Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1309: Titan of Destruction

The power of the Titan of Destruction had actually lessened the punishment for not giving Vine a soul when “the weapon is bared”. It also quantified baring the weapon as entering combat. Although losing a random memory and part of oneʼs soul was creepy, it was better than just dying for pulling out your own weapon.

As for the effect, with the skill, the weapon ended up having over 50% Armor Penetration, which meant that over 50% of the damage would ignore armor defense. Even crazier was the 90% Armor Break, which would almost double the damage to armor items.

It was a shame that didnʼt translate to the weapon directly dealing 90% of the attack damage to an armor, or else the armor would just explode, which would have been hilarious, but would also make them useless.

Like with many stats of players, the exact base stats of armor breaking a weapon were a hidden stat that not only depended on the kind of weapon, but also on the kind of armor. Unless a magic effect directly granted a specific amount, like the 50% Armor Penetration of the skill.

That didnʼt mean that blacksmiths had no clue about armor penetration of their items, as they could estimate that certain kinds of weapons had greater effects in penetration and breaking armor. Prime example, the Ravenʼs Beak, of which Seth knew for a fact that its base stats for armor breaking and penetration were very high.

A warhammer, on the other hand, would have a higher penetration, but lower breaking stat. Dealing with stats that not only depended on the weapon itself, but also on the material and armor it met, was always vague, but the blacksmith was not bothered too much by that.

Seth was satisfied with everything but the low durability, which was why he proceeded to place the Beak of Destruction in a vat of blood. The blacksmith had gotten it back from the alchemist, who had drained the giant Rhino, to prepare the blood bath.

All that was left for the weapon to be truly finished was for it to absorb blood and improve its strength. Looking at the clock, it was time for dinner, so he finished early and went for some food at the canteen.

That evening, Seth felt a little lonely. The girls were only gone for a few days, and he already started feeling a little sad. Just how had they felt when he was practically living in the workshop for the two weeks he was working on the mounts?

Thinking of Fin and Mina with a little worry, Seth fell asleep.
...

--- Mountains in the vicinity of Spring City---

Night had fallen over the mountains surrounding spring city. The only light in the night, were the city and the moon, as the stars were blocked out by the clouds. But it was no silent night, at least not in some places.

Where he moonʼs light illuminated snow covered peaks, the noise of battle finally ended. A bubble of darkness that has resisted the moon all night long, finally burst revealing what was hidden even from the most light sensitive eyes.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Now, a field covered in severed bodies was out in the open, the white snow covered in black blood stains. Adjacent to the field was a building in the style of the Cloud Continent, built into the side of the mountain.

Walking away from the field of corpses, was a slander woman with cat ears in black leather armor. She brought out a communication orb and called someone, the moment she raised the orb, the building in her back exploded, going up in an inferno of flames.

“Iʼm finished over here, was this the last branch?” Mina asked over the people at the command center. Tonightʼs operation had been planned for a long time. They had spent the past few days finding sect locations and planning this operation.

After they were sure to have found all locations where cultivators had secretly settled down, they had crushed all of them in one night. Of course, they had made sure that the members in charge were capable of crushing the respective targets, but also let some weaklings escape, to spread the message.

“Fin and the Eagles are still finishing theirs. You should return for the time being. ” the voice of woman came back. She was one of the Oathguards running the command center. The Eagles were the disciples of the Soaring Eagle Sect that were taking part in this joint operation. ℝΆƝȏ𝔟ЕŜ

“Are you sure? I could stay out, in case someone needs support...” Mina suggested. She felt a little disappointed, as this place, the Stalking Toad Sectʼs branch, held no challenge for her. It didnʼt feel like she accomplished anything after staying back in Spring City.

“...Fin has also finished. I doubt there is still a chance for you to help,” the coordinator said after a short moment of silence. It seemed like she would get an exciting fight tonight. She ended the call. Putting away her daggers with a sigh, Mina summoned Drejtim, her golem griffin, to return to Spring City. She had barely taken off when the orbs started vibrating again.

“Mina, you still out there?” the coordinator asked her, defeated.

“Iʼm in the air, but still in the area.” the cat girl answered. “Did something happen?” she asked suspicious.

“I guess I asked for this. Duhu just asked for reinforcement. He was already done, but it seems like he is having a hard time with a cultivator that appeared after he reported back,” the Oathguard summarized the situation in a hurry.

As the one with the highest level among them, Duhu was sent to the place where they suspected the strongest remaining faction, together with half of the Oathguards and a team of golems. The fact that he suddenly had trouble meant that they still underestimated the danger.

With his Level of Existence at level 37 and his combat-oriented path, Duhu would have had no problem with a cultivator at the Spirit Severing stage. But cultivators varied a lot in strength and difficulty, even in the same cultivation realm.

According to their info, that branch had two Spirit Severing people. The tiger man suddenly having trouble meant that one of them was especially strong for their level, or their information was wrong, and one of them had reached a higher realm in the meantime. Or maybe there was a third person they didnʼt know about?

“I’m on my way,” she told the coordinator. Spurring her griffin golem, Mina hurried across the mountains, toward the location where Duhu was supposed to fight. Golems could be replaced or repaired, but Oathguards and Duhu could actually die.

“Fin and the Eagles are also on their way,” the voice of the Oathguard at the command center came from the communication orb. Mina had almost forgotten that she was still on a call and barely heard her over the roaring of the wind.

“I can barely understand you! I will hang up now, bye! I might call back when I get there!” Mina ended the call, shouting against the wind ripping at her armor and ears. Drejtim soared with tremendous speed, and the mountains below were only smudges to her sight.

Despite the bellows of the wind, she heard the fight before she saw it. A mighty tiger roar echoed across the valley and peaks, together with the sound of weapons clashing. When Mina arrived in the sky above Duhuʼs location, she witnessed an awkward scene.

“What is this? The thunderdome?” she couldnʼt help but exclaim, confused at the sight.