Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 222

‘Guess I’ll let him handle it.’

On top of that, Bulgasari had Fire Resistance, perfect for a volcanic region.

Having found the breakthrough, Su-ho quickly explained the plan to Bulgasari.

Of course, he kept it simple:

You can dig, so go underground and eat through the hidden iron wall from below.

“You can do it, right?”

“Bulbul!”

Bulgasari responded confidently.

Truly dependable.

Maybe that’s why—

Su-ho suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

‘Come to think of it, I really should evolve him soon...’

It had already been a while since Bulgasari hit level 100, yet Su-ho hadn’t even checked the evolution quest.

He’d just been too busy, and the priority kept getting pushed back.

But it couldn’t be helped.

He hadn’t originally planned to raise Bulgasari in the first place.

‘He was supposed to be a one-time-use tool.’

And yet, he kept proving useful again and again.

So now Su-ho felt determined: when the opportunity came, he would evolve him.

Once everything was ready, Su-ho exited the Subspace House.

And the moment he stepped out, he launched an attack at Volcairam.

[ Cloud Slash activates. ]

[ Cloud Slash activates. ]

[ Cloud Slash activates. ]

Not just once.

Su-ho kept pouring in damage before Volcairam could retaliate.

And Volcairam reacted immediately.

“Pwuoooooo!!”

[ Volcairam summons the Iron Wall. ]

RUMMMMMBLE!

At the use of the skill, steel walls shot up instantly in front of Volcairam.

Su-ho backed away immediately and summoned Bulgasari.

“Bulgasari!”

“Bulbul!”

The summoned Bulgasari quickly dove underground.

Now all Su-ho had to do was stall for time—circle around and keep dodging until Bulgasari broke the wall.

Soon enough, the Volcanites were summoned again, and Volcanic Bats began to swarm once more.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Meteors fell too.

Su-ho kept to the edges, dodging the meteor barrage.

The Iron Wall still stood strong.

He waited, weaving between falling rocks, for Bulgasari to tear it down.

Then—

RUMMMMBLE!

One side of the Iron Wall suddenly collapsed—an opening was finally made.

“Nice work, Bulgasari!”

“Bulbul!”

As expected, the Iron Wall wasn’t magically conjured from nothing.

It had simply risen up from buried steel beneath the ground.

Which made sense.

Creating something from nothing takes a massive amount of mana.

‘But if you utilize the environment, you save mana and can cast far more frequently.’

The meteors probably worked the same way.

So unless the wall itself was destroyed, the battle would inevitably become a war of attrition—and prolonged fights always put the challenger at a disadvantage.

Su-ho stepped onto the fallen wall and rushed toward Volcairam.

The monster’s eyes widened in shock.

“Pwuo?!”

“No more pwuo for you!”

Having successfully closed the gap, Su-ho swung his sword.

[ Iron Slash activates. ]

SLASH!

The Blood Sword ignited.

But he didn’t care.

That wasn’t the priority right now.

And then—

BOOM! CRASH! BOOM! RUMBLE!

The meteors Volcairam had fired came crashing in through the breach.

“PWUOOOOOO!!”

Volcairam let out a final scream.

And that was its last.

[ You have defeated Volcairam. ]

Volcairam was dead.

With the death notice, its body turned ashen and scattered into volcanic dust.

Right after confirming its death, Su-ho twisted his body sharply.

“Now it’s your turn.”

He immediately turned on the remaining Volcanites and began cutting them down.

And when he’d defeated the last of the Volcanites and Volcanic Bats, Su-ho finally sat down to catch his breath.

“Phewww...”

The air here was even hotter than usual, and with the special mask on to protect his airways, he was more out of breath than normal.

Still, successfully taking down the mid-boss made it all worth it.

That’s when it happened—

Clank! Clank! Clank!

He heard a metallic crunching noise from somewhere nearby.

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw Bulgasari chomping down on the remaining Iron Walls.

‘That stuff must be delicious to him.’

Well, he was a creature that fed on metal. It made sense he’d enjoy it.

Su-ho watched Bulgasari curiously.

And then, he noticed something interesting.

Hssss!

Even as Bulgasari stepped onto hardened lava, it was completely fine.

There was some smoke, sure, but the creature didn’t react to it at all—it just kept munching away on the steel.

Its Fire Resistance was no joke.

And then Su-ho had a thought.

‘Wait... if its fire resistance is that high...’

Why walk around on his own at all?

He could just ride Bulgasari.

And there was no reason he couldn’t.

He’d even ridden him while hunting parasites before.

This was perfect. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

The lava zone had slowed his movement speed considerably anyway.

So Su-ho decided to let Bulgasari finish eating at his own pace.

If he was going to keep working the creature, he might as well let it enjoy its reward.

When Bulgasari had almost completely devoured the remaining Iron Walls—

[ Bulgasari's evolution conditions have been met. ]

“Huh?”

Resting quietly, Su-ho was startled by the sudden system alert and opened his eyes wide.

What was that supposed to mean?

Evolution conditions met?

He quickly opened Bulgasari’s status window.

Sure enough, the <Evolution▲> icon was now glowing gold.

“What the...”

The evolution button was active now—but he hadn’t even checked the quest due to laziness.

Startled, Su-ho opened the evolution quest info.

And couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

[ Evolving Bulgasari ]

– Difficulty: S

Having reached its growth limit, Bulgasari needs a new body to evolve into a higher being.

To evolve Bulgasari, feed it a large quantity of metal infused with high-purity mana.

Simple description.

But the evolution requirement itself was anything but.

Because while it said “a large quantity,” the system didn’t give any specific number.

“You’ve gotta be kidding...”

But on second thought—it all made sense.

The Iron Walls Volcairam summoned were infused with its powerful mana.

And Volcairam’s level had been nearly double Bulgasari’s.

Its massive size alone demanded equally massive walls.

Which made those walls the perfect fuel for Bulgasari’s evolution.

‘If it hadn’t been Volcairam’s walls...’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He would’ve had to feed Bulgasari ridiculous amounts of high-purity metal—like refined magic ore.

‘Ugh. Just imagining it hurts my wallet.’

That would’ve cost a fortune.

Su-ho tapped the golden <Evolution▲> icon.

[ Would you like to evolve Bulgasari? ]

The system’s prompt.

Huh—so evolution wasn’t automatic. You actually had to confirm it?

Interesting.

He’d thought it would just trigger by default.

‘Come to think of it... this is my first time raising a summon.’

It was true.

Even in his previous life, with all his experience, Su-ho had never raised a summon.

‘Why would a swordsman need one, anyway?’

That was something for mages or archers.

So, Su-ho responded to the system prompt—

[ Bulgasari is evolving. ]

The evolution of Bulgasari began immediately.

Fwooshhh!

As Su-ho accepted, Bulgasari’s body started to glow white, and its silhouette began to expand.

Gradually, the light faded, revealing the evolved form, and finally, Bulgasari’s true appearance emerged...

“Oh.”

It had taken on a much darker shade.

Two horns now sprouted from its forehead, and armor-like patterns ran from its forehead down to its tail.

But surprisingly, its appearance was even cuter than Su-ho had expected.

[ Bulgasari has evolved. ]

[ Bulgasari's information has changed. ]

[ Congratulations! You’ve succeeded in evolving a high-tier summon for the first time. ]

[ You’ve achieved a great feat and are awarded 5 bonus stat points. ]

The bonus stat points came as a congratulatory gift for the evolution.

Su-ho invested all of them into Strength.

Then, he checked Bulgasari’s updated information.

[ Bulgasari ]

– Lv. 100

– Traits

└ <Master-Slave> <1st Evolution> <Phantom Beast> <Dominion Type>

– Skills

└ <Mega Fear> <Earthquake> <Earthquake Flip> <Vibration Detection> <Iron Color> <Steel Devour> <Steel Spit> <Storage> <Ultra Recovery> <Ultra Enhancement> <Ultra Spin> <Fire Affinity> <Earth Affinity> <Mana Affinity>

“Wow.”

Su-ho murmured in awe as he checked Bulgasari’s evolved skills.

The skills had been upgraded, and there were many new ones.

But there was one thing that had disappeared.

‘The Dominion Orb trait is gone.’

Previously, Bulgasari had the Dominion Orb trait, as it was captured using that orb.

But now, as a summoned creature and after going through an evolution, the trait had been replaced with the new Master-Slave trait.

This was an unexpected and valuable result.

Dominion Orb usually had a permanent binding effect on its target. However, nothing created by the system was ever set in stone.

‘There are always cases where the system suddenly removes traits later on.’

What if Dominion Orb had disappeared from Bulgasari?

Then Su-ho would’ve lost his summon.

So, the fact that the Dominion Orb trait had been replaced with Master-Slave was quite a blessing.

Su-ho called Bulgasari to him.

“Bulgasari.”

“Bulbul!”

The creature, tail wagging, trotted up to him.

Had the change in traits made it feel more familiar?

Somehow, it seemed even closer than before.

Su-ho petted its head.

“Let’s keep it up from here.”

“Bulbul!”

“Alright, now that you're full, let’s go. You remember what we did last time?”

“Bul!”

No need for a deep explanation. Bulgasari understood through their shared bond.

As Bulgasari grew in size, Su-ho climbed onto its back.

“Brrr!”

Suddenly, Bulgasari shook its body, beginning to change form.

For example, the spot where Su-ho sat transformed into a saddle-like groove, enhancing the ride. On the sides, there were places to secure his feet, keeping him steady.

“Nice touch.”

“Bulbul!”

“Let’s go!”

“Bul!!”

With Bulgasari now evolved, it charged toward the summit, running at full speed.

***

The evolved Bulgasari exceeded expectations.

“Bulgasari, you’re doing great!”

“Bulbul!”

“Bulgasari! Earthquake!”

“Bulbul!”

[ Bulgasari uses Earthquake. ]

Boom!!

As Bulgasari moved, an earthquake erupted beneath, creating a massive shockwave.

The Volcanites chasing them were knocked backward.

“That's it!”

The exhilaration was unmatched.

Su-ho had been cautious about his fireproof gear until now, so this sense of relief felt all the more satisfying.

After a long sprint, they reached the summit, leaving both the Volcanites and Volcanic Bats behind.

Finally, they arrived at Baekrokdam, located at the top of Hallasan.

[ You’ve entered the boss room. ]

As expected, Baekrokdam was indeed the boss room.

From the moment Su-ho and Bulgasari entered the boss room, the monsters chasing them could no longer enter. The area had been segmented.

“Now, let’s stop playing with the small fries and get to the real game.”

Su-ho said as he gazed at Baekrokdam.

Inside the Gate, Baekrokdam looked like a hellscape.

Instead of green foliage and puddles, it was filled with ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) lava and ash.

That’s when it happened.

RUMMMBLE!

Of course, nothing ever goes smoothly.

Just as Su-ho’s words ended, the system prepared for the boss monster’s appearance.

The earth began to quake.

Su-ho, still mounted on Bulgasari, waited for the boss monster to appear.

The shaking earth cracked open the center of Baekrokdam, and molten lava shot up from the fissure, with a hand suddenly emerging from the eruption.

Thud!

The hand that appeared was as dark as charcoal.

It let out smoke, and soon the opposite hand emerged, pressing against the ground as the rest of the body followed, rising from the molten abyss.

[ Boss monster has appeared. ]

System alert.

At last, the true master of Hallasan revealed itself.