novelraw Chapter 277-1: The Great General’s Pursuit, the Blacksmith’s Divine Tool (1)
Chapter 277-1: The Great General’s Pursuit, the Blacksmith’s Divine Tool (1)
[You were just about to search the forging chamber carefully when you felt something strange on your chest…]
[Opening your robe, you saw the leafy tattoo on your chest writhing madly, like several entwined vipers suddenly startled.]
[You stared at the black tattoo on your chest as the shell’s memories slowly resurfaced…]
[As the most elite swordsmith in all of Sakura Falls, you had forged countless divine weapons and fine blades for the armies under the Great General’s command. Because of this, you were held in great favor by the Great General and were appointed as the Imperial Swordsmith.]
[The Imperial Swordsmith was once a swordsmith who served only the royal family of Sakura Falls, it had been a supreme honor in days past.]
[But now Sakura Falls had changed hands. The Great General was the true master of the land, and the Imperial Swordsmith naturally became a retainer of the Great General…]
[The army, already formidable, became even more unstoppable when armed with the weapons of the Ishimaru Sword Forge. Your contributions were immense, so the Great General not only granted you the title of Imperial Swordsmith, but also summoned you to the Imperial Palace to bestow upon you the Blessing of Enma.]
[…]
[After receiving the Blessing of Enma, you felt power coursing through your entire body. Swinging the hammer to forge steel became easier than ever, even after forging all night, you never felt fatigue.]
[You noticed the tattoo on your chest, a mark of martial strength, had grown many times more vigorous than before, far surpassing that of many outstanding warriors.][You knew this was all a gift from the Great General, a blessing of the Ancient Heavenly Enma.]
[From then on, your loyalty to the Great General deepened further. Even if one day he ordered you to lay down your life, you would do so without the slightest hesitation.]
[The fragmented memories within the shell abruptly ended!]
[Suddenly, you felt a bone-deep chill surge from the soles of your feet up to the crown of your head. In the unseen darkness, an extraordinarily evil will had locked onto you!]
[Your shell has been marked by the malice of the Extreme Evil Great General. He is rushing here at full speed!]
Lin Xun was startled. “Shit! I’ve been marked by malice!”
He had been locked onto by the Extreme Evil Asura once before. If he hadn’t relied on the army and onmyoji to fight back and finally defeat that boss, the outcome would have been utterly miserable.
And now he had been marked by the Great General’s malice again…
“Isn’t this basically game over?”
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, flying off on his sword immediately, escaping to the Tenshukaku or Dragon Marsh Temple to borrow external power to resist the Great General.
But none of these plans offered any real chance to evade the pursuit.
If he hadn’t personally seen the Great General’s strength, he might have believed he could at least trade blows by weakening him with the Ushimitsu Mairi Straw Doll.
But having now witnessed it firsthand, he knew very clearly, even with that tool, he would never escape death.
Gritting his teeth, he kept clicking search.
If he was going to die, he might as well grab a forging tool first, better than ending up empty-handed!
If worst came to worst, he would respawn and teleport straight back to the library. He refused to believe the Great General could hunt him down in there!
Resigned to the situation, Lin Xun kept pressing the search option, perfectly embodying the saying ‘a dead pig fears no scalding water,’ and proving that men die for wealth as birds die for food.
[Searching…]
[The chilling malice on your chest grew even stronger, and you knew that terrifying will was drawing ever closer…]
“Hurry up already!”
Lin Xun was in a panic, feeling like his eyebrows were about to catch fire.
If only he’d waited a little longer before killing the Imperial Swordsmith, at least until the old man had brought out the big treasure.
A reckless young man lacking in proper morals had acted far too hastily.
[After a thorough search, you finally discovered a small iron hammer gleaming with a strange luster in a corner of the forging chamber.]
[You have obtained the Imperial Swordsmith’s Hammer (Legendary-grade Tool)!]
[You didn’t have time to examine the Imperial Swordsmith’s Hammer carefully, so you snatched it up and stuffed it in your bag with lightning speed.]
[You possessed the shell of the Desire-Bearing Greedy Wolf Star Lord!]
[You were just about to fly your sword through the roof to escape when a tremendous pressure enveloped your entire body, freezing you in place.]
[The door to the forging chamber suddenly shattered into four pieces. A massive figure stepped inside.]
[The Great General’s face was dark as water. His gaze, like a savage beast’s, looked as though it would devour you alive!]
“Strike first!”
Lin Xun decisively activated his most powerful shell skill, the Northern Dipper Heaven’s Sword Technique!
[You formed a sword seal, true essence surging and raging through your body!]
[Though you were clearly in a small room, and though it was midday, an inexplicable darkness fell.]
[The vault of the forge seemed to transform into a tranquil night sky. A brilliant river of stars glimmered overhead, and within it shone seven dazzling stars, the Northern Dipper.]
[The Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper rained down radiant starlight, gathering into the Dragon Sword Masamune in your hand!]
[With your sword seal pointed forward, the blade erupted with fierce sword-gale, obliterating everything around you under the Northern Dipper’s sword force.]
[The sword-gale swept toward the Great General, ready to slay him in one stroke, yet a jet-black blade-light cleaved through the sword-gale, even splitting apart the brilliant river of stars overhead.]
[The blade-light soared to the heavens, tearing open the bright firmament and shaking all of Kyoto…]
[Your vision went black…]
[…]
[You died!]
[…]
“I knew it…”
Lin Xun let out a long sigh, a helpless sense of defeat rising in his heart.
The Great General’s power was so overwhelming it was more of a ‘scripted death’ than any other scripted death he had ever encountered. None of the final bosses he’d faced before were anywhere near this insane.
Facing such strength, there was nothing left to do but declare ‘GG.’
[A powerful wandering soul has been reborn in the High Throne Chamber of the Tenshukaku…]
Lin Xun knew full well that once the Great General’s malice locked on, no matter how he struggled, he was doomed.
He might as well head back to the library to lie low, sparing himself the waste of soul strength.
He clicked on the Resting Page, intending to hit the teleport option and run for it.
But then he felt something was off.
“Huh? Where’s the prompt text?”
He clearly remembered that the last time he’d died fighting the Extreme Evil Asura, the damn game had immediately popped up a notification saying he’d been marked by malice and that the boss was rushing over.
But now, the game hadn’t shown any sign that the Great General was chasing him.
“What’s going on?”
Lin Xun scrolled back through the previous combat logs and noticed that this time, the malice lock message was a little different.
This time, the text read, [Your shell has been marked by the malice of the Extreme Evil Great General…]
The game had explicitly noted that it was the shell that had been marked by malice!
His eyes flickered, and an idea came to him.
[You reached out to touch the Resting Page, and your powerful soul resonated with it…]
[You can use the following functions of the Resting Page…]
[1. Short Rest: …]
[2. Teleport: …]
[3. Oath: …]
[4. …]
Lin Xun pressed the second option: Teleport.
[Please choose your teleport destination.]
[1. Fukoka Castle’s deserted port]
[2. Dragon Marsh Temple guesthouse]
[3. Dharma-Aspect Temple Five-Story Treasure Pagoda – top floor]
[4. Library]
He selected the first option, returning to where this whole mess had started.