The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

"what!!!"

The searing pain caused Renak to collapse to the ground instantly, writhing in agony, while the flames showed no sign of extinguishing.

Water, where is the water?

Renak, who wanted to use water to put out the fire, stared wide-eyed at the deep well opening, and then rushed in without hesitation.

The burning flames illuminated the bottom of the well, allowing Renalc to finally see what lay beneath.

That was a mountain of bones that had completely blocked the spring.

-----------------

Dozens of meters below the dry well lies a huge cavity.

Such a secret hideout is hidden so close to the academy.

Judging from the furnishings inside the cavity, it appears to be a huge metallurgical and iron-smelting workshop.

Deep within the workshop sat a giant three meters tall.

It picked up a few pieces of ore, threw them into its mouth, chewed them, and then spat them out, thus refining them into the prototype of a weapon.

"I've brought you the supplies. We should probably give up on this outpost."

Rogurd placed the Udvik Armor not far in front of the giant, rubbing his hands together as if anticipating something.

Who would have thought that Rogurd, the kingdom's representative who had previously appeared at the Griffin Conference, had not gone far after leaving the academy, but instead hid in such a secret base.

In fact, he had already left the academy grounds, but the academy's hyenas were too persistent and had tracked down his spies.

To avoid revealing more information, he had to return alone, intending to take the giant with him.

The giant slowly raised his head, glanced at him with piercing eyes, and then pointed his giant finger at the wall behind him.

A suit of armor, gleaming with a cold light, hung on the wall.

Rogurd's face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly stepped forward to remove the armor. "Truly worthy of being called the Fiery Iron Envoy, you have improved the performance of my armor by more than 70%."

Among humans, those who can reach the level of a master forging master are extremely rare, often appearing only once every few decades.

What few people know is that among the demon race, which has always relied on physical strength and scorned the weapons and armor created by humans, a master blacksmith was born.

It is the loyal apostle of that fallen sword demon.

When all the demons mocked it, thinking that it had such a huge body and great strength but was unwilling to charge into battle, instead hiding in the back and playing with toys that only weak humans would use, it was the Sword Demon who recognized it.

"Even if the strongest human emblem master lived for another hundred years, he still could not surpass us demons in the control of magic elements."

"But what makes them truly difficult to deal with is their inheritance and accumulation of skills, and their imaginative creativity."

“Tauronio has given humanity weapons that are enough to threaten us demons.”

"No magic can guarantee that there won't be a second Tauronio. In that case, it might just be His Highness the Demon God who will be threatened."

If these words had come from any ordinary demon, they would have drawn endless ridicule and sarcasm.

But the one who said these words was none other than the Sword Demon, who was widely recognized as having killed the most powerful human warriors.

Chapter 364 The Iron Giant's Advice

Even among the demon race, where the strong prey on the weak, the Sword Demon is one of the most powerful beings.

This status was not bestowed upon it by anyone; it was earned entirely through its strength and achievements.

This also makes its words particularly effective.

With the protection of the Sword Demon, the Fiery Iron Giant can spend more time on things he likes.

In addition, the Sword Demon would occasionally bring back the weapons used by the Emblem users he had defeated, as well as the blueprints he had collected, and give them to the giants.

To repay this kindness, the giant voluntarily became the apostle of the Sword Demon.

The bone sword used by the Sword Demon was forged by him personally.

In terms of imagination and creativity, humans certainly far surpass demons.

Just like the demons couldn't imagine the scene of the demon god being defeated.

But each generation of heroes seems to believe they will not lose.

Before that day, the giant had never imagined that the sword demon he served would die at the hands of a human hero.

It found the final battlefield of the Sword Demon by virtue of the special connection between the apostle and the demon.

The sheer number of traces left at the scene is enough to tell how fierce the battle was.

Even with the addition of the hero as a variable, the assassination attempt against Tilisa was only a narrow victory.

It took the giant a long time to find the only relic of the Sword Demon—a broken bone sword.

This incident has caused it to regret for many years, and it has constantly reflected on whether the outcome would have been different if the weapon it forged had been stronger.

Clutching the broken sword, it wandered aimlessly through human territory for several days before finally coming to its senses and finding itself surrounded by the border kingdom's army.

The giants, who had no will to resist, were easily captured by the kingdom's army.

Just as the giant was thinking that it wouldn't be so bad to go with the Sword Demon, the Kingdom Army somehow learned that he was a blacksmith master who was about to enter the Grandmaster realm.

After careful consideration, the kingdom placed several restrictions on it, but spared its life.

In exchange, it needs to forge equipment for the kingdom.

This underground workshop, located twenty kilometers from the academy, is the prison the kingdom uses to hold it.

The ground is thick enough to block detection spells, so as long as it stays put, it will not attract the academy's attention.

The giant did not refuse. After the death of the Sword Demon, its demonic life consisted only of forging and revenge.

The kingdom provides the resources so that it can do the first thing.

As for the second thing, only by surviving can one have a chance to achieve it.

The giant knew very well that the kingdom's decision to leave behind a remnant of the demons meant that their ambitions were certainly not limited to just a few pieces of equipment.

Besides the Red Rose of Exorcism and the Yellow Rose of Destruction, many other pieces of equipment within the kingdom were also made by it.

With the kingdom's continued support, it took another two years to finally take the final step on the path to becoming a Grandmaster.

Then Rogurd found it and specifically asked it to forge a cursed piece of equipment.

When the giants learned of this requirement, they were actually quite helpless.

Many people believe that cursed equipment, which is harmful, is created by demons.

But the truth is quite the opposite; all the cursed equipment was made by humans themselves.

It has forged weapons and equipment for over a hundred years; what hasn't it done?

Unfortunately, I've never actually crafted any cursed equipment.

The same side effects, enough to paralyze a human, are no different from a tickle to a demon.

Therefore, cursed equipment can only be used to harm people, not to harm demons.

The giant, who had always kept quiet and focused on forging, asked for the reason for the first time.

Upon learning that it was intended for an Imperial citizen, and that the greater the side effects, the better, the giant knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for for many years had arrived.

"I don't know how to forge cursed equipment."

The giant admitted.

"You're a master blacksmith, a master! How come you can't forge cursed equipment?"

Rogurd looked completely bewildered.

"Only you humans have that unbridled imagination to specialize in studying things that harm others without benefiting yourself."

“I’ve never seen one, so I don’t know how to forge them.” The giant stretched out his hand. “If you want me to make one, at least let me see what cursed equipment looks like, right?”

"You...you just wait."

Rogurd summoned an exquisite wooden box covered in magical runes, inside which were said to be equipment blueprints accumulated by the kingdom over many years and obtained from heroes.

He searched for a long time and finally found a parchment scroll with a red label marking it as dangerous, which he threw to the giant.

"Is this okay?"

"...Not quite right." The giant shook his head, but showed no intention of returning the scroll to Rogurd.

“Even I find this weapon dangerous, and the requirements for its user are too high. I estimate that among you humans, only heroes and sword saints could possibly wield this weapon.”

"If you want to use it to harm people, you should at least use an ordinary-looking piece of equipment that you can never get rid of once you put it on."

"Then why don't you tone it down a bit and create a slightly inferior version?" Rogurd said somewhat unwillingly.

“I only forge equipment based on actual objects and blueprints,” the giant rejected again. “Besides, the style of the equipment I forge is too obvious. Unless you can retrieve the weapons afterward, it will be easy to expose their origin.”

Based on the blueprints, it forged more than thirty weapons for the kingdom. With just a little comparison, it can be found that they were made by the same blacksmith.

The memory barrier that plagued human blacksmiths seemed to be nonexistent in the giants.

"If you're trying to frame someone, I have a way."

The giant bit his finger and squeezed out a small piece of red agate, no bigger than a fingernail to him.

"Have someone forge a piece of equipment, and then incorporate this item into it."

"This is... Demon Blood Soul?!"

Rogurd clearly knew his stuff.

"It's not that exaggerated. It's just some scraps taken from the Demon Blood Soul. But even if it comes into contact with the Emblem Envoy through the equipment, it will be enough to severely damage his vitality and turn him into a cripple in time," the giant said nonchalantly.

These words made Rogurd, who had already reached out to take the agate, suddenly pull his hand back.

"You would be so kind?" Rogurd asked skeptically.

Even if it's just scraps of Demon Blood Soul, it's still the source of its power as a Demon Apostle. How could he not be suspicious if it was handed over so easily?

“I am a demon, and even if I dislike fighting, there is absolutely no possibility of coexistence between me and you humans. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have used so many restrictions to limit me.”

"However, since you are willing to put on a show of killing each other, I certainly don't mind paying a price to enjoy this good show."

Chapter 365 Big Guys Have Great Wisdom

In terms of scheming and intrigue, humans far surpass demons.

The giant, not wanting to waste his brains, left the rest of the matter to Rogurd to handle himself.

He then returned to his taciturn self, forging and studying the blueprints for "Congyun Fang" at the same time.

The more the giant studied it, the more he regretted it. If he had obtained the blueprint earlier and equipped the Sword Demon with the "Murakumo Fang," he would surely have been able to defeat the hero and his party.

It appeared no different from usual, but in reality, a portion of its consciousness had already spun out and entered the academy along with that wisp of demonic blood remnant soul.

The giant, who had not witnessed the Sword Demon die by the Hero's sword, still clung to a last glimmer of hope.

What if the Sword Demon didn't die, but was merely sealed away?

It was precisely to verify this that it generously handed over the remnant of the demonic blood and soul to Rogurd.

Then it saw the flame, the crimson flame that had taught it a painful lesson and was the reason it lost its master.

“Teresa...”

The giant is a master of fire manipulation, and so far only two people have been encountered who can surpass him in the art of fire.

One was a Frostfire Demon, and the other was Tilisa, a human Emblem Wielder.

After discovering that the blueprints for the Udvik Armor had disappeared, the giant offered to send the blueprints for the Cloud Fang to the academy.

"Didn't you say that this demonic sword was extremely difficult to forge, and that even you weren't entirely confident you could complete it?"

Rogurd could not understand the giant's thoughts.

"The blacksmith who can forge the Udvik Armor will absolutely not be able to resist the temptation to forge the 'Cloud Fang'. You only need to hand over the blueprints to him, and he will complete it at all costs."

“This is the best way to destroy him,” the giant explained.