The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 284
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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 284
284.
Screeeeeech—!
Jin-woo’s familiars rushed forward with all their might to meet the Archdemons charging at them with equal ferocity.
“A Necromancer!”
“Does he truly believe those pitiful subordinates can stop us?”
“How confident he is.”
The three Archdemons smiled as they watched the human send forth his familiars.
“He must have experience hunting his own kind before us. There’s no other way he could remain so composed in our presence.”
“But we are different.”
They had absorbed all the power of an entire world—Elementia.
“We can even avenge our foolish brethren.”
“Pathetic Necromancer. Killed by a mere human, no less.”
The Archdemons mocked the Tower bosses who had fallen to this human.
Swooooosh—.
But the moment they drew close, something strange happened. The Archdemons’ hearts began to race in an uncanny rhythm.
“What is this.”
“What’s happening?”
“M-my heart…”
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Their heartbeats were violent and erratic.
And then came a smell.
It was a familiar scent.
The scent of their own kind.
That scent—of their own kind—was coming from this human.
Yet he was surely no demon.
Surely he was human.
“Why do I smell my brethren on him?”
“The ones who should be ruling other Towers—their scent is…”
……
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Then they understood.
What lay behind this heart-pounding dread.
It was an emotion.
“Are we… feeling fear…?”
Grrr—!
The Archdemons bit down hard on their lips.
This trembling was not excitement.
It was pure fear.
Then one of the Archdemons cried out.
He understood exactly where this feeling came from.
“The Ten Thousand Demon Palace!”
The scent of their own kind.
This overwhelming dread.
All of it pointed to a single truth.
The Ten Thousand Demon Palace.
That vast vessel that had once sealed them away. And it was standing before their eyes.
“What?”
“What did you say!?”
“Then that means…”
The master of that box—more demonic than any demon, forged from countless sealed and absorbed demons—
“The Master of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace is… coming!”
It was this human.
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
While Jin-woo’s familiars rushed forward in frenzy, Jin-woo himself approached with leisurely steps.
One step.
Then another.
With each stride, the heartbeat grew louder.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump—.
Thump-thump———!
The Archdemons froze.
Instinct whispered to them.
To flee.
Moving forward now was no different from being swallowed by a wave of evil. It was no different from walking willingly toward death.
“But that was before we absorbed Elementia.”
“We are different now.”
The three demons steeled themselves.
“This is an opportunity, rather.”
“We will destroy the Master of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace and absorb all its power!”
The Ten Thousand Demon Palace contained the power of their brethren.
That power would be the easiest for them to absorb.
“One step further forward.”
“And perhaps even his resurrection!”
Boom—!
They moved toward Jin-woo.
And just as they had briefly hesitated, the familiars arrived.
Speed was the first to reach them.
“By my master’s command, I shall hunt you down.”
Lightning crackled across Speed’s entire body.
“And I shall become my master’s greatest familiar.”
The Archdemon of the Lightning Tower, Rimmon, immediately furrowed his brow.
“That power of yours…!”
Crack-crack—!
Speed clashed with speed.
Rimmon crossed both arms and blocked Speed’s strike.
“Thunder Strike, no less!”
Rimmon was bewildered—how could Speed use his own unique skill?
Speed seemed equally surprised that Rimmon had managed to block the attack.
Since Speed’s creation, every opponent had failed to keep pace with his velocity and struggled to mount any defense.
So this was unprecedented.
An enemy of such formidable power.
Speed summoned lightning once more.
At the same moment, the slightly slower-arriving Ber whirled the Titanium Wild Claw.
Screeeech—!
The killing blow rent clean through Rimmon’s body.
“Grrrr—!”
The ease with which Rimmon had taken the attack momentarily gave the other familiars pause.
“Formidable indeed.”
Rimmon laughed coldly.
Then he spread his hands, scattering lightning.
Crackle-crackle-crackle—!
“But your attacks won’t land.”
Boom—!
With Rimmon’s movement, the Archdemon of the Wind Tower, Bartos, summoned thousands of wind blades.
Screeeech—!
Ber was caught directly by the razor wind and thrown back violently.
“Grrr—!”
“Let’s see then.”
First and Pur suddenly materialized.
“Whether your attacks can connect or not.”
First unleashed a strike, and Pur followed with a ferocious assault of his own.
Their combined attack passed through Rimmon and struck Eliah.
Both familiars sensed through their bodies that Eliah was the strongest of the three Archdemons, so they left the other two to the remaining familiars.
Boom—!
A tremendous shockwave tore through the space around them, and violent distortion rippled outward.
Upon true contact, the Archdemon Eliah regarded the two familiars with interest.
“Impressive power.”
A Necromancer’s familiars were typically mere puppets.
No matter how strong, they were ultimately Undead, and Undead had a ceiling to their strength.
“I expected them to rely on sheer numbers.”
Yet these Undead before her proved far stronger than anticipated.
“It must be the equipment.”
Boom! Boom!
The Archdemons locked in combat with the other familiars also came to recognize their strength and its source.
“Now the pieces fit. A master craftsperson who can remake objects and yet slew high-tier demons—the reason lies here!”
It was possible only because he was simultaneously a craftsperson and a Necromancer.
“Then…”
The Archdemons smiled in unison.
“There’s nothing more to fear.”
Screeeech—!
Provoked further, Jin-woo’s familiars unleashed another barrage of attacks.
But unlike before, the Archdemons deliberately opened their defenses.
They were intentionally showing openings.
Boom—!
This time, First and Pur’s strikes landed cleanly on Eliah.
Slash—!
Normally, such a blow would have left her mortally wounded.
Yet Eliah stood unharmed.
Untouched, she regarded First and Pur with perfect calm.
“I told you.”
Now it was Eliah’s turn.
Swoooosh—.
Earth’s essence gathered in her hands, taking the shape of a massive spiked wedge.
“Absolute Earth Shadow.”
Screeeech—!
First and Pur wielded their weapons in unison.
Boom—!
The remaining familiars facing Rimmon and Bartos also sensed something wrong. Their attacks had clearly landed, yet the Archdemons remained unscathed.
And taking advantage of this, bold counterattacks came in.
“Grrr—!”
Ber shook his forelimbs once.
He had dodged, but sustained wounds nonetheless.
“But my attacks clearly connected.”
“Why is there no damage?”
Moltus and Bone glared at the Archdemons.
At that gaze, the Archdemons began to laugh madly.
“No matter how much you strike, you cannot touch what has already died and rotted away.”
“Keep trying.”
Of course, the Archdemons themselves showed considerable wariness toward the familiars’ equipment.
They too had landed several successful attacks.
Yet the familiars clad in Jin-woo’s gear did not so much as flinch.
Speed in particular, moving with that insane velocity, had not even been touched—an embarrassment for Rimmon, the Archdemon of the Lightning Tower, who prided himself on his speed.
To be unable to match his own power’s velocity—it was humiliation itself.
Then, moving slowly from behind, Jin-woo finally reached close range.
Step.
With each footfall, a thick Necromancer’s aura radiated outward. As Jin-woo’s level and job level rose, so too did the potency of the aura that emanated from him.
“Something feels wrong.”
Jin-woo observed the battle as he walked slowly forward.
‘The damage clearly connected.’
Yet the Archdemons showed no sign of injury.
‘It’s not a matter of weapon power either.’
He knew his own equipment better than anyone.
‘They must have some special ability.’
As Jin-woo drew near, all the Archdemons’ eyes turned toward him. The familiars before them had already ceased to matter.
The power felt with each step and the ever-growing heartbeat sound that intensified as he approached proved it.
“That man is the Master of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace.”
Jin-woo now openly displayed the power granted by the Ten Thousand Demon Palace.
“How many does he have?”
“Heh.”
The Archdemons were astounded at how many brethren lay within Jin-woo’s Ten Thousand Demon Palace.
With such an abundance of their own kind’s power absorbed, it was inevitable that both Jin-woo and his familiars would be formidable.
The Archdemons stomped the ground hard.
In perfect timing, the familiars retreated one step back.
Everyone sensed that the battle was taking a strange turn.
“Hah—! But there is nothing to fear.”
“No matter the Master of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace, it is already too late.”
“Our power stands with Elementia itself.”
The three Archdemons began to laugh wickedly.
Powerful though this Jin-woo might be, the situation had already become irreversible.
“Master of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace!”
“What.”
The Archdemon seemed surprised that Jin-woo had actually answered.
“If you came to save Elementia, you are too late. We offer you a chance.”
“A chance to escape!”
“Elementia’s destruction is our priority. We can overlook you entirely.”
Jin-woo let out a short laugh.
“Then let me offer you a chance too.”
Jin-woo spoke clearly.
“If you want to die comfortably, come here and offer your necks. I’ll put you down cleanly and harvest materials in the bargain.”
……!
The Archdemons fell silent.
Boom—!
They stamped the ground and launched a renewed assault on Jin-woo’s familiars.
!
Faster and more powerful than before, the familiars shifted into a defensive posture.
Boom—!
Though they interspersed counterattacks, the Archdemons’ assaults remained unaffected. They abandoned defense entirely and focused only on offense, and the familiars began to sustain injuries.
“Ugh!”
Bone’s wings were gashed.
Simultaneously, Ber’s hide was punctured, and he too fell wounded.
Crackle—!
Yet even in such a predicament, Speed continued to land blows.
The Thundercloud Dagger thrust relentlessly at both Rimmon and Bartos without discrimination.
At the same time, Moltus wielded the Windcalling Bow, maintaining a barrage of wind attacks.
“They won’t connect.”
……
Yet even Speed and Moltus’s fierce attacks continued to find no purchase, leaving them in dire straits.
“It will never touch us.”
“Kahahaha—!”
The Archdemons maintained their composure.
Though Jin-woo’s familiars had initially managed to evade the Archdemons’ attacks, they were steadily accumulating wounds.
At this rate, defeat was certain.
In that moment, all eyes turned to Jin-woo.
He was the only hope left.
Yet no matter how mighty their master was, surely no answer could emerge from this predicament.
“Speed. Moltus!”
Jin-woo’s voice rang out loudly.
It was filled with absolute certainty.
“I’ve figured it out.”
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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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