Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 183

Su-ho had thought long and hard.

How could he make Pi Seong-yeol truly regret the sins he had committed?

But no matter how much he thought about it, the final answer always led to physical pain, and the method he had chosen was searing pain.

‘The worst pain a human can feel is supposed to be searing pain,’ he remembered.

Of course, this wasn’t factual information.

It was just something he had overheard once.

That’s why he had cut off Pi Seong-yeol’s hands and feet.

He had heard that neural pain was just as painful as searing pain.

"AAAHHH!!"

Pi Seong-yeol burned fiercely.

Su-ho watched for a while before using his skills.

"Heal, Recovery."

He activated the Heal and Recovery skills.

These two skills were meant to heal health and treat wounds or ailments, and with these, Su-ho could heal most injuries.

Su-ho wasn’t an ordinary healer; he was a Crusader, a second-class job.

Of course, even as a Crusader, it was difficult to regenerate severed limbs.

That’s why he had thrown the severed limbs far away.

Regeneration was tough, but reattaching limbs was entirely possible.

Not just reattachment—skin was also included. Even melted or burned skin could be healed as long as some shape remained.

In other words, if used at the right moment, he could use skills to make the flames burn forever, using Pi Seong-yeol as fuel.

That was why he prepared the searing pain.

By using a few skills, Su-ho could continuously inflict horrific pain without having to move around.

"Ughhh!"

Su-ho gazed at Pi Seong-yeol with emotionless eyes.

The man, with his whole body on fire, could barely move due to his severed hands and feet, struggling in the confined space.

It seemed he was in a lot of pain.

Seeing him like this reminded Su-ho of the saying: "Pain becomes numb the more you experience it."

Su-ho didn’t quite agree with that saying.

Usually, when someone becomes numb to pain, it’s either because their mind has been shattered or the pain itself wasn’t enough to truly break them.

Su-ho had experienced plenty of pain in his life.

Sure, it might not compare to Alex Morgan, the greatest tank and defender in the U.S. Hunter Corps, but...

‘Well, no matter how strong he is, even he hasn’t experienced Suzuki’s poison.’

Su-ho considered himself the one who had gone through the most pain.

After all, he and Alex Morgan were the only ones who fought right in front of the enemy during the final stand of humanity’s last battalion.

In that sense, Su-ho considered Suzuki’s poison to be the worst pain he had ever endured.

The second worst was searing pain.

Especially when covered in lava and feeling his entire skin burning—it almost felt like he was going to lose his mind.

‘If it weren’t for Isabella’s support, I probably would have gone insane.’

But even then, it wasn’t worse than Suzuki’s poison.

Such a shame.

Had there been Suzuki’s poison, he would have certainly chosen that over searing pain.

But it was okay.

Searing pain wasn’t quite as bad as Suzuki’s poison, but it was still a comparable level of agony.

That’s why he had also prepared neural pain.

You can’t prepare just one, right?

Su-ho activated the skill again.

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[Heal activated.]

[Recovery activated.]

A warm light enveloped Pi Seong-yeol.

His mana drained steadily.

But it was fine.

The mana required for Heal and Recovery was determined by the severity of the wounds and the stats of the person being healed. Even though Pi Seong-yeol had suffered significant injuries, the mana required for a level 1 player wasn’t much for Su-ho at his level.

"AAAHHH!!"

Pi Seong-yeol burned like firewood.

When his screams began to die down, Su-ho used Heal and Recovery again.

He wasn’t dead, though.

His vocal cords had burned, so he couldn’t scream anymore.

Of course, burning vocal cords didn’t mean death.

So Su-ho waited until his screams stopped, then used the skills again during the recovery period.

How did Su-ho know this?

He had experienced all sorts of things during the later stages of the Great Cataclysm.

Being covered in oil and set on fire was nothing compared to the horrors he had faced.

So, inside this space where no one could enter, Su-ho continued the world’s most agonizing campfire.

***

After some time, Su-ho checked the time and took a water jug out of his inventory, pouring it over Pi Seong-yeol.

He had burned him for hours, and the oil he had initially poured had already evaporated.

But just in case, he had prepared mayonnaise.

He had heard that when oil catches fire, it’s best to pour mayonnaise, not water.

But Pi Seong-yeol had already been extinguished by the water jug and squirmed in pain amid the heavy scorch marks.

"Ugh... ugh..."

The burns were quite severe.

If someone had looked closely, Pi Seong-yeol was so thoroughly blackened that he looked indistinguishable from the other burn marks.

So Su-ho used Heal and Recovery again.

As a result, his burnt skin began to reveal fresh, pale skin, and Pi Seong-yeol’s naked body emerged like a blooming flower from the ashes.

It was both grotesque and mesmerizing.

‘A person blooming from the ashes of burn marks.’

It was truly grotesque.

Su-ho approached Pi Seong-yeol, who was squirming on the ground, and kicked him over, forcing him to lie flat.

He then looked at his severed hands and feet.

"Hmm."

Did I give him too much force?

Even the severed edges had healed.

What should I do now?

What to do, really?

I’ll just cut it again.

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Su-ho summoned his Blood Weapon and carefully shaved off the edges of the healed wrists and ankles.

Scrape!

But Pi Seong-yeol remained still.

What’s this?

Was the saying about becoming numb to pain true?

No.

Upon closer inspection, he realized Pi Seong-yeol had just passed out.

Thank goodness.

He had almost killed him without realizing it from not controlling his power.

But why ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) had he fainted?

He had been awake just a moment ago.

Su-ho didn’t know.

During the horrific searing pain, the Pi Seong-yeol he had seen through the flames no longer resembled the junior he once knew... no, he no longer looked like a human.

He was a demon.

For the hours he burned in the flames, Su-ho had been a demon in Pi Seong-yeol’s eyes.

Just coming near him would make him have convulsions.

And that’s why he fainted.

The sight of Su-ho coming closer, extending his foot toward him, had been so terrifying that he couldn’t keep his mind together.

‘As long as he’s not dead, I don’t care.’

Su-ho retrieved his severed limbs and used Heal and Recovery.

As expected, Pi Seong-yeol’s severed limbs reattached as if by magic.

Su-ho, having finished the surgery, used the tip of the summoned Blood Sword to pierce the nerve bundle beneath the shoulder.

“AAAH!”

As expected, neural pain.

The effect was good.

Pi Seong-yeol, stabbed through his skin, jerked his body like a live fish. Simultaneously, his hands and feet shriveled, showing that the surgery had gone well.

“Good, they’ve reattached well.”

With the surgery successfully done, it was time to start discussing matters.

But before that, Su-ho wanted to see Pi Seong-yeol’s reaction.

“Senior?”

At the word senior, Pi Seong-yeol’s body flinched.

Then, trembling, he sat up.

Well, not exactly sat up—he dropped to his knees.

His shaking hands clasped together, rubbing them desperately like a praying man.

“P-Please... s-save me... please, please... save me, please...!”

His whole body was shaking, not just his chin.

Tears were flowing.

It was strange.

Even after being burned for so long, his tear ducts didn’t dry up.

Su-ho watched him silently.

The man who was endlessly begging for forgiveness.

But watching him beg for forgiveness, disappointment started to build inside Su-ho.

“...In the end, you’re just like any other human.”

“E-eh?”

“You’re just another human who will ultimately submit to power...”

At that moment, Su-ho felt a deep surge of disgust, born from an overwhelming sense of hatred.

It made him feel sick.

And rightfully so.

Su-ho had never seen Pi Seong-yeol truly regret anything in his life.

Even when everything was exposed and he lost everything, Pi Seong-yeol had remained confident to the very end.

He never knew how to lower his head and was as confident as any historical war criminal.

Su-ho had always wondered.

Did he truly not feel any shame for his actions?

A man educated at the highest levels?

Or did he think of himself as something different from others, believing he could act without consequence?

At the time, Su-ho hadn’t been able to do much.

He had succeeded in reforming the association, breaking the redevelopment cartel, and became one of the best in the country, yet there was so little he could do.

He wasn’t a returnee then, nor did he know the truth hidden from the world, or have a deep understanding of the people’s circumstances.

So in the end, he had to punish Pi Seong-yeol within the bounds of the law.

Despite the lingering regret and discomfort, Su-ho had pushed those personal emotions aside to handle the real-world problems.

But now, it was different.

With the help of the system, Su-ho had returned to the past. Now, he had enough time, power, and knowledge of hidden truths to dismantle Pi Seong-yeol completely and impose personal retribution in ways he could never have dreamed of in his previous life.

And now, the result of all that effort was this.

Pi Seong-yeol was still nothing more than a human.

That realization left Su-ho deeply disappointed, filled with a hatred so strong it almost felt like murder.

Su-ho stared at him with dry eyes.

“Yeah... in the end, all humans are like that. Even foreign powers and strong awakeneds eventually submit to primal force and reveal their weakness. Yet despite seeing that countless times, I thought you might be different. Why did I think that? Was it because I hadn’t seen that side of you before?”

“W-what do you mean by that...?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. Thanks to you, the thing I’ve been most curious about has been completely solved. Now that I’ve confirmed the one thing I really wanted to know, I won’t hesitate no matter what I do next.”

Pi Seong-yeol couldn’t understand what Su-ho was talking about.

He only hoped that the man in front of him would spare his life.

It was almost laughable.

When he was burning in the flames, he would have begged to be put out of his misery, but now, after all the healing, his desire to live had returned.

Of course, Su-ho had no intention of killing Pi Seong-yeol.

How many people had died because of him? How could a cheap, worthless life like his atone for it?

“You won’t be alive even if you survive, and even if you want to die, you won’t be able to. I’ll make sure of that.”

“E-eh?”

“Live your whole life in atonement. You’ll only see half the world from now on, and you’ll only hear from one side. You won’t be able to speak properly, run, sit, lie down comfortably, or even breathe without feeling pain.”

“W-what does that mean...?!”

“You’ll understand once you experience it for yourself. What I’m saying.”

Su-ho raised his finger and began to poke at various pressure points all over Pi Seong-yeol’s body.

The pressure points he targeted were the most complex and painful designs Su-ho had ever created in his entire history with pressure point techniques.

Eventually, as the pressure points were completed, Pi Seong-yeol couldn’t withstand the pain and fainted.

Su-ho left the space house with the unconscious Pi Seong-yeol and threw him into the living room of his house.

He then summoned a clone and cast Mist Cloak before giving it an order.

If Pi Seong-yeol tried to take his own life, the clone was to stop him at all costs.

Before leaving the house, Su-ho looked at the unconscious Pi Seong-yeol and spoke his final words.

“Live long, senior.”