The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 134

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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 Blacksmith’s Return — Episode 134
Clang-crash!
Clang! Clang-clang!
The Blood Orc’s axe and Amaterasu’s Ōotachi collided, scattering thick sparks between them.
In that narrow window, the trailing Blood Orcs seized the chance to rush to their comrade’s aid.
But each time, bolts fired from Shin Tae-ho’s crossbow struck their vulnerable points—eyes, hands—keeping them at bay.
Protected by the helmet and armor that the Northern dwarves had taken care to craft, the impact wasn’t severe.
Yet neither could it be dismissed outright, and the strange, stinging force sent the Blood Orcs into a fury.
“Grrrah! Somebody kill that cowardly bastard, now! I’ll be the one to fight that thing!”
“Then go ahead and try!”
“Grrk—he’s too fast, too nimble. Looks like nothing much, but he’s clearly a warrior through and through!”
Shin Tae-ho, wielding the Guardian’s Martial Arts, moved only at the optimal speed and trajectory, evading every attack without waste.
But that was all he dared do.
Since he hadn’t yet revealed to his companions that he could still use the Guardian’s Martial Arts, Shin Tae-ho couldn’t display his true strength.
“Yong-ryong-i. I’ll need your help.”
“Rrrowr!”
Yong-ryong-i, who had been curled around Shin Tae-ho’s neck and holding back an itching need to move, shot forward at once.
As Yong-ryong-i slithered between them like water, the Blood Orcs froze in confusion.
“What is that? Did it just pass through?”
“Wait… something’s off. Something’s wrong! Grrrah!”
Where Yong-ryong-i had brushed past without doing anything visible, something changed.
The dwarven armor had prevented Yong-ryong-i’s scales from even grazing the Blood Orcs’ skin.
But instead, the poison breath that Yong-ryong-i exhaled in a faint stream penetrated their lungs through their breath, spreading toxin through their bodies.
As the Blood Orcs weakened from the poison coursing through them, Amaterasu’s expression brightened.
“Yong-ryong-i, that was amazing! Thank you!”
Seizing the opening, Amaterasu focused her energy into the Ōotachi and unleashed a skill.
The Ōotachi, brimming with Sword Qi, deployed the Hwireoncharm technique.
The Sword Qi, spreading in a spiral vortex, raked mercilessly across the Blood Orcs’ armor, scraping it bare.
But armor was made for defense.
No matter how sharp the blade, the purpose of sword and armor stood at odds.
With each successive attack, Amaterasu’s Ōotachi wore away faster than the armor itself—a difference in durability that worked against her.
Shin Tae-ho, who saw this truth more clearly than anyone, felt his expression darken.
‘If this continues, the Ōotachi will break first.’
Shin Tae-ho wrestled with the question of what to do.
Even as he deliberated, Amaterasu’s Ōotachi wore on steadily, like an eraser rubbed to nothing.
“My lady!”
Then, rising from the shadow of a Blood Orc, Tsukuyomi swept in with a fan laden with spiritual force, joining the fray.
The fan, sharp as a blade’s edge, carved through the gaps in the armor, drawing blood from the orcs within.
“Grragh!”
“Be careful! This bastard moves through shadows as he pleases!”
Darting in and out of shadow like an orca, striking at vital points with each emergence, Tsukuyomi threw the Blood Orcs into confusion.
But their hesitation was brief.
When one Blood Orc let out a roar, the mood shifted in an instant.
“Grragh! This is exhilarating! We’ll take these prey here and now!”
Shin Tae-ho, who had been supporting them with bolts, turned his gaze to that Blood Orc.
A crimson aura bloomed across its skin like blood, and in moments its entire body flushed a deep red.
The raw power radiating from it grew thick and viscous, and the eyes of all three fighters widened.
“This is… just like before…!”
“My lady! We’re in danger!”
Tsukuyomi seized the startled Amaterasu and vanished into shadow.
The transformation that had begun with one Blood Orc was already spreading to all of them.
“Excellent! This prey is strong enough to warrant our true power!”
“Grrrah! Splendid!”
In moments, the Blood Orcs, now wreathed in crimson auras, gave off an intensity far greater than before.
Tsukuyomi, who had brought Amaterasu to where Shin Tae-ho stood by way of shadow, turned to face him.
“Has the plan fallen apart? If we have to fight them, we won’t have enough energy for a retreat.”
Their original plan had been to slip away unseen, to vanish without a trace.
And if they were discovered, the next best option was to escape without combat through Tsukuyomi’s Shadow Movement, once he had recovered his strength.
But as things stood now, even that fallback seemed impossible.
Everything they had hoped to avoid was unfolding before them—a confrontation with all enemies at once, a fight to victory, and then withdrawal.
“If we travel the farthest we can using Shadow Movement from here, how far do you think we’d get?”
Shin Tae-ho asked as he loaded a bolt into his crossbow.
Tsukuyomi answered, eyes closed as he traced the circuits through his mind.
“I’ve spent some Qi getting here, so right now I can manage a maximum of 1 kilometer.”
“That’s assuming all five of us move together, though.”
“Yes. Of course, that includes Han Ji-hyeon and Yong-ryong-i.”
“Then it should be possible.”
Amaterasu looked confused at Shin Tae-ho’s words.
“Possible? Judging by how those Blood Orcs move, they’ll catch up with us in no time even if we travel a full kilometer.”
“We won’t just be moving 1 kilometer.”
“What? But Tsukuyomi just said—”
“Yong-ryong-i and I will stay behind and deal with them.”
Silence fell over the group at Shin Tae-ho’s words.
Amaterasu, who had been struggling to find words, spoke again.
“What are you talking about?”
Her voice had turned subtly cold.
But Shin Tae-ho, oblivious to the shift, continued explaining as he thought through what lay ahead.
“If Yong-ryong-i and I aren’t there, the three of you will be able to travel much farther.”
“But what about you and Yong-ryong-i, staying behind?”
“We’ll buy time and escape on our own. That way everyone can get away safely.”
“That’s strange. The way you’re saying it… it sounds like you’re saying we’re just dead weight holding you back.”
‘…Oh.’
Only then did Shin Tae-ho sense the chill and turned his head.
He could see that not just Amaterasu, who was speaking, but Tsukuyomi, who had been listening, were now looking at him with eyes gone cold.
Before Shin Tae-ho could even begin to explain that wasn’t what he meant,
Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi’s weapons were layered with Qi upon Qi as Sword Qi formed along their blades.
“My apologies, miss. This is my failing. I did not anticipate that my attempt to show respect in your presence would appear to you as distrust toward Shin Tae-ho.”
“I agree with you, Tsukuyomi. I was being careful with my actions precisely because you were with me. I never realized I was projecting such weakness.”
“Ah, no. Please, both of you, calm down—”
Shin Tae-ho tried to salvage the situation, but the two World Rankers, their pride wounded, didn’t wait for excuses.
Slash!
Amaterasu’s Ōotachi, wrapped in Sword Qi, unleashed a brilliant cutting arc of light.
The Hwireoncharm, formed from pure Sword Qi, sliced cleanly through Blood Orc bodies, armor and all.
Though only one Blood Orc, unlucky enough to have its neck severed, died outright.
Tsukuyomi, rushing in right after, slashed through the exposed flesh where the armor had been torn by his fan.
“Grraaagh—! You foreign bastards!!”
“Kehehehe! This is fun! So entertaining!”
As the two pressed their aggressive assault, the Blood Orcs grew excited.
In an instant, the air filled with the sound of clashing attacks.
Though briefly caught off guard by the unexpected turn,
as the two began to demonstrate their true power, Shin Tae-ho’s eyes scanned them rapidly.
Watching them hold their ground against dozens of Blood Orcs without faltering, Shin Tae-ho nodded slightly.
‘They really are strong.’
The last time, those two had struggled against even a single Blood Orc.
But then it had been broad daylight in an open plain, conditions where Tsukuyomi couldn’t use his full strength,
and Amaterasu hadn’t been able to step forward due to Tsukuyomi’s powerful restraint, preventing her from showing her true capabilities.
But now.
With the conditions in their favor and both displaying their full power, their strength was clearly worthy of the title World Ranker.
‘I don’t think I’ll even need to step in.’
His original plan had been to send the group to safety and then deal with the Blood Orcs alongside Yong-ryong-i.
But watching the Blood Orcs fall one by one, that didn’t seem necessary anymore.
Still, standing idle felt awkward, so Shin Tae-ho was loading his crossbow with the intention of lending support when
Yong-ryong-i, coiled around his neck, suddenly looked up in alarm at the sky.
“Ryong! Ryong-ryong!”
“Yong-ryong-i? Why—”
Bewildered, Shin Tae-ho’s expression hardened as he hurriedly looked up at the sky.
There, descending through the dark heavens, was a Priest in a pressed robe diving straight toward him.
Seeing this, Shin Tae-ho immediately used Guardian’s Martial Arts and twisted his body backward to evade.
Crash!
“Huh?!”
“What’s happening?!”
Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, locked in combat with the Blood Orc, spun around at the deafening sound.
Both froze in shock when they saw a robed Priest bearing down on Shin Tae-ho.
“Tsukuyomi! Go!”
Shin Tae-ho was a Tamer by class.
It was painfully obvious he lacked the ability to face an enemy closing in on him directly.
Tsukuyomi, knowing this, didn’t hesitate—he shoved the Blood Orc aside and rushed toward the Priest.
Whishhh!
Dense, concentrated Sword Qi took form according to Tsukuyomi’s will, extending the reach of his Fan’s attack.
He charged forward with all his momentum, intent on severing the Priest’s head in a single stroke.
But before that killing blow even touched the robe,
an aura radiated from the Priest’s body, coiling around him like spines on a hedgehog.
Yet this was barely condensed enough to take form—
a loose display of power used as a threat, which Tsukuyomi had seen countless times before. Judging it a bluff, he continued his assault through the aura-shrouded body without stopping.
But the instant his own aura touched the Priest’s,
Tsukuyomi felt his body seize and convulse as though struck by lightning, and shock jolted through him.
‘What is this? It’s just raw aura being released, isn’t it?! Why does this feel so wrong?!’
The moment danger registered, Tsukuyomi’s thoughts accelerated, and time seemed to slow to a crawl.
Within that narrowed vision,
the Priest’s head turned, revealing eyes so unsettling they locked with Tsukuyomi’s own in shock.
“-!”
Crash!
His body paralyzed by that inexplicable aura, Tsukuyomi was seized and hurled savagely by the Priest’s grip.
He couldn’t even resist properly as he crashed into a tree, and Amaterasu, watching the battle from the corner of her eye, recoiled in horror.
“Tsukuyomi?!”
“Lady…! Don’t come…!”
Even as he struggled to gather himself, Tsukuyomi’s rasping voice tried to warn her off.
But that small cry never reached Amaterasu, who was locked in combat,
and she was already abandoning the Blood Orc and diving at the Priest.
Slash!
The Ōotachi swept through the air, and a crescent moon of gleaming Sword Qi cut toward the Priest.
The moment Amaterasu’s mightiest attack—enhanced even by the Hwireoncharm skill—closed in, the Priest finally drew a hand from within the robe.
Crack-crack-crack-crash!
The crescent of light shattered into fragments, scattering like dust.
Amaterasu’s eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at the Priest’s arm that had blocked her Ōotachi.
“Scales…?”
An arm covered in scales like a fish’s, writhing with sinister aura.
As that arm swung toward her, Amaterasu defended with her Ōotachi and retreated.
But the Priest was swift and merciless,
and the Blood Orcs she’d driven back still numbered nearly half their original strength.
“Screech!”
Behind Amaterasu, focused on fending off the Priest’s assault, an Axe from one of the Blood Orcs came flying.
Neither the Priest’s sinister arm nor the crimson-wreathed Axe of the Blood Orc was anything but lethal.
In the face of such danger, Tsukuyomi—ribs broken, struggling to keep himself upright—desperately tried to use Shadow Movement to aid Amaterasu.
But before he could activate the skill, the unfolding situation made him freeze.
“Huh?”
Tsukuyomi’s eyes went wide.
The Priest, hood drawn deep, uttered the creature’s true name in a voice tight with tension.
“Dragon.”
“Dragon!”
Yong-ryong-i, who had blocked the Blood Orc’s Axe with her tail scales, scowled, her expression wrathful.
To be continued ▶
The Transcendent Blacksmith’s Return
Author
Bong In-haejae
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
※ This e-book is protected under copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and distribution are prohibited, and violations may result in criminal and civil liability.
※ Pentagram eagerly awaits your precious manuscript.

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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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