Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant-Chapter 342

There was no need to explain what China was.

The Lizardmen weren’t idiots, and the power of the Rune conveyed Su-ho’s intent clearly.

At Su-ho’s declaration, the Lizardmen erupted into a frenzy.

“China!”

“Attack!”

“Yahaa!!”

“Die!!”

Lizardmen were warriors.

They preferred war over peace, slaughter over love.

And in that sense, the Lizardmen had long been starved for blood.

The previous Lizardman King had been stockpiling forces via summoning gates for a grander purpose.

But their new leader was different.

He declared war on China the moment he took the throne, and that fiery announcement meshed perfectly with the Lizardmen’s inherently belligerent nature.

What’s more, Su-ho’s declaration of war against China wasn’t just for show.

Of course, he wasn’t planning to annihilate all of China—just strike a specific region with concentrated force to harass them.

This wasn’t petty vengeance.

It was a strategic maneuver.

Because in his past life, China had made life hell for Korea and the rest of the world for many reasons.

'Those goddamn CMC bastards triggered a global plague with their experiments, and the Triad’s illegal gate trades caused several colossal gate outbreaks.'

It wasn’t for nothing that not a single Chinese member had been in humanity’s final resistance corps.

'Still, the main reason isn’t just revenge—it’s to establish a border defense and reduce CMC’s interference.'

This was the true core of Su-ho’s Yalu River Project, its final act and finale.

There was a reason why he had saved Sinuiju for last during the North Korea campaign.

Su-ho planned to slowly march south along the Yalu, station his Lizardman army near Sinuiju, and finish off the last Cheolma Gate.

After that, he would strike Dandong, a city that constantly probed the border.

That would keep CMC from ever eyeing the soon-to-be-annexed North Korean territory again.

And then—

[ You have declared war. ]

[ Trait “King of Ruin” is activated. ] 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

[ Prerequisites met. ]

[ You may now proclaim a nation. ]

[ Would you like to declare a nation to formalize the war declaration? ]

[ Declaring a nation will activate the Nation System. ]

A series of system messages popped up.

'What the hell is this?'

'A war declaration?'

As Su-ho read through the notifications, his eyes widened.

'Oh, right. I forgot I had the King of Ruin trait.'

He pulled up the trait’s description.

[ King of Ruin ]

The last surviving king of a fallen nation.

Though the kingdom, its people, and its retainers are all gone, only the hollow shell of royalty remains. But that doesn’t mean he is no longer king.

① The unique Leadership stat available only to kings is granted.

② The minimum qualifications of kingship are granted.

└ You may declare a nation.

└ You may declare war.

└ You may confer titles.

└ You may assign positions.

Nation declaration and war declaration.

They were all part of the second function of the King of Ruin trait.

Su-ho checked the four capabilities granted by the “minimum qualifications” clause.

“Hm.”

This is more useful than expected.

Declaring a nation didn’t mean it would be broadcast to the public like with endgame gates.

It was more like an expansion of party-play mechanics—purely symbolic.

And the requirements were surprisingly simple.

You just needed a territory and a population.

Especially the territory requirement—it was absurdly easy. You didn’t need to purchase land or anything official.

It was purely up to the king’s discretion.

'If I say “from here to here is my territory,” then the system recognizes it as territory...'

Of course, with such simplicity came downsides.

If the territory wasn’t designated properly, a constant stream of system alerts would pop up.

That said, Su-ho had already chosen the ideal territory.

The Yalu River.

A place no one dared approach anyway.

So this was the perfect opportunity to designate it as territory and use it strategically.

'A monarchy doesn’t need a complicated government... ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) and if the entire population is Lizardmen, then making the Yalu River the national territory is perfect.'

Su-ho had no intention of recklessly sacrificing the Lizardmen.

They were rare and precious resources he’d acquired through great effort.

Wasting these elite assets just to poke at China a few times would be shortsighted and inefficient.

Another benefit of the Nation System was how quietly everything could be processed.

'If this had been noisy or flashy, I wouldn’t have even considered it. But if it’s like this...'

Su-ho immediately began the process.

“Declare nation.”

[ You have declared a nation. ]

[ Please designate the population. ]

[ Please designate the territory. ]

As prompted, he selected the population and territory.

A floating, hologram-like UI made the choices surprisingly easy.

Then another prompt appeared.

[ Please enter a name for the nation. ]

The name?

Hmm.

He hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Should it end in “-guk” like other nations?

Flashes of his old college group project naming brainstorms and peaceful island life game name picks ran through his head, but he shook them off.

Names like “Bean Sprout Soup Nation” or “Seaweed Soup Nation” popped up, but he shook those off too.

'Let’s just go simple.'

Su-ho spoke.

“Suho Land.”

[ Confirm nation name: ‘Suho Land’? ]

The moment he confirmed—

[ Congratulations! An Su-ho has declared a new nation, ‘Suho Land’! ]

[ The Nation System has been activated. ]

[ Until the nation is fully developed, the Prosperity Advisor System will assist you. ]

[ You have achieved a great milestone. Bonus: +10 bonus stat points. ]

Trumpets flared as the nation was officially born.

The name was Suho Land.

He wanted something light and whimsical, not overly grandiose.

And just like that, the Nation System activated.

It even included features like collecting taxes.

But Su-ho skimmed through the menu and turned it off.

'All I need right now is to be king.'

The complex stuff could come later.

Then the system asked—

[ Would you like to declare war? ]

Since the nation had been founded during a war declaration, it went straight to the point.

When he confirmed, a map appeared in front of him.

The map was simple.

A green flag planted on the narrow Yalu River that straddled the Korean Peninsula and the continent, while surrounding countries were marked with red flags.

Naturally, Korea was included.

Su-ho selected China.

[ You have declared war against China. ]

[ Your citizens will develop strong hostility toward Chinese individuals and may attack them on sight. ]

[ Tip: To prevent incidents, you can issue Royal Decrees that override citizen behavior. ]

'A royal decree?'

He looked it up—there was such a thing.

Well, in a monarchy, a royal command made sense.

Features like that made this all the more entertaining.

After finishing the setup, Su-ho returned to the Yalu River and declared:

“Let’s go! Tsrah!”

“Tsrah!!”

“Tsrah!!”

“Tsrah!!”

Su-ho’s Lizardman army began their southward march once again.

*

Emergency meeting of the CMC Yalu River Division.

Everyone was silent.

They realized how serious things were when they heard the Blue King had died—and that every magic surveillance circuit item had been destroyed.

The higher-ups had already been notified.

Their response: develop a countermeasure.

But no matter how hard they racked their brains, the only conclusion was that someone had to go gather intel on-site.

But everyone was afraid.

Last time they deployed agents to gather data on the Blue King, less than 3% returned alive.

Then the division chief, seated at the head, finally spoke.

“......We need to request assistance from HQ to dispatch an Elite Awakened Unit.”

“A-are you sure? If we request them and fail to deliver results...”

“I’m not sending my people into a slaughterhouse. Only an elite force has a chance of coming back alive.”

“......Understood.”

Everyone nodded at the chief’s words.

There really was no other option.

The chief picked up his phone.

*

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Explosions echoed in succession.

Each one was a magic surveillance circuit installed by China being destroyed.

Su-ho had ordered the Lizardmen to wipe them out.

The result—over 70 surveillance circuits destroyed during the southward march, and the count kept rising.

'Finally... Weihua Island is in sight.'

Weihua Island—the site of Yi Seong-gye’s historic return from Wihwa-do.

Across the river was Yuanbaogu of Dandong City, and beneath that, Zhenxing District.

Naturally, it was heavily populated.

Unlike many countries that collapsed early on, China had been quick to suppress its monster outbreaks and restore peace.

To avoid escalating things, Su-ho veered off along the northern fork of the Yalu at Weihua Island, staying within North Korean territory.

Passing Uiju Airfield, he finally reached Sinuiju—by which time the Lizardman count had exceeded 12,000.

“Tsrah!”

“Tsrrah!”

“Tstststst!”

Their numbers were massive.

Su-ho moved with ease.

And finally, upon reaching Sinuiju, he issued a command:

“Everyone, hold position.”

“He commands us to hold!”

“Hold position!”

“Hold!!”

Truly a military-style system.

Even a quiet order spread instantly, and everyone moved in unison.

'Was this what Genghis Khan felt like when commanding the Mongol horde?'

Su-ho ordered the Lizardmen not to engage unless absolutely necessary, then slipped away on his own.

Once out of their sight, he pulled out his mana-powered bike from subspace and gunned it.

VROOOOOOM!!

Sinuiju had quite a few Cheolma Gates.

But this was the final region.

He felt lighthearted.

Su-ho checked his map and began sweeping the train stations to complete his final subquest.

*

[ You have slain the Chain Overseer of Suppression. ]

[ The gate has been cleared. ]

[ MVP of this gate: ‘An Su-ho’ ]

[ MVP bonus: Additional EXP awarded. ]

[ MVP bonus: +1 bonus stat awarded. ]

[ You have obtained the Chain Overseer’s Fragment of Obsession (A). ]

Time had passed.

Su-ho collected the Fragment of Obsession and stepped into the exit portal.

Once outside, he checked his map again.

'Only one left now.'

Finally, just one.

He’d intentionally saved it for last—located near Sinuiju.

Su-ho headed to Sinuiju Station, where the final Cheolma Gate was.

CRACK!

He struck down another Chain Overseer.

No surprises.

Still a 1-star gate.

And the moment it fell—

[ You have slain the Chain Overseer of Suppression. ]

[ The gate has been cleared. ]

[ MVP of this gate: ‘An Su-ho’ ]

[ MVP bonus: Additional EXP awarded. ]

[ MVP bonus: +1 bonus stat awarded. ]

Another stat bonus acquired.

But Su-ho wasn’t particularly interested.

His focus was elsewhere.

“This is it, the last one.”

His gaze landed on it.

The final target—the sealed Cheolma.

Su-ho raised his Blood Sword and approached the mechanical horse.

Then, the moment he released the chains partially sealing it—

Fweeeeeeee—

Light began to rise from the Cheolma’s eyes, just like before. And then—

RUMBLEEEEEEEE!

[ Conditions met. ]

'Finally!'

At last, unlike in his past life, he had fulfilled all the requirements.

And then—

“Ki-hi-hi-hi-hiiiiing!!”

The Cheolma, which hadn’t moved a muscle until now, raised its forelegs and neighed loudly.