Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 457

“This is driving me insane.”

After coming outside the building, Su-ho shook his head in disbelief.

The reason was that the number of campuses at the Indian Institute of Technology—something he thought would stop at one or two—actually exceeded twenty.

Thanks to that, Su-ho had no choice but to search for Overload in the most haphazard way possible.

'If I’d known it’d be like this, I should’ve read up on which campus was which beforehand.'

Shaking his head, Su-ho circled the campus and began tracking Overload, and after about half a day had passed, he was finally able to learn about him.

'Sunda Pijoy... so that’s Overload’s name.'

After securing information on Overload through faculty members using his enthrallment ability, Su-ho went to find Overload, who was still in the middle of attending a lecture.

'There you are.'

Because [Colorless Solitude] was active, even though the class was in full swing, neither the professor nor the students perceived Su-ho’s presence.

Su-ho stood beside Overload, who was quietly listening ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ to the lecture in the very back row.

Overload still did not sense Su-ho.

So Su-ho lowered his posture and observed Overload’s face for a while.

'So this is what he looked like when he was young.'

The Overload Su-ho had seen in his previous life had looked like a nasty-tempered eccentric scientist, but looking at him now, his face was surprisingly gentle and innocent.

Su-ho lightly tapped the shoulder of the guy who was focused on the lecture.

At that moment, Su-ho’s presence was revealed only to Overload, and without missing the opportunity, Su-ho activated a skill.

[ Enthrallment is activated. ]

“...!”

“Later.”

Overload froze in shock for an instant.

After lightly patting Overload’s shoulder, Su-ho left the classroom and headed outside.

'This should be enough.'

Unless the caster releases it, Enthrallment lasts forever.

It did consume some mana, but compared to the amount of mana Su-ho possessed, the upkeep cost of enthralling a Player not even past level 100 was negligible.

It was a measure taken instead of killing him.

'He hasn’t actually done anything yet, so I can’t just kill every sprout of potential evil.'

Now all that remained was to wait for the hunting dogs he had released in the northern mountain ranges to find their target.

In the meantime, Su-ho decided to lie down and kill some time on the university campus.

'It’s peaceful.'

It was only a brief respite, but the world felt peaceful in a strangely fresh way.

If the Great Cataclysm hadn’t happened, I probably would’ve continued going to college too.

'...Or maybe not. I hated my seniors and dropped out, so I’d probably just be working.'

Either way, it would’ve been better than this.

As he spent quite a bit of time sightseeing around campus and letting his thoughts wander—

[ Clone soldier has been dismissed. ]

[ Clone soldier has been dismissed. ]

[ Clone soldier has been dismissed. ]

......

Notifications that clone soldiers had been dismissed.

Not just one or two—suddenly they began pouring in all at once.

'Did they run into some huge monster or something?'

If that were the case, fair enough.

But even so, at this point in time, there shouldn’t be any monster in India capable of destroying my clone soldiers—especially clone soldiers deployed at Central Army-tier density—like this.

[ Clone soldier has been dismissed. ]

[ Clone soldier has been dismissed. ]

[ Clone soldier has been dismissed. ]

......

The destruction notifications kept coming.

After silently watching the alerts for a while, Su-ho slowly curved his lips upward.

'It’s him.'

He’d seen clones disappearing one by one before, but this was the first time so many had vanished like this.

This could only mean they were being destroyed by something powerful.

A strong hunch struck Su-ho, and he immediately activated another skill.

[ Clone Transfer is activated. ]

Clone Transfer, one of the options of [Army Tactics], allowed him to swap positions with one clone soldier.

Su-ho switched places with a clone near where the deletions had begun, and when his surroundings shifted into dense jungle, he finally saw him.

Samar Rishi—the Indian martial-god Player who roamed alone through the jungles and monsters of the uninhabited northern ranges.

“Oh, finally found you.”

“Hm?”

Immediately after the transfer, Samar’s eyes met Su-ho’s.

Samar had just finished destroying a clone soldier. His hair was wild and unkempt, his clothes reduced to rags—barely wearing trousers, with no shirt or shoes in sight.

A beggar.

Yes, beggar was the perfect word for him.

But his darkly tanned skin and the lean yet densely packed muscles like compressed steel made him look not like a beggar, but a true warrior.

Su-ho raised a hand and greeted him first.

“Hi.”

“Who are you?”

“Does that really matter?”

In response to Samar’s question, Su-ho summoned his Blood Sword and grasped it.

Samar grinned in response.

“Not at all.”

“Then let’s start right away.”

“Good.”

Samar could speak English.

And since their intentions aligned instantly, there was no need for much conversation.

Boom!!

The fight began, and Samar kicked off the ground and charged straight at Su-ho.

He closed the linear distance in an instant and threw a straight punch.

KWAANG!!

Su-ho raised his sword and blocked the punch.

However, the force of that punch passed beyond the blade and transmitted a tremendous impact.

Burst Force.

“Oh.”

Feeling the heavy burst force, Su-ho pursed his lips in admiration.

Twitch—

Perhaps because of that—

Samar’s eyebrow twitched.

He had aimed past the sword rather than the sword itself, yet even after taking the hit head-on, that was his reaction?

So Samar immediately chained into a follow-up.

Bang!

The fist he had extended for the burst force grabbed onto the Blood Sword, while his opposite foot slammed into Su-ho’s side.

“Oh.”

Yet Su-ho didn’t even groan—he remained standing in place, too busy admiring the technique.

Twitch—

At a response that could’ve been admiration or mockery, Samar’s eyebrow twitched again.

But Su-ho paid it no mind and offered his assessment.

“As expected of Shiva’s apostle. The weight behind your fists really is different.”

“......”

Samar fell silent.

Then his eyes rolled white as he spoke.

“Fine. Then try enduring this too.”

KWAaaaANG!!

In an instant, a massive surge of energy erupted from Samar’s body and blasted Su-ho backward.

Samar’s body took on a bluish hue, and his wild hair and ragged clothes fluttered through the air like weeds caught in a current.

'So that’s the famous Shiva Mode.'

Martial God Samar Rishi.

He was the sole contractor of the god Shiva, India’s deity of destruction, and a Player who, in the future, would awaken as a supervillain among supervillains who lived only to destroy.

'China’s Xiang Yu and India’s Samar. Both were troublesome monsters.'

Xiang Yu was undoubtedly one of the most legendary Players in Chinese history, but Samar was even more formidable.

Because while both craved battle and victory, when the Gate that would devastate China appeared, Xiang Yu turned tail—whereas Samar, who worshipped Shiva, never once showed fear until the very moment of his death.

'If I had to rank them, Samar was clearly above.'

In raw combat power, Samar really was stronger.

And unlike Xiang Yu, who couldn’t heal himself, Shiva was also a god associated with medicine, making Samar a rare damage dealer capable of self-recovery—naturally earning him even higher evaluations.

'But that’s by the standards of my previous life. Right now...'

Su-ho looked at Samar with a regretful gaze.

Like Xiang Yu, he was an unregistered recluse Player never updated on the Player Board, and after letting himself take a few hits, Su-ho estimated Samar’s level to be at least over 200.

But that was all.

He could use Shiva Mode, and each blow was monstrous enough to be dangerous, but even taking all that into account, Su-ho’s level and caliber were simply far beyond.

To put it bluntly, even getting punched in the face or side felt like a child’s flailing fists.

However, Su-ho didn’t show it.

Having finally found him, he felt it would be a waste to kill him in one stroke.

So he decided to help him a little instead.

[ Enrage is activated. ]

[ Blessing of Rage is activated. ]

Rage-type skills that provoked fury and increased attack power.

The moment they activated, Samar roared,

“I’ll rip you to shreds!”

Boom!!

With the shout, he lunged forward.

Samar closed in instantly and unleashed a frenzied barrage of punches and kicks at Su-ho.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!!

Strikes so fast that hands and feet blurred from sight.

The base was India’s traditional martial art, Kalaripayattu, but mixed with Shiva’s unique body techniques, it became far more threatening than standard Kalaripayattu. But—

'In the end, you can’t overcome the stat gap.'

No matter how much he poured into it, Samar couldn’t leave a single scratch on Su-ho.

So Su-ho raised his fist and brought it down from above.

KWAaaANG!!

The descending fist detonated on Samar’s head, slamming it straight into the ground.

His head pierced the earth, and the surrounding ground shattered, unable to withstand the force of Su-ho’s punch.

Brrr... jerk.

Samar’s body trembled violently for an instant—then went still.

He was dead.

“Hm.”

Su-ho dusted off his hand.

Ending it faster than expected was a bit disappointing, but it couldn’t be helped.

Because compared to the overwhelming might Samar had shown in Su-ho’s previous life, the current Samar only looked less and less impressive the more he fought him.

But Samar’s turn wasn’t over yet.

Krak— grrrrk—

The ground moved.

More precisely, Samar’s buried head began to move, lifting the earth.

“Oh, it’s starting.”

Samar had definitely been killed.

Yet the bluish skin unique to Shiva Mode still remained.

Which meant the skill hadn’t been released yet.

“Wow. Seeing this in person.”

Shiva Mode does not grant complete death even when the Player is killed.

Until all remaining stats and mana in the Player’s body are exhausted, Shiva’s destructive will remains, indiscriminately destroying everything around it.

And if it kills the one who caused the player’s death, or achieves destruction beyond a certain threshold, that will of destruction resurrects the Player as if nothing had happened—

in a state far stronger than before.

“That’s why Samar could never stop destroying.”

Krak—

The so-called zombie mode.

Zombie-mode Samar rose to his feet.

And just as he was about to take a stance and charge at Su-ho—

Slash!

Su-ho swung his sword and severed Samar’s neck. Then—

Slash! Slash! Slash!

He cut off the remaining limbs as well.

Brrr... thud!

Samar’s dismembered body collapsed.

He wasn’t dead yet.

There was still mana and stats left to be exhausted.

So the fragmented body attempted to regenerate under Shiva’s will, but—

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Each time, Su-ho carved him apart again.

“......”

After repeating the same process several times, Samar’s movements finally stopped completely.

The bluish skin returned to its original color.

It was truly over now.

“It’s done.”

Su-ho clasped his hands toward Samar’s corpse.

Good work.

If it were up to my preference, I would’ve liked to enthrall you too, like Overload—but Shiva wouldn’t just sit back and allow that.

Then Su-ho took out the Rune of Succession from his pocket and tossed it onto the corpse.

[ Conditions are met. ]

[ Rune of Succession is activated. ]

Light burst forth as the Rune of Succession began to operate.