SFRW-Chapter 27

Ch. 27 Sword God From The Ruined World  

This creature, resembling a worm and boasting a massive size of nearly 5 meters, was none other than the Giant Ground Worm.  

It spent most of its time underground, making it difficult to pinpoint its location. Even when it surfaced, its thick 70-centimeter epidermis provided such formidable defense that most attacks couldn’t even leave a proper wound.  

On top of that, its survival instincts were incredibly strong—if it suffered deep injuries during a fight, it would immediately flee deep underground without hesitation. Countless Heroes had struggled in battle only to let it escape.  

Magic stones from it were obtained at a far lower rate compared to monsters of the same rank, and even the byproducts of its corpse weren’t particularly valuable. As a result, Heroes weren’t exactly thrilled to fight Giant Ground Worms.  

But to Seo Do-jun, the Giant Ground Worm wasn’t the least bit troublesome.  

Despite its enormous size, the Giant Ground Worm moved sluggishly.  

One might think it was fairly quick when burrowing up from the ground to attack, but in reality, its telltale signs were so obvious that anyone who wasn’t extremely dull could easily dodge.  

For example—  

Grgrgrgrgrgrgrk!  

Feeling the vibrations beneath his feet, Seo Do-jun immediately moved to the right.  

Kwa-ga-ga-ga!  

The Giant Ground Worm burst through the ground.  

From the vibrations to its emergence, it took about three seconds.  

For ordinary people, three seconds might seem short, but for Heroes, it was more than enough time to react. Unless someone had dull senses or was unusually slow, hardly any Hero would die in this initial ambush.  

Having failed its surprise attack, the Giant Ground Worm immediately spread its massive maw wide.  

Squelch, squelch, squelch, squelch, squelch.  

Five slimy tentacles, stretching up to 10 meters, writhed grotesquely as they emerged from its mouth.  

These tentacles were the Giant Ground Worm’s primary means of attack—unlike its massive body, they were fast, sharp, and destructive.  

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!  

The tentacles failed to strike Seo Do-jun directly, instead slamming into the ground, but their power was terrifying.  

The earth cratered with each strike, making the tentacle attacks reminiscent of powerful hammers or spears.  

In fact, there had been many Heroes who, overconfidently trying to block them head-on with shields, ended up grotesquely crushed along with their defenses.  

But Seo Do-jun knew that merely dodging wouldn’t bring the Giant Ground Worm down.  

He immediately condensed magic at his fingertips.  

A blinding red light radiated as scorching-hot magic took shape—forming a crimson longsword.  

‘The consumption rate is still too high.’  

Materializing a weapon from magic consumed over twice as much energy as shaping sword energy with an actual blade.  

It was an inefficient waste. Even in the ruined world of the past, Seo Do-jun had rarely used magic this way—despite having far more of it back then than he did now.  

‘But I can’t afford to spend hundreds of millions on a sword that’ll break after a few swings.’  

The reason Seo Do-jun didn’t buy weapons was that even swords worth hundreds of millions—or even billions—had abysmal magic absorption rates, shattering every time he fought a monster.  

On the other hand, swinging a sword without using magic made it impossible to unleash satisfactory power. So, whether by choice or necessity, Seo Do-jun had no choice but to fight bare-handed.  

Earth’s scientific civilization was incredibly advanced.  

Just looking at cars and airplanes, it was incomparable to the ruined world he came from.  

Weapon development was also far more advanced, but the problem was that none of it posed a real threat to the monsters of today.  

Firearms, in particular, had become utterly useless—they were only a threat to other humans. To monsters, guns were nothing more than children’s toys.  

Of course, weapons like missiles boasted tremendous firepower, but using a missile just to kill a single monster was like burning down a house to kill a bedbug—hardly efficient.  

And even missiles weren’t effective against all monsters.  

Take the McCarthian Wave that had struck England—Earth’s weapons had been useless, leaving London in terror.  

In other words, Earth’s weapons were only a threat to humans and were optimized solely for mass slaughter.  

Against entirely different lifeforms like monsters—especially those that wielded magic—they were no threat at all.  

Thus, conventional bladed weapons remained relics of a bygone era, with no real advancements. No matter how expensive a sword was, its practical use in combat was minimal.  

Swish!  

The magic sword in Seo Do-jun’s hand sliced through the Giant Ground Worm’s tentacles.  

What’s more, the intense flames seared the severed ends, preventing regeneration.  

With its tentacles severed and unable to regrow, the Giant Ground Worm’s massive body writhed—expressing its fury.  

In its rage, the creature wobbled before spewing a deep blue liquid from its gaping maw.  

This wasn’t a stream but a spray of droplets—the Giant Ground Worm’s final and most dangerous attack: acidic fluid.  

Countless Heroes had lost their lives to this potent acid, strong enough to melt human skin on contact. It was that lethal.  

Yet Seo Do-jun remained unfazed.  

With a few swings of his magic sword through the air, he created a blazing barrier of flames. The acid evaporated before it could even pass through.  

With none of its attacks working, what was the Giant Ground Worm’s last resort?  

“Where do you think you’re going?”  

As the creature tried to flee underground without a second glance, Seo Do-jun hurled his magic sword straight at it.  

The blade, flying at high speed, morphed midair—transforming into a spear that pierced clean through the Giant Ground Worm’s torso.  

A hole large enough for a person to walk through opened in its massive body, killing it instantly.  

From then on, Seo Do-jun dealt with every surviving Giant Ground Worm the same way—piercing their bodies as they emerged from the ground.  

After eliminating the first wave of over a hundred worms hiding underground, he finished off the stragglers one by one. His footsteps finally stopped before a reed forest leading to the heart of the rift zone.  

Beyond the vast plains lay the reed forest.  

Hidden among reeds over two meters tall were creatures far more dangerous than the Giant Ground Worm.  

Lamineots.  

Measuring a mere 30 centimeters in length, these monsters—dubbed the Assassins of the Reed Forest—resembled toads.  

When first discovered, many Heroes had underestimated them due to their size, only to meet futile deaths.  

Their bodies contained thirty-seven different lethal venoms. When they inflated their bodies and fired deadly poison needles in all directions, even a graze meant instant death—hence their title.  

While the Giant Ground Worm could at least be dodged, the thousands of Lamineots spread across the three-kilometer reed forest were impossible to avoid.  

Worse, dozens would swarm a single target, making escape hopeless if surrounded.  

Standing at the edge of the reed forest, Seo Do-jun immediately summoned magic.  

Starting from his core, the magic surged into a dome of roaring flames, shielding him completely.  

Frankly, if given the choice, Seo Do-jun would have avoided the Lamineots like any other Hero.  

Tiny, perfectly camouflaged, and silent, these creatures were aggressive enough to fire poison needles without hesitation even from 50 meters away.  

With thousands living in colonies, accidentally trespassing into their territory could spell disaster.  

Even in the ruined world, there had been no reliable way to neutralize their venom, making avoidance the preferable option.  

“Kassel, so even you are scared of some monsters?”  

“It’s not fear—it’s annoyance.”  

“Hahaha! Same difference! Lamineots are nothing. Just burn them all!”  

Recalling the continent’s strongest flame mage, Kusak, who had summoned a colossal fire dragon to incinerate thousands of Lamineots, Seo Do-jun stepped into the reed forest.  

Grrrroooowl! Grrrroooowl! Grrrroooowl!  

Grrrowl! Grrroooowl! Growl! Growl!  

As the unfamiliar intruder entered their territory, the thousands hidden Lamineots began screeching deafeningly.  

The cacophony of chain reactions from their cries made Seo Do-jun frown.  

The entire reed forest shook as if struck by a gale—the Lamineots were on the move.  

A coordinated hunt for a single intruder: Seo Do-jun.  

But—  

Whooosh!  

One Lamineot, lunging at Seo Do-jun, was instantly engulfed in flames by the fiery magic shield.  

Dozens of others, about to pounce, froze in place.  

Grrrrrrrrroooowl!  

The Lamineots, still growling, began inflating their bodies rapidly—swelling to the point of near-bursting before leaping into the air.  

Pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah!  

Hundreds of needle-thin, centimeter-long poison needles sprayed in all directions.  

Though the magic shield blocked them all, the sight was nothing short of horrifying.  

Even more threatening was how this assault triggered a chain reaction—hundreds of Lamineots followed suit.  

Leap—Pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah!  

Bounce—Pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah-pah!  

With each volley—from dozens to over a hundred Lamineots—the barrage of needles was dense enough to obscure Seo Do-jun’s vision.  

Strangely, needles that missed him were absorbed by other Lamineots—some even licking fallen needles off the ground with sticky tongues to reuse them.  

An endless cycle.  

As much as he wanted to pop each leaping toad one by one, it would take too long. His goal in entering this rift zone today was different, so he focused on breaking through the reed forest quickly.  

Emerging from the three-kilometer stretch, Seo Do-jun left behind thousands of frustrated Lamineots, growling in defeat.  

Shaking his head at their disgusting cries, he turned his gaze to his final destination.  

A low hill—and at its peak, an overwhelming presence.  

ROOOOOOOOAR!  

As if sensing Seo Do-jun, a sky-shaking roar erupted from the hilltop—a fierce warning to the audacious intruder.  

“You’ve made yourself quite the king in this tiny pond.”  

Seo Do-jun smirked and strode toward the hill.  

Without hesitation. Without fear.  

The Boss Monster of the Grade 2 Paju rift zone had only been hunted once before.  

It had taken a joint operation of five S-rank Heroes and three hundred A-rank Heroes to achieve it.  

From the first barrier—the Giant Ground Worms—to the second—the Lamineots—  

This rift zone lived up to its Grade 2 rating with its powerful monsters.  

But these two barriers were nothing compared to the final gatekeeper: the Boss Monster.  

As for the Boss Monster of the Paju rift zone—  

Whoooosh—KWA-BOOOOOM!  

Dodging a massive boulder crashing down from above, Seo Do-jun looked up at the hill’s peak.  

This time, two boulders came flying.  

KWA-BOOM! KWA-BOOM!  

“You wanna play?”  

Seo Do-jun formed a spear of magic in his right hand.  

Crimson with concentrated energy, he hurled it with all his might toward the distant peak—where something lurked, barely visible.  

Fwoooosh—BOOM!  

The magic spear tore through the wind like a red streak before—  

KWA-BOOOOOM!  

A massive explosion erupted at the hilltop.  

ROOOOOOOOAR!  

A pained roar followed.  

Seo Do-jun kicked off the ground, dashing forward until he reached the peak.  

There, he found it.  

GRRRRROOOOAAARGH!  

A massive monster—15 meters tall—with a burning red magic spear embedded in its collarbone.  

The Boss Monster of the Paju rift zone, its face twisted in agony.  

“Direct hit.”  

Seeing the Boss Monster’s suffering, Seo Do-jun grinned.