Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 215

[Entering the Gate.]

[Loading Gate information.]

[Nest of the Wind]

– Entry Requirements: Level 160–190, at least one Orange-grade stat.

– Max Participants: 6

The Nest of the Wind.

That was the name of the Marado Gate.

‘No wonder it was Jeju’s only sealed Gate.’

Even the requirements were on another level.

Minimum level 160, and it demanded at least one Orange stat.

With conditions like that, this could easily be seen as a warm-up for 2-Star Gates.

[Entering the Nest of the Wind.]

Another system notification appeared, and the scenery around him changed.

Fwooooosh!

The new scenery—was the sky.

More precisely, Su-ho was falling from the sky.

‘Here we go.’

This was one of the reasons why the Marado Gate was so notoriously difficult.

It wasn’t just thematically similar to a 2-Star Gate—it functioned like one, too.

Including its unapologetically hostile entry mechanics.

‘There are some gates that drop you straight into lava or even into a monster’s mouth.’

By that comparison, starting in a free fall was actually kind of generous.

Su-ho turned his gaze to observe his surroundings.

Below him—an island.

Marado.

But he wasn’t falling onto the island—he ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) was falling into the sea near it.

Which, again, made this somewhat manageable.

Had he been dropping directly over the island without any prep, he might’ve died on impact.

Without hesitation, Su-ho activated a skill.

[Blood Weapon is activated.]

He summoned the Blood Spear—gripping it in reverse, just like when he escaped the sinking boat.

This was what he called the Ruyi Staff strategy.

The Blood Spear extended downward, piercing through the air and water until it reached the sea floor.

Then Su-ho kept stretching it, calculating the exact distance needed to bridge the gap to the island.

Once the calculation was done, he angled his weight and launched himself toward the island.

Now!

Just before the spear fell, Su-ho stepped on its tip and leapt, landing lightly on Marado.

Inside the Nest of the Wind, Marado was bathed in broad daylight—unlike its dark exterior.

Just then, a cool sea breeze brushed past Su-ho.

A gentle sea breeze.

At least, that’s what he thought... until it sliced part of his hair off.

Shrrk!

“...Haa.”

Su-ho immediately gripped his sword.

Then he activated Magic Detection.

[Magic Detection is activated.]

As the skill spread out from his line of sight, invisible forms began revealing themselves.

Low-Grade Wind Spirits, cloaked in transparency, were suddenly exposed.

They took on many shapes—birds, insects, horses, fish.

Spirits were born of nature, and their forms often reflected the local environment.

Wind Spirits in particular were free-spirited and diverse.

They were all smiling.

Their only color being the sky itself, they moved like sculptures of delicate ice, each pointing a different form of attack at Su-ho.

“Wind bullets again, huh.”

Wind-based attacks.

Su-ho called them wind bullets.

With sword in hand, he cast buffs on himself.

[Blessing is activated.]

[Holy Enchant is applied.]

The moment his buffs finished, the Spirits unleashed their attack.

Shuaaaa!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Su-ho ran.

Not faster than the wind, but just about as fast.

Dodging through their attack arcs, his movement left behind a trail of circular wind-holes—like shark fins skimming the surface—chasing after him with terrifying speed.

[Cloud Cutter is activated.]

Shhhrrrk!!

[You have slain a Low-Grade Wind Spirit.]

[You have slain a Low-Grade Wind Spirit.]

[You have slain a Low-Grade Wind Spirit.]

[You have slain a Low-Grade Wind Spirit.]

He wasn’t just running away.

This was Su-ho’s first encounter with Spirits in this life.

But in his past life, he had killed a Spirit King.

So how much of a threat could these Low-Grades really be?

Whenever a gap opened, he cleaved through with Cloud Cutter—each swing perfectly executed.

One strike, and countless Spirits were shredded apart, their spirit cores dropping uselessly to the ground.

He didn’t bother picking them up.

They were Low-Grades, after all.

Besides, if he went a little deeper, he’d definitely run into something far more interesting.

With his feet and hands constantly in motion, Su-ho made his way deeper into the island.

Shuaa! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Seriously. There’s no end to you.”

The boss room was located at the heart of Marado.

Damn wind freaks.

No surprise—being born from the wind itself, their numbers were absurd.

That was why this Gate had been sealed.

After starting with that awful entry mechanic, the player had to survive a flood of Wind Spirits, like cockroaches pouring out of a crack.

‘And you’re only allowed six players at most.’

Limited entries and an unforgiving opening.

But he needed to get used to this.

Mass-entry raids were only a thing in beginner-level or 1-Star Gates.

From 2-Star onward, most allowed fewer than ten.

Just then, a huge blast of wind charged toward him.

[Iron Cutter is activated.]

Shrrrk!!

He tried to dodge—but it was faster than he expected.

The wind blast wasn’t completely blocked—it exploded into mist as soon as it was cut.

He squinted through the rising dust, and as it cleared, he saw—

Something different.

A Wind Spirit, larger than the rest, grinning silently.

“Ku ku ku ku...”

No words, just laughter.

It was bigger and more distinctly shaped than the others.

It looked like one of those old American cartoon cops—bulky upper body, practically no legs, its form glowing a flickering green like burning fire.

“So you’re the mini-boss.”

The mini-boss.

Also known as a named monster, a kind of gatekeeper that appears in higher-level Gates.

But gatekeeper or not, you didn’t have to fight them.

Unless there was a special condition, just reaching the boss room was enough.

‘Still, most of the time, you’ll run into one anyway.’

Su-ho glanced up at the name above its head.

—Sylph Lv.182

Its name was Sylph.

Unlike generic monsters, it had a proper name—that’s what made it a named monster.

Any creature with its own name carried a certain presence.

Sylph cackled and raised a hand.

Mini-hurricanes began to form around it, then launched toward Su-ho in rapid succession.

[Sylph uses Wind Rings.]

Ah. So that previous attack was called Wind Rings.

At least the names were distinct from wind bullets.

Over ten Wind Rings came flying toward Su-ho, who immediately darted to the side.

‘If I slice them, the aftershock clouds my vision.’

Cutting them didn’t completely nullify them.

They didn’t deal much damage, but they still hit.

So dodging was ideal.

As he circled, Sylph laughed again and swung its hand.

More Wind Rings formed, chasing after Su-ho like delayed homing missiles.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Jeez.

Anyone hearing this would think actual bombs were going off.

Well... they kind of were.

Unlike the piercing holes left by wind bullets, Wind Rings left behind craters—like a real explosion had gone off.

But Su-ho didn’t intend to dodge forever.

Now.

A brief gap appeared in Sylph’s attacks.

Su-ho didn’t hesitate. He hurled the Guiyeong Spear straight at the Spirit.

Shrrrk!!

The trajectory was perfect.

Of course it was—Guiyeong Spear flew with precision, right toward Sylph.

But just as it reached the Spirit—

Fwoooooosh!

Sylph burst apart like a popped balloon, scattering into the air.

Fweeeeeee...

And then, reforming with a gust of wind, it reappeared exactly where it had been.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Su-ho narrowed his eyes.

It wasn’t that the spear missed because the Wind Spirit had no physical body.

Even if he had hurled the Blood Spear wrapped in Holy Enchant, it would have dealt damage.

That bastard simply dodged it.

By disassembling its body for a moment and reassembling it afterward.

Annoying, but it couldn’t be helped.

After all, its body was made of wind, and Sylph was a Named Monster powerful enough to pull off that kind of trick.

‘So it really does have that evasive skill, huh.’

Su-ho knew all about Sylph.

Back then, the Tamra Guild had suffered quite a bit trying to raid this place.

He also knew the proper strategies for dealing with it, but he wanted to confirm it firsthand—which is why he threw the Guiyeong Spear in the first place.

“Kikikiki!”

Sylph cackled with smug laughter.

What a pain.

Just wait. I will crack that head of yours wide open.

As Su-ho’s brow furrowed, Sylph began channeling again.

[Sylph uses Wind Rings.]

Even more mini-hurricanes than before formed around it.

At the same time, the Low-Grade Wind Spirits also began charging their own wind bullets, all aimed at Su-ho.

“Tch.”

Once again, Su-ho broke into a sprint.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Wind Rings and wind bullets detonated across the terrain with every step he took.

At this rate, the island was going to collapse.

Su-ho quickly scanned the surrounding landscape.

Meanwhile, he took quick swipes with his sword, slashing through Low-Grade Wind Spirits whenever he could.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

To land a strike on Sylph, he’d need to pierce its core at a moment when it least expected it—timing it perfectly.

Just then, a large rock pillar came into view.

That’s it!

Su-ho sprinted toward it.

The angle was perfect—he was out of Sylph’s line of sight.

He ducked behind the rock pillar and hid his presence.

Immediately, Wind Rings and wind bullets came crashing toward the pillar.

KA-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The rock pillar was sturdy.

But it wouldn’t hold forever.

Right before it began to collapse, Su-ho darted out like a streak of light and hurled the Guiyeong Spear toward Sylph.

“Kehkehkeh!”

FWOOOOOOSH!

Just as expected, Sylph let out a mocking laugh and once again broke its body apart.

The spear shot harmlessly through the dispersed form, and the creature quickly reassembled itself.

Then it launched a furious barrage of wind bullets straight at the airborne Su-ho.

“Gah!”

The wind bullets struck Su-ho’s body, punching clean holes through him.

The pain hit hard enough that even Su-ho groaned through clenched teeth.

But just then—

Sssshh! CRACK!!

A crimson streak—

A straight line of blood-red light shot through the air and pierced Sylph’s core exactly as it was reforming.

“Krhh?!”

The streak was none other than the Blood Spear.

From behind the collapsed rock pillar, another Su-ho grinned and clenched his fist.

“Nice shot!”

There were two Su-hos.

The one getting torn apart by wind bullets...

And the one who nailed Sylph with a precise attack.

In that moment—

[Mirror Clone is dispelled.]

Pop!

The Su-ho that had taken the full brunt of the wind bullets popped like a soap bubble, dispersing into pure mana.