Sword King Barad granted several territories to Master Blacksmith Hyun.

And as the number of places he had to govern increased, many changes naturally followed.

Balas Territory.

It was the first blacksmith territory Hyunsoo had ever obtained.

At present, it was the smallest of all the territories Hyunsoo possessed, and the one with the lowest population.

Originally, Bark had been serving as its lord.

But Hyunsoo appointed Bark as the ruler of a new territory, and the vacancy in Balas was filled by its original master.

That original master was none other than Bellin, the territory lord Hyunsoo had first met when he came here.

Bellin was a woman with blue hair fresh as spring and skin like white jade.

If I’d been alone, I never would’ve been able to protect this territory.

Balas was a small territory.

It could not receive many troops, and it had few residents.

And Bellin was not a monarch who specialized in battle.

Instead—

[The bow growth rate of the soldiers of Balas Territory increases by 30%.]

That became possible because of the captain of its knights: Hyeji.

“My lady, the training is finished for today.”

“Good work.”

Bellin looked puzzled.

Hyeji was always full of drive, and no one worked harder than she did.

And she had the skill to match it.

A mysterious power.

A power Ares had bestowed upon the otherworlders.

And yet even without that mysterious power, Hyeji could strike birds in flight and drive arrow after arrow straight into the center of her enemies’ brows.

But now there was a shadow hanging over Hyeji’s face.

“......”

Bellin watched her for a moment, then understood what that sadness really was.

“I’ll be going in now.”

Bellin could not comfort Hyeji as she turned and walked away in lonely silence.

Because the thing Hyeji was feeling—

was the monster called self-loathing.

Please, stay strong, Hyeji.

Watching that lonely back, Bellin silently cheered for her with all sincerity.

After parting from Bellin, Hyeji climbed onto a rooftop, sat down on the edge, and looked up at the sky.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!

A new record, a new record!

This is the moment a new Korean hero is born!!!!

The cheers and frenzy from when she had won an Olympic gold medal still rang in her ears.

Now, though, she could only feel how insignificant she was.

For all her skill, she was not being acknowledged in Ares.

Because of her class.

She was an Ironblood Archer.

And in the end, it was hard to call that some overwhelming class.

So not long ago, Hyeji had gone to meet the Continental Top Ten Legend whom Ian had encountered—Divine Archer Baneka.

She had been hopeful.

Divine Archer Baneka.

A legendary archer.

She had thought Baneka might be able to show her some path forward.

But—

“I’m sorry, but I can’t guide you onto the path of the Divine Archer. Ian is already the one walking that road.”

“......”

It would have been wrong to say she had arrived one step too late.

She had only come after hearing Ian’s advice and gathering the information she needed.

“If you had reached me before Ian, I would have chosen you. Why did you only come now?”

Being outstanding did not mean one could seize everything Ares had to offer.

Because someone else outstanding had already claimed it.

Again and again, Hyeji had been too late like this.

And so she asked,

“......Is there really no way?”

“At least not one I can give you. But.”

Back then, Divine Archer Baneka had said something strange.

“A flower is no less a flower just because it hasn’t bloomed yet.”

“......”

It was a pointless consolation.

The kind that said a flower that had not yet bloomed would one day bloom in full.

And just like that, she had lost the Divine Archer path.

And recently, another chance to bloom had come to her.

No—truthfully, it had always been there.

A bitter smile tugged at her lips.

Idiot. Moron. Fool...

It was an insult aimed at herself.

That chance was the Horn of the Great Archdemon Gremory, which Monarch Hyunsoo possessed.

After the Great Archdemon Gremory raid ended, Hyeji had been thrilled to learn that he had obtained the Horn of the Great Archdemon Gremory.

Because she had believed an opportunity had come to her.

And she had thought about asking for a bow to be forged for her, but she hesitated.

Hyunsoo had simply been too busy.

With the match against Bahala set, Hyunsoo truly had not had a single moment to spare.

And then just recently—

[Nell: This is an opportunity. The Parkro Kingdom is becoming our ally. It was once a nation of bows. Forge the most perfect Heavenslaying Bow, capture their hearts, and bring many citizens over so you can move closer to founding the nation of Hyun.]

Rather than forge something for one guild member named Hyeji using the Horn of the Great Archdemon Gremory, the right choice had been to create the Heavenslaying Bow and move one step closer to founding a kingdom.

But still—

If I’d only said something sooner...

Looking up at the sky, Hyeji raised her hand.

As if she were touching something that wasn’t there, she opened and closed her fingers again and again.

Would there have been a magnificent bow in my hands?

A crooked smile tugged at her lips.

Ridiculous.

All of this was nothing but self-loathing, inferiority, and mere regret.

Even if the Horn of the Great Archdemon Gremory existed, it was arrogant to assume Hyunsoo would automatically be able to forge some extraordinary bow from it.

Still, after doing nothing but agonize over it, proud as she was, she had finally sent Hyunsoo a whisper.

[Hyeji: Hyunsoo, are you busy?]

[Hyunsoo: Yup. I’m on my 22nd Heavenslaying Bow right now, and it’s killing me...]

[Hyeji: Your 22nd?]

After hearing the full story, Hyeji was stunned.

He had made and discarded twenty-two bows for the sake of a single one?

He really is incredible.

Hyeji said,

[Hyeji: Could you forge a bow for me too? I want to become a flower in full bloom as well.]

After that, Hyunsoo said nothing for quite a while.

[Hyunsoo: ...I’m sorry, Hyeji. I didn’t know what to say, so my reply came late.]

Hyeji gave a bitter smile.

She could not hate him even if she tried, and she could not resent him even if she wanted to.

[Hyunsoo: It’s something I should have paid attention to, but I was too caught up in everything else. Honestly, you should have been one of the very first people I looked after... If the right materials turn up next time, I’ll make something for you no matter what. I promise I’ll give you the greatest bow this land has ever seen.]

“Pfft.”

At that last line, Hyeji smiled faintly and asked,

[Hyeji: How long would that take...?]

[Hyunsoo: If I have to find Legendary materials worthy of you, Hyeji, I think it’d take around eight months. Ah, that’s way too late. I’ll ask the guild members to help, and I’ll do my best to find them within five months.]

“......”

Even at the fastest, five months.

Far too slow.

And lately, Hyeji had already been slipping lower and lower in the overall rankings.

And then time passed...

[A world message rings out.]

[A Transcendent bow for the nation is written.]

Hearing that notification, it felt as though one corner of Hyeji’s heart was burning even more fiercely.

Right then—

KWHAAAAAAAAAAANG—!!!

An explosive roar of unknown origin shook Balas Territory.

*****

GRIND—!

Deep inside a dark cave on the Asgan Continent, Duke Lukael ground his teeth.

Inside that cave, along with him, were 80,000 Parion Empire soldiers hiding in a wretched state.

“Master Blacksmith Hyun...!”

The proud land army that had marched out to strike the Kingdom of Goyad.

The one who had led them had been Lukael himself.

And Lukael had been sure of victory.

A land force of 200,000.

A naval force of 300,000.

A massive army of over 500,000 swallowing a small nation like Goyad from every direction should have been easy.

It would have been even easier if they had seized the sea first, then let the naval force and Pirate King Akao smash into Goyad’s flank.

But one Turtle Ship, Yi Sun-sin, and Hyunsoo had turned every plan to dust.

Half of the 300,000-strong navy had died or been taken prisoner and dragged off to Atlas, so the land army received no support.

And the Goyad army, which had originally needed to guard against the naval front, no longer had any reason to divide its forces.

So the army of Sword King Barad, commanding 300,000 troops, struck Duke Lukael’s forces, who had been left high and dry after losing the navy.

And because of that, the only thing Lukael could do was run.

The original plan had been perfect.

A total of 500,000 would strike first.

Then, once they were certain that the sea was secure, the Parion Empire would immediately send an additional 300,000 troops.

With 800,000 in all, they would sweep Goyad aside.

But once the sea was lost, the Parion Empire could do nothing.

As Lukael swallowed down that resentment—

STEP, STEP—

someone approached.

The soldiers and Duke Lukael, who had survived these past few days by hunting and eating the monsters and animals around the cave, tensed at once.

But the ones who emerged were not Goyad troops, nor reinforcements.

“Greetings.”

They were the people known as the otherworlders.

At the very front stood Musashi, who had recently become a member of the User Kingdom Union for the sake of founding a kingdom, along with high-rankers from all over the world.

The high-rankers had eyes and ears too.

After the naval victory, they had vaguely realized that Hyun’s Forge had achieved enormous growth.

That was why, even though the term of the Atlas Non-Invasion Pact had long since expired, they still had not dared to attack recklessly.

And now they had come looking for Duke Lukael—someone who, like them, saw Hyun’s Forge as a thorn in the eye...

No, to be precise, someone they now resented enough to want dead.

“......Did Emperor Bolond ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) send you?”

Among them was Sword Emperor Fond himself.

But Fond shook his head.

“This is the will of the otherworlders’ nation soon to be founded.”

“The will?”

Lukael was not a man who trusted people easily.

He only believed things when there was enough reason behind them.

“Hyun’s Forge is growing far too quickly. At the same time, our User Kingdom Union is also moving to found a nation.”

“You... you are the successor of Sword Emperor Bolond, and yet you dream of a new kingdom?”

At that, Sword Emperor Fond smiled.

“......That nation will uphold the great Parion Empire.”

“Ahem. In that case...”

And then Fond revealed the real reason they had come.

“......To found a nation, we need a vast population. But there aren’t many ways to fill those numbers. Then we found one.”

“And what is that?”

“If we crush Hyun’s territories and take the people there as slaves, then those slaves will also become our citizens. That will let us fill the headcount.”

“......Plausible.”

Lukael nodded.

Because in the end, even slaves still counted toward population.

“What do you want?”

“The nation that will be founded will support the Parion Empire. Together with you, Commander Duke Lukael, we intend to seize Hyun’s Forge territories right now.”

“Seize the territories? Hmm.”

“Yes. We’ll take several of them. And there is one territory called Balas. That is the one we intend to occupy.”

“The blacksmith territory?”

“That’s right.”

Lukael accepted that at once.

In truth, the reason they had ended up like this in the first place was because of Hyun.

But—

Lukael attached a condition.

“You people are too soft.”

Rising to his feet, Lukael stepped out of the cave.

“This is how the Empire rules conquered land.”

The rankers looked puzzled.

“Cut off the lord’s head and hang it outside the gate. Wasn’t the lord of that place a woman named Bellin? She’ll serve as an example.”

“......”

“......”

“......”

The otherworlders were not used to things like that.

But they understood.

This world was built on medieval foundations, and the losers in war followed such a fate.

At once, the survivors of Duke Lukael’s defeated army were supplied with water and food and brought back to life.

And then—

“Mages.”

As they drew close to Balas Territory, Lukael gave the order, and the Empire’s mage corps began launching a magical barrage at the walls of Balas Territory.

Meanwhile—

The dungeon of Divine Archer Baneka.

Divine Archer Baneka, now nothing more than a relic of the past, left the dungeon in a translucent form.

The place she arrived at had remained hidden for ages, gathering dust because it had never found a successor.

“A suitable one may finally have appeared, Mother.”

Five Chosen Gods existed in this land.

But those five gods were merely the ones set beside Ares.

Were those the only gods?

No.

There were humans—and those who had risen to godhood.

A single emblem was engraved into the temple.

It was the shape of a bow glowing crimson.

The one above had answered Baneka’s voice.

Human, yet god.

The summit of all legends.

Demigod Arreya.

She had responded to a woman of exceptional talent with the bow.

But then—

CRASH—!

The emblem shattered, and Baneka’s eyes shook.

“......So you still cannot acknowledge her.”

Baneka felt bitter.

That flower, in the end, might never bloom.

At that same moment—

[Hyeji: I want to become a flower in full bloom as well.]

There was a blacksmith repeatedly rereading that one line.

“You’re leaving?”

With the citizens’ heated cheers behind him and the king’s gaze on him like he were a cherished friend, the blacksmith turned.

“......I need to go prepare Full Bloom.”

That blacksmith was about to create the most terrifying bow in the world.