Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 372

Having secured the Fox Bead, Su-ho immediately opened up some distance.

Then he calmly waited for Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune to change.

“......”

But nothing further happened.

Silence.

Why?

Su-ho narrowed his eyes.

Because the Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune he knew was supposed to turn, upon death, into a deadly stone saturated with miasma called the “Killing Stone.”

The Killing Stone’s danger is notorious.

The Killing Stone becomes an absolute nuisance with near totem-wide, large-area power... or so I remember.

Yet no change came.

By the pacing he knew, it should have turned into the Killing Stone by now.

Even watching with Mana Perception showed no clear shift.

A little later, Su-ho realized why.

Right. Looks like the current Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune is an early–Great Upheaval model.

In his previous life, Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune was taken down mid–Great Upheaval season.

Back then, Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune was a 3★ monster.

Now it was only 2★, and because it was still the early season of the Great Upheaval, it apparently wouldn’t enter the Killing Stone phase.

Lucky, in a way.

Still, it’s a shame.

He’d planned to smash the Killing Stone and harvest its potent venom.

There were substitutes for deadly poison, though, so ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) he left off regretting it and moved on to the next step.

[ Guiyeong Spear is summoned. ]

Su-ho summoned the Guiyeong Spear and drove it into Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune’s body.

[ Guiyeong Spear reacts to Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune’s shadow. ]

[ Guiyeong Spear absorbs Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune’s shadow. ]

Busy or not, some things must be done.

A 2★ boss monster is rarer than you’d think.

Feeding even one of these to the Guiyeong Spear is ideal.

Afterward, Su-ho checked the Fox Bead’s details.

[ Fox Bead ]

– Rank: S

# An ancient spirit-gem carried by the evil spirit Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune.

# Contains the powerful yokai force of a fox spirit.

Nothing eye-popping in the description.

But if you meet Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune, one of the Three Great Evil Spirits, you must secure the Fox Bead—its core item and source of power.

Su-ho knew exactly how to use it.

[ Guiyeong Spear has completely absorbed Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune’s shadow. ]

[ Guiyeong Spear is strengthened. ]

Presently, the Guiyeong Spear finished absorbing the fox’s shadow.

No evolution.

That’s fine.

It’s not a one- or two-day affair; it’ll evolve on its own in due time.

He then used Eye of the Blacksmith and Mana Perception to examine Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune’s body, but right after harvesting the Fox Bead there didn’t seem to be anything else worth taking.

One last step remained, though.

Tucking away the Fox Bead, Su-ho set his hand on the fox’s blood-gushing corpse and invoked a skill.

[ Bloody Hand activates. ]

Shuaaa!

Vampiric absorption flowed through his palm.

The intake of blood was enormous.

Then—

[ Successfully copied the ability “Foxfire” from the target. ]

[ Great Blood Orb already contains five copied abilities. ]

[ To copy “Foxfire,” you must remove one previously copied ability. ]

[ Remove an existing copied ability? ]

A system prompt.

It was asking whether to copy Foxfire from the gumiho, Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune.

Seeing the prompt, Su-ho grinned.

Of all times, you give me this one now.

A pleasant thrill ran through him.

When you use Bloody Hand on a target you can drain, you can randomly copy one of its abilities.

Given Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune—an old gumiho—there should be shapeshifting arts and other offensive skills. The fact that a buff skill, Foxfire, popped right now? Exquisite.

Su-ho looked over the five skills stored in the Great Blood Orb.

The one to delete was obvious.

He chose Heatstorm.

[ “Heatstorm” has been removed. ]

[ “Foxfire” has been copied. ]

He’d obtained the original, not a copy, of Heatstorm via the Rune of the Melting Furnace Dragon.

No reason to keep a duplicate anymore.

Right after Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune vanished completely—

[ A mountain lord has been slain. ]

[ You have received the mountain’s recognition. ]

A short notice.

At once, the scenery shifted, and he returned to the same fog-choked, humid zone as before.

The stone cairns reappeared before his eyes.

Two remained.

Su-ho kicked down the nearer of the two.

Shrrrk!

As the cairn collapsed, a new path opened behind it.

Without hesitation, Su-ho stepped onto it.

Again the fog lifted and his view changed.

Like with Hakumen Konmō Kyūbi no Kitsune, he was in a quiet forest.

But that quiet peace shattered almost immediately beneath someone’s screams.

“Kyaaaa!!”

“Please save us! Please! Please...!”

Women’s screams.

Shifting his gaze, he saw swordsmen trying to abduct the women.

It wasn’t a simple kidnapping, though.

Only the women were alive; around them, the men—likely their companions—lay dead to a man.

Their outfits were the sort you’d only see in old Japanese period dramas.

Su-ho knew at once whose territory this was.

Swordsmen who kill the men and abduct the women... Looks like this is his sector.

He immediately raised the Guiyeong Spear and hurled it at the swordsmen.

[ Throwing Spear activates. ]

[ Shadow Pierce activates. ]

[ Shadow Shackles activates. ]

[ Shadow Bleed activates. ]

Crunch!

High hit rate.

With a delicious rip of flesh, the swordsman with a temple punctured by the thrown spear was blown backward, unable to resist its force.

Naturally, the rest of the swordsmen turned their eyes to Su-ho, and at the sight of their faces, he let out a small sound of admiration.

“Wow.”

Only then did the Oni Warrior realize his choice had been pointless. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Also pointless.

Su-ho immediately hurled his blood-sword and struck him.

Crunch— fwoosh!

Pierced by the Holy Enchant–wreathed blade, the Oni Warrior caught fire the instant he was run through.

When the last remaining one fell, Su-ho finally turned to the survivors.

The woman cut during the hostage farce hovered on the brink between life and death, her wound deep.

Su-ho laid two skills on her.

In an instant, the wound knit—and she rose as if by miracle.

“H-How...!”

“Th-Thank you...!!”

The two women stammered their shock and gratitude.

Su-ho, uninterested, went straight to the point.

“Where do I go to find Jutan-dongja?”

“Jutan-dongja?”

“The master of these Oni Warriors. Ah—do I have to say Shuten-doji for you to get it?”

Shuten-doji.

Literally “sake-drinking boy.” In Korea, he was better known as Jutan-dongja.

Shuten-doji was one of Japan’s Three Great Evil Spirits. He’d originally been human, but his deeds were so demonic he came to be treated as a ghost.

Which is why, as a theme, he went full oni.

At Su-ho’s question, the woman who hadn’t been cut finally caught on.

“Ah, Shuten-doji! But, um—why are you looking for Shuten-doji?”

“To kill him. I hear he kidnaps only young noblewomen—either to make them serve him or to carve off their living flesh and eat it, yes?”

The reason these women were still alive was the same.

At Su-ho’s words, the women wept and nodded.

“I’ll take revenge on your behalf. Just tell me where. It’s my first time here. By the way, is this Mount Ōe?”

“Yes, this is Mount Ōe. Then...”

At his request, they wiped their tears and pointed in one direction.

It led further into the mountain. After confirming, Su-ho nodded.

“Thank you. I’d help with the funeral if I could, but I’m pressed for time.”

With that, he summoned Cheolma (Iron Horse) and set off the way they’d indicated.

Suuuaaa!

Cheolma sliced the wind and shot smoothly up the mountain.

A little later, Su-ho spotted a massive fortress built into the mountainside and knew at once it was Shuten-doji’s stronghold. However—

There’s quite a crowd.

A colossal fortress halfway up the mountain.

Inside, there were far more Oni Warriors than the reports he’d received in his previous life.

Not that they frightened him.

His strength already surpassed one-against-a-hundred.

Just... tedious.

He preferred to move efficiently.

But inside, besides oni, there would also be captives like the women from before.

So what?

It was still a fake world made for the System’s amusement.

Su-ho wasn’t an amateur who’d waste pity on illusions before him.

So he reached his conclusion quickly.

He drew a deep breath. And—

[ Mini Breath activates. ]

Fwooooooooooosh!!

Flames roared out.

It was the moment an unprecedented wildfire began on Mount Ōe.