SFRW-Chapter 199

Ch. 199 Sword God From The Ruined World

The Sword God from The Ruined World.  

At Seo Do-jun’s answer, the Emperor was momentarily speechless, as if wondering what nonsense he was spouting.  

However, the Emperor, as if to remind himself of the path he had taken to reach this position, soon shook his head and spoke.  

“Sword God, you say… Keukkeuk! If you survived by sheer luck, you should’ve lived out the rest of your days hiding like a rat somewhere… Why show yourself now? Do you plan on revenge or something?”  

The Emperor looked at Seo Do-jun with genuine pity, as if he were the most foolish creature in existence.  

Despite knowing better than anyone how terrifying Barhaut was—how he was an existence that could never be defied—the mere thought of seeking ‘revenge’ seemed utterly idiotic.  

On the other hand, he couldn’t help but feel a grudging admiration for the courage it took to come before him, declaring his intent to face Barhaut.  

But at the same time, anger also rose within him.  

“If you want to meet Lord Barhaut, you’ll have to get past me first. But… if you thought that just because I’m the administrator of the 39th planet, my strength is also 39th, that’s a huge misconception!”  

Grrrrrrrrrr—!  

The entire imperial palace trembled from the vibrations.  

This was the phenomenon that occurred when the Emperor fully unleashed his power, a clear demonstration that he was far from weak.  

So overwhelming was his presence that even Shinjo, Hyun Joo-yeon, and even Choi Kang-soo widened their eyes, their bodies stiffening under the immense pressure.  

The absolute ruler of this world.  

Or rather, its sovereign.  

The administrator who governed all things.  

The immense responsibility Barhaut had bestowed upon the Emperor came with power to match.  

At the very least, in this world—Valitao—there was no existence that could surpass the Emperor.  

Family, brothers, friends, comrades.  

The price of betraying them all had granted him this colossal strength, and with it, the Emperor had further solidified his position and abilities.  

The Emperor sneered as he looked down at Seo Do-jun, who stood silent before his might, like an insignificant insect.  

“Sword God, you say? Fine. What kind of place was that ruined world you came from? No, wait—if a nobody like you was called a Sword God, it must’ve been such a worthless, pathetic place that it wasn’t even worth conquering.”  

The 39 planets guarding Tirotio, where Barhaut resided, had all been spared because they held value.  

That’s why they hadn’t been destroyed.  

But to Barhaut, a world being ‘ruined’ meant one of two things:  

Either it was truly useless…  

Or it had resisted conquest.  

Naturally, as the Emperor, he was certain it was the former.  

The latter had only happened once in all this time.  

‘Was it called Leverka? That world’s last survivor was said to have been killed by Lord Barhaut.’  

It was impossible for the Emperor to even imagine that the man standing before him now was that very last survivor.  

How he had escaped a dying world, what had brought him here—none of that mattered. Only one thing was certain:  

“You’re going to die here.”  

The Emperor’s declaration.  

In this world, his word was absolute law, and thus, it would inevitably come to pass.  

At least in this world, where he considered himself nothing short of a god, the Emperor’s arrogance knew no bounds.  

After a long silence, Seo Do-jun finally spoke.  

“Finished your last words?”  

“…What?!”  

As if the Emperor wasn’t even worth another word, Seo Do-jun moved.  

The Emperor’s strength was undoubtedly immense.  

But it wasn’t far from what Seo Do-jun had initially estimated.  

In short:  

“Unqualified.”  

Seo Do-jun whispered those words and swung the sword he had drawn from subspace toward the Emperor.  

The Emperor’s arrogant eyes wavered as Seo Do-jun closed the distance in an instant, as if teleporting right in front of him.  

A sharp blade, sharp enough to make his hair stand on end, shot toward him as if it would pierce his entire body. The Emperor hastily raised his hand.  

Kaa—Aaaah!  

“…Keuk!”  

A sword had somehow appeared in the Emperor’s grasp, barely managing to block the strike aimed at his head.  

‘W-What kind of power is this?!’  

The Emperor’s eyes widened as he realized his sword arm was trembling uncontrollably.  

Only then did cold clarity return to his mind, as if icy water had been poured over his thoughts.  

‘This man… is strong!’  

The fact that Seo Do-jun was far stronger than he wanted to admit made the Emperor’s eyelids twitch.  

But still—  

“I am the ruler of this world!”  

Whooooooosh—!  

A pitch-black darkness erupted from the Emperor’s entire body.  

The power granted to him directly by Barhaut—the overwhelming might that ensured no one could trample upon the authority of this world’s administrator—now revealed its true form.  

Crack! Crack! Craaaack!  

The Emperor’s skeleton began to change.  

With a grotesque sound of bones shifting, his body grew larger, his face twisting unnaturally.  

His height tripled, his frame thickened, and the dark miasma-like magic radiating from his body—  

‘Dark magic.’  

Seo Do-jun recognized it immediately. The darkness pouring from the Emperor was unmistakably dark magic.  

The Emperor’s eyes were now nothing but pools of blackness, his pupils gone.  

The sword in his hand emitted ominous black smoke, transforming into a massive greatsword.  

At the same time—  

“Grroooaaah!”  

“Kuaaaaah!”  

The two Masters serving the Emperor also began to change, their bodies morphing as dark magic surged from them.  

And then—  

From deep beneath the imperial palace, a tremendous roar erupted.  

—Kuuuuooooooooooh!  

Not just one.  

Dozens—no, hundreds—of howls, like a chorus of beasts, engulfed the entire palace.  

It was clear: the administrator’s direct force, hidden in the underground caverns of the imperial capital, had been unleashed.  

‘So he hid them under the palace?’  

Seo Do-jun frowned. He had hoped to end this quietly, but it seemed things wouldn’t go as planned.  

“Can you handle it?”  

Seo Do-jun’s gaze remained fixed on the Emperor, but his question was directed at Shinjo and Hyun Joo-yeon.  

“We can.”  

“I think I can hold out.”  

Neither gave a negative answer.  

Honestly, Seo Do-jun judged it would be a close call.  

Though Shinjo and Hyun Joo-yeon’s abilities had improved dramatically, the two Masters, now transformed by dark magic, didn’t seem like pushovers.  

But they didn’t appear pessimistic.  

After all, they had a powerful ally backing them up.  

“Choi Kang-soo. Support them properly.”  

The one who could most effectively counter dark magic—the Holy Knight, Choi Kang-soo.  

“Don’t worry, Uncle!”  

Confidence filled Choi Kang-soo’s voice.  

As a wielder of holy power, the natural antithesis to dark magic, his assistance would drastically reduce the chances of Shinjo and Hyun Joo-yeon losing.  

The only opponent Seo Do-jun needed to focus on was the Emperor.  

The ‘unqualified’ one had now become a slight nuisance.  

The Emperor’s power far surpassed that of the two Masters.  

Drunk on his own strength, the Emperor shook off the aftereffects and let out a low laugh toward Seo Do-jun.  

“Keheheheheheh……”  

Seo Do-jun suddenly swung his sword mid-laugh.  

Kwa—Aang!  

With an explosive sound, Seo Do-jun’s shoulder shifted slightly.  

The Emperor before him was still laughing… but his figure gradually blurred, then vanished.  

And then—  

The Emperor reappeared in front of Seo Do-jun, thrusting his massive greatsword forward.  

A speed so fast it left afterimages!  

Despite his enlarged frame, the Emperor moved with terrifying swiftness.  

Even skilled warriors would struggle to follow his movements with their eyes, leaving all onlookers stunned.  

‘H-He’s insane!’  

Choi Kang-soo was shocked—first by the Emperor’s horrifying speed, and second by Seo Do-jun’s reaction, blocking it with his sword.  

『Encountering someone of his caliber isn’t easy… Is this the power of an administrator responsible for an entire world?』  

Even the Divine Sword expressed awe at the Emperor’s movements.  

“Even so, he shouldn’t be able to touch a single hair on Uncle’s—!”  

『He already did. As expected, he’s on a different level.』  

Choi Kang-soo’s face twisted.  

The Emperor’s slash had severed several strands of Seo Do-jun’s hair, scattering them in the wind.  

Though only a dozen or so strands, considering how impossible it had been for Choi Kang-soo to even graze Seo Do-jun before, it was a stark reminder of the Emperor’s strength.  

“H-He just caught him off guard!”  

『Does he get caught off guard that often?』  

Before Choi Kang-soo could finish speaking, more of Seo Do-jun’s hair was cut and sent flying, leaving him speechless.  

Kwaang!  

The Emperor was fast—and his strikes carried destructive force to match.  

Worse, the oppressive aura of Dark magic radiating from him seemed to hinder Seo Do-jun’s movements, making him appear less fluid than usual.  

‘N-No way… Is Uncle actually…?’  

Choi Kang-soo shook his head violently, as if dismissing an absurd thought.  

It couldn’t be.  

There was no way Seo Do-jun could lose!  

‘Right, I have to believe in him! I have to— Damn it! I need to help!’  

Choi Kang-soo grew frantic.  

Meanwhile—  

Though the Emperor’s attacks had cut his hair twice, Seo Do-jun’s expression remained unchanged.  

No panic, no surprise, no anxiety, no impatience.  

His calm, almost serene eyes and demeanor only further provoked the Emperor.  

The result?  

“You call yourself a Sword God… It seems the world you came from was full of insects weaker than bugs!”  

“You can’t even wield a sword properly, yet you dare call yourself a Sword God? Aren’t you ashamed?”  

“How long do you plan on just dodging? With that level of skill, you think you can take revenge on Lord Barhaut? Even if you had a thousand—no, ten thousand years, it’d be impossible!”  

The Emperor never stopped taunting.  

He provoked, mocked, and ignored Seo Do-jun, hoping to elicit any reaction—any sign of anger.  

But no matter what he said, Seo Do-jun’s expression, his eyes, didn’t waver in the slightest.  

That indifferent, penetrating gaze only made the Emperor feel an increasingly suffocating pressure around his heart.  

And as his heartbeat grew louder, his mouth grew drier.  

The Masters weren’t faring any better.  

They should’ve already crushed Seo Do-jun’s allies and come to his aid, but they were completely tied up.  

‘It’s because of him!’  

Choi Kang-soo—the one who had knocked out Marquis Biloi in a single strike—was the problem.  

Wielding holy power, the natural counter to dark magic, he effectively suppressed the two Masters.  

Even the Emperor himself found Choi Kang-soo’s holy power irritating, to the point of avoidance.  

Despite revealing his full strength, he needed to kill Seo Do-jun and tear his companions apart—  

But it wasn’t easy.  

The Emperor swung his sword more violently, moved even faster—  

Yet Seo Do-jun slipped away like an eel, stood firm like an iron fortress, or deflected attacks like wind or water.  

“Grooooooaaah!”  

As his impatience turned to rage, the Emperor gathered all his power into a single strike.  

Since Seo Do-jun couldn’t dodge this time, the Emperor was certain this blow would deal significant damage.  

One hit was all he needed.  

If he could land a solid strike, Seo Do-jun wouldn’t be able to resist any longer.  

“…As I thought.”  

Then, for the first time, Seo Do-jun spoke.  

‘As you thought?’  

What did that mean?  

The Emperor frowned.  

Seo Do-jun’s unwavering gaze, even amidst the Emperor’s relentless assault, sent a chill down his spine.  

‘Just die!’  

It didn’t matter what Seo Do-jun was thinking.  

The Emperor was certain—this strike couldn’t be dodged or blocked.  

But then—  

Seo Do-jun’s sword, which had only evaded, blocked, or deflected until now, finally changed.  

Vandeyan Family Swordsmanship

Fourth Form: Cergel Selado Duhart!  

-Sealing Power of the Unyielding Circle-  

Sword energy split from the tip of Seo Do-jun’s blade, rapidly enveloping him.  

The Emperor’s strike, capable of splitting mountains and parting seas, couldn’t break through the barrier of sword energy Seo Do-jun had created.  

Vandeyan Swordsmanship  

Seventh Form: Lunatis Haros Execna!  

-Execution of the Mad Reaper-  

One step.  

Just one step forward—and Seo Do-jun’s sword shattered the circle of sword energy, swinging straight toward the Emperor.  

A blade of azure magic cleanly sliced through the Emperor’s right shoulder.  

Ssch—Uuurk!  

A single counterattack.  

And that was enough.  

The Emperor, who had relentlessly pressed forward with dark magic, couldn’t block or evade it.  

Thud.  

A massive chunk of flesh hit the ground.  

“…Gyaaaaaaaah!”  

The Emperor screamed insanely as he stumbled back, staring at his severed right arm.  

Fear.  

Terror.  

The overwhelming helplessness in his eyes was locked onto Seo Do-jun.