Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 271

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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
Summoning Demons (2)
A few days prior.
Fifty thousand of the Parion Empire’s elite Blood Ghost Squad and monsters arrived at the Asgan Continent by ship.
Following them, Goyad’s finest troops and Users converged at Collod Fortress.
The NPCs gathered to defend Collod Fortress, a strategically vital stronghold, while the Users sought Quest rewards.
It was the first Continental War to break out on the Korea Server, so media attention burned intensely.
-Can you see it? Our Korean Users have gathered alongside the NPCs to defend Goyad.
-The supreme commander is Baladin, Goyad’s sole Archmage and Count.
-The number of NPCs assembled at Collod Fortress reaches eighty thousand, with Users numbering thirty thousand.
-The army sent by the Parion Empire from the China Server numbers merely fifty thousand.
“For victory!”
“Roooaaarrrrr!”
-With Archmage Baladin’s cry, the morale of the soldiers surged dramatically.
-Numerical superiority alone provides sufficient momentum for such a boost.
-The Goyad Kingdom Protection Alliance, centered around Baladin, accepts only those Level 380 and above—elite forces. At this caliber, they might actually stand against the Parion Empire’s vaunted Blood Ghost Squad.
-What exactly are the Blood Ghost Squad?
-The precise details haven’t been revealed yet. This suggests Emperor Bolond foresaw the outbreak of the Continental War and secretly cultivated them as elite forces. However, Goyad’s side has made clear they won’t yield an inch—they’ve filled Collod, the strategically crucial stronghold, with eighty thousand capable troops from across the realm.
-The Knights’ levels even reach the 390s.
-This demonstrates that NPCs grow alongside us.
Boom, boom, boom—!
-The Blood Ghost Squad is revealing itself.
-The Goyad forces atop the fortress cease their cheers and focus intently.
Baladin.
He wore a confident smile.
Through this invasion, I intended to solidify my position as Goyad’s sole Archmage.
I also wanted to showcase my mage unit’s prowess, shattering the prejudice that Goyad was merely a nation of swordsmen, and propel us forward.
But what appeared next left Baladin bewildered.
‘What is this…?’
Height: ten meters. A creature as tall as an ordinary castle wall.
Ash-gray fur and a Named Monster that current Korean Users had never hunted before.
[Legendary Monster.]
[Fenrir has appeared!]
“Auuuuuuu!”
A single howl sends the fortress troops into panic.
[Wolf King’s Howl.]
[You have been afflicted with the status abnormality: Morale Reduction.]
[You have been afflicted with the status abnormality: Fear.]
[Attack Power and Defense Power decrease by 9%.]
[Movement becomes sluggish; Movement Speed and Attack Speed decrease by 10%.]
[Legendary Monster Fenrir Lv.493]
The colossal Fenrir’s charge commenced.
“Mages, prepare your most devastating spells!”
Baladin, who had been momentarily flustered, laughed.
As massive as a great mountain meant proportionally higher accuracy.
Three hundred mages I had cultivated stood assembled here, alongside Korea’s finest mage Users.
Between five and six-class spells erupted simultaneously.
“Firewall.”
My six-class spell manifested first.
A wall of flame surged upward to a height of eleven meters.
The commentators gasped in awe.
-Eleven meters high…!?
-Extraordinary! The power of Goyad’s sole Grand Mage!
An impenetrable barrier that nothing could breach.
The moment flesh touched those flames, my formidable magical attack power would reduce it to ash and bone.
Yet I found myself stunned.
Thwoooosh—
Fenrir, channeling power through its hind legs, soared fifteen meters into the air and surged directly toward the fortress.
Only then did I and the commentators comprehend why Fenrir had come.
-Fragments of the legendary monster Fenrir are widely scattered across the Korea Server.
-The legendary monster Fenrir is infamous for having conquered dozens of territories in ages past.
-This is likely because most of Fenrir’s power specializes in demolishing castle walls and neutralizing fortress advantages.
Simultaneously.
“Frozen.”
“Firestorm.”
“Explosion.”
Hundreds of spells struck Fenrir.
The mages who had landed direct hits began to smile triumphantly before their minds seized in shock.
Fenrir crashed to the ground, yet rose to its feet in an instant.
[Fenrir’s HP drops below 94%.]
We had inflicted merely six percent damage.
Shimmering ash-grey fur filled our vision.
-Furthermore, Fenrir’s defense is reportedly fifty percent higher than that of ordinary named monsters…!
With that, Fenrir charged toward the castle gate.
Craaaaaash—
-As massive as a great mountain, it can demolish castle walls with terrifying ease.
-Fortresses hold their advantage because siege weapons and skills can be deployed, cooldowns can be managed behind unbreakable walls, and damage can be minimized through repetition.
-Ordinary castle gates typically withstand at least an hour, sometimes four hours or more.
Screeeech—!
But Fenrir’s power was devastatingly overwhelming.
With merely a few of his collisions, cracks spider-webbed across the fortress gate and walls.
“Get down, get down! It’s collapsing!”
In just twenty strikes, the castle gate shattered and the Users tumbled down.
And beyond the completely destroyed gate.
The Grand Mage Baladin, who had fallen to the ground, was bewildered.
Behind Fenrir, towering like Mount Tai itself, the Parion Empire’s elite fifty thousand—the Blood Ghost Squad—were revealing themselves.
The Blood Ghost Squad. True to their name, they wore crimson armor like blood itself, horned helmets, and wielded blades the color of gore.
-Blood Ghost Squad Member Lv.401
“…?”
Baladin was taken aback.
Each individual possessed a level equivalent to Goyad’s finest knights.
Fifty thousand strong, yet wielding the power of five hundred thousand.
One could not afford complacency in numerical superiority.
Moreover, Fenrir was a being possessed of intelligence rivaling that of humans.
Screeeech—
Craaaaaash—
Baladin and the mages who had fallen to the ground were crushed beneath those fangs.
A somber commentator’s voice echoed across the broadcast.
-The fortress has fallen in five hours.
Breaking news spreads.
-Breaking news. All 110,000 troops annihilated.
-Parion Empire casualties estimated at merely 3,000.
-Breaking news. Appearance of the legendary monster Fenrir. The Parion Empire moves to seize control of Goyad through the unsealed Fenrir.
The breaking news updated with each passing hour.
-Breaking news. Second fortress Calamde falls.
-Breaking news. The final allied stronghold before the capital. Count Calamde’s castle crumbles….
The devastatingly swift collapse struck Korean viewers like a hammer.
The fall played across the Gangnam digital billboards as experts emerged to explain the current situation.
-The Continental War has already erupted across the world, with Korea being the latest to see it begin.
-While nations worldwide are locked in a stalemate of strength, Korea alone is allowing a rapid advance toward the Goyad capital.
-What do you believe is the reason?
-It demonstrates just how vastly different an event-based Continental War is from a real one. We still inhabit a world led by NPCs, and the event-based Continental War was a festival for Users.
-Conversely, this true Continental War is dictated entirely by NPC strength, and the Parion Empire—equivalent to the China Server—exceeds our scale by more than tenfold.
-Host, are you familiar with human wave tactics?
-It’s a battle method of overwhelming through numerical superiority to break through, encircle, and infiltrate. But doesn’t the Parion Empire only field fifty thousand troops?
-That’s true, yet also false. Between a population of one million and thirteen million, which possesses more talented individuals?
-…Thirteen million, surely.
-Precisely. With such overwhelming numerical superiority, they possess far more talented individuals, and the quantity of such talent vastly exceeds Goyad’s strongest ones.
-Of course, Goyad also possesses talents like the Blood Ghost Squad. The problem is that while Goyad’s elite number three thousand, they arrive with fifty thousand. If Goyad were to marshal all forces under Barad’s command to face the Blood Ghost Squad, they could certainly hold them back.
-Is that truly so? Then there is hope for us….
-However, Fenrir cannot be stopped, and the Goyad forces that held back the Blood Ghost Squad suffered massive casualties, making the fall of the capital inevitable.
-…Is there truly no way?
-There exists one method.
-What is that method?
Those watching the broadcast took notice.
Or those who had autonomous driving enabled and were watching television in their cars paid attention.
A method exists?
-An individual possessing overwhelming power might be able to change the outcome.
-…A single person can change it? Expert, I don’t quite understand.
-I believe viewers who understand Ares will grasp this. Remarkably, Barad alone can fell over ten thousand of the Blood Ghost Squad.
The viewers found this entirely relatable.
-Without Fenrir, this battle would have been simple, but the overwhelming strength of Fenrir’s presence is what makes it difficult.
-Moreover, strength is relative. A single Strong One can make thousands of enemies tremble, and a single Strong One possesses the power to slay hundreds of commanders. Such individuals can collapse entire command structures.
At that, the MC’s expression brightened.
-Our Country has Master Craftsman Hyeon-su, doesn’t it?
High-level viewers had already caught on.
-Do you know what level Master Craftsman Hyeon-su was confirmed to be at most recently?
It was merely one month ago.
-He was in the 330s.
-….
-Since the server integration, he hasn’t appeared in any Hunting Ground, and there was a world message not long ago stating he had created a new Transcendence. Master Craftsman Hyeon-su is currently only focused on Artifact Crafting.
-If User Hyeon-su, who alone slew hundreds of high-rankers….
-The story changes entirely. They were Users, but now the enemies are NPCs and the masters of Ares.
Moreover, two months have passed since the server integration.
-User Hyeon-su has devoted himself solely to troop Enhancement and Artifact Crafting in his newly granted Territory, and his level has likely remained stagnant for the past two months.
-During those two months, Korea’s rankers hunted like madmen, and even with such individuals assembled, it proved insufficient.
As the expert said, everyone lowered their expectations.
And.
-The fall of the capital Barkna has begun.
-The screams of the people pierce the heavens.
-…The Parion Empire didn’t even give civilians time to evacuate.
-It’s possible the capital could fall within two days.
-Knights are insufficient. Not long ago, it became known that Sword Master Roman staged a rebellion to bring down the successor Hyeon-su and was purged by King Barad.
-Four thousand Knights who participated, plus Sword Master Roman himself. We’ve lost one means of resistance.
-Despair-stricken leaders of Goyad are shown from all corners.
The expert’s words rang true.
Marquis Valo, who commanded the North Gate of the capital Barkna, had fallen into despair through more than three hours of continuous battle.
“…Forty percent of our forces defending the North Gate have been annihilated. The enemy’s casualties amount to merely five percent.”
And Marquis Luxemburg, who defended the East Gate, understood.
“Fifty thousand troops, yet those fifty thousand contained the entirety of Parion’s strength.”
The reason Sword Emperor Bolond deployed merely fifty thousand soldiers.
“With those fifty thousand, it is to proclaim the greatness of annihilating an entire nation and to drag down and subjugate the name of Goyad.”
Luxemburg closed his eyes.
The proof of it.
“Just by looking at those who command five thousand soldiers, you can tell. Normally, they should be commanders of ten thousand troops, yet commanders of that caliber are leading mere five thousand soldiers.”
Those commanders had reached level 450 individually.
It was absurd.
It was unthinkable to assign level 450 commanders to lead merely five thousand soldiers.
In another place.
The noble houses that led the kingdom.
Sword Master Roman and the old man called one of the two great peaks alongside him, Sword Master Lysen.
He despaired watching the Knights being swept away.
“Master of the House, His Majesty suffered a grave wound while fighting Fenrir and has retreated.”
“…Is the wound deep?”
“Yes.”
Lysen gazed at the sky.
He thought such things.
“Alas, the Prince… Prince Ban….”
Prince Ban.
That unparalleled genius once held a title surpassing the Sword King.
Everyone in this place knew it.
Had Prince Ban not died and lived, he might have become a figure comparable to the Sword King.
Strength is relative.
Had there been only one Prince Ban, this war would not have been so futile.
Perhaps there was never hope for this nation from the beginning.
There was no prince of pure bloodline, only Goyad protected by His Majesty Barad alone.
Tears streamed down—
Endless tears flowed from Sword Master Lysen’s eyes.
Then, something flickered in his gaze.
The heir of the royal line, Hyeon-su, had appeared.
Lysen hastily wiped away his tears.
Though he was not a strong one to inherit Prince Ban’s talent, he would be quite helpful.
Lysen spoke to Hyeon-su who approached.
“Reassuring, you take the south. The south has only eight hundred of the Blood Ghost Squad, so you should be able to handle it sufficiently.”
“No.”
At that answer, Lysen’s expression crumpled.
Lysen, now mixed with various emotions, found it difficult to maintain composure.
Soon he grew angry seeing no one beside Hyeon-su.
The reason he had told him to hold the south was because his territory had considerable forces.
“The south is not the most important, but it is the path leading into the capital. Where are your soldiers….”
As Sword Master Lysen was speaking, a soldier rushed forward with urgent news.
“…Someone has annihilated eight hundred of the Blood Ghost Squad in the south!!!!”
Sword Master Lysen’s eyes widened, and Hyeon-su continued.
“Since the south has already been dealt with, there’s no need to go there.”
Only then did Sword Master Lysen truly comprehend it.
That he had begun walking the path toward the throne.
And.
That a single beacon was illuminating the desperate Goyad Kingdom.

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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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