Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 319

"...!"

The moment Weaken activated, the King of Knights’ eyes widened.

Even though he was just an NPC-like entity, the King of Knights could tell.

His strength had been drastically reduced.

He narrowed his eyes.

"What is this..."

“Don’t space out—focus.”

“What?”

Boom!

The moment Su-ho said it, he launched forward with explosive speed.

The King of Knights swiftly drew his sword.

A quickdraw.

As expected of the kingdom’s finest sword, he drew faster than the others.

However—

Clang!!

In terms of physicality, Su-ho was no slouch either.

He struck the blade in reverse as it was being drawn.

The moment their blades collided, the King of Knights’ sword trembled violently.

“How is he this strong...?!”

A flash of confusion crossed his face.

His opponent was far stronger than expected.

Perhaps that’s why—

He decided to go all out from the beginning.

[Dorima's King of Knights uses Aura Blade.]

In that moment—

Slice!

[Heart Slash has been activated.]

[Enhancement has been applied.]

[The power of Heart Slash has been amplified.]

Just as his sword was about to be wrapped in Aura Blade, a searing heat flared inside his armor.

He felt pain on his back.

Startled, he glanced behind him—only to see a figure identical to the red-clad swordsman in front of him.

It was Su-ho.

The man stammered in shock.

“H-how...?!”

At that moment—

[Steel Severance has been activated.]

[Enhancement has been applied.]

[The power of Steel Severance has been amplified.]

This time, it was the Su-ho in front of him who swung his sword.

And with a clean, decisive slash, Su-ho split the King of Knights in two.

[You have slain Dorima's King of Knights.]

The King of Knights collapsed.

A death so anticlimactic, it made his title seem meaningless.

Only then did Su-ho release the suppression on his hearing.

"Didn’t catch a word of what he said since I had my ear points sealed."

Well, it didn’t matter.

He may have been called the King of Knights, but he was just a glorified extra. Nothing he said would’ve mattered.

Su-ho canceled the clone.

With a pop, the duplicate standing before the King of Knights vanished.

Now this is the final stretch.

There was no one else in this area but the King of Knights.

After all, he was Dorima's strongest force.

According to the report from his previous life, the man had been quite the nuisance.

Understandably so—he was a user of Aura Blade, a staple of fantasy knights.

Aura Blade wielders at a 3-star level are definitely troublesome.

Which is why Su-ho cast Weaken and killed him before he could fully activate it.

Strike first, win first.

A time-honored and effective strategy.

Su-ho wiped the blood off his blade and opened the final palace gate: Omun.

There was no need to destroy it—Omun opened easily.

Because beyond it, the King of Dorima was waiting.

Just as Su-ho opened the door—

[Quest objective fulfilled.]

[Quest completed.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All stats increased by 1.]

[You have gained 1 bonus stat.]

Another level up.

Su-ho dismissed the notifications and looked past Omun—toward the king’s chamber.

It resembled a temple in appearance.

When he entered, the king and other members of the royal family were gathered together.

The man standing at the front was undoubtedly the King of Dorima.

His name card hovered above his head.

He wore plain clothes.

Despite knowing an intruder had entered the palace.

He must’ve put all his trust in the King of Knights.

But once that knight was dead, even a king would die a dog’s death.

The King of Dorima spoke.

“Who are you? Who are you to suddenly attack our kingdom?”

He asked out of genuine curiosity.

Naturally so.

Outside, a plague ran rampant, and people were dying in heaps.

The nation was practically collapsing.

And then a monster appeared out of nowhere, destroying the palace gates singlehandedly and slaughtering his people. How could he not be curious?

But Su-ho didn’t answer. Instead, he gripped his blood sword.

Then swiftly swung it and beheaded the king.

Slice!

“Kyaaaa!!”

“Honey!!”

“Father!!”

The queen, a son, and a daughter.

Each called the king by the name they always had.

His severed head rolled across the floor.

Blood spurted from his neck.

Su-ho, expressionless, canceled the Blood Weapon and folded his arms.

This wasn’t a game.

It was a playground modeled after a game system.

So he had no intention of indulging in clichéd banter like “Who are you?” or “Who am I?”

Besides, he wasn’t curious.

It’s not like he came here for fun.

And he had to kill him anyway.

According to the reports, the king may have seemed calm and rational on the surface, but inside, he was anything but.

Just then—

Twitch—

The corpse flinched.

The corpse of the King of Dorima.

This wasn’t rigor mortis.

It moved.

Perhaps sensing something strange, the sobbing family stopped crying.

And then—

Rumble...

Black smoke began rising from the dead king’s body.

“W-what?”

“H-Honey?”

“W-what is that?!”

As the black smoke rose, the king’s body stood up.

His once-closed eyes snapped open.

It’s starting.

Su-ho watched the transformation unfold with unchanging eyes.

The headless body moved on its own and picked up a fallen sword.

Then it began walking toward its terrified family.

“H-Honey?”

“W-what...?”

“Run!!”

The prince’s desperate cry.

But it was already too late.

Slash!

Without eyes, the headless king showed no hesitation.

His sword strikes were ruthless, unhesitating.

After cutting down his family with certainty, the king stood upright with satisfaction.

Then he picked up his own severed head and placed it back on his neck.

And then something astounding happened.

Ssszzzzt—

As black smoke billowed, the head fused to the neck like molten metal.

Once reattached, the king spoke.

“Ahh... now I can speak.”

Then, wearing a much more twisted expression than before, he turned to Su-ho.

“You’re not even surprised?”

“Should I be?”

“Haha! True. No need to be shocked, I suppose. Then I’ll tell you what I really am— I am...”

Slice!

A flash of red light.

The arc of blood.

It was the blood sword.

The King of Dorima’s head once again flew off and rolled across the floor.

But this time, he didn’t die.

Like a Dullahan, the severed head stared up at Su-ho with furious eyes.

“You insolent wretch, how dare you...!”

His eyes turned red.

From the severed neck and head, gray smoke began pouring out.

[A Boss Monster has appeared.]

A brief system notification.

The message that announced the arrival of a boss monster.

Yeah.

What’s with all the chatter?

If it’s going to happen anyway, he might as well reveal his form without the monologue.

That’s why Su-ho cut him off before he could finish.

It worked.

Now he didn’t have to listen to pointless lines and could go straight to the boss summon.

The king’s true form was a boss monster.

More precisely, it had been hiding inside the king’s body.

The smoke-spewing corpse of the king rose into the air.

The billowing gray smoke twisted and expanded, forming a massive body at least three meters tall.

Then the face of the King of Dorima was pulled into the chest of the form, and in its place appeared a sinister-looking skeletal head.

On its skull sat a lavish, unmistakably boss-like helmet.

The floating figure spread its gray smoke like a tattered robe. Only its face and hands showed bone.

In its hand was a staff studded with a purple gem—something a sorcerer might carry.

Finally, a new name card appeared above its head.

Skeleton Lich Poid.

He was the boss of the Logan Hell Gate, and one of the most powerful beings in all of North Korea.

Poid spoke.

– You arrogant little brat. Don’t even dream of dying peacefully.

“Try me.”

– Hmph. I wonder how long that arrogance will last. Come forth!

Poid’s shout.

And with it, skills activated.

[Skeleton Lich Poid uses Return of the Dead.]

Return of the Dead.

True to his title as a lich, he used necromancer-type summoning magic.

The ground between Su-ho and Poid caved in, and skeletons clad in royal army armor began to rise.

– Poid’s Skeleton Guard Lv.232

– Poid’s Skeleton Guard Lv.230

– Poid’s Skeleton Guard Lv.231

– Poid’s Skeleton Guard Lv.233

...

Their levels were high too.

Considering the King of Knights had been level 235, these were no joke.

But if Su-ho could kill the King of Knights instantly, how hard could skeleton guards be?

Besides, they were undead, created by a lich.

Su-ho raised his blood sword and used a skill.

[Holy Enchant has been activated.]

A shining blade.

Seeing it, Poid’s eyes flared.

– Interesting. I thought you were just a blood-crazed butcher, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) but turns out you’re a mutt from the temple.

Boom!

Su-ho launched forward without replying.

As he clashed with the skeleton guards—

[Heatstorm has been activated.]

Whoooosh!

Pouring his mana into it, he unleashed a powerful heatstorm.

Fueled by his blue-colored mana, the storm generated overwhelming force.

Thanks to it, the skeleton guards—just about to swing their weapons—were blown off balance.

Su-ho took that moment to dash toward Poid.

– Haha! A fine attempt, but that’s your limit!

As Su-ho approached, Poid floated even higher into the air.

But he had overlooked something.

[Leap has been activated.]

Su-ho could jump again.

After leaping to his max height, he stepped in midair and vaulted even higher.

And amazingly, he soared above Poid.

Then, gripping his sword tightly, he activated a skill mid-air.

[Weaken has been activated.]

[Steel Severance has been activated.]

[Enhancement has been applied.]

[The power of Steel Severance has been amplified.]

Stacked skills.

All properly triggered.

Screeeeeech!!

As the sacred Steel Severance activated, Su-ho’s blood sword carved deeply into Poid’s body.

Black sparks exploded from the impact.

– Gaaaaaaaah!!

Poid howled in pain.

A normal sword wouldn’t have hurt him—but Su-ho’s Holy Enchant granted divine attributes.

For an undead like a lich, it was an absolute counter.

Combined with the surprise attack and Poid’s overconfidence, the result was devastating.

Su-ho pulled back and distanced himself.

Then summoned a new blood sword and immediately launched a follow-up attack.

[Holy Enchant has been activated.]

[Cloud Severance has been activated.]

[Enhancement has been applied.]

[The power of Cloud Severance has been amplified.]

Slice!

A second strike—Holy Cloud Severance.

The body that had resisted all damage now split cleanly in two, each half falling away.

But Su-ho didn’t let down his guard.

Because he knew—there was no way that thing would die so easily.

And just then—

[Skeleton Lich Poid summons his Second Persona.]

A system alert.

At the same time, the body that had been split in two reattached seamlessly.