Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 400

Kwajijijijit!

The razor-sharp tip of the Blood Sword detonated against Tsukuyomi.

But the blade did not touch Tsukuyomi directly; just before it landed, a transparent veil blocked it, spitting crimson sparks.

‘So he’s not going to take a hit straight on, huh.’

He hadn’t used First Strike, learned from a master of spearmanship, as a finisher.

He used a thrust rather than a slash simply because probing like this is far easier with a thrust.

Su-ho immediately spurred Cheolma and opened some distance.

“Fall back.”

“Hihihing!”

A crease scrunched between Tsukuyomi’s brows after taking Su-ho’s attack.

He hadn’t taken a direct hit, but the act of being attacked itself enraged him.

[ Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto summons the Residents of the Night. ]

No sooner had Su-ho fallen back than Tsukuyomi summoned the Residents of the Night.

Right.

Not using the cards you have would be stranger.

But can he really pull those out in this situation?

With the wind like this?

‘Ah.’

Looking down, Su-ho realized that was a useless worry.

Because the summoned Residents of the Night crawled up from the ground, but their two feet were buried in the earth like trees.

‘Like hungry ghosts trapped in hell.’

Arms stretched upward, they waited only for Su-ho to fall—Residents of the Night.

Just looking at them gave a strangely mental fatigue.

‘I need to finish this as fast as possible.’

Moving Cheolma, Su-ho searched for an opening again.

At that moment, Tsukuyomi used a new skill.

[ Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto uses Black Condemnation through the Black Moon. ]

Black Condemnation?

In that instant—

Shuaaaaa!

Something long and massive spewed from the Black Moon and shot toward Su-ho.

Kaaang!!

Su-ho instinctively parried it.

A clear metallic screech.

What was called Black Condemnation was a black pillar as thick as a utility pole, its tip as sharp as a spear; without focus it would have pierced him in an instant.

‘He’s got all kinds of tricks, seriously.’

It seemed the main threat wasn’t Tsukuyomi but that damnable Black Moon.

Su-ho set his mind to work quickly.

‘If I use an avatar body, the Residents of the Night are below; if I try to pelt him from range, the Black Moon absorbs all ranged attacks.’

The problem was he didn’t know every property the Black Moon had.

For a moment he considered unleashing a brief all-out barrage to overload it, but not knowing the total energy the Black Moon could intake, he decided to drop the idea.

‘Above all, the current Black Moon is buffed by the system.’

It had likely grown in capacity from the original Black Moon—certainly not shrunk.

‘In the end, I have to cut it directly.’

Which meant only one method.

Cut both the Black Moon and Tsukuyomi himself ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) with Cutting the Ring.

But the environment was too hostile for that.

‘Still have to do it.’

Having fixed on a point of attack, Su-ho began in earnest to hunt for an opening.

[ Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto uses Black Condemnation through the Black Moon. ]

KAAAAANG!!

But it wasn’t easy.

Like a sunflower chasing the sun, Tsukuyomi tenaciously tracked only Su-ho, and Black Condemnation, moving with that gaze, kept lashing out and retracting like a frog’s tongue catching flies.

Kang! Kang! Kang!

It was only thanks to clever Cheolma angling him well for parries; otherwise the fatigue would have piled up fast.

But Black Condemnation wasn’t all downside.

[ Skill preparation is complete. ]

Thanks to its indiscriminate bombardment, his Rage Mode gauge filled quickly.

Su-ho shifted his gaze to the opposite side.

Then he summoned a Guiyeong Spear and hurled it far up into the sky on the side opposite Tsukuyomi.

[ Throwing Spear is activated. ] 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The Guiyeong Spear shot far away.

Helped by the Black Moon’s gale, it flew even farther.

As soon as there was decent distance, Su-ho used Shadow Shift.

[ Shadow Shift is activated. ]

Shushuk!

As the skill activated, Su-ho’s position shifted far up into the sky.

Cheolma, bereft of its master, flew elsewhere.

Glancing between the two split targets, Tsukuyomi shifted his gaze to Su-ho’s side and used a skill.

[ Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto uses Black Condemnation through the Black Moon. ]

Black Condemnation thrust toward Su-ho.

Seeing it, Su-ho’s brow drew tight.

‘As expected.’

Black Condemnation can only be brought out one at a time.

He’d wondered what to do if it came from all directions like some tentacle monster’s, but this was good.

Moreover, fortunately, the single Black Condemnation focused on Su-ho, not Cheolma.

At once, Su-ho set his stance and focused his mind. In that moment—

Shuuuuung!

Black Condemnation barreled toward where Su-ho was.

Like a train, it slammed through the spot where Su-ho had been.

But Su-ho wasn’t there.

Flustered, Tsukuyomi’s gaze lost its mark.

Then a massive surge of mana was felt from behind.

[ Shadow Shift is activated. ]

It was Su-ho.

“......!!”

Startled, Tsukuyomi belatedly tried to use the Black Moon.

But Black Condemnation was a technique that could only thrust again after being retracted.

To retract and thrust again, Black Condemnation had flown too far out.

[ Foxfire is activated. ]

[ Rage Mode is activated. ]

Su-ho had been able to get behind him in an instant thanks to the Guiyeong Spear he’d affixed to Cheolma.

It was a gamble tried without a single simulation or cross-check, but it paid off.

As he’d hoped, Black Condemnation was a single entity, and there was a certain delay to using it again.

So he stuck a Guiyeong Spear on Cheolma to split Tsukuyomi’s attention and moved himself to draw aggro.

The plan was a success.

In that instant, with Tsukuyomi’s back taken, Su-ho popped Foxfire and Rage Mode.

Then he used the last skill for the finishing blow.

[ Weakening is activated. ]

The target, of course, was Tsukuyomi.

For a brief moment, Tsukuyomi’s power was halved.

The combo of skills fired off in a short window—all before Black Condemnation could return to the Black Moon.

And Su-ho’s sword flared.

Before Black Condemnation could thrust again, Su-ho’s blade detonated against Tsukuyomi and the Black Moon.

[ Cutting the Ring is activated. ]

[ Enhancement is applied. ]

[ The power of Cutting the Ring grows even stronger. ]

Cutting the Ring required a certain degree of focus and prep time.

Hence he threw his whole body into drawing aggro while readying the skill.

The math was exact.

Su-ho focused his mind.

Rage Mode and Foxfire still had remaining duration.

And the Weakening laid on Tsukuyomi hadn’t been dispelled.

So this was the perfect moment.

Right before he loosed his blade, Su-ho used one more skill.

[ Enhancement is activated. ]

At the same time, he swung his sword toward Tsukuyomi.

[ Cutting the Ring is activated. ]

[ Enhancement is applied. ]

[ The power of Cutting the Ring grows even stronger. ]

Flash!

Su-ho’s sword swept out in an instant, tracing an arc.

Of course, it was incomparably larger than the arc etched just before.

If the previous sword mark had been a line drawn with a pen, this one was so large it felt like it had been drawn with a brush.

All thanks to Giantification.

Right after the sword line was etched upon Tsukuyomi mid-second-phase transformation—

Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwa!!

Immediately after the swing, a giant pillar of light appeared and swallowed Tsukuyomi.

It was pure white, yet it blazed like fire; it swallowed Tsukuyomi and thrashed like a river for a while.

Soon the pillar of light narrowed and, just after it vanished entirely—

Pasasak!

Like brittle, dried leaves crumbling, Tsukuyomi fell apart.

[ You have slain Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto. ]

[ The Gate has been cleared. ]

[ The MVP of the Gate clear is ‘An Su-ho’. ]

[ Additional EXP is granted for MVP selection. ]

[ 1 bonus stat is granted for MVP selection. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have acquired 1 bonus stat. ]

System notifications pouring down.

At last, Tsukuyomi had been defeated.

‘Done!’

Tsukuyomi vanished without a trace.

At the same time, the Residents of the Night who filled the ground also disappeared without a trace.

Fwaaaaa!

Light burst forth.

At the same time, the surrounding scenery changed back to the pupil where he had first arrived.

Right then—

[ The duration of Giantification has ended. ]

[ The risk of using the Giantification skill begins. ]

Along with the system notifications, Su-ho’s body began to shrink like mad.

Thud!

Shrunk down, Su-ho plopped onto the ground, landing on his butt.

Rubbing his sore tailbone, Su-ho let out a hollow laugh.

“Man, that hurts.......”

How long had it been since he’d fallen on his butt like this? Geez.

Looking over his body, he’d shrunk to the size of a child of about three or four.

‘Still, this much is fine.’

For Giantification, that was getting off cheap.

The effect had been killer, right?

The moment he thought that—

“Uh-oh.......”

Unable to fight the sleep crashing over him like crazy, Su-ho pitched forward and fell fast asleep.