Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 567

'Cute.'

Su-ho let out a short laugh.

Yeah, no matter how you looked at it, it seemed you were the mid-boss here.

If I want to meet him, I have to defeat you first and come on, is that it?

Then I'd be happy to play along.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Su-ho immediately summoned the Blood Sword and took hold of it.

But the surprising thing was that the Nameless Swordsman... no, the Sword Emperor, was the same.

'Would you look at this guy?'

Are you saying he's changed a lot from when we met before?

A guy who used to merely copy the status window was now copying even skills along with it.

He even made the weapon identical too, showing the intent to match the balance even more thoroughly.

Su-ho raised the Blood Sword and took his stance.

"Let's see your skills for once. Since the balance has been matched, I hope your swordsmanship has improved too."

I don't know whether the substance inside is the same as before, but one way or another, wasn't the name and shell itself that of a former Sword Emperor?

I was able to defeat him and become the Sword God.

At this unexpected reunion, Su-ho's heart began to pound, and soon it was the Sword Emperor who came in first.

Clank— KWAANG!!

Behind the rusty-joint sound coming from that light running start, a huge roar that didn't suit it at all exploded out.

It was the sound produced because the leg strength behind the kick-off was enormous.

The ground where he planted his foot caved in, and using that force as recoil, he charged at Su-ho like a dump truck.

Su-ho did not avoid that charge and accepted it head-on in full.

KAAANG!!

When Blood Sword and Blood Sword collided, there rang out an extremely heavy, yet clear metallic grinding sound.

There was no such thing as the swords breaking.

Because his sword was a sword of exactly the same form as mine.

So now all that remained was a fight in the purely technical domain.

Su-ho immediately shoved him back and then began stepping in earnest.

'It's been a while since I've had a swordsmanship duel, so this really gets my heart racing.'

Thinking about it, that was true.

He had started as a swordsman, climbed all the way to the realm of the Formless Sword, and even regressed to the past, but after actually regressing, there had not been even a single time when he had achieved any particularly meaningful swordsmanship growth.

Because Su-ho's skill had already risen to the rank of the very pinnacle of the world.

'At most, all I did was repeat and repeat in order to regain the skills I'd obtained in the past.'

That was why even the fight against the Sword Emperor he met again in the early days after regressing had not been all that difficult.

Before the regression, he had only barely won after rushing in again and again through repeated defeats, but after regressing, he already knew the bastard's weaknesses well.

Kang! Kaang! Kang!

The swords collided in rapid succession.

As he stepped, Su-ho slowly enjoyed the situation as it was now.

A sense of urgency?

He did not feel even a little of that.

Rather, he was curious.

What kind of swordsmanship skill had this new Sword Emperor acquired?

And so, as the Sword Emperor thrust out his sword, Su-ho received all of it.

Kakang! Kang! Kang! Kang!

The feel of taking the hits was heavy.

So the corners of Su-ho's mouth rose on their own.

Yeah, this is it.

This is exactly it.

The meticulousness, precision, and exactness you can't see in other swordsmen.

This is what swordsmanship is.

Su-ho received his sword for a while longer.

But the more he received that swordsmanship, the stranger the feeling became.

A strangely familiar feeling.

A very intimate feeling.

And before long, that sense of déjà vu made Su-ho's eyes go round.

'Huh, wait, could this be...'

No, it can't be.

I think I'm mistaken?

At first, that was what he thought.

So he watched for a while longer.

But no matter how he looked at it, this was swordsmanship he knew.

He tested it.

From the steps to the way it blocked and the way it drove forward.

After testing this and that, Su-ho could only let out a hollow laugh.

'Isn't this my swordsmanship?'

My swordsmanship.

That was exactly what it was.

This was Su-ho Sword, the unique sword art Su-ho had created entirely on his own.

But the Sword Emperor is using my swordsmanship?

Is he doing this on purpose?

That was the right answer.

To think it wasn't enough to copy the status window and even the weapon, and that he had copied even my swordsmanship to create a complete copy.

Yeah.

Yeah, so that's why it had looked so good.

Because it wasn't anything else. It was the swordsmanship I had made.

Even a hedgehog finds its own young the cutest, and a cook finds his own recipe the tastiest.

Without a word, Su-ho continued receiving his sword.

Now that he knew the swordsmanship the Sword Emperor was using was his own Su-ho Sword, he no longer felt tense.

Instead, he sank into another thought.

What had the Sword Constellation been thinking when it sent this bastard out?

What had it been thinking when it placed Su-ho Sword in his hands and sent him to me?

There was no way to know.

But one thing was certain: I probably have to deal with this guy before I can see the next stage.

Fine. If that's the condition, then I'll accept it as much as you want.

Having finished organizing his thoughts, Su-ho corrected his stance.

Then, from the form where he had only been receiving, he changed his stance and began driving the Sword Emperor back like mad.

Kakang! Kakang! Kakang! Kakang! Kang!

Driving someone back is even easier than receiving them.

He had definitely thought it would be.

But no matter how much he raised the speed and intensity and drove him back fiercely, strangely enough, the result he thought should come never did.

'What is this?'

Something was strange.

Is the Sword Emperor using some sinister art I don't know about?

That can't be.

Because he trusted the system.

Even though it looked extremely dirty, when it came to things like this, it was very fair and meticulous.

Then what was wrong?

Let's focus a little more.

Thinking that, he swung his sword even harder.

Kakang! Kang! Kakang! Kakang! Kang!

The sword swung like mad.

Its force and momentum were much higher than before.

But even this time, the Sword Emperor still hardly showed any openings.

There was no sign of haste either.

Just as Su-ho had been at the beginning, he received the sword Su-ho was pressing in on him with, in a strangely relaxed sort of way.

Thus the rough exchange continued hundreds of times.

Kang!!

Su-ho swung his sword in a wide arc, driving the Sword Emperor far back.

"Hoooooo......"

His body was soaked with sweat.

Su-ho exhaled the old breath heated up inside him and brushed back his sweat-soaked hair.

Clank—

The Sword Emperor took his stance again, making that distinctive rusty-joint sound.

Don't you ever get tired?

You said you copied the same status window as me?

But of course he wouldn't tire.

Because the inside of that old-looking shell was empty.

By the way, what was the problem?

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