Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 224
The notifications kept pouring in.
[The system has recognized your exceptional swordsmanship and has fully acknowledged your 'Cross Slash.']
[As a result, your 'Cross Slash' has been elevated to a higher grade, reaching the realm of mastery, now qualifying to become a new technique.]
[Congratulations! The grade of your 'Cross Slash' skill has been upgraded to S-grade.]
[Your Cross Slash can now reach the deepest parts of the enemy.]
[Blade Understanding activates.]
[The will of the nameless sword residing in the Guardian Sword responds to your evolved swordsmanship.]
[■■ nods in acknowledgment of your growth and blesses you.]
[■■'s blessing is infused into the Guardian Sword.]
[The information on Cross Slash has changed.]
[You have learned 'Hukong-ryu 3rd Style – Heart Slash (S+).']
[Congratulations on your great achievement! The system has awarded you 10 bonus stats.]
Su-ho smiled as the notifications flooded his view.
He had finally obtained it.
The 'Heart Slash' from the Hukong-ryu 3rd Style.
After seeing the notifications, Su-ho pulled a boss monster-level mana crystal from his pouch and fed it to Bulgasari.
"Let’s wrap this up."
“Bulbul!”
Chomp!
Bulgasari eagerly accepted the mana crystal, and as it chewed, the powerful mana from the boss monster-level crystal spread through it, acting like a booster.
“Buuuul!!”
Bulgasari, now rampaging, regained its energy in an instant and charged at the enemy with all its might, in sync with its master’s will.
– Kkkk! You’re still struggling uselessly!
The Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island sneered, raising its hand.
[The Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island uses Magma Punch.]
As the Magma Punch activated, a massive lava fist shot up from where Bulgasari was standing.
But it didn’t land.
Fueled by the booster, Bulgasari was essentially a runaway train.
“Well done!”
“Buuuul!!”
Yes.
This was exactly why he fed it that precious boss monster-level mana crystal.
As Su-ho advanced, the Red Volcano Elementals gathered to protect their master.
But—
[Blessing activates.]
[Holy Enchant activates.]
The Blood Sword, enveloped in radiant light, swept through the Red Volcano Elementals.
Su-ho swung his sword with all his might toward the ones blocking his path.
[Cloud Slash activates.]
[You have defeated a Red Volcano Elemental.]
[You have defeated a Red Volcano Elemental.]
[You have defeated a Red Volcano Elemental.]
......
The blade was engulfed in flames as the killing messages poured in.
But it didn’t matter.
Su-ho had planned to finish this before the Blood Prison’s ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) blood ran out.
Reaching the Gatekeeper’s front, Su-ho swung his radiant and fiery sword.
[Heart Slash activates.]
Swish!
The sharp cutting sound echoed.
Following the path of the swing, pure white light etched itself across the Gatekeeper’s body.
But there were no visible wounds.
That was to be expected.
Heart Slash wasn’t about slashing the surface—it was the ultimate technique that cut deep into the enemy’s core.
– KHAHAHA! This is no different from last time...!
At that moment, the Gatekeeper’s expression shifted from mockery to seriousness.
It had felt it.
For the first time, the attack that had only made a scratching sound had actually landed.
“Surprised?”
– H-How dare you!
The Gatekeeper’s flustered expression was the most exhilarating sight Su-ho had seen.
From that moment on, Su-ho moved like a cavalryman, circling and mercilessly tearing into the Gatekeeper.
[Heart Slash activates.]
[Heart Slash activates.]
[Heart Slash activates.]
......
A storm of Heart Slashes rained down.
Of course, the Gatekeeper wasn’t just standing there.
It also fought back with everything it had.
[The Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island uses Magma Punch.]
[The Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island uses Lava Explosion.]
[The Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island...]
But none of the attacks landed on Su-ho.
There was only one reason for that.
“Buuuuuul!!”
Thanks to Bulgasari, who had awakened from consuming the boss monster-level mana crystal, it kept the Gatekeeper’s attacks from reaching their mark.
After dealing continuous damage to the Gatekeeper’s magic core for a while—
[Heart Slash activates.]
At last, the moment Su-ho landed another Heart Slash on the Gatekeeper’s magic core.
Fwoooosh!
Suddenly, radiant light erupted from all over the Gatekeeper’s body.
The holy radiance wrapped around the blade and finally cleaved the Gatekeeper’s magic core in two.
– W-What is this nonsense!! Kraaahhh!!
The Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island screamed in agony.
And simultaneously—
[The Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island uses Monster-level Fear.]
[Dragon Blood activates.]
[Due to the Dragon Spirit effect of Dragon Blood, Fear is nullified.]
Once again, the boss monster-level Fear exploded.
It was its final attempt.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
But no matter how desperate its final struggle, its scream didn’t manage to harm Su-ho.
After all, he was a descendant of the great dragon, impervious to such feeble attempts.
And finally—
[You have defeated the Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island.]
[The gate has been cleared.]
[The MVP of the gate conquest is ‘An Su-ho’.]
[Additional experience is awarded for MVP selection.]
[1 bonus stat is awarded for MVP selection.] freewebnσvel.cѳm
[The Hidden Gate has been cleared.]
[You have successfully solo-cleared a 1-star Hidden Gate.]
[Congratulations on your great achievement! The system has awarded you 10 bonus stats.]
Su-ho received the most accurate confirmation from the system that the Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island had been defeated.
The system alerts kept flooding in.
As Su-ho examined them, one of the notifications caught his attention.
‘Great achievement?’
When he cleared the first Hidden Gate, Blood’s Rest, he had received bonus stats of 5 for his great achievement.
But this time, he was awarded 10 bonus stats for the ‘great achievement.’
Su-ho immediately understood the difference between the two gates.
‘I guess I’m the first to solo-clear a 1-star Hidden Gate.’
If that weren’t the case, there’d be no reason for such a reward.
He felt proud.
With just one gate conquest, he had gained a huge amount of bonus stats.
Not only that.
Thanks to clearing so many Volcano Elementals and Bats, Su-ho had leveled up twice, in addition to the level gained from clearing the gate.
Su-ho invested all the bonus stats into Strength and updated his status window.
[An Su-ho]
– Lv: 163
– Class: Crusader
– Traits: <New Blood> <Heracles Candidate>
– Strength (Y): 56
– Mana (Y): 15
– Sensory (O): 96
– Bonus Stats: 0
His stats were looking incredibly solid.
After confirming the updated status window, Su-ho finally shifted his gaze to the dead Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island.
Its body was clean.
That made sense.
Su-ho had only targeted the heart, leaving the rest untouched.
Maybe that was why?
Normally, it would’ve triggered the second phase, but the Gatekeeper couldn’t even begin the next phase, as its magic core, the source of its power, had been destroyed.
‘This is why Heart Slash is so scary.’
Su-ho knew how powerful Heart Slash was.
It was, without exaggeration, what had put him on top in the past.
Even so, he hadn’t rushed to learn Heart Slash using Giseunhwan for a simple reason.
It was about efficiency.
Until now, his overwhelming stats compared to his level had allowed him to clear most enemies with just Cross Slash.
But this time, despite having more than enough stats, he couldn’t even land a hit on the Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island.
‘I’m sure this will keep happening.’
This wasn’t a problem of level or stats.
He had already walked a different path from other players.
Even if he kept consuming every fortuitous encounter to raise his stats, the enemies he would face would continue to grow stronger as well.
And Su-ho planned to seek out those very enemies.
And he would have to face them all alone.
‘There’s no one else in this world who’s grown as much as I have—or will.’
There was no regret or hesitation in his heart.
This was exactly why Su-ho had chosen this path from the beginning.
With the death of the Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island, the lava that had been unleashed gradually began to disappear, much like the sea level had receded earlier.
Seeing that, Su-ho finally took off his mask.
“Phew.”
Was it because he had defeated the boss monster?
The air felt slightly cooler.
Su-ho summoned the Guiyeong Spear and plunged it into the Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island.
[Guiyeong Spear responds to the Gatekeeper of the Volcano Island's shadow.]
[Guiyeong Spear absorbs the Gatekeeper's shadow.]
The Guiyeong Spear began absorbing the shadow.
It was the shadow of a 2-star boss monster.
It would likely be a huge help in awakening the Guiyeong Spear's consciousness.
Just then.
Rumble!
Suddenly, the entire Hallasan began to tremble.
What was that?
Hadn't he already defeated the boss monster?
Su-ho wondered as he saw pink light beginning to emanate from the center of Baengnokdam, where it had cracked open.
A tremendous amount of magical energy waves.
Su-ho activated Magic Detection to examine its movement.
But...
‘...What is this?’
Su-ho followed the pink light with his gaze, trailing downwards.
And he saw it clearly.
Beneath his feet, underground.
The vast amount of magical energy filling that space.
It wasn’t just a lot—it was so vast and dazzling that it almost felt like he was standing on a star.
At that moment, a system alert appeared before Su-ho's eyes.
[Return the memory to the Volcano.]
Return the memory to the Volcano?
The words triggered a memory of the Volcano Island’s memory he had in his inventory.
Opening his inventory, Su-ho pulled out the memory of the Volcano Island, which resembled an opal, and it was also glowing on its own.
It didn’t take long for Su-ho to understand what it meant to return the memory.
He dropped it into the crack in Baengnokdam.
And that was exactly the right answer.
[The Volcano has regained its memory.]
[The legendary Volcano awakens.]
Rumble!
It was right after the Volcano regained its memory.
Hallasan began to shake even more violently.
It felt like an earthquake was happening.
However, Su-ho stood his ground without panicking.
There was no reason to be afraid.
He was the Volcano’s benefactor.
And having already defeated the boss monster, there was no reason for him to be threatened anymore.
At that moment, golden light began to emerge from the hole in Baengnokdam that had been emitting pink light.
And then.
Fwoooosh!!
In an instant, the golden light intensified, and it began to shine so brightly that Su-ho had to close his eyes.
The overwhelming brilliance forced Su-ho to naturally shut his eyes.
When the light subsided, and he opened his eyes again, Su-ho saw it.
Baengnokdam, no longer covered in lava and volcanic ash, but now lush with green mountains and vegetation.
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