SFRW-Chapter 126

Ch. 126 Sword God From The Ruined World

‘No magic suppression?’  

The moment Seo Do-jun stepped inside the crater’s cave, he immediately realized Rebley’s power no longer affected him. Though he didn’t know the reason, he was certain the cave had formed a separate space.  

In that case, there was no need to hesitate any longer.  

Seo Do-jun summoned the Death Knights from the Soul Gem.  

“Uncle-Seo Do-jun!”  

Surrounded by dozens of suddenly appearing Death Knights with fierce glints in their eyes, Choi Kang-soo, desperate to survive, called Seo Do-jun ‘Uncle’.  

“Protect Choi Kang-soo.”  

After giving that order, Seo Do-jun faced the monsters that had followed him. Though his body was heavily damaged, now that the magic suppression was gone, these monsters were no threat.  

With each sword swing, multiple monsters split apart—schlik schlik—and collapsed. The confined space amplified his simple movements’ effectiveness.  

‘It’d be better if I could change my magic attribute.’  

If he converted it using the newly acquired lightning energy, destructive power would maximize further. Moreover, in this limited space, lightning would peak.  

But Choi Kang-soo was the problem.  

No matter how much the Death Knights protected him, he couldn’t recklessly use unpredictable lightning energy. Unaware of this, Choi Kang-soo could only watch in awe.  

The sight of Seo Do-jun effortlessly holding his own against the horde made respect gleam in Choi Kang-soo’s eyes.  

‘Incredible! So that’s the world’s strongest Hero? But…’  

The respect was short-lived. As he thought deeper, Choi Kang-soo’s expression twisted. This was completely different from Seo Do-jun’s rift zone strength.  

‘Did he fight like that on purpose?’  

He wanted to curse, but seeing Seo Do-jun fighting to protect him made him hold back.  

‘Are these guys his lackeys too?’  

Regardless, Choi Kang-soo felt slightly relieved seeing the protective Death Knights.  

At any rate, this hellish reality would soon end. Unconsciously, Choi Kang-soo’s expression relaxed.  

But reality wasn’t kind. Despite Seo Do-jun overwhelming monsters, the situation wasn’t resolving easily.  

It was the numbers.  

“What the hell? Why so many?!”  

As more monsters fell—outpacing Seo Do-jun’s kills—Choi Kang-soo grew uneasy again. The increasing numbers narrowed the once-spacious plaza.  

“I-I’m gonna get crushed to death!”  

Desperate, Choi Kang-soo looked up at the ceiling hole. With Seo Do-jun’s abilities, he could probably jump that high while carrying him.  

“We need to fight outside!”  

Or just run away!  

Choi Kang-soo swallowed the last part and shouted, but Seo Do-jun shook his head firmly.  

“If we go outside, you’ll want to come back in.”  

“Huh?”  

Seo Do-jun briefly explained the outside situation. Hearing ‘hundreds of thousands of monsters’, Choi Kang-soo paled.  

The mere thought was dizzying.  

“T-then what? Get buried alive?!”  

Where would someone get buried under monsters?  

While panicking, Seo Do-jun racked his brain for solutions.  

‘Going outside is worse.’  

If magic suppression reactivated outside, he couldn’t fight as now. More importantly, potentially losing Death Knights protecting Choi Kang-soo was problematic.  

At least with them guarding, Seo Do-jun could fight worry-free.  

Additionally, even Seo Do-jun couldn’t guarantee how much longer he could hold out physically.  

‘A door?’  

Looking around, Seo Do-jun spotted a door leading out.  

“What’s beyond that?”  

“Nothing! Just a long passage! Ending with a small puddle.”  

Choi Kang-soo explained how he’d ended up here.  

The conclusion: path blocked. Hearing this, Seo Do-jun sighed shortly.  

‘Is the worst option the only way?’  

Then suddenly, Seo Do-jun wondered why Rebley left Choi Kang-soo—and Palaresta—alone here.  

“Were there corpses or traces here?”  

At Seo Do-jun’s question, Choi Kang-soo asked how he knew, then told about the corpse he’d found.  

“…I touched it lightly, then white light appeared and disappeared.”  

“Light?”  

Palaresta was the greatest Holy Knight from the ruined world.  

Holy Knight.  

While ordinary knights served monarchs, Holy Knights literally served gods and protected their foundations.  

In the ruined world, only one god was worshipped, their religion recognized by all nations. Even an emperor couldn’t disrespect the Pope, and Palaresta guarded him.  

‘The Shield of Mute.’  

Another title for Palaresta—the Shield of Mute, the ruined world’s sole god.  

Seo Do-jun had once sparred Palaresta and couldn’t defeat him even simply. His defensive abilities were unparalleled.  

‘And his holy magic was…absolute bullshit.’  

Just remembering made Seo Do-jun’s eye twitch.  

Palaresta’s holy magic specialized in defense and healing, some still vivid in Seo Do-jun’s mind.  

At any rate, the light appearing when Choi Kang-soo touched Palaresta’s corpse might mean broken holy magic.  

‘If Palaresta, he’d use remaining life to prevent body defilement.’  

That’s the man he was.  

An insufferably stubborn man.  

Of course, he might’ve chosen that knowing no escape here.  

‘If right, when holy magic broke, Rebley’s suppression should’ve reactivated…’  

So why hasn’t it?  

Then, Palaresta’s armor and sword caught Seo Do-jun’s eye.  

The Armor of Mute and Divine Sword.  

Imbued with immense holy power, they were Vatican’s top treasures—something even the Pope couldn’t handle carelessly.  

‘Wasn’t ownership decided through divine revelation?’  

Honestly, Seo Do-jun had little Vatican connection and disliked them.  

They meddled in everything—no wars, empires should embrace smaller kingdoms, nobles uphold noblesse oblige, etc.  

Nobles, especially high-ranking, inevitably strained with the Vatican. Naturally, House Vandeyan wasn’t exception.  

Thus, from childhood, Seo Do-jun heard more of the Vatican bad than good. Even as an adult, their hypocrisy made him reject them like family.  

‘If holy power in Armor and Sword remains…’  

Then the current situation made sense.  

Seo Do-jun immediately headed to them. Cutting monsters away, he picked up the Divine Sword first.  

Whoosh—  

Gripping it, refreshing coolness spreads from fingertips throughout his body.  

“So this is the Divine Sword.”  

Definitely different.  

But that was it.  

After strange coolness passed, nothing changed. Channeling magic yielded nothing special.  

Swinging experimentally, balance and sharpness were exceptional, but sensing no holy power—most important—Seo Do-jun was disappointed.  

Armor also yielded nothing.  

“What are you doing?!”  

Mid-fight, Seo Do-jun examining dead man’s gear baffled Choi Kang-soo.  

“Loot after surviving!”  

At this critical moment, Seo Do-jun’s behavior looked like corpse greed.  

Ignoring him, Seo Do-jun meticulously rechecked sword and armor.  

Same result.  

‘If the holy power was present, monsters would’ve reacted negatively.’  

No such sign.  

‘Or did Palaresta’s long-maintained holy magic turn this space into a barrier?’  

Plausible suspicion.  

But how long would it last?  

Given Rebley’s power, space breach was a matter of time.  

‘For now, only leave.’  

No other options, Seo Do-jun stored Armor of Mute in subspace.  

As a ruined world relic, he couldn’t leave it.  

About to store sword too when—  

“Give that! I need to hold something!”  

Doubtful it’d help, but better than empty-handed trembling Choi Kang-soo, Seo Do-jun tossed it.  

Choi Kang-soo picked up Divine Sword—  

“Aaaah!”  

With a scream, he threw it away.  

“It just refreshes. No need to freak out.”  

Assuming coolness, Seo Do-jun brushed off.  

But Choi Kang-soo’s response froze Seo Do-jun mid-swing.  

“I-It talked!”  

“Talked?”  

“Haunted sword!”  

Choi Kang-soo stared fearfully at the sword as if memory alone horrified.  

“It talked?”  

“Yeah!”  

“What did it say?”  

“…W-well…”  

Hesitating, Seo Do-jun decapitated monster and pressed.  

“What did it say?!”  

“…Called me stupid…”  

“What?”  

“Stupid! Haunted sword called me stupid!”  

Not seeming to lie, Seo Do-jun stared at the Divine Sword.  

“Throw it back.”  

Choi Kang-soo shook head vigorously.  

“No! Ghost possession?!”  

“Stop the nonsense and throw!”  

At the yell, Choi Kang-soo reluctantly picked up the sword—but his expression twisted oddly.  

“Throw here!”  

At the yell, Choi Kang-soo gave a strange look.  

“Says not to throw.”  

“What?”  

“Sword… Ghost says nothing to do with ‘Vandeyan bastards,’ told me to hold it. Will help me escape.”  

At ‘Vandeyan’, Seo Do-jun’s expression hardened.  

Choi Kang-soo couldn’t have known that word.  

‘Don’t tell me…Ego Sword?’  

Seo Do-jun shocked Mute’s Divine Sword was Ego Sword.  

But why dislike him?  

No, since ‘Vandeyan bastards,’ maybe ancestor history.  

Bad history.  

“And says wear armor too.”  

“Armor?”  

“If I wear the armor, it will help me escape this filthy place… But seriously haunted— Ow, okay! Not haunted! Damn it! What’s happening?!”  

Listening to rambling, Seo Do-jun decided not to overthink and tossed armor.  

“A-are you sure I can wear this? Creepy corpse had it.”  

“Holy Knight relic.”  

“Holy Knight?”  

Choi Kang-soo’s expression changed again.  

‘Holy Knight’ carried weight—no further explanation needed.  

“Well, then…”  

Choi Kang-soo removed combat suit, donned the Armor of Mute.  

Despite the size difference, armor adjusted perfectly.  

“Crazy comfortable. Never seen tech like this.”  

Choi Kang-soo marveled at the seamless fit.  

And in that moment—  

Fwoooosh—!  

Blinding white light erupted from Choi Kang-soo—more precisely, Armor and Sword—flooding the entire space.