The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 34

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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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Episode 34
Episode 34.
Clang! Clang!
Ring!
Jin-woo began clashing with the Hellhound, wielding the Blue Granite Claw Sword.
Even as he fought, Hephaestus continued bringing his hammer down.
Clang!
‘This is bad.’
The Hellhound was more formidable than he’d expected. And there was something else he could sense.
‘It’s coated in venom. Not just the breath—other attacks damage the equipment too.’
As Jin-woo withdrew slightly, knights materialized to meet him.
“Are you alright, sir!”
They forced Jin-woo back from his standoff with the Hellhound.
Jin-woo retreated without resistance.
“I’m taking one fang with me.”
A Hellhound fang lay in Jin-woo’s palm.
A vicious growl tore from the beast’s throat.
The Hellhound lunged at Jin-woo with wild ferocity, but the knights marked it with disciplined precision.
“We’ll hold the line, sir!”
“Everyone, retreat!”
If they lost the blacksmiths here, there was no hope of victory in this war.
Losing Hephaestus especially would mean total defeat.
“Protect Hephaestus!”
A bestial roar shattered the air.
Multiple Hellhounds materialized simultaneously.
And they targeted Hephaestus directly.
…
The moment the Demonic Beasts descended.
Four knights appeared before Hephaestus.
Jin-woo’s gaze snapped toward them.
‘These must be them.’
Their armor.
Their swords.
Their shields.
Everything about them was exceptional.
‘Hephaestus’s work.’
These had to be the comrades Hephaestus had mentioned.
Jin-woo glanced back at Hephaestus. Where Hephaestus’s eyes pointed, a beautiful knight stood.
“Marseille!”
“Hephaestus!”
The knights surged forward.
The most radiant of the four knights intercepted the Hellhound’s claws as they raked toward Hephaestus.
Ring!
Golden hair.
Black eyes. A beautiful knight indeed.
‘The one from the diary.’
“What’s happened?”
At Hephaestus’s question, Marseille drove forward powerfully, her blade forcing back the Demonic Beast—the Hellhound.
“There was a Flanking Force. A separate unit aiming for the rear. They kept destroying our equipment, but whenever we showed up with new gear, they figured they had to strike at the rear itself.”
Speaking thus, Marseille surged ahead and swung her blade.
A sharp whistle.
The Hellhound exhaled its Weakening Breath, but with fluid grace she evaded it and cleaved through the beast’s torso.
A wailing shriek.
“Because they’ve also learned it’s no trivial matter to keep destroying our armor!”
Marseille carved a path.
“We need to fall back for now.”
They had to move to safer ground first.
* * *
‘That was excellent equipment.’
Jin-woo recalled the Weakening Breath the Hellhound had unleashed.
‘Equipment like that shouldn’t have broken under such breath.’
The Black Rock Steel Shield, his first S-Rank creation, was exceptionally well-crafted, but it fell short when compared to Hephaestus’s work.
‘My shield held against the Weakening Breath too.’
There was no reason Hephaestus’s equipment couldn’t have done the same.
‘Something’s off.’
Which meant there was something stronger than that Hellhound lurking beneath.
‘Which means something stronger will eventually devour them all.’
“The situation is dire,” Marseille said, running her fingers through her hair.
“We have to return to the Front Line immediately. We can’t afford to retreat any further.”
Hephaestus shook his head at Marseille’s words.
“The equipment is insufficient. What you’re wearing now is all we have left. There are no additional arms. We need to fall back and buy time.”
“Then countless will die. We’d have to abandon the City.”
Marseille shook her head firmly.
“This is our only chance. If we don’t move now, it becomes irreversible. The Front Line will collapse and Demonic Beasts will ravage the City.”
“But——”
“We trust your equipment, Hephaestus.”
“We owe our lives to what you’ve made—countless times!”
The four knights believed in Hephaestus.
“Don’t worry, Hephaestus.”
Marseille looked at him and spoke.
“We trust you.”
Yet Hephaestus’s expression remained troubled.
“Then.”
Hephaestus handed each of the knights equipment suited to them.
“Since I can’t seem to stop you anyway.”
It was more than one or two pieces.
“These contain my very best work.”
…
“How could you have made so much……”
Helms, shields, armor, and swords.
They were Hephaestus’s masterpieces, each reflecting the unique qualities of his comrades.
The knights’ faces brightened considerably.
Marseille even appeared deeply moved.
But Jin-woo’s expression darkened as he watched.
Having read the diary, he understood.
The scene unfolding before him now.
‘Is this the moment?’
The turning point where they all die.
All of those comrades, wearing equipment infused with Hephaestus’s essence, would perish.
‘I can’t just stand here in a daze.’
Jin-woo faced a choice now. But there were multiple options.
‘Should I stop them from leaving?’
Or.
‘Should I follow and save them?’
Jin-woo’s mind raced at full speed. He needed the optimal choice. Hephaestus’s regret could only be undone by keeping them alive.
No, wait.
‘That’s not quite it.’
Neither stopping them nor following to save them was the right answer.
‘I need to dig deeper.’
The solution wasn’t simply saving them.
What had Hephaestus said?
‘He said he’d completed an impeccable defense armor, but he regretted it.’
This perfect armor, created too late—the Ultimate Defense Armor—was made for them, but he couldn’t equip them with it.
So then.
‘I have to equip them with it!’
Hephaestus’s Ultimate Defense Armor.
That’s what needs to be done!
‘If I can prove to Hephaestus, trapped in the bondage of inevitability, that the years to come aren’t meaningless——’
Jin-woo’s thought crystallized into action.
He stepped forward, positioning himself between them.
“Please wait.”
All four knights turned to look at him.
Then they exchanged confused glances toward Hephaestus.
Their eyes asked: who is this man who’s interjected himself?
“Who is he?”
“A new blacksmith.”
Hephaestus himself seemed taken aback by this turn of events.
“A new blacksmith?”
“My name is Jin-woo.”
“I see, Jin-woo. What is it? We were in the middle of an important discussion.”
Marseille spoke with an edge to her voice.
The implication was clear: if you’re interrupting something this crucial, what you have to say better matter.
“I just finished fighting the Hellhound.”
Jin-woo recounted what he’d felt during that clash.
“Of course, you knights have fought many powerful Demonic Beasts and understand far more than I do.”
He was speaking to the knights, but his words were aimed at Hephaestus.
“However, you’re not blacksmiths. What I can perceive and understand may differ from what you do.”
“I sensed something different.”
“The beast was deliberately targeting the equipment itself, aiming to dissolve it. It seems to know that its power can absolutely melt any gear.”
The knights began paying closer attention.
“The equipment you have now will not suffice. You need an Upgrade.”
Jin-woo continued.
“That’s already a known problem,” one of them replied flatly.
“Countless pieces of equipment have already been melted.”
“But lad, this is Hephaestus’s masterpiece.”
“Newbie, confidence in your own ability is admirable, but——”
The knights regarded Jin-woo with evident skepticism.
But Jin-woo wasn’t looking at them.
He was looking at Hephaestus.
“Hephaestus.”
Jin-woo already knew Hephaestus’s regret.
The equipment Hephaestus had just given them wasn’t his finest work.
It was gear he’d managed to complete while rushed for time.
‘Equipment that brings eternal regret.’
And Hephaestus himself knew this best of all.
That’s why he kept insisting on retreat.
“If I’m not mistaken, those appear to be pieces you made under time pressure.”
Jin-woo approached Hephaestus and spoke quietly.
Hephaestus’s eyes widened in shock.
His gaze asked: How did you know?
“The Demonic Beasts are formidable. This won’t be enough. They need to be Upgraded.”
“……But we don’t have time.”
This was Hephaestus’s best effort under the circumstances.
“I can help.”
The moment he spoke.
-Conditions satisfied.
-Recipe viewing unlocked.
The Ultimate Defense recipe he’d received upon reading the diary opened before him.
‘That’s it.’
Jin-woo continued swiftly.
“I’ll help you Upgrade the equipment.”
Jin-woo opened the recipe.
Defense amplified to its absolute peak.
-You’ve learned Hephaestus’s recipe!
-You’ve learned Ultimate Defense!
“If I handle the Upgrades while you revise the pieces, we can minimize the time needed. You refine them and I’ll enhance them.”
Hephaestus looked at Jin-woo.
……
After a moment’s deliberation, Hephaestus turned to regard the four knights.
No—he looked at Marseille.
“I did have reservations.”
But time was short.
Right now he wasn’t just crafting equipment for these four.
“But if you’re going to help.”
If Jin-woo assisted, everything changed.
A small window of time would open, time he could dedicate to his cherished comrades.
“Then let’s do it. No time to waste—we start now.”
“Yes!”
-You’ve corrected Hephaestus’s regret!
-Quest progress: 35%.
To devote to these four comrades the time he’d spent elsewhere.
‘Not being able to give his best to those he cherished most—that was also his regret.’
Hephaestus immediately spoke with the four knights.
Telling them it was time to move.
That they had no time to spare.
He insisted firmly with urgency.
That it would only take a moment.
-You’ve corrected Hephaestus’s regret!
-Quest progress: 40%.
‘That’s what he wanted to say.’
And to push them forward with all his strength.
Having bought them time, Hephaestus rushed toward the Blacksmith’s Forge.
“Let’s go, Jin-woo!”
The upper Forge had been destroyed.
Only a makeshift forge remained.
But this makeshift forge was sufficient.
Flames roared to life.
“Lizard Flame.”
Hephaestus channeled his fire magic.
“Any blacksmith worth their salt should have mastered at least basic flame magic.”
-You’ve learned Lizard Flame!
‘Oh.’
The ancillary benefits from this quest were proving abundant.
“Lizard Flame.”
Flames erupted in response!
As Jin-woo extended his hand, the furnace ignited.
Hephaestus fed materials into the blazing forge.
It was the Red Ore he’d shown earlier.
“I’d planned to use this Red Ore for the Upgrade.”
Hephaestus quickly withdrew the ore.
Then he began additional work on the equipment he’d meant to give them.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Thanks to you. If I’d let them leave like that and they’d gotten hurt, I’d have regretted it deeply.”
Clang!
In an instant, Hephaestus refined and strengthened one piece of equipment, turning to look at Jin-woo.
“So you’ll handle the Upgrades as I revise, yes? That’s how it works.”
“Yes.”
Jin-woo gripped the hammer.
“Impenetrable. Unbreakable. Inviolable.”
Then he brought it down upon the armor.
“The technique of Ultimate Defense.”

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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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