Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 183

Su-ho had thought long and hard.

How could he make Pi Seong-yeol truly regret the sins he had committed?

But no matter how much he thought about it, the final answer always led to physical pain, and the method he had chosen was searing pain.

‘The worst pain a human can feel is supposed to be searing pain,’ he remembered.

Of course, this wasn’t factual information.

It was just something he had overheard once.

That’s why he had cut off Pi Seong-yeol’s hands and feet.

He had heard that neural pain was just as painful as searing pain.

"AAAHHH!!"

Pi Seong-yeol burned fiercely.

Su-ho watched for a while before using his skills.

"Heal, Recovery."

He activated the Heal and Recovery skills.

These two skills were meant to heal health and treat wounds or ailments, and with these, Su-ho could heal most injuries.

Su-ho wasn’t an ordinary healer; he was a Crusader, a second-class job.

Of course, even as a Crusader, it was difficult to regenerate severed limbs.

That’s why he had thrown the severed limbs far away.

Regeneration was tough, but reattaching limbs was entirely possible.

Not just reattachment—skin was also included. Even melted or burned skin could be healed as long as some shape remained.

In other words, if used at the right moment, he could use skills to make the flames burn forever, using Pi Seong-yeol as fuel.

That was why he prepared the searing pain.

By using a few skills, Su-ho could continuously inflict horrific pain without having to move around.

"Ughhh!"

Su-ho gazed at Pi Seong-yeol with emotionless eyes.

The man, with his whole body on fire, could barely move due to his severed hands and feet, struggling in the confined space.

It seemed he was in a lot of pain.

Seeing him like this reminded Su-ho of the saying: "Pain becomes numb the more you experience it."

Su-ho didn’t quite agree with that saying.

Usually, when someone becomes numb to pain, it’s either because their mind has been shattered or the pain itself wasn’t enough to truly break them.

Su-ho had experienced plenty of pain in his life.

Sure, it might not compare to Alex Morgan, the greatest tank and defender in the U.S. Hunter Corps, but...

‘Well, no matter how strong he is, even he hasn’t experienced Suzuki’s poison.’

Su-ho considered himself the one who had gone through the most pain.

After all, he and Alex Morgan were the only ones who fought right in front of the enemy during the final stand of humanity’s last battalion.

In that sense, Su-ho considered Suzuki’s poison to be the worst pain he had ever endured.

The second worst was searing pain.

Especially when covered in lava and feeling his entire skin burning—it almost felt like he was going to lose his mind.

‘If it weren’t for Isabella’s support, I probably would have gone insane.’

But even then, it wasn’t worse than Suzuki’s poison.

Such a shame.

Had there been Suzuki’s poison, he would have certainly chosen that over searing pain.

But it was okay.

Searing pain wasn’t quite as bad as Suzuki’s poison, but it was still a comparable level of agony.

That’s why he had also prepared neural pain.

You can’t prepare just one, right?

Su-ho activated the skill again.

[Heal activated.]

[Recovery activated.]

A warm light enveloped Pi Seong-yeol.

His mana drained steadily.

But it was fine.

The mana required for Heal and Recovery was determined by the severity of the wounds and the stats of the person being healed. Even though Pi Seong-yeol had suffered significant injuries, the mana required for a level 1 player wasn’t much for Su-ho at his level.

"AAAHHH!!"

Pi Seong-yeol burned like firewood.

When his screams began to die down, Su-ho used Heal and Recovery again.

He wasn’t dead, though.

His vocal cords had burned, so he couldn’t scream anymore.

Of course, burning vocal cords didn’t mean death.

So Su-ho waited until his screams stopped, then used the skills again during the recovery period.

How did Su-ho know this?

He had experienced all sorts of things during the later stages of the Great Cataclysm.

Being covered in oil and set on fire was nothing compared to the horrors he had faced.

So, inside this space where no one could enter, Su-ho continued the world’s most agonizing campfire.

***

After some time, Su-ho checked the time and took a water jug out of his inventory, pouring it over Pi Seong-yeol.

He had burned him for hours, and the oil he had initially poured had already evaporated.

But just in case, he had prepared mayonnaise.

He had heard that when oil catches fire, it’s best to pour mayonnaise, not water.

But Pi Seong-yeol had already been extinguished by the water jug and squirmed in pain amid the heavy scorch marks.

"Ugh... ugh..."

The burns were quite severe.

If someone had looked closely, Pi Seong-yeol was so thoroughly blackened that he looked indistinguishable from the other burn marks.

So Su-ho used Heal and Recovery again.

As a result, his burnt skin began to reveal fresh, pale skin, and Pi Seong-yeol’s naked body emerged like a blooming flower from the ashes.

It was both grotesque and mesmerizing.

‘A person blooming from the ashes of burn marks.’

It was truly grotesque.

Su-ho approached Pi Seong-yeol, who was squirming on the ground, and kicked him over, forcing him to lie flat.

He then looked at his severed hands and feet.

"Hmm."

Did I give him too much force?

Even the severed edges had healed.

What should I do now?

What to do, really?

I’ll just cut it again.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Su-ho summoned his Blood Weapon and carefully shaved off the edges of the healed wrists and ankles.