The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 172

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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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Chapter 172
172.
Screeeeeech—!
First and Pur’s assault exploded forward.
Thunder Shattering
Wrath Mace
The skills of two powerful weapons crashed down upon Boros.
Speed. And a noise that seemed to tear the surroundings apart—the two smiths of the Underworld watched in blank astonishment.
It was over.
No matter how strong Boros was, there was no way he could survive a direct hit from an attack like that.
But Boros did not flee.
Instead, he lashed out with his claws to meet the devastating strike head-on.
Booooom—!
Boros and his two subordinates’ power collided.
Crack—crackcrackcrack—!
The violent shockwave of force startled Boros and the two subordinates alike.
Boros was amazed by the subordinates resisting his strength, and the two subordinates were equally astonished by Boros’s power, which drove them back and scored deep gashes in their equipment.
‘We tried using both at once before, once.’
The two subordinates were deploying their skills far more skillfully than they had back then.
‘Restrain and unleash.’
Boom—!
Yet even so, they held the balance with Boros.
“Strong indeed.”
From the recent collision alone, he could feel just how mighty a Tyrant-rank monster truly was.
“Well beyond UR+ Rank.”
It existed on a far higher tier than the UR+ Rank Jin-woo had achieved.
If Jin-woo’s equipment had felt similar to standard UR+ Rank gear, the collision with Boros just now would have done severe damage.
The two subordinates withdrew again, then simultaneously wielded their weapons. Boros, too, had learned something from the recent clash—he began to radiate an intense power throughout his entire body.
Screeeeeech—!
A pure white frost aura emanated from Boros’s claws.
Boom—!
Crackcrackcrackcrackcrack—!
From the impact of this collision, the ground shattered, and the shockwave sent the two smiths of the Underworld flying backward onto their backsides.
If not for the new body bestowed upon them by Jin-woo, a fragment of their soul would have been annihilated in this clash.
“Good heavens…”
The power possessed by a Tyrant-rank monster was extraordinary.
“If things go like this… I can’t exactly guarantee…”
There was no guarantee to be made in this situation.
Crack.
A fissure opened in the tip of the War Hammer where Boros’s claws struck it.
-Subordinate First has sustained severe damage from Extreme Frost Claw!
Moreover, powerful damage registered directly against First.
‘I blocked it with the hammer.’
Jin-woo clicked his tongue.
“!”
As First withdrew the hammer and retreated, the two smiths reacted keenly to the state of the equipment.
“Successor…!”
The situation was grave. Boros’s strength far exceeded expectations. Once a crack appeared, the War Hammer wouldn’t last long.
If that powerful weapon broke, it would ultimately mean Jin-woo’s defeat. Of course, he still had three more subordinates.
But wasn’t this blue-flame-wielding subordinate Jin-woo’s strongest one?
Ice Elz looked toward Jin-woo.
“…”
Perhaps they would lose after all.
Yet Jin-woo showed no emotion whatsoever.
Bang—! Bang!
While First and Pur battled Boros fiercely, Moltus and Bone concentrated on finding an opening to join the fray. In a one-versus-many fight, numbers clearly held an advantage, but a single careless move could mean striking an ally.
Beyond that, they could even interfere with an ally’s attack, so caution was essential.
Suddenly Pur was driven back hard. The sharp point of the Mace shattered as he continued to endure Boros’s relentless blows.
“Roooaaah—.”
Boros roared.
Bone did not miss that moment.
Moltus unleashed Dark Energy to clear a path for Bone.
“Behold the might of a great being.”
Bone charged forward with his immense frame, crashing directly into the Tyrant-rank monster Boros.
Kaboom—!
First naturally fell back to conserve his strength.
When Bone’s massive body collided directly with Boros, the Tyrant-rank beast was pushed back slightly.
Bone, following through on the momentum, lashed his tail at Boros.
Screeeech—!
Boros tore into the full-power Tail Blade strike, his jaws snapping down hard.
Crack—!
The Tail Blade shattered from the impact. It wasn’t completely destroyed, but unable to withstand Boros’s teeth, a massive fissure appeared along its length.
“!”
Bone recoiled in shock.
Jin-woo’s equipment was of the highest caliber.
The fact that it had been broken meant the Boros before him was a monster of even greater power.
A monster possessing greatness, just as he did.
“So you too carry greatness within yourself.”
This time Bone raised a powerful foreleg.
“So do I.”
Jin-woo had created more than just equipment.
“Let’s see if you can withstand even this magnificent form!”
Screeeeeech—!
Boros easily evaded Bone’s powerful strike. The blow was weighty, but the speed was slow, so evasion was simple.
Deeming it unnecessary to even block, Boros withdrew and fanned out his tails.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Frost Flame ignited from Boros’s eight tails.
Similar to the Underworld Flame that First possessed, but infused with even greater power.
“Ahhh…”
In that instant, Ice Elz and Skull King were drawn forward by the flames, as if moths hypnotized by fire.
Slap—!
But they were not ordinary souls of the Underworld. Possessing bodies created by Jin-woo, a fierce resistance instantly restored their minds.
The moment they regained awareness, both slapped their own cheeks and broke free from the trance.
“A power that mesmerizes all beings of the Underworld…!”
They had nearly been obliterated without recourse.
But Jin-woo’s subordinates remained unharmed. Though both were undead, their master was different from Boros’s.
Since Jin-woo was intact, his subordinates were intact as well.
“Thank you.”
Pur, who had retreated briefly due to the shattered Mace, stepped forward once more. Had it not been for Bone, that gap would have been an opening—Boros’s blade might have reached Jin-woo himself.
First and Pur adjusted their equipment once more.
Then they charged forward again.
Boros, with his flame tails now unleashed, saw them coming and applied a subtle surge of power.
“!”
“!”
Speed.
Destructive force.
It was incomparable to the first clash. First and Pur were driven back hard. Seeing the two subordinates pushed back, Boros twisted his body toward First.
Then he stomped the ground with tremendous force and lashed out with his claws.
As one Frost Flame extinguished from his tails, another was transferred in full to his claws.
Shhhhaaaack—.
Whoosh.
-Subordinate First has sustained severe damage from Frizzard Claw!
At the same moment, the War Hammer—already cracked—began to creak ominously. He had barely defended, but the accumulated damage bore down entirely upon First.
As First retreated, one knee trembled. Normally he would have dropped to the ground, but he held firm.
Seeing First in that state, Boros seemed pleased with his choice of target and flicked his tails. The eight tails ignited with flames once more.
“!”
Pur was shaken at the sight.
Since becoming Jin-woo’s subordinate, First had always held the position of supreme powerhouse.
Though they were called Jin-woo’s one-two punch, First had always stood before Pur.
Seeing First pushed back by Boros, Pur felt a surge of quiet fury.
“This is not the place.”
Pur gripped the Mace with tremendous force.
“And you are not the one I lose to.”
If First was to be defeated, it would not be by anyone else—it would be by Pur’s own hand.
Boros moved to lash his tail at First once more.
Screeeech—!
In that instant, Pur charged forward with all his strength.
Boom—!
Boros’s tail was weighty. But it was bearable. The gap left by First’s retreat was one Pur could easily fill.
“I can endure as long as needed!”
Pur cried out.
“So rest well, and return when you’re ready. Senior!”
At those words, First slowly rose to his feet.
Crack—! Boom—! Boom—!
Against Boros, Pur swung the Mace like a madman.
Despite his words, holding Boros alone was difficult.
And then.
Jin-woo, who had been watching from the sidelines, moved.
“Pur. I’m behind you.”
Jin-woo stepped forward.
Ice Elz and Skull King looked at him with concern.
They assumed that Jin-woo must be concentrating intently on the rapidly worsening situation.
But.
Even as the crisis deepened, Jin-woo was smiling.
‘This is the first time.’
Since acquiring the Necromaster class.
There had been difficulties before, but never once had he been pushed back this way.
‘The durability of the UR+ Rank War Hammer is plummeting rapidly.’
A significant fissure had formed.
The Mace entrusted to Pur was in much the same state—its head was greatly shaken by Boros’s tail strike.
‘Bone’s Tail Blade is broken.’
This was the moment when Jin-woo’s equipment, which had established itself as a source of fear against enemies, ceased to function.
One might have expected despair, but Jin-woo had no reason to despair in the first place.
“At last I can properly identify my limits.”
The Eternal Sunshine had held many truly powerful individuals.
Because of that, no shortage of players had returned with their equipment destroyed.
Each time, Jin-woo had laughed.
The fact that his equipment broke meant his equipment had room to climb higher.
“This hammer and mace, focused on raw power—they cracked because they lacked flexibility.”
He had tried to add it, but flexibility was indeed insufficient.
“I’ll compensate with greater adaptability.”
As for the Tail Blade breaking, it was because it didn’t match Bone’s immense frame proportionally. Jin-woo could see it clearly with his own eyes.
‘This is a rare opportunity.’
Equipment breaking was ultimately an opportunity to grow stronger.
So there was no need to despair.
‘Pride wounded or shocked feelings? I’ve long since moved past such things.’
He had already experienced it all during his time with Eternal Sunshine.
Boom—!
Jin-woo stomped the ground hard.
Sacred Proclamation rippled outward with intensified strength.
The frost domain Boros had created and the sacred realm Jin-woo manifested collided head-on. The clash was brief.
“When it comes to Space Domination, I hold the advantage.”
He had experienced countless such domain clashes already.
Crack. Crackcrackcrack—!
“Show me more.”
Jin-woo gestured to Boros.
“Show me more of your strength.”
Boros looked at Jin-woo.
An odd force emanated from the sorcerer who had been standing quietly behind his subordinates. Boros’s senses turned toward Jin-woo.
And in that instant.
“Kiieeek!”
An indescribable sensation engulfed Boros. That sensation made him move by pure instinct.
The enemy to be eliminated as priority one.
Whoosh—!
With tremendous speed, Boros shot forward like a projectile toward Jin-woo.
“Successor!”
Boom—!
But Boros’s claws did not reach Jin-woo.
“You cannot.”
“If you want to reach our master, you’ll have to get through us first.”
Shhhhaaaack—.
And at that moment.
Sacred Proclamation spread forth.
Whoosh—!
And Jin-woo reached out, grasping at Boros directly.
Crackle—!
Boros, who had withstood attacks from both First and Pur, felt instinctively that meeting those hands was something he must not do.
As Boros fully retreated, Jin-woo smiled.
“Fine instincts.”
Shhhhaaaaaaack—!
First, restored by the Sacred Proclamation, returned to the vanguard.
The War Hammer, forged from Thunderstone, had cracked—but it did not matter.
Boom. Booom—!
The War Hammer roared with power, as if responding to his will.
“At last we’ve met a proper opponent. Haven’t we?”
Jin-woo looked at his subordinates.
“This was boring until now.”
So now.
“Let weapons break. Let the body sustain wounds.”
Jin-woo called out.
“Fight to win.”
The eyes of his subordinates changed.

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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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