Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 394
[ You have slain Yamata no Orochi. ]
[ Your level has increased. ]
[ All stats have increased by 1. ]
[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]
He leveled up.
Even with a 10-level gap, it must have given decent experience.
It didn’t leave anything behind.
If anything, it left the whole area dyed red with its blood.
Thanks to that, even the island that had been strikingly white had turned crimson.
Su-ho was still astride the Iron Horse.
He now knew well that that island wasn’t a foothold but a kind of trap.
“Is that it?”
That would be too underwhelming.
Right then—
Kugugugu!
The sky darkened and began to groan as if ready to unleash wind and rain any second.
Whhhoooosh!
A raging gale.
And at the same time, the alert he wanted to see rose up.
[ A boss monster is appearing. ]
KWA-AAAANG!! SHWAAAAA!!
With the notice of the boss’s appearance, a colossal bolt of lightning filled the entire sky, and at the same time, a mad storm began to pour.
Krrng! Krrrng! Flash!
Lightning struck again.
It crashed down upon the sea, and the recoil of its physical force sent a massive column of water surging upward.
Yet the waterspout, which should have fallen under gravity, did not drop. Instead it stood upright like a footstool, holding its shape.
Chuaaa!
On the wave, the water dented inward, forming the shape of a person.
Sitting stone-still on the Iron Horse, Su-ho fixed his gaze on it.
And at last, he saw.
A being formed with sea foam.
It was none other than the master of this place—the Low and Furious Sea—“Sea God Susanoo no Mikoto.”
- Sea God Susanoo no Mikoto Lv.???
Susanoo, for short.
This was his first time seeing him in person.
He wore a neat, traditional Japanese garb of mingled blue and black. The hair Su-ho had expected to be wild was, unexpectedly, long and slicked back neatly.
Susanoo’s eyes were closed, but he slowly opened them.
And those eyes were filled, ghostlike, with violet light.
Susanoo raised his head and looked at Su-ho.
Then his voice rang through Su-ho’s mind.
- An interesting one has come.
The voice echoed in his head like receiving Sound Transmission.
With a crooked grin, Su-ho replied the same way.
- What’s so interesting?
A Sound Transmission of no less than S-rank.
Perhaps for that reason—
Receiving a reply in a similar manner, Susanoo let out a short laugh.
- Ha! You’re no ordinary one. However human you seem, to deliver will to me like this.
- That’s what skills are for. So—if I drop you, is that the end?
- Hahaha! What an adorably impudent creature. Indeed, if you’re human, you ought to have reckless courage—even if you don’t know it’s mere bravado.
Good grief... first time we’ve met and you’re already that arrogant?
Su-ho answered at once.
- I’ll take that as a yes.
Finishing his reply, Su-ho immediately summoned the Guiyeong Spear and hurled it at him.
[ Throwing Spear activated. ]
Shyaaaaa!
The Guiyeong Spear shot forth.
Seeing that, Susanoo twisted his lips and thrust out a hand.
The surrounding waters twined like vines, shaping into several spears that rushed the Guiyeong Spear.
“Guiyeong!”
Flash!
At Su-ho’s shout, the flying Guiyeong Spear shifted into Guiyeong, slipped past all of Susanoo’s razor waves, and succeeded in lunging at him.
Crunch!
Brave Guiyeong sank its teeth into the arrogant sea god’s shoulder.
At once, the Guiyeong Spear’s signature effects triggered.
[ Shadow Pierce activated. ]
[ Shadow Shackles activated. ]
[ Shadow Bleed activated. ]
A clean bite.
Yet Susanoo didn’t show pain; he merely raised his index finger with contemptuous ease and flicked to the side. An unseen hand seemed to seize Guiyeong and fling it far away.
Like skipping a stone, Guiyeong skittered over the surface.
Before it tumbled any further, Su-ho activated Guiyeong—the recall option of the Guiyeong Spear—and brought it back into his arms.
“Good work.”
At his praise, Guiyeong burrowed into Su-ho’s chest, then perched on his shoulder.
In the meantime, Susanoo dispelled the Shadow Shackles and Bleed effects.
“Monster or not, a god is still a god.”
Strictly speaking, he’d be classified as “divine race.”
A very troublesome opponent.
Judging from what he’d seen, his main force was a kind of telekinesis. The Second Cataclysm had only just begun, and already he had to face something at this level.
“But it can’t be helped.”
He wasn’t going to dodge just because it was hard.
Retreating was even less of an option.
Su-ho immediately began slashing at him.
[ Heat-Transmuting Blade activated. ]
He swung, like a flurry of cuts, and Su-ho’s sword waves wrapped themselves in a blanket of flame attribute, raining down madly toward Susanoo.
As the barrage fell, Susanoo put his index and middle fingers together and drew a line from top to bottom.
A massive wall of waves surged up and blocked the flaming rain.
Puh-puh-puh-POOM!
Deafening blasts.
Pinned behind that overwhelming wall, the Heat-Transmuting Blade volley ended with underwhelming damage.
Susanoo smirked.
- If that’s all you’ve got, I’m sorely disappointed.
He snapped his fingers.
[ Sea God Susanoo no Mikoto uses Song of the Angry Sea. ]
As the alert appeared, waterspouts burst up everywhere.
They connected straight to the sky and turned into brutal obstacles, rolling toward Su-ho with chariot wheels.
“Hihihiiing!”
The clever Pegasus did its utmost to keep its master from being swallowed by those waterspouts.
At moments like this, he was very glad the [N O V E L I G H T] Iron Horse was iron.
Had it been a creature of soft flesh, it would have been nearly impossible to endure this monstrous gale.
- Now then, what will you do?
Susanoo laughed.
He looked like an evil god handing down trials to humans and enjoying their struggle to overcome them.
“Enough of this bastard.”
One divine trial—from that woman Hera—was plenty.
When Su-ho stuck to evasive maneuvers on the Iron Horse, a bored Susanoo waved his hand again.
[ Sea God Susanoo no Mikoto uses Song of the Persistent Sea. ]
He didn’t hear any singing—what song?
With the skill’s activation, sharp arrows of seawater now jetted from the waterspouts and spewed toward Su-ho.
“Trying everything, are we.”
The arrows homed in on Su-ho like guided missiles.
Their size and keen edges were like flying fish.
Frowning, Su-ho worked his head.
His hands didn’t idle—he kept swinging, launching Heat-Transmuting Blade slashes to swat down the water arrows.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!
Since they homed in, there was nothing for it but to shoot them down.
Susanoo, no longer using skills, folded his hands behind his back and watched Su-ho’s frantic resistance with leisure.
- In the end, nothing but bravado.
The occasional taunts were not extra but essential.
But Su-ho didn’t reply.
He focused on what was in front of him.
[ Heat-Transmuting Blade activated. ]
He hewed a great slash and erased dozens of water arrows at once.
Then, before Susanoo could form new ones, he poured a volley of Heat-Transmuting Blade at Susanoo himself.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA!
- Hm.
Not learning, are we?
He should have realized that wouldn’t work.
Foolish humans, unable to overcome their limits.
Thinking so, Susanoo raised another wall of waves.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!
The pouring flames struck the wave-wall and fizzled away.
Even packed with mana, the difference wasn’t great.
Susanoo had plenty of mana as well.
At that moment, between the exploding flames and the wave-wall, a massive energy appeared.
Heat-Transmuting Blade?
His sight blocked by the wall, Susanoo assumed as much and layered on another wave-wall.
But the massive energy wasn’t a Heat-Transmuting Blade.
[ Wave Strike activated. ]
The skill went off.
At the same time, the thick wall of waves split like the Red Sea, and the massive energy’s true identity emerged.
Su-ho and the Iron Horse.
[ Heatstorm activated. ]
Fwo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo!
The surging Heatstorm shoved the parted wave-walls even more violently.
Realizing too late that the flame volleys were a feint, Susanoo burst mana to push Su-ho back.
But it was already too late.
Having closed to right under Susanoo’s nose, Su-ho unleashed three skills in rapid succession.
[ Rage Mode activated. ]
Start with Rage Mode.
Since Rage Mode massively boosted his stats, now was the best time to use it to mask his presence at least a little.
[ Weaken activated. ]
Next—Weaken.
He didn’t know Susanoo’s level, but the opening monster, Yamata no Orochi, had been higher level than Su-ho.
Then Susanoo would certainly be much higher still.
Which meant even if he applied Weaken, it would fall off quickly.
So he used it now.
Even for a moment—he had to hit when the enemy’s stats were at their lowest to deal maximum damage.
As the combo poured in, Susanoo moved to respond.
But a few seconds of crammed skill chaining—and especially the final strike prepared right after his sight was blocked—was something he absolutely could not stop now unless he rewound time.
[ Heart Slash activated. ]
[ Enhancement applied. ]
[ Heart Slash grows stronger. ]
Shaaah!!
Light halos flared the instant the blade swept out.
Among his sword arts, Heart Slash had the longest wind-up, but Su-ho had no other choice.
Classified as a monster or not, the divine race was still divine.
Thus the surest way to inflict the greatest damage was Heart Slash.
And Su-ho’s choice soon proved the best choice.
- ....
His attack—woven from feints and every kind of combination—landed a clean blow on the sea god, the light halo cleaving true.
Proof: Susanoo’s body was split on the diagonal, his form erased.
Yet Susanoo neither screamed nor raged. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
He didn’t roll around pathetically either.
As if fixed to the spot, only the severed portion disappeared; silently, he looked down at his sundered body.
By then, the Song of the Angry Sea had quieted.
As even the falling storm gradually abated, Susanoo finally turned those signature violet eyes toward Su-ho and spoke.
- Absurd. We will meet again later.
At that moment—
[ You have slain Sea God Susanoo no Mikoto. ]
[ The Gate has been cleared. ]
[ The MVP of the Gate clear is “Ahn Su-ho.” ]
[ Additional experience awarded for MVP selection. ]
[ 1 bonus stat awarded for MVP selection. ]
[ Your level has increased. ]
[ All stats have increased by 1. ]
[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]
Gate-clear notices rose before Su-ho’s eyes.
