Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 217

That sensation.

That feeling.

The sword had landed cleanly.

Su-ho twisted the deeply embedded blade half a turn clockwise before pulling it out.

Twisting after stabbing was a habit etched into him like a callus.

Because that was how you inflicted the maximum amount of damage.

Sure enough, the moment the enemy was struck, its body immediately hardened.

Using the now-hardened creature as a stepping stone, Su-ho launched himself upward once more.

Then he slashed again—this time aiming directly for the crown of its head.

A vertical slash.

But even in that moment, the creature seemed to snap back to awareness, activating an evasive skill and allowing Su-ho’s body to slip past it.

Shhhh!

His blade sliced through empty air as Su-ho fell downward.

Yet Su-ho was smiling.

Even if that second hit didn’t land, the first thrust had been more than satisfying.

Twisting his body mid-fall, Su-ho adjusted his trajectory.

Then he activated one of his Mirror Soldiers to create a foothold in midair, landing safely.

After the clean landing, Su-ho looked up.

Around him, the lower-tier wind spirits had mostly been cleared out.

Not that it mattered much.

Spirits adhered to a strict hierarchy—so as long as the right conditions were met, a higher-tier spirit could summon countless lower-tier ones.

Meaning, no matter how many were defeated right now, it wouldn’t change much in the grand scheme.

At that moment, Su-ho and Sуlphian locked eyes.

Sуlphian’s expression was unreadable.

It had passed beyond rage—cold and eerily still.

Then it began.

[ Half Sуlphian feels immense anger toward you. ]

[ Half Sуlphian is awakening. ]

[ Half Sуlphian’s power increases drastically. ]

The second phase had begun.

As the system notifications flared, a gale surged outward around them.

Fwoooosh!

The wind was on an entirely different scale now compared to anything before.

Sуlphian wasn’t even a mid-tier spirit yet, but as a boss monster, it was granted privileges that allowed it to wield power like this.

Still, the wind—it was too strong.

The sea water pooled on the stone pillars began to churn, rising into waves.

Swooosh! Splash! Swoosh! Splash!

What began as swells quickly became crashing waves, slamming into the stone spires.

Right.

No matter how rough it got, those waves wouldn’t destroy the pillars... right?

If they did, this would turn into a disaster.

But ominous premonitions always came true—suddenly, rain began to fall.

Swaaah!

Out of nowhere, a downpour.

And not just a drizzle or a light rain.

It was a full-on deluge.

Heavy enough to sting when it hit bare skin.

And as the rain fell, the tide began to rise rapidly alongside the waves.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

No wonder every raid party sent here got wiped out.

According to the Tamra Guild’s records, past raiding parties had successfully pushed the boss into its second phase.

But almost all of them were destroyed in that phase.

The first reason was exactly this: the environmental hazards.

‘Rain, gales, rising sea level... What’s the difference between this and a typhoon?’

A typhoon is terrifying in itself, but the rain and wind are the most obstructive parts.

Heavy wind and rain hinder communication, and prolonged exposure drenches the body, reducing mobility.

And the waves—like deer darting across a highway at night—they introduced chaotic, unpredictable variables.

Luckily for Su-ho, he wasn’t in a party.

He didn’t have to worry about coordinating or protecting anyone.

His only partner was a Mirror Soldier, and those could receive orders mentally, no need for verbal communication.

Same for the rain.

Su-ho’s current stats were more than enough to thrive even in a 2-star gate.

So unless the falling rain had some special debuff effect, getting soaked wouldn’t fatigue him.

But the real problem lay elsewhere.

Fwoooosh!

Sуlphian began to glow.

Where its aura once shimmered with a bright emerald hue, it now darkened into a deeper, heavier shade.

Of course, it wasn’t just the color that changed.

[ Sуlphian absorbs the wind to recover. ]

A new system alert.

This—this was what made the Marado Gate so hard to clear. The most infuriating part of the second phase.

Self-recovery.

And not just any recovery—wind-based regeneration.

‘Sure, it still consumes mana, so it’s not infinite...’

But it was more than enough to frustrate challengers.

On top of that, entering phase two had boosted its overall stats—and all the health chipped away in phase one had already been restored.

“Haa.”

Su-ho exhaled.

Right.

Now it was a real fight.

Everything up to this point had just been prep work.

He gripped his Blood Sword again.

Swoosh! Crash!

The rain poured down.

The waves surged higher.

The sea level kept rising.

After a moment of stillness, Sуlphian raised a hand.

[ Sуlphian uses Wind Orbs. ]

The Wind Orbs activated.

Tiny, swirling vortexes began to form around Sуlphian—dozens of them.

Just a glance told Su-ho there were at least a hundred.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Boss monster or not, was it overflowing with mana or something?

Just as he grumbled, the Wind Orbs shot toward him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

God, look at that destructive power.

Terrifying.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Getting hit by one of those would rip off a chunk of flesh like getting mauled by a bear.

So he dodged them—his life on the line.

But then—

Fwooooosh!!

As he leapt to another pillar to avoid the Wind Orbs, a gust of wind slammed into him midair, throwing his body off balance.

He nearly slipped and fell into the ocean.