Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

“Of course, since we will be allies, I will show you your money’s worth,” Seth answered with a mysterious smile. Others may have been worried about the distance to the mountain range and the dangers lurking in its shadow.

However, Seth already had a plan. A great one at that, which would be quick, effective, and cost him almost no time.

“On this matter, I would also like to talk about the continued support of my Luminous Mountain Sect to Minas Mar,” Yu linked himself into the conversation, and it was finally time for him to tell his story and explain the reason for his continued absence.

“This explains a lot,” Seth muttered after Master Mountains shared with them the changes on the Voracious Cloud Continent.

“How so?” Xiong Peng asked a little clueless. Despite being the sect master, he had not been informed about the fact that his very home world had made a deal with some ancient evil from beyond space.

“Lately, the system has started to display the stats of cultivators and items, using some of your vocabulary, too. Since we can use appraisal on you and your items, it’s an obvious sign that the system has scanned and categorized you,” the blacksmith explained, but only Leana really understood what he was talking about.

It was like with the weapons he created from the angel of the Theocracy of Chains. It was a material that did not belong to the system, created by a god opposing the System god. This was why the options had to be painstakingly explored before they could be registered, quantified, and acknowledged within the system.

It was no different for foreign creatures like the abominations Seth and the others had met in the fog world beyond Y-City. Or the Tuatha de from beyond that fog world. The system probably would not have been able to collect the data this quickly without the cooperation of their governing entity.

“Be it as it may, this is why there is no more unified threat to be feared from the cultivators. At this point, you just have to worry about individual factions and their hunger for power,” Master Mountain concluded.

“Is that why you quickly brought your friend here and suggested an alliance with your sect, too?” Seth asked with a chuckle.

“Yes, I won’t lie. Apart from considering you a friend, I have a great impression of Minas Mar. While others are blinded by greed and adventure, I would like to secure the best this world has to offer first, a lucrative relationship with Minas Mar,” the old man admitted.

This was what Seth liked about Yu. He was neither pretentious nor did he hide his intentions. All the while he didn’t play with open cards to deceive them either. To the bard, this was a sign, that Yu trusted them not to misunderstand him, as much and they trusted him not to try and take advantage of them.

However, Seth sighed.

“We will have a lot to talk about then, I guess,” he said.

Another day when he wouldn’t be able to return to the Workshop and finish the blueprints for the colossus. At least there was one thing the blacksmith was able to look forward to, as they started working out the alliance contracts.

---Cinema Dimension---

There was a slight commotion going through the audience

“Is that true? You made a deal?” some of the gods around asked.

“What is so weird about making a deal? All of you made a deal with me.” the starry robe asked back with a disinterested voice.

“But not about adding a world to the Pathworks. You never let anyone influence you on what worlds to pick,” another muttered.

“And what makes you think I would let anyone question my decisions?” the robe countered, the raised eyebrow was audible. However, seeing that the commotion wasn't subsiding, the System god decided to give a short explanation.

“I connected the Voracious Cloud Continent to the Pathworks, in exchange for adding their info to the System, however, they aren't members. Neither players nor monsters. They have no system support or privileges. Nothing changed for them. What happens next is not influenced by me.”

While the System God was dropping what sounded like a serious foreshadowing, not all gods had their attention on him. Seth, sitting beside Hephaestus was gloating.

“Kuku, look at him immediately jumping to my bones. Even the ring with Hades' Blessing is only meant to improve the material I bestowed on him,” he teased the god of craftsmen, who looked relatively grumpy in return.

Instead of using the epic silver Hubert had given him to refine legendary <Olympian Silver>, the little blacksmith was all over the place to get his hands on some epic iron and make special <Bones of Seth>

“Don't be so happy about it. it's not because it's better, but because it fits the blueprints someone forwarded to him,” the lame one huffed, giving Maahes the stink eye.

“I-I invested a lot in Mike. I had to make sure he would have the best fitting armor,” the lion god tried to justify himself.

“There is no need to explain to him. If he is so mad that the little blacksmith is using the materials and blueprints of another god, he should have forwarded some of his own to him. You can't blame him that he is using the best,” a newcomer commented a little smugly.

“You shut up, you untalented cur! Just you wait..” he barked at the man from the third row.

“Right, Ptah, you shut up! No comments from the cheap seats!” Seth joined the bashing.

The heliopolian creator god fell silent when he was suddenly shot from his own camp.

After dealing with the uninvited third party, the god of chaos and the god of craftsmen kept bickering on their own.

…

“What in the world are these?” Xiong Peng and Master Mountains exclaimed in unison. After using teleportation together with Seth, another fascinating technology to the two, they were now standing outside Little Sigma, the first Tree Station.

Staring at the sky, they looked at Seth’s “search party”. During the time they spent talking through the treaties together with the girls, Seth had sent a messenger to collect the ones stationed across the district of Minas Mar.

700 giant dragonflies were blotting out the sky and blocking the sun. They were the Aerial Strikers Seth had created from the dragonflies of the Hive. The insect dungeon they had fought during their first trip to the Holy Land. All of them were besouled corpse puppets of enormous strength and speed.

With their incredible eyesight, they would have an easy time, looking for someone from the sky, even in the hard-to-traverse and chaotic mountain range. Apart from the Aerial Striker, there was also a group of Golem Knights.

They were the knights who worked under Wolfram and had managed to develop an ego and wisdom. They would take command of the Strikers, during the search.

“I believe it would be best if you two accompany them to the north. We wouldn’t want your disciples to attack them on accident, right?” Seth asked friendly. Although the dragonflies would be able to heal with time, the region was already dangerous enough without their allies attacking them.

“You are right, I will go along with-“

“Go along? Do you really think you can keep up with them? Just ride them.” The blacksmith interrupted him.

“R-Ride them?” Xiong Peng asked unsure. Mounts existed on the Voracious Cloud Continent, but usually, they didn’t come in the shape of giant insects. It was a sign of bad taste for someone to choose a massive dung beetle, or… a huge dragonfly with the sickles of a mantis…

“Nobody will see you, just hop on,” Yu teased him, already seated on one of the creatures. Hesitating, Xiong Peng approached the Aerial Striker standing beside him.

“…I guess, I don’t have a - CHOICE!” he exclaimed as the golem under him erupted into the air. He had barely taken a seat when the creature rose with incredible speed.

“Now that that's dealt with...”

The blacksmith turned around and returned to the city. With all urgent matters settled, he could finally turn his attention to his projects.