Genius Blacksmith's Game

Sunlight poured down.

As if brighter weather had emerged after the rain.

All the dark clouds hanging over that place, where black rain had been falling, cleared away, and a high blue sky was revealed.

“Clear skies and the devil arrive together.”

What was written in the old grimoire felt like beautiful words, but the reality was different.

A great archdemon.

The awakening from the seal of beings that could be called a catastrophe in themselves.

No matter what sort of darkness one tried to attach to it, nothing could stage terror more effectively.

So it was staged anew.

Clear skies.

That was the symbol announcing the resurrection of the great archdemon.

And this screen being broadcast all over the world.

Every one of them was watching the descent of a beautiful devil, standing there in stark contrast to the ground still soaking wet after the rain had fully stopped.

At first, this was what they thought.

The impact of a devil appearing with sunlight is incredible.

But that thought changed quickly.

The first reason was the flustered expression reflected across every screen the instant the great archdemon Gremory descended.

The second was the answer to the question the entire world had been wondering about all this time—who it was that had originally sealed Gremory.

“No way... Master Blacksmith Hyun, you bastard...!?”

That one statement trampled the effect of the devil that had arrived with clear skies.

Divine Archer Mio, who had spent most of her strength and now only had enough left to draw the bowstring.

Even she, who had blown apart Fuoruo’s glabella while he was babbling pathetically, fell into shock, and the hand gripping her bowstring loosened.

What... did she say?

And Kali, who had been blowing off the heads of all the legion commanders that were covered in blood.

Because he too had to show that he had grown just like Mio and Rund.

Because even if he did not want to, he too had to go through the growth called leveling up.

Even that crazed, rampaging Kali faltered after blowing off the head of a Calamity Church member.

“Long live... Gremory...?”

That was not all.

Rund, who had exhausted all his MP and was now in a safe place using magic to increase his mana recovery while watching the demon’s descent, felt as though his heart had just dropped.

Like that, this was—

“Master Blacksmith Hyun sealed Gremory?”

The holy knights and priests now knew that he was trying to create a holy relic for the Ares Church.

With just a single sword.

A sword forged by someone.

They had once held the doubt—could a blacksmith’s hands really cut down a demon?

But now—

KRAAAAK—

In front of the resurrected devil, the holy knights and priests now stood before a certain possibility.

On the other hand.

The members of the Calamity Church fell into confusion.

Was it simply because they had learned that Master Blacksmith Hyun had succeeded in sealing a great archdemon?

No.

The users currently on the side of the Calamity Church.

The instant Gremory appeared, they had heard a notification for an activated power.

The NPCs felt it differently, but they felt it too.

She was the source of their power.

[Gathering]

[The awakened great archdemon gathers the 22 Legions.]

[More than any resurrection, the 22 Legions will give her a magnificent welcome.]

[Members of the Calamity Church, celebrate her birth.]

That was why the members of the Calamity Church had been gathering before the newly revived Gremory.

Every last member of the Calamity Church, unlike the despairing members of the Ares Church, had been rejoicing.

The true evil that had revealed itself, and the legion commanders who owned twenty-two territories arrayed before her.

And beyond them, they had believed that they themselves, lined up behind them, would stage the opening of a new world.

However—

[It fails.]

[All legion commanders except 2nd Legion Commander Fuoruo have died.]

The members of the Calamity Church were thrown into shock.

And they had no choice but to find the cause in Gremory’s words.

The reason Gremory’s Gathering had failed.

They could only search for a hint through what she had said.

Hyun...?

Master Blacksmith Hyun?

Behind those who held hope stood those who held despair.

And just as the people gathered there—both Calamity Church and Ares Church alike—were shaken—

“The entire world is in shock.”

The sunlight was shining not on Gremory, but on Hyun.

“It has been revealed that Hyun was definitely present on the day Gremory was sealed. Furthermore, the very first name she uttered the moment she awakened was Hyun.”

“This is nothing short of shocking. That would mean Hyun existed only a few months after the continental war had ended.”

“Right now, the global viewership for Ares Church vs. Calamity Church has already been skyrocketing alongside Gremory’s resurrection.”

“Master Blacksmith Hyun has once again been branded as the number one real-time trending search term.”

“Up until just now, Gremory had been the number one live portal search term worldwide, but Master Blacksmith Hyun’s name has just broken through into first place.”

“According to the latest report, the number of articles about Hyun has increased by 120 times.”

“New search terms are rising too. Just now, Gremory was pushed down to third place in real-time searches, and Hyun moved into second. A brand-new number one search term has taken over the entire world.”

The viewers were curious.

In this situation, was there really any search term that could rise to number one above both Hyun and Gremory?

And then they recalled the notification from the past.

Originally, users could not surpass NPCs.

The users had been weak before the NPCs living in this land, to the point that nobody could even know how long it would take.

But the users had found hope in the notification they heard that day.

The hope that someday, perhaps, they might surpass them.

It was the word used to collectively refer to those who stood before them and led them.

“It’s the Lamps.”

The Lamps of the past had still not gone out.

All traffic had surpassed even the devil, and in return for the appearance of the Lamps, the viewers responded in their own way.

With ratings.

“The global combined viewership has now reached 19%.”

“One out of every five people is now watching Gremory on TV... no, what the Lamps built.”

“These ratings are still climbing rapidly.”

Pitiful.

It was a word one commentator only thought and did not say aloud.

Who would dare call someone pitiful in front of Gremory?

One in every five TV viewers was watching Gremory descend with all four limbs severed.

And they were admiring the one who had made her seem pitiful...

But just as the commentator could not bring himself to say it aloud, that too was only the illusion of wanting to believe she looked pitiful.

It was an upheaval.

Someone had said so.

What bullshit.

Gremory mocked it.

[Demon Descension]

[You have been afflicted with the status ailment Extreme Despair.]

[You have been afflicted with the status ailment Extreme Frustration.]

[You have been afflicted with the status ailment Extreme Fear.]

[You have been afflicted with the status ailment Uncrossable Wall.]

[You have been afflicted with the status ailment Infinite Helplessness.]

[All stats decrease by 20%.]

[All attack power decreases by 20%.]

[All defense decreases by 23%.]

[All agility decreases by 28%.]

[Skill activation may fail.]

“......!”

“......!”

“......!”

“......!”

When the last black current lingering around her scattered away.

The flames of the Lamps scattered like a mirage.

Everyone there except the members of the Calamity Church bled from their eyes, ears, and noses.

A grotesque status ailment skill that took effect just by facing her.

Even more shocking was Pope Karsel.

“Bleeergh!”

When he collapsed to his knees clutching his chest, all momentum crumbled.

Gremory, who by her mere appearance had swept away thousands of “knights and priests made of light” like a wave, let out a wet, gurgling sound with something very close to Satan’s voice.

“Grrk!”

It was a grotesque sound. Those who had dropped to the ground covered their ears without even realizing it.

But it pierced through those ears, and the “ultra-high frequency that humans fear the most” made their legs go ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) numb. Mocking the idea that this was an upheaval, Gremory laughed at it as nonsense.

KRAK—

“Hyun, this is amusing.”

That was all it amounted to in her eyes.

The devil, now in her complete form.

Two horns.

Wings like those of a bat.

She wore black leather belts that covered only her chest and lower body.

And yet she was so beautiful that one might mistake her for some demon of seduction.

Fully resurrected, Gremory stood over two meters tall.

“Did you really think that if you killed the legion commanders, you could easily kill me?”

From the start, the power of all twenty-two legion commanders had originated from her.

At this moment, it was made clear that there had never been any need for them to gather before her in the first place.

[Great Archdemon Gremory Lv.606]

“Strength was always relative to begin with. Ten level-500 knights would have a hard time defeating a single level-550 knight.”

“Then how many level-500 knights would it take to kill a level-600 knight?”

“Fifteen? Twenty? No—even thirty would not guarantee it.”

What everyone had briefly thought of as “pitiful” was now revealed to have been a misconception.

Those who had bled from the eyes, ears, and nose and briefly held onto “hope” at the appearance of the Lamps—

[Fuoruo’s Power]

It had been a source within her from the very beginning.

And Fuoruo. He had been called the Legion Commander of Explosions.

Gremory made an elegant gesture.

[Hell Explosion]

[An explosion with +1,200% additional attack power engulfs a 15-meter radius and annihilates everything!]

BOOOOOOOM—!

She delivered catastrophe.

Of the holy knights and priests packed into that place, around 300 were annihilated without leaving a trace.

Then, like a beautiful conductor leading an orchestra, she made just two more sweeping motions.

BOOOOOOOM—!

BOOOOOOOM—!

In an instant, 900 members of the Ares Church vanished, and one holy knight muttered,

“......This is hell.”

That was right.

This place was no different from a living hell, and everyone present shared that thought.

And Gremory.

At the splendid banquet Hyun had prepared, she too wished to savor one dish.

Gremory’s Brand.

By means of that brand, which she had once engraved on Hyunsoo and on the mongrel called Luxiu—

“I found you.”

She found that presence.

[Irma’s Authority]

[It drags any target over in an instant.]

[It cannot be resisted.]

That skill, both a status ailment and a coercive force, found the being hidden within the crowd and dragged him over.

“Lu-Luxiu!!!!!”

The members of Hyun’s Forge could not hide their dismay. Even if they wanted to move, they could not.

The duration of Demon Descension had not even ended yet.

And on top of that—

THUD—!

Luxiu’s neck was caught in the grasp of Gremory, the winged giant standing over two meters tall.

Already, he looked drenched in blood and exhausted to the limit.

Yet—

CLAAAAANG—!

Even with his neck seized, he crazily kept cutting at Gremory.

The whole world thought that since Luxiu’s level was approaching 500, perhaps he might be able to inflict a major shock.

[Fade’s Authority]

[Dozens of small shields protect the caster.]

Every one of those attacks was blocked by gleaming translucent shields without leaving so much as a scratch.

“If Luxiu had not been exhausted, he might have succeeded in landing at least a few strikes.”

“Right now, Luxiu has already accomplished far too much in this war. Normally, at this point, the system would place him under the status ailment Limit, and even judging by this alone, it is fair to say all his stats are down by at least 20%.”

The whole world let out a sigh.

“Luxiu, after his contributions in the Great Atlas War, was someone the world did not get to see much of.”

“And now Hyun’s Forge loses its greatest source of combat power.”

KRAAAAAK—

Gremory tightened her grip around Luxiu’s thrashing throat.

“......What is that sword, and what is the hammer-and-anvil crest engraved on that armor?”

She was enraged.

“You were a dog. A demon’s dog. So how can such a dog serve a human?”

CRRRRUNCH—

“Kuhhrrk!”

Luxiu’s face turned deathly pale as he coughed up blood.

And then—

KRAKAKAKAKAK—

The Supreme Blade in his grasp began to break under Gremory’s Authority. Though it had infinite durability, it was being rendered unusable for over ten minutes.

And everyone there knew it without being told—at this point, just the act of twisting his neck in her grip could kill him.

But the pride of the man called Luxiu.

That pride did not break, to the point that he still glared at Gremory with savage eyes.

To break him, Gremory spoke.

“Come back even now. I will appoint you as my 1st Legion Commander.”

To Gremory, the person called Luxiu—

he was far too precious, too valuable.

An undefeated knight.

And if she turned him into a demonic swordsman, one day he would become her hand and shine in the struggle for rank among the great archdemons.

More than Asura.

More than Vera.

More than any of those who had once held the position of 1st Legion Commander.

Gremory wanted him.

And then—

“......My lord told me to pass a message on to you.”

Gremory could not suppress the delighted smile rising on her lips.

The corners of her mouth twitched.

Surely he would not say that if she spared Luxiu, he would surrender—

“Gremory...... you dumb-fuck bastard......”

“......?”

Not just an idiot, but a dumb-fuck bastard?

KRAAAAAK—!

Gremory’s eyes were dyed with rage.

Now she would snap his neck.

CRRRUNCH—!

“And then......”

Luxiu opened his mouth.

A certain voice pierced Gremory’s mind, and the words ringing beside her ears—

they resounded clearly in Hyun’s voice.

“Summon, Gremory.”

Tower of Honor, Floor 10.

[You summon the demon Gremory.]

The Gremory’s Ring on Hyunsoo’s finger sent black currents into a frenzy.

KRAAAAAAGH—!

Gremory, as if being sucked in, appeared in confusion.

An unknown forge.

“Blacksmith Hyyyyyyyuuuuuun!”

He stood there holding the sword Babylon, mocking the devil.