The Returned Genius Blacksmith has Awakened as an all-Master - Chapter 114

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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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Episode 114
114. The City of Ice
“Is this…… Frelia?”
Geumson muttered in a daze.
The northern trading city of Frelia.
Living up to its reputation, the city was adorned entirely with transparent ice and blue crystals.
The buildings were as intricate as if carved from massive gemstones, and each streetlamp bore meticulous craftsmanship.
The cityscape glittering in sunlight looked like a scene from a fairy tale.
But that beauty did not last.
Creatures wandered through the streets of the city.
They interrupted Geumson’s admiration.
Grrrrr…….
Shrieeeek…….
Kek-kek-kek-kek!
Corpses staggering about with flesh torn away and bone exposed.
Specters drifting through the air, their blue eyes blazing.
The beautiful crystal city had become a playground for the dead.
‘It’s not a Safe Zone…… then.’
Any city in Lepiun should rightfully be designated a Safe Zone.
But Frelia was not.
Like an ordinary field.
It had become a zone where combat was possible.
“Ugh…… Look at that! It’s grotesque enough to die! I told you I didn’t want to come here!”
Lepiun, which boasted extreme realism.
Unfortunately, even the depiction of monsters—rotting and writhing with maggots—was rendered with perfect fidelity.
It was only natural that Ma Jin-chul recoiled with visible disgust.
But Geumson’s reaction was different.
He simply surveyed the city with an impassive expression.
To one who had lived through an age of ruin, a sight such as this was hardly shocking.
Geumson had experienced far more terrible hells without number.
‘This much…… is manageable.’
Back then, entire cities burned, the stench of rotting corpses permeated the air, and even the sky was dyed the color of blood.
In comparison, this place almost looked clean.
Geumson calmly activated a skill.
‘Perception of Boundaries.’
Whoosh—
A translucent map unfurled across Geumson’s vision.
Red dots blanketed the entire city.
It was reminiscent of the Monster Wave in Aerthos.
‘There are…… more than I expected.’
Undead as numerous as if every person in the city’s crowded streets had been combined.
But what captured Geumson’s attention more than the sheer number of red dots was something else.
“……What is this?”
Scattered among the sea of red dots.
Very faint, yet unmistakably marked—blue dots.
Their meaning was unambiguous.
‘Could there be…… survivors?’
Geumson’s heart began to pound.
Blue dots.
They signified non-hostile entities—NPCs or Players.
It meant that even though considerable time had passed since the city fell, there were still living people.
‘I have to…… rescue them.’
In that moment, a memory from the past flickered through Geumson’s mind.
People trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings, trembling with fear and terror, waiting only for rescue.
Their desperate eyes.
The anguished voices crying out for salvation, begging anyone to come.
He could not save them then.
No strength, no time, or perhaps too late.
Whatever excuses he made, he had been forced to turn away from countless lives.
That frustration and regret from back then surfaced naturally now.
Of course, this is not an age of annihilation.
But for Geumson.
For Geumson alone, the blue dots visible on the map felt different from what they were.
“Uncle Jin-chul, we need to save those people, don’t we?”
“People? What people? Look at that! What people could possibly be in there…….”
“There are. That’s why we have to hurry.”
Captured by memories of the past, Geumson’s words grew sparse.
But Ma Jin-chul seemed not to mind such things either.
Instead, he focused entirely on grabbing Geumson’s sleeve and holding him back.
“Hey, hey! You’re really going in there? That place? Don’t you see how thick the Undead are crawling all over it?”
“That’s exactly why we have to go. There are people inside, I’m telling you!”
“What are two of us supposed to do…… Call the Crown Prince instead! Look at those numbers! How are we supposed to break through that with just the two of us!”
Ma Jin-chul is no fighter.
Or rather, even if he were, he would have said the same thing.
That the fight cannot be won.
That it’s nothing but a dog’s death.
Ma Jin-chul wanted to turn back right then and there.
But Geumson knew the easiest way to persuade him.
“Uncle, don’t you need a skill?”
“A, a skill? Well, of course…….”
“If the Crown Prince gets involved, it’s Quest Failure. Is that what you want?”
Ma Jin-chul hesitated at the mention of a skill.
Geumson drove the point home like a wedge.
“Uncle, you do what you do best. I’ll do what I do best.”
“What I…… do best?”
“Build an ice barrier for me. A solid one—strong enough to keep those Undead from interfering uselessly.”
At Geumson’s words, Ma Jin-chul’s jaw dropped.
Was this maniac out of his mind?
He was asking him to build an ice barrier in the middle of that Undead army?
That was the same as isolating himself.
Ma Jin-chul looked utterly bewildered.
But Geumson trusts him.
Or rather, Ma Jin-chul’s ability as demonstrated in the age of annihilation.
He knew well how much power that ability could wield in this very situation.
Better than Ma Jin-chul himself.
“I can’t face that many monsters all at once. So we have to keep them from swarming me at the same time.”
“So, so how do we do that…….”
“Block everything except one spot. Like a bottle—narrow at the neck, wide inside. I’ll sweep away everything that tries to squeeze through.”
Ma Jin-chul listened to Geumson’s explanation and fell silent for a moment.
The Bottleneck Effect.
Restricting the enemy’s movement path, inducing monsters to collide with each other and collapse on their own.
It was one of the most important elements Ma Jin-chul considered when designing a maze.
‘This bastard…… that’s the core of my design? He can’t know what he’s doing, can he?’
Goosebumps erupted across Ma Jin-chul’s skin.
Geumson was presenting the method he could execute best, as if he’d looked directly into Ma Jin-chul’s mind.
“Ha, really, you…….”
Ma Jin-chul let out a deep sigh.
Now he couldn’t refuse.
Building a maze was what he did best, just as Geumson said.
This was a matter of pride as a maze designer.
Besides, he couldn’t betray Geumson’s faith in his ice barrier—faith greater than anyone else’s.
Beyond the quest itself, he didn’t want to disappoint Geumson, who believed in him so completely.
“Fine, fine! Geez, if it goes wrong, what’s death anyway? Let me give it a shot!”
“You won’t die. Don’t worry.”
“That confidence of yours won’t last more than a few hours. Don’t underestimate the Undead—they never tire.”
With Ma Jin-chul’s words, Geumson finally seemed to find a little psychological stability.
Ma Jin-chul left a warning for him.
Even so, Ma Jin-chul began pulling out a Blueprint with practiced care.
And he started rapidly scanning the city’s terrain.
“Good…… if I block here and here, that should do it. And this side I’ll set as the funnel zone…….”
His eyes changed.
The coward Ma Jin-chul vanished, replaced by the genius maze architect Ma Jin-chul standing in his stead.
He raised his hand.
A biting chill erupted from his fingertips.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack—
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom—
The earth trembled as towering pillars of ice suddenly thrust skyward throughout Frelia’s city.
Crash!
The ice columns linked together, forming a colossal wall that sealed the city’s entrance in an instant.
Leaving only the single narrow passage Geumson had designated.
Growl?
Shriek!
The Undead reeled in confusion at the sudden transformation, stumbling about in disarray.
But the Undead under the Witch’s control—
They quickly sensed the intruders’ presence and began rushing toward Geumson and Ma Jin-chul.
Like an army, they came.
“Ugh—they’re coming! They’re coming! What are you doing? Get ready for combat, hurry—!”
Ma Jin-chul trembled at the Undead’s onslaught.
Yet unlike the panicking Ma Jin-chul, Geumson made no move to prepare for battle.
Instead, he simply produced a small Medicine Bottle from his possession.
“What is that…?”
Before Ma Jin-chul could finish his question, Geumson let a single drop of the bottle’s contents fall to the ground.
Drip—
A thick crimson drop landed on the earth.
Yet sensing it insufficient, he released another drop.
Drip—
In that instant, every red dot marking Frelia on Geumson’s map began moving en masse.
Toward Ma Jin-chul’s ice barrier.
They surged forward at incredible speed.
“You—don’t tell me that’s Beast Lure Incense! What insane thing are you doing!”
As the Undead reacted wildly as if gone berserk, even Ma Jin-chul seemed to recognize it.
Beast Lure Incense had become a famous item in Lepiun because of the Aerthos Defense War.
Yet to the bewildered Ma Jin-chul, Geumson spoke with perfect composure.
“In the first place, Beast Lure Incense wasn’t made for nonsense like what Aerthos did with it.”
“What do you mean…?”
“This is the proper use of Beast Lure Incense.”
The Undead surged forward.
But their behavior now differed from what Ma Jin-chul remembered.
Before, under the Witch’s control, they’d moved like a disciplined army—now, it was different.
Like Undead returning to their true nature, obedient only to primal hunger.
Freed from all control, consumed by frenzy, they began tearing at one another indiscriminately, friend and foe alike.
“Ah? This way…?”
Geumson’s first plan against the Undead.
To break the Witch’s control.
It had worked.
But Geumson’s plan was merely the beginning.
“And you warned me about Undead that don’t tire, didn’t you?”
Geumson hadn’t forgotten Ma Jin-chul’s warning.
Geumson smiled faintly as he spoke to Ma Jin-chul.
“I have one too. A tireless combat machine.”
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
Iron Walker charged forward as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
Toward the single ice passage.
Iron Walker’s massive frame completely blocked the narrow corridor.
And then—
“Walker, sweep them out.”
“Walkkkkkker! Burn! Burn! Burn them down!”
Whoooosh—
Iron Walker’s Flame Thrower erupted with fire.

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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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