Genius Blacksmith's Game

The whole world was thrown into confusion.

Because Hyunsoo, standing atop the wall,

looked down at the crowd with arrogant eyes, stretched out his hand as if asking for a handshake, and said something no one could understand.

“Give me your loyalty.”

Did he want them to be loyal to him?

The people of the world could not understand what he meant.

Naturally so.

Give me your loyalty.

It was a unique SSS-grade title that only Hyunsoo possessed, so only he knew its true meaning.

And so the users could only take it literally. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Give me your loyalty?

Is he telling us to pledge loyalty?

To himself?

What the hell is he talking about?

They did not know the meaning, and they could not understand ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) it.

But the high-rankers were able to read part of his intent.

Th-this crazy bastard, seriously!

Whether it was a title or a skill, it did not matter.

Hyunsoo was implying something.

[Fond: Break through no matter what, but do not die! If we die, that bastard will try to absorb the Union!]

[Liu: Hyun, you crazy son of a bitch....]

[Yongwol: ...Everyone stay calm. That won’t happen. You know that, right? For that to happen, something utterly impossible would have to happen.]

Yes.

Something impossible would have to happen.

Fond gripped his sword tightly.

When Hyunsoo sat back down atop the wall, Bella gave a small bow, then turned around.

Fond thought rationally.

He himself possessed two Legendary artifacts, and even his ring was a Transcendent artifact.

And behind him were rankers packed thick within the world’s top 100,000.

Besides, the Twin Dragon Sword imbued within Master Blacksmith Hyun’s Twin Dragon Sword—

the power that once temporarily destroyed all artifacts within a certain radius—

could no longer shine the way it once had.

More than a year had passed since the Continental War.

At this point, that Twin Dragon Sword was ultimately nothing more than a weapon that used high status-ailment attack power to destroy the artifacts of those with low status-ailment resistance.

The people gathered here all had status-resistance gear.

A single skill could not possibly shatter all their artifacts.

“Move!”

But there was one thing they had no way to prepare for.

“Awaken.”

With that low murmur, that whisper,

a red heat haze surged up from Bella.

Bella herself could scarcely believe it.

Four set artifacts.

And the power contained within them.

Along with the +5 Twin Dragon Sword Master Blacksmith Hyunsoo had enhanced for her.

Enhancing a sword only raised its Attack Power.

But one of the set effects of the Sun Knight Set was a power that could maximize and transform a single skill.

KRAAAAAASH—!

Fond watched cracks spread across the sword of a user whose blade had collided with the Twin Dragon Sword.

“...?”

Goosebumps crawled down his back.

This was no longer in the form of an Active Skill.

[Twin Dragon Sword]

[There is a 40% chance of breaking an enemy artifact!]

CLAAANG, CLAAAANG, CLAAAAANG, CLAAAAAAAAANG—!

And at first, Bella had seemed weaker than expected.

That was only because so many high-ranking users had piled onto her with skill advantage, item advantage, and brute-force spending.

And because they had underestimated the power of a super-Named NPC.

A great many super-Named NPCs were born with swords already in hand.

And Bella was the Heir to the Sword King.

When someone like her fully armed herself in Legendary gear and took a Transcendent artifact into her hand,

she became a monster.

The instant Bella moved like a flash—

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

[Legendary artifact. Cantry’s Sword is destroyed.]

[Unique artifact. Deda’s Helm is destroyed.]

[Rare artifact. Corden’s Armor is destroyed.]

Dozens of artifacts shattered in a cascade.

Of course, it was temporary.

But that only meant one thing.

Their Attack Power and Defense were dropping at an exponential rate.

And beyond that—

“Linked skill, Gathering.”

The small silver-haired knight,

armed in crimson armor like the sun,

lowered her body.

She also possessed a power she had trained in so she could abandon the name Heir to the Sword King and become Atlas’s own Sword King.

But it had been woefully incomplete.

She had never managed to finish it.

And yet—

Hyunsoo and the blacksmiths studied and saw through the people who would one day wield their creations.

[The set effect of the Sun Knight Armor activates.]

[The designated skill’s power rises by 2 levels.]

“Storm.”

She invoked a mysterious power.

“Eve.”

Fond, the high-rankers around him, the dozens of rankers within the top 100,000 who had been condensed together by Gathering—

and even the hundreds of users charging in behind them—

were met with the stillness that comes before a storm.

Then—

SHRRAAAAAK—!

They heard the silver-haired knight pass through them in a single slash,

and they were torn apart inside the storm.

KWHAAAAAAAAAAAAANG—!!!

[HP falls below 4%!!]

At that moment, Fond felt a single emotion.

“Glory to my lord.”

“...”

It was a savage kind of envy.

Vera.

As Gremory’s Representative, she had lost that qualification when Gremory died.

But instead—

[The Great Archdemon Dantalion reaches out a hand to you.]

Like a revelation, the Great Archdemon Dantalion—a demon holier and stronger than an ordinary legion commander demon—had extended a hand toward her.

Her loyalty to the Evil God had been worth it.

And she had also heard something strange.

—The Evil God was enraged because of Hyun.

The Evil God had been enraged because of Hyun?

Not knowing that Hyunsoo had encountered the Evil God at the birth of the Great Bow of Demon-Slaying, Vera was astonished.

A mere user had managed to provoke the wrath of the Evil God?

And so Dantalion had granted permission for more sacred power than usual.

It was a demonic buff.

Vera possessed the power to temporarily turn allies into demonic beings,

and she transformed dozens of warrior-class users.

[Dantalion’s Mercy]

[All Attack Power increases by 21%.]

[Defense increases by 18%.]

[Status ailment resistance increases by 40%.]

The demonic soldiers backed by Vera, the Legendary Dantalion’s Representative, were overflowing with power.

They feared nothing.

At least until they met the Demon King—

and until that Demon King cut one of them down in a single strike.

And Vera could not understand something.

“Sir Luxiu.”

“...?”

Vera looked toward the woman named Nell.

Atlas’s chancellor. A woman with a brilliant mind.

She said:

“Seeing those demonized freaks, you scared?”

“...?”

“???”

No one there understood it.

Is she insulting her own side?

What the hell is going on?

It was bizarre.

“...Do you think I’d be afraid of trash who turned into something like that?”

Even stranger—

it was Nell who had thrown out the taunt, but it was Luxiu who answered them.

“I’ll kill you.”

The sword in his hand, one that called cherry blossoms to mind,

dug into their ranks—

and Full Bloom opened.

KRRRRRRRRAAAAAASH—!

“Urk!”

“Push him!”

“We fought him before! He’s more manageable than he looks!!!”

Luxiu was someone who had struggled before as well.

But now the users, greatly strengthened, charged at the horn-helmed Luxiu like madmen.

They unleashed every skill they had.

Watching his HP plummet at terrifying speed, they were elated.

But then Luxiu retrieved Full Bloom and cut through them—

[The Demon King’s Knight Set increases all HP recovery effects by an additional 40%.]

The combination of the Demon King’s Knight Set and Full Bloom

created a Demon King.

Every time Full Bloom drank blood,

the Demon King’s HP surged back by a huge amount.

W-what is this?

When human beings feel the greatest fear,

it is when they encounter something they cannot resist.

And these were people whose confidence had already swelled thanks to Dantalion’s Mercy through Vera.

They poured skills onto him,

but the one wearing the Demon King’s Knight Set—

[HP rises to 100%.]

—made it clear that users like them could never lay a hand on the Demon King in the horned helmet.

Vera was stunned.

Her allies were dying,

and the Demon King’s HP would not fall.

All of this was happening because of the combination of the Demon King’s Knight Set and Full Bloom.

Thus, while quite a few high-rankers had managed to refill their HP with potions after suffering damage from Million Bow,

far more had not.

A single Full Bloom was mowing enemies down.

Poison King Liu.

“SKREEEECH!”

From the tip of his spear descended the Legendary monster Hydra,

which unleashed a massive Breath toward the silver full-plated knight and the Blackwind behind him.

He was certain the Blackwind and Borne had melted under that acid spray.

But when the green mist cleared—

[The Death Knight Set protects all allies.]

[Absolute Invincibility]

[All effects that occur for 5 seconds are resisted.]

They appeared completely unharmed, despite taking the acid head-on.

And before the acid could reach their bodies, the ones who had been wearing robes tore them away—

and the Sovereign Blade thrown by the commander named Borne struck the Hydra once, twice, three times.

[Eightfold Slash is applied.]

KWHAAANG, KWHAAAAANG—!

Liu had now grown beyond merely summoning Hydra.

He had reached the point where he could use Hydra as a true summon under his control.

And yet what unfolded before his eyes was enough to stop his breath.

Each attack sliced Hydra eight times.

And then the trained cavalry unit called Blackwind rode past on horseback,

each one driving the newly bestowed cavalry lance into Hydra’s body exactly once as they passed.

At that moment—

BOOM, BOOM-BOOM, BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH—!

The role of cavalry was to kill every enemy in a single strike.

To that end, the lances of the entire Blackwind unit had been custom-crafted with explosive functions.

Even if each blast was slight, once an explosion occurred, its impact could not be ignored.

Watching Hydra collapse after hundreds of explosions, Liu’s eyes shook.

And beyond that—

NEEEEEEEEIGH!

The man with the phoenix feather fixed to his helmet pulled on the reins and swept through the gap between the cavalry and the User Kingdom Union.

Users who had been unable to drink potions and were still stuck at 20% HP were being cut down in droves.

Soon—

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

KWHAAAAAAANG—!

Each time a cavalry lance struck home, an explosion rolled across the battlefield.

The Akao Lexus had investigated was a level-500-or-so Legendary NPC, the Pirate King.

One reason Lexus the Bounty Hunter could be so powerful was that whenever he encountered a system-recognized powerhouse, all his stats rose by 25% and all skill levels increased by 2.

However—

RIIIIIIP, SLASH, SLAAAAASH—!

Every time Akao swung the child-sized scythe connected to him by a chain, users turned to ash.

And level-500 Akao had definitely been a target who could be eliminated with 100% certainty.

Yet—

CLANG, CLATTER-CLANG, CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER-CLANG—!

[Ignores 50% of Defense.]

[Every attack triggers a critical hit.]

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

“...”

Lexus reached a conclusion.

Absolutely impossible to hunt.

It was absurd.

Just because someone was wearing a set of artifacts—

no, merely a weapon and an armor set—

they could become this irrationally strong?

Hyun, you’re truly incredible, to craft artifacts like these.

Lexus, choosing retreat, sneered.

Give me your loyalty?

In the end, that bizarre line could never truly become reality.

Because Hyun had personally crafted all of this himself.

The users probably want to migrate to Atlas because they want to be supplied with artifacts. But Hyun alone can’t handle that kind of volume.

Lexus sneered.

“...So Hyun made all this for them, and in return they decided to be loyal to Atlas?”

And Akao, too, seemed to have become Hyun’s faithful dog.

But then Akao caught his scythe after reeling it back in, and made a puzzled face.

Lexus saw the name engraved on the scythe’s creator line.

Roun...?

At that moment Lexus examined the armor piece by piece.

Different blacksmith names were inscribed on each part of it.

“...!!?”

At that exact moment—

Hyunsoo rose from where he stood atop the wall.

And Lexus remembered.

Hyun is training handcraft blacksmiths in Atlas.

That story had spread everywhere,

and the whole world had mocked it.

And now Hyunsoo looked at everyone and said:

“...As for that armor, I didn’t make a single piece of it. Which means one day, you could become the owner of arms like those too.”

THRUST—!

The scythe drove into the startled Lexus’s heart, and he began turning to ash.

Even then, Lexus could not tear his eyes away from Hyun.

The User Kingdom Union forces—

the hundreds of thousands of them—

Lexus remembered how Hyunsoo had stretched out his hand a moment ago as though offering a handshake.

And now—

the people of the User Kingdom Union were stretching out their hands toward him the same way.