SFRW-Chapter 160

Ch. 160 Sword God From The Ruined World

When news of Seo Do-jun’s sudden visit reached Indonesia, the Hero association and government showed delight rather than surprise.  

Currently, Indonesia was managing to hold its own against the primitive tribes emerging from rift zones.  

Yet strangely, they couldn’t shake the feeling of being toyed with.  

The battlefield atmosphere especially suggested this.  

“Don’t they seem to be playing with us?”  

When S-rank Hero Ruhian voiced this, Tama couldn’t deny sharing the sentiment.  

“Earlier too – they could’ve pushed us to retreat, but suddenly stopped. Why?”  

At first they thought the enemies were exhausted, but clearly that wasn’t the case.  

It felt more like… they were humoring the Indonesian Heroes.  

Their apparent goal was keeping the Heroes constantly on edge through calculated engagements.  

“This is maddening. I want to wipe them out, but we can’t.”  

“Why not just nuke them? Wouldn’t that solve everything?”  

Fellow S-rank Hero Darmawan responded to Ruhian’s frustration.  

“Nukes? Since when do we have nukes?”  

“We can request from India. Bangladesh got Indian nukes, why not us?”  

“But the aftermath…”  

Ruhian hesitated at the thought of nuclear consequences.  

“If you hate nukes so much, we need to end this quickly. Once the government decides enough is enough, they’ll authorize strikes anyway.”  

As Darmawan said, if this stalemate continued, the government would inevitably resort to extreme measures.  

“If I had even half of Seo Do-jun’s power, I’d sweep them all away!”  

“Half? Would that be enough?”  

“More than enough!”  

Remembering Seo Do-jun’s capabilities, Darmawan nodded in agreement.  

As S-ranks, they’d never envied others before meeting Seo Do-jun.  

But his incomparable strength left them awestruck.  

“I’d settle for joining Casserian Guild. They must have secret training methods.”  

“Methods that turn B-ranks into S-ranks stronger than originals?”  

“Exactly! That’s how Seo Do-jun became so powerful!”  

“After this crisis ends, maybe I’ll try for South Korea too.”  

“What? Take their entrance exam?”  

“Who knows? Passing could change my life.”  

Darmawan too grew interested in this prospect.  

“Speaking of Seo Do-jun… I keep thinking of Soliaman.”  

Ruhian sighed quietly.  

“Me too. Not that it was his fault… but I still feel guilty.”  

“Enough! We’ll be apologizing to Soliaman’s spirit until we die.”  

Tama’s sharp tone made Ruhian and Darmawan exchange glances.  

Ever since Soliaman died fighting the primitive tribes while monitoring a rift zone, Tama reacted intensely to his name.  

They’d been closest friends, and Tama carried guilt for having abandoned Soliaman like others did.  

‘Sorry Soliaman! I’ll avenge you!’  

Tama’s eyes burned with fury watching the tribesmen camping leisurely 300 meters ahead.  

“Seo Do-jun is coming!”  

A Hero reporting to the association shouted excitedly.  

“Really? Personally?”  

“Yes! He’s already en route!”  

“Finally! It’s over!”  

“He took all those Black Tigers, but at least he has some conscience!”  

“Should’ve come sooner if he really had conscience.”  

“Shut up! Don’t let Seo Do-jun hear that! Be grateful he’s coming at all!”  

Chastised by his comrades’ fierce glares, the complainers fell silent.  

‘Seo Do-jun is coming…’  

Tama felt conflicted.  

While Soliaman’s death wasn’t Seo Do-jun’s fault, it stemmed from his actions.  

Now the same man was coming to resolve the crisis – should Tama feel grateful or resentful?  

***

Arriving in Indonesia, Seo Do-jun headed straight to Rote Island.  

Though a highly restricted government area used to detain primitive tribes, prearranged cooperation ensured his unimpeded access.  

“This is the place.”  

Following the respectful guide, Seo Do-jun entered an enormous underground bunker.  

“Irregular magic flows everywhere.”  

The guide looked impressed.  

“We use magic stones to strictly control internal magic. Originally for criminals, now modified to suppress Hero abilities.”  

Despite the guide’s pride, Seo Do-jun remained unimpressed.  

Such crude suppression would only work on weak Heroes.  

No Casserian member would be affected.  

‘If this worked, the mass teleportation escape wouldn’t have happened.’  

As the guide rambled about the facility’s excellence, Seo Do-jun’s disinterest eventually silenced him.  

“This is where they were contained.”  

The empty space seemed large, but impossibly cramped for hundreds.  

“All kept here together?”  

“Yes.”  

The answer revealed Indonesia’s harsh treatment of prisoners.  

The guide showed no shame – understandable given fallen Indonesian Heroes.  

Despite cleaning, foul odors assaulted Seo Do-jun’s senses.  

Clicking his tongue, he blocked his nose with magic and inspected the area.  

No signs of external intrusion on walls, floors or ceiling.  

“How could this happen…”  

The guide shook his head, unable to comprehend hundreds vanishing mysteriously.  

All facility personnel had undergone intense interrogation.  

“Other areas unaffected?”  

“Yes. Only the primitive tribes disappeared cleanly.”  

Satisfied, Seo Do-jun exited.  

‘Even the world’s best couldn’t solve this.’  

The guide smirked at Seo Do-jun’s silent retreat.  

But Seo Do-jun had confirmed his suspicion.  

‘A mass teleportation capable of moving hundreds…’  

Faint magic traces remained – exclusive to this room.  

‘Casting such magic without arrays requires exceptional skill.’  

At minimum, on par with archmage Vaitel’s abilities.  

Not the weakened Vaitel he’d met on Earth, but the original from the ruined world.  

“Beyond 50% synchronization… that’s when it gets real.”  

Seo Do-jun recalled Vaitel’s words.  

Since the 100 rift zones opened, Earth’s magic density had surged rapidly.  

This explained Casserian members’ accelerated growth.  

‘The spirits revealing themselves to Eun-young means…’  

It also meant invading enemies would be proportionally stronger.  

If Avarr or Vaitel appeared now, they’d be far more powerful.  

“Expect interesting guests you’ll enjoy.”  

Seo Do-jun pondered who could perform mass teleportation without arrays.  

No candidates came to mind.  

Moreover, no one connected to the primitive tribes.  

Understandable – his ruined world had never faced such invasions.  

“Can’t figure it out.”  

Seo Do-jun’s muttered sigh widened the guide’s smirk.  

Exiting the bunker, Seo Do-jun mounted Casserian, heading for Sulawesi Island where Indonesian Heroes battled the tribes.  

***

“Park Young-gi, pull up footage from Indonesia’s rift zone.”  

Park Chul’s request made Park Young-gi check their systems.  

“Huh? It’s gone.”  

“Gone? We have admin access!”  

Casserian Guild possessed unprecedented access to most nations’ Hero association servers – a privilege even the U.S. lacked, reflecting their global influence.  

“The rift zone footage doesn’t exist server-side.”  

“What? Then how can they monitor emerging threats? This makes no sense!”  

Without golden banners marking them, primitive tribes were vulnerable to modern weapons – especially drones when first emerging.  

“Wait…”  

Park Young-gi found several corrupted videos labeled as rift zone footage.  

“Seven drone feeds all glitched the same way?”  

Park Chul frowned at the unnatural coincidence.  

No other nation reported such issues, raising alarms.  

“What’s out there causing this? Whatever it is, I don’t like it. We need to alert the Guild Master.”  

Park Chul immediately tried contacting Seo Do-jun.  

***

At Gorontalo rift zone on Sulawesi Island, hundreds of primitive tribesmen lay down prostrating.  

Before them, a massive tribesman sat atop piled corpses.  

“You say this land’s king rode a giant bird?”  

When a tribesman that is currently prostrating confirmed this in their tongue, mentioning even the Black Tiger leader feared the bird, he nodded.  

“If you don’t know his location, we’ll make him come to us.”  

He glanced at the elderly woman beside him.  

Wrinkles obscured her tiny eyes in a hunched, diminutive frame, yet her aura radiated immense power.  

She slammed her skull staff downward.  

BOOM!  

The ground quaked as crimson smoke billowed like waves, engulfing the tribesmen.  

Chanting continuously, she rhythmically struck the ground with her staff.  

BOOM- BOOM- BOOM-  

The pounding synchronized with heartbeats as crimson smoke saturated the tribesmen.  

One by one, they began trembling violently.  

As their bodies absorbed the smoke, they thrashed and screamed in agony.  

Hundreds of bestial shrieks filled the air, but the old woman never ceased her chanting or staff strikes.  

GRAAAH!  

The tribesmen rose, eyes blood-red, drooling bloody froth.  

“Devour every living thing on this island.”  

At his command, the frenzied horde charged into the wilderness.