The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 253

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

Chapter 253
Episode 253.
Crash—!
The repelled undead piled up like a mountain.
Clang. Clang-clang-clang!
Undead knights swept past the Undead Duke’s side.
The Undead Duke frowned and looked at First and Pur.
First and Pur seemed completely unharmed.
They hadn’t even drawn their weapons.
“What… is… happening?”
He couldn’t understand. In that moment, the Undead Duke’s gaze shifted to First and Pur’s armor.
Despite the undead knights’ attacks clearly connecting, there wasn’t a single scratch on the armor.
“Im… possible.”
The armor.
They were sent flying by attacking that armor?
By the armor’s defensive power and rebound force?
It was absurd.
But in that moment, something flashed through the Undead Duke’s mind.
Certainly there had been enough time to raise weapons against the charging undead knights.
Yet they hadn’t.
They had instead stowed their weapons.
As if they deliberately meant to take the armor’s attacks.
“Weapons… also… intentional.”
Putting away the weapons was deliberate.
It meant a very calculated choice.
Not surrender, but from the start—to show off the armor’s power.
“This… is… impossible. Impossible.”
Faced with this stunning turn of events, the Undead Duke stood bewildered.
Eureka too seemed quite flustered, calling to the Duke again and again. But the Duke could not respond.
It meant that even the battle-hardened Duke found this situation incomprehensible.
“How is this even possible…!”
He’d seen plenty of cases where armor couldn’t be pierced.
But never like this.
“Duke!”
After Eureka shouted several times, the Duke finally responded.
“I shall obey your command.”
This was not the time to stand paralyzed.
The Undead Duke raised his sword again.
Then he ordered an attack.
The undead knights clustered together and unleashed the same barrage of blows.
And.
Crash!
Just as before, they couldn’t penetrate Jin-woo’s two familiars’ defense and were sent flying.
“Huh.”
Eureka looked at Jin-woo.
Like the Duke’s shock, Eureka too was astonished.
Now she understood why Jin-woo seemed so composed.
“Nothing about the intel matches up.”
Nothing from beginning to end matched what was predicted, and none of it resembled what she had imagined.
Jin-woo was an unknown quantity.
There was no way to know how to defeat him.
And yet.
Eureka bared her teeth in a smile.
“He was always strong like this.”
Right. She’d sensed it from the start.
Something about him always felt overwhelming.
“So that’s why.”
Jin-woo’s growth far exceeded all expectations.
All the footage she’d seen yesterday had become ancient history—the gap was that vast.
Then there was no choice but to escalate.
“Duke! Release all your power!”
At the same time, Eureka drew forth a massive skull from her robes.
Snap!
And crushed it immediately.
-Territory Declaration!
-From this moment forward, this territory becomes the domain of the Devastation Necromancer, Eureka!
Eureka declared the territory using the USSR Undead’s Skull as an offering.
-All undead within the territory are strengthened!
-All living beings within the territory have their strength weakened!
“Territory Assistant.”
-The Devastation Necromancer’s assistants within the territory gain additional power!
At the same moment, the strength of the Maidongpung Guild members was enhanced.
Whoosh!
Eureka brought her hands together as if in prayer.
“I don’t need the others. Focus all attacks on those two!”
At Eureka’s command, the undead that had just fallen rose again.
This was the moment the Necromancer’s advantage was maximized.
No matter how many times you kill them, they rise again to attack.
First and Pur exchanged glances, then drew their weapons again.
They trained their weapons on the Undead Duke.
“Looks like you’ll have to come yourself.”
At Pur’s words, the Undead Duke spurred his mount forward.
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
The Skeletal Horse charged madly toward First and Pur.
“I… shall… lead… the charge.”
The Undead Duke gripped his sword tightly.
Then he leaped high, releasing a dark aura.
“Interesting.”
Jin-woo gazed upon Eureka’s undead army in admiration.
‘The numbers are substantial.’
Moreover, the undead knight riding the steed they called Duke appeared to be a formidable Named Monster.
‘Her methods are certainly different.’
Jin-woo created skeletons directly and imbued them with souls to make them familiars.
Meanwhile, typical Necromancers created familiars from the corpses of Named Monsters.
‘The soul-infusion process is similar for both.’
But the quality of the familiars themselves was bound to be inconsistent.
After all, Jin-woo made his directly, while she had to continuously hunt for materials.
‘And Named Monsters aren’t easy to catch.’
Jin-woo carefully observed First and Pur using their M-grade Equipment just moments before.
And he felt considerably disappointed.
‘It’s hard to gauge their full potential with this.’
“They’re too weak.”
Eureka’s familiars were far too weak.
Because of that, they couldn’t draw out the full power of the M-grade Equipment.
Just now was the same.
‘They’re so weak that the armor couldn’t even display its proper defensive capabilities.’
But if that Undead Duke fought them, he could draw out the power of M-grade equipment.
Crash!
The Undead Duke and the two familiars collided directly.
Clang-clang-clang!
When their different death auras clashed, a tremendous shockwave erupted.
It was so violent that even the resurrected undead were knocked back.
“!”
The Undead Duke stared at his severed arm.
Whoosh.
Thanks to the Territory Declaration, it regenerated instantly.
But from that one exchange, he understood clearly.
The gap in power was immense.
“…The… source… of that power…”
It was not merely equipment.
“Our strength dwells in the skeletons our master created for us.”
Pur gripped the Extreme Sword firmly.
And at the same moment, First infused the Destruction Sword with power.
Whoosh.
A blood-red aura and a deep-blue aura swirled outward simultaneously.
“Com… parison… is… impossible… insect.”
Then both blades swung.
“De… struction… strike.”
Slash! Slash-slash!
His chest and lower body split apart. The Undead Duke fell to the ground with a thud.
Whoosh.
Regenerating thanks to the Territory Declaration, the Duke was nevertheless left in a daze.
“…”
Watching the Duke, Eureka clenched her teeth. It was the moment to shout at him to regain his senses, but after witnessing what just happened, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Come at me.”
Jin-woo beckoned.
“That’s why you came, wasn’t it? To kill me?”
“…”
Veins bulged on Eureka’s temples.
At this rate, there was no way to win.
Then there was no choice.
Eureka rose and clasped her hands again.
“Minion Synthesis.”
She squeezed her hands together with immense force.
The fallen familiars began to revive and melt into fleshy masses.
The dazed Undead Duke also turned into a fleshy mass and merged together like clay.
Squelch. Squelch. Squelch-squelch.
The merged mass began to take shape.
“Transformation. Synthesis form.”
It transformed into a towering giant.
It resembled a terrible nightmare given form.
Whoosh!
“Remarkable.”
Jin-woo gazed upon Eureka’s synthesized familiar with genuine appreciation.
‘Just how many souls are trapped in that body?’
Hunting that familiar would grant him hundreds of souls all at once.
“And it’s definitely strong. Much stronger than the Undead Duke. Now this is worthy of a challenge.”
Jin-woo smiled.
“This is my domain.”
Eureka approached Jin-woo, her clasped hands still raised.
This was her ultimate technique—all of her familiars merged into one.
A transformed undead, a fusion of nightmares.
This familiar was so costly to summon that its very appearance was a massive loss.
-Stats decrease.
-Stats permanently decrease!
Permanent stat decrease.
It was Eureka’s trump card—requiring her to sacrifice the stats she had worked so hard to raise.
She had spent countless hours mastering this skill.
“Nightmare!”
The Nightmare moved toward First and Pur at Eureka’s gesture. Ordinarily, this Nightmare paid little heed to even Eureka’s commands.
But recognizing the strength of First and Pur, it moved toward them quite naturally.
Bang.
Crash.
Clang-crash!
The Nightmare tore through the ground as it charged.
The Guild members saw Eureka summoning the Nightmare and felt somewhat reassured.
“Everyone, fall back!”
The Nightmare distinguishes no friend from foe. It attacks anything—ally or enemy alike—so with it summoned, they had to retreat.
“We’ve won. There’s no way to lose against this.”
“So they’re actually summoning the Nightmare.”
The Maidongpung Guild members knew well how powerful the Nightmare was.
That Nightmare was a black hole that devoured everything.
“Getting her stats back up will be rough.”
“But we’re getting paid well for this job.”
The Nightmare and Jin-woo’s two familiars collided.
Boom!
And.
“Uh?”
The Nightmare’s charge was completely halted.
“A splendid familiar.”
Jin-woo smiled.
“Yes, this is manageable.”
He then gestured.
“Equipment check.”
-This is the territory of the Devastation Necromancer, Eureka!
-You are affected by the territory!
“Territory, you say.”
Jin-woo shook his head slowly.
“Whose permission did you get?”
Then he stepped forward. The ground beneath his feet was his own.
No one could simply declare it as their domain.
“Celestial Mandate Declaration.”
Whoosh.
Whoooosh—!
Every inch of ground that had been proclaimed Eureka’s territory flooded with Jin-woo’s pitch-black aura.
Like waves rolling in, every territory was converted to Jin-woo’s Sacred Realm.
-Warning!
-Warning!
“What… what is this?”
“What is happening!”
Even Eureka was momentarily stunned.
-Celestial Mandate is declared!
-Everything centers upon the Lord, becoming his Sacred Realm.
“!”
Boom!
-All living things upon the Sacred Realm fall under the Lord’s dominion!
“!”
In this moment, everything standing upon the ground came under Jin-woo’s rule.

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