Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 497

Tukwaaang!!

A fierce running start.

Hard enough that the ground caved in.

Su-ho didn’t move.

The guy charged at Su-ho at ultrahigh speed and soon swung his sword.

And the moment Su-ho’s sword and Seorio’s sword collided.

Kwaaang!!

A tremendous blast.

At the same time, an explosion went off around them and a cloud of dirt rose up, and.

Kwagwagwagwagwa!!

Through the dirt cloud, someone went rolling disgracefully far away, bouncing as they went.

It was Seorio.

Tremble-tremble-

“Well, would you look at that?”

It wasn’t like he’d pulled off some huge trick, either.

They’d just clashed swords once, and in that instant, the Shock Wave option on the Hercules Club he’d layered on top of it activated.

And yet the guy didn’t just roll that far—his whole body twisted up, and he’d even ended up with his sword broken.

That was when it happened.

Kwaaang!!

Seorio’s head suddenly burst.

Su-ho hadn’t blown it up.

Su-ho knew that, too.

That was just Seorio’s master blowing it up.

“Seriously, this is something else.......”

Quitting the game this fast.

That was when it happened.

Swaaa!

A blood-red vortex surged again.

It was the moment Seorio’s owner played the next card.

- ???’s Butler Periotin Lv.???

Periotin.

Seeing the guy’s namecard, Su-ho frowned.

“This time it’s a butler, huh.......”

Why don’t you bring out a cook, a gardener, a stable hand, a bodyguard—hell, even a foot-wiper next?

Su-ho, dumbfounded, quietly waited for Periotin to open his mouth.

Periotin was an elderly gentleman.

He had white hair slicked back, skin pale, a monocle, and eyes as red as Shuraia’s.

Periotin, wearing the distinctive butler outfit that was somewhere between a tuxedo and a suit, spoke politely to Su-ho.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Periotin, the butler who serves my master.”

“Yeah, so you’re here to test me too? And how many servants are waiting behind you? If you’re going to do this, can’t you just all come out at once?”

“Haha, it seems the friends who dropped out earlier have put you in a foul mood. Don’t worry. I am the last.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Nice to hear.

When Su-ho grinned broadly, Periotin smiled as well and said,

“Yes. If you defeat me as well, follow the path that opened behind me straight ahead. Then what you want will be there.”

“What I want? I like how straightforward you are. Then should we start right away? What, are you Blood Armory too?”

“Haha, I am different from Seorio.”

Periotin, wearing a kindly smile, reached a hand out toward Su-ho.

Then the air compressed, beginning to gather into Periotin’s grip.

What is that?

In the moment Su-ho stared quietly at Periotin’s palm.

[ ???’s Butler Periotin uses Bloody Hand. ]

Surprisingly, what Periotin used wasn’t Blood Armory, but Bloody Hand.

Shukwagwagwagwagwa!

At the same time, an enormous suction force washed over Su-ho, and blood and magic power began to drain out of Su-ho’s body.

'Well, would you look at that?'

The suction was so strong it felt like even Su-ho’s body might get sucked into that shriveled hand.

Su-ho smiled /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ at that.

“You think you’re the only one with Bloody Hand?”

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Su-ho raised his hand as well and activated Bloody Hand.

[ Bloody Hand activates. ]

Shuaaa!!

Su-ho’s grip began to suck in the entire area in front of him like a vacuum cleaner gone mad.

Seeing that, Periotin’s expression twitched for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and focused on Bloody Hand.

Suction versus suction...... no, to be precise, it was a battle of bloodsucking versus bloodsucking.

For Su-ho, it was a fun experience.

There was almost no pain, but he could see with his own eyes his magic power and the blood filled in his Blood Grand Jade decreasing and increasing in real time.

'But.......'

This was only fun at the start. After some time passed, it started to get boring.

So Su-ho decided to raise the output just a little.

Shuaaa!!

Like turning a vacuum cleaner’s suction mode from low to medium.

But the moment he raised the suction output a bit, Periotin started to visibly panic.

'What the......!'

Periotin had been confident.

Because he believed the opponent was a half-baked shell that had obtained Royal Vampyr power through the vulgar trick called the System, while he himself was an original who had been granted power directly by a true Royal Vampyr master.

So he thought he wouldn’t just win—he would overwhelm.

But the moment Su-ho raised the output, impatience began to sprout in Periotin’s heart for the first time.

Su-ho also sensed the change in Periotin’s emotions and formed a faint smile.

“Let’s end this.”

He raised the output from medium to strong.

Then Periotin’s body, which had been standing straight, began to tilt toward Su-ho little by little.

“This......!”

Periotin’s expression twisted.

Then, throwing away the noble look unique to a butler, he drove both feet hard into the floor to brace himself and began raising Bloody Hand’s output with all his strength.

“Working hard. Really working hard.”

So Su-ho raised his output too.

From strong to strongest.

Then Periotin’s body came to the point of being almost sucked into Su-ho, and finally, right when Periotin’s two feet were about to get pulled out from where they were bracing.

PUH-EONG!!

Periotin’s head exploded.

Drip-drip-

Shreds of the exploded head’s gore scattered in all directions.

This time, the distance was pretty far, so I was really glad it didn’t splatter on me.

Brushing his hand off, Su-ho muttered,

“I don’t know who the master is, but they’re really lame.”

Quitting the game this fast.

Still, now his heart felt much lighter.

Periotin said the test ended with him, and beyond this was what I wanted.

Su-ho stepped over Periotin’s exploded corpse and headed for the door on the other side.

Inside the door was wide and long like the corridor he’d walked through before, and it was still dark.

It was fine.

Because thanks to the Vampyr effect, darkness imposed no restrictions on Su-ho at all.

As Su-ho moved forward slowly, he thought.

'Bats, Shuraia, Seorio, Periotin.......'

What kind of relationship did these guys have that they appeared in order like this?

All of them clearly understood that they existed for the test.

If so, rather than protecting their master, their purpose had to be more about verifying something in Su-ho.

In that moment, Su-ho realized their roles.

'Right. Shuraia was Influence, Seorio was Blood Armory, Periotin was Bloody Hand...... it was all tests of vampyr authority.'

Then what role did the dark bats have?

The only remaining authority skill is Disguise.

Was it that those dark bats weren’t something to defeat, but something you were supposed to avoid with Disguise?

'That might be possible, too.'

But Su-ho solved it with Heat Storm and Divine Aura, not Disguise.

He figured it wouldn’t matter.

Because people say, no matter how you go, as long as you get to Seoul, it’s fine.

After walking for a long while like that, another huge cavern appeared again.

Deep darkness.

Because of the skill effect, the darkness cleared, and Su-ho could see a single chair at the center of the cavern.

But it wasn’t an ordinary chair.

Someone was sitting in the chair—no, to be precise, was being “seated.”

Because in that spot that looked like a throne, an unknown man was bound to the chair.

'That guy is the master of the ones before?'

For a master, he looks like a mess.

Well, there must be a story.

Thinking that, Su-ho approached the one in the chair.

That was when it happened.

- Ah....

A groan, all of a sudden.

Soon, sensing Su-ho’s presence, the man slowly lifted his head.

As if he’d been starving for a long time, his entire body was skin and bones, and because he hadn’t been able to groom his hair, he had long, shaggy hair like a wild man’s, long enough to cover his eyes.

Still, maybe because he was a vampyr, his skin and hair were pale like the ones before.

That was when it happened.

- To think...... you really came.......

Muttering in a self-mocking voice.

But the voice is strangely familiar.

Where have I heard this voice before?

Su-ho asked.

“Hey. You seem to know who I am?”

- Kekek, kekekekek.......

“Why are you laughing?”

- Of course it’s funny. How could I forget you?

“Have we met before?”

- Keuk, is that so...... how miserable. As if being killed by you wasn’t enough, I’m imprisoned here in Helldown and receiving eternal punishment because I delivered my clan’s blood to you.

Killed?

Delivered blood?

'What is all this.......'

In that moment, a certain being came to mind in Su-ho’s head.

“Oh, no way...... are you the cursed prince from the Blood Cocoon?”

- Cursed prince...... yeah, that’s the alias I was given. Yes. I am that prince.

“Ah?”

Only then did Su-ho realize who the being in front of him was.

The cursed prince.

He was the one who had given Su-ho vampyr blood.

'Originally I was only going to get Vampyr, but thanks to dragon blood I became Royal Vampyr, and because of that I obtained the unique trait New Blood.'

So if you really get down to it, the guy was quite a benefactor to Su-ho.

But why was he suddenly showing up here?

Su-ho asked with genuine delight.

“Long time no see. But why are you like this here? Your subordinates up front were walking around just fine.”

- Subordinates? Kekek...... do you think I have enough leeway, shoved into Helldown, to command subordinates?

“What do you mean...... then those guys weren’t your subordinates?”

- They were not.

“Huh?”

Then this won’t do.

No, it’s not like it can’t be, really.

They were just examiners trying to test me, anyway.

In that moment, what Periotin said came back to him.

“Yes. If you defeat me as well, follow the path that opened behind me straight ahead. Then what you want will be there.”

Right.

Periotin said that if I followed the path behind him, what I wanted would be there—he didn’t say his master would be there.

'In the first place, he wouldn’t have described his master as something like “what I want,” either.'

He was a butler who seemed quite formal.

'But what good does it do when it ends in a head going PUH-EONG anyway.'

Still, either way, it seemed highly likely that the cursed prince in front of him was what I wanted.

Because just like with Omega, there was no namecard visible for the cursed prince.

Su-ho asked.

“Yeah, sure. That’s unfortunate. I’ll hear the detailed story of why you’re here in a bit...... but you look like you knew I’d come here?”

- Of course. I’m here after being given another mission besides punishment.

“What mission, and who gave it to you?”

- Who else? The System that delivered my blood to you. The System told me that if I waited here, you would come find me. And that when you did, I should fully unleash my will.

“Oh?”

Unlike Omega, the cursed prince spoke freely about the System.

But fully unleash my will?

“What do you mean? Fully unleash your will?”

- Exactly what it sounds like. I am the cursed prince. But I didn’t receive the curse because I wanted it. Those damned High Blood bastards forced it on me. Ah, for reference, High Blood refers to royalty among the Royal Vampyr, and among royalty, the leader bastards.

The cursed prince lifted his head.

Then the shaggy bangs parted, and though he was emaciated, his eyes shone with nothing but blazing vengeance as he spoke.

- I want the extermination of the High Blood. That is what I desire, and why I have been waiting for you here.