SFRW-Chapter 267

Ch. 267 Sword God From The Ruined World

The reason the kingdoms of Barbar, Gauman, and Bamut feared the Emperor’s personal knights was their strength that transcended human limits.  

Their cruelty and persistence – devoid of blood or tears – was enough to make even the flesh-eating Barbarian warriors lose their spirit.  

They were the most terrifying beings on planet Tamad, called the incarnations of demons, the Emperor’s personal knights…  

‘H-how…’  

The knight commander couldn’t move a finger despite the screams coming from behind him.  

The sounds of his subordinates – who had hunted countless knights, mages, and Barbarian warriors across the three kingdoms – screaming miserably didn’t feel real.  

Above all else.  

‘What the hell is happening! What kind of situation is this?!’  

The commander wanted to turn his head immediately to check at the desperate screams behind him.  

But Seo Do-jun’s gaze staring straight at him served as a warning.  

That if he turned his head, his neck would be cut.  

Had he ever felt such overwhelming fear and helplessness before?  

Never.  

As time passed anxiously and his entire body became drenched in sweat…  

“Uncle, we’re done here.”  

At Choi Kang-soo’s words coming from behind the commander, Seo Do-jun nodded as if to say good job.  

‘…Already over?’  

None of the 49 knights in the Emperor’s personal guard were weak.  

As those who protected the Emperor and carried out his will, their primary and secondary qualifications were all about strength.  

And yet they had slaughtered all 49 of these knights in less than 15 minutes?  

Moreover, there wasn’t even a hint of panting in Choi Kang-soo’s voice as he answered.  

‘Mon…sters…’  

The commander never imagined he’d be saying to others what had been said to him countless times.  

“Now, shall we go see the Emperor?”  

At Seo Do-jun’s words, the commander finally exhaled sharply.  

The enormous pressure weighing him down had disappeared as if washed away.  

“Wh-who the hell are you people?”  

Seo Do-jun answered the commander’s question about their identity simply:  

“Liberators.”  

“Liberators?”  

At the commander’s questioning tone, Seo Do-jun closed his mouth as if he had nothing more to say and gave a look telling him to lead the way.  

After a moment’s hesitation, the commander had no choice but to guide them to the Emperor as Seo Do-jun wished.  

Though the pressure restraining him had disappeared, Seo Do-jun had completely crushed his will to resist, forcing him to behave like a docile lamb.  

While Seo Do-jun and Choi Kang-soo followed the commander to the Emperor, the battle on the Toyarman Plains was growing increasingly fierce.  

Even in war, where the goal is to kill the enemy, there would naturally be lulls after a certain time.  

Moreover, though not officially agreed upon, Gauman and Bamut had implicitly decided to jointly attack Barbar today.  

But the moment Gauman’s knights began mercilessly cutting down Bamut’s mages, the situation descended into uncontrollable chaos.  

Now Barbar wasn’t the main enemy – it had become a situation where anyone not an ally had to be killed.  

‘Is it because of that fog?’  

Seo Do-jun guessed while looking at the black fog faintly visible even to his eyes.  

The three kingdoms’ hostility-filled situation, where malice was openly expressed, clearly showed Rahf had been up to something.  

If nothing else, Rahf would do his absolute best when it came to Grichuk’s recovery.  

As he thought this, an unfamiliar voice reached Seo Do-jun’s ears:  

“He’s not… a dark mage?”  

The Emperor immediately realized something was wrong when the commander brought Seo Do-jun and Choi Kang-soo before him.  

The Emperor subtly stepped back with his left foot while twisting his upper body, taking a stance that allowed both offense and defense simultaneously.  

“I thought he’d be a complete madman… He looks more normal than expected?”  

In Choi Kang-soo’s mind, he had imagined the Emperor as half-mad.  

But what was this?  

In reality, the Emperor looked surprisingly ordinary. And judging by how he naturally assessed the situation and took stance, he seemed quite capable.  

“Who are they?”  

The Emperor asked the commander as if scolding him.  

“These are…”  

After struggling with how to answer, the commander finally frowned and replied:  

“Liberators.”  

“Liberators?”  

The Emperor’s eyes twisted at the answer. As if hearing nonsense, anger began creeping across his face.  

“Where are all the knights?”  

When mentioning the Emperor’s personal knights, Choi Kang-soo answered casually in the commander’s place:  

“Those Emperor’s personal knights or whatever? What about them? I let them all… rest in peace?”  

The Emperor’s eyebrows twitched as he glared at the commander.  

His cold eyes seemed to ask if this was true and what the commander had been doing while they died. The commander could only lower his head.  

“Ha!”  

Seeing the commander’s helpless appearance unlike anything before, the Emperor let out a stifled laugh.  

At the same time, his wariness of Seo Do-jun and Choi Kang-soo peaked.  

“How dare you, not knowing who I…”  

“Who? You’re just Barhaut’s dog.”  

As Seo Do-jun cut him off, the Emperor’s expression twisted again in surprise.  

“I told you. We’re liberators. We’ll kill you now and free this world from Barhaut. So…”  

Pausing briefly, Seo Do-jun drew his sword from subspace and continued:  

“You’d better struggle as hard as you can.”  

Seo Do-jun swung his sword lightly at the Emperor, but the result was anything but light.  

BOOM—  

“…Ugh!”  

With a explosive sound, the Emperor was sent flying back to crash onto the ground.  

Staggering up, the Emperor looked at his arms.  

Both arms, condensed with dense magic, were trembling uncontrollably.  

From this single strike, the Emperor could be certain:  

‘This is absolutely not an opponent I can handle!’  

The commander watching the Emperor’s fear and confusion showed no sign of surprise.  

“Aren’t you supposed to do something as the knight commander?”  

Choi Kang-soo stepped forward from behind, flicking his Divine Sword.  

When the commander remained silent despite his provocation:  

“What? No confidence? You seemed decent at first… but got scared after your underlings all died?”  

Choi Kang-soo kept needling him.  

The commander glanced at the fight between the Emperor and Seo Do-jun. Seo Do-jun was overwhelming the Emperor one-sidedly.  

No, it was so one-sided that calling it a fight was embarrassing – Seo Do-jun was toying with the Emperor like a cat with a mouse.  

“Hmm.”  

Judging by Seo Do-jun and Choi Kang-soo’s actions, would they spare him if he stayed out of the Emperor’s execution?  

No way.  

The commander raised his greatsword again, resolved to at least struggle before death.  

“That’s right, that’s how you should act with pride. But let me ask one thing – are you even human?”  

Choi Kang-soo expressed doubt at the commander’s physique, which seemed slightly different from a human’s.  

After a moment’s hesitation at the question, the commander removed and discarded the helmet covering his face.  

A broad face, bulging large eyes, a flattened nose bridge with nostrils that seemed ready to inhale rain, a grotesquely large mouth, prominent cheekbones, and protruding lower canines.  

“An orc?”  

Choi Kang-soo was immediately reminded of orc warriors from fantasy movies he’d seen on Earth.  

To be precise, a half-orc, but the commander saw no need to explain.  

They were extremely rare even on Tamad, and nearly all had died in Barhaut’s conquest wars.  

Effectively the only surviving half-orc, the commander was also a traitor who had sworn loyalty to Barhaut alongside the Emperor to survive.  

“Well, it’s quite surprising, but I’m not fazed at all. After all I’ve been through, this is nothing, you know?”  

Saying this, Choi Kang-soo raised his Divine Sword.  

The thought of single-handedly defeating the Emperor’s personal knights – who made even the three kings tremble – naturally put him in a good mood.  

‘Divine Sword, doesn’t this make me worthy of being called a Martial God capable of ruling a planet?’  

The Divine Sword didn’t even respond, as if asking if this was his first time having such delusions.  

Immediately, Seo Do-jun began swinging his sword at the Emperor while Choi Kang-soo faced the commander.  

While Seo Do-jun and Choi Kang-soo dealt with the Emperor and commander, Rahf could focus entirely on gathering souls without interference.  

Especially since Seo Do-jun had even sent Shinjo to protect Rahf when the commander appeared, eliminating the need to worry about ordinary enemies.  

“Guh… guh… guh…”  

Shinjo intermittently heard Grichuk’s groans as he observed the knight’s changes.  

After being struck by Vampica’s ‘Power of Godslaying’, Grichuk had barely clung to life.  

Only Rahf’s emergency measures had prevented his soul from dissipating entirely.  

Creak. Creak. Crack.  

Each time Rahf forcibly drew souls from those who died on the Toyarman Plains and infused their power into Grichuk, the knight’s crushed armor gradually regained its original form.  

As the soul power grew stronger, magic filled Grichuk, and his near-limitless regeneration and recovery abilities began manifesting again.  

While Shinjo was happy to see Grichuk returning to his former self, he also felt a heaviness in his heart.  

But since Seo Do-jun had permitted it, Shinjo didn’t dwell on it further.  

Rahf watched Grichuk’s condition while greedily gathering every soul drifting over the plains.  

‘Hm? What are these?’  

He sensed numerous souls emitting unusually powerful energy.  

They were near a low hill somewhat distant from where the three kingdoms’ forces were battling.  

Exactly 49 in number.  

‘Some idiots must have attacked and gotten wrecked! Keuk-keuk-keuk!’  

Only then did Rahf understand why Shinjo had come to guard him when he should have been with Seo Do-jun.  

‘With souls this strong, they must have been formidable warriors!’  

Souls naturally varied in quality.  

Many believed all human souls were equal, but that was just the ignorant deluding themselves.  

How could the soul of someone who lived thoughtlessly compare to one who consistently achieved meaningful accomplishments?  

Smiling, Rahf quickly absorbed the 49 souls – enough to overwhelm thousands of soldiers – into the Death Knight’s Essence.  

‘I’ll definitely make you… a Transcendent!’  

Rahf gazed at Grichuk with burning eyes of obsession and desire, renewing his resolve.  

As he busily gathered souls to restore Grichuk and forge the essence, Rahf detected another extraordinarily powerful soul.  

One surpassing even the 49 knights in strength.  

‘Is this… human?’  

All living beings’ souls emitted unique wavelengths.  

This was why human souls were distinctly different from other species’.  

But this soul seemed human yet not, carrying an alien wavelength.  

‘A half-breed?’  

Having collected all kinds of souls since his dark mage days obsessed with creating a Death Knight, Rahf recognized it immediately.  

Only one type of soul carried two different wavelengths simultaneously:  

Those of mixed blood.  

‘Who is this? What was he doing to possess such strength?’  

Though curious, Rahf couldn’t leave his spot and hurriedly collected the soul first.  

Despite handling countless souls, this was his first encountering one so powerful, filling him with anticipation.  

And it didn’t disappoint.  

As the Death Knight’s Essence absorbed the powerful soul, its energy expanded dramatically.  

‘Jackpot! With souls like this, we might even surpass the Transcendent level!’  

Unfortunately, no more souls of that caliber could be found anywhere on the plains.  

Meanwhile, the land had begun taking on a reddish hue as if burning.  

The great battle on the Toyarman Plains that had begun at dawn continued unabated beneath the crimson sunset.