The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 111

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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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Transcendent-Grade Blacksmith’s Return — Chapter 111
“Sigh—”
Han Ji-hyun, who had expended most of his mana reserves, exhaled deeply and gazed ahead.
Thanks to the mana he had prepared and channeled over a long span of time, the magic circle was more than sufficient to cover over a hundred orcs.
Ember Rain—the strongest and most expansive spell among his arsenal.
Orcs scattered in chaotic panic as apple-sized fireballs poured down from the magic circle.
Crackle-snap!
“Shrieeeek!”
Their armor deflected the direct impact, but the intense heat scorched the metal itself.
As the encirclement loosened, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were able to slip away while checking Garak.
“Miss! I’ll use Shadow Step to escort you to safety!”
“No, Tsukuyomi. Please take me to where he is.”
Amaterasu gestured toward where Shin Tae-ho stood.
As Tsukuyomi began to protest that this was madness,
Amaterasu turned her head and fixed him with a steady gaze.
“He’s fighting all these orcs for us. We can’t just abandon people like that, can we?”
“I will fight. After I’ve seen you to safety—”
“Then it’ll be too late. I’d rather they didn’t get hurt.”
Amaterasu cut him off with a gentle smile, but her words carried an unmistakable will beneath their softness.
Tsukuyomi flinched at an order that seemed ordinary on the surface yet harbored something wholly different underneath.
Watching Shin Tae-ho fight precariously among the orcs, Tsukuyomi bit his lower lip.
“I shall obey your wish, Miss.”
“Thank you, Tsukuyomi. Then let’s go!”
Amaterasu lightly batted away a fireball falling toward them with her Oo-tatchi, then grasped Tsukuyomi’s hand with a bright smile.
Seizing Amaterasu’s hand, Tsukuyomi hurled them both into the shadow that had deepened from the surrounding flames.
Using the Shadow Step technique, the two emerged abruptly from Han Ji-hyun’s shadow.
Han Ji-hyun, who had been concentrating his awareness on the staff to maintain the spell, jumped in surprise.
“Oh, it was the two of you.”
“Yes. I’m Amaterasu. Thank you for helping us. Who’s the one fighting over there?”
“His name is Shin Tae-ho.”
“Shin Tae-ho—that’s a fine name.”
After repeating the name in her mind, Amaterasu pushed off the ground toward where the orcs were gathered.
Tsukuyomi followed like a shadow at her heels, plunging into the chaotic battle alongside her.
As the orcs drew dangerously close, Tsukuyomi drew a dagger from his inventory and lowered his stance.
Slice!
Shadow Slash—a skill that allowed him to cut a shadow and transfer that wound to the body casting it.
With Shadow Slash activated, Tsukuyomi darted through the space between orc shadows, keeping his dagger lowered nearly to the ground.
As he cleanly slit the neck of the shadow darkened by firelight, the orc who owned that shadow’s neck was severed just as precisely.
“Kraaaagh?! Foreigners have reached here! Be careful!”
“Gah! The attack is getting through between our armor! They slashed our necks by attacking our shadows!”
As their kin fell, the orcs grasped the situation and shrieked in terror.
A blinding streak of light flashed swiftly across the chaos of the battlefield.
Orcs struck by the massive blade of light formed by sword energy were cleaved in two, their torsos separating from their lower halves.
“What was that?”
Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi appeared beside the stunned Shin Tae-ho via Shadow Step.
“Hello. Thank you for your help, Shin Tae-ho.”
“So you two are Rankers—Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. It’s good to meet you.”
Shin Tae-ho returned the greeting politely.
But unlike usual, Tsukuyomi, tense from protecting Amaterasu, showed no trace of composure.
“Is that dragon under your command? Could you perhaps have that dragon attack the red orc over there?”
Tsukuyomi pointed toward Garak, who lay beyond the range of the rain of fire.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Shin Tae-ho shook his head.
“The dragon is still too young to attack a large orc like that. It’s impossible.”
“Surely you don’t know unless you try? Besides, it’s already brought down other orcs just fine.”
“Knowing warmth by touching fire doesn’t mean you’re ready for it. I must decline.”
Shin Tae-ho refused without wavering.
As Tsukuyomi’s eyes widened at the repeated firm refusal,
Amaterasu narrowed her brow and gently rebuked him.
“Tsukuyomi. These people are helping us. Yet you would make such an unreasonable request?”
“…I apologize. I was rash and showed poor judgment.”
Tsukuyomi, snapped back to attention by Amaterasu’s rebuke, offered an apology.
Shin Tae-ho, who had stiffened inwardly, relaxed at the swift apology.
“It was a dangerous situation, so I understand. But that red orc—its skin looks different from the others. Is there a reason for that?”
“According to the Message Window, it’s called a Blood Orc. But I’m not sure what makes it different.”
‘A Blood Orc? On Floor 11?’
Shin Tae-ho’s eyes widened slightly at the explanation.
Blood Orcs were a subspecies of orc, like Pure Elves or Dark Elves.
But their numbers were sparse, and their abilities were superior—making them rare encounters on these lower floors.
‘If I take it down, I can significantly boost my tower-climbing contribution.’
Shin Tae-ho surveyed the dead orcs and picked up an axe of reasonable size.
It was hardly excellent, but it was the most usable weapon among them.
“That thing will chase us down with ranged attacks even if we turn to flee. We need to bring it down here to retreat safely.”
“My. You’re quite the brave one—braver than us, it seems. Admirable spirit indeed.”
Tsukuyomi’s mouth curved into a faint smile, compressing the unspoken jab: ‘Two World Rankers couldn’t put that thing down, and you think you can?’
Just as Amaterasu was about to scold Tsukuyomi’s sarcasm,
Shin Tae-ho scratched his nose awkwardly and shook his head.
“No, it’s not that. As long as that thing’s alive, it’ll keep coming after us. I’m willing to push hard to deal with it.”
“…Ah, no. I didn’t mean you’re not actually brave—!”
Suddenly finding himself and his lady, Amaterasu, cast as cowardly Rankers, Tsukuyomi bristled.
Amaterasu, belatedly raising her hand, held Tsukuyomi back.
“I agree with your assessment. But do you have a way to bring it down? That orc is different from the others.”
“I’ll handle it. Please take care of the other orcs in the meantime.”
“You’re going to face it alone? No, that’s too dangerous.”
Amaterasu shook her head in protest.
Tsukuyomi also furrowed his brow, but Shin Tae-ho didn’t back down.
“I’ll be fine. I have a plan.”
“…You could lose your life. Are you truly certain?”
“Yes. With your support, I have more than a fighting chance.”
“Understood. Then I’ll help Shin Tae-ho.”
“Ah, my lady.”
Tsukuyomi called out, but Amaterasu shook her head.
“Just as Shin Tae-ho said, retreat won’t be easy otherwise.”
At her firm words, Tsukuyomi clamped his mouth shut.
Amaterasu soothed the disappointed Tsukuyomi.
“I trust the person Tsukuyomi trusts—I trust Shin Tae-ho. Trust me on this, Tsukuyomi.”
“…As you wish.”
Even now Amaterasu was playing with words, but Tsukuyomi, sensing her sincerity, bowed his head heavily.
Shin Tae-ho watched Tsukuyomi and clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Cautious by nature, which isn’t bad in itself. But stubborn as they come.’
Once the decision was made, Shin Tae-ho wrapped his body in Qi and shifted into a footwork stance.
Garak, who had been absorbing the blood of the dead orcs through his axe and tracking Shin Tae-ho’s group, wore an odd expression.
“Kruk. I thought you’d run. What’s your game?”
“Your game. It was obvious you were planning to attack while we turned our backs to retreat.”
At words that seemed to read his mind, Garak flinched slightly.
He composed his expression and hefted his blood-soaked axe high.
“A foreigner with a warrior’s spirit. Excellent. I like you. Come on! Let’s fight!”
“Let’s.”
Shin Tae-ho fired a barrage of Intermediate-Grade Qi Fragment Bolts.
Garak, encountering this attack for the first time, blocked with his axe, tilting his head.
Powerful enough, certainly, but for one as confident as himself, it seemed unremarkable.
“What are you doing? Surely you don’t think this kind of attack— Hack!”
Garak’s waist bent sharply to the side.
As the blast from the bolts obscured his vision,
Shin Tae-ho, who had closed the distance, drove his fist into Garak’s ribs with crushing force.
Though it hadn’t even pierced the armor,
the impact, like a wave, penetrated deep within and wrenched Garak’s insides.
‘Kruk?! What—what is this…!’
Garak swung his axe in a wide arc, attacking Shin Tae-ho.
But Shin Tae-ho, employing the footwork he’d learned through Guardian’s Body Technique, had already moved behind Garak.
Before Garak could even turn his body,
The impact from before transmitted through his back this time, rattling his spine.
“Grrraak! Wh-what kind of attack is this?! What are you, really?!”
“Stop thrashing about. You’ll scatter all that dust you worked so hard to kick up.”
Shin Tae-ho fired a Bolt at the ground.
More dust rose, obscuring both Shin Tae-ho and Garak from view.
Confirming his form was hidden, Shin Tae-ho drew out the true power of the Guardian’s Body Technique.
Crunch! Snap!
“Grraaaaaaah—!”
Shin Tae-ho’s Qi burrowed into Garak’s body, taking root in his soul and beginning to twist.
Garak bit down on his own tongue rather than lose consciousness to the agony of his soul-bearing circuits being torn wholesale from his frame, and spat blood.
“Gck, grraaah—!! You foreign bastard—!!”
Sensing danger, Garak forcibly wrenched his soul upward.
Shin Tae-ho did not miss the decisive moment he had been waiting for.
“Well done. I’ll put you out of your misery now.”
The soul Garak was expelling was merely nourishment for Shin Tae-ho’s Qi.
Shin Tae-ho’s Qi surged through the cascading soul, burrowing in instantly.
But Garak had a plan of his own.
‘Arrogant fool! No matter what power invades the soul—if I annihilate it entirely, that’s all there is to it!’
Garak’s soul blazed crimson, beginning to crush Shin Tae-ho’s Qi.
Against the vastly greater volume of soul, Shin Tae-ho’s meager Qi began to vanish like earth buried in a landslide.
But even Garak’s last-ditch gambit fell within Shin Tae-ho’s calculations.
Tap-tap-tap.
Shin Tae-ho stepped back into his own footprints and raised the Qi that had been lingering there.
The Qi burrowed within Garak’s body and the Qi left in the footprints resonated together, connecting in an instant like a rope that cinched around Garak.
“Kch?! Gack! Grraaaah!”
Before Garak’s screams could grow louder, Shin Tae-ho fired Bolts in rapid succession.
Explosions erupted in sequence, obscuring sight and sound alike.
Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Han Ji-hyun, who were engaged with the Orc, turned their attention that way.
Whiiiing—
Wind swept in and cleared away the dust.
‘It can’t… in the end…!’
Seeing Garak’s armor still intact as it was revealed, Tsukuyomi closed his eyes tight, as if he’d expected as much.
Beyond the darkness of closed eyes, Amaterasu’s trembling voice reached him.
“He really… brought him down….”
“What?”
At words so contrary to what he’d witnessed, Tsukuyomi opened his eyes.
Tsukuyomi looked again at Garak properly, and his eyes widened.
The only part intact was the armor he’d seen before closing his eyes.
That fearsome, rock-like Garak lay dead inside his armor, his whole body twisted and broken.
“Grraaak?! The… the commander is dead!”
“Kraak! The Blood Orc! Commander Garak has fallen!”
The Orcs, shocked by the impossible result, let out a wail.
As Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi stood frozen in astonishment.
A Bolt struck through the Orc beside them and detonated.
“Why are you just standing there? It’s not over yet. Snap out of it.”
At Shin Tae-ho’s words, Tsukuyomi shook off his shock, his face flushing slightly as he gripped his Dagger anew.
While Tsukuyomi moved through shadows, dropping the bewildered Orcs’ heads.
Amaterasu remained locked in shock, her gaze fixed on Shin Tae-ho.
‘With a pet at his side, he’s definitely a Tamer class. But to dispatch an Orc that even Tsukuyomi couldn’t bring down…?’
He hadn’t even needed the help of Yong-ryong-i, the Tamer’s main force.
And then there was Han Ji-hyun, who had unleashed that grand spell that rained fire.
‘These people… will undoubtedly grow into World Ranker caliber before long.’
Amaterasu’s eyes gleamed as she recognized the hidden star.
Continued in the next chapter ▶
The Return of the Transcendent Master Craftsman
Author
Seal Release
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Publishing House
Published by Pentagram
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
※ This e-book is protected under copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and copying are prohibited. Violation of this restriction may result in criminal and civil liability.
※ Pentagram welcomes your precious manuscripts.

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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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