The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 46

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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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The Master Blacksmith’s Return Chapter 46
Crack-crack-crack-crack-!!
A storm erupted from the center of the forest, its towering trees consumed by the tempest’s sweep.
Goblins that had fled or hidden from the maelstrom were sucked upward like debris caught in a vacuum cleaner.
They thrashed desperately, struggling for purchase as the winds tore at them.
Yet within that vortex moved something else—a cold hunter, alive and relentless, that hunted only for goblin blood.
Thud-crash!
Bang!
“Kee-ahhhhk!”
Trapped within the storm, helpless and caught, the goblins crumpled under each hammer strike.
Hundreds upon hundreds fell, their blood spraying in all directions.
These goblins had come for Shin Tae-ho—vast in number, armed with weapons refined over long seasons of development.
Now they could not even flee, much less attack.
Shin Tae-ho watched them perish, drawing energy through the cores to replenish his Circuit.
‘Impressive power and versatility. But the energy cost for a single technique is steep.’
Shin Tae-ho’s Circuit was Level 7.
The sheer volume of energy it could hold was staggering.
The density and quantity of energy he could control exceeded what the title of Ranker could adequately describe.
Yet even he felt the drain of the energy being consumed now.
“Ryong! Ryong-ryong!”
Yong Ryong-i called out to Shin Tae-ho, his bright eyes following the goblins tumbling through the storm.
When Shin Tae-ho turned, Yong Ryong-i’s eyes gleamed and his mouth opened wide.
“Ryong-ohhh!”
“You want to try shooting fire into that?”
“Ryong-ohhhhh!”
Yong Ryong-i nodded vigorously.
Shin Tae-ho, resting his chin on his fist in thought, nodded back.
“Well, you can control the flames without damaging what’s around us. Go ahead—do as you like.”
“Ryong-ryong-!”
With permission granted, Yong Ryong-i drew in a breath as though he’d been waiting for nothing else, channeling energy into his mouth.
Crack-roar-roar-!
Howl-rumble-rumble-!!
The flames Yong Ryong-i unleashed rode the cyclone and swelled in fury.
The fire-laden hurricane reduced the trapped goblins to charred husks in an instant, their remains tumbling earthward.
‘Far better than I expected.’
Shin Tae-ho had worried the flames might be deflected by the wind, but he watched in awe as they held their course.
He had never seen it firsthand, but it resembled what a Grand Mage might unleash at full power before his return.
“Ker-crack-!”
While Shin Tae-ho stood transfixed, watching the inferno spiral within the tempest,
goblins that had slipped away before entering the cyclone’s reach came charging at him from behind.
But Shin Tae-ho, already aware of their approach through his energy sense, remained unflustered.
Instead, as if expecting them, he swung the Combat Hammer he held, its head striking true against a goblin’s sternum.
Behind the goblin whose ribs shattered in the impact, dozens more hurled their spears in succession.
The spears were faint, their edges hazed as though wrapped in mist.
“Goblins who’ve learned to manipulate energy. No wonder the Rankers have been struggling so.”
Shin Tae-ho flung the Throwing Hammer he’d been holding.
Crack-thud-!
“Kee-ack!”
The hammer struck the goblin, and its rune ignited in a burst of flame.
Of course, the goblins had come prepared with resistance to fire, so the flames inflicted little real harm.
But no preparation could withstand the impact of the hammer Shin Tae-ho had weighted before entering the tower.
The hammer, now heavier still, severed the target goblin’s neck and crashed through the cluster of goblins massed behind it.
“Well, I’ve no intention of dragging this out.”
Shin Tae-ho, gripping a Combat Hammer in his right hand and another Throwing Hammer in his left, wrapped himself in energy.
He charged forward like a living projectile, sweeping the Combat Hammer through the surrounding goblins.
Thud-crash!
Snap!
Thud-crash!
Snap!
The Throwing Hammer he hurled struck its target and snapped back to him with blinding speed.
The moment he caught the hammer, Shin Tae-ho hurled it again, his attacks cascading like a juggler’s endless tosses.
Fire and ice erupted in alternation, sweeping the goblins away, and Yong Ryong-i’s eyes gleamed with delight.
“Kreeee!”
The goblins fell without mounting any real resistance.
As Shin Tae-ho continued moving, hunting goblins while keeping watch on his surroundings, something troubled him.
‘Why do I see only goblins? Not a single Hobgoblin anywhere.’
Hobgoblins were the superior variant of goblins.
Yet among thousands upon thousands of goblins, not one Hobgoblin had appeared.
‘Something’s off.’
In the meantime, the number of goblin corpses falling to the ground had noticeably dwindled.
Sensing that he had cleared most of the creatures he could sweep away with the storm, Shin Tae-ho stretched his hand upward.
The Storm Hammer, which had been generating the gale until just moments before, returned to his hand as swiftly as a well-trained dog.
Whoosh—
As the storm dissipated, the goblin corpses trapped within it rained down.
The eyes of the surviving goblins trembled violently at the hellish sight of their brethren’s bodies pouring from the sky.
While the goblins froze in shock, Shin Tae-ho checked his condition.
Messages he’d missed while focused on combat came into view.
[Remaining enemies number fewer than 500.]
[The Field’s Blessing has been cancelled due to unmet conditions.]
‘So fewer than 500 goblins remain.’
Shin Tae-ho channeled his energy through the Storm Hammer.
Activating its unique effect, Wind Generation (LV.6), a fierce gale coalesced around Shin Tae-ho’s body.
With that vortex wrapped around him, he kicked off and achieved a speed far greater than his current level of energy should allow.
Thwack!
The heads of goblins in front of Shin Tae-ho flew skyward.
The wind generated by each swing of his hammer severed their necks with sheer force alone.
Shin Tae-ho’s assault never ceased.
Enveloped in that fierce gale, his movements grew even faster—he was no longer a man, but a hunter come to reap lives.
Faced with such a monstrous display, the goblins lost all will to fight and began fleeing in panic.
Even abandoning their weapons and armor, they fled desperately, yet could not escape the death that descended upon them.
Crash-boom-bang!
Shin Tae-ho, having already stowed the Combat Hammer in his inventory, alternated between three Throwing Hammers, hurling them relentlessly.
Fire and ice rode the wind—a wind stronger than before—and spread across all directions.
And in the moment he struck the farthest-fleeing goblin with a throw of the Storm Hammer.
As if it had been waiting, a message window appeared.
[You have cleared Trial 67.]
[Clear Grade: Immeasurable.]
[Forest Destruction Rate: Below 10%.]
[Trial Clear Time: Below 24 hours.]
[Your Affinity with the Pure Elf has exceeded maximum.]
[Your Affinity with the Dark Elf has exceeded maximum.]
[You possess the Achievement: Savior of the Pure Elf.]
[You possess the Achievement: Savior of the Dark Elf.]
[You possess the Achievement: Hero of the Elves.]
‘What is this?’
The messages seemed to summarize the path he had walked thus far, and Shin Tae-ho’s expression filled with confusion.
The message window, which had been quiet as if cataloguing his journey until now, finally unveiled a new message.
[Hidden Quest triggered by condition fulfillment!]
[Rescue the Surviving Elves]
Description: Using weapons developed over hundreds of years, the goblins succeeded in driving the elves away.
Though most elves perished, those from villages with strong warriors have gone into hiding, biding their time for a future opportunity.
Find the surviving elves and create a space where they may dwell.
Reward: Surviving Elves
‘I see. Centuries have passed, then.’
So that was why the goblins had multiplied to such numbers.
On Level 66, the goblins had been ignorant of energy, yet somehow they had learned to wield it.
And Sinterhon, the city of elves where Pure Elf and Dark Elf lived together in greater strength, had vanished.
All his questions, which until now had yielded only confusion, suddenly made sense as he read the quest description.
‘As long as they’re alive, that’s what matters.’
Shin Tae-ho gently stroked the cheek of Yong Ryong-i, who was resting comfortably wrapped around his neck.
“Yong Ryong-i. It seems I have something I need your help with.”
“Ryong-ryong~!”
At the mention of a task that needed doing, Yong Ryong-i cried out with joy.
* * *
“Ugh… Hck!”
“Are you holding up? Can you manage?”
“Y-yes, I’m fine, Lord Eldein.”
“Keep your words short. You don’t need to call me lord anymore.”
Eldein stemmed the elf warrior’s bleeding with a matter-of-fact tone.
Kider, standing nearby, let out a half-stifled laugh and chimed in.
“Lost the city and everything—’lord’ doesn’t suit you anymore. ‘Captain’ would be more fitting.”
“I don’t need such a lowborn title. If you want to hear something like that, use it yourself.”
“What?! Lowborn title?! What’s wrong with calling someone captain?!”
“It sounds lowborn.”
“You bastard!”
“P-please, my lords! Show restraint!”
“We cannot afford to have you both quarreling here!”
As Kider and Eldein began to snarl at each other, the elf warriors quickly rushed to separate them.
Of course, even those who had served as lords had no real intention of letting a moment’s irritation turn into actual violence.
“We’re not fighting, so put that away. Rest as much as you can while we have the chance.”
“Yes, of course. Understood.”
As the elf warriors withdrew their hands uncertainly, Kider slumped back into his seat.
Once Eldein finished with the bleeding and sent the warrior away, Kider, now alone with him, spoke.
“How much longer do you think we can hold out?”
“…How would I know? I can only do my best to ensure we survive to the end.”
“We never had much contact with other settlements to begin with. But I suspect all the other villages we knew of have fallen. You must feel it too.”
Eldein fell silent.
After losing Sinterhon, he had searched tirelessly for other settlements.
But each time, all he found were ruins laid to waste and the bodies of his kinfolk left unburied.
Moreover, every time they moved, leaving traces behind them, they encountered their pursuers more and more frequently.
By now, it was even difficult to resupply food properly.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Us. Maybe we should just fight one final, proper battle and be done with it.”
At Kider’s words, Eldein met his gaze.
Kider’s eyes blazed with anger, but Eldein, who had walked at his side for so long, could read another emotion hidden beneath that fire.
It was despair and fury, and fear.
As Eldein read that emotion in quiet eyes and closed his own, he murmured.
“…One final, proper battle.”
On the surface, it seemed as if he were considering Kider’s proposal.
But when Eldein opened his eyes again, they held only rage.
“That’s precisely why I cannot acknowledge you.”
“…What, what?”
Stung by rebuke that was genuine—not the usual banter—Kider recoiled.
Eldein spoke slowly, each word deliberate.
“You are a lord. A lord bound by the duty to protect the warriors who followed you and the civilians in your charge. And yet you speak of abandoning your senses to the enemy’s pressure and charging into the fire? Are you out of your mind?”
Kider fell silent.
Under ordinary circumstances, he would have fired back. But not now.
Eldein, regarding him with disdain, turned away.
“If you wish to destroy yourself meaninglessly, do it alone. But I will not permit you to drag the warriors and people of Sinterhon down with you.”
“…Damn it.”
Kider, who had been standing blank, wiped his face.
Hearing Eldein’s words, he felt as though cold water had awakened him.
“Forget what I just said. I’ve been staring at those cunning goblin bastards’ faces for so long, I lost my head.”
“…It did seem that way.”
An awkward silence fell between them.
As Eldein shifted uncomfortably and began to rise from his seat—
A single warrior who had been standing watch outside suddenly burst through the entrance.
“M-my lords! Outside! It’s outside!”
“Are the goblins pursuing us?”
Kider snarled and shot to his feet.
Eldein gathered his bow and arrows as well.
But the warrior whose breath came in ragged gasps still blocked the path, shaking his head as he struggled to continue.
“No, no, sirs! The goblins—they’ve been completely wiped out!”
“What? Wiped out?”
“…Could it be?”
One figure came to mind in both their thoughts at once.
As the two lords’ eyes widened in disbelief, the elf warrior nodded urgently.
“He’s—he’s returned! He’s come back!”
The elf warrior’s voice broke with emotion, tears streaming down his face as he cried out.
“The World Tree sent him! Hero Shin Tae-ho and the divine beast Yong Ryong-i are coming through the goblins to rescue us!”
Continued in the next episode ▶
The Transcendent Blacksmith’s Return
Author
Seal Released
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publications
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
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※ Pentagram welcomes precious manuscripts from authors.

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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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