Genius Blacksmith's Game

Sword King Barad was hiding himself off to one side of where Ifrit dwelled.

He looked at the sword in his hand. Hyun’s Fourth Custom Craft Sword had melted the instant he entered this place.

The armor he wore was the same.

In a mere 5 seconds, about 30% of its durability was lost.

‘Half.......’

Sword King Barad clenched the necklace hanging from his neck.

The necklace his son had given him as a gift was melting as well.

Ifrit’s trait melted even artifacts of Unique grade without exception.

Yet Barad stepped out from the place where he had concealed himself.

He decided he would not evade any longer.

‘Even if I die, I’ll take the creature with me.’

Soon Ifrit revealed itself.

A being reaching a full 3 m in height, its whole body shrouded in roiling flame. In one hand it held a blazing spear.

[Ifrit Lv.406]

In pure strength alone, it was weaker than Barad. The problem was the scorching heat that would melt anything.

Barad, having shown himself, charged at Ifrit.

CHAAAAAK—

At the instant the Sword King’s blade—known for the finest swordsmanship—cut into Ifrit, scorching flames surged up.

“Kuhaaaah!”

Before he knew it, the sword had melted nearly another 50%.

He rammed the blade into the creature’s chest and heaved upward with all his might.

PWOOOOOK—

FWOOOOOSH—

Along with that, the seething flames leapt onto Sword King Barad’s body.

[Ifrit’s Flame]

Ifrit’s flame, which melts anything, ignited across Barad’s entire body.

But Barad did not retreat.

His sword strikes cut and cut and cut the creature again.

But Ifrit realized it.

It had won.

He was already dying, and even his weapon was ruined.

With that blunted tip of a sword, he could no longer......

PWOOOOOK—

“Uoooooh!”

It was cleaved.

Ifrit could not conceal its astonishment.

The sword was half melted, molten metal dripping from it.

Seeing the man cut it with that sword, gooseflesh rose along its back.

It seized the man’s shoulder.

The man, too, possessed an astonishing physique.

His body was regenerating at high speed.

But it could not keep pace with the rate at which it burned under the creature’s heat.

And yet, even as his arm melted, the man kept cutting it, kept cutting it, kept cutting it.

KR-R-R-R-RACK—!

Terror.

Ifrit was engulfed by fear.

Barad gritted his teeth. Grasping the sword in both hands, he struck with all his strength at the creature’s neck.

KUUUUNG—

The dull edge could not sever the neck in one stroke.

Twice.

Thrice.

Four times.

He would take the creature with him to the end.

At that moment Ifrit’s kick slammed into him.

Hurled backward, Barad felt the moment of death approaching.

Yet there was a chance.

Its neck was half severed, and he still had strength left for one last cut.

Then Barad realized he could not walk.

“.......”

Lava summoned by Ifrit had flooded across the entire floor.

Barad realized that even he, called an immortal, would melt if he walked that lava path.

His gaze fell on the sword.

The blade in his grasp had completely melted, and the armor too was the same.

Barad looked at Ifrit.

Ifrit, wreathed in raging flame, was regenerating in contrast to him.

And seeing the lava creeping toward him, he knew he too would melt.

Even so, Barad took a step.

“......!”

Ifrit was appalled.

The moment a foot touched the lava, even with an immortal body, it would melt.

Ifrit was seized by an instinctive fear.

In reflex, it hurled the seething spear it held.

KWA-RRRRRRK—

The spear of flame, tearing the air with a fierce sonic crack, shot for his heart.

Barad’s eyes followed the spear.

In the instant he intuited that, when that spear pierced his chest, he would scatter to bone-dust as well—

Barad felt bitter resentment.

He had come here to avenge his son, and yet at the creature’s hands, both his son and he himself would meet death.

Just then—

KR-R-R-R-RACK—!

“......?”

Barad wore a puzzled look.

The spear flying toward him had begun to freeze.

Its speed slowed.

And the roiling flames wreathed about the spear froze as they were, holding their shape.

Barad’s thoughts halted for a moment.

The same for Ifrit.

What had they just witnessed?

Just then—

“......Your Majesty!”

A familiar voice. Deputy Commander Bella’s voice.

And then came a sound that rapidly froze the surroundings.

KRRRRRRRK—

It surged like breakers.

From the entrance, a wave-like surge of ice froze everything in an instant.

Soon steam rose from the lava that had already reached Barad’s toes.

Then it cooled and froze.

Hundreds of surging shards of ice took hold of the whole of Ifrit’s Tomb.

‘......A sword.’

It was the blacksmith Hyun’s sword.

But Barad held back a laugh.

Because he knew that sword, too, would melt under Ifrit’s trait.

That moment—

“Your Majesty!”

This time it was the blacksmith Hyun’s voice. With that sound, Barad instinctively raised his arm.

Without even looking back, guided only by his sense, he grasped the grip ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ of the flying sword.

CHAK—!

At that moment—

[Legend meets Legend.]

[All effects of the sword are strengthened by 5%.]

[Fire-attribute Resistance is 343%.]

“......?”

The Ifrit’s flame that had covered Barad’s whole body was snuffed out by the cold flowing from him.

It was not hot.

Nor the stifling heat that had permeated the air around him.

Nor even the single drop of lava falling from a stalactite.

And Ifrit felt unease regarding that sword.

Ifrit focused its trait to melt the sword.

KWA-RRRRRRK—

Black flame engulfed the sword Barad held. And yet......

“You won’t melt that.”

The man who had suddenly appeared smiled with confidence.

Ifrit furrowed its brow.

Impossible.

Its power had melted even those things called Unique weapons.

And yet......

The sword did not melt. Rather, with a CHIIIIIIIK— it froze the black flame and made it fall to the ground.

KUUUUNG—

Barad’s breath quickened.

He wore a look of incomprehension.

‘What power does this sword possess, that it......?’

He checked the sword.

(Hyun’s Sixth Custom Craft Sword)

Grade: Legendary

Durability: 6,000/6,000

Attack: 517

Restriction: 300–450, Sword Saint or higher

Special:

· Fire-attribute Resistance +343%

· Ice-attribute Attack Power +194%

· Against Fire-attribute monsters, Ice-attribute Attack Power +397%

· Active Skill: Frost Blossom

Description: Hyun’s Sixth Custom Craft Sword, custom-made for King Barad, and Hyun’s first Legendary creation.

“.......”

Barad’s breath nearly stopped.

Legendary.

A sword that had reached the utmost realm.

This sword instilled certainty. Barad wrung out his last strength.

And he raised the sword and began to run.

****

Arriving with Hyun, Bella saw His Majesty advancing toward Ifrit.

With each of his strides, the surrounding space froze at a rapid pace.

Ifrit, its face struck with dismay, rampaged its scorching flames.

Those flames melted the surging ice-attribute power aimed at it.

Ifrit, toward the charging Barad, recalled by telekinesis the spear it had previously hurled.

The returning spear targeted Barad from behind.

Then Barad’s body snapped backward steeply, slipping past the spear as he advanced.

That spear—

CHIIIIIIIK—

—instead drove into Ifrit’s chest.

Ifrit, gripping the spear in both hands and trying to pull it free, was flustered.

Because Barad’s sharp gaze, with obsidian eyes, was fixed on it.

But Ifrit laughed.

Unlike him, it had already recovered as much as it could recover.

It would not die to a few strikes of his sword.

Therefore it was certain of victory......

At that moment Barad’s sword cut it.

“Frost Blossom.”

With that whisper, Ifrit beheld snow crystals fluttering gently before its eyes.

From the places it was cut, thousands of snow crystals were blooming like flowers.

Where the crystals touched, rapid cooling set in.

CHIIIIIIIK—

Starting from the cut, it crept and spread through Ifrit’s body in many places.

Soon, as even its face began to freeze, Ifrit fixed its wavering eyes on Barad.

KRRRK, KRK, KRRRK—

Ifrit’s body collapsed. And the collapsed parts rapidly melted, soaking into the ground.

SWEEEE—

Thus Ifrit, which had begun to melt away, met its death.

And along with it, Barad collapsed.

Bella exulted. His Majesty had at last fulfilled his long-cherished wish.

She was about to run to him with all her strength.

But then searing flame surged around the fallen Ifrit.

PWOOOOOK—

The flames burned so fiercely that Bella could not approach.

Among Named monsters, there are some that try to take a last companion into death at the final moment.

That conflagration spread around His Majesty, who was on his knees.

Unable to draw near, Bella cried out:

“......Your Majesty, come out!”

But the King did not move.

With both hands he grasped his necklace and gazed into the air with a humble expression.

Bella realized it at last.

The King had lost his reason to live.

Having lost his queen and his son, he had lived within a new goal, and now wished at last to be at peace.

“Your Majesty, Your Majestyyyy!”

She tried to run to him.

But before the flames that would melt her body, Bella could not move.

Her eyes held the image of the King, looking up at the ceiling to find peace.

Bella fell into confusion for a moment. Saving the King was right, but was that truly what His Majesty desired?

Of course, it was flame she could not approach; yet in reading the King’s heart, Bella could not arrive at an answer.

Just then—

The outsider Hyun trudged forward. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The outsider Hyun was so very frail.

To so much as brush that flame even for an instant would mean annihilation.

But as he walked, ore surged up above him.

Ore, surging like a hologram, melted, smelted, refined, forged, and polished in sequence.

Blue armor settled over his body.

CLACK.

FWOOOOOSH—

The cold that spread from the armor protected him.

FWOOOOOSH—

Hyun walked straight through the flame. Bella’s eyes trembled.

He must know it too.

That he did not have much time he could endure.

He was frail.

Yet he spoke with the King.

He shouted something, and the King seized him by the collar and shouted.

Then, at a few words from Hyun, the King hung his head and sobbed.

And slowly, ever so slowly—Hyun’s hand embraced the King.

‘He comforts the King.......’

Yes, the outsider Hyun was comforting the King.

Patting his shoulder.

Offering him a few warm words.

She could not hear what was said.

And soon the King rose to his feet, and the outsider named Hyun, softly, crumbled to ash and scattered.

The King, who watched him for a moment, took one step, then two, and pushed through the blaze.

A relief too deep to name was on his face.

He looked back at the place where Hyun had been.

And slowly, he collapsed.

“Your Majestyyyy!”

Bella took him and desperately fled that tomb.

A carriage bore the King, and the highest priests and the finest healing medicines tended him.

And a few days later, when the King opened his eyes, he stared into the far air and spoke his first words:

“I miss him.”

“.......”

Words she had heard often.

He had said them without cease—that he missed the prince.

But soon the King smiled brightly and said:

“Hyun. I miss that boy so very much.”