Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant

Chapter 27

Notifications continued to appear.

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 50.]

[The system gifts you with greater strength.]

[You receive 5 bonus stat points.]

[All levels of Healer class-exclusive skills increase by one stage.]

[The system wants you to grow even stronger.]

[The Traits system has been activated.]

[The system has begun observing you.]

That was all for the notifications.

However, it was exactly as he had seen in the past.

‘If I’m quick, within ten minutes—or by the end of this gate at the latest—I’ll receive a trait.’

Granting traits depended entirely on the system’s judgment.

But by acting according to established patterns, one could secure the desired traits, regardless of the system’s assessment.

Thus, the real golden moment started now.

After defeating the Centennial Bat, Suho approached the head of the Cursed Prince, who was screaming alone in the corner of the hall.

—Kiaaah!!

The Cursed Prince’s body was trapped in a shadow-binding spell, frozen like a statue, while his head, filled with animal rage, howled in solitary fury.

Could one even call such a thing a prince?

It didn’t matter.

What was important was his identity as a vampire, regardless of his form—whether as a Dullahan or a beast.

Suho lifted the head.

—Let go! I said let go, you filthy wretch!

Seeing the head shrieking like that reminded him of a Mandragora.

That creature had also let out a scream as soon as it was uprooted.

Instead of answering, Suho brought the Cursed Prince’s head closer to his forearm.

Seizing the chance, the Cursed Prince bit down on Suho’s arm with all his might.

Crunch!

It hurt.

Had his Health stat not been at the Red Grade, he might have lost his forearm from the pain alone.

But with his Health stat at Red Grade, Suho easily withstood the Prince’s bite strength.

At that moment.

[You have been bitten by a Royal Vampire.]

[The Cursed Prince activates Blood Draining.]

[The Cursed Prince activates Kin Transformation.]

[Kin Transformation in progress…1%.]

System notifications filled his vision.

It was the same Kin Transformation that the Blood Emperor had undergone.

At the same time, Suho began to experience a severe headache and dizziness.

As soon as the dizziness struck, Suho tore the Cursed Prince’s head away from his arm and threw it into the corner.

‘Just as the Blood Emperor described.’

Kin Transformation would induce headaches, dizziness, and a searing thirst—a craving for blood.

Indeed, his mouth went dry before the thought had fully formed.

It was as though he had walked through a desert for three hours without a drop of water.

‘To think I’d experience a vampire’s emotions firsthand like this.’

It was an oddly refreshing experience.

But refreshing didn’t mean he wanted to continue feeling it.

Experiences were most beautiful when they remained simply as memories.

At that moment, the Cursed Prince saw Suho staggering and burst out in deranged laughter.

—Kahaha! You fool! You didn’t know your place and meddled, only to invite disaster upon yourself!

Did he even understand what he was saying?

Ignoring the laughing Cursed Prince, Suho sat down on the floor.

The dizziness was too intense for him to remain standing.

Then, as Kin Transformation reached approximately 49%, Suho pulled out the Purifying Holy Water he had purchased in advance from his inventory.

While purification potions were typically effective for general status ailments, the Purifying Holy Water was specialized for unusual conditions such as zombification or vampirification—debuffs related to the undead and demonic beings.

‘I prepared 20 bottles just in case.’

According to the Blood Emperor, it should have taken only five bottles of high-quality Purifying Holy Water to completely cure Kin Transformation, but he had brought twenty just in case.

Finally, the moment Kin Transformation reached 50%, Suho opened the cap of the Purifying Holy Water.

The Blood Emperor had acquired the Vampire trait after Kin Transformation had reached over 50%.

Then it happened.

[Kin Transformation has exceeded 50%.]

[Your blood has begun to be tainted.]

[All conditions for unlocking the second power of Dragon Blood have been met.]

[① Reach Level 50.]

[② Face mortal danger to both mind and body.]

[The second power of Dragon Blood has been unlocked.]

[Dragon Armor has been activated.]

[You have learned Dragon Endurance (S) from Dragon Armor.]

[You have learned Dragon Skin (S) from Dragon Armor.]

A flood of system notifications appeared before his eyes.

They were completely unexpected, even for Suho.

‘The conditions for the second power were unlocked here?’

Suho recalled the two conditions for unlocking the second power of Dragon Blood.

1. Reaching Level 50.

2. Facing mortal danger to both mind and body.

The second condition hadn’t been originally disclosed.

But Suho had already learned it from Yongma.

So after reaching Level 50, he had already planned a custom gate to unlock the second power.

But now, the second condition had unexpectedly been fulfilled.

It was easy to guess why.
‘I see. Since Kin Transformation itself is a life-threatening process, the system recognized it as a mortal threat.’

Suho couldn’t help but smile.

With this, he wouldn’t even need the Purifying Holy Water, and the results would be much better than anticipated.

As proof.

[Dragon Blood activates.]

[Dragon Endurance from Dragon Armor prevents further Kin Transformation.]

[Dragon Endurance from Dragon Armor begins purifying the tainted blood.]

[Dragon Endurance from Dragon Armor begins absorbing the tainted blood.]

As expected, Dragon Endurance, contained within Dragon Armor, had activated automatically to purify the tainted blood caused by Kin Transformation.

Suho checked the details of Dragon Endurance.

[Dragon Endurance]

– Grade: S

# An exclusive right bestowed only upon those born with the bloodline of dragons.

# Bestows nobility and superiority upon the bloodline.

# While Dragon Endurance is active, the player is immune to all infection and contamination effects, and any impurities are absorbed and purified, with healing and learning effects applied.

As he thought.

It was exactly as Yongma had described.

Suho focused on the last line of the Dragon Endurance description.

[Absorbs impurities, purifying, healing, and applying learning effects.]

In other words, his body would purify the tainted vampire blood flowing into him and automatically absorb any powers gained from the contaminated blood.

‘This is why dragons are considered the strongest creatures.’

Few beings were superior to pure-blooded dragons.

As rulers of the world, they possessed the greatest strength, magic, mental power, physical ability, and longevity, making them biologically close to perfection.

And beyond that?

‘With their natural bloodline superiority, they quickly learn and counter any enemy attacks.’

That was the power of Dragon Endurance within Dragon Blood.

Then.

[The tainted blood has been completely purified by Dragon Endurance within Dragon Armor.]

[The tainted blood has been completely absorbed by Dragon Endurance within Dragon Armor.]

[Successfully mastered unknown powers from the absorbed tainted blood.]

[You have learned Vampirism (F-).]

[You have learned Blood Drain (A).]

[You have learned Blood Orb (A).]

[You have learned Blood Weapon (A).]

Through Dragon Endurance within Dragon Armor, he had fully absorbed the tainted blood.

As a result, Suho gained a total of four skills.

Or rather, technically three.

[Vampirism]

– Grade: F-

# Evidence that you were almost turned into a vampire.

# Currently sealed.

Vampirism.

Without Dragon Endurance, it would have been a Vampire Blood skill.

But due to Dragon Endurance, it was sealed, downgraded to F rank, and marked with a minus, signifying both sealing and degradation.

Though disappointing, there was nothing he could do about it.

‘Dragon Endurance uses a powerful purification ability, which cleans up everything perfectly, unlike Purifying Holy Water, which only forcibly stops Kin Transformation.’

In other words, the purification process was so thorough that any abilities deemed unnecessary were erased.

In that process, the skills like “Blood Servant,” “Blood Scream,” and “Kin Transformation” had likely been lost as well.

‘Tsk, it’s a shame, but I’ll have to give up on this trait.’

It was disappointing.

Personally, Suho had wanted to gain the Vampire Blood here no matter what.

With that, he would have acquired the trait he desired.

‘Well, it’s not as if any player could ever imagine having both Dragon Blood and Vampire Blood together.’

Setting aside his regret, Suho checked the details of the skills.

[Blood Drain]

– Grade: A

# A technique that extracts only pure blood.

# The extracted blood is stored in Blood Orb.

[Blood Orb]

– Grade: A

# A mysterious blood reservoir unique to vampires.

# Stores blood that exceeds the body’s requirements and supplies it automatically.

[Blood Weapon]

– Grade: A

# A secret skill that only vampires of noble lineage can use.

# Creates weapons from one’s own blood, combined with imagination.

# Blood Weapon is forcibly canceled if there’s insufficient blood.

Blood Drain, Blood Orb, and Blood Weapon.

These were all familiar skills.

At least he hadn’t come out empty-handed.

Blood Weapon, in particular, was noteworthy, as it was a rare skill that only vampires of noble rank or higher could use.

‘Thanks to this, I won’t have to worry about weapons for a while.’

Suho closed the notification window after reviewing the details.

Then, at last, he turned his attention to the Cursed Prince, who was screaming in the corner.

The Cursed Prince’s condition seemed strange.

—How could you be unaffected after being bitten by me…?

The Cursed Prince looked terrified.

It made sense.

From his perspective, Kin Transformation for a royal vampire would hardly ever fail.

But his opponent was someone special.

Even a royal vampire paled in comparison to the bloodline of a great dragon.

—So it’s because I’m cursed… I’m just useless garbage…

Eventually, the Cursed Prince began to curse his own fate, lamenting his powers.

At that moment.

[The Cursed Prince sheds bloody tears, lamenting his destiny.]

[The Cursed Prince’s power increases significantly.]

—I’ll destroy everything… I’ll take revenge on this world that made me this way… I’ll burn it all down, trample on everyone better than me, and drag them into ruin…

Suddenly, the Cursed Prince began to rampage.

Phase 2 had begun.