Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 289

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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 Torch (3)
Lucifer began to recall the past.
Brad, standing atop the castle wall, coughed violently.
“Cough, cough…!”
“…Your Majesty, are you well?”
“I’m fine.”
A king who would cough at the mere touch of cold wind.
Yet in the king’s eyes burned a fierce determination.
“Lord Lucifer.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Though I am a sickly king who cannot even wield a sword with skill, I wish to become stronger than any king that has ever lived.”
A grand ambition that the king harbored.
Lucifer asked.
“Why do you wish to become so strong?”
Brad’s desire felt far grander than he had anticipated.
If it were merely about healing his frail body, he could understand, but Brad believed he needed to become far stronger than that.
Brad gazed upon his beautiful kingdom as he spoke.
“Only then can I protect this nation, can I not?”
“…”
Lucifer was moved.
His lord was truly such a magnificent and noble person.
“And only then can I protect my friend.”
“…”
He was grateful once more.
That such words were spoken for a mere knight.
Brad gazed upon him with warm eyes.
“…I am grateful. The tales of you that spread throughout the world are nothing but extraordinary.”
A name that never knew defeat—the undefeated knight.
Strong ones from kingdoms and empires across the lands had sought him out, eager to test themselves against him.
Yet Lucifer had never fallen to any of them, and thus the world called him the invincible knight.
“Since you display a knighthood stronger than any other knight, I too must protect you.”
The second name by which Lucifer was known in the world.
He was the loyal Lucifer.
Not merely a knight by title, but the king’s friend, his shadow, and one who would do anything for him alone.
To such a degree, Lucifer possessed the most noble knighthood—a person who strived to protect all those he had once sworn to serve.
Lucifer knelt on one knee and paid his respects.
“This humble servant, Lucifer, shall do my utmost to ensure Your Majesty grows stronger, and if needed, I shall even offer my life.”
“Haha, do not offer your life.”
A smile bloomed at the corners of Brad’s lips.
“Simply remain by my side.”
That day, Lucifer had thought he would gladly die for him.
*
*
*
Lucifer had been happy then.
To have such a wonderful king beside him.
That was precisely why.
I could not comprehend the king who had sold me out and betrayed me to Gremory.
Was it to save the kingdom?
Or was it to become stronger himself?
And so I wished to confirm it.
Lucifer sensed that he would pursue me to Atlas and went to meet him.
And I arrived at the Enya Kingdom where I had once lived.
Lucifer fell into profound shock.
‘How could it be….’
Everything of the once-beautiful Enya Kingdom had transformed as though into a realm of death.
The population that had approached fifty million had dwindled to less than one million.
What I found even more unbelievable was that those who had lived in my era still lived on.
“….”
I understood then.
That this entire Enya Kingdom had been consumed by demonic energy and fallen into ruin.
In exchange, they had gained half-eternal life.
Yet Lucifer said nothing and followed the Blood King.
‘Perhaps it was unavoidable. Perhaps His Majesty did not summon Gremory.’
It was Brad who summoned Gremory to the kingdom.
This was a phrase that Legion Commander Robbs, who had tortured and tormented me, always had on his lips.
How could I trust the words of a legion commander?
I yearned to know the true truth that I did not know.
After passing through several doors, I finally entered the Alhyeon Hall.
Upon entering the hall, Lucifer could see withered corpses piled on one side like mummies, accompanied by a putrid stench.
‘What is that…?’
As Lucifer sensed something amiss, Brad, seated upon a rusted throne, spoke.
“How delightful, to see you again in this place.”
Lucifer showed proper respect to the king and knelt on one knee.
Like a child awaiting an answer to some question, he asked.
“How is it?”
“…How is what, Your Majesty?”
“My appearance, which you see after so long.”
Lucifer took in the sight of him.
He had changed into a crimson robe embroidered with a dragon.
The sickly appearance that had once defined him had vanished without a trace.
He radiated vitality, appearing even younger than before.
“It won’t be bad—no, it will be quite splendid. After all, I’ve taken a seat among the Five Seats of Power.”
The Five Seats of Power were comparable to the three absolute sovereigns of the previous era.
They referred collectively to the strongest kings or emperors of the present age.
Lucifer found it difficult to believe.
The current Brad—the power emanating from him was overwhelming.
And the epithet “Blood King” felt utterly foreign to him.
Lucifer spoke his honest assessment.
“Compared to before, you’ve become so formidable that I am astonished. You’ve grown so powerful that I question whether I could even exchange a few blows with you.”
“Ha, haha, hahahaha!”
Brad burst into wild laughter—a sound that had never escaped him before.
Between the waves of prolonged mirth.
“However.”
Lucifer spoke to the heart of the matter.
“Though you have claimed a seat among the Five Seats of Power, I believe it falls short.”
“….”
The Blood King’s expression hardened.
“A strong and magnificent king must desire the peace and security of his realm, and even its happiness. Yet this kingdom appears to have no more happiness left, and it has crumbled. Thus, you have ascended to only a half-measure of a seat.”
Brad’s expression turned fierce.
His lips trembled at the harsh judgment, and after a moment of bewilderment, he nodded.
“True. Lucifer, a strong king must indeed possess a magnificent realm as well—but now that has become impossible.”
The Blood King made a clicking sound, then smiled faintly.
“Thanks to you, I have found the way forward, and for that I am overjoyed.”
He had found the way because of him?
“If the people and the realm cannot support me, then I need only become far stronger than I am now. After all, this calamity arose because my strength was insufficient.”
“….”
Lucifer let out a groan.
Even now, Brad was extraordinarily powerful.
To grow even stronger?
His ambition was excessive—or was such a thing even possible?
As Lucifer gazed at Brad with wavering eyes, he descended the stairs.
“My old friend, and one more loyal than any knight—you who were called the ‘Undefeated Knight’ and the ‘Faithful Lucifer.'”
“….”
“Through Gremory, I have discovered a way to drain the strength of others and fill my own weakness.”
“….”
“Now that I have grown tremendously powerful, I require even greater strength to meet my needs. But Lucifer, it appears you possess the power to fulfill that requirement.”
Only then did Lucifer comprehend.
As he looked around, Lucifer could not suppress his shock.
“…Could it be that you’ve been sustaining your half-life by consuming their vitality?”
He gazed upon the mummified corpses stacked in heaps.
“You’ve devoured so many of your people to become the Blood King?”
Brad did not deny it.
“That is correct.”
He continued with unsettling composure.
“I did not consume everyone. Those who wished to become my subjects were kept alive—necessary for strengthening the kingdom. Those who refused became examples or were consumed.”
Lucifer’s entire body trembled at the Blood King’s casual confession.
Finally, Lucifer cried out.
“To tell any human that they will live if they become your subject now, or die otherwise—that is forcing upon them a life they never chose! And those who refused to become your subjects, you devoured them all!”
The Blood King spoke with utter indifference.
“They were my people regardless.”
Lucifer was devastated.
He had been a good king—or so he had believed.
Thus, seeking to confirm the truth of that day, he had come to have an audience with him once more.
“…That day, Gremory truly did invade our kingdom, did he not?”
Lucifer had thrown himself at Gremory alone that day, declaring:
‘Fear not, Your Majesty. I will protect you, no matter the cost.’
He had not trembled before the demon, humanity’s terror incarnate. It was to protect his king.
“…Did you not know? I summoned Gremory myself.”
“Why? Why….”
“Because I knew that by giving you to him, I would grow stronger.”
“….”
“Gremory granted me the power to become the Blood King, and sacrificing a single knight was a trivial price for such a gift, was it not?”
Tears began to stream from Lucifer’s eyes.
“How could you….”
The Blood King was a creature of cruelty.
“Do not worry. I did not make your family into my subjects. I allowed them to live eternally within me….”
He had consumed Lucifer’s family as well.
Lucifer rejected the truth.
He could not comprehend whether this man was truly the good king he had known.
He had understood it to some degree.
That he was consumed by inferiority toward the Strong Ones.
Yet the man before him was far too different from what he remembered.
Tears flowed endlessly from Lucifer’s eyes.
He spoke.
“I am grateful. Because you have returned, I can now truly take my seat among the Five Seats of Power.”
The king offered not even an apology for what he had done to him.
Lucifer’s hand gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Screeeeeech—
He was entertaining a thought he should never have entertained.
‘I will kill him, and then I will die as well.’
Would that not be better?
A king who brought ruin to his own nation with his own hands, seeking only to claim his own strength.
And himself, who had served such a man without ever seeing through him.
Yet Lucifer was bewildered.
He grasped the hilt, but could not draw it.
No—he would not.
“…Unfortunately, you cannot strike me down.”
Lucifer had lived his entire life for the Blood King.
A knight’s oath sworn to wield his sword for him alone.
And the most loyal retainer could not strike down his master.
Yet another truth now revealed itself.
“It is true that you are loyal, but I made you so.”
What the Blood King produced was a small orb, dark currents trapped within it, rippling with malevolent energy.
[Brainwashing Orb of the Dark Sorceress Lili.]
A gift the Grand Dark Sorceress Lili had given to Brad in the distant past.
“From the moment we first met.”
Brad had recognized Lucifer’s innate talent and meticulously raised him as his own hound.
He was not merely a trained dog.
He had been raised as one who loved his master, cherished him, and would stop at nothing for his sake.
A flinch—
“Ugh, u-u-ugh, u-u-u-ugh…!”
Even his own loyalty had been forged at his fingertips.
Lucifer now realized that even that conversation atop the Castle Wall in the distant past had been a performance to deepen the brainwashing.
He screams, still gripping the sword’s hilt.
Everything crumbles.
The Blood King, extending his hand, speaks.
“Lucifer.”
To one who had lived his entire life for him.
“I wish for your death.”
He commands him to die.
A crimson aura emanates from him, reaching toward Lucifer.
The moment that crimson aura touches his body, smoke rises from Lucifer’s form.
Sizzzzle—
Lucifer’s world has collapsed.
A hollow laugh escapes his lips.
The king to whom he devoted his life commands him to die.
Then, a thunderous sound begins to echo.
[The most perfect trinity.]
[An additional 10% attack power infuses the arrow.]
[The title ‘Creator of the Most Powerful Shot’ radiates with light.]
[2x damage is applied.]
Kuooooooooong—!
The Castle Gate tears apart as a single arrow streaks through the air, creating a massive sonic boom.
The arrow shatters the orb Brad was holding while simultaneously striking him directly.
Crash—!
“Kuhaaaack!?”
[Dark Mage Lili’s brainwashing orb shatters.]
The Castle Gate opens, and a man walks through. Lucifer’s eyes tremble at the sight of him.
Lucifer knew it too.
Breaking through this place alone was an extraordinarily difficult feat.
As if to prove it, his body was drenched in blood from head to toe.
Covered entirely in blood, he looks at me.
The king I had served my entire life once spoke to me.
‘I desire your death.’
To die for him.
But he spoke differently.
“Lucifer, I wish for you to live.”

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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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