Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

The power of Tsunami was tremendous.

If the Great Flood just before it had killed off quite a few of the middling forces, then Tsunami had swept away a good portion of the higher-grade ones.

Corpses quickly piled up into hills, and after two rounds of flooding, the terrain itself had become soaked and muddy, turning into an environment that imposed enormous fatigue on any advancing force.

Dizzy, Su-ho remained seated and focused on recovery, paying no attention at all to Leihian’s admiring gaze.

The gods still held their positions.

Whoooooosh!

The wind blew.

It was an ordinary breeze that crossed the entire continent, regardless ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) of whether it passed through the Western Demon Realm or the Eastern Demon Realm.

But to the people of the Western Demon Realm, who still had not managed to set foot on Eastern Demon Realm soil, that wind did not feel like a breeze wiping away their sweat. It felt more like the chill of bleak weather.

This feeling was a first for them.

No, they had never once imagined that they would be the ones suffering like this.

Some said people felt unprecedented fear from things they could not see, but to these mindless barbarians, the unseen was not frightening precisely because it could not be seen.

They had lived in a world where the things visible to the eye were far more terrifying.

Maybe that was why.

Before they had faced the Eastern Demon Realm, the Eastern Demon Realm had not frightened them at all.

But once Phaidiak was removed and they finally came face-to-face with the world beyond the barrier—a world they had only ever heard about through rumors—it was nothing like they had imagined.

It was like hell.

They had thought the world they themselves lived in was harsh enough, ruled not by law but by the survival of the strong and the law of the jungle. But now that they had experienced the Eastern Demon Realm, they were actually starting to think their own world had been better.

And so a helpless fear gradually spread through the Western Demon Realm army.

Meanwhile, the same wind could be felt from the watchtower on the Eastern Demon Realm’s front line.

Su-ho was too busy recovering to notice the wind at this moment, so only Leihian felt it.

To Leihian, that wind felt like a breeze. No, more than that, it felt like Su-ho’s own wind protecting them.

It was refreshing.

It was warm.

Unlike the soldiers on the other side, who felt only bleakness, Leihian saw a budding hope amid the great despair that had come upon them in a single day.

‘Maybe... maybe we really can win this.’

All wariness toward Su-ho had completely vanished.

When that otherworlder—someone he had never even met—had said he would save their world, all Leihian had felt was suspicion and anger. Now he was ashamed of himself for ever having thought that way.

‘I should have just trusted the Demon King from the start.’

In the Demon Realm, the Demon King was a mythic existence, almost a one and only god.

Because here, the Demon King was not merely someone who had seized his place through force. There was a prevailing belief that he cherished his world and always watched over the people of the Demon Realm, wherever and whenever they might be.

That was why Leihian felt ashamed. He should have trusted the Demon King to the very end.

But now, because of Su-ho, he believed in the Demon King even more.

The Demon King had not abandoned them. He had been preparing everything all along.

And Grid, too, was extremely satisfied with the current situation.

Of course, that did not mean he had let down his guard.

They had succeeded perfectly in seizing the initiative with those two massive disasters, but that did not mean the East-West War was over.

Grid knew.

He knew that the ones who had not yet appeared were far stronger, taken together, than all the ones who had died in those first two attacks.

It was then.

- Nervous?

Su-ho’s voice.

Grid had thought he was focused on recovery, but apparently not.

Grid grinned.

- Of course I’m nervous. What kind of idiot wouldn’t be nervous in a war?

- Really? I figured you’d be pretty relaxed, since you’ve already been through this once. More than that, you didn’t just go through it. You already experienced victory once.

- That was with my previous partner. You’re not him.

- Right. I’m not your previous Demon King. But doesn’t that mean you have even less reason to be nervous?

- What?

- I’m far superior to your previous partner, so what’s there to be nervous about? So quit trembling and sit back and enjoy the show. I can hear you shaking all the way over here.

- Seriously...

Grid let out a short laugh at Su-ho’s attempt at comfort.

At that moment—

Bwoooooooo—!

The sound of a horn rang out from somewhere.

It came from the Western Continent beyond.

And at the same time, the earth, which had quieted somewhat, began to shake once more.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

This was a slightly different kind of sound from the marching of the army they had heard before.

Unlike the earlier chaos, which had pounded wildly without order, this time the sound came one step at a time, in a precise rhythm. Anyone could tell it was the march of trained soldiers.

At that solemn sound, Leihian swallowed dryly once again.

Though his level was not even half of Su-ho’s, he was still the strongest Player in the Eastern Demon Realm.

And even he could feel it.

The ones approaching now were of an entirely different breed from those they had seen so far.

At that moment, Grid’s voice rang in Su-ho’s mind.

- I’m looking forward to this.

At those words, Su-ho slowly opened his eyes as well.

Then he stood once more at the edge of the watchtower and examined the identity of the ones marching forward.

Unlike the creatures from the opening waves, each overflowing with their own wild individuality, these ones marched in formation and wore uniform attire.

Su-ho recognized what they were by instinct.

“The Demon King’s army?”

- Correct.

Grid confirmed it at once.

That was right.

Those were the Demon King’s army.

It was surprising.

Who would have thought there was a Demon King in the Western Demon Realm too?

Before long, Grid appeared beside Su-ho. Of course, he remained invisible to Leihian.

Taking that into account, Su-ho communicated through thought rather than speaking aloud.

- What is this? Weren’t the people of the Western Demon Realm supposed to be mindless barbarians? Then why do I see soldiers that look trained?

- It’s not that there are no Players there. It’s that there are no Players in the Eastern Demon Realm besides ours. The Demon King’s army still exists. In a place ruled by the survival of the strong and the law of the jungle, wouldn’t the Demon King naturally have crushed them by force and unified them? And those aren’t even the elite of the Demon King’s army.

- What do you mean by that?

- Even within the Demon King’s army, there are ranks. How could they all be the same? Those are probably just low-grade troops with decent formation discipline. Not directly under the Demon King either. They’re commanded by Great Demons.

I see.

Why had that not occurred to him?

If the Eastern Demon Realm had a Demon King, then of course the Western Demon Realm would have one too.

‘And if there’s a Demon King, there’d naturally be Great Demons too.’

But then Su-ho soon nodded.

- Right, fine. Sure, that makes sense. But having a Demon King and Great Demons doesn’t change the result. The conditions are still the same, aren’t they? Just like you, their Demon King isn’t taking part.

- No. Their Demon King is taking part.

- What? Why?

- Why? Because the Demon King over there isn’t a Constellation.

- What are you talking about now? Explain it in a way I can understand.

- I told you before. The only Players in the Demon Realm are in the Eastern Demon Realm. And I’m the only Constellation in this world. So the reason I can’t participate is because of the system, right?

- Then what, I have to kill not just the people of the Western Demon Realm, but the Great Demons too, and the Demon King as well if I want to end this war?

- Exactly. That’s why I said the previous Demon King was impressive. So? Are you getting worried now?

- No. Not at all.

A slight change in conditions was not enough to make him flinch.

It just meant the process had gotten more annoying. The result would still end up the same.

- Just watch. I didn’t prepare just one or two things either.

- I’m looking forward to it.

Grid vanished again.

At that moment, with impeccable timing, Leihian spoke in an anxious tone.

“Um... Incarnation?”

“Incarnation?”

“You said you were the Demon King’s Incarnation. So... Incarnation...”

Su-ho let out a short laugh at the sudden change in Leihian’s manner of speaking.

“Sure. If that’s what you want to call me, then call me that. So what is it?”

“No matter how I look at them, those seem to be the Demon King’s army. Will you really be all right?”

“What is there not to be all right about? Does nobody trust me? Why is everyone so worried?”

“Did someone besides me say something similar?”

“Yeah. A coward who worries too much. So I’ll show you. Just how much I prepared.”

Su-ho began invoking his skills again.

[ Blessing is activated. ]

[ Rage Mode is activated. ]

[ Foxfire is activated. ]

A sufficient round of stat doping. And then—

[ Liquor of Storm and Rain is activated. ]

Rumble!

After the skill activated, the sky gave a single growl, and then dark clouds gathered thickly as rain began to fall.

Now the preparations were complete.

Finished with his setup, Su-ho raised a finger and pointed toward the advancing Demon King’s army.

“Watch carefully.”

At that moment—

Rumble!

The sky began to roar.

Was it about to rain even harder?

That was what Leihian thought for an instant.

Then—

KWA-AAAAANG!!

A bolt of lightning of a scale he had never seen in his life exploded over the Demon King’s army as if passing judgment on evil itself.

[ Zeus uses Lightning Bolt. ]

[ Cronos uses Lightning Bolt. ]

The ones who called down that massive lightning strike were Zeus and Cronos.

The two gods of the heavens, using Su-ho’s mana, unleashed thunder and lightning without restraint onto the battlefield, where moisture had been scattered everywhere.

And the effect was tremendous.

[ Experience is granted according to the set experience distribution ratio. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

[ Experience is granted according to the set experience distribution ratio. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

[ Experience is granted according to the set experience distribution ratio. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

......

Levels rose in clusters.

The corners of Su-ho’s mouth lifted.

After seeing the level-up notifications, Su-ho shifted his gaze to Leihian.

“Well?”

“This is insane...”

Leihian was dumbfounded.

He had already thought Great Flood and Tsunami were unbelievably powerful, but the lightning strike just now was impossible to believe even after seeing it with his own eyes.

He had never seen anything like this in his life.

“I told you. Don’t worry. You think I prepared for this war alone for no reason?”

At Su-ho’s words, Leihian found himself nodding without meaning to.

He had no rebuttal.

Of course, that one lightning strike had not wiped out all of the low-grade Demon King’s army.

But now it began for real.

KWA-AAAAANG!!

KWA-AAAAANG!!

KWA-AAAAANG!!

KWA-AAAAANG!!

His mana kept draining fast.

It was fine.

Not only was he constantly replenishing mana with Un-Gi-Jo-Sik, Zeus and Cronos had each stockpiled their own power as well.

[ Experience is granted according to the set experience distribution ratio. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

[ Experience is granted according to the set experience distribution ratio. ]

[ Your level has increased. ]

[ All stats have increased by 1. ]

[ You have obtained 1 bonus stat. ]

......

His level kept shooting upward.

And it was after that process had repeated several times.

System notifications appeared before Leihian’s eyes.

[ The Great Demon of Greed appears. ]

[ The Great Demon of Lust appears. ]

[ The Great Demon of Gluttony appears. ]

[ The Great Demon of Sloth appears. ]

[ The Great Demon of Rage appears. ]

[ The Great Demon of Envy appears. ]