Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 614

Sachsen spoke with a smile, but the weight hidden within that smile felt heavier than ever before.

“Restoration, purification, and protective holy arts are easy to learn. Their purpose is entirely centered around healing and protecting the user. But Extermination of Evil is different. Because it combines countless offensive holy arts into one, its nature is extremely violent and dangerous. Even for someone like me, if I lower my guard, I can lose control of that power.”

“You make it sound as though Extermination of Evil is a sentient technique, like protective holy arts.”

“Sentience... yes, that’s correct. But that sort of will does not exist only within protective holy arts. Restoration and purification possess similar qualities as well. In the end, they all respond to the user’s intent. And in that sense, Extermination of Evil does not simply react because the target is demonic or evil.”

“Then what does it react to?”

“The moment the user recognizes the target as evil, Extermination of Evil begins rampaging like a furious beast that no longer cares about consequences so long as it destroys the enemy.”

“Ah?”

Suddenly, Ruinberg came to mind.

Paladins were beings who identified evil and executed judgment upon it.

At the same time, he remembered Roland as well.

At some point, the Paladins had lost sight of their original purpose, allowing the means to become greater than the end itself.

Perhaps Extermination of Evil was a monster born not only because of Sachsen’s request, but also because that atmosphere had spread throughout the Paladins.

Sachsen continued speaking.

“It is somewhat amusing that a holy art used by Paladins contains the word evil in its name... but that is precisely why Extermination of Evil is such a vicious holy art. Once activated and infused with the user’s will, it becomes extraordinarily difficult to stop.”

“And if someone still wanted to stop it?”

“They would have to accept damage return.”

Damage return.

It sounded absurd.

A sacred holy art possessing risk.

“You’d have to use it carefully.”

Sachsen laughed.

“As the saying goes, seeing once is worth hearing a hundred times. Would you like to experience it personally?”

“Myself?”

“All the holy arts you will learn possess similar qualities, but Extermination of Evil in particular is something I would recommend experiencing directly at least once.”

“If you insist that strongly, then understood.”

Once Su-ho nodded, Sachsen swung his greatsword.

[ You have temporarily received permission from Master Sachsen to use the holy art Extermination of Evil. ]

[ Extermination of Evil is now available for use. ]

Extermination of Evil.

Even the name itself sounded grandiose.

Su-ho summoned the Blood Sword into his grasp.

Watching him, Sachsen lifted his greatsword and said,

“If you wish to test a new technique, then naturally you require a suitable opponent as well.”

With those words, he swung his sword.

SHWAAAAK!

The empty air split apart, and from within the rift, a pitch-black hand forced its way through space.

What emerged from the tear in space was a completely black creature.

Its body burned with a dark radiance like smoldering flames, while its crimson eyes glowed ominously. It was impossible to even guess what kind of lifeform it was.

“A creature formed from demonic power and evil itself. There could be no better target for testing Extermination of Evil.”

“Is it real?”

“This is a place of trials. Nothing here is unreal.”

“Well, damn.”

Meaning he could actually die.

Then again, surely Sachsen would not hand him a test dummy he had no chance of killing.

“It is called a Malice Beast. I brought it here from its seal. You should remain on guard.”

He really should stay alert.

Looking into Sachsen’s eyes, it genuinely felt possible that he could die here.

Su-ho nodded and raised the Blood Sword.

He had no intention of using any other skills.

This was solely a test for Extermination of Evil.

Thinking that, he invoked the skill in his mind.

[ Extermination of Evil has been activated. ]

CRRRRZZZZT!

Because he had never seen Extermination of Evil before, Su-ho did not picture any specific form for it.

So he simply activated it the same way he would any ordinary skill.

At once, his sword erupted with blinding white light while violent sparks burst outward like raging electrical currents.

‘So this is Extermination of Evil...!’

Just from looking at it, it felt dangerous.

At that very moment, the creature Sachsen had called the Malice Beast reacted violently to Extermination of Evil and lunged straight toward Su-ho.

Su-ho reflexively swung his sword.

The instant he did, white electrical currents exploded from the trajectory of his slash and swallowed the Malice Beast whole.

CRRRRZZZZT!!

The sound resembled thousands of birds taking flight all at once.

The deafening roar startled him slightly.

But even more shocking than the sound was the fact that he had never consciously intended to unleash a slash. Extermination of Evil had burst forth on its own as though it possessed a will of its own and independently attacked the Malice Beast.

Struck by Extermination of Evil, the Malice Beast was violently blasted away and slammed into the ground, pinned there while the holy art continued mercilessly frying it.

It was a terrifying sight.

That overwhelming destructive power...

And that stubborn, obsessive desire to attack.

Su-ho watched the scene with his mouth slightly open.

His mana continued draining away.

Because Extermination of Evil, like a living entity, continued pulling mana from him on its own.

And then, after some time—

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