The Return of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 96

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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 Transcendent Blacksmith’s Return — Chapter 96
The cable car, as the Dwarves called it, traveled quite a considerable distance.
Looking down from on high, the party gained a clearer understanding of what terrain the Second Tower actually possessed.
“It’s just like the Grand Canyon in America. Such an enormous gorge.”
“N-no, it’s amazing. And there are so many mountains scattered throughout the middle sections too.”
The space where the Dwarves lived lay within a canyon carved by countless ages of erosion.
The surreal landscape—Everest-like peaks dotting the gorge here and there—reminded them all at once that they truly were inside a Tower.
At the same time, the necessity of the cable car became immediately clear.
Without it, a simple walk to what appeared to be a nearby mountain would certainly take several days.
At intervals where the cable car halted, other Dwarves had erected outposts and stood watch over the surrounding terrain.
After passing through several rest stations, the environment around them gradually shifted.
By the time they arrived at a barren wasteland where not a single blade of grass grew, the cable line no longer extended any further.
“From here on, we walk.”
“What? Wait. You’re saying we have to walk up that mountain?!”
Bianca gasped in alarm, staring at the towering peak that rose before the cable car.
The Dwarf who guarded the final rest station set down his beer and explained.
“Beyond this point lies an orc settlement. Extending the cable any further would only invite destruction at their hands.”
“But is it just you four? Only four? Orum, has your captain hit his head since we last saw him? Or has he gone senile?”
“Though we are few in number, these individuals possess both trustworthy strength and character. I have received this as well.”
Orum held up the Hammer the captain had given him.
The Dwarves who had briefly fallen silent at the sight of it now nodded as if understanding dawned.
“Ah. With that much, they won’t die, at least.”
“Still, don’t let your guard down. Those orcs have grown in numbers since then. They didn’t used to come near this area, but lately they’ve been showing their faces here and there.”
“We appreciate the warning.”
The party exchanged farewells with the outpost guards and moved forward.
As they drew closer to the mountain, geothermal heat intensified, and sweat began rolling down their backs of its own accord.
“Phew, it’s hot. Do the orcs actually like places this warm? How can they even live in something like this?”
“The orcs don’t live here because they like it. They live here out of necessity, to cooperate with the traitors.”
Orum answered Bianca’s murmur.
Bianca tilted her head, confusion written across her face.
“Cooperate? What kind of cooperation would warrant building a settlement here?”
“Karnix is a resource we desperately need—and so do the traitors. That’s why.”
“Is Karnix truly that valuable? You’d think they wouldn’t need to risk conflict to live here.”
When Shin Tae-ho asked, Orum nodded.
“It is. The lava must be calm, warm enough that we can enter but not so hot as to incinerate us. Currently, Komuto Volcano is the only place that meets those conditions.”
“Ryo? There’s something over there, ryo.”
Yong-ryong-i, who had been hurrying along behind Shin Tae-ho, pointed to a location.
The moment everyone turned their heads toward it.
With a sharp whistle, massive spear-like arrows came pouring down.
“What is that?! A Catapult?!”
“Arrows?! No, wait! They look like spears!”
“Take cover! It’s the orcs!”
Orum shouted and quickly dove behind a boulder.
Bianca and Choi Yu-hwa followed Orum’s lead, sheltering behind rocks and bracing for impact.
Moments later, weapons closer to spears than arrows relentlessly embedded themselves in the ground all around them, just as Choi Yu-hwa had said.
“Pipi!”
“Chirp-eek!”
At Choi Yu-hwa’s command, Pipi burst from her embrace and took to the air.
As Pipi darted toward the orcs like an arrow, the sound of the orcs’ alarm echoed from a distance.
“Grrk! A strange bird is attacking!”
“It’s small! Don’t be such cowards! Ignore it and reload!”
“This isn’t cowardice! This thing— Gaaah!”
The orcs attempting to reload their Catapults began falling one by one.
Only then, realizing Pipi was no ordinary bird, did the orcs draw their weapons.
“The bird— the bird’s tearing faces open! It’s no ordinary bird!!”
“Kill it! It’s fast, so use shields instead of axes and swat it down!”
The orcs raised broad-faced shields and swung them like fans, trying to strike Pipi down.
Pipi dodged nimbly, weaving left and right, but evading every attack was beyond her capacity.
Thud-thunk!
“Chirp-eek!”
“Pipi, Pipi!”
The bird, caught by an attack she couldn’t evade, tumbled across the ground.
Choi Yu-hwa, who had been firing arrows, screamed at the sight of Pipi and rushed toward the orc.
Pipi had always dodged attacks with nimble grace—seeing her struck like this was a first, and it felt as though her heart plummeted.
But there wasn’t enough time to reach the orc perched on the mountainside.
The orcs, watching Choi Yu-hwa’s reaction, suddenly grasped that the bird was the key to breaking her resolve.
“Kruk! When we hit this bird, she comes running!”
“That bird’s a pet! Grab it! We use the bird to take her down!”
“Choi Yu-hwa, don’t go!”
Bianca shouted as Choi Yu-hwa charged forward as if possessed, and she unleashed her magic.
An ice spike the size of a forearm—one Shin Tae-ho had seen before—streaked toward the orcs.
But before it reached them, the geothermal heat rising from the ground weakened the ice; it froze only three orcs and dealt no real damage.
“Kruk! The attack melted! They can’t hurt us!”
“Kill the one coming at us first! Reload, then finish the rest!”
The orc holding Pipi squeezed with all his might.
The pain of breaking bones made Pipi cry out even louder.
As the orc smiled, certain of victory while watching Choi Yu-hwa run toward him in tears, a spear flew from the side.
It pierced the temple of the orc who held Pipi.
“Kruk?!”
“W-we shot that spear!”
All eyes turned toward where the spear had come from.
There stood Shin Tae-ho, who had climbed the mountain unseen, and Yong-ryong-i, who had gathered up the spears that had been driven into the ground.
Shin Tae-ho, assuming a Spear Throwing stance with a fresh weapon, spoke to Yong-ryong-i.
“Yong-ryong-i. Get Pipi to safety.”
“Leave it to me!”
Yong-ryong-i transformed into a dragon in an instant and took flight.
At the same moment, another spear flew, piercing another orc’s body.
Caught off-guard by the unexpected assault, the orcs who had only been watching the front were thrown into confusion.
“Kill that one first! More spears keep coming!”
“We have to hold this position! Grab the bird! With the bird, he loses focus!”
At the overlapping shouts, the orcs turned their heads to seize the bird nearby.
But Yong-ryong-i, already with Pipi in her mouth, had swiftly taken flight and vanished.
“Kruk! Damn it!”
The orc who understood the situation turned to shout that the bird was gone.
But in that instant, the tide of battle had shifted so completely that he stood frozen, mouth agape, forgetting to cry out.
Bang! Bang!!
“Kruk! F-the arrows explode!”
Shin Tae-ho, who moments before had been hurling spears from a distance, had closed to where the orcs stood and was now unleashing his crossbow in rapid-fire volleys.
He fired so fast he barely aimed—
And yet impossibly, every bolt from the crossbow struck true, embedding itself between each orc’s brows before detonating.
Pop-pop-pop-boom!!
Each time an arrow made from a Fragment of Energy exploded, the number of standing orcs diminished.
Once every orc lay dead, Shin Tae-ho stared at his left arm with a look of fresh realization.
‘I see now. This is why Victor could earn the title of the perfect-aim Ranker.’
The Aeon Relic—an item he’d obtained in exchange for aiding the Americans.
The Aeon Relic’s unique effect was probability accumulation and probability selection.
Since acquiring the relic, Shin Tae-ho had seized every spare moment to practice methodically: shooting an opponent between the brows with a crossbow.
That probability had accumulated steadily, and the Aeon Relic now held a stored probability of thirty-five percent.
Though not a perfect hundred, thirty-five percent was enough—with just minimal aiming—to produce this result: shots striking true between the eyes.
“Shin Tae-ho! Did you kill them all?!”
At Bianca’s call from below, Shin Tae-ho nodded.
“All dead. To be safe, I’ll destroy that as well.”
Shin Tae-ho used a large stone nearby to smash the remaining catapult.
Orum, who arrived late, stared in astonishment at the heap of orc corpses.
“So many orcs. You killed them all in such a short time?”
“Pipi and Yong-ryong-i helped. I couldn’t have managed alone.”
Shin Tae-ho answered as if it were nothing.
Yet everyone present felt the weight of what had just transpired.
Spears raining down, then thinking to gather them again—
Not only did he throw those spears with impossible force to kill the orcs, but he then single-handedly swept through them all on his own?
While Orum found himself unable to tear his gaze from Shin Tae-ho.
Shin Tae-ho approached Choi Yu-hwa, who stood cradling Pipi and sniffling.
“Choi Yu-hwa. Is Pipi all right?”
“Y-yes. But… the wing, h-it looks broken.”
Pipi’s wing, which had been crushed in the orc’s grip, bent backward at an unnatural angle.
As Choi Yu-hwa tried to unfold the wing to fashion a makeshift splint,
Shin Tae-ho’s hand suddenly thrust into her line of sight.
“Give this to Pipi. A simple fracture should heal quickly with this.”
“What is that…?”
Choi Yu-hwa’s eyes widened as she recognized the Lower-Grade Recovery Potion.
Even Bianca, who had stepped back and was watching Choi Yu-hwa with sympathy, started in surprise.
“A recovery potion? You’re using something that expensive?”
“She was injured helping us. Of course we should help her.”
“N-no, Shin Tae-ho. I’m grateful, truly, but I can’t accept something so valuable.”
Even in her distraction, Choi Yu-hwa shook her head firmly, refusing the potion.
But without responding to her protest, Shin Tae-ho crushed the vial’s top with his thumb and fed the recovery potion to Pipi.
“S-Shin Tae-ho?! Recovery potions are extremely rare right now—”
“The trial isn’t over yet. Besides, Pipi is suffering, and seeing her like that will keep you from focusing on the trial. It makes sense to use it.”
“S-Shin Tae-ho…”
Choi Yu-hwa’s eyes glistened with tears as she looked at him with genuine emotion.
As the potion took effect, Pipi’s broken wing straightened back into place, and all the minor wounds scattered across her body healed in an instant.
“Chirp?”
The pain vanishing so suddenly, Pipi rose with a bewildered expression.
Yong-ryong-i, who had been waiting patiently to see this, eagerly thrust his face toward Pipi.
“Ryong! You’re all better, ryong!”
“Squeak!”
Seeing Yong-ryong-i, Pipi let out a startled cry and tried to burrow into Choi Yu-hwa’s arms.
But Yong-ryong-i snatched Pipi up faster, holding her in both hands and pressing his face against hers.
“Ryong~. Pipi’s not hurt at all, ryong. Completely better, ryong!”
“Seems like it.”
Shin Tae-ho smiled and answered as he watched Yong-ryong-i embrace Pipi joyfully.
Choi Yu-hwa wiped away her tears and bowed deeply to Shin Tae-ho.
“Shin Tae-ho. Thank you for helping us again. I’ll repay this kindness whenever I can.”
“There’s no debt to speak of. But I’ll remember your promise to help me in return.”
“…Hmm.”
Bianca turned away and surveyed the situation.
A Ranker’s counterpart spending Recovery Potions without hesitation despite not being one himself.
And the sheer martial prowess to face down an entire group of orcs single-handedly while being a Tamer.
Even Orum’s eyes sparkled with admiration as she looked at Shin Tae-ho, her favor evidently rising.
After observing even her own stirring emotions, Bianca murmured in a voice none could hear.
“This. I think we’ve found allies we can truly trust. More than I expected.”
A satisfied smile played at Bianca’s lips as she watched Shin Tae-ho and Choi Yu-hwa.
To be continued ▶
Transcendent Master Blacksmith’s Return
Author
Seal Release
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Contact
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227067
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※ Pentagram welcomes submissions 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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