Genius Blacksmith's Game

There were two reasons they pulled the Goyard army back.

First: the citizens and the soldiers—so they wouldn’t be caught in the status ailment.

Second.

Demon Gremory’s second legion commander.

The one called the legion commander of explosion—because they possessed the power to trigger the widest-area explosion.

An area attack.

The moment this kind of power becomes most efficient is when the enemy is densely packed.

The Blood Ghoul Corps who believed the fall was guaranteed were more tightly packed than they’d ever been.

Bodies packed tightly enough to fill the castle.

[Hellfire Spear]

The instant the black spear stabbed into the ground among the Blood Ghoul Corps—

KRA-KA-BOOOOM—!

The entire Kingdom of Goyard was swallowed by a colossal shock.

[The hellfire explosion covering a 450m radius deals 870% damage.]

Pick, the supreme commander leading the Blood Ghoul Corps.

Even Pick was trapped in a massive status ailment they couldn’t resist—kneeling, blood tears spilling down.

And as Pick watched the wave spreading from the spear, the blast, and the fan-shaped smoke rising—

Pick’s eyes trembled.

Then a tremendous gale blew in and stripped all the smoke away.

In that instant, Pick’s eyes shook harder.

...What is this?

Fifteen thousand four hundred Blood Ghoul Corps.

They were scattering as bone dust.

At the same time, the demon in the sky vanished.

Inside the capital.

Sword Duke Lysen, who had climbed up onto the wall at speed—

“......”

They were staring at a sight they couldn’t believe.

Fifteen thousand Blood Ghoul Corps met death in an instant. Even seeing it with their own eyes—even having participated directly—Lysen couldn’t believe it.

This plan really... came true?

Lysen had seen Hyunsoo vanish, swallowed in warp light.

And Lysen wasn’t the only one who couldn’t process it.

The three marquises who’d had their lives saved from Fenrir thanks to the demon summon—but had fallen into the status ailment.

As the demon disappeared, the status ailment released and they could move again, but the shock they’d taken was still severe.

Why are we here...?

Hyunsoo’s telekinesis...?

They also realized that they, who had been suspended in midair, were now safely down on top of the wall. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

“Cough—!”

But their condition was terrible.

The kingdom’s stars spat blood from their mouths.

They wiped blood running from their eyes and ears and noses.

Then, from Lysen approaching, they heard the full story.

Of course, along with the warning that the fact they had hunted a demon had to be hidden.

“......”

“......”

The three marquises, barely able to hold themselves upright, didn’t rage at Hyunsoo for not telling them.

Even though they had nearly died under the status ailment, they didn’t blame him.

That Hyunsoo...

He pulled something like this off?

At first glance he’d been a brat. Later, he’d been a lord.

A lord of a collapsing blacksmith territory, at that.

And one day, he had become a king’s descendant that even they couldn’t deny—and time had passed in that unease.

And now that man was planting a single hope into Goyard, which had been on the edge of ruin.

The marquises.

They gripped their swords with all their strength.

They had no intention of letting go of the opening Hyunsoo gave them.

The marquises began to move.

Meanwhile—

KUUUUUUUUNG—!

A massive tremor struck the entire capital. The citizens and soldiers crouched inside—

“Waaah, waaahhh!”

A newborn’s cry, from a woman holding the baby, pierced through the cracks.

“Ah... ahh....”

“Please....”

“Please let us overcome this crisis....”

“I want to live...!”

They were simply afraid.

The soldiers—because they had fought the Blood Ghoul Corps directly, and they thought the fall might come fast.

The citizens who didn’t know how to fight were drowning in despair as the nation they’d built, Goyard, collapsed in an instant.

And then—

“Hee...? Heehee!”

The crying baby stopped in an instant and laughed.

Starting with that strange little laugh, one by one, they remembered.

After the tremor, ten seconds. Then open your eyes.

One by one, they opened their eyes.

Instinctively, they turned their heads toward the direction of the baby’s laughter.

Toward whatever it was the baby—smiling wide—was sensing.

The woman hugging the baby tight shed tears of relief without even realizing it.

“Ahh...!”

On the wall.

At the very center, someone in a brown coat was looking out over all the people, slowly nodding.

THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!

Soldiers who had come back to their senses stared at him like they were bewitched—and began beating the drums announcing the counterattack.

Soldiers who’d believed defeat was certain.

As they slowly rose, they gripped their weapons with all their strength.

Another woman.

Nell, a player who had somehow slipped into the capital fast, couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Only one man.

With him as the center, the three marquises gathered at his side even though the blood that had run from their eyes, ears, and noses had crusted over.

And old Sword Duke Lysen, the elder of the kingdom’s greatest family, stood there as well with hands clasped behind their back.

The three marquises shouted.

“Count Hyunsoo commands!”

The three marquises raised their swords high, declaring that today of all days, a new commander stood here.

Hundreds of thousands of eyes looking at him could feel it—like everything had turned black-and-white.

In that black-and-white—

The king’s descendant we had denied, in a brown coat.

A mere blacksmith, a brat—now, at most, a noble who’d only reached the rank of count.

In that monochrome world, he was becoming a “lantern,” lighting the world.

He roared in a powerful voice.

“WARRRRR—!”

Following the single sword he lifted, twenty thousand archers on the wall drew their bowstrings taut—

“FIIIIIRE!”

Tens of thousands of arrows swept away the Blood Ghoul Corps threatening Goyard like dry leaves in a gale.

PUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUK—!

[1,824 Blood Ghoul Corps are killed!]

“Open!”

SCREEEEE—!

With that powerful voice, the gate opened—and with Sword Duke Lysen mounted at the front, soldiers burned with savage, ominous light in their eyes, charging as if chasing the lantern.

“Charge!”

The ones who had only blocked in fear transformed.

Now, they were more confident than ever—and furious.

And they weren’t afraid.

They watched the man standing at the highest point commanding them thrust his sword forward—and they surged.

“You fucking bastards!”

“Uooooh...!”

“AAAAAAAHHH!”

Even though they’d been released from the status ailment, the remaining Blood Ghoul Corps—still not fully free of the aftermath—were swept away at high speed.

[The morale of the Goyard army pierces the heavens!]

WAAAAAAAHHHHHH—

[The cheers of all the people spread through Goyard.]

UWAAAAAAAHHHHH—!

Soldiers and citizens—their cheers rang out as if announcing the Blood Ghoul Corps’ defeat.

But unlike that burning sound—

[The morale of the Blood Ghoul Corps plummets!]

The Blood Ghoul Corps had already been confused after losing a large portion of their commanders.

The first shock.

Then the second shock: Gremory’s status ailment.

And the third shock—

The overwhelming dignity of the Goyard army, who—unlike them—had not been afflicted by the status ailment.

And the ones who had been slaughtered were now sweeping them away like a tidal wave, heralding the opening of a counterattack.

[3,417 Blood Ghoul Corps are killed!]

Today, their blood was too hot.

And the Blood Ghoul Corps’ blood cooled, ice-cold.

“Don’t die. That’s ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) an order!”

In that blazing battle, the commander’s voice rang out.

All the people still looked at him, soldiers swung their swords—

...If we don’t die, can we serve you?

Thank you.

Goyard’s light.

“Goyard’s hero!!!!!!”

A knight’s shout—and that shout spread.

But then—

RROOOOAR—!

Hearing that howl, they realized.

Goyard had fallen so fast for one reason.

Not because of the Blood Ghoul Corps.

[Legendary monster Fenrir Lv.493]

A massive body, ten meters tall.

A Legendary monster that could even shrink its size freely at times.

Fenrir.

What kind of existence was it?

Even if every last Blood Ghoul Corps were wiped out—

It was an existence that could turn Goyard’s capital into wasteland all by itself.

KWAJAAAAK—

A single giant wolf with enormous ash-gray fur swallowed dozens of Goyard soldiers in one bite.

The tidal formation that had been sweeping the Blood Ghoul Corps was ripped apart.

[Acceleration]

Fenrir accelerated sharply, trampling and crushing soldiers like an elephant.

The Goyard army, who had advanced without fear, faltered.

No matter how high their momentum rose, no matter how hard they tried to burn courage—

The massive Legendary monster was still a thing of terror to them.

Especially—

WAGUJAAAAK—!

Fenrir, chewing soldiers to pulp with grinding bites, was furious.

Like a high-intelligence monster, it had realized Gremory’s summon was temporary—and that someone had reduced it to a worthless “fucking mutt” through that Transcendent species.

And because that Transcendent species would never show itself again, it grew even more arrogant.

RROOOOAR—!

Fenrir, having killed four hundred Goyard soldiers in an instant, roared.

Knights who gathered their courage tried to cut it—and froze.

TANG—!

What kind of hide is this thick...?

Its hide was so hard the blade didn’t even bite.

If they had been a player, they would have heard something like this—

[You dealt 1 damage.]

The difference between a successful attack and a failed one was massive.

Then, inside Fenrir’s mouth, a huge crimson power rippled.

BWOOOOOOOM—

The sign of an ultimate.

This power, manifested during the fall of the second fortress, resembled a dragon’s Breath.

The moment it fired, it could tear down the wall in an instant—and kill countless people beyond it.

The Goyard army went white.

Not because the wall would fall.

“Please... no....”

“Behind the wall—there are citizens!!!”

This single attack looked like it would take at least twenty thousand citizens’ lives.

Soldiers and knights fired arrows like mad and thrust spears—but they couldn’t leave so much as a scratch on Fenrir.

On the wall, the three marquises—and Lysen on horseback—went pale.

Especially Lysen.

They could see the direction: it was aimed at them.

They couldn’t dodge.

Lysen turned back, looked at the knights, and smiled—white.

Lysen had said it before.

The old soldier would go first—so they shouldn’t die.

But the knights behind them were also close to Lysen.

“Sorry I can’t keep my promise. See you in hell.”

Just as the power was about to fire—

“Up there...!”

At someone’s cry, Lysen’s eyes snapped to the sky.

The man who had been standing on the wall just moments ago.

He was standing in the sky, gripping the Twin Dragon Sword in both hands, and falling.

Everyone’s eyes—Blood Ghoul Corps included—locked onto him.

The three marquises.

...Wasn’t Fenrir the one even His Majesty couldn’t kill?

The citizens and soldiers.

Legendary monsters are overwhelmingly stronger than human legends...

And Nell.

Hyunsoo... I understand your heart. But...

Nell swallowed her grief.

It had only been a week since she’d separated from him.

Hyunsoo’s strength from a week ago—

With that strength, it would be hard to even scratch Fenrir.

And this was being broadcast live.

—Fenrir is the one even Barad couldn’t handle, and it’s a Legendary monster.

—As far as known, the only player who has successfully hunted a Legendary monster one-on-one is Bahala.

—And Master Blacksmith Hyunsoo should know this. In the two months he was hiding, Ares’s NPCs, monsters, and players grew. He would have been stagnant.

The commentators denied it.

And Fenrir.

Fenrir ignored the human falling from above.

From Fenrir’s perspective, the only thing in this kingdom worth being wary of was Barad.

But even Barad was still just a human in the end.

Even if both were “legends,” a named monster overwhelmingly exceeded humans in attack power, defense, and total HP.

If anything, it was fun.

The human would throw everything into trying to stop it, but wouldn’t be able to.

And then—

At last, Hyunsoo, gripping the blade tight with both hands, smashed down on Fenrir’s head.

KRA-KA-BOOOOM—!

In that instant—

“......!”

“......!”

—......!

—W-what is that!?

Everyone watching gasped in shock.

A single strike.

Fenrir’s head was driven into the ground, and its body twitched intermittently.

And because Fenrir had let its guard down, it even forgot its own majesty—and whimpered like a puppy.

YIP......

A brief silence swept across the battlefield.