Genius Blacksmith’s Game - Chapter 303

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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 Great Atlas Tournament (Part 2) (4)
Zing, zing—
Kali’s adrenaline surges.
The battlefield shrouded in murky dust, visibility reduced to mere inches ahead.
“Ugh….”
“Ah, ahhh….”
“What is this?”
The groans of our allies fill the battlefield.
Two hundred forty-six of the renowned warriors were struck down by the two dragons’ Power Strikes and forcibly logged out.
‘Fewer than two hundred remain now….’
Unbelievable.
Out of three thousand participants, those I thought couldn’t kill even a thousand have slain twenty-eight hundred.
‘It’s not an overwhelming difference in power.’
They gnawed away at us, bit by bit.
It’s laughable.
The realization that the weak we deemed insignificant were actually the Strong Ones.
Now, through the gaps in the dust, I begin to see shadows moving.
Whoooosh—
Whooosh—
Craaash—
The Atlas Army, too, seems to sense the end of battle approaching, slashing with desperate ferocity.
And in those gaps.
Swoooosh—
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish—!
A massive great blade sweeps through the air.
Hidden by the dust, it’s hard to see clearly, but with each step he takes, I feel the rankers flinch.
And now Kali understands.
‘You… could it be….’
The Great Atlas Tournament was broadcast to the entire world.
A reversal in a situation I was certain we would lose.
And the most dominant territorial establishment among all Users.
‘Is he trying to become king?’
Kali’s breathing quickens.
Korea is a small nation.
Moreover, Korea doesn’t even rank among the great powers in Ares.
Conversely, his homeland, the United States, is the mightiest nation in Ares.
A figure from a small nation, not from his own, becoming king?
“Rise.”
At Kali’s words, the rankers too seem to grasp the situation they face.
Crack-crack-crack-
Kali’s body transforms.
His true form, the one he had truly been concealing, is revealed.
“Was this your real appearance?”
Mio from Vietnam, standing beside him, let out a hollow laugh.
[Beastification activates.]
[The aura of the White Tiger stirs.]
The 2.5-meter-tall White Tiger crushes enemies sometimes on two legs, sometimes on four.
Beastification—a privilege granted only to an extremely select few Users.
Among them, the supreme apex predator and legendary White Tiger.
In this form, Kali possesses enough strength to fell even respectable rankers in mere strikes.
A trump card he had prepared for the day he would finally defeat Bahala.
“We must commit our full strength as well.”
Mio from Vietnam.
Ranked first among archers in the world.
She stands in a different league from Korea’s top-ranked archer.
Though the world did not know it, she had recently become the one who revealed to this world that ‘Bow Faith’ exists.
Whoosh-
Crack-
Whoosh-
Crack-
Mio.
She watches Users logout through the dust clouds from the arrows of Ian and Hye-ji.
“Let’s sweep them all away.”
Russia’s apex, Cassandra.
Known as the proxy of the demon Dantalion, she too is exceptional.
She stood in a different league from Peng, the legion commander of Agareth.
A legion commander is ultimately a subordinate, but Cassandra is one who can borrow Dantalion’s power.
And then there is Frank from France.
He possesses a special occupation class called Grappler.
A Grappler was both a powerful dealer and a powerful tank.
As the four apex warriors prepare for battle, the remaining 200 rankers in the chaos witness the Atlas Army breaking through the dust clouds.
Soon they move into action.
[Alliance Commander Kali: If even 100 of our forces survive, we win. Minimize their numbers!]
If they eliminate all 1,500 Atlas soldiers and more than 100 rankers survive, victory is theirs alone.
The rankers’ counterattack begins, breaking through the dust clouds.
Crash-!
The arrows of the divine archer Mio tear through the dust and slay dozens.
Each time the White Tiger-transformed Kali bounds in all directions, fang marks scar the bodies of Atlas soldiers, flesh torn asunder.
“Roaaaaaagh!”
“Krrrrgghhh!”
Demonic energy roils from Cassandra’s body as she stands before hundreds of Atlas Army soldiers.
“Dantalian’s brainwashing.”
[You are afflicted with an abnormal condition.]
[You attack your allies!]
The Atlas Army soldiers begin attacking their own forces.
Thud, thud-thud-thud, thud-thud-thud—
[41 Atlas Army soldiers fall.]
[165 Atlas Army soldiers fall.]
[213 Atlas Army soldiers fall.]
Between them, bodies crumble to ash and vanish at terrifying speed.
Boom—!
Frank, embracing an Atlas Army soldier, soars high into the sky.
Frank, holding an enemy soldier, plummets back down.
Crash—
The Atlas Army soldiers caught in the shockwave vanish rapidly.
Led by the Divine Archer Ian.
The members of Hyeon’s Forge Guild respond in kind, their eyes gleaming as they work to thin the Rankers’ numbers.
Both sides sense it.
The Atlas Army realizes that without drastically reducing the Rankers’ numbers, they will lose.
The Rankers, meanwhile, understand that the more of them who survive, the higher their chance of victory.
In the fierce clash between the groups, it is the Rankers who begin to demonstrate overwhelming superiority.
The 1,500-strong Atlas Army formation crumbles in an instant, hurtling toward complete annihilation at breakneck speed.
Only 200 Atlas Army soldiers remain.
Meanwhile, 150 Rankers still stand.
The difference between 200 children and 150 adults is as vast as heaven and earth.
The four apex leaders, sensing victory.
Whoosh—
[One of the enemy commanders, Ian, logs out.]
Ian, pierced by an arrow from the Divine Archer Mio, dissolves and vanishes.
Risel, wielding two dragons and slaying fifteen Rankers, is torn apart by Kali’s claws.
[One of the enemy commanders, Risel, logs out.]
Kali watches them log out in rapid succession, offering genuine praise.
‘Yes, the fact that you held on this long is remarkable.’
But now it is finished.
[Kali: All-out assault. Deploy all skills.]
All the Rankers judge that further engagement is unnecessary.
The power of skills unleashed by 150 Rankers extends toward the remaining Atlas Army soldiers.
All 200 Atlas Army soldiers caught in the onslaught scatter and disperse.
‘We’ve won…!’
Kali was consumed by ecstasy.
This was the moment when every Atlas Army soldier met their death.
All attacks converged upon Hyeon-su, standing alone.
Another cloud of dust born from their intertwined bodies.
The combined power of 150 rankers once again filled the sky.
It was then that Kali met Hyeon-su’s gaze, standing firm beyond the dust.
“….”
Those eyes still burned with unwavering brilliance.
Despite standing alone, the blazing light in his eyes declared that he had not yet fallen.
‘How is this possible?’
How could he maintain such a gaze while facing the concentrated power of 150 Users?
Atlas’s shield, which had been waiting for this very moment, was present.
“Do you know what a tank truly is?”
A voice cutting through the dust.
A tank is a shield that protects their party members in any circumstance.
Bark rushed forward past Hyeon-su, raising Aegis as he charged.
Bark was no different.
After the Second Ares opened, he did not sit idle, hoping Hyeon-su would handle everything.
Absolute Shield Peya.
He had undertaken the Quest to meet him.
[Growing One Bark Lv.475]
Though his level was comparable to the 150 Users present.
In this place, he was merely an unremarkable existence. However, through Peya, he had learned his secret technique.
-What is this?
-Is he really going to face that concentrated power alone?
The world laughed at the absurdity.
Because of his figure charging forward with merely a single shield.
But then, Bark raised his shield high with all his might and cried out.
“Absolute Shield!”
[Borrowing Peya’s power.]
[Absolute Shield manifests.]
[You receive a penalty.]
[Due to the penalty, only 1% of your HP remains after use.]
The moment he drove his shield into the ground with all his strength.
Krrrrrrrrrrrrrack—
The world witnessed a spectacular sight.
His shield expanded, forming an enormous wall like an impenetrable fortress.
[Absolute Shield does not break!]
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom crash—!
An iron fortress created by a single User.
Standing eight meters tall and stretching twelve meters in length, it remained utterly unmoved.
Moreover, this was Bark’s final move for Hyeon-su.
‘Hyeon-su, advance.’
[A portion of the damage received accumulates within the body!]
This operated on a principle similar to Hyeon-su’s Accumulation skill.
The force that struck the shield directly accumulated as Bark’s power.
Damage containing the strength of a full one hundred fifty warriors.
Bark, channeling that force, charged toward the rankers standing behind the wall.
Kali sensed the danger and cut Bark down.
[In Absolute Shield state, one does not perish.]
Yet Bark ignored everything.
A power that negates all attacks for a set duration.
And Kali could soon see where he stood.
He, who had withstood the assault of one hundred fifty warriors alone, now stood within their ranks.
The moment he leaped above them and brought his shield crashing down.
[The concentrated power accumulated in the Absolute Shield for thirty seconds strikes enemies with tremendous force.]
[It fuses with Aegis’s Frost Blossom.]
Crack—crack—crack—crack—crack—
Centered on Bark, every User’s body froze at terrifying speed.
Those Users, frozen by that concentrated force, could not regain their senses.
The same held true for the surviving apex warriors, including Kali.
[You suffer from the abnormal status: Frostbite.]
Trembling violently, his mind growing hazy, Kali barely managed to strike Bark standing before him with the White Tiger’s Palm.
Boom—
“….”
[Enemy commander Bark logs out.]
Bark, transforming into ash, was smiling.
And it reflected in Kali’s eyes.
From this attack, approximately one hundred twenty rankers shattered into ice fragments.
Yet those who had not logged out.
Crack—
Splash—
Splash, splash—splash, splash—
[The Atlas Army has been annihilated.]
[Only Lord Hyeon-su remains alive.]
The sole remaining figure continued shattering those ice statues.
And Kali could see.
“Ugh—ugh…!”
Russia’s Cassandra, enduring through high abnormal status resistance.
“Dantalian’s po….”
Before I could manifest my skill and kill the approaching Hyeon.
Crash—
Hyeon’s Twin Dragon Sword struck it head-on, shattering it like glass.
[Enemy Commander Cassandra has logged out.]
Then there was Frank, France’s apex grappler.
He, whose resistance to status abnormalities was relatively high, broke free from the ice attribute’s grip faster than anyone else and lunged at Hyeon.
But.
[Movement speed has been reduced.]
[Attack speed has been reduced.]
[Damage taken is increased due to the body being frozen.]
Frozen targets always suffer greater damage. They shatter easily and die easily.
Screeeech—
[Enemy Commander Frank has logged out.]
“Ugh….”
Mio, the divine archer standing right beside Kali.
She tried to draw an arrow toward Hyeon-su with her frozen fingertips.
At that moment.
Whoosh—
The Twin Dragon Sword flew in and struck Mio’s body directly.
Crack, crackle—
Fractures spread across her frozen body.
Mio spoke in a bewildered voice.
“This is absurd….”
Crash—
Kali’s eyes trembled.
His frozen body slowly thawed, and his clouded mind was returning.
Kali belatedly understood the reason for all this.
They had set a single goal: to protect Atlas.
We were different.
Driven by individual greed, we entered this battle with the sole obsession of receiving only Hyeon’s Artifact Crafting.
Those with something certain to protect sometimes manifest stronger will and the power of pride.
That’s why we rushed in without seeing any of it.
And.
[Status abnormality has been removed.]
Flash—
Kali regained full consciousness.
Now conscious, Kali could see the speed that had appeared in slow motion returning to its normal pace.
To Kali, this felt like a long stretch of several minutes or more, but it wasn’t.
These were events that occurred in an instant.
Merely 2 to 5 seconds.
Hyeon-su shattered every remaining enemy using Ghost Step and several other powers at his disposal.
And now it became clear.
Whoooooooosh—!
One hundred twenty Users reduced to ash by the tanker Bark’s assault.
Those still clinging to life by Hyeon-su’s hand were also being obliterated into cinders.
Kali tensed.
Tap, tap—
Hyeon-su brushed the dust from his coat with a light gesture and walked toward him.
Before me lay hundreds of mountains too steep to overcome.
Yet I could stand here because of the Hyeon’s Forge Guild members who believed in me and followed, and because of the Atlas Army.
‘It’s impossible.’
‘I can’t do it.’
‘I will lose.’
Amid the mockery of ten thousand voices.
‘He’s insane!’
‘Hyeon’s Forge is absolutely incredible!’
‘Hyeon’s Forge, all the waaaaaay!’
Now I feel myself standing within the roar of cheers.
Summoning every ounce of strength, I slowly point the Twin Dragon Sword toward Kali.
A small man who once stood amid ridicule, mockery, condemnation, and blame.
A single flower scorched and cast down.
The moment its petals became seeds and bloomed in magnificent profusion—the entire world witnesses it.
Before the world, Hyeon-su will cut down Kali and declare:
“Now let’s end this.”
I will become the first king of this land.

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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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