The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 279

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

Chapter 279
2
79
The Spirit Blacksmiths’ pupils dilated sharply at the words that it could be resolved.
“How……exactly?”
Proud though they were, their curiosity overwhelmed them.
They found themselves asking without meaning to, struck by the thought that Jin-woo might know the answer to the problem they’d been wrestling with for days.
Jin-woo opened his mouth slowly. Everyone fixed their eyes on his lips.
“It’s not easy to teach just like that.”
Yet Jin-woo, wearing a slight smirk, had no intention of explaining readily.
“!”
“Is there something you want?”
“We’ll give it to you at once!”
The Spirit Blacksmiths cried out urgently.
They were certain now that Jin-woo knew something.
Yet Jin-woo opened his mouth with deliberate slowness.
“Elementia is on the brink of destruction.”
“On the brink of destruction?”
“……What do you mean……”
The Spirit Blacksmiths couldn’t begin to grasp what was happening in the present situation.
Jin-woo continued.
“The Objet is completely shattered.”
“!”
…….
“The Objet……?”
The Spirit Blacksmiths’ expressions froze in shock.
The Objet was a legendary Artifact created by Spirit Blacksmiths of an even older generation than themselves.
It was the Objet that guarded Elementia and granted its spirits tremendous power.
It had been crafted with the utmost care to serve as Elementia’s shield for all eternity.
To destroy it would require immense power.
“The Objet is such a formidable Artifact that it’s nearly impossible to destroy.”
“Who in the world could have broken it?”
“The demons.”
Jin-woo gestured toward Nordin.
Nordin looked at the Spirit Blacksmiths, and only then did they turn their full attention to him.
“Explain the situation to them.”
* * *
After hearing the full explanation, the Spirit Blacksmiths’ expressions hardened.
However indifferent they’d grown to Elementia, learning it stood on the brink of annihilation made their hearts race.
Yet at the same moment, some of the Spirit Blacksmiths harbored different thoughts.
Their eyes gleamed with a look that said: we’ve already separated from that place, so what does it matter to us?
“……That’s why we came seeking you.”
Nordin felt that gaze but offered no further words.
Jin-woo had said he would handle everything. There was no reason for him to add more and complicate matters.
“……What do you want from us? Nordin.”
Nordin looked at Jin-woo.
Jin-woo regarded each Spirit Blacksmith in turn, one by one.
‘I could make the Colossal Statue alone without any difficulty. But.’
This was a matter of time.
‘Besides, the Spirit Blacksmiths of Skypia have more knowledge about the Colossal Statue.’
Using that knowledge would increase not just the speed but the quality as well.
‘If I only cared about finishing quickly, I’d have dragged Skypia’s Spirit Blacksmiths along by force.’
But Jin-woo wanted to resurrect the Colossal Statue as a true Objet—something greater than before.
‘Even better.’
His goal was to elevate its perfection.
‘The demons will come down soon.’
Once they understood the situation, they would descend to the Western Region to obstruct him.
His Familiars could hold them off well enough, but the abilities of the Greater Demons remained unknown.
‘They might not be able to hold.’
In that case, Jin-woo would have to take control of the situation himself.
And there was one more reason.
‘Your own kin are under attack, and you’re playing around?’
With this level of skill, you’ve separated yourselves as if you’d built some utopia?
‘That won’t do.’
Jin-woo moved closer to the Heart of Iron Blood they were creating.
“I know the method to complete this Heart of Iron Blood.”
Which meant simultaneously.
“I also know how to destroy it right here and now.”
“……!”
His words were true enough.
Piru, the most skilled blacksmith among them, felt sweat beginning to form on his brow.
“We want to help too. But what can we possibly do now?”
At Piru’s words, Jin-woo smiled.
“We’ll remake the Objet.”
“!”
“Remake the Objet?”
“That’s absurd!”
“I heard you know the method.”
“We do know it.”
Piru answered.
“But it’s merely inherited knowledge. None of us has ever actually done it. Especially.”
Piru gestured toward the younger Spirit Blacksmiths.
All the younger blacksmiths bore defiant looks in their eyes.
“The younger ones don’t know it at all.”
“So?”
At Jin-woo’s word, one of the younger Spirit Blacksmiths stepped forward.
“Following along isn’t difficult. No matter how justified our separation from Elementia may be, it’s still our homeland.”
The Spirit Blacksmith didn’t wish to see Elementia disappear either.
If it did, it would ultimately affect Skypia as well.
“But we have no certainty.”
“Certainty?”
“About you, Jin-woo.”
The young Spirit Blacksmith looked at Jin-woo.
The intense flame-aura that radiated from Jin-woo clearly demonstrated just how exceptional a blacksmith he was.
If his words were true, he could very well shatter the Heart of Iron Blood if he wished.
“Can you truly remake it? That Colossal Statue. That Objet?”
“We don’t even have blueprints.”
“The method is passed down by oral tradition, so we do know it……”
The Spirit Blacksmith couldn’t be certain of Jin-woo’s ability.
“If we’re swept away by annihilation and everything ends…… it would be meaningless. Dying without completing the Heart of Iron Blood—that would be a dog’s death, wouldn’t it.”
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
“It’s your homeland!”
“The place where you were born and raised! We’re fellow spirits……!”
The Spirit King could no longer hold back and spoke out.
Shouldn’t they naturally help now that they knew Elementia was on the brink of ruin?
“Didn’t you discriminate against us first! Out of jealousy for our skills!”
“That’s garbage! You were the ones who started treating us like insects! And now you say——!”
The rift ran deep indeed.
It was then that Jin-woo stomped his foot hard.
Crack——.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack——!
As the ground splintered and fractured, everyone’s eyes snapped toward Jin-woo.
Somewhere along the way, he’d drawn the Reaper’s Scythe.
“Quiet.”
At Jin-woo’s voice, every spirit instinctively fell silent.
His words carried such force that all were compelled to listen.
Though they couldn’t help but glance at the scythe now and then.
“What is that……”
“The quality is incredible……”
The Spirit Blacksmiths couldn’t resist—their eyes were captivated by Jin-woo’s Reaper’s Scythe.
“You don’t want to die, is that it?”
You don’t want to die before the Heart of Iron Blood is complete.
So you need proof that Jin-woo can genuinely create the Colossal Statue.
‘It’s not fear.’
They weren’t afraid of the demons.
To be precise, they were afraid of something else.
‘They’re afraid of dying without completing the Heart of Iron Blood.’
Jin-woo understood that feeling. And he smiled widely.
“If I prove it, will you shut up and follow?”
Blacksmiths—that’s why he liked them.
Because there was a straightforward way to make them move.
…….
“……Yes.”
“Then let’s do that.”
Whoosh——.
The Summoning Workshop opened.
“!”
“Did he just summon a workshop?”
“How is this possible……”
The Spirit Blacksmiths’ expressions showed pure shock.
“We only ever imagined it……”
The moment Jin-woo brought out the Summoning Workshop, they admired it, examining it this way and that.
“Such extraordinary craftsmanship……”
“Even the forge……”
“Is that a blast furnace?”
Their amazement only deepened.
A mobile workshop was something they’d always thought about.
But it was too difficult to create, so they’d only ever dreamed of it.
Yet here Jin-woo possessed that very dream made manifest—no wonder they were astonished.
And the tools inside the Summoning Workshop were equally impressive.
“Incredible!”
“This—this flame!”
They gasped in admiration, watching the flames burn quietly in the forge.
“At least three of them……”
“Could these—could these be dragon flames?”
Just as Jin-woo had swiftly identified their workmanship, they too quickly recognized his flames.
Any blacksmith with flames of that caliber would have proven skills beyond question.
Yet the younger Spirit Blacksmiths stood with arms crossed.
They needed to see with their own eyes.
They needed to witness it directly.
Jin-woo was delighted by their defiant gaze.
‘Yes. That’s the mettle they need.’
Such boldness was the very force that carried one higher.
‘I won’t need to hold back.’
He could show them everything here and now.
They wouldn’t break at this level.
“What shall I make for you?”
At his words, the younger Spirit Blacksmiths’ eyes gleamed with life.
“We’d be honored if you’d use this.”
What he offered was a Spirit Stone that glowed a brilliant azure.
Whoosh——.
The aura radiating from the Spirit Stone was formidable.
“!”
“That……”
The older Spirit Blacksmiths’ eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the Spirit Stone the younger one had offered.
Jin-woo examined the Spirit Stone he’d received from them.
-Flow Stone [M Grade]
It was a Spirit Stone of quite good quality infused with water essence.
Whoosh——.
The water essence it emitted was so potent it chilled Jin-woo’s entire body in an instant.
‘They’ve given me something difficult.’
The Spirit Blacksmiths looked at the younger one.
The Flow Stone was notoriously difficult to smelt if you were handling it for the first time.
Among all of Skypia’s Spirit Blacksmiths, not a single one had succeeded in smelting a Flow Stone on their first attempt.
It was a mineral of such high difficulty—and yet they’d given him one of M Grade at that.
M Grade.
The defining characteristic of the Flow Stone was that higher grades meant higher degrees of freedom.
Higher degrees of freedom meant more aspects to control, and if you’d never handled it before, it was nearly certain you’d fail the smelting. Almost inevitably.
If you succeeded on the first try, it would prove your hand’s sensitivity was extraordinarily acute.
Fail to detect every aspect of the Flow Stone on that first touch, and you’d be swept away by its currents.
Everyone focused intently on Jin-woo’s Hammering.
Even the older Spirit Blacksmiths, who’d already mentally accepted his prowess, wore expressions of keen interest.
Whoosh——.
Jin-woo placed the Flow Stone into the furnace and watched the Triple Fire swallow it in an instant.
‘A bit faster.’
Because the Flow Stone possessed water essence, it could extinguish the Triple Fire outright. So he needed to heat it with the bare minimum flame.
Whoosh——.
Jin-woo withdrew the Flow Stone and immediately raised his hammer.
Clang——!
Perfect timing.
And.
Clang——!
Perfect force control.
“……Wow.”
A small murmur of awe.
And everyone held their breath, watching Jin-woo’s Hammering. Each time the hammer fell, the Flow Stone responded.
“To think it could be smelted like that……”
“Surely he’s never used this before……”
This Flow Stone was a mineral specially smelted in Skypia.
So he couldn’t possibly have used it before.
Yet Jin-woo showed no signs of handling it for the first time.
He caressed it with his hands to diagnose, struck with his hammer to verify.
He grasped it, penetrated its nature, pierced through it.
“The Flow Stone……”
Suddenly the water essence contained in the Flow Stone erupted outward.
Rivulets became torrents, torrents became lakes, and then waves surged and churned.
“It’s swallowing him……”
He’d misjudged. That was overconfidence on his part. The power of the Flow Stone was attempting to consume him.
“!”
Clang——!
A single blow of the hammer.
In that one strike, the waves calmed.

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