SFRW-Chapter 233

Ch. 233 Sword God From The Ruined World

“What the hell is this?”  

Choi Kang-soo poked the bizarre monster collapsed on the ground with the tip of his sword.  

Standing slightly over 2 meters tall with bat wings overwhelmingly larger than his own height, the creature had a goat-like face and a single twisted horn—clearly a monster he’d never seen before.  

No, rather than a monster…  

“A demon? Or maybe a dark elf?”  

Hyun Joo-yeon’s words hit the mark.  

The thing sprawled before them closely resembled depictions of demons or dark elves from movies and dramas.  

Choi Kang-soo examined it more closely as dark red blood gushed from each stab wound.  

“Demon? Dark elf? Hmm… Now that you mention it, it does look like one.”  

“From what I know, Barhaut doesn’t have dark elves or demons under his command.”  

“How would we know everything about him?”  

Kusak readily conceded to Veronica’s point.  

Given how Barhaut kept revealing shocking secrets the more they dug, they couldn’t definitively say he didn’t have such creatures.  

Stab—stab—stab—  

“Hey! Stop poking it! You’ll kill it at this rate!”  

Ignoring Kusak, Choi Kang-soo kept stabbing relentlessly—after all, they were going to kill it anyway.  

Just as the party frowned at his sadistic behavior—  

Fzzzt—!  

The seemingly dead creature’s eyes snapped open.  

“What? It’s awake—!”  

As its sinister crimson eyes gleamed, Choi Kang-soo’s body trembled violently, his skin beginning to turn to stone.  

Crackle—crackle—!  

“W-What the hell?!”  

While Choi Kang-soo panicked and the others stared in shock—  

Whoosh—!  

Thunk—!  

A spear struck like lightning from above, piercing the creature’s spine and pinning it to the ground.  

Zap—! Zap—!  

Electric sparks erupted from the spear embedded in its spine, amplifying its agony.  

“…GAAAAAH!”  

As expected, the creature—Tidus—writhed and screamed, its eyes rolling back in unbearable pain.  

Meanwhile, Choi Kang-soo’s petrifying skin reverted to normal.  

“H-Holy shit!”  

Though momentary, the experience left Choi Kang-soo staggering back in terror.  

“Petrification?”  

Kusak gaped at the skewered creature.  

The fact that even Choi Kang-soo—protected by divine energy—had nearly turned to stone put the entire party on edge.  

“Normal petrification magic requires at least 3 seconds of eye contact. Just looking away in time prevents it.”  

Though once eye contact was made, an inexplicable force made it impossible to break.  

Rahf, the dark mage, explained how Choi Kang-soo had let his guard down.  

“An easier solution is to gouge out its eyes.”  

“Right?!”  

Choi Kang-soo brightened at Rakun’s suggestion, raising his sword eagerly.  

After nearly turning to stone, he was more than willing to pluck out the creature’s eyeballs.  

“Khh… Y-You think you’ll get away with this!”  

Tidus, thrashing in pain, screamed desperately, realizing he might actually lose his eyes.  

Invoking Barhaut’s name seemed his only way out.  

“This is Kantos—the planet Barhaut cares about most! Among the 39 Guardian Planets, this holds the highest importance!”  

Choi Kang-soo paused at Barhaut’s name.  

“Are you the administrator?”  

As Seo Do-jun—who had pinned Tidus with a single strike—stepped forward, Tidus snarled to mask his fear.  

“Tidus! Administrator of Kantos and Barhaut’s most trusted subordinate!”  

It was a bluff—a threat to warn them Barhaut wouldn’t tolerate his death.  

“What number is this planet?”  

At Seo Do-jun’s indifferent question, Tidus smirked.  

“The 13th! Close enough that Barhaut could descend from Tirotio at any moment!”  

“Barhaut could come right now?”  

Tidus glared at Seo Do-jun, emboldened by Kusak’s alarmed tone.  

“We already know you’ve been slaughtering Heavy Mountains! Barhaut will learn of your intrusion soon!”  

(Tidus omitted that he needed to report it first.)  

“Killing me marks your souls! Barhaut will hunt you down wherever you flee!”  

The party turned to Seo Do-jun.  

“What do we do?”  

“If we kill him, Barhaut might come after us…”  

“Should we retreat for now?”  

Tidus smirked inwardly, thinking his lies had scared them.  

‘I never expected someone so terrifying among them!’  

Seo Do-jun frightened him. Initially, Tidus had been confident in overpowering the intruders.  

As a master of petrification and close combat, he’d planned to pick them off one by one.  

But Seo Do-jun shattered all his plans.  

His speed, his one-strike power—even his ruthlessness.  

Tidus believed few could rival Seo Do-jun’s strength.  

‘But compared to Barhaut…’  

He shook his head. Barhaut, a conqueror of dimensions, was on another level.  

“Who cares?! We came to kill Barhaut anyway! And Uncle‘s a Transcendent! Barhaut’s nothing to him!”  

‘This lunatic!’  

Tidus stared at Choi Kang-soo in disbelief. How could anyone dismiss Barhaut so brazenly?  

“A Transcendent? Barhaut surpassed that eons ago! Comparing him to your rookie Transcendent is an insult!”  

Tidus roared, but only got a kick from the fanatical Choi Kang-soo.  

“Who the hell are you to disrespect Uncle?! Should I gouge out those rotten eyes first?!”  

Thud-thud-thud—!  

As Choi Kang-soo brutalized him, the others eyed Seo Do-jun.  

“Are we really doing this? Luring Barhaut out?”  

Seo Do-jun chuckled at Kusak’s serious question.  

“You believe him? That Barhaut would care about one underling?”  

Kusak and Veronica frowned. Now that they thought about it—Barhaut never avenged his subordinates.  

“Choi Kang-soo! Stomp him harder!”  

Choi Kang-soo obliged enthusiastically.  

Eventually, the broken Tidus muttered:  

“So… you breed Heavy Mountains here and send them to other dimensions?”  

Tidus nodded.  

“Only here, by Barhaut’s power. Even Bartloma can’t nurture them.”  

“Bartloma?”  

Seo Do-jun questioned.  

“The 6th Guardian Planet—Rebley’s dimension.”  

Kusak mused, “If even Rebley can’t breed Heavy Mountains, this planet’s value is exceptional.”  

Seo Do-jun agreed.  

“Then if we wreck this place, Barhaut will lose his shit, right?”  

The party laughed at Choi Kang-soo’s remark.  

“He might go berserk.”  

“Where were the mature Heavy Mountains being sent?” Hyun Joo-yeon asked.  

Tidus answered immediately:  

“Earth.”  

“…What?”  

Choi Kang-soo’s grin twisted into a snarl.  

“Did you just say Earth?!”  

Under Seo Do-jun’s terrifying gaze, Tidus gulped but couldn’t lie.  

“Y-Yes. One’s already been sent. We were preparing the second when you ruined it—URK!”  

Choi Kang-soo kicked Tidus’s head violently.  

“You dared target our homeworld?!”  

Even Shinjo drew his sword, enraged.  

“I’ll take an arm.”  

The planet’s horrors had sickened him.  

“Will they be okay?” Gloria asked worriedly.  

Seo Do-jun’s expression darkened.  

“One might be manageable… but I’m not sure.”  

Knowing Heavy Mountains’ strength, he couldn’t guarantee Casserian Guild’s survival.  

“If only it landed on some deserted island…”  

Ironically, the Heavy Mountain was currently trapped on an island—destroying everything there.  

***

The party hunted remaining Heavy Mountains across Kantos, dragging Tidus along.  

Though the adults were already slain, juveniles lurked in designated zones.  

“N-Nothing will change! Only Barhaut’s wrath will—”  

“Given his silence so far, we could wipe this planet and flee before he notices,” Kusak remarked.  

Tidus shut his mouth. It was true.  

“But killing me marks your—”  

“Shut it!”  

Choi Kang-soo kicked Tidus’s rear.  

“Why are you, the Administrator, so weak? Where’s your Direct force?”  

Tidus sulked.  

“The Administrator’s Direct force only suppresses internal conflicts. Since I’d never rebel, I didn’t need one.”  

“Even if you had one, you’d still be pathetic. Stop whining.”  

Tidus had no retort.  

After days of hunting, only Tidus remained.  

Under strict surveillance, he couldn’t escape like Pope Alfrey. Resigned, he accepted his fate.  

Choi Kang-soo beheaded him.  

After days of beatings, he still hadn’t forgiven the petrification attempt.  

“Finally, justice! Trying to turn me to stone? Rot in hell!”  

He kicked Tidus’s head away, then dashed through Rahf’s dimensional portal at Veronica’s urging.