Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 307
Boom!!
All six fists struck at once.
The mountain shook, and a massive crater formed where the fists collided.
The Master of Malice grinned darkly.
The sensation at the end of its knuckles clearly told it—the target had been pulverized.
With that belief, it pulled its fists back.
Thick dust clouds filled the air.
And then, amidst the settling debris, a red sphere appeared.
In that instant—
Shraaaak!!
CRACK!!
[ Spear Throw activates. ]
[ Shadow Pierce activates. ]
[ Shadow Shackles activates. ]
[ Shadow Bleed activates. ]
The Guiyeong Spear shot out from the red orb and pierced the boss monster squarely between the eyes.
And from the dissolving sphere, Su-ho emerged with a click of his tongue.
“Yeah... definitely weaker than the Hidden Gate boss.”
The red orb was a Blood Weapon—specifically, a large shield-type form that had absorbed ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the brunt of the impact.
Su-ho had decided to call this variation the Blood Circle.
With the Blood Circle dismissed, Su-ho raised his Holy Enchanted sword and slashed.
[ Cloud Severance activates. ]
[ Enhancement applies. ]
[ Cloud Severance’s power greatly increases. ]
Shhhhk!
A burst of light.
The neck split open.
As its head fell, the Master of Malice grinned with defiance.
“Heh heh... You think this is enough to defeat me—?”
But then—
“......!”
Its expression changed.
And seeing that dumbfounded face, Su-ho smirked.
[ Cutting the Ring activates. ]
[ The Master of Malice’s "Malice Recovery" has been destroyed. ]
That was the reason for the change in expression.
Its recovery skill had been severed.
“What the hell is this?!”
Panicked, the Master of Malice clutched its head with both hands.
But Su-ho had no intention of dragging things out.
“Let’s finish this.”
[ Holy Enchant activates. ]
[ Enhancement activates. ]
Activating two skills, he enlarged his Blood Sword to greatsword size and swung with full force.
[ Cloud Severance activates. ]
[ Enhancement applies. ]
[ Cloud Severance’s power greatly increases. ]
Shhhrkk!
A radiant arc carved through the massive body of the Master of Malice.
But Su-ho didn’t stop there.
[ Enhancement activates. ]
[ Cloud Severance activates. ]
[ Enhancement applies. ]
[ Cloud Severance’s power greatly increases. ]
[ Enhancement activates. ]
[ Cloud Severance activates. ]
[ Enhancement applies. ]
[ Cloud Severance’s power greatly increases. ]
[ Enhancement activates. ]
[ Cloud Severance activates. ]
[ Enhancement applies. ]
[ Cloud Severance’s power greatly increases. ]
Several follow-up strikes.
As befitting a boss monster, it took more than one hit.
But that was all it took.
After the final slash, the monster’s body burst apart.
BOOOOM!!
Like a popped balloon, its body exploded, unleashing a shockwave.
[ You have defeated the Master of Malice. ]
[ Gate has been conquered. ]
[ Gate Conquest MVP: “An Su-ho” ]
[ MVP bonus: Additional experience granted. ]
[ MVP bonus: 1 bonus stat granted. ]
[ You have leveled up. ]
[ All stats increased by 1. ]
[ Bonus stat acquired: +1 ]
At last, Su-ho saw the messages he had long awaited.
‘Finally... Level 200.’
And with it, a new beginning.
[ You have reached Level 200. ]
[ You have achieved a remarkable milestone. The system grants 5 bonus stats. ]
[ Player has reached a Singularity. ]
[ Class Quest has been activated. ]
[ Trait Quest has been activated. ]
[ One of the unlock conditions for the fourth power of Dragon Blood has been met. ]
[ One of the unlock conditions for the third power of Vampire Blood has been met. ]
[ One of the unlock conditions for the second power of Giant’s Bloodline has been met. ]
An onslaught of system messages.
All triggered by reaching Level 200.
Su-ho couldn’t hide his smile.
“Status window.”
[ An Su-ho ]
Lv: 200
Class▲: Crusader
Traits▲: <New Blood> <Hercules Candidate> <King of Ruined Nations> <Sealed Moon's Power>
Might (G): 64
Magic (B): 3
Perception (G): 20
Leadership (N): 19
Bonus Stats: 7
A Level 200 status window.
Both Class and Traits had quest activation indicators—signaling that his Second Singularity had fully arrived.
Su-ho invested all 7 bonus stat points into Might and quickly stepped into the exit portal.
There was no loot to collect.
The boss had disintegrated before he could even summon a shadow to feed on.
Fwoosh!
Exiting the portal, the panoramic view of Mount Kumgang spread out before him.
Su-ho checked the time.
‘This should be...’
He still had some time before the Purification Unification Operation.
Which meant he had other business to handle first.
And he'd start with the easy one.
The easiest thing was what he already knew.
And of those, the easiest was the Class Quest.
Just like before, he tapped the triangle next to his class name.
[ Class Quest has been activated. ]
[ The system wishes for you—now minimally qualified—to grow even stronger. ]
[ ■■ wishes to test you. ]
[ Upon accepting the test, a Trial of Proof will begin. ]
[ Do you accept the trial? ]
A familiar question.
Exactly like at the First Singularity.
So without hesitation, Su-ho accepted.
[ You have accepted the trial. ]
[ Entering the Trial Grounds. ]
With the system message, Su-ho’s vision flashed.
*
Vision returned.
And the moment it did, heat surged up the back of Su-ho’s neck.
Alex Morgan of the U.S.
Suzuki Endo of Japan.
Isabella Mikhail of Russia.
Hex Hood of the U.K.
The very people Su-ho had once wanted to rip apart with his bare hands were standing before him.
They were all traitors—those who had stabbed him in the back.
Su-ho stood at the rear.
Which allowed him to identify each one moving ahead quietly.
Being at the rear wasn’t coincidence.
In the death squad party, tank Alex led the front, while Su-ho—with his quick response—took the rear. It was standard formation.
Su-ho calmed himself.
‘Breathe. This is all an illusion.’
It had to be.
He had just been at Mount Kumgang moments ago.
Su-ho looked around.
And immediately recognized where he was.
This was the path to the first Catastrophe-level Gate.
So he couldn’t help but chuckle.
‘So this is how they’re testing me?’
He didn’t know who “■■” was.
Likely some Transcendent being linked to the Crusader class.
But what they were trying to test at the Second Singularity—he’d already heard from the First Crusader.
They wanted to assess the Crusader’s nature and goal.
As for nature—well, who could say?
He’d never believed in things like MBTI or horoscopes.
But his goal was crystal clear.
Revenge.
With that thought, Su-ho reached for the sword at his waist.
‘Long time no see.’
Perhaps because this was a recreated illusion, a familiar sword rested at his side.
Not that he was particularly fond of it.
Su-ho had never been the type to grow attached to a single blade.
Why?
Because a true craftsman should never blame their tools—and sticking with one weapon only made it a weakness. He always rotated his swords.
He drew it and whipped it like a lash.
Shhhhrrk!!
A sharp slash.
He aimed high—between the chest and neck—for maximum critical damage.
As expected, Endo and Isabella took the most lethal hits.
“Guhk!!”
“Urgh!!”
“Su-ho! What the hell are you doing?!”
“Hey! Are you out of your mind?!”
Alex and Hex, who suffered less damage, roared in shock.
Of course they would.
They were just about to enter the Catastrophe-level Gate—and now Su-ho was going berserk and team-killing.
But his fury remained unshaken.
With a sneer, Su-ho said:
“So? What do you think I’m doing?”
“You lunatic! Someone stop him!”
“Is he under some kind of status effect?!”
“Shut it.”
Status effect? 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
No.
He was calmer than ever.
Su-ho slashed again.
Starting with Isabella.
In party hunts, taking out the support first was rule number one.
That’s why he’d aimed his first strike to land hardest on her.
And it worked.
Already heavily wounded, Isabella couldn’t survive the second blow.
She fell.
“Bella!!”
The team shouted her name.
“Bella”—their nickname for Isabella.
Su-ho couldn’t help but laugh.
Such a delightful scream.
“I’ll never forgive you for this!”
Enraged, Alex charged in with his shield.
World-class tank reflexes, to be sure.
But Su-ho’s current stats matched his pre-return state.
Which meant Alex’s physicality couldn’t even qualify as physicality.
Su-ho jumped—stepping on Alex’s shoulder to leap into the air.
A barrage of arrows flew toward him midair.
From Hex.
Of course it was Hex.
Despite his injuries, the world-class archer fired a deadly volley in seconds.
But—
Clang!
Su-ho deflected them easily.
To someone like pre-return Su-ho, the claws of a wounded beast posed no threat.
Then he stabbed his blade into Endo’s forehead.
Shluk!
Blood gushed from the punctured skull as he withdrew it.
He’d wanted to do that back in Japan so badly.
Trial Grounds.
Not such a bad place after all.
After finishing off Suzuki, he moved on to Alex.
And taking out Alex wasn’t difficult either.
No matter how legendary a tank he was, no matter how well he wielded shield and spear—he was nothing before Su-ho’s sword.
Dying, Alex coughed up blood and asked:
“Why... why are you doing this?”
“Good question. Why do you think?”
“What?”
“If you're that curious, think about it in hell.”
Shhhk!
Alex’s head hit the floor.
Su-ho turned to Hex.
Even while Su-ho was dealing with Alex, Hex had been firing.
But Su-ho had been swatting those arrows away like summer mosquitoes.
“You... why...”
Shluk!
Same words.
He didn’t want to hear them.
So he cut him down too.
Right after slaying them all—
[ The trial has ended. ]
The trial was over.
