The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 359

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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 359
359.
Special Months, retreating with all their strength, passed through District B into District A and fell back to Sacra, their stronghold’s castle.
“Gasp. Gasp.”
Gordan was breathing heavily.
Physically, he had enough energy.
It was his mind that was exhausted. From the vanguard to the vice-guild leader, the officers, and even the combat mechanics—all had been expended.
Not only that, but even the Divine Stone for the great Necromancer and various high-tier consumables from their equipment had vanished.
“The Divine Realm isn’t working.”
It was absurd.
No matter how exceptional Jin-woo is, this shouldn’t be happening.
“It’s supposed to work equally against all Necromancers and Undead-type monsters.”
Holiness erases darkness.
It’s a power that illuminates and destroys.
“He’s not just ordinary Undead?”
That couldn’t be right.
Hadn’t it all been revealed through the videos already?
“Or is it that equipment Jin-woo made…….”
This possibility was more suspicious. Something Jin-woo had created.
That screw-like thing—no matter how many times he examined it, it had to be a Magic Core.
“He learned how to make Magic Cores from Baxter. It must be a special type of Magic Core, not the conventional method.”
That was undoubtedly what had given it resistance to holy power.
Gordan wiped his face with both hands.
“Then…….”
Now that the holy power was rendered useless, there was effectively no means of retaliation.
Right now, Special Months had nothing that could stop Jin-woo.
This wasn’t a strategic retreat.
It was simply flight, nothing more.
He’d told himself it was strategic, but now that they’d actually fled, the distinction felt hollow.
That thought oppressed Gordan’s mind.
They’d run.
Now what?
Gordan pressed his temples hard with his index fingers.
The guild members who had followed him saw Gordan in this state. They were thoroughly exhausted—elite soldiers who had weathered countless difficult dungeon raids, wars in Neutral Territory, and other major engagements.
Yet even they had never experienced a fight like this.
The most shocking part was that their enemy was Jin-woo alone.
Just one person.
That single person had routed Special Months.
They hadn’t been careless. They hadn’t held back either.
They’d met him with their full strength and were defeated by his full strength.
Gordan took a deep breath and looked at the guild members.
“Check on the resurrection penalties for fallen guild members. Jin-woo won’t rest—he’s coming. We still have the castle. We’ll hold him at the castle. You’ll see once we’re there.”
“Yes, understood!”
Since both the vice-guild leader and the officers had fallen, squad leaders received Gordan’s orders directly.
“Prepare defenses. He’s coming for the castle.”
Since war had been declared, they could continue fighting within Sacra as much as they needed.
If the castle fell, everything would be finished. Everything they’d built up would be gone.
“Hamus. I need Hamus’s power.”
He needed the power of Hamus, a council member.
“He has hidden strength.”
There was no way he could be so utterly silent, almost hiding, unless he did.
Gordan didn’t know what he was doing, but if he was preparing some stratagem to use against them and Sacra, now was the time to pull him in and use it.
Otherwise, everything was finished.
“If there’s no Sacra to compete over, what use is any of this?”
Before fighting each other within, they had to fight together against the strongest external enemy.
“Hamus! Council Member Hamus!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gordan pounded on the door urgently.
“This is no time for this!”
But there was no answer. Finally, Gordan couldn’t hold back and began smashing down the door.
Crash!
“Council Member Hamus!”
Gordan’s eyes widened as he entered. Something was there.
And.
“!”
Something was beginning to unfold in a strange way.
* * *
At the command, the Special Months guild members, along with their guild leader Gordan, began their flight.
Speed and Beom immediately prepared to give chase, but Jin-woo gestured them to stop.
‘We’re not exactly in pristine condition ourselves.’
Jin-woo deliberately did not pursue the fleeing Special Months members.
‘They have nowhere else to go anyway.’
There was no need to chase them down with such urgency now.
“I didn’t think we could win this…….”
Baxter was dumbfounded.
Mate and Tabuk felt the same way.
This had been an unwinnable battle.
Five hundred elite troops, five hundred combat mechanics.
Facing an army of a thousand total, victory had seemed impossible.
Jin-woo is strong.
The Mechanical Engineering equipment Jin-woo created and the Mechanical Engineering mechanics are strong, but the disparity in scale was too great.
Even Baxter and Tabuk, who had said they might be able to win upon seeing Jin-woo’s equipment, fell silent before this vast army.
Especially those who had withdrawn from battle after fighting the vanguard and merely watched—they held their breath at the sight of the elite forces.
These were not troops that could be discussed in mere numbers.
Each individual’s power far exceeded expectations.
For Mate, who had resisted for quite some time, it was Alliema who proved Special Months’s strength.
Of course, he’d assumed there would be many elite units of Alliema’s caliber.
But that wasn’t the case.
Special Months’s main force consisted entirely of those far stronger than Alliema.
The question ‘Can we win?’ simply vanished.
A new thought took its place.
Can we fight? Can we hold on?
But that too was foolish thinking.
“I’ve never had an experience like this……!”
This was their first large-scale battle, but this impossible victory was also a first.
The clash with the vanguard, and then the battle with the main force—a miracle wrought by Jin-woo.
Because of it, they were in a state of exhilaration.
“Perhaps I was born to be a warrior?”
“Calm yourself. It’s thanks to Jin-woo’s equipment.”
“……Ah. I apologize.”
One of the Mechanical Engineers slapped their own cheeks several times, trying to regain composure.
“You’ve all worked hard. This was a worthy victory!”
It truly was a worthy victory.
“Let’s move. It’s not over yet.”
But nothing was finished yet.
They’d won the battle, but the Quest hadn’t advanced at all. Reclaiming Sacra was the Quest, and to do that, they had to plant a flag on the castle.
‘This is the surest opportunity.’
Having retaken District B, Jin-woo immediately had them raid the material warehouse.
‘They were impressive.’
Special Months’s depth of strength was beyond imagination.
‘If not for Mechanization, we would have lost.’
He could say with certainty: without it, they would have lost. Between the Necromancer’s inherent limitations and Gordan, the guild leader, who had known about Jin-woo since Eternal Sunshine days, this had been a losing battle.
‘Looks like at first he tried to talk it out.’
Controlling people isn’t easy.
‘Thanks to that, I was able to experiment with things I’d only been thinking about.’
He could impart new power to his familiars.
Mechanization.
With that power, they’d gained resistance against holy power.
Of course, since they weren’t fully Mechanized and still retained Undead attributes, there was some weakening, but they took no actual damage.
‘I used quite a lot of materials.’
As Jin-woo Mechanized his familiars, he’d expended quite a significant amount of materials.
That’s why he intended to resupply through the material warehouse.
‘It helped a great deal.’
He’d gained considerable knowledge from the battle with Special Months.
‘An unusual experience, this Mechanization.’
From that experience, Jin-woo wanted to try making new mechanics.
Following Jin-woo’s orders, Mate and the Mechanical Engineers quickly began emptying the material warehouse.
“First. Don’t worry.”
Jin-woo spoke to First. Currently, First was without a weapon, having broken the Eternal Cycle Sword.
“I’ll remake your equipment for you.”
Jin-woo had been quite stimulated by observing Special Months’s guild members and their blacksmith there.
‘Since Mechanization is now a factor.’
He intended to craft Mechanical Engineering equipment suited to it.
‘I’ll put that aside for now, though.’
For now, it was time to move swiftly toward District A and the castle.
“I’m counting on you.”
Following his plan, Jin-woo left Mate and the Mechanical Engineers in District B and departed.
Baxter and Mate, along with the Mechanical Engineers, moved swiftly.
There were still quite a few residents remaining in District B.
“Aren’t you Mate?”
“Mate…… Please forgive us. We had no choice.”
“I understand. I understand completely. Don’t worry now. Baxter has come. He’s headed toward District A.”
In particular, the Mechanical Engineers from the Workshop apologized, saying they’d had no choice but to follow the prevailing tide, overwhelmed by power and force.
Mate understood that.
“Let’s go there next.”
District B had been like hell for Mate.
“There must be surviving comrades.”
It was because the Underground Prison was located right here in District B.
Comrades who had been dragged away during resistance activities would be held in this Underground Prison.
They might be dead, but there could be living Mechanical Engineers among them.
* * *
Sacra Underground Prison.
The Mechanical Engineers bound there had given up on everything.
“It’s all over.”
“Hamus. Who knew that bastard was hiding his claws.”
“What became of Baxter? We shouldn’t have driven him out.”
“If he were still here…….”
“We’re the ones who chased him away—we’ve nothing to say.”
They were those who had collectively pushed through Hamus’s Ether Core Theory.
Now that the hunt was over, the council members who’d played the role of hunting dogs had all ended up in the Underground Prison.
“I’m worried about my family…….”
Beyond his own life, he was worried about the family and relatives he’d left behind in Sacra.
The last time he’d seen Council Member Hamus, his eyes had been nothing short of demonic.
“How could such a gentle person…….”
“He looked as though possessed by a demon.”
Boom! Boom!
Then the Underground Prison’s ceiling shook.
“……What is this?”
This Underground Prison was located at the very depths of Sacra.
Because of that, whatever happened on the surface normally couldn’t be felt here.
Yet the ceiling continued to shake.
“Vibrations shouldn’t reach here.”
“……Has war broken out?”
“There shouldn’t be many resistance fighters left anymore…….”
Then sounds of commotion came from outside.
Pitter-patter-patter.
Squeak-squeak!
At first, it was the sound of rats.
The sound of rats fleeing in panicked haste.
And then.
“Screech!”
A cry of pain rang out.
What in the world was happening?
Just then, someone descended the stairs.
“!”
“……Surely not.”
In that instant, they froze in terror.
Had someone come to kill them?
But the mechanic bearing the Magic Core smashed through the bars, and then shattered the Mechanist Shackles that bound them.
“Mate!”
“Mate!”
It was Mate—their comrade and leader.
At the sight of that beloved face, tears welled up in the eyes of those imprisoned in the Underground Prison.
“You’re alive. You really are alive.”
“How. How did you get here!”
“Baxter has returned! And everything is changing!”
“Baxter……!”
“Has returned!”
They wanted to right the mistake they’d made against Baxter.
“We apologize, Baxter.”
“Please give us another chance!”
“Mate. Tell us what’s happening. What exactly is going on? What did Baxter bring back that…….”
Had light of hope descended into a situation of complete hopelessness?
Mate fell silent at the question.
Where to even begin explaining.
“……You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”
Now Mate finally understood what Baxter had meant.

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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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