The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 156

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

Episode 156
156.
Screeeech—!
The spirits ran like they’d lost their minds.
“Looks like you’re running away, doesn’t it?”
“No, sir! That’s not it at all! It’s just that we need to reach Underworld Steel as quickly as possible—or rather, to show the Underworld Steel to you, our Successor!”
“Right?”
Despite running at full speed, Jin-woo was catching up with them effortlessly.
‘It’s not just the Strength Stat either.’
The power of the Incarnations of Evil sealed within the Ten Thousand Demon Palace was considerable.
‘After capturing Balam, my Stat jumped again.’
Thanks to that, his Agility had also increased substantially.
-Arrived at Fragment 2 City!
Leaving Fragment 1 City and entering Fragment 2 City, Jin-woo arrived at the next fragment city, guided by Rek.
This place had the feel of a small mining town.
“Oh.”
Following the spirits, Jin-woo found ore deposits.
When Rek tapped the jet-black ore, minerals immediately emerged.
-Underworld Steel [SR Grade]
The Underworld Steel was definitely more transparent than ordinary steel.
‘So this is it?’
The equipment these spirits had been carrying—their material was this Underworld Steel.
“It’s definitely transparent.”
Though called steel in name, that was merely appearance. Its true essence was, as expected, spirit.
Jin-woo first struck the spirit with his fist.
Then he spread it out and placed the hammer Agnes on top of it.
Whoooosh—.
The spirit seeped into Agnes’s head like a coating.
‘I’m getting the hang of this.’
After doing it a few times, his technique for handling spirits with his bare hands was becoming refined.
Whoooosh—.
Jin-woo swung Agnes, coated with spirit, freely.
Clang—!
The Underworld Steel didn’t penetrate Agnes.
‘It works.’
The spirits marveled at Jin-woo’s application technique.
“Impressive!”
“We had no idea you could use it in such a way.”
“With this method, you could use your existing equipment as well!”
But Jin-woo had no intention of coating his existing weapons like that.
Clang—!
‘These Underworld materials.’
They were completely different from ordinary materials.
The satisfying, crisp feel in his hands.
‘I’ve never felt a touch like this before.’
Even the most basic-looking Underworld Steel had such a good feel—what must the other materials be like?
‘Right from the start, this is quite good.’
The moment he entered, it was already presenting him with challenging puzzles.
‘I’m liking this more and more.’
Jin-woo then struck the Underworld Steel down again.
‘If things go well, I could remake all my equipment with materials from the Underworld without any issues.’
Jin-woo continued striking the Underworld Steel.
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
The spirits watched Jin-woo’s hammering.
From top to bottom.
Straightforward downward strikes—the hammering was remarkably simple and looked easy.
When he’d made that sword with his bare fist, they were astounded.
“So that was what made it special.”
In contrast, this hammering didn’t feel like such a high level of technique.
Clang—! Clang! Clang—!
When Jin-woo finished a sword in an instant, they became certain.
His Crafting skill was ordinary.
“How is it?”
-You have created equipment!
-You have created SSR Grade equipment!
‘I’m getting used to it.’
Of course, there was still much to master, but he was already beginning to understand how to handle these Underworld materials.
Since his first attempt yielded SSR Grade, this was more than respectable.
“……?”
The spirits were shocked at the equipment Jin-woo had casually created.
“SSR……?”
SSR.
It had definitely been ordinary hammering.
So how did SSR Grade come out?
“How, how could…”
They weren’t blacksmiths. That’s why Jin-woo’s hammering had seemed very ordinary to them.
Hammering perfected to the extreme eventually reached the appearance of simplicity.
In other words, it looked easy.
“And you did it so quickly too…….”
Both the speed and the result were incredible.
Only then did they understand.
What looked like simple hammering wasn’t simple at all—it only appeared simple because it had reached the realm of mastery.
“You were definitely S Grade before…….”
“Was that because you made it by hand?”
Making it by hand had only resulted in a lower Grade than usual.
The spirits’ bodies trembled like aspen leaves.
“Where can we get more of this material? And…….”
Leaving the astonished spirits behind, Jin-woo spoke.
‘They definitely said something earlier.’
He recalled what they had mentioned.
“That blacksmith who turned traitor—do you know where he is?”
He definitely wanted to learn the Underworld’s Crafting method properly.
‘This is getting interesting.’
* * *
Rumble—! Rumble—!
The ground of the Underworld trembled.
“Ever since the new god arrived, the Underworld has become quite unstable.”
“The center of power appears to be shifting.”
Rek, the leader of the spirits, let out a long sigh.
“The center of power is shifting. If this continues, all who believe in the Master of Souls and Abyss will truly vanish.”
Those who believed in the Master of Souls and Abyss like themselves were growing fewer.
If that happened, all of this Underworld would be completely handed over to the new god.
“But it’s alright! Because our Successor has come!”
Kyaaaaaah—!
At that moment, a cry rang out.
“It’s the Eye of Judgment! We must take cover!”
Floating—.
A massive eyeball with tentacles floating through the air was visible.
As expected of an Underworld monster, it was quite transparent.
‘That’s strange?’
But something seemed off.
Flying in the air should be prohibited.
‘That monster isn’t bound by Restrictions either?’
That meant this monster was under the dominion of the new god.
“The Eye of Judgment is said to be a powerful monster. Originally, it was a neutral monster of the Underworld and rarely initiated attacks.”
It was a monster that, as long as it didn’t strike first, would soar through the sky seeing everything.
“After the new god arrived, it became a monster that indiscriminately attacks both blue and green spirits.”
Rek shook his head slowly.
“That eye shoots beams, and if a spirit is hit, it’s annihilated. Even in this Underworld where we arrived after death, it disappears forever.”
At Rek’s explanation, Jin-woo observed the Eye of Judgment carefully.
‘Transparent.’
The eyeball part in particular was quite transparent.
It also had an odd grayish hue, and looking at it made his heart feel at ease.
‘It looks good.’
Ziiing—.
The eyeball moved back and forth as if scanning.
It seemed to detect moving objects and attack accordingly.
“We should flee first! The Eye of Judgment is truly strong…….”
“Head over there.”
“……Pardon?”
“I want that eye.”
These Underworld monsters were creatures to be avoided by the spirits.
Of course, there were cases of hunting them, but only noble spirits could do such a thing.
“It’s truly dangerous! If you’re hit by the light from that eye, your spirit will simply disappear.”
Soul Annihilation.
Already dead and arrived in the Underworld, one could be erased forever.
“You say it’s that dangerous?”
Jin-woo frowned.
“Yes! So let’s pass by. We have a path we must take…….”
“Well then.”
But Jin-woo soon broke into a wide smile.
“If I don’t get hit, it doesn’t matter.”
“…….”
Then Jin-woo headed toward the Eye of Judgment.
At the sudden change of direction, the spirits froze in place.
Right now, Jin-woo had no proper equipment.
Of course, he could coat his existing equipment with spirit, but that was all.
“The Eye of Judgment is…… not an opponent you can defeat with that kind of equipment……!”
The Eye of Judgment was, as far as they knew, without rival in this region.
Of course, as one went deeper into the center of the fragment cities, stronger Underworld monsters appeared, but at least in this area, there was no monster to match the Eye of Judgment.
“Shouldn’t we try to stop him?”
But they didn’t know.
That the equipment Jin-woo was holding was UR+ Grade.
“Since I don’t have proper equipment yet, I thought if I combine the Underworld Steel and your eye to make equipment, I won’t need to coat it with spirit.”
Jin-woo spun the Dragon Stone Chain Sickle.
The Eye of Judgment stared directly at Jin-woo.
Guuuuung—.
And it gathered light.
A blue and violet-tinged beam.
Zzzzzzzt—!
The beam shot from the Eye of Judgment—a straight line aimed precisely at Jin-woo’s chest.
As Rek had said, it was definitely dangerous.
If he were hit by it, his spirit would certainly be annihilated and disappear.
And yet.
Jin-woo moved forward while twisting his body.
Screeeech—!
As he’d declared, if he didn’t get hit, that was all that mattered.
‘My body feels so light.’
Jin-woo actively utilized the power of the Incarnations of Evil sealed in the Ten Thousand Demon Palace.
Screee—.
Boom—!
He freely dodged the continuing beams of light.
More precisely, he confirmed with his eyes where the beams were coming and dodged them by a hair’s breadth.
He could have dodged more safely, but he didn’t.
‘I need to see what role those gem-like things embedded in the eyeball play.’
Jin-woo was already viewing the Eye of Judgment as material.
If so, he needed to understand the material’s characteristics.
How it worked.
How it should be used.
Whoooosh—.
Light gathered in the eyeball once more.
It was different from before.
This time, enormous light began accumulating. As Jin-woo continued to dodge and advance, it seemed to judge that greater power was needed.
Shuuuuuuck—.
Screee—!
“Dangerous……!”
Rek, who had been shouting, suddenly fell silent.
“……Isn’t it?”
Jin-woo had somehow already arrived beside the Eye of Judgment. Until now, he had simply been deliberately advancing little by little.
Jin-woo could have approached near the Eye of Judgment whenever he wished.
“I’ve seen enough.”
The attack pattern.
And how the gems inside this eye functioned—he’d seen it all.
If so, there was nothing more to see.
Screeeech—!
The Eye of Judgment was getting beaten one-sidedly.
“Our Successor wouldn’t…… think of us as material too, would they?”
“Of course not. Look at that figure. So reassuring!”
Rek said this while looking at his own arm.
“……If it came down to it, I could tear off one of my arms. I could restore it by absorbing another spirit.”
The Eye of Judgment tried desperately to break free from Jin-woo, but it was futile.
Even when it increased the distance, it couldn’t escape the range of the Dragon Stone Chain Sickle.
Screee—!
The Dragon Stone Chain Sickle pierced precisely through its center.
-You have hunted the Eye of Judgment!
-Your Level has increased!
Thud—. Thud-thud—.
“So easily…….”
‘It definitely doesn’t match.’
But as Jin-woo hunted the Eye of Judgment, he realized that the equipment he’d made on the surface was far less effective than he’d thought.
“Let me check something first.”
The hunted Eye of Judgment dropped several byproducts.
“I was quite curious what this was.”
Jin-woo confirmed the gem at the center of the Eye of Judgment—the one that had been shooting the beam.
“This is completely…….”
Jin-woo’s lips curled into a wide smile.

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