Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 537

- Krahahaha! Well? What do you think? This is Umbra’s proud masterpiece—the ultimate legion, the Black Army.

The Black Army.

Also called the Shadow Knights, it was one of the essences of shadow magic created by Umbra, who was known as both a Shadowmancer and the Shadow Lord.

It had summoned so many shadow knights that they completely filled the interior of the Subspace House.

It was incredible.

Because this was the first time in my life I had seen this many summons.

At that moment, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

“Hey.”

- Yeah?

“So... Umbra had an army this big and still couldn’t win the Independence Game?”

- That’s right.

“......”

Su-ho closed his eyes.

He had boldly declared that he would take responsibility for both Umbra and the spirit realm, but hearing that even an army of this scale had failed to win the Independence Game suddenly made the game’s difficulty look insane.

Jack chuckled.

- Heh-heh-heh. Why? Are you finally getting scared? The Independence Game is that kind of place. A battlefield where all kinds of monsters from every imaginable world gather and fight like mad, staking everything on their own salvation. That’s the place you’re heading to.

“...I see. Then let me ask one more thing.”

- What is it?

“When Umbra tested me, why didn’t he bring out the Black Army?”

- Because I stepped in instead.

“What do you mean by that?”

- Now that you’re my master, I’ll be honest. Shadow magic actually has one fatal weakness.

“A fatal weakness?”

- Yeah. The fatal weakness of shadow magic. To use shadow magic—especially to command shadow summons—you need that much shadow to begin with. In other words, if you summon an army this big, the version of me you saw during your test can’t appear in battle. We call this the Law of Total Shadow Mass.

“Ah.”

I understood immediately.

In other words, shadow magic followed a principle similar to the blood magic I possessed.

'No matter how powerful the Blood Sword is, that only applies when there’s enough blood stored in my Blood Crystal.'

If there’s only a small amount of blood inside the Blood Crystal, then instead of a Blood Sword, at best I’d only be able to draw a Blood Dagger.

And if the Blood Sword dulls or breaks, I wouldn’t even be able to repair it.

“It’s similar to my blood magic. If the Blood Crystal runs low on blood, I can’t use blood magic anymore. Then the best way to compensate for shadow magic’s weakness would be to store as many shadows as possible in advance, right?”

- Exactly. Looks like you’re not just a fake smart guy after all.

“You don’t need to be smart to figure that out—even an idiot could. Still, Umbra is impressive. The fact that he still had this many shadows stored even after the Independence Game... If Umbra had had even more shadows...”

At that moment—

“I see. But now that I think about it—forget the secrecy for a second—why is time frozen? And why are people’s shadows being taken so they don’t age?”

- I’ll tell you the reason later. So if you’re curious, use the rune as soon as you get out.

The last question Su-ho had asked Umbra resurfaced in his mind.

'No way...'

Su-ho’s eyes widened.

At the same time, he looked at Jack with a doubtful expression.

Seeing Su-ho’s face, Jack gave a bitter smile.

- You really are smart. You figured it out already.

“...No, right?”

- Yes.

“You know what I’m about to ask?”

- Why play word games? Let’s just be honest. No—ask me straight.

“......”

After taking a moment to steady his breathing, Su-ho asked again.

“You mean the reason the people of the spirit realm had no shadows... was because Umbra deliberately confiscated them to pass as many shadows as possible to the betting Player?”

- More or less.

“Ha...!”

His guess had been right.

The reason the people of the spirit realm had no shadows—

was because Umbra wanted to pass the maximum possible amount of shadows to the Player he believed to be the final hope.

“So that’s why he didn’t answer....”

- Don’t hate him too much. The reason he couldn’t answer in the end is because he feels a tremendous sense of guilt about it himself. But you should know this too—no one is more sincere than he is when it comes to wanting to save the spirit realm.

“......”

Su-ho didn’t reply.

But it wasn’t because he hated Umbra.

If anything, he understood.

Umbra, as the guardian deity of the spirit realm, had probably been more sincere than anyone about achieving the realm’s independence, just as Jack had said.

'Gathering all the shadows of the spirit realm’s people must have been what he believed was the best option.'

At first glance, shadow magic seemed like the ultimate magic.

But just as Jack had said, if there weren’t enough shadows to use as material, it became completely useless.

'Still... even using the shadows of every person in an entire world wasn’t enough to win.'

Su-ho asked,

“About this Law of Total Shadow Mass. Do all shadows have the same value?”

- Of course not. The shadows of stronger beings naturally carry stronger spirit energy. You know what spirit energy is, right? The power of shadows.

“I do. Then to strengthen shadow magic, you basically need a lot of shadows from powerful beings.”

- That’s right.

“Good. I understand completely now. Thanks to that, I also know what I need to do from now on.”

- You’re not going to hate Umbra?

“Why would I hate him? If anything, I just feel sorry for him now that I know how desperate he was. I can understand better than anyone what kind of resolve it must have taken for him to gather the shadows of the spirit realm’s people.”

Grin—

Jack laughed.

- I think I understand why Umbra chose you.

“Of course. In the end, I’m planning to devour everything anyway.”

- I hope that resolve never breaks.

“If it looks like it might, you’d better keep me in line. I’m still human, after all.”

- You’re whining already?

“I’m just letting you know we’re in the same boat.”

- Heh-heh-heh. Still pretending to be tough to the end. Fine. If I have to pinch your shadow to knock some sense into you, I will.

“Good to hear. But didn’t you say you were one of the giants?”

- So?

“Where are the other giants besides you? It’s not like you were the only giant in the spirit realm.”

- I’m the only one left now.

“What do you mean?”

- Heh-heh. You. Do you know how shadow divine beasts are created?

“I don’t.”

- Summoning a shadow divine beast is a magic that rebirths a target as a divine beast through its shadow. But the thing about shadow divine beast summoning is that it doesn’t always succeed.

“What do you mean...? Then what happens if the summoning fails?”

- The target disappears without leaving a trace. The stronger the being you try to summon, the higher the probability of complete annihilation.

“What the—then don’t tell me the only successful giant divine beast summon was you?”

- That’s right. Along with the Black Shadow Dragon, I was one of the strongest nonhuman races representing the spirit realm. Once, all of us joined forces to fight against the system. But our power wasn’t enough, and most of us died to the Gates created by the system. So we made a proposal to Umbra, the strongest Player in the spirit realm. We told him to sacrifice us and create the ultimate shadow divine beast.

“...!”

Su-ho’s eyes widened again.

He had never imagined there was a story like this behind them.

But Jack continued calmly.

- Many gave their lives. Our races were different, but we all shared the same desire—to save the spirit realm.

Jack looked up at the sky.

- I don’t know what you’ll think about it, but for us this was the best choice. In the end, to conquer the Gates created by the system, you have to rely on the power gained after becoming a Player, not the power you originally had. But when that didn’t work, everyone just died meaningless deaths inside the Gates. So instead, we concentrated all of our strength into Umbra, the strongest Player. To be precise, our lives along with that strength.

“...I see. Still... it’s tragic. So many giants and dragons sacrificed themselves, yet in the end only the two of you succeeded.”

- Shadow divine beast summoning is a far more delicate magic than it sounds. The only reason the Black Shadow Dragon and I succeeded was because our ranks were actually somewhat lower among dragons and giants. The others all...

Jack trailed off.

Su-ho’s expression darkened.

Listening to their past made him think that perhaps someday in the distant future, if the worst situation came, he too might have to repeat the same choice.

'No. Before that kind of situation ever comes, I’ll gather as much power as possible.'

So that such a situation would never occur.

Su-ho’s eyes hardened again.

“The more I hear, the more I understand how desperate everyone must have been. I’ll listen to the rest another time if I get the chance. If I hear any more right now, it feels like my heart will just get heavier.”

- Suit yourself. So, what’s your next move?

“My immediate goal is to finish the Special Quest I was already working on. The more I hear about the spirit realm, the more I feel like I need to raise my Player rank as soon as possible.”

- Good thinking. And you probably already guessed this, but once you clear all the Special Quests, the path you want will open.

Jack had already seen through Umbra the process of a Player becoming a Constellation.

Because of that, even if he couldn’t give a direct answer due to security restrictions, he could at least offer hints.

That alone showed how much Su-ho’s standing had risen.

'So the Special Quest really was the answer.'

Thanks to that, his priorities were now completely clear.

Su-ho immediately checked the third Special Quest.

But...

“...Huh?”

Su-ho frowned as he read the Special Quest.

[ Special Quest ]

Type : Quest

# A Special Quest manifested for Player An Su-ho.

# This is a linked quest. If you fail during its execution, it will automatically terminate.

# Quest rewards accumulate based on the final result. If you fail midway, no rewards will be granted.

# You have completed the first quest.

# You have completed the second quest.

# The third Special Quest will occur during Gigantomachia.

The third Special Quest.

It stated that the quest would occur during Gigantomachia.

'Did this trigger because I kept postponing the Fate of the Hero quest?'

Probably not.

The petty system wouldn’t drag Gigantomachia into things for such a trivial reason.

This might simply be the predetermined course.

'And just like with the second quest, it’s vague again—no clear instructions.'

If he wanted to know more, he would have to go there himself.

There was no choice.

After all, the one who would lose out was Su-ho.

'Fine. I’ll play along.'

Su-ho said to Jack,

“My next destination is decided. But before that, I need to deal with a few small problems.”

- Small problems?

“Small by my standards. But still problems that absolutely can’t be ignored.”

- What are they?

“The problems I’ve left behind in the world I live in. Now that I’ve obtained shadow magic—which is more efficient than any skill I have—I should use it properly, don’t you think?”

- Heh-heh-heh. Fair enough. Then let’s see it. I want to see what kind of world you live in.

“It’s more ordinary than you think.”

Su-ho stepped outside the Subspace House.