Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 405
Slaaaash!
A sensation spreading through his whole hand.
He had definitely cut.
As proof, Amaterasu also let out a wail.
- HwaaAAAAAAAA!!
Wailing like a Specter, her uniquely high voice itself became Fear and blasted at Su-ho.
[ The Sun God Amaterasu Omikami uses boss-monster-grade Fear. ]
[ Dragon Blood activates. ]
[ Due to the Dragon Mind effect of Dragon Blood, Fear does not apply. ]
The scream bursting right in front of him made his eardrums tingle even without the Fear effect applying.
'Good thing I had the Endurance skill.'
Otherwise ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) he’d be making trips to ENT.
Amaterasu, her whole body slashed, at the same time as using Fear spewed flames from all over her body like Susanoo’s Sea God Slash.
[ The Sun God Amaterasu Omikami uses Sun Slash. ]
Fwooooosh!
It was of a different stripe than the intermittently spewed flames that had filled all of Amanoiwato.
Vomited as fiercely as a dragon’s breath, it had enough firepower that, without tuned Fire Resistance, it would surely have turned Su-ho to ash in an instant.
And apart from the fire damage, the wind pressure exhaled by Sun Slash was too powerful.
Bang!
Shoved by the wind pressure of Sun Slash, Su-ho was blown far back and slammed into the wall.
It hurt.
He’d finally closed the distance with a Guiyeong Spear, only to be pushed away like this.
'Her raw offense seems several times above Susanoo’s.'
So this is what it means to be the Sun God?
Still, thanks to raising both arms to cover his face, the flame damage to sensitive areas was lessened.
In addition, with a sizzling—pshii—sound from his body, smoke puffed out, but it was bearable.
Su-ho’s Fire Resistance was a whopping 96%.
[ Heal activates. ]
[ Recovery activates. ]
Su-ho immediately used healing skills as he looked at Amaterasu.
But Amaterasu’s condition was a little strange.
'Black flames?'
[Cutting the Ring] was the upgraded skill that cut transcendent laws that ordinary slashes couldn’t—optimal for facing a divine-race monster, a transcendent being.
As proof, when he cut Susanoo or Tsukuyomi, instead of entrails or blood, only halos of light spurted out.
But when he cut Amaterasu with [Cutting the Ring], not light but black flames burst forth, and Su-ho could tell at once what that was.
'So that’s the so-called contaminated flames or whatever.'
Amaterasu was the Sun Goddess.
To contaminate such a being at the root, it wasn’t things like deadly poison or a zombie virus—it was to corrupt the sacred flames she possessed.
So Susanoo contaminated her clear mind and blackened her little sun itself.
'Susanoo told me to destroy her Sun Rune.' 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
The Sun Rune Susanoo spoke of could be called, simply put, Amaterasu’s core and heart.
Of course, not her real heart.
The Amaterasu before his eyes reigned as a boss monster of the divine race, but was ultimately nothing more than a true avatar.
But you couldn’t call an avatar entirely fake either.
Even an avatar had to possess a portion of the Original’s power to be classified as a divine-race monster.
In Amaterasu’s case, that was the Sun Rune.
'He said if I destroy it, I can end it in one blow without a second phase.'
When he first heard this strategy from Susanoo, his brow had furrowed.
Because it didn’t really land.
'“Destroy the Sun Rune” sounds plausible, but frankly, if I just beat her to death she’ll die anyway, won’t she?'
Then—
Whooomph!
The black flames that had come out of Amaterasu’s body soon clung to each other and slowly began to suture.
Self-healing.
No system alert popped up.
In other words, this regeneration before his eyes wasn’t some skill but a natural phenomenon like breathing.
Seeing that, Su-ho let out a dumbfounded laugh.
'So it was true.'
Susanoo had said that if he could have killed her, he would have killed Amaterasu like the other gods.
But since she was a highest-ranking god and the Sun Goddess, it was hard to kill her completely with his own power, and so he contaminated her flames.
From olden times, the orthodox way of disposing of immortal beings was to leave them neither dead nor alive.
Maybe that’s why—Su-ho felt this fight wouldn’t be easy to finish.
'If she’s already regenerating even after I slammed in the finisher combo, how relentlessly am I supposed to keep attacking?'
And that wasn’t all.
Along with the Amaterasu strategy he’d heard from Susanoo, there was one more thing Su-ho had to be careful about.
It was the method of obtaining the “Small Sea” he’d heard from Tsukuyomi.
The moment he started to say a few words, Tsukuyomi had received punishment from the system, but even so, he clearly told him how to get his hands on the Small Sea.
Which made it all the more troublesome.
The method of obtaining the Small Sea he’d heard from Tsukuyomi and the strategy for Amaterasu he’d heard from Susanoo were closely related, and at the same time demanded actions of considerable difficulty.
'Still, what can I do. I just have to pull it off somehow.'
Through Tsukuyomi, he’d learned just how attractive a being the Small Moon was.
In the midst of that, if he got his hands on the Small Sea too, how much stronger could he become?
He absolutely couldn’t give it up.
- HwaaAAAAAAAA!!
[ The Sun God Amaterasu Omikami summons Scorching Zone. ]
In that moment, intense heat surged outward centered on her, and all of Amanoiwato was wrapped in flame.
“Crazy.”
The interior of Amanoiwato wasn’t exactly narrow, but neither was it as spacious as the outside.
Yet that entire place was engulfed in Amaterasu’s flames.
Naturally, Su-ho’s gaze shifted toward the passage he’d come in through.
But with all of Amanoiwato covered in flames, he couldn’t tell where the passage was.
'Damn.'
Scorching Zone was literally a world of flames—inducing the illusion that you’d entered a fiery hell... no, into the sun itself.
'If I hadn’t tuned Fire Resistance, I’d really be in deep trouble.'
Thankfully, it was a relief.
But maybe because it wasn’t 100% resistance—
“Kh.”
Damage kept accruing steadily.
'Even with only 4% short on resistance, it’s this much...!'
Still, it wasn’t to the point of being completely unbearable.
It was just that the breathing made difficult by the blazing flames and the eyes so parched they felt like they’d burn up were annoying.
'If I’d known, I would’ve taken a bit more time then to set Fire Resistance to 100%.'
At that moment, a light bulb lit in Su-ho’s head.
'Wait. If it’s just 4%, I can just do it now, right?'
He could, if he wanted.
It just wasn’t efficient, so he hadn’t thought of it to begin with.
Su-ho quickly put thought into action.
[ Entering Subspace House. ]
A door opened, and he stepped right in.
Upon entering the Subspace House, the heat that had been boiling him to death subsided; it felt like coming to an air conditioner from a desert.
“Whew, that’s life-saving.”
He thought it was truly fortunate he’d obtained the Subspace House early on.
Thanks to this thing, he’d gotten several new chances.
Su-ho immediately called Grid.
[ Guest of Greed activates. ]
[ Grid answers your call. ]
- What is it?
When he called Grid, the avatar of Grid—the half-beast with a toad’s head—appeared before Su-ho.
Su-ho said,
“I need something right now.”
- What?
“I need 5% Fire Resistance.”
- ......?
“Potion or accessory, whatever—just give me anything that raises it by 5%.”
- .......
At Su-ho’s request, Grid stared at him for a moment.
A look filled with contempt.
Feigning ignorance, Su-ho asked,
“Why?”
- Su-ho, I’m a Great Demon.
“I know. And?”
- I won’t say I can’t get it if the arithmetic works out, but did you call me for these cheap trinkets?
“Cheap trinkets? Don’t you know a drowning man desperately needs even a single straw?”
- If you couldn’t talk... Fine, I get it.
Grid sighed and summoned a small bracelet in his palm and a glass bottle full of pills.
- A bracelet and pills that raise Fire Resistance.
“Thanks.”
- What will you pay as compensation?
“Between us, what compensation for this little bit? Just give it as a service.”
- What?
“Are you never going to see me again? Don’t you have to do your Demon King thing?”
- .......
Grid clenched the items he’d summoned with his signature little hand.
Then he exhaled a hoo—sigh and tossed them to Su-ho.
[ You have obtained the Bracelet of Flame Ward. ]
[ You have obtained Flame-Resistant Pills. ]
Instead of colliding with Su-ho, the tossed items tucked themselves neatly into his inventory.
Grid frowned and asked,
- Anything else?
“Nothing. I’ll call you again soon.”
- ......Fine.
Unable to tell him to get lost, Grid said “fine” and quietly vanished.
Watching the traces of Grid, Su-ho snickered.
'Kid’s cute.'
For a supposed Great Demon, he let a Player push him around.
But he didn’t consider this power-tripping.
Su-ho truly thought of Grid and himself as a pretty good partnership.
'Just wait a bit. I’ll give you what you want soon.'
Su-ho checked the info on the Bracelet of Flame Ward.
'It’s a 7% Fire Resistance piece.'
No other options.
It simply raises Fire Resistance by 7%.
But for Su-ho, it was not just enough—it was more than enough.
'Kid, 4% would’ve done it, but you generously packed extra.'
Contrary to his looks, he was big-hearted.
Su-ho equipped the bracelet at once.
[ You have equipped the Bracelet of Flame Ward. ]
[ Fire Resistance increases by 7%. ]
[ Your Fire Resistance has reached 100%. ]
[ You have achieved a remarkable feat; the system gifts you 5 bonus stats. ]
The moment he equipped the Bracelet of Flame Ward, Su-ho saw an unexpected alert.
Right, come to think of it, there was an achievement like this too.
Why didn’t I remember?
As Su-ho smirked and was about to leave the Subspace House, one piece of information suddenly came to mind.
'Oh, hold on.'
Su-ho immediately checked his status window.
[ An Su-ho ]
Lv : 249
Class : Rage Crusader
Traits : ＜New Blood＞＜Hercules Candidate＞＜King of Ruination＞＜Power of the Sun＞＜Power of the Moon＞＜Guest of Greed＞
Strength (N) : 42
Mana (N) : 95
Sense (B) : 13
Leadership (N) : 68
Bonus Stats : 6
Six unallocated bonus stats.
And his current navy-colored Mana stat was a whopping 95.
If he raised it by just five more, it would be purple grade.
“Crazy.”
Stats are obviously better the higher they are, even by one.
Thus, Su-ho halted his steps to leave and immediately allocated bonus stats into Mana.
[ Mana stat has reached 100. ]
[ Mana stat grows further. ]
[ Congratulations! The level of your Mana stat has risen to Purple grade! ]
And then—
[ You are the first Player to acquire a Purple stat. ]
[ You have achieved a great feat; the system gifts you 10 bonus stats. ]
Su-ho at last reached the Purple stat level.
