SFRW-Chapter 222

Ch. 222 Sword God From The Ruined World

“What the hell are these…?!”  

Choi Kang-soo frowned as he hastily raised his sword against the Black Knight that appeared before him.  

Clang—!  

The sheer weight behind the blade sent Choi Kang-soo skidding backward.  

“Attacking without warning?!”  

Despite his outburst, Choi Kang-soo remained tense.  

That single clash had already proven this opponent was far stronger than any paladin they’d faced before.  

‘Still, they’re clearly inferior to Grichuk.’  

The similar armor and aura left no doubt—these were Black Knights like Grichuk. Choi Kang-soo braced for their abilities.  

Right on cue, the Black Knight swung its sword through empty air. A dark rift appeared, swallowing the blade whole before—  

『Watch your back!』  

Even without the Divine Sword’s warning, Choi Kang-soo’s heightened senses detected the attack.  

Clang—!  

He violently parried the blade emerging from a newly formed darkness behind him, then immediately pivoted to strike.  

『Like Grichuk, they’ll have insane regeneration and recovery. Plus spatial control—remember that!』  

Heeding the advice, Choi Kang-soo thrust toward the gap in the knight’s left pauldron.  

The knight reacted, trying to deflect—but Choi Kang-soo twisted his wrist mid-swing, redirecting the blade to the right pauldron’s weak point instead.  

Thunk!  

His sword sank deep into something fleshy.  

The momentarily stiffened knight moved to counterattack as if unharmed—  

“The real strike is this.”  

Choi Kang-soo’s blade erupted with blinding holy light, obliterating the knight’s entire right shoulder.  

Whoosh—!  

For beings relying on corrupt darkness, Choi Kang-soo’s holy energy was their natural nemesis.  

Staggering back, the maimed knight showed no pain despite its gruesome wound. The middle-aged man’s square-jawed face remained expressionless as black smoke coiled from the injury, slowly regenerating flesh and bone.  

“Damn cockroaches.”  

Choi Kang-soo clicked his tongue at the grotesque regeneration but stomped forward, denying recovery time.  

***

The dozen Black Knights’ arrival instantly shifted the battle’s tide.  

“Ooooh!”  

Archbishop Caberche cheered louder than anyone as the near-massacre transformed.  

“The Apostle of Bahat has sent them to save us!”  

“Apostle of Bahat.”  

The Pope had revealed the mysterious man’s title during the Second Crusade’s declaration.  

“Th-that’s… Kembra, isn’t it?”  

A bishop gasped, recognizing the knight fighting Hyun Joo-yeon.  

Kembra—former captain of Alita Kingdom’s royal guard—had slaughtered countless paladins and priests during the war. Officially, he’d died in battle.  

“Bahat is omnipotent! He even embraces former enemies!”  

The fanatical archbishop’s words drew shocked looks, but questioning a zealot was pointless.  

The bishops soon realized—every Black Knight had been renowned warriors during the First Crusade.  

Servito, the ‘Pillar of Lomeunu Kingdom’. 

Oanos, the ‘Judge of Sopeuna Kingdom’. 

None were ordinary.  

“THAT’S IT! THAT’S THE POWER!”  

Caberche trembled with euphoria witnessing their impossible regeneration.  

His deepest desire!  

The key to restoring his aged body to youth!  

“With that… just with that…”  

Though the archbishop’s state was alarming, the bishops showed no reaction. His obsession with immortality and rumors of drugs and young girls were open secrets.  

None could condemn him—because they were the same.  

Those who’d tasted the Banquet of Madness became addicted, chasing its pleasures repeatedly. These bishops too were enslaved to its depravities.  

“Kill them! Slaughter all who deny Bahat!”  

At Caberche’s shriek, paladins and holy soldiers joined the Black Knights’ assault.  

***

The Black Knights were strong.  

Discount Grichuks, perhaps?  

Downgraded in every aspect, but still formidable.  

Whoosh—!  

Three arrows struck head, chest, and stomach in succession, detonating on impact.  

Boom! Boom! Boom!  

“…Annoying.”  

Gloria sighed as the knight’s armor shattered—only to immediately regenerate.  

Honestly, she was struggling.  

As an archer, her strength lay in keeping distance while bombarding foes. Against knights, she typically maintained dominance through mobility—even holding her own against Veronica or Rakun in sparring.  

But spatial manipulation negated her advantage entirely.  

Slash—!  

A blade suddenly materialized from darkness, forcing Gloria to desperately block with her bow.  

When another dark rift opened near her hip, she twisted like a squirrel, maintaining constant motion—the only way to evade attacks ignoring conventional space.  

Meanwhile, her hands never stopped drawing arrows.  

BOOM!  

One knight finally exploded into chunks.  

“Kukukuku! These guys are trash!”  

Kusak stood triumphant, a massive fire dragon looming behind him.  

(Though ‘trash’ hardly justified unleashing his ultimate fire magic.)  

His victory revealed the key—  

‘One decisive blow is enough.’  

Gloria’s eyes sparkled with realization.  

The others reached the same conclusion.  

Unlike Grichuk, who’d survived Seo Do-jun’s attacks through sheer tenacity, these knights could be permanently erased with sufficient force.  

Koroka acted first.  

“Hoooooo—!”  

Inhaling deeply, he unleashed his most devastating breath attack—as if venting his Grichuk-induced frustrations.  

“Fwoooooosh—!”  

The blast that had staggered even Grichuk vaporized its target instantly. No remains. No traces.  

Paladins and soldiers froze in terror.  

Veronica and Rakun followed, annihilating their opponents with overwhelming strikes. Shinjo, Hyun Joo-yeon, and Choi Kang-soo soon added to the tally.  

Finally, Gloria—  

Twang!  

Her overdraw bow released an arrow spiraling like a tornado, piercing clean through a knight’s torso.  

With the method established, the group systematically eradicated the remaining Black Knights.  

Grichuk fought most fiercely of all.  

Outwardly cold, his actions carried empathy—granting his fallen brethren the eternal rest he himself craved.  

The brief resistance collapsed entirely.  

Demoralized paladins and soldiers became mere obstacles.  

Slash!  

“Gahk!”  

Stab!  

“Sp-spare me…!”  

The group showed no mercy.  

Letting them live meant facing them again later. Their complicity with the corrupt Papal leadership warranted death.  

Soon, only Caberche and three bishops remained.  

The archbishop’s face—having cycled from hell to heaven and back—was too pitiful to behold.  

“Why… Bahat promised… my youth… immortality…”  

His deranged muttering drew disgusted frowns.  

Only the resigned bishops still seemed human.  

Seo Do-jun glanced at Seraph.  

Though calmer than before, her eyes still swirled with conflicted emotions.  

‘She needs time.’  

Approaching Caberche, Seo Do-jun was intercepted after three steps.  

“I’ll… end this.”  

“Are you sure?”  

“I must.”  

Though turmoil still clouded her eyes, her white-knuckled grip on her sword revealed iron determination.  

Seo Do-jun nodded, stepping back.  

With a grateful bow, Seraph turned to the archbishop.  

“Y-you… Seraph! You could grant me youth! Your beauty alone could—”  

The once-kind father figure was gone. Only a monster remained—one obsessed with eternal youth.  

“Rest now.”  

Her blade flashed.  

Thud.  

Caberche’s head rolled.  

Seraph exhaled shakily, purging her emotions.  

Jerome wordlessly executed the remaining bishops.  

“Pathetic,” Hyun Joo-yeon muttered.  

Seo Do-jun simply nodded.  

“She’s strong. She’ll recover,” Gloria added.  

Another nod.  

“That damn Pope… I’ll grind him into mincemeat!” Choi Kang-soo growled.  

With Caberche dealt with, nothing obstructed their path to the Papal Court.  

Except—  

“Whew! Now that’s a welcome party!”  

Tens of thousands of paladins and holy soldiers blocked the gates.  

Their fight wasn’t over.  

“Just gotta clear this last batch, eh?”  

Kusak gathered magic for an all-out attack—  

“I’ll handle it.”  

Seo Do-jun drew his sword from subspace.  

Surveying the army, he began channeling energy.  

Vandeyan Family Swordsmanship  

Sixth Form: Esleshunepe Fluvia Trigono!  

-A Rain of Triangular Stars Like Falling Meteors-  

A pillar of blue magic erupted skyward from his blade—  

Then shattered.  

Whoooooosh—!  

Countless azure stars rained down upon the defenders like a meteor shower.  

Triangular blades of light descended.