The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 354

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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 354
354.
Gorден watched the vanguard collide with Jin-woo the moment they encountered him, and he cried out.
“Damn it! I told you to bring him respectfully! Hell! Why won’t these lunatics listen? Why!”
Gorден could not contain his anger.
“These bastards, I swear.”
So much for conversation—it was all going to hell.
Gorден quickly checked his equipment again.
“I’ll go.”
He had clearly told them to approach respectfully. He had told them not to fight right away.
But the vanguard had engaged anyway. Only he could stop this now. And yet Prudite stepped forward to block him.
“I will go, Guild Master. Please proceed slowly with the main force!”
Prudite rushed toward the vanguard like a madman.
The Guild Master raised his hand. He had to go himself.
“Don’t worry, Guild Master!”
An executive filled the space left by Prudite.
“The vanguard is one hundred strong. Every single guild member who’s logged in is there. With this much firepower, we absolutely—”
“One hundred or one thousand, fighting is the basest approach! Damn it! This isn’t about who swings the biggest sword.”
He ran his hand through his hair.
The situation had already spiraled. Even if he went now, all he could do was fight.
Same for Prudite.
Then there was only one thing left to consider.
How to win in combat against Jin-woo.
How to win in combat against Jin.
How to win in combat against a god.
“Back when Eternal Sunshine happened—those who didn’t see it don’t know what Jin was like. If you’d witnessed it directly, you’d understand me.”
“Even if the vanguard falls, we still have four hundred in the main force, don’t we?”
“If four hundred engage Jin-woo simultaneously, can’t we bring him down regardless?”
“Jin-woo may be a Necromancer, but we’ve already prepared anti-Necromancer equipment.”
The executives spoke in turn.
A Necromancer was a remarkably powerful class—independent of numbers, able to be called an army unto itself.
That’s why Necromancers had enjoyed great popularity in the early days.
But by now, Necromancer was no longer a preferred profession.
The ceiling was very high, but the limits were just as clear.
“We have plenty of Divine Stones. Divine Power is all prepared, and Citadel is operating at full capacity as we speak.”
Jin-woo’s main strength lay in his Necromancer Subordinates.
These Subordinates wielded Jin-woo’s equipment freely and demonstrated his power.
Conversely, without those Subordinates, Jin-woo was nothing.
……
Gorден was not unaware of this.
“Equipment may be impressive, but it’s only impressive if someone can use it, yes? Jin-woo has two arms and one body. There’s only so much he can employ at once. And on top of that, Jin-woo isn’t a combat class—his movements are clumsy.”
Jin-woo’s combat ability was not particularly remarkable.
“We have plenty of intelligence from JinTube.”
The executive looked at Gorден.
In truth, Gorден already knew all this information.
He’d prepared the anti-Necromancer strategy himself, so he would naturally be aware of it.
“I know.”
Gorден frowned.
“I knew it back during Eternal Sunshine too.”
He’d known it all, and yet he couldn’t stop it.
That’s why he couldn’t help but feel anxious.
“Then let us reassure you. Until now, Guild Master, you’ve led us with strong conviction.”
The executive continued.
“Now it’s our turn to show what we can do. Don’t worry. We’re at the final stage now.”
“Once we take Sakura, we’ll finally be able to soar!”
The executives all wanted to make their mark.
Bringing down Jin-woo here would be a major achievement.
Jin-woo had never suffered a single defeat and had achieved overwhelming results in nearly every quest and engagement.
A man who had never encountered a wall.
Now was the time.
They would become that wall.
“…Go ahead and try.”
“We will become the wall and hold him back.”
So the executives made their preparations.
The vanguard was clashing with Jin-woo now; next, the main force would encircle and pressure him, and it would be over.
Since Prudite had gone with the vanguard, the executives gave sharp looks to one another.
“Main force! The Guild Master has given his orders!”
Shaaaaaaaaack—!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each member clashed their weapons; mages charged their mana.
“Inferno.”
Whoooosh—
“Holy Blessing.”
“Divine Editor.”
Shaaaaaaaaack—
Undead are weak to flame and weak to holy power.
“Holy Flame Blessing!”
Flame Blessing combined with Holy Blessing.
And even further, the fusion of both—Holy Flame Blessing—was invoked.
The main force charged forward, encased in buffs powerful against the Undead.
“Tear them apart!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-boom—!
The mages took flight first, using Flying Magic to establish positions quickly in the air. They would also illuminate the battlefield, share vision, and assist the squad leaders directing their guild members.
Then.
They saw it.
“…What?”
Prudite—the Sub-Guild Master—falling dead.
Not only that, but despite the Divine Territory spreading wide, Jin-woo’s Subordinates were still rampaging, completely annihilating the vanguard.
“Guild Master.”
An executive who’d received the report from the mages in the sky rushed urgently to Gorден.
“…I saw.”
Gorден had seen it too.
Prudite’s death. And the overwhelming way Jin-woo and his Subordinates had cleaned up the vanguard despite the Divine Territory—seemingly unaffected by it at all.
“If this continues, it’s over.”
Now was not the time for complaints.
Clench—!
The damage was already done. They should never have engaged—but they had.
So there was only one thing left to think about.
“Priests! Divine Power buffs! Set up Divine Stones! Prepare to strengthen the Divine Territory! Jin-woo and his Subordinates are a Necromancer and Undead. They aren’t completely immune to Divine Territory—absolutely not! They’re taking heavy damage from it! They only endure it because they’re already so strong. So we strengthen the Divine Territory!”
Gorден gritted his teeth.
If he used an advanced version of Divine Territory, he could certainly hold them back.
There was an opening.
Gulp—
“I will… capture a god.”
Shaaaaaack—!
Gorден raised his hand high. The equipment he carried was called the Extreme Moon Great Sword—the legendary blade of a hero.
The very sword that legendary hero was said to have wielded when cutting down the moon; Lucanfrost, the master craftsperson at the heart of Special Monsters, had kept its edge razor-sharp.
“Everyone, get behind me!”
If he was going to face Jin-woo, he had to be the one to stand forward.
“Don’t rush in recklessly.”
Gorден spoke again.
“When I tell you to advance, you advance. When I tell you to hold, you hold. From now on, you have no will of your own. You follow my commands alone.”
With that, he drove his blade hard into the ground.
“Otherwise, I’ll force you out of the guild. All the vanguard will be disciplined, and that vanguard captain—the one who rushed in first—is already marked for expulsion.”
Gorден’s anger was quiet but absolute.
“Forward.”
Shaaaaaack—
The sound of four hundred main-force members and combat mechanics moving swiftly spread across the field.
Jin-woo and his Subordinates, having spotted the main force, began moving toward them.
They could have fled at that moment.
Yet they moved without hesitation.
They walked forward with complete confidence, as though their path lay only ahead.
Whissshhhhh—
No sound but the wind itself.
Jin-woo, who had destroyed the vanguard, was in front.
As they drew near, the details of their forms became visible.
Spark, spark, spark.
Just as Gorден had said, Jin-woo and his Subordinates were being affected by the Divine Territory.
Holy light burned across their bodies in countless places.
Yet strangely, not a trace of pain crossed their faces.
As if the holy power itself were a blessing, they wrapped it around themselves.
The sight was deeply contradictory and almost absurd.
“Impossible…”
Confronted with this rare and overwhelming spectacle, the main-force guild members faltered.
“Don’t be swayed!”
Gorден shouted.
The Gorден who had shown weakness and anxiety until now was unrecognizable—he was calm, composed.
The Gorден they knew had returned as their Guild Master.
Of course he had. Once he’d decided to fight, there was no reason to remain anxious.
Already having faced his fear, there was no need to fear it further. Now he was simply focused on the man before him—Jin-woo alone.
“Jin-woo. I don’t believe we’ve met in New Gene before.”
At a distance where they could hear each other, Gorден spoke.
“You seem to know me.”
“I’m Gorден. I lead Special Monsters now under this name.”
“Gorден?”
Jin-woo’s memory opened like a drawer. Gorден. Gorден… It came back to him.
“The Guild Master of Laurel Crown Guild. It’s been a while.”
Jin-woo smiled brightly at him.
“You’re doing well in New Gene too.”
Now that Jin-woo recognized him, Gorден offered his most respectful greeting.
“I had intended to receive you with proper courtesy, but circumstances became what they are.”
“Controlling people isn’t easy. I understand.”
Gorден understood.
This was not a man who would stop at a few kind words or the fact that they knew each other.
“Precisely because I know Jin-woo, I will do this properly.”
“Come then.”
Jin-woo said it. As someone who knew him well, he already understood what would happen next.
At Gorден’s gesture, roughly fifty guild members peeled away to the sides. These were the personnel designated to strengthen the Divine Territory.
Three hundred fifty soldiers began rapidly encircling Jin-woo and his Subordinates. Given that Jin-woo, his Subordinates, and the combat mechanics were vastly outnumbered, they were surrounded in an instant.
Then the combat mechanics moved into position.
There were four hundred combat mechanics in total. One hundred had been destroyed with the vanguard, so the burden was lightened slightly, though only just.
Gorден cried out loudly.
“Die as slowly as you possibly can!”
If they were going to die anyway, they had to last as long as possible.
Jin-woo smiled at the words.
“If you can manage it.”
With that, Jin-woo deployed his Subordinates to the front.
“Give it your best.”

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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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