The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 357

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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 357
357.
Crack!
The Runeword inscribed on the Magical Core Screw was darkness.
‘I can’t focus only on mechanization.’
I couldn’t simply create a Magic Core for mechanization alone.
‘This is an upgrade.’
The completed Magic Core would be affixed to my familiar’s body.
So I had to consider the synergy as well.
That’s why I inscribed the darkness Runeword.
-Magic Core completed!
‘To create powerful synergy.’
The screw-shaped Magic Core was finished.
“Made contact!”
The moment I did, the ground beneath Jin-woo’s feet trembled. If they couldn’t get close, they’d have to shift strategy to maximum interference with my work.
“Earth Quake.”
The mages of Special Months cast the earth magic.
Rumble, rumble—
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
The ground where Jin-woo stood collapsed with a deafening roar. Jin-woo was about to fall into the crater. Nearly.
Clang!
He caught the edge of the ground with his hand and held firm. Jin-woo pulled himself up and out smoothly.
“Earth magic!”
“Collapse the ground beneath his feet!”
Gordan, who’d found the method, shouted.
Then the mages precisely cast Earth Quake on the ground where Jin-woo was standing.
Earth Quake, which triggered earthquakes among earth magics, could be modified and used this way.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
But Jin-woo wouldn’t fall for the same technique twice.
“You think I can only work standing still?”
My crafting is flexible.
I don’t need to stand motionless. I can move endlessly.
Crack!
All I needed was to maintain concentration.
Boom!
The ground he’d just been standing on collapsed, but Jin-woo wasn’t there anymore. Earth Quake struck again where he’d been, but he was gone again.
Continuously moving his feet, Jin-woo was crafting while in motion.
Gordan’s body trembled.
How could he be stopped? Despite the casualties and sending guild members forward, despite casting spells, he’d even tried using a guild member skilled in sound techniques to shout and break Jin-woo’s concentration.
“What am I supposed to do?!”
Ding!
-Magic Core created!
In the meantime, all the Magic Cores had been completed.
As many Magical Core Screws as there were familiars had been finished. Now all that remained was affixing these Magical Core Screws to the familiars.
“You held well.”
Jin-woo observed his familiars.
Their movements had become far more refined.
‘Users and monsters are definitely different.’
In terms of difficulty, users were certainly far higher. Every user moved differently, and they all had different classes, different skills, different equipment.
‘Thanks to that, I built them well.’
The familiars, pushed to their limits and beyond, no longer showed any slackness. First and Pur especially, who accumulated experience with each battle, and the other familiars as well—all were growing significantly through brutal combat.
Suddenly, my familiars drew closer.
Shhhhh—
Glug, glug—
Jin-woo quickly pulled out a Potion and drank it down.
-Health restored!
-Mana restored!
Then, most urgently, he drove the Magical Core Screw into First.
Clang!
Just as I’d given them attributes before, this time was no different.
‘I grant a new attribute.’
-Bone Making activated!
Clang. Crack!
First’s skeletal frame began to glow.
As the powerful Magic Core settled into the skeleton, the distinctive vapor of the Magic Core spread through First’s entire body. Enveloped in vapor, First slowly twisted her form.
Each time, the sound of gears turning echoed.
“!”
“What… what’s happening?”
Something Jin-woo had created was transforming the familiars.
“An upgrade…? He’s upgrading them?”
No matter how you looked at it, it was an upgrade.
Right there on the battlefield, Jin-woo was upgrading his familiars.
“Soul Imprint.”
Moreover, Jin-woo performed Soul Forging on the Magic Core. Then he pulled out the extracted soul and imprinted it directly onto First.
Shhhhhhh—!
-Soul imprinted!
The deeply embedded Magical Core Screw settled firmly into First’s skeletal structure.
-Your familiar First’s attribute has changed!
-An additional attribute has been gained!
-Additional attribute acquired: Mechanical
Shhhhh—
Tremendous vapor erupted from her body. Darkness infused that vapor.
Dark Vapor.
-New Skill learned: Dark Vapor Burst.
-Through Dark Vapor, your familiar’s power is temporarily enhanced.
-When Dark Vapor contacts an object and attacks, additional damage is inflicted.
Shhhhh—
Countless notifications.
Jin-woo quickly scrolled through them. He needed to verify the most important thing.
Crackle—
Because of the holy power of Divine Territory, my familiars continued to burn. First’s flames hadn’t gone out either.
But now, at this moment.
“Gone.”
The flames had vanished.
Jin-woo smiled.
His one move had landed perfectly.
“Time for counterattack.”
* * *
First struck the ground hard.
Every guild member of Special Months understood that Jin-woo’s action had changed the situation at this very moment.
“Holy Power has been neutralized.”
Whether they understood the mechanism or not, the damage from Divine Territory seemed to have vanished from First.
Jin-woo was now attempting the same thing on Pur and his other familiars.
Gordan struck the ground hard.
“Block it! Even with your body, you have to block it!”
Clang! Clang-clang!
The Extreme Moon Greatsword swung wildly. But before Gordan stood First, now mechanized.
Crash—!
“!”
The power itself was entirely different. Gordan, who’d fought while holding both First and Pur, had no choice but to stagger back sharply from a single strike from First alone.
Gordan frowned.
“Get out of the way—!”
“O…ver…come…through…pow…er.”
First continued to block Gordan. Other guild members rushed in desperately, but it was futile.
-Your familiar Pur’s attribute has changed!
Following Pur, the other familiars began mechanizing as well.
Whoosh—
Shhhhh—
Dark Vapor, now infused with a pitch-black Aura, began filling the entire battlefield.
“Too late.”
Gordan ground his teeth. He was too late. All of Jin-woo’s familiars had escaped the influence of Divine Territory.
Click.
The Rune Stone Screws Jin-woo had created lodged deeply into every familiar’s skeletal frame.
This was enough. The Runestone was the center of mechanization.
Mixed with mechanical parts alongside the Runestone, that would suffice.
By Jin-woo’s Rune Stone Screws, all familiars had been mechanized.
-Divine Territory’s power weakens.
“Kehehehehehe—! This magnificent being has returned once more!”
Pur laughed madly and took to the air again.
Crash—!
Pur stood before Gordan once more.
Clash—!
The War Hammer and the Sword of Eternal Cycle pressed hard against Gordan. The Extreme Moon Greatsword, which had collided continuously, gave way before the might of the two familiars for the first time, being forced backward.
Gordan gripped the Extreme Moon Greatsword firmly. It wasn’t over yet. There was still one hidden move left.
“Don’t just charge recklessly!”
Just then, Lucanfrost shouted.
Lucanfrost, the master craftsperson of Special Months, had eyes only for Jin-woo on this battlefield.
Actually meeting Jin-woo was a revelation.
The equipment and familiars he’d created, and the Mechanical Engineering mechanics—nothing but admiration came forth.
Particularly, seeing Jin-woo’s equipment overwhelming his own, Lucanfrost felt not anger but reverence.
And the emphasis was on what had just been crafted.
“You’ve adapted so flexibly on this battlefield. This was a battle we should have lost. But that’s changing.”
These were things entirely invisible to current craftspeople.
He believed that was the limit of a craftsperson.
A craftsperson doesn’t know the battlefield.
They know only the stories of the battlefield. A craftsperson who doesn’t understand how equipment is used and how it should be used will inevitably hit a wall.
Jin-woo was breaking through that.
“A craftsperson needs to be on the battlefield too.”
To break through the limits a craftsperson holds, what must be done?
The answer was already clear.
A craftsperson isn’t merely one who strikes materials in a safe Workshop.
They’re a being capable of fighting alongside others.
A being who must assess the situation on the battlefield and devise countermeasures.
“Everyone knew it but couldn’t do it.”
Even when they did, they did it half-heartedly.
“He’s different. Truly different.”
Then this wasn’t the time for mere admiration. First, he had to follow in his footsteps.
Moreover, he himself had to move toward a new path.
Lucanfrost pulled out a Portable Workshop.
Then he rapidly began modifying the equipment of his elite members on the fly.
Just as Jin-woo had done, he strove to be of use in this unstable situation however he could.
Crash—!
“Divine Stones coming in now.”
Lucanfrost’s eyes blazed.
Crash—!
Lucanfrost modified the guild members’ equipment to be able to withstand Jin-woo’s gear.
Shhhhh—!
“Those familiars are still Undead. They simply lack sufficient Holy Power. If we add more of that, we can definitely deal damage!”
Being a craftsperson himself, he could roughly understand what Jin-woo had done to his familiars.
“He neutralized it. I can’t determine the exact method, but he upgraded the familiars to counter Holy Power. However, the Undead attribute itself didn’t change. So we’re fine.”
They could still fight back.
“And now soon……”
Then a massive pillar of light appeared.
Shimmer—
Shimmering—
Gleam—!
Just as that immense pillar of light manifested, the high priest who had been preparing, Citadel, cried out.
“Preparation is complete! Sanctification will begin!”
Divine Realm was about to unfold.
“There will be no Undead in this region anymore.”
Citadel displayed strong confidence.
He had every right to. He’d never once seen Undead resist after this Divine Realm was deployed.
Divine Stones and countless priests.
And Citadel, the center of this Skill, had even sacrificed his own Stats.
That was what was required to unfold Divine Realm.
“Deploying!”
Shimmering—
The moment holy power filled the space.
“Divine Realm.”
“Divine Realm—!”
“Divine Realm—!”
High Priest Citadel and the priests deployed Divine Realm.
Shhhhhhh—
-A sacred divine domain unfolds!
-A domain that immolates all profane beings!
“I declare: wherever the Divine Stone touches, let there be the Blessing of God.”
Radiant light spread outward. It was Holy Power far surpassing Divine Territory.
Done.
Deployed.
Citadel looked at Jin-woo and the familiars with eyes brimming with certainty.
Gordan too ceased combat and straightened his stance. The holy light had even cleared his heart.
This light destroys all Undead. No matter how much stronger Jin-woo’s familiars had become, it doesn’t matter. Even if they were upgraded through equipment, that only stripped away Divine Territory’s power.
This was Divine Realm. The manifestation of a vast Sacred Domain.
“We’ve won. We’ve won……”
Citadel clenched his fist firmly.
Divine Realm was quite difficult to deploy, but once it was, it could burn and purify all beings of dark and Undead nature.
There were no exceptions.
No matter how well Jin-woo had crafted his familiars, they could do nothing in Divine Realm!
Shhhhhhh—
At that hope, Gordan too smiled. His one move had worked perfectly. They’d held on.
At last, they would grasp the god!
Yet Jin-woo and the familiars were unharmed.
To be precise, they were burning slightly, just as they had been under Divine Territory.
Crackle. Crackle, crackle—
First shook the flames off a few times. Of course, because of Divine Realm’s tremendous power, the flames didn’t disappear.
However.
First paid it little mind and grasped the Sword of Eternal Cycle.
“……?”
“?”
“?”

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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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