The Return of the Legendary Golden-Handed Blacksmith - Chapter 90

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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 90
Episode 90.
First, standing at the vanguard, swung the axe without hesitation.
Crack-crash-!
And Pur covered the flank beside him.
Bang-!
Behind the heavy blows of axe and hammer, Moltus’s darkness energy moved like a whip.
Jin-woo’s side gained the advantage in the first collision, but the enemy’s numbers were overwhelming. In an instant, the undead that had rushed past First and Pur surged forward and closed in on Moltus, swarming him.
“It’s not working.”
Whoosh-.
-Evaded!
There were no undead capable of landing a solid attack on the robe made from the Flawless Seaming Art.
But he couldn’t dodge every strike.
Thunk-!
“Newbie! Much obliged!”
Unit 2 handled that opening.
Unit 2 gave a sharp thumbs up.
“Excellent structure.”
Moltus offered both thanks and praise.
“This time will be different from last!”
“Let’s see if you can rot me away!”
And the elves finally joined the battle in earnest.
Shriek-!
“Huh!”
“Why, why is it like this!”
The elf warriors wielded their issued equipment for the first time.
They couldn’t help but be bewildered.
“The power is too much……!”
A sensation of perfect fit.
And with actual specs that exceeded even that sensation, the warriors quickly gained the upper hand against the phantom legion.
“It’s so much better than it looks.”
“We can win. We really can win!”
The elf warriors’ morale soared to the heavens. Mire, too, was slicing through the phantom legion cleanly with the Flawless Sword Art, which drew upon the subtleties of the Flawless Seaming Art.
“This Short Sword is amazing!”
Mire had also received one Short Sword from Jin-woo.
She’d thought it was made in haste given the time constraints, yet the blade he’d fashioned turned out to be the finest she’d ever wielded.
“Hoz must be weeping.”
Though Hoz was an old blacksmith by human reckoning, to the elf he was scarcely more than a boy. And so she understood his sorrow perfectly.
“Poor Hoz.”
Rodin felt little pity. After all, it was Rodin who’d sent Jin-woo.
Clang-!
Whoosh-!
“Gggggh-.”
“Filthy…… insects……!”
The undead returned to the earth.
The elf warriors continued pressing forward.
The Phantom King stood with arms crossed, observing the battlefield. Across the field, Jin-woo likewise stood with arms crossed, watching the battle unfold.
The Phantom King held an overwhelming numerical advantage, certainly. Yet the elite force under Jin-woo’s command was pushing them back.
“How is this possible…….”
How could he be losing?
The Phantom King’s gaze fell upon their equipment.
“They don’t decay……?”
Moreover, the gear worn by the four Familiars this human had summoned was extraordinary.
It was rare for undead to be equipped with such high-quality arms in the first place.
Crack-!
And the combined might of the four Familiars was no small matter.
They made perfect use of their equipment. Unlike the undead who relied solely on raw strength and darkness energy, they wielded their arms with skill.
When the Phantom King’s most powerful named creatures fell in quick succession to the four Familiars, there were no undead left to contain the elf warriors’ mobility.
‘Not bad.’
Jin-woo surveyed the battlefield from every angle.
‘The bow could be a bit larger. Hmm, I leaned too hard into the wood’s natural properties—durability took a hit.’
A bow isn’t meant only for shooting.
‘It can be used as a blunt weapon, but in focusing on lightness and rot-resistance, I’ve made it unsuitable for that purpose.’
Jin-woo mentally revised and refined the equipment’s weaknesses.
“This won’t do.”
Then he spoke quietly to himself.
“Summon.”
A workshop materialized before Jin-woo.
In one hand he held timber.
In the other, a hammer. He laid the wood on the workbench and began crafting the equipment that filled his mind.
“What is he doing?”
The Phantom King had lived eons; his emotions worn smooth.
He was not easily moved by anything. Yet now, in this moment, his feelings stirred.
“In the midst of this battle, before me, he is—”
Crafting. Heedless of himself.
No, heedless of the entire battlefield, pouring everything in his mind into his hands.
Jin-woo threw himself into Crafting as if compelled by an irresistible force.
Crack-. Crack-crash-.
The Phantom King’s fury swelled, and he raised both hands.
“Bring that human to his knees before me!”
He gathered his most powerful undead in one place.
“As commanded.”
“It shall be done.”
They obeyed the priority order. Abandoning everything they were doing, they charged forward with a single focus: capturing Jin-woo.
Shriek-!
But Jin-woo’s Familiars stood before him.
“Master. is. concentrating.”
First swung the axe.
The Orcish Stone Axe unleashed tremendous force.
“Silence.”
Crash-!
And above it, Pur’s hammer blow followed.
Jin-woo carved away at the timber under his Familiars’ guard.
-Equipment crafted!
-Equipment crafted in the heart of battle!
-Achievement [Maestro of the Battlefield] obtained!
[Maestro of the Battlefield]
Description: When crafting equipment on the battlefield, the probability of Immersion Stat increases. All Stats increase by +100.
Maestro of the Battlefield.
Jin-woo examined the newly crafted equipment with satisfaction. He’d made the bow by observing the elf warriors and refining what they used.
“I’ve committed it to memory.”
Though he’d made it hastily just now, the experience had allowed his body to remember.
Jin-woo continued crafting equipment. Information flooded in through his eyes. In this moment, Jin-woo was exactly what the achievement proclaimed: Maestro of the Battlefield.
-Equipment crafted!
-Equipment crafted!
-Craftsmanship Stat increased!
-Immersion Stat increased!
Crack-!
“Enough of these games.”
The enraged Phantom King began radiating overwhelming darkness energy.
Then, slowly lifting into the air, he charged toward Jin-woo. The Familiars reacted instantly, but the Phantom King had no corporeal form.
Reaching out toward Jin-woo, who still held the hammer, the Phantom King extended his hand.
“Grasp of Death.”
His skeletal grip drove straight toward Jin-woo’s throat.
In that instant, Jin-woo looked up at the Phantom King.
“Can’t you see I’m crafting?”
Then he swung the hammer and struck the Phantom King’s hand away.
The Phantom King’s body was hurled backward violently.
“How is this possible?”
He was in Spectral Form.
In that moment, the Phantom King recalled words spoken by a small fragment of Miro’s Spirit. That spirit was like unto him—
Incorporeal and untouchable.
Yet that spirit had been threatened by Jin-woo. Continue your games, and I will Annihilate you, he’d said.
Which meant—
“He possesses strength.”
Jin-woo was the Phantom King’s greatest natural enemy.
In this place, only Jin-woo could wound the Phantom King.
“Gggh.”
“Gggggh-!”
As Jin-woo and the Phantom King clashed once more,
the undead continued falling at the hands of the elf warriors. The Phantom King’s numerical advantage had crumbled to nothing.
In fact, the standing undead now dwindled to fewer and fewer.
“Only one enemy remains!”
Mire, the elf elders,
and the elf warriors sent all the remaining undead back to the earth from whence they came.
“Huff…… huff……”
“We…… won.”
“We won!”
Now only one thing remained.
The Phantom King alone.
The elf warriors, breathing heavily, surrounded him.
“Kekekeke.”
The Phantom King laughed with brittle cheer.
“You can never defeat me. No, you shall never claim victory over me.”
The Phantom King spoke.
“I am already dead.”
How could one slay what was already slain?
Eternal Life.
The Phantom King was a being that could not die even in death.
Mire looked at Jin-woo.
‘I sensed it from the start.’
When Unit 2 loosed the arrow, the Phantom King could have defended—yet chose not to.
‘He wasn’t in corporeal form. Perhaps he let himself be struck intentionally. But something was different.’
And yet he was far too composed. His legion crumbled without effort, yet he made no significant gesture of concern.
‘His counterattacks were clumsy.’
It had been the same even after she struck him.
From the Phantom King’s actions, Jin-woo understood why this Quest carried an SSS Grade rating.
‘Most would simply say “claim victory.” But this one said “Annihilate.”‘
To clear the Quest, the Phantom King had to be Annihilated.
Jin-woo paused to consider.
‘Hmm.’
There were no constraints on how to Annihilate. Annihilation was all that mattered.
‘Then.’
There was no need to fight.
‘I’ll proceed with the original plan.’
“Phantom King, I hear you asked Mire for a favor.”
“I did. Yes, I did.”
The Phantom King smiled faintly, then began to expel something from his mouth.
They were fragments.
‘Soul Fragment.’
They looked identical to the Soul Fragments he’d obtained from capturing darkness clusters in the Forest of Glory.
“I was cursed—cursed with Eternal Life. My spirit fragmented; I could not die no matter how I willed it.”
The Phantom King spoke.
“So I asked for aid. From the flawless seamstress, I asked that she mend my spirit.”
But she refused.
“Even that flawless seamstress had her limits!”
Then he fixed an intense gaze upon Mire.
“Do you seek Annihilation?”
“I seek rest.”
“Then very well.”
Jin-woo raised his hand. In it was a Needle.
“I will mend your shattered spirit.”
“Hahaha-! Even Mire, the finest seamstress of the elves and flawless in her art, could not accomplish this—and you, a Necromancer, claim you will?”
The Phantom King began to spread his power.
“You know this well: my legion has not been Annihilated.”
What made Necromancers fearsome was precisely this. Though their armies were destroyed, they could endlessly resurrect them. So long as the Necromancer’s power remained, they could raise them forever.
The ground trembled. The legion began to rise once more.
Jin-woo stared directly at the Phantom King.
“If you refuse, so be it.”
And there was certainty in his voice—a confidence that seemed to say: You made your choice, didn’t you?
……
The Phantom King’s brow furrowed at Jin-woo’s confidence. Could it truly be mended? That which the finest seamstress of the Elven City herself had refused—could this young Necromancer actually do it?
“You are a Necromancer.”
“That’s not my true profession.”
“……Not your true profession? Then……”
The Phantom King had nothing to lose.
“Do it. Let us see.”
“Phantom King.”
Jin-woo crossed his arms.
“You must speak properly. It should be: Please, I beg you.”

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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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