SFRW-Chapter 236

Ch. 236 Sword God From The Ruined World

A massive bolt of lightning struck the ground, drawing everyone’s attention. Even Araes, who had been overwhelming Grichuk, paused mid-swing.  

“What the hell is that?!”  

“Seo Do-jun!”  

“Kassal?!”  

Those who knew Seo Do-jun had vanished just before the lightning struck, frantically scanned their surroundings. But before they could spot him, an enormous spear of water erupted from the clouds, seizing their gaze.  

“……!”  

“……!”  

The sight was so overwhelming it felt like an attack from some entity intent on destroying the world. Who could possibly stop something like that?  

As everyone stared in terror—  

Swoosh—!  

Five layers of sword energy overlapped in rapid succession before colliding with the watery spear.  

KWA-GAGAGAGAGAGA—!!!  

The heavens trembled as if they might collapse from the sheer force. Even at a distance, the party had to brace themselves against the shockwaves.  

The mere clash of their attacks upheaved the earth, uprooting trees and boulders—a spectacle worthy of gods at war.  

“RAAAAAH—!”  

A furious roar erupted as a bolt of lightning surged from the ground into the sky.  

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!  

The lightning, alive like a living creature, lashed out wildly, each strike accompanied by deafening thunder.  

ZZZTTT—! ZZZZZT—!  

Electric tendrils spiderwebbed across the battlefield, making everyone’s skin crawl.  

Not long after, the massive watery spear—repelled earlier by the sword energy—descended once more from the heavens.  

The relentless lightning, scattering electricity with every strike, and the colossal spear plunging through the clouds—both attacks homed in on a single point.  

“UNCLE!!”  

Choi Kang-soo realized that point was Seo Do-jun and gripped his Divine Sword.  

『Don’t interfere and get yourself killed. Even approaching a battle between Transcendents is suicide for someone like you. If you want to help, prepare your divine energy to heal Vandeyan’s wounds.』  

Choi Kang-soo froze.  

‘Just getting close means death?’  

『Still don’t get it? Think you can handle that? Go ahead and try—just remember the price for satisfying your curiosity is your life.』  

This wasn’t the Divine Sword’s usual taunting. It was deadly serious.  

Meanwhile, the sky itself seemed on the verge of splitting apart as lightning, water, and countless sword slashes clashed.  

“At this level, you could tell me dragons are fighting and I’d believe it,” Koroka muttered, awestruck despite his demi-dragon heritage.  

“This is insane! So this is a real Transcendent battle?!” Rahf’s eyes gleamed with excitement.  

Hyun Joo-yeon, Gloria, and Shinjo could only pray Seo Do-jun wouldn’t get hurt. They’d assumed absorbing the Dragon Heart made him untouchable—but now, they felt like frogs in a well, humbled by the scale of this fight.  

Another person feeling that humility:  

“…The Himaid siblings?”  

Araes’s lips twisted in displeasure. The ones overshadowing his battle were them—the Himaid twins.  

Araes had the power to ruin a planet, but only relatively. Earth? Maybe, given time. But a continent like Leverka? Impossible.  

The Himaid siblings, though?  

They could.  

The gap between them and Araes was insurmountable. Even Barhaut found dealing with them troublesome now.  

‘Barhaut must be desperate.’  

The fact that Barhaut—who rarely gave direct orders to the Transcendent twins—had sent them spoke volumes.  

But the real shock was the entity fighting them without yielding an inch.  

‘Who the hell is that?’  

Has Barhaut ever made an enemy this powerful? Not that Araes knew of. Barhaut wouldn’t have left such a threat unchecked.  

‘A Transcendent, huh…’  

Araes glanced back. The planet’s Administrator stood dumbstruck, gaping at the battle. With a scoff, Araes kicked a pebble at him.  

Thwack—!  

“Ghk—!”  

Snapping to attention, the administrator flinched under Araes’s glare. Araes jerked his chin toward the dimensional portal—Report to Barhaut. Now.  

Nodding frantically, the administrator scrambled through.  

With him gone, this planet’s role as a Guardian was over. Araes didn’t care. His priority was ensuring Barhaut knew of the intruders.  

Now unburdened, Araes turned back to Grichuk.  

“We’ve got our own fight to finish.”  

He hefted his greatsword.  

“Kept. You. Waiting.”  

“You know chivalry?” Araes smirked, then swung.  

Grichuk met the blade.  

CLANG—!  

Behind Grichuk, dozens of shadow swords materialized.  

“Tricks won’t save you!” Araes roared, his greatsword swelling with magic.  

***  

“Everyone, be careful!” Gloria nocked an arrow, alarmed.  

With the administrator gone, his controlled forces—the Direct force—were running amok. A hundred corrupted elementals going berserk was no joke.  

WHOOSH—!  

Fire elementals led the charge, wielding blades and axes of flame. Wind elementals followed, howling as they spawned tornadoes. Earth elementals buried themselves, making the ground quake and spike violently.  

Water and lightning elementals trembled but didn’t act—not that anyone had time to wonder why.  

“Fire? I don’t lose to fire!”  

Kusak, empowered by his fire spirit stone, summoned his ultimate technique—Fire Dragon.  

Rakun faced the earth elementals. As a Titan, his tears could briefly unleash his race’s full power—and with an earth spirit stone absorbed, he charged fearlessly.  

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!  

Shattering earthen spikes with his shield, Rakun closed the distance and leaped—  

QUA-KOOM!  

—stomping the ground so hard it ejected the buried elementals.  

“HAH—!”  

A shield bash reduced one to dust. With the spirit stone’s power, even intangible beings weren’t safe from his physical strikes.  

Gloria and her contracted wind spirit, Dea, handled the tornadoes.  

Dea exhaled, calming the whirlwinds momentarily. Gloria exploited the opening, firing nine arrows in one breath—each sonic-speed shot unerringly striking a wind elemental.  

But holding off dozens alone was temporary.  

“Let’s go!”  

Veronica, Hyun Joo-yeon, and Shinjo joined the fray.  

Choi Kang-soo stood ready, divine energy primed to heal. Koroka and Rahf watched for the right moment to aid Grichuk against Araes.  

And Seo Do-jun?  

CLANG—!  

Facing power rivaled only by Barhaut himself, Seo Do-jun locked eyes with the blue-haired woman floating above.  

With every gesture, massive water spears assailed him.  

‘A Transcendent?’  

No doubt. She’d surpassed her species’ limits, just like him.  

Then—  

“WAHAHAHAHA!”  

A madman’s laugh preceded a lightning bolt zigzagging toward Seo Do-jun.  

He slashed it apart.  

“Damn, it’s been ages since I felt like this!”  

The lightning itself morphed into a blue-haired man—the woman’s twin—grinning wildly.  

Even after being knocked back by Seo Do-jun’s counter, the man, Rooker, looked thrilled.  

“Ugh… this idiot.”  

Scal, his sister, frowned. Their combined attacks hadn’t scratched Seo Do-jun, yet Rooker treated this like a game.  

A side effect of his lightning god powers—the more he unleashed, the more unhinged he became.  

“Fine. I’ll handle this seriously myself.”  

As Rooker cackled, Scal summoned dozens of massive water orbs.  

If Rooker wielded a Thunder God’s power, she’d absorbed a Water God’s.  

And now, she’d show its true might.