SFRW-Chapter 255

Ch. 255 Sword God From The Ruined World

‘The Sword God couldn’t have mistaken the relic.’  

Though Bolikos had failed to discover anything, Seo Do-jun did not doubt it for a second.  

Just looking at the foundation of the Fallen Angel, it was clear that certain conditions had to be met to draw out the relic’s power. He was certain the same would be true for the forest spirit that had turned into a mummy.  

The problem was figuring out what those conditions were…  

Seo Do-jun reached out toward the mummified forest spirit.  

The easiest thing to do was to touch it.  

Bolikos had also tried touching it in various places, just like Seo Do-jun, but it had been useless.  

The hard texture under Seo Do-jun’s fingers felt like touching the dried-out bark of a dead tree.  

“Uncle, do you feel anything?”  

After a few minutes passed, Choi Kang-soo asked impatiently, as if urging Seo Do-jun.  

Since the barrier had been broken, it seemed only a matter of time before vampires—or someone else—showed up.  

The Sky Forest was vast, so they wouldn’t be easily discovered, but Choi Kang-soo still felt uneasy. He wished Seo Do-jun would hurry and obtain the relic’s power.  

Shinjo and Grichuk, seemingly sharing the same sentiment, had drawn their swords and were keeping watch around them.  

Even after Choi Kang-soo’s question, Seo Do-jun spent another five minutes examining the mummified forest spirit before finally shaking his head.  

“I can’t figure it out right now.”  

“Huh? Even you, Uncle?”  

Choi Kang-soo frowned, while Bolikos and Twek smiled faintly, as if they had expected this.  

“Vampica might come at any moment. We should hide it somewhere first.”  

Bolikos glanced around for a hiding spot, worried that Vampica might sense the relic’s presence.  

Romak’s nest was huge and cluttered with all sorts of junk, so hiding the mummified forest spirit wouldn’t be difficult.  

“That spot looks good!”  

Bolikos pointed to a place tangled with all kinds of filth and remnants of Romak’s meals.  

Considering how vampires hated unclean things, it was the perfect hiding spot.  

“We can hide it there for now and fight Vampica somewhere else.”  

Bolikos had already calculated that since Seo Do-jun was a Transcendent, he could hold off Vampica while the others dealt with the vampires. Then, they could all gang up on Vampica at the end to corner him.  

But Seo Do-jun, as if it wasn’t necessary, opened a subspace.  

“We can just put it in here—!”  

A subspace was the most perfect hiding place, impossible for anyone to detect. Seo Do-jun tried to store the mummified forest spirit inside, but surprisingly, it resisted.  

“Uncle, what’s wrong?”  

Choi Kang-soo looked at Seo Do-jun in confusion as he suddenly stopped.  

‘For it to resist subspace storage…’  

Seo Do-jun stared at the forest spirit.  

It was alive.  

Though it looked dead, the forest spirit was definitely a living being. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have resisted subspace storage.  

If he forced it in, the mummified forest spirit would truly die.  

He didn’t know why it had turned into this state, but killing it now wouldn’t be a good choice.  

If they could revive it, they’d have an easier time figuring out what relic the Fallen Angel had left behind and how to obtain it.  

The problem was that even divine power—the most specialized energy for revival—had no effect.  

‘To bring it back to life…’  

Suddenly, Seo Do-jun focused on the texture under his fingers.  

The completely dehydrated state of the forest spirit nagged at him.  

‘Could it be…?’  

Acting on a hunch, Seo Do-jun retrieved water from his subspace and began pouring it over the forest spirit’s head.  

“Uncle, what are you doing?”  

Choi Kang-soo furrowed his brows in confusion.  

They barely had time to prepare for Vampica’s arrival, yet here was Seo Do-jun, casually pouring water like it was nothing.  

Even after emptying an entire barrel of water, nothing changed. Seo Do-jun tilted his head.  

‘Not this?’  

Well, if simply pouring water was enough, it would have changed long ago when it rained.  

As he tossed the empty barrel aside and fell back into thought, Bolikos and Choi Kang-soo pressed him again.  

“We don’t have time for this. We need to hide it somewhere safe and deal with Vampica and the vampires.”  

“Uncle, he’s right. We don’t know when those bastards will storm in. We should hide it first!”  

Rahf and Twek also nodded in agreement. Though they didn’t speak, Shinjo and Grichuk’s gazes conveyed the same sentiment.  

Unable to resist their insistence any longer, Seo Do-jun was about to hide the forest spirit where Bolikos had suggested—  

“One last thing.”  

Seo Do-jun placed his palm flat against the forest spirit’s head.  

Just as Choi Kang-soo and Bolikos frowned, wondering what he was doing now—  

Whoooosh—!  

An enormous amount of magic began pouring into the forest spirit’s head through Seo Do-jun’s palm.  

The change was immediate.  

Crackle-crackle-crackle!  

“…W-what?”  

The completely dried mummy began rapidly developing fissures.  

“W-what if it shatters?!”  

Fwoom—CRACK!  

Bolikos tried to stop Seo Do-jun, but before he could, the forest spirit exploded into countless fragments that scattered in all directions.  

At the same time, a blinding light swallowed Seo Do-jun whole.  

***  

Vampica, who had killed Romak and finally broken the barrier, looked utterly exhausted.  

Rather than slowly weakening the barrier over time, he had shattered it with full force, draining much of his energy in the process.  

Still, thanks to that, fewer vampires had been sacrificed, making it worth the effort.  

“Find Bolikos and the werewolves!”  

Vampica shouted at the surviving vampires before moving to search for Bolikos himself.  

“Is the relic really here?”  

“I don’t know. But if it’s in the Sky Forest, it’s possible.”  

As he exchanged words with Zillia, Vampica swiftly combed through the forest, flicking his hand dismissively whenever insects or beasts blocked his path.  

“Scram.”  

With a single gesture, the creatures burst apart.  

It was during this rapid search that—  

Fwoom—FLASH!  

A powerful light erupted from the top of a massive tree, drawing the attention of every living thing in the Sky Forest.  

Vampica and Zillia’s expressions shifted instantly.  

“There!”  

Vampica immediately levitated, transforming into a swarm of hundreds of bats that shot forward at high speed. Zillia followed suit, morphing into the same form.  

Simultaneously, vampires scattered throughout the forest all converged toward the light.  

They looked like moths drawn to a flame.  

Vampica reached the tree housing Romak’s nest in an instant but was forced back into his original form when lightning bolts struck at him.  

Zzzzap!  

“The Thunder God’s power?”  

Vampica’s eye twitched at the force of the lightning that struck his forearm.  

“How dare you?!”  

Zillia, arriving right after, conjured a sword from crimson blood that sprayed from her palm and lunged at Shinjo.  

“He wields the Thunder God’s power!”  

After warning Zillia, Vampica tried to ascend further into the nest—  

Squelch!  

A sword suddenly shot out from a dark portal, slashing across Vampica’s side.  

Flesh tore, and blood spilled, but the wound closed almost instantly.  

Grichuk, using the unpredictable dark portals, continued his relentless assault.  

“Not bad. But I’ve already figured out your attacks!”  

Though momentarily stalled by the ambush, Vampica quickly adapted and counterattacked.  

Like Zillia, crimson blood surged from his body, forming a spear that shot straight for Grichuk’s heart.  

But Vampica didn’t know—the dark portals could not only attack but also reflect enemy strikes.  

Thud!  

“…!”  

Vampica stiffened as the spear he had thrown pierced his own back.  

He had never imagined his own attack could be turned against him. Rage darkened his expression.  

“I’ll tear you apart!”  

His attacks grew fiercer.  

Having quickly grasped the nature of the dark portals, Vampica ensured he wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.  

“S… strong.”  

Grichuk’s voice, usually composed, came out fragmented for the first time.  

Even after absorbing the essence of the Death Knight, he had never faced an opponent this powerful. The sheer might of a Transcendent was overwhelming.  

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!  

Vampica’s fists and feet crumpled Grichuk’s armor grotesquely.  

“Annoying pest!”  

Despite his body being shattered by Vampica’s attacks, Grichuk kept getting back up thanks to his immense regeneration.  

Running out of patience, Vampica decided to use his Power of Godslaying.  

Though it drained him immensely, he had no other way to finish Grichuk in one blow.  

“Consider yourself lucky. If I had time, I’d have tortured you slowly. Tch!”  

Killing him instantly was a mercy.  

Vampica’s blood-red spear, infused with the Power of Godslaying, descended toward Grichuk’s head.  

Grichuk tried to counter with a dark portal, but—  

“…!”  

The spear shattered the portal and continued its deadly path—  

BOOOOM!  

A blinding white light erupted above Grichuk’s head, clashing with Vampica’s spear.  

At the same time, Rahf’s magic bullet struck Grichuk, sending him flying forward.  

ZZZZZAP!  

Even Choi Kang-soo’s shield of condensed divine power couldn’t stop Vampica’s spear, which pierced straight through where Grichuk had stood.  

“…Pathetic insects.”  

Failing to kill Grichuk despite using the Power of Godslaying wounded Vampica’s pride. His gaze flicked between Choi Kang-soo and Rahf.  

Then, with certainty, he spoke.  

“So it’s you.”  

The ones who had destroyed the Guardian Planets of Barhaut, killed the Himaid siblings, and slain Rebley.  

The very targets Luam and the other Six Seats wanted dead were standing before him.  

Vampica scowled in displeasure.  

“You should’ve gone somewhere else.”  

He would’ve preferred if they had fought Luam and the others, inflicting mutual destruction.  

“You’re not all of them… The rest must be inside. Including the Transcendent who killed the Himaid siblings?”  

No one answered.  

Vampica’s overwhelming presence had frozen them all.  

‘W-what kind of monster is this?!’  

‘Is this what a true Transcendent is like?’  

The Himaid siblings had been nothing compared to this.  

Back then, Seo Do-jun had fought them alone, so they hadn’t felt their full power firsthand.  

But one thing was clear—Choi Kang-soo, Grichuk, and Rahf stood no chance against Vampica.  

No, even surviving seemed impossible.  

Ten minutes at best?  

Maybe even less.  

Their faces were stiff with dread.  

“No answer? Or can’t you speak?”  

Vampica chuckled darkly, amused by their fear.  

To him, they were already defeated before the fight had even begun.  

“Tch. All this fuss over weaklings like you.”  

He’d finish them quickly, then deal with the Transcendent who was nowhere to be seen.  

“Struggle all you want. The only thing waiting for you is death.”  

With that, Vampica moved.  

“Everyone, be caref—Ghk!”  

Choi Kang-soo barely blocked Vampica’s blood-red spear with his Divine Sword before being sent skidding back.  

『This is the real deal! A true opponent unlike any you’ve faced before. Stay sharp—not a single moment of carelessness is allowed!』  

His heart pounded violently at the Divine Sword’s warning.