SFRW-Chapter 235

Ch. 235 Sword God From The Ruined World

“…I can’t tell who this bastard is, but he’s skilled enough to create dimensional portals at will?”  

Rooker Himaid clicked his tongue after examining the traces of a dimensional portal.  

“He can easily create dimensional portals? Is that even possible?”  

At Scal Himaid’s incredulous question, Rooker – who insisted on being called ‘big brother’ for being born one minute earlier – chuckled.  

“Well, that’s why even the great Barhaut got taken down without putting up a fight.”  

“Is this time for jokes? If we fail to catch him, we’ll have to take partial responsibility too.”  

“Responsibility? We can just say our skills weren’t enough.”  

“Stop playing word games!”  

As Scal shouted, Rooker reluctantly pulled out a golden leather pouch from subspace.  

“Damn, I was saving this… I really didn’t want to use it yet…”  

With a pained expression, Rooker scooped out half a handful of golden powder and carefully sprinkled it where the portal had been.  

Fizz! Crackle! Pop!  

The golden powder sparked intensely as it formed the outline of a portal. But there wasn’t nearly enough powder to complete it properly.  

“…What the? Why is this portal so huge?!”  

Rooker looked genuinely shocked at the unexpectedly large portal. “It’s not even half complete yet!”  

Normally half a handful would suffice, but this required three times that amount.  

“What are you waiting for?”  

Scal’s impatient prodding made Rooker curse:  

“Goddamn it!”  

He reluctantly poured out another full handful, and then some more, before finally reconstructing the proper portal.  

“Now we’ve only got enough left for one more use! And we can never get more! Just wait till I get my hands on those bastards – I’ll rip their heads off!”  

Rooker was furious at having to use his precious reserves. Scal watched silently before urging:  

“Let’s hurry before they move again.”  

All traces of his earlier nonchalance were gone, replaced by urgency at the thought of possibly needing to use their last remaining powder.  

Rooker leapt through first, followed by Scal. When they arrived…  

“…They just left!”  

They’d missed their targets by mere moments.  

“Well? Use the rest.”  

“…FUUUUUUUCK!”  

Rooker’s furious scream echoed through the void.  

***  

“Now we’re halfway there!”  

Exactly twenty.  

Having liberated twenty of Barhaut’s prized Guardian Planets, Seo Do-jun’s group felt more excitement than worry.  

Of course, they didn’t assume future liberations would be this easy. They all sensed challenges were coming.  

Yet everyone’s faces remained bright because their rapid progress had brought tremendous growth.  

This wasn’t just about Seo Do-jun absorbing the Dragon Heart, or Choi Kang-soo and Grichuk absorbing divine power and the Black Knight’s essence.  

Kusak, having absorbed numerous Eternal Embers, successfully integrated a fire spirit stone into his power.  

Rakun obtained the legendary Titan’s Tear elixir and perfectly fused an earth spirit stone into his body.  

Hyun Joo-yeon’s abilities greatly increased after sealing a light spirit stone into her sword using a Seed of Radiance from one administrator.  

Gloria gained semi-spiritualist abilities by bonding with a wind spirit that had been enslaved by another administrator.  

The administrators each possessed rare treasures that became valuable gifts for the group.  

However, Veronica, Shinjo, Koroka and Rahf hadn’t obtained matching items during these twenty liberations.  

Koroka, as a half-dragon, lacked nothing with his innate abilities. Rahf remained distrusted and sidelined.  

But Veronica and Shinjo were problematic – having failed to obtain suitable spirit stones (lightning and water) or other treasures, their progress had stalled.  

“Can we say our journey has reached its turning point?”  

At Veronica’s cheerful question, everyone nodded.  

Despite potentially feeling left behind as others grew stronger, she never showed it outwardly. Shinjo was the same – genuinely celebrating his comrades’ growth.  

(Though Seo Do-jun had secretly seen them practicing sword forms late into the night, and hoped they’d soon obtain suitable power-ups.)  

“From now on we must stay alert. Given Barhaut’s personality, he’ll surely send considerable forces to capture…”  

“Loose lips sink ships,” Veronica chided Kusak.  

“Are you them?”  

A man standing halfway through a distant portal addressed them, surrounded by corrupted spirits radiating intense power – clearly an Administrator’s Direct force.  

“Araes?”  

Rakun frowned at the giant man resting a massive greatsword beside him.  

“That’s Araes?”  

Veronica and Kusak looked shocked, recognizing the name.  

Standing 2 meters tall with a square-jawed, fierce-eyed visage, Araes was one of Barhaut’s direct subordinates.  

“Famous guy?”  

Choi Kang-soo asked. Rakun immediately replied:  

“Infamous. Strong enough to destroy a planet single-handedly.”  

“Alone?”  

Choi Kang-soo studied Araes carefully, wondering if he was one of the ‘Transcendents’ Kusak mentioned.  

The Divine Sword confirmed Araes wasn’t Transcendent-level, but was undoubtedly extremely powerful.  

“Who are you people?”  

Araes demanded, eyeing Rakun particularly. Though he didn’t recognize him, Rakun’s recognition provided enough information.  

“If you’re curious, just defeat someone and ask. They’ll tell you everything,” Kusak retorted.  

Araes nodded. Confident in his ability to enforce Barhaut’s will alone, he hefted his massive greatsword effortlessly, making Hyun Joo-yeon and others pale.  

“I’ll handle…”  

As Choi Kang-soo stepped forward, Grichuk moved first.  

“I. Will. Face. Him.”  

Araes frowned slightly at the Death Knight.  

“You think a mere Death Knight can challenge me?”  

He felt insulted.  

“You should be careful. He’s beyond any ordinary Death Knight,” Rahf sneered, overflowing with pride in Grichuk.  

“Playing with dead things because you’re weak? I’ll make sure you can neither live nor die properly,” Araes threatened before focusing on Grichuk.  

“I’ll finish this quickly.”  

Crunch!  

Araes’ massive frame shot forward instantly, leaving deep footprints. Raising his greatsword overhead, he swung down to bisect Grichuk – generating wind pressure that prevented dodging. Even Seo Do-jun was impressed.  

‘Even Grichuk would lose half his body blocking that.’  

Araes’ swordsmanship clearly justified Rakun’s claim about his planet-destroying capability.  

Just then –  

A dark oval portal formed before Grichuk, swallowing Araes’ sword strike. Simultaneously –  

BOOOOOOM!  

The diverted slash split the earth behind Grichuk with terrifying force.  

“The… the ground…”  

Hyun Joo-yeon gaped at the massive rift.  

“Clever trick!”  

Araes pretended nonchalance but was clearly surprised. His next attack differed completely – the greatsword split into eight blades striking from all directions, exploiting the dark portal’s weakness.  

This time, Grichuk couldn’t evade!  

As everyone watched tensely –  

Dozens of shadow swords materialized around Grichuk.  

“You think those fragile things can stop me?”  

Araes’ eight blades clashed violently with the shadow swords.  

Crack! Shatter!  

The shadow swords broke like glass under the greatsword’s overwhelming power. Yet Grichuk kept calmly producing more while defending.  

Then –  

Grichuk suddenly struck his own dark portal. His sword emerged from another portal above Araes’ head!  

Grichuk’s greatest advantage was his near-infinite stamina and regeneration. Even if injured, he’d recover quickly. But Araes lacked such abilities – he couldn’t afford serious wounds.  

As expected, Araes’ eyebrow twitched at Grichuk’s suicidal counterattack.  

“Impudent!”  

BOOM!  

Araes charged like a storm, abandoning his eight-blade technique to engage directly. Their battle grew increasingly fierce – Grichuk gradually being pushed back despite using portals and shadow swords skillfully.  

“Wow… Grichuk’s losing ground?”  

“How does one even become such a monster?”  

“Should we just keep watching?”  

“If we interfere, those corrupted spirits will attack in earnest,” Gloria warned, sensing their intentions.  

Just as Rahf looked to Seo Do-jun for help –  

Seo Do-jun vanished. A massive lightning bolt suddenly struck the intact sky.  

KRAKA-THOOOOOM!