Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth had done his homework before setting off.

Chrona was the capital of the Chrona Empire spreading across many worlds. Covering an island rivaling a small continent on its own, it was even bigger than Urth's districts in size. Though it was not as densely populated with many forests and lakes breaking up the capital's landscape.

However, no matter how much information and landmarks for sightseeing he looked up before, nothing would have prepared him for the sight that greeted him when he stepped out from Chrona's System Church.

Wide streets covered in marble with golden inlays split into multiple layers of ground and air traffics. Myriads of different mounts and magic vehicles decked out the field of view. Majestic houses in richly decorated style lined these lanes and in the far distance titanic monuments towered far into the sky.

Statues of gods and emperors set at the characteristic points of the capital were popular sightseeing destinations, but they were so big that they could be seen from any point in the capital.

The giant cathedral they had just left was proudly competing with these sights. On their way out they had walked down the majestic nave of the structure.

Not only was the interior covered in masterful stone carvings and expensive decorations, many iconographies, and the overwhelming stained-glass windows depicted scenes of a magnitude of different worlds the system had saved and opened for the empire.

The priest that had greeted them, Samwell, had proudly shown them around and happily, explained some of the more glorious happenings in the history of the church.

Mina, Fin, Ellie, and Seth were already full-on tourist mode and kept gushing over everything and made pictures. The other members Yulecat's Fur were a little calmer, while the Members of Team 3 tried to stay serious and do their job as escorts.

"We have prepared carriages for everyone."

Samwell explained and gestured to a row of carriages that waited for the participants from Urth. Except for Ellie, who traveled with Minas Mar, everyone party had their own set of Carriages for them and their entourage.

The train of carriages was surrounded by an escort of imperial soldiers. With the Princess taking the lead on a white Pegasus mount they set off. By the time they entered their vehicles, the wide roads, with their bustling traffic, had been organized to make way for their parade.

Leaving the cathedral behind, they drove down a huge lane and towards the imperial palace. On the way, they got to see many magical sights. Again, it reminded Seth of cyberpunk movies. He already had that notion back in Ora, but Chrona went even further.

The great statues and monuments in the distance were already awe-inspiring, but even the kinds of illusions and advertisements that the different shops put up made the surrounding buildings look tiny Despite most the of structures being 5-6 stories tall.

Wizards firing powerful spells, celebrity adventurers advertising a product, or even short clips of people being brought back from the dead by the shop's miracle medicine were playing everywhere in the sky.

This was a world that developed with great access to magic and squeezed the fascination out of it. All of these sights seemed common and boring to the people on the streets, while it was like science-fiction came alive for Seth.

They soon left behind the busy city center and enter a district of big mansions with great and beautiful gardens before they finally reached the Imperial Palace.

The palace complex was its very own beast. In the middle of the city rouse 40m high walls that fortified the emperor's very own residence. From the gigantic walls covered in magical runes spawned a permanent barrier that could block any kind of attack or unauthorized entry.

The only way in was the huge doors of black metal with golden inlays. The 20m tall door depicted scenes of the empire's history, but they were not just decorations. Although they were enchanted with appraisal inhibition, Seth had found out that these actually were legendary items made of <Dusk Orichalcum> with many different functions, which were kept top secret.

Within the walls of the palace complex were all facilities the imperial family need to live, for state business and to withstand years of siege, if necessary. Each guest from Urth got their very own guest mansions within the compound.

Ellie opted to stay in the Mansion of Minas Mar instead of getting one for her alone. Seth was not the only one with an entourage.

Brock, Marcel, and Elza had also come as a party with a few more members. Rich the Slavemancer came with a group of 25 people, while the Mist Demon, the Dimensional Merchant, and the Hero also had their own parties.

The only ones completely alone, except Ellie, were the weird girl with the hood and the pale beauty.

"These are your mansions. Please stay and rest here for now. I will go and inform the palace about our arrival." Leana explained after giving them a short explanation of the palace compound.

After the Princess left, they were about to follow their steward to their mansion, when the hooded Girl, Cade, approached the delegation from Minas Mar.

"Here, I came to give it back to you as we agreed." she held up a necklace with a small pendant.

It was the whimsical curse!

"Did you already finish finding all the remnants?"

"I had almost three months. With the radar you gave me, it was a lot easier."

With this, all chances of Zarkon to make a comeback on Urth were gone. Although his champion was sealed there had still been hope for the infection to spread and the religion to reform. Now that Cade had ripped out all the roots, there was no way for that to happen.

One had to know, even if the champion died there would be no second chances given by the System God.

"You had no problems when you destroyed the item?" Seth asked concerned. H had gotten a stern warning from a god when he wanted to kill a champion. Even though she was not a champion, would Zarkon really just watch?

"Nothing at all. I broke the radar and the soul, the only things that were left were this necklace and some broken parts."

Of course, Zarkon would have tried to interfere, if he could. What they didn't know, was that the fearsome god was currently a picture of misery still locked away in a very dark dimension. He had no fun time when the god of chaos, Seth found out whom the other had messed with.

Zarkon was still recovering from the severe beating Seth had used to kill the time during his isolation.

Blacksmith Seth carefully took the extremely dangerous necklace from her hand and put it into his inventory after appraising it once. The items had really grown a lot!

<Whimsical Curse

Relic

Durability: 7000

1. Curse of Binding

2. Passive Skill: Strengthening

3. Passive Skill: Whimsical Power

4. + 100 Strength

5.+1500 Mana

6. Passive Skill: Whimsical Regeneration

A terrifying pendant and necklace created by the maleficent hands of Craftsman Smith.

Created with an amalgamation of superior craftsmanship and mysterious techniques,

it is a work of pure malicious intent.

If the notoriety of the pendant grows in the future, it may evolve into a legendary item.>

Aside from the original effects and durability growing, it even had a new function.

Whimsical Regeneration was technically the opposite of Whimsical power. Seth could only speculate that it was a result of sucking so much life force away from the champion's soul that it took on a similar characteristic.

This passive skill could increase one's healing rate based on the whims of the deranged monkey ego. If someone managed to calm down these souls, this item could become a very powerful support for that person.

Maybe if he refined... Seth noticed that he had stopped talking in the middle of their conversation and an awkward silence had ensued between the two.

"Ah, sorry, I was lost in thoughts. Thank you for bringing it back."

"No, I have to thank you for helping me finish my revenge. I may not have been able to end the champion himself, but I feel satisfied now for the first time in a long while."

"Good to hear. Let's get along later in the evaluation, too."

They said their farewells and shook hands before splitting up.. Seth returned to his friends, and they entered their own mansion to rest.