Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant - Chapter 56
Chapter 56
– “Kyaaaaaaa!!”
The Bulgasari, woken from its slumber, let out a scream.
It wasn’t a cry of pain.
Someone had disturbed its deep, well-fed sleep, and it was furious.
At the creature’s thunderous voice, the mine shook as if the heavens and earth were collapsing.
The ones startled first were the Kobolds guarding the area.
“Kiiirrr!”
“Kieee!”
To the Kobolds, the Bulgasari was a disaster in itself.
No matter how many of them there were, it was an incomprehensible being they could do nothing about.
That’s why they avoided encountering it at all costs.
Of course, it wasn’t always like this from the beginning.
Once, they had rushed in with all they had to reclaim ownership of the mine, even staking their entire race on the fight, but ultimately, they were forced to flee after losing more than half of their numbers without leaving a single scratch on the beast.
Since then, they had lived in silence.
They abandoned any efforts to excavate the areas where it dwelled, opting instead to hide and coexist quietly in the spaces they had already dug out.
Thus, the Kobolds were hostile to intruders.
With just the Bulgasari alone already too much to handle, if other outsiders seized this place, they would lose their last remaining habitat.
“Uwaaah!”
“I-Isn’t this going to collapse?!”
Next to be terrified was the Nexus assault team positioned at the rear.
Unaware of the Bulgasari’s presence, they had merely waited endlessly for Suho and could only tremble in fear.
Gu Yeonhwa, in particular, was most concerned.
‘What on earth is he doing?’
If she could just confirm whether he was dead or alive, that would be good enough.
But they decided to wait.
After all, Suho had instructed them.
Thus, Gu Yeonhwa and the assault team decided to remain there for at least twelve hours to wait for Suho.
Boom! Boom!
The Bulgasari rose to its feet.
Its massive form towered over the golems and ents they had seen before.
Even its skin was tougher than that of the golems from the Twisted Forest.
Standing up, the Bulgasari glared down at Suho.
Its eyes were filled with irritation.
It was furious that a creature as insignificant as this one had disturbed its peaceful slumber.
So the Bulgasari let out another roar.
– “Kyaaaaaaa!!”
[ The Bulgasari uses its Boss Monster-Level Fear. ]
A notification from the system.
However…
[ Dragonblood is activated. ]
[ The Dragon Armor’s Draconic Endurance effect from Dragon Blood negates the Fear. ]
Even though the Bulgasari was fearsome, it couldn’t match the fearsome power of Dragon’s Fear.
Suho’s hair and clothes only fluttered in the wind, while he remained still without making any move.
Seeing Suho’s calm response, the Bulgasari chuckled.
It had never encountered a creature like this in its life.
Perhaps that’s why?
The Bulgasari was curious to see how long this tiny creature’s pride would last.
So, it decided to test him.
Fwoo-
The Bulgasari puffed up its cheeks.
Seeing this, Suho instantly summoned his Blood Sword.
[ Blood Weapon is activated. ]
The Blood Sword extended from his grip.
The Bulgasari laughed at the sight.
Instead of avoiding, it was actually drawing a sword?
Fine.
Let’s see how long you can keep up this arrogance.
With that thought, the Bulgasari opened its mouth wide and spat out something enormous.
[ The Bulgasari uses Iron Spit. ]
Iron Spit.
As its name implied, it was literally a spit of iron.
Living on a diet of minerals, the Bulgasari could gather the minerals stored in its body, form them into a projectile, and spit them at high speed.
The destructive power was incredible, and the speed at which it was spat out was astounding.
But Suho didn’t evade.
Instead, he raised both hands and extended his Blood Sword to great lengths.
Just like the mythical staff.
And then, he swung it.
[ Severing Steel is activated. ]
The lengthened Blood Sword, paired with Severing Steel, swung at high speed.
And then.
Swish!
“……!”
The Bulgasari’s eyes widened.
Had it been seeing things from sleeping for too long?
No, it wasn’t an illusion.
The tiny creature before it had extended its toothpick-like sword, and with a single swing, it had sliced through the Iron Spit that no one had ever been able to block or destroy.
Thud thud thud thud—
The two halves of the split iron chunk flew past him and lodged into the walls.
Dust and debris filled the air.
Suho thought as he retracted the Blood Sword.
‘Good thing I diligently gathered blood from the Kobolds.’
The ents and golems lacked blood, so he hadn’t been able to collect any from them, but it seemed it was fortunate after all.
Shortening the sword again, Suho swung it in a circle to clear the dust.
And there it was: the Bulgasari staring at him in shock.
– “Brrrrrr!”
Only briefly surprised by Suho’s unscathed appearance, the enraged Bulgasari’s chubby cheeks began to puff and vibrate.
And then, like a rhinoceros, it started charging at Suho with all its might.
“You crazy thing.”
First Iron Spit, and now throwing itself at him?
As the Bulgasari charged, Suho began to move.
Unlike the Iron Spit, the Bulgasari itself was overwhelming in its destructive power.
Focusing all his strength into his legs, Suho’s speed became unbelievably fast, as if he had cast Haste.
Crash!!
The Bulgasari’s head slammed into the spot where Suho had been standing.
Once again, the entire mine shook as if there had been an earthquake.
But Suho paid no heed to the chaos as he dodged the creature’s trajectory.
Then, he maneuvered to the creature’s rear, stepping on the steep walls to launch himself higher.
When the entire creature came into view, he leaped above it.
[ Leap is activated. ]
As the skill activated, giving him more momentum, Suho soared even higher into the air.
Once more, he raised his sword overhead.
[ Blood Weapon is activated. ]
The Blood Sword extended like a staff.
Using every drop of blood stored in the Bloodstone, he extended it to its maximum length.
Then, gripping the sword with both hands, he exploded with strength and activated the skill again.
[ Severing Steel is activated. ]
Swish—
The elongated sword, empowered by the skill, sliced through the air.
And then.
Slash!!
A solid impact.
The trajectory was a perfect line.
– “Bweeeee!!”
Suho’s Blood Sword, infused with Severing Steel, managed to slice off the Bulgasari’s tail in a single strike.
Successfully cutting it off, Suho retracted the sword and landed safely on the ground.
At that moment, the massive tail of the Bulgasari fell heavily to the ground.
Boom!
Suho grinned as he looked at the tail lying on the ground.
As expected.
Once you mastered ‘Severing Steel,’ it applied to the sword regardless of its length, thanks to the skill’s effect.
That was the rule of skill activation.
It was why he had chosen to learn Severing Steel in the Twisted Forest.
Of course, there was a well-known conventional method to deal with the Bulgasari.
It was to use fire.
‘Traditionally, Bulgasaris are known to be weak against fire.’
In his previous life, he had also heard that the Bulgasari was subdued using flame magic.
But Suho chose not to go that route.
The reason was simple.
To subdue a Bulgasari with fire required a truly enormous and intense flame.
‘Where would I, a non-mage, find such flames right now?’
So he made the best choice available to him.
He would resolve it with his sword, as a swordsman should.
And he was confident.
After comparing the data he had on the Bulgasari with his own power, he judged that his chances of victory were high.
Thus, he had prepared Severing Steel.
At that moment.
[ The Bulgasari begins shrinking its body to activate Rapid Regeneration. ]
A system alert.
Simultaneously, the massive body of the Bulgasari began to shrink.
Its tail regenerated as well.
‘So that’s its Rapid Regeneration.’
The Bulgasari didn’t die.
Or to be precise, it rarely died.
If it sustained injuries, it would shrink its body to fully heal the wounds.
Just as it was doing before his eyes, reducing its body size.
‘That’s why it consumes vast quantities of minerals to store in its body.’
Suho slowly approached the now 30% smaller Bulgasari.
The creature flinched visibly.
– “Brrrr?”
“What are you snorting about?”
– “Brrrrrr!!”
Though its size had shrunk, the Bulgasari’s spirit remained undaunted.
The creature still relied on the vast reserves of minerals stored within its body.
However, after the earlier clash, it had gauged the intruder’s level.
Thus, it decided not to be arrogant any longer and resolved to go all out from the beginning.
[ The Bulgasari uses Ultra Reinforcement. ]
Ultra Reinforcement.
This was one of the Bulgasari’s signature skills, allowing it to consume as many minerals as it wanted to reinforce its exoskeleton.
The Bulgasari poured everything it had into this move.
After all, any foe capable of slicing its tail in one strike deserved that level of effort.
As it activated Ultra Reinforcement, its body began to glow momentarily, and it continued to shrink in size.
The energy that would normally be used to increase its size was all channeled into its exoskeleton.
Soon, the creature’s bulk reduced to about the size of Suho, and as the glow faded, its matte black, non-reflective body emerged.
A newfound confidence shone on the Bulgasari’s face as it finished its reinforcement.
“Alright, that’s more like it.”
And Suho was just as ready.
He raised his Blood Sword.
Since the Bulgasari was now his size, there was no need to extend the blade any longer.
Then, the Bulgasari leaped high on two feet, curling its body.
It rotated like a roller as it charged at Suho.
[ The Bulgasari uses Ultra Spin. ]
This was incomparable to its previous charge.
One of its ultimate moves, it curled its body to spin at high speed, delivering impact on par with a car crash.
Yet, Suho felt no fear.
In fact, he smiled.
He had no intention of dodging.
He was simply curious.
Just how powerful was the strength of this Bulgasari, known as one of the strongest among Beast-Rank Boss Monsters?
And could he cut through its full-force attack with his sword?
As the Bulgasari barreled toward him, Suho raised his sword.
And swung.
[ Severing Steel is activated. ]
***
The mine shook several times.
The Kobolds were nowhere to be seen.
The mining team had long since finished their task and was resting, waiting for Suho, who had entered alone.
Although no one said it aloud, concern was clear on everyone’s faces.
Then, it happened.
[ The Gate has been conquered. ]
[ The MVP of the Gate conquest is ‘Ahn Suho.’ ]
A system notification appeared before everyone’s eyes.
It was the alert that the Gate had been conquered.