Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 396

Chajajajajajak!

When Cloud Severance was used, a wide, curving sword-line unfurled.

And what remained where they passed was a long, long ice wave.

It was a splendid sight.

The Residents of the Night cut by the opening strike froze solid at the severed wound the instant their bodies were sliced.

‘Looks like the ice attribute has been granted to me myself.’

With ice attaching to his attacks, Su-ho decided to tweak his pattern a bit.

He’d planned to stand still and intercept or block their approach, but this made him think he could afford to move his body a little.

Su-ho began in earnest to churn through the ranks of the Residents of the Night.

Shaaah!

Chajajak! Chajajak! Chajajak!

Shaaah!

Chajajak! Chajajak! Chajajak!

Fun.

With every swing, they looked as if they’d be blown back by force, yet they froze in an instant and became statues right where they stood.

Watching it was honestly comical.

They clearly had the ice attribute too, and yet they froze this pathetically.

By the time he’d been slicing Residents of the Night for quite a while—

The first-quarter moon had, before he knew it, filled up into a full moon.

[ The moonlight has become resplendent. ]

[ The Residents of the Night receive a complete blessing. ]

[ The Residents of the Night’s stats increase greatly. ]

[ The Residents of the Night’s information changes. ]

[ A Guardian of the Night is summoned. ]

Phase three was the full moon.

As the full moon rose, the usual alerts appeared.

But this time, an additional monster was summoned, contrary to expectations.

‘A Guardian of the Night?’

He’d thought no mid-boss or named monster would be summoned, and that guess missed cleanly.

Resident of the Night Lv.271

Resident of the Night Lv.269

Resident of the Night Lv.270

Resident of the Night Lv.268

......

Along with it, the Residents of the Night’s levels went up by 5 again.

That was probably the cap.

Then—

Thoom!

He turned his head toward the source of the boom, and a being several times larger than a Resident of the Night appeared.

It had a threatening bulk, with a swollen belly and muscular arms, and in addition its eyes and mouth were sewn shut; every hair burned away; its khaki, pale skin scorched bare.

Su-ho narrowed his eyes and checked its nameplate.

Guardian of the Night Lv.275

The thing’s identity was a Guardian of the Night.

‘Well now, that’s at least mid-boss-class.’

Compared to Yamata-no-Orochi it was cute in size, but next to the Residents of the Night it was as big as an elephant.

Even so, he’d entered alone so difficulty should have been lowered by 80%, and yet why were the levels like that?

‘If four or five had come in, how much higher would the levels be?’

This is the dignity of the Second Great Upheaval?

His head shook on its own.

At that moment, the Guardian of the Night opened its maw and roared.

“Gueeeeeeeh!!”

[ The Guardian of the Night uses Fear. ]

[ Dragon Blood activates. ]

[ By Dragon Blood’s Dragon Mind effect, Fear does not apply. ]

...What?

Its mouth was sewn shut; he figured it couldn’t scream—guess not?

Looking closely, the cords weren’t cinched tight but loosely tied.

Sheesh, what is that workmanship?

Su-ho dashed straight at it.

Then the Residents of the Night also began charging Su-ho.

Chajajajajajak!

Their ice attribute peaked.

No wonder—wherever they ran, an ice wave formed in their wake.

In an instant, the surroundings turned into something like a skating rink.

But Su-ho paid it no mind and swung his sword to keep them in check.

[ Cloud Severance activates. ]

Srrk!

Chajajajajajak!

The Residents of the Night cut by the blade froze.

The frozen ones became obstacles, hindering the other Residents of the Night coming from behind.

They tangled and shattered, and the sharp chunks of ice created by the shattering struck other Residents of the Night.

“Kuoooo!”

“Gueeugh!”

It was a pandemonium of screams and howls, but Su-ho didn’t spare it a thought and closed the remaining distance to the Guardian of the Night.

Once the gap closed, the Guardian, recognizing Su-ho, cried Fear and threw a punch.

“Gueeeeeeeh!!”

It swung its forearm like a whip.

In the process, Residents of the Night were swept away in droves, but as mindless zombies they didn’t care whether they burst apart or not.

Su-ho swung his sword at the oncoming forearm.

Srgk!

The creature’s thick arm came clean off.

He hadn’t even used a skill.

Its forearm was simply weaker than Su-ho’s mana.

So the instant it was cut, the stump began to freeze in a flash, just like the other Residents.

Chajuk— chuk-chuk!

In that moment—

Kwhraaaang!!

As freezing began, the severed cross-section exploded and the forearm turned into rags.

Su-ho hadn’t done it.

It had detonated its own arm.

What was that?

The reason became clear quickly.

Shrrrip!

Its arm regenerated.

It had blown the arm on purpose to remove the freezing effect.

“Clever.”

But would that matter?

The moment he thought so—

Poom!!

Another explosion.

It came from the regenerated arm.

“Grk?”

The Guardian of the Night wore an expression like it didn’t know what was going on.

Then, seeing its own forearm go black and rot, it knit its brows.

Su-ho laughed at the reaction.

“If I only had the ice attribute, that would’ve solved it.”

But I didn’t just get ice—I got the dark attribute along with it.

The representative effect of the ice attribute is freezing.

Freezing slows the target and, further, makes wound regeneration difficult.

If you take an external shock while frozen, you can even shatter, ice and all.

So visually, it’s as flashy as the fire attribute.

By comparison, the dark attribute is quiet and plain.

Its basic effect is “Erosion.”

Erosion, as the word says, eats away at the target little by little.

So at first, you don’t notice any change in yourself.

But as time goes by, you feel your functions dropping and things no longer going your way.

It’s similar to poison, but not the same.

If you’re struck by the dark attribute’s erosion, an antidote won’t heal it.

That’s why the dark attribute excels at long fights and assassination.

‘Of course, once the dark attribute rises to higher tiers, its visuals turn destructive too.’

For now, this seemed to be the extent of it.

Unlike the Residents of the Night, Su-ho didn’t gain any higher additional effects just because the moonlight # Nоvеlight # grew stronger.

Su-ho carved up the flustered Guardian of the Night in succession.

Srrk! Srrk!

Chajajajajajak! Thud!

It sliced like tofu and, unworthy of the title “guardian,” fell pathetically.

Su-ho stepped on the frozen creature’s head and crushed it.

Clang!

Like the sound of a plate breaking.

At the same time, a notice popped for its death.

[ You have slain a Guardian of the Night. ]

The moment it died—

Snap!

The rampaging Residents of the Night all suddenly froze in place like dried fish and stood stock-still like stone figures. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

‘Next phase?’

Judging by the look of it, yes.

Su-ho naturally looked up at the moon above.

It was still a full moon, brimming with moonlight.

Then, the moonlight that had been nearly white suddenly turned red, and a wild gale began to howl across the world.

[ A boss monster appears. ]

Su-ho smiled at the alert.

Right.

So now you show up.

I thought my neck would stretch waiting.

Su-ho stood quietly and waited for the boss to descend.

Then a certain being slowly came down from the sky and landed before Su-ho.

The figure had an androgynous face that could be male or female, skin as white as its eyes, and a flat, emotionless gaze and expression.

The attire was similar to Susanoo’s, but overall white with gold embroidery, and a blue sash wrapped around it.

Su-ho checked the nameplate.

Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the Moon God Lv.???

As expected, it was Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the Moon God.

‘So this is the famous Tsukuyomi.’

Unlike long-haired Susanoo, this one had short hair.

Like with Susanoo, it kept its eyes closed at first, then slowly lifted its lids.

Tsukuyomi too was full of eye-light, like Susanoo.

With golden eyes flashing, Tsukuyomi looked at Su-ho and spoke.

- Pleased to meet you. I am Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the god who presides over the moon and the night.

A voice a touch closer to boyish than neutral.

Yet you could feel the power in it.

So he was a little surprised.

Unlike the cocky, insufferably arrogant Susanoo, this one was politer than expected.

Su-ho said,

“I’m Ahn Su-ho. I don’t preside over anything; I’m just a civil servant.”

- A civil servant means a human who does the affairs of a nation, then.

“That so?”

- Amusing. That a mere civil servant would be so strong.

“I am pretty strong. That’s why I just put down Susanoo, right?”

- Hahaha!

At Su-ho’s words, Tsukuyomi burst into laughter.

- Yes, if you are strong, you would have defeated Susanoo. Of course, that wasn’t the real Susanoo, but in any case, within the given conditions you showed the best possible result. And I suspect you’ll produce the same result against me as well.

“Hm?”

Su-ho’s brow narrowed for a moment.

What was that supposed to mean?

Was it acknowledging defeat?

This was a first.

A boss monster, of all things, acknowledging its defeat before the fight even started?

Su-ho asked,

“Are you acknowledging defeat right now?”

- It hasn’t happened yet, so not an acknowledgment—call it a prediction.

Tsukuyomi continued, raising one hand lightly.

Then the thick darkness strewn through the world was withdrawn, and the murky view turned clear.

Not clear as in sunlight pouring down.

Clear as in the night brightened by abundant moonlight.

At a glance, it didn’t look much different, but since the Vampire effect had disappeared, he must have lifted the vision restriction.

At the same time, the Residents of the Night that had been frozen all at once released from their frozen state, then crumbled into dust and drifted away across the ground.

Tsukuyomi said,

- You wield an amusing power. Clearly you look like an ordinary human, but you weren’t bound by deep darkness, and when you took in my moonlight you suddenly commanded the powers of cold and shadow... and you possess martial might no normal human could believe. So, what I’m saying is—what is your true identity?

“Identity, schmidentity—I’m just me. A civil servant who just happens to be ridiculously strong. So I get why one of the Three Noble Children would be surprised. You’re probably seeing the strongest human you’ve ever met. So, is that all you had to say?”

At Su-ho’s words, Tsukuyomi grinned.

- Hardly.

“Then spit it out. So I can knock you down and move on to the next Gate. Man, times like this make me itch for a skip button.”

Despite Su-ho’s prodding, Tsukuyomi kept that courteous smile for a moment longer.

Then, folding their arms with a soft rustle, they asked in a milder, friendlier voice,

- You said your name was Ahn Su-ho? Are you perhaps Korean?

“And if I am?”

- I see. It’s a bit of a shame you’re not Japanese, but I’d like to make you a proposal.

“A proposal?”

- Do you happen to have a god you currently serve?

“A god?”

Just then—

[ ■■ is greatly enraged. ]

[ ■■■■ grabs a hammer in a hurry, telling ■■ to get lost. ]

[ ■■ lets out a snort of laughter. ]

Su-ho’s transcendent patrons began to flip out.