The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 36

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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 36
36.
“I can’t leave! I’ve tried so many times!”
At the mouth of the Cave.
There was a transparent wall.
This transparent wall seemed to push Hephaestus back. Jin-woo could come and go freely, but Hephaestus, who had manifested this world, had no way out.
Crash!
Jin-woo brought the hammer down against the wall.
A powerful shockwave rippled outward. But the transparent wall remained intact.
“Hmm.”
Jin-woo examined the transparent wall carefully.
It was transparent, but it definitely had substance.
‘A true craftsman…’
…merely making something is only half the work.
‘If you know how to make, you must know how to unmake.’
Assembly and disassembly.
Only when both are possible is one a true craftsman.
Crash!
Jin-woo struck the same spot again.
And he focused on the rippling shockwave.
“Ha!”
And he found a weak point.
Crack! Crack!
Crash!
As Jin-woo swung the hammer like a madman, Hephaestus writhed.
“If brute force were enough to shatter it, I would have…”
It was something he had already tried himself.
Falling into despair, weeping bitterly.
He had swung the hammer while screaming. But it did not break.
“Your heart is appreciated, my friend. But this is futile—wait?”
Hephaestus looked at the wall in alarm.
The transparent wall was cracking.
Splinter. Splinter.
Fissures spread as cracks deepened.
“The wall…”
Crash! Crash!
Jin-woo continued to strike with the hammer, heedless.
The Dark-colored Craftsman’s Hammer glowed.
Crash!
“It’s collapsing…”
And the wall collapsed.
Jin-woo hoisted Hephaestus onto his back.
“Let’s go, Hephaestus.”
Bang!
Jin-woo stamped hard and moved forward.
“To settle regrets.”
* * *
Shriek!
“Roaaarrr!”
Hellhounds, Cockatrices, giant centipedes.
Countless Monster Beasts surged forward in frenzy. Their destination was a Medium-sized City nearby.
“Destroy it.”
“We shall make that city our stronghold, our foundation for victory in this war.”
“Devour them all!”
“Unleash your breath!”
At the Demon Tribe’s command, the Monster Beasts charged toward the desperate walls.
“Hold the line! We must hold!”
“The evacuation isn’t complete yet! We have to buy time!”
An evacuation order had already been issued to the city.
But many had not yet evacuated.
They had to buy time.
“The knights…”
“They’ll come soon. Just hold on until then.”
They might not come at all.
But that was left unspoken.
The City Guard Captain and soldiers stood before the enormous Monster Beasts.
“They’re here.”
The City Guard and soldiers raised their shields. But against those colossal beasts, the shields seemed impossibly small.
Moreover, against Corrosive Breath, such shields were worthless.
But they could not retreat.
“Hold firm!”
The Monster Beasts rushed forward.
And from those gaping maws poured Corrosive Breath.
Hiss!
As expected, the shields melted away with shocking ease.
“Draw your weapons!”
Seeing the feeble humans gripping their weapons, the Hellhound swung its enormous foreleg.
Slash!
Sharp claws raked across the soldiers.
Beside them, the Cockatrice unleashed Petrification Magic. The City Guard stood frozen in place.
“No, this can’t…”
“We have to… flee…”
The terrified soldiers had completely lost their will to fight.
“Damn it…”
The City Guard Captain, badly wounded by the Hellhound’s attack, clicked his tongue. Not even a minute held?
His family remained in the city.
Comrades he had laughed and joked with were still down there.
The wounded were being evacuated as well. He had to buy even a little more time here.
But the Monster Beasts were too powerful.
The Demon Tribe merely watched.
Hiss.
Corrosive Breath gathered in the Monster Beast’s maw.
That Corrosive Breath, which melted equipment itself, would dissolve a human body just as easily.
With no strength left to dodge, the City Guard Captain gripped his sword tightly.
If he couldn’t escape anyway, he would deal as much damage to the beasts as he could before dying.
Just as he pushed off the ground to charge forward—
“You held the line well.”
“Leave the rest to us.”
“Fall back!”
Knights arrived.
Knights clad in gleaming armor. A golden-haired knight led them.
“You’re safe now, everyone. Return to the city and evacuate together.”
And behind them, countless soldiers followed.
They too were outfitted in new gear.
“We’ll hold this position.”
Marsil raised her sword high.
“Ah…”
The City Guard Captain gazed at her radiant form.
And in the distance, another watched that luminous figure.
“Hephaestus, look.”
Jin-woo and Hephaestus watched four knights fighting the Monster Beasts.
“That… that is my armor.”
Armor imbued with the power of Ultimate Defense, helmets, and shields.
Those four knights wore that equipment.
“How…”
“I read your diary. Thanks to it, I learned the formula for Ultimate Defense and crafted it myself.”
“…”
Hephaestus looked at Jin-woo.
“It must have been… terribly difficult.”
“More than terribly difficult.”
It had been extraordinarily hard.
Hephaestus, still carried on Jin-woo’s back, gripped his shoulder tightly.
And his eyes did not leave the knights.
“Marsil…”
Marsil swung her sword. The way she moved was like a sword dance.
Even as Corrosive Breath poured forth wildly and attacks from the Cockatrice and giant centipede followed, her armor remained unscathed.
Slash!
“Your attacks don’t touch us anymore.”
The knights pressed the Monster Beasts back with ferocity.
“Hephaestus’s skills have improved even further!”
“This is incredible!”
The knights, who had been losing equipment to the Monster Beasts’ attacks until moments before, were astounded.
Nothing was damaged at all.
“Groooowl!”
The Monster Beasts could only panic.
“How long did you think your attacks would land?”
“We have mankind’s greatest blacksmith!”
Crack!
The Monster Beasts began to fall.
“Marsil!”
“Count on me!”
Marsil took her position before the largest Monster Beast. She leaped lightly and thrust her sword in. With armor she could trust, she could focus entirely on the offense.
“Ugh.”
The Monster Beast fell. But not before exhaling its most potent breath.
“Marsil!”
Hephaestus’s body shook for an instant.
But—
“I’m fine. Completely fine!”
She was unharmed.
Not dead.
“You were right, Hephaestus.”
The years he had invested in Ultimate Defense were not in vain.
In this very moment, it was being proven.
“My armor… it had meaning. It had meaning.”
Hephaestus wept.
This was mourning.
And at the same time, an apology. An apology for not having given them better equipment.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could have crafted such armor sooner.”
Only then could he be honest.
He could accept that it was all his responsibility, and at the same time accept the life that came after.
Slash!
The Monster Beasts fell like autumn leaves.
“Curse these humans…!”
“They’ve created such armor…!”
“Retreat!”
Once it was confirmed that the Monster Beasts’ attacks could not penetrate the knights’ armor, the Demon Tribe began to withdraw.
“…We won.”
“We won!”
“We have victory!”
The City Guard and soldiers watching from the side cheered.
It was a perfect victory.
Hephaestus stared blankly at the scene.
It was the result achieved by Ultimate Defense armor.
The very sight he had longed for across all those years.
Suddenly, the entire landscape began to fade.
The fleeing Demon Tribe and Monster Beasts as well.
The soldiers, all of them, disappeared.
Only four remained.
They slowly approached Hephaestus.
Hephaestus, now nothing but bone, had become his former self once more.
“Will you… will you forgive me?”
“We forgive you.”
“By our choice, we saved you.”
“Don’t think you’re responsible for our deaths. That would be disrespect to us.”
The knights spoke.
And Marsil stepped forward.
“Your armor was beautiful, Hephaestus.”
Marsil lifted Hephaestus to his feet.
“You worked so hard. So very hard.”
Those words alone were enough.
Hephaestus laughed and cried at once.
“…Thank you.”
Hiss!
His body, which had become a skeleton, returned to its flesh.
Ding.
-Quest Progress 100%.
-Hephaestus has cleared all his regrets.
Ting!
-Quest cleared!
-A tremendous achievement!
-You’ve conquered all hidden objectives!
-Quest perfectly completed!
-Rewards enhanced!
-Additional rewards granted!
-Level up.
-Level up.
-You have advanced to Necromaister!
-You have obtained a Legendary Job!
-You have obtained a Unique Job!
* * *
Quest complete.
Jin-woo found himself back in the smithy, that charnel house of a workshop.
“Phew.”
It had been incredibly close.
Had he been even slightly later, it could have ended incompletely.
Jin-woo surveyed the smithy.
“Now I understand. The smithy wasn’t abandoned. He designed it this way deliberately.”
Hephaestus’s Job Class was not merely blacksmith.
“Necromancer and blacksmith.”
It was a Job Class that combined both.
“Necromaister.”
A Legendary Job.
“And a Unique Job.”
Right after the notification that he’d obtained a Legendary Job came the message for a Unique Job.
“It seems like only one person can ever have this Job Class.”
If that was the case, then as long a journey as it had been, the advancement was worth it.
“Not bad at all.”
Jin-woo checked his status window.
[Jin][LV 50]
[Job Class: Necromaister]
[Runes Held: Will of Fire, Touch of Bone, Bone Heart]
[HP: 1500/1500]
[MP: 300/300]
[Strength: 350+5%]
[Constitution: 177+5%]
[Agility: 150+5%]
[Intelligence: 150+5%]
<>
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He had reached level 50, gained two additional runes, and his stats had risen considerably across the board.
“The Quest gave me a lot to take away.”
The stat that rose most was Craftsmanship.
“Craftsmanship increased quite a bit.”
All those hours of diligent crafting during the Quest had borne fruit.
-Advancement complete!
-You have learned basic skills!
Unique Job Class, Necromaister.
After the advancement finished.
Jin-woo learned three exclusive skills for the Necromaister.
-You have learned Minion Summon.
-You have learned Bone Making.
-You have learned Soul Sight.
“This is serious business.”
Jin-woo immediately checked the skills.

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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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