Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 275

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Genius Blacksmith’s Game
Hunting Fenrir (2)
There were two reasons for ordering the Goyad Army to retreat.
First, to protect the citizens and soldiers from falling into an abnormal state.
Second.
The demon Gremory’s Second Legion Commander.
Known as the Legion Commander of Explosions, he possessed the power to unleash the broadest area-of-effect detonation imaginable.
Area-of-effect attacks.
Such power reached its maximum efficiency when enemies were densely packed together.
‘The Blood Ghost Squad, believing victory was assured, had never been more tightly clustered.’
Beings so densely packed they filled the entire castle.
[Hellfire Spear]
The moment the dark spear pierced the ground between the Blood Ghost Squad members.
KABOOOOOOOM—
The entire Goyad Kingdom was engulfed in a catastrophic shockwave.
[A Hellfire explosion covering a 450-meter radius inflicts 870% damage.]
Pic, the commander-in-chief leading the Blood Ghost Squad.
He too succumbed to an irresistible abnormal state, kneeling with tears of blood streaming down his face.
He witnessed the shockwave and explosion radiating from the spear.
And the smoke billowing upward in a fan-shaped pattern, his eyes trembling.
When a tremendous gust of wind swept in and cleared all the smoke, Pic’s gaze wavered.
‘…What is this…’
Fifteen thousand four hundred members of the Blood Ghost Squad.
They were scattering as bone dust.
Simultaneously, the demon in the sky vanished.
Within the Capital.
Sword Master Lysen ascended the Castle Wall with rapid speed.
“….”
He was witnessing something truly beyond belief.
Fifteen thousand Blood Ghost Squad members had met their end in an instant. Even having witnessed it directly and participated in the act himself, he could not accept it.
‘Could this plan have truly succeeded…?’
Lysen had seen Hyeon-su vanish in the light of a warp.
Nor was disbelief limited to him alone.
The three Dukes who had their lives saved from Fenrir by the demon summoning but fell into an abnormal state.
With the demon’s disappearance, their abnormal state lifted, and they regained movement, yet they remained in profound psychological shock.
‘Why are we here…?’
‘Hyeon-su’s telekinesis…?’
They also realized they had safely descended onto the Castle Wall from mid-air.
“Cough!”
However, their condition was far from good.
The stars of the kingdom spilled blood from their mouths.
They wiped away the blood flowing from their eyes, ears, and nose.
Soon, as Sword Master Lysen approached, they learned the full account of what had transpired.
Of course, along with the warning that hunting demons was something that must remain hidden.
“….”
“….”
The three dukes, barely able to steady themselves, harbored no anger toward Hyeon-su for not informing them of this fact.
Nor did they resent him, even though they had nearly perished from the abnormal status condition.
‘That Hyeon-su….’
‘He created something like this?’
When they first saw him, he was a mere boy; when they saw him later, he was a lord.
And of a crumbling Blacksmithing territory at that.
Then one day he had become a royal heir whom even they could not deny, and time had passed in such uncertainty.
And now, he was planting a single hope into the Goyad Kingdom, which had fallen into crisis.
The dukes.
They grasped their swords with all their might.
This opportunity that Hyeon-su had created—they had no intention of letting it slip away.
The dukes began to move.
Meanwhile.
Kuuuuuuuung—
A tremendous vibration struck the entire capital. The citizens and soldiers huddled within it.
“Waaah, waaah, waaaah!”
The cry of a newborn cradled by a woman pierced through the gaps.
“Ah, ah….”
“Please….”
“Grant us the strength to overcome this crisis….”
“I want to live…!”
They were simply terrified of this situation.
The soldiers, having fought the Blood Ghost Squad directly, feared that swift collapse might come soon.
The common people, who knew not how to fight, despaired as the nation of Goyad they had built crumbled in an instant.
Then.
“Kyaaah…? Kekeke!”
The crying child suddenly stopped and laughed.
Beginning with the child’s inexplicable laughter, one by one, they came to their senses.
‘Open your eyes ten seconds after the vibration.’
They opened their eyes one by one.
They instinctively turned their heads in the direction the child was laughing.
Toward whatever the broadly smiling child was sensing.
The woman holding the child tightly shed tears of relief without realizing it.
“Aah…!”
Upon the Castle Wall.
The figure in the brown coat standing at the very center gazed upon the multitude below, slowly raising his head.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The soldiers, their senses returning, struck the drums announcing the counterattack as if entranced by the sight of him.
Those soldiers who had believed defeat was certain.
They rose slowly to their feet, gripping their weapons with every ounce of strength they possessed.
Another woman.
The User named Nel, who had swiftly entered the Capital, could not believe what she was witnessing.
Only a single man.
Centered around him, three Marquises gathered at his side, the blood that had flowed from their eyes, ears, and noses now dried and crusted.
And the aging veteran of the Kingdom’s foremost Family, called Sword Master Lysen, stood beside them with hands clasped behind his back.
The three Marquises cried out.
“Count Hyeon-su commands!”
The Swords raised high by the three Marquises announced that a new commander stood before them this day.
The hundreds of thousands who beheld him felt it—as though all the world had turned to black and white.
Within that monochrome.
The heir in the brown coat, whom we had denied.
Once merely a Blacksmith and a mere youth, now risen to no more than the rank of Count among the nobility.
He had become a ‘beacon’ in this world of black and white, illuminating all around him.
He cried out with a powerful voice.
“Nock!”
Following the single Sword he raised high, twenty thousand archers upon the Castle Wall drew their Bowstrings taut.
“Fire!”
Tens of thousands of Arrows swept away the Blood Ghost Squad that had threatened Goyad like autumn leaves before the wind.
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-!
[1,824 members of the Blood Ghost Squad fall in battle!]
“Open the gates!”
Creak-eeeeeek-!
Following that commanding voice, the Castle Gate swung open, and like soldiers chasing after a beacon with Sword Master Lysen at their head upon horseback, the troops ignited fierce determination in their eyes.
“Charge!”
Those who had only cowered in defense transformed.
Now they overflowed with confidence and burned with fury.
And they felt no fear.
Watching the one who commanded them from the highest point thrust his Sword forward, they charged.
“You damned bastards!”
“Uoooooh…!”
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Though freed from their abnormal status, the remaining Blood Ghost Squad members still caught in its aftermath were swept away at terrifying speed.
[The morale of the Goyad Army pierces the heavens!]
Waaaaaaaaaah-
[The cheers of tens of thousands of people spread throughout Goyad.]
Uooooooooooo-!
The roars of soldiers and civilians alike seemed to herald the Blood Ghost Squad’s defeat.
Unlike their fervent voices.
[The Blood Ghost Squad’s morale plummets!]
Already confused from losing numerous commanders, the Blood Ghost Squad wavered.
Following the first shock came the second—Gremory’s status ailment ability.
And the third shock.
The majesty of the Goyad Army, unaffected by status ailments unlike the Blood Ghost Squad.
And those who had been thoroughly slaughtered now signaled their counteroffensive, sweeping through the enemy like a tidal wave.
[3,417 members of the Blood Ghost Squad have fallen!]
Today, their blood burned hot while the Blood Ghost Squad’s blood grew cold.
“Do not fall—that is my command!”
At the commander’s voice ringing through the fierce battle.
Tens of thousands still gazed upon him, while soldiers swung their swords.
‘…If we do not fall, can we serve you?’
‘Thank you.’
‘The light of Goyad.’
“Goyad’s hero!!!!!”
With one knight’s cry, the shout spread outward.
However.
“Krraaaaaaaa!”
Hearing that roar, they became aware.
Goyad had not fallen rapidly because of the Blood Ghost Squad.
[Legendary Monster Fenrir Lv.493]
A colossal form standing ten meters tall.
It was because of the legendary monster Fenrir, who could freely shrink its size at will.
What manner of being was Fenrir?
Even if the entire Blood Ghost Squad were annihilated.
It was a creature capable of reducing Goyad’s Capital to rubble single-handedly.
Kwazaaack-
The massive ash-grey furred wolf swallowed dozens of Goyad soldiers in a single bite.
The tidal wave formation sweeping through the Blood Ghost Squad shattered catastrophically.
[Acceleration]
Fenrir, now moving at terrifying speed, trampled and crushed soldiers like an elephant.
The fearless Goyad Army faltered.
No matter how high their momentum soared, no matter how fiercely they kindled their courage, the colossal legendary monster remained an object of terror.
Especially.
Wargzaaack-!
Fenrir, grinding soldiers between its jaws, was now in a state of fury.
As a high-intelligence monster, it had recognized that the summoning of the demon Gremory was temporary, and through that, it understood how someone had reduced it to nothing more than a mere mutt.
Moreover, since that transcendent being would not reveal itself again, the creature grew even more arrogant.
“Kraaaaaaah!”
Fenrir, which had slaughtered four hundred Goyad soldiers in a single breath, roared.
The brave Knights attempted to strike it down, only to recoil in shock.
Clang—
‘What kind of hide is this thick…?’
The skin was so impossibly tough that even Swords couldn’t pierce it, and had they been Users, they would have heard a notification.
[You have dealt 1 damage.]
The difference between a successful attack and a failed one was stark.
Then, a massive crimson aura rippled within Fenrir’s maw.
Kuhooooooo—
The prelude to an ultimate technique.
This power, manifested during the second Fortress’s fall, resembled a dragon’s breath.
The moment it was unleashed, it would collapse the Castle Wall in an instant and slaughter countless souls beyond it.
The Goyad soldiers turned ashen.
Not because the Castle Wall would crumble.
“No….”
“Behind the Castle Wall, there are civilians!!!”
This single strike appeared capable of claiming the lives of at least twenty thousand civilians.
Soldiers and Knights fired arrows and thrust spears frantically, yet they could not inflict even a scratch upon Fenrir’s body.
The three Dukes standing atop the Castle Wall, and Sword Master Lysen mounted upon his horse, turned deathly pale.
Especially Lysen.
He could see that the blast was directed toward him.
There was no escape.
He turned to face the Knights behind him and smiled with a ghastly grin.
He had spoken of it before.
That the old veteran would go first, and they must not follow.
But the Knights behind him were equally close to him.
“Forgive me for breaking my promise. I’ll see you in Hell.”
Just as that aura was about to be unleashed.
“In the sky…!”
At someone’s cry, Lysen’s eyes turned skyward.
The man who had been standing upon the Castle Wall moments before.
He now stood in mid-air, gripping a twin dragon Sword in both hands as he plummeted downward.
The gaze of ten thousand souls, including the Blood Ghost Squad, converged upon him.
The three Dukes.
‘…Fenrir is the creature that even His Majesty could not slay.’
And the civilians and soldiers.
‘The legendary monster is overwhelmingly stronger than a human legend….’
And Nel.
‘Hyeon-su, I understand your resolve. But….’
Nel swallowed her regret.
It had been only a week since they parted ways.
Hyeon-su’s strength from a week ago.
With that power, he would struggle to even scratch Fenrir.
Moreover, this was being broadcast live.
-Fenrir is a legendary monster that even King Barad failed to capture.
-Among all Users, only Bahala is known to have successfully hunted a legendary monster in one-on-one combat.
-Master Craftsman Hyeon-su must understand this: during the two months he remained hidden, the NPCs, monsters, and Users of Ares grew stronger, while he stagnated.
The commentators refuted this.
And Fenrir.
He ignored the human plummeting from above.
From Fenrir’s perspective, King Barad was the only threat in this kingdom worth acknowledging.
Yet even King Barad was ultimately human.
Regardless of legendary status, Named Monsters possessed overwhelmingly superior attack power, defense, and total HP.
Rather, he found it exhilarating.
The human would struggle with all his might to stop him, but fail he would.
Then came that moment.
At last, Hyeon-su gripped the great blade with both hands and brought it crashing down upon Fenrir’s head.
KWAAAAAAANG—!
In that instant.
“…!”
“…!”
-…!
-W-what!?
Everyone watching him gasped in shock.
A single strike.
Fenrir’s head was driven into the earth, his body convulsing sporadically.
And because Fenrir had let his guard down, he forgot his own majesty and whimpered like a puppy.
“Yelp…!”
A brief silence swept across the battlefield.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————