cooldown was reset.
Gremory’s eyes snapped wide open.
“Die before you become king.”
If Gremory triumphed here, Hyeon-su’s path to kingship would crumble entirely.
And with that.
It activated once more without delay.
[Azaka’s Power]
The four party members charging forward faltered in alarm.
Against Gremory alone, they were already overwhelmed.
Azaka is the legion commander who commands the greatest number of demons.
Two hundred demons surge forward like madness, blocking Gremory’s path.
Bahala on the left, Asura on the right, Lucifer above.
And Hyeon-su directly ahead.
He knew it well.
The three of them would be able to break through the demon forces.
But Hyeon-su right now was not going to have it easy.
It was not a matter of raw power.
Unlike the public assessment, Hyeon-su was not someone with divine control like Kabel, Asura, or Lucifer.
All he possessed was stubbornness, audacity, and willpower.
Feeling the three party members collide, I gaze upon Gremory.
My blood boils.
The situation was not entirely unfavorable.
When I first encountered Gremory, black light did not flow from her.
That is, it meant there were no materials obtainable through Skill Harvesting.
But not now.
[Transcendent Grade. You can obtain Gremory’s Horn.]
[Transcendent Grade. You can obtain Gremory’s Wing Bone.]
[Transcendent Grade. You can obtain Gremory’s Blood…]
The most precious materials in Second Ares shine from her.
Thus, she is the being who will bring about my greatest growth.
And I, filled only with stubbornness, audacity, and willpower, had spent mere months in Atlas.
Yet after logging out, my life differed from others.
Every night before sleep, I trained through imagination for over two hours.
‘Sometimes imagination becomes reality.’
I had received the teachings of Sword King Barad.
And now, I feel that if I fall, the entire party crumbles.
Facing seventy demons bearing down, I take a deep breath.
“Huuuuh….”
And I manifest the training from my imagination into reality.
[Even if I break]
I begin slashing through the demons, seeing only the present moment.
Thrusting, slashing, stepping back, then pushing off the ground in a charge.
At the end of my frenzied assault, I draw rapidly closer to Gremory.
Kabel and Bahala witness this.
‘When did he grow this much?’
‘Insane… his growth rate is far too fast.’
They marvel.
“Kyahahaha!”
The moment all four arrive simultaneously, Gremory unleashes her power as if she had been waiting all along.
She too sensed that this would be her final battle.
Thus, she borrowed the power of Rusper, the 22 Legion Commander who possessed the ability to strike with 100% accuracy against any target.
[Rusper’s Power]
The strength of Legion Commander Rusper lay in summoning massive greatswords that extended rapidly through space in proportion to the number of attack targets, striking enemies with lethal precision.
The killing power of these greatswords was so formidable that even the other Legion Commanders acknowledged it.
Screeeeeech—
In an instant, four colossal greatswords materialized from the opened space, thrusting simultaneously toward the abdomens of four figures.
Gremory exulted, while her party members were caught off guard.
‘If we take a direct hit from this….’
‘We’ll be forced to log out.’
Bahala and Kabel’s remaining HP was dangerously low.
Yet, as if the system itself sensed their unwavering determination to win at any cost.
Whoooooosh—!
The Dagger of Desire hanging around Hyeon-su’s neck—a grade beyond transcendence itself—erupted with black light.
The power harbored within the Dagger of Desire.
[Emergency Archive]
[With a 2% probability, it stores the trait used by the enemy and returns it, manifesting at 70% of its original power.]
The greatswords extending toward the four figures scattered like mirages.
[Rusper’s Power]
Hyeon-su gripped the necklace and thrust his hand forward, launching a greatsword that pierced through the space before Gremory.
Swoooooosh—!
[Gremory’s HP drops below 12%.]
“Kyaaah!?”
She was stunned.
Was this mere luck?
No. It was possible only because Hyeon-su had forged the absurd Dagger of Desire.
Gremory’s face drained of all color.
Just now, that greatsword had dealt catastrophic damage, and in that brief opening, an opportunity had emerged.
With Hyeon-su at the vanguard, left, right, and above.
Four of the mightiest humans surrounded Gremory.
It was unprecedented.
Never had Gremory been in such close proximity to these four.
And the other three had no intention of squandering the opportunity Hyeon-su had created.
Moreover, Hyeon-su had commanded this assault, and there was a power he intended to activate alongside this opening he had engineered.
It was called Temporal Succession.
Temporal Succession was a technique that allowed one to move multiple times within a single instant.
“Asura’s Swift Blade.”
“Sword Saint’s Emergency.”
“Demon’s Movement.”
“Specter’s Step.”
Four ghosts walk forward. To seal away the demon.
In merely the fleeting span of one to three seconds.
Screeeeeeeech—
Craaaaaaash—
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack—
Crack, slash, bang-bang-bang, rumble—
[Gremory’s HP falls below 7%…]
[Gremory’s HP falls below 5%…]
Against attacks I couldn’t even respond to, I couldn’t even scream.
And as my body rapidly succumbed to fatal wounds, I dreaded the seal that would follow.
But then.
[Gremory’s HP drops below 2%.]
The moment the four’s continuous combo ended, I managed to cling to life by a thread.
[Gelbert’s Power]
She made one final choice.
Gelbert was one who could unleash a shockwave shaking vast armies across a two-kilometer radius.
Booooooom—!
The enormous shockwave rippled outward, freezing the four humans in place for a moment.
Screeeech—!
The demon wielding transcendent power spread her wings and took flight at impossible speed to escape.
After all, the master of this prison was Gremory.
The moment I tore open the ceiling and ascended at the speed of light, a smile of relief bloomed across my face.
Tap—
“…?”
My expression twisted in confusion.
A single arrow with no damage value whatsoever had flown through and struck me lightly.
Hyeon-su’s mouth opened.
“Done.”
“???”
My bewildered expression froze as I plummeted downward, suddenly weighted as if carrying ten tons.
Craaaaaash—!
And waiting below were the four of them.
Without a single error, they all slashed upward with their swords, cutting me down.
Screeeech—!
Booooom—!
As I crashed to the ground, my eyes captured one final figure.
Hyeon-su.
[Gremory’s HP reaches 0.]
The four didn’t release their tension.
A transcendent-tier demon was an existence whose variables remained unknowable.
And what tremendous reward he would give if another hunt succeeded remained a mystery even to me.
Without realizing it, they fell silent and stared at Gremory, pinned to the earth.
At that very moment.
Those swallowing dry saliva while watching him were not alone.
Lee Se-jin rose abruptly from his seat.
“Is it… truly realized?”
Even seeing it with my own eyes, I could not believe this situation.
Because of that, I could not be certain.
I only knew one thing.
That if this truly came to pass, many changes would occur in the Users’ Ares.
And in another place.
The branch directors felt it as well.
John, the United States branch director, captured the screen with trembling eyes.
Gremory embedded in the earth and the four supreme ones surrounding them.
“Will it be suggested that Users have no impossibilities, and proven to the entire world?”
All the branch directors knew this fact.
All the branch directors stared at the screen in silence, and a notification reached those still in denial.
All the branch directors who faced that notification felt every hair on their bodies stand on end.
Back to the present.
The four still unable to comprehend it.
Bahala experienced a new awakening.
Asura protected what he sought to protect.
Lucifer achieved a hundred years of vengeance.
And Hyeon-su heard a story proving an absurd path of growth.
That story became proof called ‘World Message’ and spread across the entire world.
And the proof of that notification made the entire world and themselves marvel, announcing successful sealing.
[The First Transcendence crumbles.]
Their legend struck the world.
*
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*
Amid the endless stream of notifications, Hyeon-su lamented one thing.
The black light I had seen through Skill Collection and the Materials I could obtain.
However, this was ultimately probabilistic acquisition, so I could not obtain anything through Collection.
Lost in that regret, Hyeon-su was momentarily bewildered by the overwhelming flood of notifications, then heard it clearly.
‘Why didn’t I know this?’
When Users hunt legendary monsters, they expect ‘Legendary Artifacts’.
And Gremory was a Transcendent being.
Nestled among the notifications.
That one thing dispels the regret of Collection left unactivated.
[You have obtained Gremory’s Ring.]
‘A Transcendent-grade Artifact…!’
It was a moment of extraordinary fortune.

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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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