Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 376
Drrrrrrrr—
The Guiyeong Spear vibrated.
At the same time, the mana it had been holding began to vent.
Su-ho knew what the spear looked like when its final consciousness awoke.
It was no longer a spear, but a wolf—no longer “Guiyeong Spear,” but “Guiyeong,” the name it bore: a faithful shield and the sharpest spear that served the Shadow King in his past life.
“From the start, the Guiyeong Spear was said to be made from the bones of a shadow divine beast.”
Before long, the gushing mana ceased.
[ Congratulations. You have succeeded in fully awakening the Guiyeong Spear’s consciousness. ]
[ Item information is updating. ]
[ For achieving a great feat, the system gifts you 10 bonus stats. ]
Ten bonus stats.
Yeah.
That does count as a great feat.
He’d fed the spear so many powerful beings, after all.
Su-ho immediately checked the Guiyeong Spear’s information.
[ Guiyeong Spear ]
Grade: S+
# The Guiyeong Spear whose 5th-stage consciousness has awakened.
# Having absorbed powerful mana, the Guiyeong Spear has succeeded in fully unlocking its former might and has regained its complete power.
# It recognizes the first to awaken its consciousness as its master; “Guiyeong (S)” can be drawn from the owner’s shadow at any time.
# As long as shadows and mana exist, a broken Guiyeong Spear can be repaired and resummoned at will via “Shadow Regeneration (S).”
# “Shadow Shackles (S)” can be used to bite the target’s shadow and pin down the target’s movements.
# While the shadow fangs are embedded in the target’s shadow, the target suffers bleed damage every second from “Shadow Bleed (S).”
# “Shadow Pierce (S)” can be used to unconditionally penetrate any target that is covered in shadow.
# “Shadow Move (S)” can be used to teleport to the Guiyeong Spear’s location.
# The shadow divine beast “Guiyeong (S)” can be summoned. Guiyeong’s loyalty to its master is absolute. It always dwells within the master’s shadow, guards the master, and carries out any command without hesitation.
Reading the updated info, Su-ho narrowed his eyes in a thrill.
And at once, he summoned Guiyeong.
“Guiyeong.”
[ Summoning Guiyeong. ]
Shrrruk!
With the system alert, wisps of black smoke dispersed before Su-ho’s eyes, and the shadow divine beast “Guiyeong” was summoned.
Guiyeong’s appearance was curious.
Like a black cat in the dark, everything but its golden eyes melted into shadow.
If you didn’t focus closely, it looked like nothing more than a lump of darkness tracing the outline of a wolf.
Su-ho asked Guiyeong,
“Are you Guiyeong?”
Guiyeong nodded.
Just like what he’d seen in his past life.
But could it speak?
Come to think of it, even when he faced the Shadow King before, he didn’t recall Guiyeong ever howling.
Su-ho checked Guiyeong’s information.
[ Guiyeong▲ ]
Grade: S+
# A shadow divine beast dwelling in the Guiyeong Spear.
# One of the faithful shadows of the Shadow Lord.
# Affected by the master’s mana.
# Grows stronger by devouring the shadows of the dead strong.
A brief description.
All things he knew.
But one thing hooked Su-ho’s gaze.
Next to Guiyeong’s name was a small triangle marker—one meaning among others that a quest had appeared.
“A quest from Guiyeong?”
He’d never heard of this.
Su-ho immediately tapped the triangle.
“Awooooo!!”
Guiyeong’s sudden howl.
Wait—so it could make a sound?
Right then—
[ ■■■ reacts to Guiyeong’s call. ]
[ ■■■ watches you and Guiyeong. ]
“What is this?”
A system alert.
It was a notification concerning a Transcendent.
Of all the things the system redacts, only those about Transcendents are black-boxed.
“Then the Shadow King saw this alert too? But why didn’t he say a word?”
There are no eternal secrets in the world.
Some people simply aren’t the boasting type, so a secret can be kept a long time.
But an alert about a Transcendent connects to a Player’s power in a sense, and as a notification that not just anyone can see, whoever first witnessed it wouldn’t keep their mouth shut forever.
“One [N O V E L I G H T] way or another, they’d have searched for where that alert led—or shown it off somehow.”
And such showings always leave traces, large or small.
Yet even when the Shadow King was captured by Su-ho—at a moment of life and death—he never mentioned Transcendents.
“Then who is ■■■?”
Su-ho pondered.
By the circumstances, there was only one Transcendent likely to appear at this timing.
“Don’t tell me—the Shadow Lord?”
From the start, the Guiyeong Spear was one of the Shadow Lord’s treasures.
But why only three black boxes?
Shouldn’t it be five if it’s the Shadow Lord?
Just then—
[ ■■■ examines your qualifications. ]
[ ■■■ is surprised by your qualifications. ]
■■■’s surprise.
What did it see to be surprised?
Another alert surfaced.
[ ■■■ nods at your qualifications. ]
[ ■■■ grants additional power to Guiyeong. ]
[ Guiyeong’s information is updating. ]
[ For achieving a remarkable feat, the system gifts you 5 bonus stats. ]
Guiyeong’s information changed.
And he gained 5 more bonus stats.
[ ■■■ smiles at you. ]
With the notification of a smile, no more messages appeared.
“......”
Su-ho checked Guiyeong’s information again.
[ Guiyeong ]
Grade: S+
# A shadow divine beast dwelling in the Guiyeong Spear.
# One of the faithful shadows of the Shadow Lord.
# Affected by the master’s mana.
# Grows stronger by devouring the shadows of the dead strong.
# If you gather the shadows of the strong and prove your qualification, a door will open to that place.
The triangle marker was gone.
And the final line now appeared in bold.
“That place?”
If you gather the shadows of the strong and prove your qualification, a door will open to that place.
What is “that place”? 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Where does it mean?
What was certain, however, was that since it said to gather the shadows of the strong, he simply had to keep feeding Guiyeong the shadows of strong foes, just as he’d been doing.
“Hm.”
Seeing the new line, a thought struck him.
Perhaps the Shadow King hadn’t seen this line—or he’d failed the quest and kept his mouth shut out of embarrassment.
It felt more likely to be the former.
He’d obtained Guiyeong quicker than expected.
“So I’m getting special treatment again...”
Interesting.
Special treatment was always welcome.
Su-ho narrowed his thoughts back down.
A new quest had been given.
All he had to do was act.
And since ■■■ had granted power to Guiyeong, ■■■ was probably indeed the Shadow Lord.
In that sense, ■■■ was likely the Shadow Lord’s true name.
Hera had been ■■, after all.
Roughly satisfied with the situation, Su-ho shifted his attention elsewhere. There seemed to be no more system alerts.
“Then now...”
Su-ho pulled an item from his inventory and checked its information.
[ Rune of Life Evolution ]
Grade: S
# There are many mysterious runes in the world. The Rune of Life Evolution is one of them.
# A rune that can evolve a living being into a higher order of existence.
# Can only be used on living beings.
# Cannot be used on beings of too high an order.
What he had taken out was the Rune of Life Evolution.
Reading the item info, Su-ho quietly curled his lips.
Because, though he’d gotten it by chance, the moment he obtained it, he had immediately chosen its owner.
“Sorry to Bulgasari and the Iron Horse, but the moment I saw this, I thought of Guiyeong.”
It wasn’t a purely emotional choice.
The Iron Horse was certainly a fine creature, but it was hard to imagine it as anything beyond a means of transport.
Bulgasari was the same.
Originally, it had been a stand-in for the Iron Horse—transportation, digging, shadow-making, and other support uses—but he couldn’t imagine a supporting role beyond that.
“I hadn’t expected more from them in the first place.”
But Guiyeong was different.
He’d used the Guiyeong Spear far more than either the Iron Horse or Bulgasari—and now it had come to life.
On top of that, the Transcendent’s message had raised its expected value.
So if he were to use the Rune of Life Evolution, of course he should use it on Guiyeong.
Su-ho infused mana into the Rune of Life Evolution and brought it to Guiyeong.
[ Using the Rune of Life Evolution. ]
[ Is this the correct target? ]
A system question.
Of course, yes.
[ Using the Rune of Life Evolution. ]
[ Target: “Guiyeong.” ]
Fwoooosh!
Light burst forth.
The Rune of Life Evolution shone white, then powdered motes of radiance formed and began to seep into Guiyeong.
But in that instant—
Pop!
The light went out.
At the same time, the rune in Su-ho’s hand returned to its original state.
What the—why?
A notification appeared before his eyes.
[ Failed to use the Rune of Life Evolution. ]
[ ■■■ has refused the use of the Rune of Life Evolution. ]
“What?”
So flabbergasted by the system alert, Su-ho spoke aloud without thinking.
Refused?
Who are you to—
The ■■■ here was surely the Shadow Lord.
Then why refuse?
Guiyeong is one of the treasures you cherish.
And I’m offering to enhance that treasure.
At a loss, Su-ho tried the rune enhancement again.
[ Using the Rune of Life Evolution. ]
[ Target: “Guiyeong.” ]
Fwoooosh!
Light erupted.
And—
Pop!
The light died.
[ Failed to use the Rune of Life Evolution. ]
[ ■■■ has refused the use of the Rune of Life Evolution. ]
It wasn’t a coincidence.
Nor a misread.
The Shadow Lord truly had refused.
“Why?”
It was so absurd that he blurted the question again.
But asking didn’t bring an answer.
“......”
For a while, Su-ho stared between the Rune of Life Evolution and Guiyeong in stunned silence.
He even looked up at the sky.
As with Hera, if a Transcendent was watching him, they’d surely be watching from above.
“Why? What’s the reason?”
......
No answer came.
Unbelievable.
He’d have liked at least a reason that made sense.
Su-ho turned his gaze back to Guiyeong and asked,
“Do you know? Why this is happening?”
Guiyeong tilted its head.
Right—what would you know.
Good grief.
Refusing even when I’m trying to enhance you.
With a sigh, Su-ho put the Rune of Life Evolution back into his inventory.
He wasn’t giving up.
This wasn’t something barred by system rules—just something the Shadow Lord had refused.
“I’ll find a way to power you up, no matter what.”
Exhaling, Su-ho shifted his gaze again.
This time to Otakemaru, now just a corpse.
He still had business with Otakemaru.
The Guiyeong Spear event had only been a sub-event through the man’s shadow.
When Su-ho approached and placed a hand on Otakemaru’s body, the corpse crumbled.
And in the spot where he fell, there was a hunched stone, like a silkworm cocooned over.
Su-ho picked it up and smiled in satisfaction.
“At last. The Yasakani no Magatama—one of Japan’s Three Sacred Treasures.”
