SFRW-Chapter 203

Ch. 203 Sword God From The Ruined World

Half-Dragon.  

Literally, a half-baked dragonkin.  

To be precise, they were cursed beings, never welcomed by anyone.  

Dragons—referred to as the apex predators.  

Though they possessed intelligence, they were arrogant, self-righteous, and unable to suppress their instinct for destruction. Many planets considered them the most undesirable creatures.  

Their physical abilities and lifespans, which surpassed any other race, made it abundantly clear why they reigned as the apex predators.  

And those born with even a fraction of such dragon blood were the Half-Dragons.  

However, Half-Dragons were not acknowledged by pure dragons, and humans feared and shunned them.  

Naturally, as time passed, these Half-Dragons grew increasingly twisted, nurturing nothing but hatred and hostility toward all living things.  

To put it simply:  

“Pathetic little bastards.”  

Seo Do-jun muttered as he stared at the Half-Dragon standing before him.  

Their very skeletal structure was absurd.  

From birth, they possessed optimal physical resistance and magic resistance—calling them a naturally born combat species was no exaggeration.  

This was possible because they inherited a significant portion of the dragon’s physiology, the so-called pinnacle of all species. Though mocked as ‘half-breeds’, their physical prowess was undeniably blessed.  

However, the price for such physical gifts was their aesthetic standards.  

Their bodies were covered in thin, hard scales rather than skin—more fitting to describe them as reptilian.  

Naturally, not a single strand of hair pierced through those scales.  

From their smooth, bald heads to their lizard-like eyelids, low and broad noses, grotesquely large mouths, and bluish lips—  

‘Disgustingly ugly!’  

Choi Kang-soo thought even this description was generous.  

Frankly, anyone with even a slightly weak stomach might vomit the moment they laid eyes on one.  

But when staring into those narrow, vertically slit red pupils, instinctive fear outweighed the revulsion from their hideous appearance.  

‘Disgusting… and terrifying.’  

Choi Kang-soo’s honest impression.  

And a more perfect analogy could not exist.  

It was one of the most decisive reasons why Half-Dragons were shunned by both dragons and humans.  

They weren’t quite monsters, nor were they human, and they lacked the magical ability to alter their true forms.  

Dragons disdained them for inheriting their blood but being tainted by the ‘worthless’ blood of humans.  

Humans, on the other hand, were simply repulsed and terrified by their monstrous appearances and unreal physical capabilities.  

So much so that most who saw a Half-Dragon for the first time suspected they were some new kind of monster.  

Seo Do-jun was already familiar with dragons.  

In the ruined world, dragons—or more accurately, ‘dragons’ as they were called—had existed.  

Except those dragons, with their insufferable arrogance, had all been torn apart and killed by Barhaut.  

‘Not all dragons across dimensions are the same, I suppose.’  

One thing was certain: Half-Dragons did not exist in the ruined world.  

So for Seo Do-jun, this was his first encounter with one.  

“…What did you just say?”  

The Half-Dragon, recalling Seo Do-jun’s words, repeated the question.  

Having received a brief explanation from Kusak in his mind, Seo Do-jun answered honestly once more.  

“I called you a pathetic little bastard.”  

“…Keh! Keh! Keh-keh-keh! KYAHAHAHAHA!”  

The Half-Dragon threw its head back, laughing uproariously at Seo Do-jun’s unflinching attitude.  

There were no humans in Moteor.  

In the distant past, humans had lived here, but now they were an extinct race.  

The environment of Moteor had changed too drastically, no longer permitting the survival of such weak creatures.  

Only the strongest lifeforms endured in Moteor’s brutally harsh conditions.  

Humans, of course, were not among them.  

And yet, here was one of those worthless humans daring to call a Half-Dragon—a dominant race of this world—a ‘pathetic little bastard’ to its face.  

“…You’re amusing. I think I’ll kill you.”  

The killing intent radiating from the Half-Dragon’s eyes intensified after its prolonged laughter.  

The pressure of its aura, on a completely different level from a human’s, forced Shinjo, Hyun Joo-yeon, and Gloria to instinctively draw their weapons—only for their bodies to freeze.  

‘Am… am I afraid?’  

Shinjo bit the inside of his cheek to shake off the fear.  

‘Kuh—!’  

With sharp pain, his stiffened body regained movement, but his mouth was now filled with torn flesh and blood.  

Hyun Joo-yeon and Gloria were no different.  

Both of them resisted the fear by digging their nails into their palms or biting their lower lips, using pain to overcome terror.  

Before the fight even began, their mouths, lips, and palms were already drenched in blood, prompting the Half-Dragon to laugh mockingly.  

“…Not funny. You should die.”  

Seo Do-jun repeated the Half-Dragon’s words and swung the sword he had drawn from his dimensional space.  

Swish—  

He slashed at the Half-Dragon, but surprisingly, a blinding flash erupted above its head.  

CRACKLE—BOOM!  

“…!”  

Everyone was stunned by Seo Do-jun’s sudden attack.  

His strike, infused with the attribute of lightning, seemed poised to pierce through the Half-Dragon and reduce it to ashes in an instant.  

That was how Seo Do-jun had always fought.  

Whether human or monster, if they stood in his way, he would cut them down, pierce them, or burn them without hesitation.  

This time would be no different.  

No one doubted it—until…  

“…Thrilling.”  

Despite taking Seo Do-jun’s lightning-infused strike head-on, the Half-Dragon licked its lips and grinned, completely unfazed.  

“They have insane resistance to all kinds of attacks. Think of them as weakened dragons—that’ll make it easier to understand.”  

Kusak warned him to be careful.  

Seo Do-jun clicked his tongue, having not expected his attack to be shrugged off so easily.  

‘Half-Dragons, huh…’  

Just the fact that it had taken his strike unharmed was enough to remind him of dragons, whose defenses were absurdly overpowered.  

Despite looking like some bastard cousin of a Lizardman, their physical abilities and resistances resembled a dragon’s.  

“Still just a half-breed.”  

Seo Do-jun kicked off the ground and closed the distance.  

His speed was so overwhelming that the Half-Dragon’s pupils dilated in shock.  

“A mere human?!”  

The Half-Dragon moved as if refusing to be outdone by such a lowly creature.  

‘Wh-what the hell?! He’s as fast as Uncle?!’  

Choi Kang-soo’s eyes filled with disbelief as he watched the Half-Dragon keep pace with Seo Do-jun effortlessly.  

As if to flaunt its superior speed, the Half-Dragon pivoted to the right and swung its arm.  

“You dare, human?! This is the price of arrogance!”  

It was convinced a mere human could never block or evade its attack.  

CLANG—!  

“…!”  

The Half-Dragon stared in shock as its strike was effortlessly parried by Seo Do-jun’s sword.  

Even giants had failed to properly block that attack.  

Meanwhile, Seo Do-jun noted that what had struck him was a black bone protruding from the Half-Dragon’s palm.  

Half-Dragon bones.  

‘In terms of hardness, they’re on par with a dragon’s…’  

Impossible.  

If dragons were the real deal, Half-Dragons were cheap imitations.  

Who in the world would consider a counterfeit equal to the genuine article?  

Still.  

‘Even fakes have their uses.’  

The Half-Dragon’s bones were undeniably tough.  

Had Seo Do-jun not yet acquired a proper sword, he might have considered killing this Half-Dragon and forging a blade from its bones.  

“Consider yourself lucky I already have this sword.”  

“…What?”  

To the Half-Dragon, Seo Do-jun’s words made no sense—he sounded like a madman.  

Regardless.  

“Let’s see how tough you really are.”  

“…To the end!”  

The Half-Dragon’s expression darkened, all traces of amusement or curiosity gone.  

The primal betrayal it felt toward humans—who had shunned them for being different—and the hatred born from it began to rage uncontrollably.  

“I’ll chew you to the bone, you bastard!”  

With its eyes rolling back, the Half-Dragon’s wings unfurled wide.  

An unexpected gale-force wind slammed into Seo Do-jun first, disrupting his balance.  

The Half-Dragon, now high in the sky, expanded its chest and began inhaling deeply.  

“Fuuuuuuu—!”  

‘Breath attack?’  

Seo Do-jun’s eyes gleamed with interest.  

Had this been a true dragon, even Seo Do-jun would’ve had no choice but to tense up.  

A dragon’s breath was that terrifying.  

But this was just a Half-Dragon.  

Could it really unleash a breath attack as potent as a pure dragon’s?  

‘No way.’  

Breath attacks absorbed all surrounding magic before expelling it as a destructive force.  

Knowing this mechanism, Seo Do-jun remained unshaken—despite the Half-Dragon’s inhalation, the ambient magic showed little fluctuation.  

“PHA—AAAAAAAH!”  

It expelled the breath in one explosive burst.  

A pillar of dark-hued magic erupted from the Half-Dragon’s gaping maw.  

“…A fake breath attack, but still a breath attack, huh?”  

Though taken aback by its unexpected power, Seo Do-jun calmly swung his sword.  

The problem was that the Half-Dragon’s breath lasted far longer than anticipated, and its force surpassed even sword aura.  

Seo Do-jun hastily retrieved a spear made from a One-Horned Kowabiru’s horn from his dimensional space and hurled it.  

The spear sliced through the wind, aiming straight for the Half-Dragon’s waist—  

THUD!  

But it lacked the power to pierce the heavily scaled flesh.  

Still, the attack wasn’t futile.  

Caught off guard, the Half-Dragon’s upper body swayed, slightly altering the breath’s trajectory.  

Seizing the moment, Seo Do-jun flung more javelins in rapid succession.  

THUD! THUD!  

With slightly more time, he reinforced the spears’ power, but the scales still held firm.  

However, the accumulated pain and disruption threw the Half-Dragon’s balance completely off, sending its breath attack wildly off course.  

‘So maintaining direction is difficult.’  

CRACK—BOOM!  

The earth split apart where the breath had passed—proof of just how formidable Seo Do-jun was to have blocked it with just a sword.  

“GRAAAAAH!”  

Enraged by the wasted effort of its breath attack, the Half-Dragon charged at Seo Do-jun.  

Unlike the giants, who had been helpless against its speed, Seo Do-jun matched every movement.  

CLANG!  

Every clash between Seo Do-jun’s sword and the Half-Dragon’s bones produced a grating sound.  

Seo Do-jun’s sword, after all, had been reforged from a bone greatsword once wielded by a primal chieftain.  

As he deflected a downward strike aimed at his shoulder, Seo Do-jun simultaneously thrust at the Half-Dragon’s collarbone.  

His defense and counter flowed seamlessly—a flawless, economical motion.  

“Where do you think you’re aiming?!”  

WHOOSH—!  

The Half-Dragon’s wings flared wide again, yanking its body backward as if pulled by an invisible force.  

Seo Do-jun’s slash cut only air, but rather than frustration, he realized the wings were the primary obstacle in this fight.  

For Half-Dragons, wings were vital—not just for flight and unpredictable movement but also for offense and defense.  

SHWING—CRACK!  

The Half-Dragon suddenly spun midair, extending a wing bone like a blade toward Seo Do-jun’s neck.  

“…!”  

CLANG—!  

Seo Do-jun barely raised his sword in time—a second slower, and he would’ve been severely wounded.  

“Let’s see how long you can keep this up!”  

Gnashing its teeth, the Half-Dragon launched another furious assault.  

For it, its entire body was a weapon.  

Fists, elbows, knees, even headbutts—bones jutted out with every strike, turning its limbs into deadly implements.  

The only saving grace was that the bones weren’t excessively long.  

Combined with its near-impervious scales, the Half-Dragon fought recklessly, ignoring most attacks—a style that played to its strengths.  

CLANG!  

A strike Seo Do-jun had aimed at a perceived gap was blocked by a wing.  

The pair of wings moving freely behind its back acted like living shields.  

“Seems like we’ve warmed up enough… Time to tear off those cumbersome wings first.”  

A storm-like aura erupted from Seo Do-jun’s body.