The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 368

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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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Chapter 368
368.
“Show me?”
Faust laughed brightly.
“Yes. I don’t know what you’ll show me, but go ahead. Human. The stronger you are, the better I like it.”
He gestured with a meaningful smile.
Following Jin-woo’s command, First received equipment from Jin-woo.
-You have given your familiar First the Mechanical Engineering Eternal Shield.
The Mechanical Engineering Eternal Hammer and Shield.
Hissssss—
Brilliant violet steam rose from First as he donned both set items.
-The set effect activates!
-Mechanical Engineering output increases!
The steam billowed thicker still.
‘The set effect is quite good.’
“Let’s see what fully equipped MR+ Grade gear looks like.”
“Yes.”
Crack—
With each step, cracks spread across the floor.
“I…obey…your…command.”
Thud—!
First closed the distance in an instant and swung the Eternal Hammer with all his might. Faust’s expression was utterly unmoved.
“Helping that foolish brute. Don’t you see? Do you understand what this place is? This is my space. From beginning to end, it is all my domain, all calculated by me.”
Faust spoke. He evaded the attack with perfect timing. Screech—! It was razor-thin. For a moment, Faust—who had seemed at ease—regained his footing.
“Oho.”
In this tower, his domain and his realm, there were necessarily countless constraints.
Moreover, Faust had just deployed some of his power.
A power that warped the tower’s space, completely destroyed distance perception, and dulled cognition.
Yet he dodged by the narrowest margin.
Without that power, he would have taken a direct hit.
Faust looked at First, then at Jin-woo behind him.
“Your powerful soul is most appetizing.”
“You can see my soul?”
“Of course. Do you think I, who feeds on souls, cannot see them?”
Jin-woo chuckled.
“As it happens, I’m quite good at seeing such things myself.”
Then he gestured.
“Your soul looks appetizing to me as well.”
Hissssss—
Thud—! Thud—!
Again First swung the Eternal Hammer. Faust brought his hands together as if in prayer and dissolved into smoke.
“You seem strong. But.”
He evaded the attack with ease.
Yet First’s velocity continued to accelerate toward its peak.
Screech—!
Even in his smoke form, it was a devastating blow, as if tearing through all defenses.
Despite being in a state that nullified all attacks, Faust fell silent against his will.
Displeased with this, Faust returned to his original form and smiled coldly.
He then spread his wings. Tearing through his suit, his wings unleashed a violent wind.
“Wind of Malice.”
Screech—!
First easily blocked the barbed wind with the Eternal Shield.
The instant he blocked it, he spread the shield as if bouncing the attack back, and it flew straight at Faust.
Faust frowned, and the attack melted away before him like snow.
The hammer and shield.
Having roughly assessed First’s strength, Faust turned to Jin-woo as if satisfied.
“You’re strong. Both that hammer and that shield. I presume you crafted them for this fearsome familiar?”
A blacksmith and a necromancer—an odd combination, but Faust held such an amusing view of humans that he understood easily.
“So then, all your strength lies in this, doesn’t it?”
And he asked once more.
Or rather, it was not a question but a confirmation.
“Then I wonder—what becomes of you if you have no familiars?”
With that, Faust placed his hand on the ground. The moment First prepared to attack regardless, the tower shook violently.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—!
Rumble—!
-The tower’s constraints bind you!
The tower’s intensified constraints crashed down upon Jin-woo.
-Your body grows heavy.
-Your vision blurs.
-Your skills cannot be used as desired!
The Tower of Wishes bore that name partially because Faust held it.
It had opened only in part so that Hamus, the contractor, could have his wish granted.
“In truth, this tower’s name is not the Tower of Wishes. That name is only part of the true name.”
He smiled brightly.
“Bow before me!”
The tower’s true name was—
-You have entered the Tower of Wishes and Betrayal!
The Tower of Wishes and Betrayal.
Faust grinned widely at Jin-woo.
Hissssss—
-Debuffs are removed by Job Effect!
Of course, most of the tower’s constraints were dispelled by Jin-woo’s Job Effect.
But one thing persisted relentlessly.
-Skill Confusion!
-The power of betrayal has taken root in you.
-Your skills cannot be used as intended!
“If everything you have turns its back on you—”
Faust whispered.
“Can you still maintain that confidence?”
Hissssss—
-An absolute and terrible confusion strips you of your familiars!
-Your familiars have been marked with the Betrayal Mark.
In an instant, Faust snapped his fingers and Jin-woo’s familiars began to materialize.
-Skills are forced.
-Skills are activated by force.
-Familiars are summoned.
-The Proclamation of Thousand Names is declared!
Faust’s authority was overwhelming.
The Tower of Betrayal was his domain, his realm. Those who entered that realm could only move according to the rules Faust had created.
Hiss—. Hissss—.
Hissssssss—!
All of Jin-woo’s familiars materialized in darkness.
The Betrayal Mark was stamped upon them.
-All your familiars have been marked with the Betrayal Mark!
The familiars who had turned their backs to Jin-woo instantly wheeled around.
All went over to Faust and began to level their weapons at Jin-woo.
At that sight, Faust clapped and laughed.
“No matter how strong their loyalty, they’ll turn in an instant! That is what power is. Mere trust cannot withstand this force.”
Faust raised one corner of his mouth.
Then he gestured to Jin-woo’s familiars.
Hissssss—
Combined with the use of the Proclamation of Thousand Names, all the familiars’ eyes blazed bright blue. Faust drew out all their power.
“Now, my familiars.”
Then Faust pointed at Jin-woo.
Jin-woo, stripped of his familiars, had nothing.
All the equipment he had crafted was worn by his familiars, so what remained to Jin-woo was only a Hammer.
“Attack!”
The familiars began to charge at Jin-woo.
Flash—
Jin-woo watched and frowned slightly.
“This is a new experience for me.”
It was something he had never once imagined.
‘I’ve never even conceived of all my familiars betraying me.’
But players’ classes are diverse.
Monsters’ powers are diverse, so any situation could arise.
‘Eternal Sunshine had something called a Chaos Mage.’
That Chaos Mage was a class primarily using a skill called Total Chaos, which forced allies to fight one another.
Of course, Jin-woo had not been present on the battlefield, so he had never experienced this.
‘But I’ve had a similar experience.’
He had crashed his own equipment against itself and gained valuable feedback from it.
‘Breaking my equipment with my own equipment is rare enough.’
In a sense, this was similar.
A situation where his own familiars he had created were attacking him.
Jin-woo smiled.
“Thank you.”
This situation was indeed a precious gift to Jin-woo.
“Truly, I’m experiencing all manner of things. Without you, I wouldn’t have learned this. Or perhaps I would eventually, but it’s better to take the blows now.”
So this experience too struck Jin-woo as remarkably novel.
‘Now I can think about what equipment would be needed if such a thing happens.’
Seeing Jin-woo feign composure, Faust cried out.
“What confidence! Truly, you are human!”
Faust was delighted by this situation. He grew even more pleased as Jin-woo remained at ease.
The moment that composure shattered and crumbled—that was the moment Faust desired most.
“Now nothing remains to you. Feel what it is to be slain by those you trusted most. How fleeting is such strength.”
Faust burst into wild laughter.
At the same time, he snapped his fingers.
Snap—!
Speed moved first.
The moment that power of betrayal reached Jin-woo—
“Speed.”
Jin-woo called out to Speed.
In an instant, Speed halted in place.
“Oho.”
Faust gestured. Yes, there was this thread of will—that was why he had remained calm. But the power of betrayal is absolute.
Those bearing the Betrayal Mark could never disobey Faust’s command while in the tower.
“Destroy him. My familiars. It is an Absolute Command.”
As the words Absolute Command left his lips, Faust’s power spread.
Crash-crash-crash—!
Snap—!
Yet the familiars did not move. Speed, who stood nearest to Jin-woo, remained perfectly still.
His body trembled, but he remained frozen.
Faust’s brow darkened.
“…Familiars.”
They refuse my command?
Faust’s eyebrows twitched. In an instant, horns sprouted from his forehead. Faust, unlike other demons, wore a suit and bore an appearance close to human—he had never had horns at all.
But now they grew.
Whoosh—. Whoosh—whoosh—.
Not just one.
Two, three, four.
With teeth growing as well, Faust issued his command again.
“Kill him! Move—tear him apart!”
Yet still they did not move.
Instead, Jin-woo stamped the ground hard—Thud!—and cried out.
“Snap out of it, all of you—!”
At Jin-woo’s words, every familiar flinched.
And then, as if by magic—
“Come to your senses.”
The familiars began to move. Those who had been staring at Jin-woo as if to attack turned their bodies toward Faust instead.
Crash—. Crash-crash-crash-crash—!
With the sound of chains shattering, the constraints that had bound the familiars crumbled entirely.
Faust’s authority shattered completely.
“Ha.”
-The constraints on your familiars are released!
-Their loyalty overcomes the mark!
-Job Effect activates!
-Powerful Command takes effect.
After his Second Awakening,
Jin-woo had raised his Job Level to 3.
Having upgraded his Class from Lord to Archlord, Jin-woo had gained multiple authorities.
‘Since becoming Archlord, I’ve gained several unique authorities.’
One of them was precisely Powerful Command.
This Powerful Command was a form of forced command—a power that made familiars move exactly as ordered, even if they did not understand the command.
Until now, there had been no occasion to use it.
This was because Jin-woo had crafted his familiars so well that they executed virtually any command.
Beyond that, when he issued a command, they often performed it 120% better than required.
‘There was no need to use it.’
Now that power activated.
Combined with the natural loyalty the familiars possessed and the special skill Powerful Command, they overcame the Betrayal Mark and regained their wits.
“Prepare yourselves.”
At Jin-woo’s single command, all his familiars simultaneously loosened their bodies.
“We apologize, my Lord!”
Starting with Pur’s words—
“We acknowledge you!”
“Ah—! We’re so sorry!”
“This magnificent being—how dare that wretched horned fool inflict such humiliation!”
All the familiars began to regain their senses.
Jin-woo chuckled softly.
“That surprised me.”
Then he looked at Faust and spoke.
Faust trembled. It was incomprehensible.
This is a tower.
And they bore the Betrayal Mark.
That his power should be negated in such circumstances—he had never witnessed it.
“This… what is this…”
Even Faust, who had always seemed at ease, could not remain composed in such a situation.
Grinding—
He ground his teeth and shot a terrible gaze at Jin-woo.
“You… you overcame the Betrayal Mark this way?”
Faust recoiled in shock.
Yet still First alone had not turned.
“Yes. Good. The Betrayal Mark is a lesser power of mine, after all.”
The mark on the other familiars besides First was the Betrayal Mark, but the mark on First was the Heretic’s Mark—Faust’s highest authority.
Its tier was different, and this Heretic’s Mark could only be used on one at a time, even for Faust.
He smiled as he watched First, who still stood rigid, holding hammer and shield.
“Now try to break the Heretic’s Mark as well.”
Hissssss—
Faust gestured.
“What are you saying?”
“…What?”
“It’s already broken.”
First, who had been aiming the hammer at Jin-woo, slowly turned around.
And from the place nearest Faust, he spoke quietly:
“I…serve…only…one…master…alone.”
First’s hammer struck Faust directly.

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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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