Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 399

It was a bolt of lightning that could rightly be called the wrath of Zeus.

Accordingly, Su-ho, who was right in front of it, had no choice but to be caught up in the aftermath.

‘Damn it!’

His whole body burned hot.

It was a lightning strike sent by the system as a warning, and its target was a god-race boss monster—no way it dealt ordinary damage.

Su-ho immediately pulled back.

“Notifications on.”

[ Using system notifications. ]

At the same time, he began treatment.

[ Heal is activated. ]

[ Recovery is activated. ]

His whole body tingled; along with the electric shock came paralysis, stiffness, burn—every status ailment that could be braided into a lightning strike was braided in.

‘If there were such a thing as a god’s wrath, it would be something like this.’

Not exactly wrong.

In the Great Upheaval, the system is a divine being.

Su-ho soon healed the wounds.

Even though he’d been caught up right in front of it, he survived because it wasn’t a direct hit.

Only then did Su-ho shift his gaze to Tsukuyomi.

“.......”

Tsukuyomi—no, what was there was “what had been Tsukuyomi.”

Tsukuyomi, doused in a god’s wrath, had become a pitch-black, charred cinder.

‘Is he dead?’

Wait—does that mean this Gate ends like this?

Right then.

[ Boss monster information is changing. ]

Of course.

Along with a system notification that dashed expectations, the black cinder that had been Tsukuyomi began to tremble.

Then, as if an insect were molting its shell, the black-hardened outer layer fell away, and from within emerged Tsukuyomi—his hair now grown as long as Susanoo’s, and his clothing turned black.

- Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto Lv.???

They’d said the information changed, and his name card itself had changed.

Tsukuyomi, once a simple Moon God, had become a Black Moon God.

Seeing that, Su-ho clicked his tongue.

‘Tsk, that naming sense.’

Did they call him Black Moon God just to show he’d gone “blackened”?

If that’s the case, the naming sense is outrageous.

His outrage lasted only a moment.

Tsukuyomi began to float up, lightly.

It seemed he was about to begin attacking in earnest.

Watching the posture, Su-ho felt a slight pang of guilt.

‘I didn’t know the system’s constraints would work like this.’

But he didn’t regret it.

No—he would have demanded the information the same way even in the same situation.

After all, the thing in front of his eyes wasn’t the real Tsukuyomi, just an avatar body.

The real Tsukuyomi had probably been sanctioned separately.

‘Probably.’

As Tsukuyomi drifted upward into the air, Su-ho began his own buffs to match.

[ Blessing is activated. ]

[ Holy Enchant is activated. ]

[ Mana Perception is activated. ]

[ Endurance is activated. ]

[ Enhancement is activated. ]

[ Eye of the Blacksmith is activated. ]

Skill effects roared around him.

Su-ho decided to be a little on edge.

This was a colluded scheme carried out right under the system’s nose, so the difficulty was expected to be considerable.

An unlisted level was one piece of evidence.

But that’s fine.

Even if I tied my own fate in knots, if I couldn’t overcome this much adversity, I wouldn’t have sworn to save the world again in the first place.

Soon Tsukuyomi had fully risen into the air, and from about the height of a fourth-floor apartment he looked down at Su-ho.

“.......”

Now even his eye-light had turned black.

That meant ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ conversation would be all the less possible.

Thinking so, Su-ho naturally drew his Blood Sword.

It was the moment Tsukuyomi raised his hand.

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

At those words, a huge black sphere the size of a car formed above Tsukuyomi’s head.

The system introduced that as the Black Moon.

‘If it’s “Black Moon,” a black moon?’

No matter how he looked, it didn’t look like a moon.

Rather than a moon, it was so pitch-black—like Vantablack—that it evoked a black hole.

At that moment, a black aura began to spew from the Black Moon.

[ Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto casts a Veil of Darkness through the Black Moon. ]

As the Black Moon’s skill activated, the surroundings, which had been clear with moonlight, turned turbid and dim like when he first entered this place.

[ Due to Original Vampire effect, you do not receive the darkness restriction effect. ]

At the same time, the Vampire effect activated.

‘So the plan is to bind my vision first.’

It wasn’t over yet.

Tsukuyomi used the Black Moon’s techniques in succession.

[ Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto casts the Curse of the Black Moon through the Black Moon. ]

[ All beings not vassal to Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto have all stats reduced by 20% under the moonlight of the Black Moon. ]

After vision restriction came a super wide-area debuff skill that reduced stats.

“Geez.”

So the Veil of Darkness wasn’t the end?

This one was troublesome.

He’d inflated those stats so hard, only to have them shaved down like this.

‘And compared to the Curse of the Black Moon, the stat increase gained from the Moon Rune is at best 1%.’

Stingy.

Moreover, even though Su-ho had the dark attribute via the Moon Rune, he could not be free from the Curse of the Black Moon.

‘Is that the end?’

It was not.

When Tsukuyomi raised his hand to use skills in succession, quick-on-the-uptake Su-ho immediately swung his sword and unleashed a barrage.

[ Yeolhwageom is activated. ]

As he swung like a flurry, blades of Yeolhwageom began to pour down like rain.

At the same time, to blur the enemy’s vision, he used the Art of Wind and Rain.

[ Art of Wind and Rain is activated. ]

As the skill activated, wind and rain began to lash, and the launched Yeolhwageom waves flew straight toward Tsukuyomi and struck home.

‘Did you think I’d just stand there like a villain in a transform-anime and wait?’

Not a chance.

I’m not one of those idiots.

So the moment I saw a tell, I swung at once. But—

Shuaaaaaa!

Something astonishing happened.

The Black Moon sucked in all of Su-ho’s launched Yeolhwageom barrages like a black hole.

Then a system notification popped up.

[ The Black Moon of Black Moon God Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto is activating The Moon That Swallowed the Sun. ]

The Moon That Swallowed the Sun?

What’s that supposed to be?

Judging by the effect, it seemed to absorb attacks in Tsukuyomi’s stead.

‘Oh come on, this is a thing?’

Absurd.

If there’s a passive like this, tell me sooner.

Just then, Tsukuyomi smirked nastily.

‘Oh, really?’

I thought his ego had flown off, but he kept enough to teabag?

With a sneer, Tsukuyomi reactivated the skill he’d been about to use earlier.

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

The skill used was Furious Moon Wind, and—

WHOOOOOOOOOSH!!

As soon as the notification ended, an enormous blast of wind began to spew from the Black Moon.

Fweeeeeeeee!!

A colossal volume of wind.

It wasn’t just strong—it was overwhelming.

The wind spewed by the Black Moon was on a level comparable to a U.S. hurricane, and it began to push everything but Tsukuyomi back with force.

‘This is insane.’

A moment ago it sucked everything in like a black hole; now it was spewing it back out and shoving everything away.

“Cheolma!”

“Hihihihing!”

Su-ho immediately summoned Cheolma and mounted up.

Cheolma, who supported Su-ho without losing balance even amid powerful whirlwinds.

So it should hold out to some extent this time as well. However—

“Hiiing!”

Cheolma couldn’t take off.

The wind spewed by the Black Moon was so strong that even Cheolma couldn’t withstand it.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’

In a pinch, Su-ho extended the Blood Sword and drove it into the ground to anchor his body. Then he activated a skill that increased weight.

[ Baekgeunchu is activated. ]

As Baekgeunchu activated, thanks to his master’s added weight, Cheolma was barely able to keep its balance.

But that was literally only barely keeping balance.

Movement was still constrained; it was still hard to act.

It was just as Tsukuyomi was about to raise his hand again.

‘Still not done?’

How many damn skills does he have?

Frowning, Su-ho ground his teeth.

“See you in a bit.”

[ Entering Subspace House. ]

Pop!

Within the gale the black moon spewed—

Su-ho suddenly vanished inside it. And—

“.......”

Tsukuyomi was too dumbfounded to say anything.

*

“Whew, I honestly thought I was going to get blown away.”

The wind was so strong it buried even the Art of Wind and Rain that Su-ho had cast.

So he took shelter in the Subspace House.

He hadn’t come simply to hide.

He was here to devise a solution.

Shaking his head, Su-ho muttered,

“Man, if I’d known this would happen, I would’ve raised the skill grade beforehand.”

Judging by the strength of the wind the Black Moon exhaled, if he’d had Cheongeunchu (A-grade) instead of Baekgeunchu (B-grade), the trouble would have been far less.

But those who don’t prepare in advance have no right to complain.

So even now, he’d crammed his way here to level up.

‘Still, thank god I dropped by Korea just before this.’

When he went around re-embedding Guiyeong Spears everywhere, Su-ho had stopped home and picked up Gi Seung-hwan as well.

Fortunately, Gi Seung-hwan’s materials were being delivered regularly, so even though the second effect had procced, just securing the stock piled at home was enough to last for a while.

Su-ho immediately ingested Gi Seung-hwan.

[ You have ingested Gi Seung-hwan. ]

[ You fully absorb the technique EXP contained in Gi Seung-hwan. ]

[ Please select the skill you wish to grow. ]

He had ingested Gi Seung-hwan, not Gi Seung-ok.

From efficiency calculations earlier, he knew that when raising a B-grade skill to A-grade, Gi Seung-hwan was far more efficient than Gi Seung-ok.

In that sense, the skill to raise was, of course, Baekgeunchu.

[ The technique EXP of Gi Seung-hwan is absorbed into the Baekgeunchu skill. ]

[ Absorption complete. ]

[ The technique EXP of Gi Seung-hwan is absorbed into the Baekgeunchu skill. ]

[ Absorption complete. ]

[ The technique EXP of Gi Seung-hwan is absorbed into the Baekgeunchu skill. ]

[ Absorption complete. ]

......

Notifications poured down.

And then—

[ Your understanding of Baekgeunchu is extremely high. ]

[ The system begins to re-evaluate the talent you possess. ]

[ Congratulations! The grade of the Baekgeunchu skill has been adjusted to A-grade. ]

‘Got it!’

In Baekgeunchu, the “baek geun” is 100 geun; with 1 geun at 600 g, even if you used the skill, it only added 60 kg.

Of course, Su-ho had his existing body weight, but even adding Baekgeunchu’s weight barely pushed him over 100 kg; at that amount, free actions were still impossible.

But Cheongeunchu adds a whopping 600 kg when used.

‘That should be plenty!’

Prepared, Su-ho immediately sprang back outside.

FWHOOOOOOOOOO!!

Outside, the gale still blew.

Su-ho summoned Cheolma again.

“Cheolma!”

“Hihihihing!”

And he used the upgraded Cheongeunchu.

[ Cheongeunchu is activated. ]

KABOOM!!

A full 600 kg was added.

Then Cheolma, which had been staggering in the gale, shared its master’s weight and was able to set itself straight.

“You can fly, right?”

“Hihing!”

“Then let’s go!”

“Hihihihing!”

Cheolma was magnificent.

Cheolma had never failed to fly because its master was heavy; it had only failed when the wind was too strong.

Gripping his Blood Sword flashing with radiance under Holy Enchant, Su-ho charged Tsukuyomi.

“Let’s go!”

“Hihihihing!”

[ First Strike is activated. ]

Su-ho’s Blood Sword became a single, fiercely sharp spear and thrust out toward a god.