Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 291

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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 Beacon (5)
Regarding the Records of History, Lee Se-jin spoke.
‘The Records of History announce the beginning of a tale.’
‘Moreover, while the Records of History could theoretically be fabricated arbitrarily, the probability of such occurrence is exceedingly slim.’
A prime example would be the Legendary Stone.
‘What is certain is that the Records of History will serve as either the beginning of a certain path or as a highlight that will be passed down through generations regarding events unfolding in the present.’
A journalist posed a question.
‘What are the precise activation conditions?’
The number of Users inscribed in the Records of History is so few they can be counted on one’s fingers.
This prompted people to harbor doubts.
What conditions could possibly trigger such a recording?
‘If we recall the legends of Our Country, it becomes simple. Just as King Sejong completed the Hangul alphabet, just as General Yi Sun-sin defended the Ocean repeatedly and achieved historical records, it begins with something accomplished by an exceptional individual who led that era. Beyond this, it may also be heard through various things the system recognizes, so one cannot say with absolute certainty that it will always be heard for any given reason.’
A vague explanation.
Yet Lee Se-jin provided a definitive example.
‘Perhaps, if a User were to become a Wang for the first time, I believe it would certainly be heard then.’
Thus, the Records of History are not easily achieved.
Such a historical record had now manifested.
Hyeon-su was curious about the reason this history was being inscribed now.
The activation stemmed from how stringent those conditions were.
[It is recorded from the Forsaken Knight and the Insignificant Lord.]
Lucifer underwent profound emotional transformations.
When he shattered and crossed through the Castle Gate, he posed dozens of questions.
‘Why for me….’
‘Am I worthy of such a thing?’
‘Is it because of yesterday’s humiliation?’
Moreover, it was realistically impossible to have reached This Place.
“Friends, I called you.”
Lucifer understood. Though he called them friends, Hyeon-su must have surrendered much to gather them here.
It made no sense.
Not long ago, Hyeon-su had asked him.
‘Could you participate in the Great Atlas Tournament? I need your strength, Lucifer.’
‘No.’
He had refused outright.
First, because he knew he would soon depart, and second, because Lucifer had been emotionally exhausted at that time.
He partially understood the feelings of Hyeon-su, who clung persistently again and again.
He was revealing his true self as a Lord doing his utmost to protect his Territory.
Yet Lucifer could not speak of his own circumstances, and merely revealed his own heart.
‘…Darkness.’
‘….’
‘Despair, sorrow, pain, anger, fear, frustration….’
‘….’
‘Words that define me right now.’
I simply passed by Hyeon-su, who had lost the ability to speak.
Despite being such a wretched existence, I had come this far.
And my transformation in thought did not end there alone.
Lucifer had witnessed it.
Knight Commander Sun.
‘Lord Lucifer!’
There was a child who loved wielding a wooden sword named Sun.
One who admired me, saying he would become like me, and grew rapidly to become a knight.
That knight, upon seeing me, shed tears of blood and struck down Hyeon-su.
I observe the other knights.
‘Lord Lucifer….’
‘Lord Lucifer!’
‘Please, grant us peace…!’
‘Grant us peace, I beseech you!!!’
I feel the weight of a life unwanted.
The Blood King himself had spoken it.
Either be absorbed into me and die, or live as a thrall.
Those who had lived over a century with two impossible choices.
Those who witnessed the slowly dwindling population of the Enya Kingdom without ever aging.
Though they chose to become thralls out of fear of immediate death, they regretted it again and again.
For them, striking down Hyeon-su felt the same as striking me down.
Hundreds of children who once rushed at me with wooden swords in hand, full of joy, now as proper knights, yearned for an end to their lives.
Thus they took up their blades, embracing a new master.
Among the many complex and intertwined reasons.
The greatest reason was what Hyeon-su had said to me, who spoke only of darkness and despair before passing by.
‘Light, hope, delight, joy, laughter….’
As I turned back with a puzzled expression, he touched the back of his head with an awkward, embarrassed smile….
‘I will give you those things. Surely.’
[He was a knight harder to win over than any knight in the world.]
[Yet the sincerity shown by an unremarkable lord allows him to embrace a new one.]
The reason history’s record began is revealed.
A narrative that begins with some scene, historical circumstance, or something great.
[An undefeated knight embraces a new king in his heart.]
It announces the opening of the prelude to the tale of one who might become king and the strongest knight who came to follow him.
[It is recorded in history.]
And from the first page of that record, he strikes.
Shhhhiiiiing—!
In stark contrast to the king who had used and discarded me, I move for him—the one who gathered his friends and broke through to this place for my sake alone.
I strike down the Blood King, who had merely served the bewildered “Iljon” once.
And then I draw my blade again, gripping it with both hands and cutting deep.
“Krraaaagh!”
I leave him behind, blood gushing from his mouth.
I dash forward swiftly, desperate to protect the king I must now serve.
Yet I question myself.
Can I, as I am now, triumph against so many Knights and the Blood King?
Moreover, the Blood King’s fury, spraying blood, only amplifies their strength further.
“Lucifer, things will not go as you wish!”
[Blood King’s Decree]
[Minions become 25% stronger.]
[Knight Commander Sun’s level is updated!]
[Knight Commander Sun Lv.525]
[Knight Rang’s level is updated.]
[Knight Rang Lv.476]
[Due to the penalty of berserk state, they begin to forget themselves, and human emotion begins to fade.]
“Because of you, they lose everything that makes them human!”
My chest tightens.
In exchange for their strength, they forget the one they admired—me.
They forget the joy, delight, happiness, anger, sorrow, and pain of their living days.
Between eyes rolling back, Sun cries out.
“…Please, strike me down! I beg you, the knight I admired and loved!”
Beneath that anguished wail, my heart pounds like a piston.
The phantom of hundreds of children who once cheered around me flickers before my eyes.
‘I will strike them down.’
A reason to cut them down emerges.
Yet I am too weak to strike them down now.
A wretch barely freed from demonic form.
I lack the strength to grant them peace…
“Lucifer!”
In that moment, my new master—buried beneath the chaos—clears everything away.
Whoooosh—
A great blade he pulls from his Inventory and hurls.
The blade grips firmly in my hand.
At my original level.
[Lucifer’s level is updated.]
[Lucifer Lv.487]
I feel the inadequacy once more.
In this moment, without speaking, Hyeon-su and I were connected.
The moment I see him slowly lowering his head.
A tremendous surge of awakening energy is drawn from the Twin Dragon Sword.
‘I’m curious, Lucifer.’
A being with the miraculous potential of 165.
Once called the undefeated knight, the most exceptional among millions of knights.
When that knight embraces his true power, how much strength will he unleash?
It reveals itself.
[Awaken.]
Kuooooooooong—!
Violent light explodes from Lucifer.
[The knight who has never once tasted defeat awakens.]
Ding!
His information window changes.
[Undefeated Knight Lucifer Lv.538]
Hyeon-su’s eyes widen in shock.
It’s not merely that he surpassed level 500.
Named NPCs and non-Named entities exist on entirely different planes of power, even at the same level.
The Undefeated Knight was the apex among Named NPCs.
Moreover, Lucifer was surprisingly lacking in natural talent.
Born knowing he must protect someone, he was a dull-witted soul who polished himself solely to protect others.
A Strong One born from practicing ten times while others practiced once.
The power of the Undefeated Knight, which had remained hidden even from Hyeon-su, now reveals itself.
“Kraaaaaah!”
“Kryaaaaaaah!”
“Kraaaaaack!”
Watching hundreds of children wielding Wooden Swords charge forward in frenzy, Lucifer wears that same gentle smile from before.
“…Now rest.”
The Twin Dragon Sword raised at a perfect right angle.
“The Beacon.”
Between the darkness that shrouds the world, his blade becomes a slowly rising sun.
In the moment that rising sun’s radiance spreads gradually outward.
Kwarrrrrrrrgh—!
Hundreds of sword auras extend from his blade, slaughtering and cutting down every knight before him.
Drip, drip—
Tears flow from Lucifer’s eyes before blood does.
The expressions of the hundreds of knights who had been shrieking are different now.
Their black skin returns to human skin.
As blood fountains from their bodies, they all gaze upon their once-cherished ‘ideal’ with peaceful expressions.
“…Please do not weep, my idol.”
Sun smiles brightly as he leans backward.
“….”
My chest aches with a searing pain.
At the fact that I am slaying those I cherished and loved with my own hands.
But my new master speaks the truth.
“It is not death.”
When Lucifer glanced to the side, Hyeon-su was there.
Hyeon-su, wearing a subtle smile, speaks.
“You have been given a path to choose.”
Lucifer’s eyes waver.
As a Named NPC, he did not know this truth—but Hyeon-su, being a User, understood.
He swiftly conveys part of the Hidden Quest: Purification.
Those who face death can awaken once more in human form, and they can deliberate whether to fall into eternal rest or to live on.
“…I see.”
Lucifer grips his sword tightly.
Beyond the purified Knights, the Enya Kingdom Army surges forward endlessly.
Tap, tap—
Hyeon-su’s light pat on his shoulder lifts the weight from his heart.
With the thought that he must purify many more, he moves forward.
Behind him, a colossal force gives chase.
“You… how dare you seal me!?”
The Blood King’s eyes blaze with fury.
The source of his power derives largely from blood.
The blood of the Knights Lucifer created converges into a single point, forming a sphere.
[Blood Festival]
[A blood explosion engulfs a radius of 60 meters.]
Before detonating, he hurls a sharply honed blood dagger.
Whoooooosh—
Though the blood dagger clearly pierces Lucifer’s back, he does not even turn to look.
He simply walks through the door without a care.
“….”
The Blood King’s eyes tremble.
He understands the reason for not turning back.
He does not deem the Blood King’s face worth seeing ever again.
“…I will kill you!”
The colossal Blood Festival finally begins to descend upon the earth.
But before that.
Crash—!
A mere lord’s sword drives him into the wall.
[Casting fails.]
The Blood King’s face twists with rage.
I shake my head vigorously, regaining clarity and awareness.
A petty Lord, one who couldn’t even open his mouth from fear. A Lord who was powerless against hundreds of thousands of troops and the Blood King.
“Your opponent is me.”
Thinking of him, a sneer escapes my lips.
Conviction settles within me.
To myself, seated among the Five Seats of Power, he is far too easy….
“…!?”
The Blood King, regaining consciousness, was bewildered.
‘What is that?’
He witnesses an unbelievable sight.
And Hyeon-su hears it.
[Hidden Quest: Purification has been modified.]
Ding!
[Linked Quest: Blood King is generated.]
[Linked Quest: Blood King]
Rank: SSS
Restriction: Those who fight the Blood King
Reward: Purification of Enya Kingdom
Penalty on failure: Death
Description: The fall of Enya Kingdom originated from the Blood King.
When the Blood King is slain, all Demonic Beings will be purified into humans.
I wondered if I could purify all these many souls.
But the notification that came to mind made me feel it was possible.
And the Blood King—the one who struck my solar plexus, deeming me not even worth his time.
I have been waiting for this moment.
Crack—!
I grip the Royal Sword of National Prosperity and Peace in my right hand.
Craaack—!
I grip Babylon, which destroys all evil falling from the heavens, in my left hand.
[Combining Artifacts.]
An indescribable, colossal light erupts.
[All evil trembles in fear!]
This evil surely includes even Arch-Demons. And perhaps even the god of the Calamity Sect.
A single Sword transforms into an elongated great Blade, and “Royal Sword of Evil Annihilation” is inscribed upon its surface.
[It is a rank beyond transcendence!]
I pull the far mightier Royal Sword of Evil Annihilation behind my back, channeling strength into my feet planted against the ground.
“Let us end this.”
Rumble—
[All evil is annihilated!]
The Blood King was bewildered.
Skreeeeegh—!
With a single blow, his body was being cleaved in two.
The pitiful lord who had trembled before the hundreds of thousands of troops and the name Blood King.
‘This monster….’
He began to realize that this man possessed the makings of a true king.

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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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