The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 173

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

Episode 173
173.
Crack.
The atmosphere among the familiars shifted.
Until now, Jin-woo had never issued such a direct command.
Testing equipment.
Or testing a new skill.
But an order to secure certain victory against the enemy—this was the first time.
“At last you’ve given it.”
Pur gripped the club tightly.
This was what the familiars had desired most.
“We… will… prevail.”
First stamped the ground hard.
Phantom Knight. Until now, he had relied solely on the power of his equipment, but now he began to properly wield his own strength.
Pur likewise unleashed the formidable power of a Banshee Lord.
Crash! Crash!
Bang!
First and Pur continued colliding with Boros. This was a battle for victory alone, as Jin-woo had commanded.
Shriek!
In an instant, a dark arrow pierced Boros’s shoulder.
“My master’s subordinates are not just those two. White fox.”
Moltus conjured dark energy and aimed at Boros with each passing moment. Boros shook his shoulder once.
“Howl.”
Then he let out a small cry as if he understood. Bone also waited for the timing. But like before, efficiency improved by moving in the gap left when First and Pur were occupied, so he conserved his strength.
Boros swung his claws and tail fiercely.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Then he created spheres and scattered them. In an instant, those spheres transformed, taking on Boros’s form.
Boros, split into multiple bodies, targeted the familiars all at once.
Shriek!
Bang!
“They’re not fakes!”
As Jin-woo shouted, the familiars swiftly adapted to Boros’s clones.
‘They’re clones that share his power.’
Boros, having split his body, attacked all four familiars simultaneously.
And then.
‘They merge again.’
Merged back into one, striking a single familiar simultaneously.
“Ugh!”
Pur stumbled back hard. Then Boros, split anew, targeted Moltus. Moltus was currently most vulnerable at close range.
Shriek!
“Kiii.”
Boros’s blow struck Moltus precisely. Boros had deliberately controlled his power. To face First, Pur, and Bone simultaneously, he couldn’t use his full strength in every strike.
That was why Moltus could endure.
“The Solar Shadow Robe. Excellent.”
The Solar Shadow Robe given to Moltus fulfilled its role perfectly before being utterly torn apart.
Boros, shocked that it held at all, twisted his body hard at the moment he lost grip on it. First and Pur were already there.
With the time earned by the Solar Shadow Robe, First and Pur struck Boros once more.
Crash!
Boros blocked with his tail curled round, but damage was done.
“Shriek.”
‘There is damage.’
In exchange, the weapon durability of both familiars dropped significantly.
“I won’t be able to use them much longer.”
Jin-woo drew the Dragon Stone Chain Scythe.
“Moltus. Fall back.”
“Yes, master.”
Moltus risked having his whole body shattered. Without armor now, stepping forward would be dangerous.
“Thank you, Boros.”
Feedback continued pouring into Jin-woo’s mind.
Each time Boros moved, Jin-woo’s equipment took damage, and simultaneously that information fed back to him.
“Every move you make is the answer key for me.”
Boros was showing Jin-woo the path forward.
Jin-woo threw the Dragon Stone Chain Scythe.
This scythe was made for use at range and close quarters alike.
But put another way.
Bang!
“It’s a compromise weapon.”
A weapon that could be mediocre at both range and close combat.
Boros lightly swatted the Dragon Stone Chain Scythe away with his tail, and Jin-woo nodded.
“You’re proving it to me.”
Jin-woo recovered the Dragon Stone Chain Scythe. But at that very instant, as it was retrieved, Boros was pulled along with it toward Jin-woo.
Crack!
Yet Boros stopped mid-air.
“Keep trying.”
First and Pur gripped Boros’s shoulders simultaneously. Boros let out a cry and rotated in place.
Whoooosh!
Underworld flames spread out, engulfing First and Pur’s bodies entirely.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
The Skystone Basago Armor worn by First and the strength of a heroic undead suppressed Boros’s power.
But Pur was the problem.
The chill of the Underworld could not withstand Boros’s Underworld flames.
The undead feel no pain.
But losing power was a different matter.
-Familiar Pur’s health is dropping!
-Familiar Pur has been incapacitated!
Combat incapacity. Incapacitated state.
This was the first time Jin-woo had experienced this since contracting with his familiars.
But Pur didn’t simply fall.
Before taking the brunt of Boros’s flames.
-Familiar Pur has learned a new skill!
-Familiar Pur has cast the skill Gildongmu!
Skill: Gildongmu.
At the moment of incapacitation, he transferred all the damage he’d received to Boros intact.
‘A unique skill usable when incapacitated.’
“Magnificent.”
The fallen Pur couldn’t hear it, but Jin-woo offered his praise. It was praise well deserved.
Whoooosh.
Boros shook his entire body. It seemed he was trying to purify himself with tail flames.
But due to the effect of Gildongmu that Pur had implanted, a dark aura continued to ripple across Boros’s body.
“Shriek.”
That dark aura seemed to be dealing continuous damage to Boros.
“I… will… carry… Pur’s… burden… too.”
The Skystone Basago Armor worn by First remained intact.
It could withstand Boros’s flames, but if Boros committed to swinging his claws with intent, even that Skystone Basago Armor would shatter.
‘Since the UR+ tier equipment already broke.’
The UR-tier Skystone Basago Armor would certainly not withstand Boros’s attacks much longer.
“Exhale.”
Jin-woo made a decision.
Weapon, armor, robe.
He had grasped the shortcomings of all the equipment he’d crafted.
“This won’t do.”
Then.
“Summon.”
Jin-woo opened his Summoned Workshop right there.
Boom. Boom.
A furnace, a workbench, and an anvil too.
Jin-woo’s workshop unfurled before the Tyrant-class Monster Boros.
“Shriek?”
Boros looked at Jin-woo in bewilderment.
He summoned a workshop right before him?
He was going to craft right here in front of him?
Boros wasn’t the only one surprised.
“S-Successor?”
“Successor! Surely you don’t mean…!”
Jin-woo neither heard nor saw them.
He concentrated only on the materials atop the workbench.
He had sufficient materials.
The materials he’d received from constructing the Bone King’s skeleton lay upon the workbench.
Bones of [???] Grade.
Jin-woo took up the Ultra-Vibration Carving Blade.
Whoooosh!
He wreathed the Ultra-Vibration Carving Blade in flames from the furnace and immediately cast Bone Crafting.
The moment he brought the carving blade to the material.
Shaaaa.
In that instant, Jin-woo felt silence.
A moment of absolute focus.
Immersion.
Right now, only one thing mattered to Jin-woo.
Crafting improved equipment based on the feedback he’d just received.
Creating equipment that could defeat Boros.
The ground was a bed of thorns, crumbling and trembling, but the path ahead was clear and vivid.
Scrape.
Jin-woo began carving the bone.
So long as he had crafting equipment and materials, anywhere could become his workshop.
“Shrieeeeeek!”
Howwwwl!
Boros’s eyes rolled at the sight.
Crafting right before him? It was humiliation itself.
Boros stamped the ground hard.
“The master… is…”
First moved to block Boros.
Boros was strong.
An opponent far too powerful for him to overcome.
“…concentrating.”
Whether the enemy was mighty, whether he could win or lose—none of that mattered to First.
His role was to ensure nothing interfered with the master’s work.
“Shriek.”
Boros raised both claws.
Whoooosh.
Boros too had come to understand. Just as First and Pur had said at the start—there was no way past those two to reach Jin-woo.
Shaaaa.
Bone, who had drawn near, spread his wings high. Since Pur had fallen, Bone had to fill that space.
Swoosh.
Boros shot forward like a beam of light.
Bone raised both legs to strike such a Boros.
Boom!
But Bone could not match Boros’s speed.
“…!”
Bone was certainly powerful.
Powerful attack and defense. And magic besides.
But all of that meant nothing if you dodged.
Boros passed through Bone and reached First. First was an immovable wall. No matter how he circled, he’d always end up blocking the path before Jin-woo, so right here.
“Shriek.”
He would break through.
Crash crash crash crash crash!
Double Frozen Claw
Boros’s mighty dual claws drove straight into First’s armor. Crash! A fierce blow pierced the Skystone Basago Armor clean through.
Crash! Crash crash!
Boros unleashed a flurry of attacks. The Skystone Basago Armor, which had stood firm against every assault, was shattering under Boros’s full-powered blows.
A violent shock rippled through First as well.
Yet.
Whoooosh.
First, gathering his strength, swung the war Hammer.
Thunder Shattering
Boom!
“Can… still… endure.”
He could endure yet.
He could endure until the master finished his crafting.
Boros threw spheres.
Scattering clones.
And those clones all raised their claws.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Bone blocked those attacks.
“Not this way.”
Bone roared. His attacks wouldn’t land on Boros. So now he had to employ the best strategy available.
Leave attacks to First.
And take Boros’s attacks upon himself.
Crash crash!
Of course, since Boros could tear apart the Skystone Basago Armor, Bone too would suffer considerable damage.
But it was bearable.
“To fell a great being, one must be far greater still.”
Shaaaaaaa.
Bone breathed the Underworld Breath.
“Shriek.”
Boros scattered white vapor.
Blizzard.
Boros’s aura became chill itself, freezing the Underworld Breath solid.
Thanks to that, more time was earned.
Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.
At the sound of crafting drawing near, Boros’s concentration wavered.
“Shriek!”
At last, he was forced to take the risk and attack.
“A grave miscalculation.”
Bone’s forepaw fell upon Boros, who was rushing desperately to strike First.
Bang!
“Shrieeeek!”
Boros took damage but paid no heed, striking at First.
Crash!
-Skystone Basago Armor durability dropping significantly!
-Skystone Basago Armor has shattered.
Armor destroyed. At last First knelt on one knee.
“No, this can’t be.”
“There’s still… still time!”
The two blacksmiths rushed forward urgently.
They had to buy time.
“He’s going to fail…”
“Crafting in such conditions is a massive risk!”
But the two blacksmiths were not combat specialists by trade. Thus they could not keep pace with Boros’s speed.
“!”
Bone lost track of Boros, and finally Boros reached Jin-woo.
“Shrieeeek!”
With Boros at close range, Jin-woo’s hands did not stop moving.
Jin-woo hadn’t always succeeded.
Despite his brilliant talent, crafting was always difficult.
New materials.
New crafting methods.
Jin-woo always wanted to craft better equipment, so he failed often.
Fail and challenge, fail again and continue to challenge.
Yet repeated failure drove people toward despair.
Despite such despair, Jin-woo did not stop.
Even within the cycle of failure.
Even within the cycle of despair, Jin-woo found another possibility.
It is not the end.
There is no end.
If there is will.
“There is a path.”
Scrape! Scrape! Scrape.
-Equipment crafted!
Jin-woo had reached it.
The realm that took someone six months to reach, another a full year.
-SSR Rank equipment crafted!
-Achievement unlocked!
-Level increased!
A burst of rainbow light. The realm he’d reached was one his feet had never touched before.
Jin-woo seized the equipment.
“It’s complete.”
-Phantom Blade crafted!

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