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SFRW-Chapter 216
by SbmjamCh. 216 Sword God From The Ruined World
“Hah… haah… A-as expected… of Lady Seraph.”
Jerome wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to clear his vision of blood, but it was useless. Blood continued to pour from the deep gash on his forehead, dyeing his sight red.
He had charged in boldly, hoping to turn the tide, unleashing every ounce of his strength in a fierce assault—but it wasn’t enough.
The gap from ten years ago hadn’t narrowed in the slightest.
No, in fact, Seraph had grown far stronger than he had.
The difference in talent between them was vast, and the disparity in experience was equally insurmountable.
“We’ll talk more later.”
Jerome looked at her, as if asking what she meant—but in the next moment, she was already behind him, striking the back of his neck with brutal force.
Thud!
“…Ugh!”
Leaving Jerome unconscious and limp on the ground, Seraph raised her sword toward the remaining twelve paladins, who stared at her as if she were a monster.
“…Stop her! Stop her, damn it!”
From behind, Kozalt screamed, his earlier composure gone. He stumbled backward, looking as though he might turn and flee at any moment.
‘Th-that… that monstrous woman!’
Seraph, unfazed despite facing over forty paladins alone and expending her holy power, was more than enough to terrify Kozalt.
Only after confronting her directly did Kozalt truly understand.
Why the Pope hadn’t been able to kill Seraph for over a decade.
Why Bekha, the Apostle she protected, was still alive and well.
Her reputation was no lie.
The Papal Court had existed for centuries, and among all its history, she was hailed as the strongest paladin to ever live—a title not given lightly.
Wham! Slash! Crack! Crunch!
Seraph swung her sword, threw punches, and kicked without hesitation or mercy.
With Jerome—the only one she recognized—already down, the rest were nothing more than enemies to be eliminated.
She rapidly cut down their numbers, and before Kozalt knew it, only six remained standing.
‘W-we can’t stop her!’
Only after seeing Seraph drive her sword through another paladin’s collarbone did Kozalt abandon all thought of resistance and turn to flee.
Even then, he didn’t forget to order the terrified holy soldiers to block Seraph’s path.
His brilliant plan was to use the dozens of remaining soldiers as human shields while he made his escape.
But—
Twang—! Thud!
“Gyaaaaah!”
An arrow suddenly pierced deep into Kozalt’s left thigh.
Losing his balance, he collapsed with a heavy thud, shrieking in pain as he looked back at the one who had shot him.
One of Seraph’s companions stood with a bow in hand.
The Holy Prison they had set up to prevent the group from moving freely was nowhere to be seen.
“…H-how?!”
Kozalt couldn’t believe it. The Holy Prison had been reinforced with a considerable amount of holy power—it shouldn’t have been broken so easily.
While he stared in shock, the woman nocked another arrow and drew the bowstring.
Twang—!
“……!”
The arrow flew at a speed neither too fast nor too slow. Kozalt hastily conjured a barrier with his holy power.
Clink!
The arrow shattered the barrier effortlessly.
Before Kozalt could even react—
Thud!
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
This time, the arrow buried itself deep into his right thigh, making him scream.
“So eager to save your own skin that you’d sacrifice your brothers without hesitation… Is that the will of Bahat, the god you serve?”
Seraph, having finished off the remaining paladins and scattered the demoralized soldiers, now stood before Kozalt, her sword pointed at him with cold fury.
“Y-you think… this will change anything?! Don’t fool yourself! In the ten years since you left, we’ve only grown stronger! We’ve raised the banner of the Holy Empire across the entire northern region—Guh! Ugh…!”
Seraph’s sword plunged into Kozalt’s mouth, slicing his tongue to pieces.
“A mouth that spews nothing but selfish desires has no right to exist.”
Stab!
“Eyes that chase only false illusions are sinful in themselves.”
Slash! Slash!
“And ears that listen to deceit need not remain either.”
After his mouth, Seraph’s sword pierced Kozalt’s eyes, plunging him into eternal darkness, before cleanly severing his ears.
“Ghhhhaaaaaaaah!”
Kozalt writhed in agony, screaming like a beast, but Seraph only looked down at him with icy detachment.
From a distance, Seo Do-jun and the others watched, stunned by her brutal efficiency.
“See? This is why you don’t mess with religious fanatics. You better watch yourself too—crossing the line happens in an instant.”
Kusak shivered before warning Choi Kang-soo.
“W-well… he was a bad guy…”
Choi Kang-soo muttered, but even he couldn’t help but feel a chill at Seraph’s ruthlessness.
With Bishop Kozalt—once revered like a saint—reduced to a mutilated wreck in seconds, the remaining soldiers wasted no time dropping their weapons and shields, making it clear they had no will to fight further.
***
“Much has changed since you left, Lady Seraph.”
Jerome, the sole survivor, spoke as if he had let go of everything, detailing every shift in the Papal Court since Seraph’s departure.
“The Pope began recruiting new paladins in droves. Knowing the existing knights were too influenced by you, he sent them to the frontlines under the banner of holy war.”
Seraph already knew this. The 1st Knight Order, which she had once commanded, had been nearly wiped out in the war against the Empire.
Now, the Paladin Orders of the Papal Court barely had any familiar faces left.
“The few who remained, like me, were scattered across regions to serve as escorts for bishops.”
It was the Pope’s way of preventing unity—ensuring no one could wield influence within the knight orders.
“…I’m sorry.”
Seraph felt guilty for failing to protect them.
“No one blames you, Lady Seraph.”
Jerome meant it.
Her choice back then had been one no one could—or should—have forced her to make.
But it wasn’t just the Paladin Orders that had changed.
Many archbishops, bishops, and priests who, like Bekha and Seraph, had quietly opposed the Pope’s betrayal were either eliminated or corrupted over time.
“The Banquet of Madness?”
“I’ve never seen it myself. It’s only a rumor.”
The Banquet of Madness, held in secret within the Papal Court, was something too vile to describe.
Wine, drugs, women.
Through these decadent feasts, the Pope had turned everyone—from Apostles to priests—into his loyalists.
“But the most devastating blow… was Archbishop Caberche siding with the Pope.”
“Archbishop Caberche?!”
If Bekha and Seraph had shaken the Pope from the outside, Archbishop Caberche had been their ally within.
An elderly man like the Pope, he had stayed behind, unable to leave due to his frail health.
Yet even he had fallen to the Banquet of Madness.
“…Rumors say… they brought in girls under ten…”
Jerome couldn’t bring himself to finish.
Even after hearing all this, he had still obeyed the Pope’s orders, protecting Kozalt.
Disgusted with himself, he could barely speak.
“Desperate to reclaim his youth, it seems.”
Kusak’s remark made Veronica spit in disgust.
“And these people call themselves God’s representatives? They’re no different from devil-worshippers!”
Choi Kang-soo gritted his teeth, glaring at Jerome as if to say, You’re no better—you knew it was wrong but went along with it anyway.
Jerome hung his head, unable to meet his gaze.
“What is the Pope planning now?”
Did Jerome know anything about the Pope’s next move after consolidating the northern region into a Holy Empire?
Jerome spoke quietly.
“According to Bishop Kozalt… they’ve been secretly training holy soldiers in every region. Once they’re ready for war, they’ll declare a holy crusade on the southern territories.”
Of course, the exact timing was unknown.
But now, with Seo Do-jun’s group’s interference, those plans had crumbled.
“To think you could conquer a planet like this… Barhaut is even more terrifying than I thought.”
Shinjo’s words made the others nod grimly.
“You were planning something like this too, weren’t you?”
Seo Do-jun suddenly turned to Kusak.
“Me?”
“You were going to use Kerzaman to turn Africa into a warzone and spread it from there, right?”
“It wasn’t my plan, but I did think Kerzman’s idea wasn’t bad.”
Choi Kang-soo scowled, but he didn’t press further.
Back then, they had been enemies. Kusak had simply done what he had to.
“You shameless bastard.”
Kusak just chuckled, unbothered.
But Choi Kang-soo knew the position Kusak had been in back then, so he didn’t blame him further.
‘If Uncle hadn’t stepped in…’
Would Earth have been swallowed by war and reduced to ruins?
And with weapons like nuclear bombs capable of total annihilation…
The thought alone was horrifying. Choi Kang-soo shook his head, refusing to dwell on it.
“Kill me.”
Having said all he could, Jerome looked at Seraph and made his request.
“You know death isn’t the only path to atonement.”
Jerome flinched at her words.
“…Are you saying a traitor like me can never remove this stain?”
“You must show them. Show everyone the gravity of your sins—and how to atone for them. Let those still in the Papal Court see it clearly.”
Her meaning was clear: Pick up your sword and cut down the corrupt.
To Jerome, it was a cruel and cold demand.
But he didn’t hesitate long.
“…Understood. I will… make sure they all see.”
***.
Jerome, now a part of their group, led the way at the front.
“Jerome! You traitor!”
“Have you no fear of Bahat’s divine punishment?!”
“You filthy bastard! Switching sides again and again—you’d do anything to save your own skin!”
Everywhere they went, everyone they met hurled curses at him.
But Jerome endured it all in silence.
Fighting alongside Seraph, he wielded his sword with reckless abandon, not caring for his own safety.
His blade never dried of blood, his armor caked in gore—a grotesque sight.
“It’s fine. This is how it should be.”
Jerome refused to clean his armor, as if its filth reflected his current self.
“Weren’t we supposed to clear the path?”
Kusak’s question made Seo Do-jun shrug.
Jerome had charged ahead before they could, with Seraph backing him up, leaving little for the rest to do.
“Well, it’s not bad having it easy.”
“Speaking of which… where’s Koroka? Wasn’t he supposed to meet us when we reached the north?”
Veronica’s question made the others worry. It had been over two weeks with no word from him.
“He wouldn’t have joined the Papal Court… Right? You don’t think he ran into whatever hidden power the Pope has, do you?”
Even without Hyun Joo-yeon’s concern, Seo Do-jun was uneasy.
“We’ll have to wait a little longer.”
For now, there was nothing else they could do.
Five Days Later
They finally received news.
“A siege?”
Jerome looked up from the paladin he had just cut down, turning to Seraph.
“Guh… kuh… Th-they said… they’re tracking the monster… in Docheng… Apostle Soto… leading the 5th Order… Cough!”
The paladin coughed up blood before finally going still.
“Where’s Docheng?”
Jerome answered immediately.
“About 30 kilometers west of here.”
“Take point.”
The paladin had said siege—as if they had the monster cornered.
A bad feeling settled in Seo Do-jun’s chest.
Despite Jerome’s exhaustion from the recent battle, Seo Do-jun demanded they move at full speed.
Jerome nodded. Even if he collapsed from running dozens of kilometers, he would guide them.
“Wait. You won’t get far in that state.”
Choi Kang-soo used his holy power to heal Jerome’s injuries and fatigue completely.
“…Th-thank you.”
Jerome regarded Choi Kang-soo with deep respect—this level of holy power surpassed even the Pope’s.
“Quit staring and move.”
“Yes.”
Jerome took off at a sprint, Seraph and the others following close behind.
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