Genius Blacksmith's Game

The whole world was thrown into shock.

Because the truth had finally come out about Balas Territory, a territory so small it was barely worth mentioning.

It started with a witness report from a user who claimed a massive roar had echoed out there.

-Now that a little over ten days have passed since the non-aggression pact preventing an invasion of Atlas ended, war has broken out.

It was the beginning of Hyun’s Forge’s invasion.

The reason the world was in shock was not because war had broken out.

-Duke Lukael and the 82,000 surviving defeated troops have apparently formed an alliance with the User Kingdom Union, which had recently been making moves toward founding a kingdom.

-What’s hard to understand is Duke Lukael’s behavior. A man like Duke Lukael should have marched straight on the User Kingdom Union and Atlas.

One commentator saw through the situation.

-...Duke Lukael is a famous figure. The Parion Empire has long subjugated many small peoples and kingdoms. The man who rendered the greatest service in that process was Duke Lukael himself. In the early days, Duke Lukael massacred the villages and territories of minority tribes that resisted, then hung up the heads of elders and lords as examples. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The viewers were horrified.

-No way, lol.

-Isn’t this rated for all ages?

-He wouldn’t really go that far, would he?

But it wasn’t long before they witnessed something shocking.

The merchants of Balas Territory, returning after trading with the outside world, were slaughtered by Duke Lukael’s orders.

That was the kind of man Lukael was.

A man with no blood and no tears.

And among those 82,000 defeated troops, about 1,000 were mages.

KRRRRRRRUMBLE—!

RRRRRRRRRUMBLE—!

Hundreds of spells flashed without rest as they hurtled toward the walls.

KRAAAASH—!

KRRRRRRRUMBLE—!

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH—!

[The durability of the walls falls below 70%.]

[The durability of the walls falls below 65%.]

The walls did not appear capable of holding out long under the bombardment of hundreds of mages.

At the same time, dozens of cloaked drone cameras from all over the world captured the war from every angle.

-What is Balas’s current situation?

-Balas Territory is an extremely small territory. Its total population is estimated at around 12,000, with roughly 9,000 territory residents, about 1,000 blacksmiths, and around 2,000 troops.

-How long do you think it can last before falling?

-It will have a hard time lasting more than thirty minutes.

Lukael had no intention of dragging out this slaughter.

“Everyone over the walls.”

From the beginning, it had been a battle between 82,000 soldiers and 2,000.

Ordinarily, he would have made it a drawn-out fight to minimize losses among his troops.

But he felt no need for that at all.

SHHHHHHRIP—!

SHHHHHHHHHHRIP—!

Hundreds of ropes unfurled and hooked themselves over the high walls of Balas Territory.

Using them, the troops began climbing up the walls.

“AAAAAGH!”

“URK!”

From atop the walls, Balas’s troops hurled boulders and rained arrows down on them, but it was useless.

The defeated troops were elite soldiers whose levels far surpassed theirs from the outset.

So instead—

THRUST, THRUST-THRUST-THRUST, THRUST-THRUST-THRUST—!

The arrows fired by the Parion Empire Army sent Balas Territory’s soldiers plunging down without end.

One arrow sped straight toward a young blacksmith not yet sixteen, clutching a rock to defend Balas Territory.

FWIIIIIIISH—!

“Hhk!”

As the startled young blacksmith froze, people all over the world shut their eyes tight.

To modern people unaccustomed to war, it was too tragic to watch.

And right then—

THUUUUD—!

The incoming arrow was split in half in midair by another arrow.

-...!?

-...!?

The entire world gasped in admiration.

An incoming arrow had just been shot down by another arrow?

-It must be a skill.

-Users have skills that can neutralize enemy arrows, things like that.

But soon the arrows flying through the air began shattering one after another without pause.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!

It was a sight beyond shocking—something downright terrifying.

-You’re saying it’s not a skill!?

And the arrows didn’t stop there.

FWIIIIISH—!

THUUUUUUD—!!

Duke Lukael could not hide his shock.

The mage at his side had just been pierced clean through the forehead and killed instantly.

...That accuracy is absurd.

The owner of those mysterious arrows moved in all directions.

FSSSSSH—!

KRAAAASH—!

FSSSSSH—!

KRAAAAAASH—!

The mages crucial to breaking the walls had their foreheads pierced before they could even find a hole to hide in.

“Raise the wind.”

At Duke Lukael’s order, the mages found a way to protect themselves from the arrows.

SHHHHHHHHH—!

A tremendous wind surged forth and threw every arrow’s trajectory into disarray.

At last, the barrage of arrows died down, and the moment one soldier made it over the wall—

THUUUUD—!

“...!!!”

A chill ran down Duke Lukael’s spine.

...It wasn’t that the wind kept the archer from hitting. She was waiting. She’s calculating the wind?

At the same time, atop the wall, five hundred archers trained to defend Balas loaded Aegisal Arrows and stood ready in unison.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!

They swept away the vanguard in one stroke.

And the one commanding them from the front was Hyeji.

“Load one volley, fire!”

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!

-The Olympic gold medalist Hyeji has entered the battlefield.

-The archers’ accuracy is abnormal. Hyeji must have personally trained this archer corps.

-This is an unexpected variable for the Parion Empire.

-Against all expectations, Balas Territory has held the walls for over an hour without letting them fall!

Before the arrows of the archer corps, whose accuracy was perfect, soldiers died helplessly.

Lukael cut down the necks of soldiers retreating in fear of the arrows.

“Get over those walls. Anyone who comes back now dies by my hand!”

Even so, all they had done was buy a little time.

In fact, once the enemy pressed forward with sheer numbers, Balas’s true condition became obvious.

RRRRRRRRRRR—!

[Balas’s walls collapse.]

At last, it was the moment Duke Lukael and the defeated troops entered Balas Territory.

The first thing they did the instant they stepped inside was simple.

RRRRRRRRRRR—!

The mages’ wide-area bombardment spells began blasting every forge in Balas Territory, the land known as the blacksmith territory.

KWHAAAAAAAAANG—!

BOOM-BOOM, BOOM-BOOM, KWHAAAAAAAAANG—!

The forges scattered across Balas Territory exploded one after another without end.

Several blacksmiths nearby were swept up as well, erased so completely they left nothing behind.

And among the debris, the broadcast cameras caught sight of a rabbit doll rolling across the ground, something that appeared to have belonged to a blacksmith’s child playing inside one of the forges.

-This is something we never understood before. That war could be so horrific to people like us, who, under the name of users, thought we were merely “playing a game.”

All over the world, people were beginning to understand just how heartbreaking it was to watch a territory reach its end.

Screams rang out throughout Balas Territory without cease, and its people had begun to retreat.

And then—

RRRRRRRRRRR—

-I-it’s the Turtle Ship!

-The Turtle Ship is cutting through the sky and coming this way!

The viewers lit up.

The cameras were covering multiple locations at once.

And unlike Duke Lukael and the defeated troops pressing inward, they saw the Turtle Ship coming from the opposite side and burst into cheers.

-As expected of Hyun’s Forge. Balas Territory is a small territory. There was never any way it could handle an army that large.

-It’s true that every escape route had already been blocked. But the Turtle Ship Hyun forged before seems capable of serving as a flying transport as well!

-It looks like the Turtle Ships arriving now will carry all the territory residents and troops and head for Atlas, the main stronghold.

-Based on how the war has gone so far, Lukael’s side has actually taken greater casualties thanks to Hyeji and the archers.

In truth, the civilians and soldiers had already gathered inside Balas’s small castle, and the broadcast showed Lord Bellin and the others preparing to board.

Viewers around the world mocked Lukael.

-LMAO, you came all this way and still got nothing done?

-Damn, so in the end Duke Lukael’s only prize is Balas Territory, a tiny little backwater.

-Even then, what’s the point? It’s not like there’s anything there worth taking.

Without realizing it, the viewers were relieved that the residents of Balas Territory might survive after all.

But that was only their hope.

Duke Lukael had already expected Hyun’s Forge to have prepared some kind of contingency.

And among those who had joined this war on Lukael’s side were high-ranker users from all over the world.

One of them—

[The Legendary monster, the Wyvern Lord, appears!]

[Wyvern Lord Lv.521]

The world’s number-one-ranked Tamer, Relly, came hurtling in astride a beast five times larger than an ordinary wyvern, something that looked almost like a small dragon, leading a wyvern legion behind them.

The Wyvern Lord immediately slammed its body into the Turtle Ship moving to pick them up and shot it out of the sky.

KRAAAASH—!

Then, wheeling sharply, it quickly brought down the remaining three Turtle Ships as well.

At the same time, the defeated troops riding the wyverns tried to descend into the midst of the 12,000 people gathered on the castle roof.

-User Hyeji and the members of Hyun’s Forge are fighting desperately...!

“Stop themmm!!!”

“Users, protect the NPCs even if you have to throw yourselves in front of them!”

“My lord, this way!!!”

All over the world, the broadcast showed the users belonging to Hyun’s Forge fighting desperately on the rooftop to protect the territory residents and civilians.

They had formed a tight ring around Lord Bellin and were battling with everything they had.

Hyeji in particular was awe-inspiring, landing three arrows per second with perfect accuracy.

But at that moment—

KRAAAASH—

A diving wyvern bit through Hyeji’s arrow in midflight, and her bowstring snapped, taking those miraculous arrows with it.

Everything was spiraling toward the worst possible outcome.

Below the castle stood 82,000 defeated troops.

Above, Relly was killing the people of Balas one by one.

And then, at that moment—

[A world message rings out.]

The viewers around the world had no attention to spare for a world message sounding off at a time like this.

After all, world messages rang out several times a day.

They simply assumed that something special had happened to someone somewhere, as usual.

But then—

[He has forged, for the first time among all users, the strangest and most terrifying bow ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) in the world.]

That phrase seized the attention of viewers worldwide and stunned the commentators too.

Could a world message really ring out for no more reason than the fact that something was bizarre and terrifying?

No.

[The third Myth is written.]

-...!?

-...!?

Commentators and viewers all over the world could do nothing but stare in shock.

And at the same time—

FWOOOOOOOOSH—!

Above Balas Territory, isolated and sinking toward despair, a single blaze rose up.

And within that blaze, he appeared, carrying some enormous thing wrapped in cloth.

The whole world stared in astonishment.

No one knew what was inside the cloth.

But—

-W-what on earth is that!?

-Something bizarre inside the cloth... something unidentified is writhing!

TWITCH, TWITCH—!!!

The sounds of war swallowed everything.

When Hyunsoo stepped down onto the castle rooftop and said something, Hyeji dropped to the ground and burst into tears.

Hyunsoo patted her shoulder.

Still crying, Hyeji rose with a radiant smile and walked with him toward the castle parapet.

A great shaft of sunlight fell over them, illuminating a blacksmith smiling at her and a Divine Archer standing at his side.

The blacksmith handed over the thing wrapped in cloth, and the instant she took hold of it, the ghostly writhing stopped.

As if it had finally met its master.

Then she pulled away the cloth that covered it.

WHOOOOOSH!

What emerged was a massive black greatbow, as large as Hyeji herself, forged entirely in black.

The moment she grasped that black greatbow—

-SKIHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE—!!

A hideous peal of laughter roared through every broadcast camera, paralyzing viewers across the world.

[The bow that leads an era appears.]