SFRW-Chapter 32

Ch. 32 Sword God From The Ruined World 

São Paulo, Brazil.  

The atmosphere in the conference room of the Brazilian Hero Association was more tense than ever.  

“…So you’re saying Luiz Morais is dead, and the Luminar Guild was completely wiped out with no survivors? You gathered all these people just to drop that on us—what exactly do you expect us to do with that?”  

At the uncomfortable question, the man standing in front of the large screen slowly nodded.  

“I understand your discomfort from the very first word. But it’s the truth.”  

“Are you absolutely certain? As far as I know, once you enter a rift zone, all communication is cut off.”  

“Please look here.”  

Instead of answering, the man pointed to the screen, and an image immediately appeared.  

The first photo was of a completely shattered camera.  

“Given the importance of this operation, the Association has been sending Heroes into the rift zone every ten days to receive progress reports. However, during the second report…”  

The man exhaled briefly before continuing.  

“This camera was brought by the Luminar Guild to document the rift zone closure operation.”  

Even in an era where smartphones could capture the highest quality images, the camera in the photo was an old-fashioned film camera.  

This was because advanced electronic devices malfunctioned in rift zones or Gates, while older film cameras still worked. As a result, film cameras had become invaluable again, despite being outdated.  

“As you can see, it was completely destroyed, but fortunately, we managed to salvage the film.”  

Click.  

The man pressed a button in his hand, and the image changed.  

The next photo showed Brazil’s S-rank Hero and national icon, Luiz Morais, along with the 180 members of the Luminar Guild, taken just before they entered the rift zone.  

Their bright smiles and energetic poses made some in the room shake their heads in disbelief at the news of his death.  

The man also let out a quiet sigh before switching to the next photo.  

Click.  

The next images showed the rift zone they had decided to close.  

Some photos captured Luiz Morais’ playful expressions and the guild members’ humorous antics, even amidst grueling battles with monsters.  

The pictures made it clear that the rift zone closure operation had been progressing smoothly.  

But then—  

“Pay close attention from here onward. These are the photos recovered from the broken camera.”  

Click.  

With the man’s grave tone, a new image appeared on the screen.  

The first few photos weren’t much different from the previous ones, but then—  

“What is that?”  

“…A monster?”  

“More like… Something else.”  

In the photo, standing arrogantly atop the head of a snake-like monster as large as a building was a small creature.  

“We’ll zoom in.”  

At the man’s words, the screen enlarged the small figure on the monster’s head.  

Though the film camera’s resolution wasn’t perfect, the outline of the small being was clearly visible.  

“…A person?”  

Instantly, the conference room erupted into murmurs.  

Heroes had tried taming monsters before.  

Particularly, skilled beast tamers who awakened as Heroes had ambitious plans to use monster taming to fight monsters with monsters, but in the end, no Hero had ever succeeded.  

All it proved was that monsters and beasts were fundamentally different.  

Without a word, the man switched to the next photo.  

Click.  

This time, the image showed dark flames erupting around the person standing on the monster’s head.  

As if no explanation was needed, the man continued flipping through the photos at a steady pace.  

Click, click, click.  

Images of the unknown figure’s dark flames attacking the Luminar Guild members, photos of upper bodies being torn apart, guild members frozen in terror and screams, and even Luiz Morais attempting a counterattack.  

The focus was shaky in most of them, but the urgency of the situation was palpable.  

“Are you seriously saying Luiz Morais lost to that unknown person?” someone asked skeptically.  

Luiz Morais, Brazil’s national Hero, was one of the top 50 strongest Heroes in the world.  

The rankings beyond that were so close that the difference between the 50th and 100th could be likened to a single thread.  

The idea that Luiz Morais could have been defeated and killed by some unknown person was unbelievable.  

Instead of answering, the man showed one last photo.  

A charred corpse and a sword split in half beside it.  

“…My god.”  

The charred remains made it hard to identify the body, but the broken sword needed no explanation.  

It was Luiz Morais’ sword.  

In every previous photo, Luiz Morais had always been holding it—whether swinging at monsters or attempting to strike the unknown figure.  

The realization that the nation’s Hero was truly dead left the room in stunned silence.  

After a long pause, someone finally spoke.  

“So why did you gather us here? What’s the point?”  

The man in front of the screen glanced at a middle-aged man seated in the room.  

Daniel Lopes, the president of the Brazilian Hero Association, gave a small nod, and the man exhaled before answering.  

“Everything you’ve seen today must remain strictly confidential. The death of Luiz Morais and the annihilation of the Luminar Guild cannot be leaked to the public. That’s why we urgently called this meeting—to control the narrative.”  

“Secrets don’t stay buried forever. Even if we fabricate stories and manipulate the media, there’s only so much we can do.”  

“Of course. But we only need to hold out until the rift zone closure operation is complete. After that, we’ll disclose the truth ourselves.”  

Finally, the assembled members exchanged glances of understanding.  

The people in the room represented Brazil’s core leadership—government officials, Hero guilds, media, corporations.  

If they were determined to keep this under wraps, they could suppress the truth until the operation’s conclusion.  

In other words, the Brazilian Hero Association had only one goal:  

To prevent the death of their S-rank Hero from destabilizing the rift zone closure operation.  

If this news got out, countless Heroes planning to assist Brazil might reconsider, which could spell disaster for the nation.  

So, everyone in the room had no choice but to comply.  

“But was it really a human who killed Luiz Morais?”  

“At this point, we can’t say for sure.”  

“Which rift zone was Luiz Morais trying to close?”  

“Rift zone BA014.”  

Since some in the room understood while others didn’t, the man elaborated:  

“It’s located about 20 kilometers west of the border where the Tapajós and Amazon rivers meet.”  

“That would be… Closest to Santarém.”  

“Correct.”  

***  

Seo Do-jun’s Perspective  

The sudden trip to Brazil was unexpected, but for Seo Do-jun, it was absolutely necessary.  

Only with the heart of a Blue Croco could he forge a sword with the magic absorption rate he desired. So, despite the hassle, he had no choice but to go himself.  

Since they’re closing the rift zone, I should take this chance to secure multiple Blue Croco hearts in advance.  

In fact, this worked out well.  

Unless Blue Crocos appeared in other countries’ rift zones, obtaining their hearts would be difficult in the future. So, he might as well gather as many as possible while he had the chance.  

No—since he was going all the way to Brazil anyway, Seo Do-jun went ahead and made a shopping list of monsters unique to Brazil that he needed.  

“Terra Waka… So that’s a monster only found in Brazil.”  

Terra Waka, a massive plant monster, was so ferocious that most monsters wouldn’t even approach it.  

Ranging from 30 to 100 meters in size, this creature could desiccate the land within a 10-kilometer radius, turning it into a desert due to its terrifying water-absorption ability.  

“The Terra Waka’s extreme water absorption comes from the seeds in its roots. If you use its seeds, even a decent-sized pond would dry up instantly. What if I turned these seeds into a proper weapon?”  

The mischievous face of Ryuntna flashed in Seo Do-jun’s mind.  

Humans aside, most monsters (with some exceptions) were composed largely of fluids, including blood.  

So, if he could create a weapon that fully utilized the Terra Waka seed’s power, it could instantly dehydrate a target, killing them.  

Just imagining it was horrifying—a weapon of absolute destruction.  

Of course, even in the ruined world, no one had ever succeeded in weaponizing Terra Waka seeds.  

“Still worth a try.”  

Seo Do-jun added Terra Waka seeds to his Brazil shopping list.  

“From what I’ve seen so far, nothing beats Belcera’s silk as a fabric material. Look at this—amazing, right? Kassall, want me to make you a set?”  

The memory of Roperhome, whose natural craftsmanship was called the finest on the continent, proudly showing off the thin yet incredibly durable full-body armor he’d made from Belcera silk was still vivid in Seo Do-jun’s mind.  

Thanks to Roperhome, Seo Do-jun himself had benefited greatly from armor made from the silk of Belcera, a massive spider-like monster measuring 5 meters in size.  

There were other materials too—Jerk’s eyeballs with their magic amplification, Phera’s wing scales with magic reflection, Twin Head Ogre’s spinal bones—and upon checking, there were far more Brazil-exclusive materials than he’d expected.  

“This country is truly blessed.”  

Seo Do-jun thought Brazil, monopolizing such incredible resources, could easily become the world’s top nation at any time.  

“The monsters here are stronger, and the Heroes are clearly more powerful than in other countries too, right?”  

For some reason, even the same monsters in Brazil were stronger than elsewhere, and the Heroes’ abilities were correspondingly higher.  

Yet, Brazil hadn’t become the unrivaled powerhouse of Heroes because it was already struggling just to maintain its own security.  

The fact that they couldn’t even control their own rift zones and had to resort to closing them spoke volumes about their dire situation.  

“From their perspective, I guess it’s not much of a blessing.”  

Clicking his tongue, Seo Do-jun began narrowing down his Brazil shopping list to only the essentials.  

“The most important is the Blue Croc heart, followed by Terra Waka seeds. Belcera silk is too good to pass up, and if I can get Jerk’s eyeballs and Phera’s wing scales, I should. And…”  

Just as Seo Do-jun was deep in thought—  

“Brother…”  

Eun-young opened the door and walked in.  

Clutching a pure white rabbit plushie, she looked like she’d just woken up from a nap.  

Seo Do-jun set down his pen and looked at her.  

“Eun-young, what’s up?”  

Even at his question, Eun-young hesitated to speak.  

Ever since the news broke on TV that Seo Do-jun had become South Korea’s eighth S-rank Hero, both Eun-young and their grandmother had been looking at him differently.  

It wasn’t just surprise or shock—it was anxiety.  

Though only seven years old, Eun-young knew from TV just how dangerous a Hero’s job was.  

Every time she looked at Seo Do-jun now, her large, clear eyes wavered uneasily.  

With only her grandmother and Seo Do-jun in her world, her fear was understandable.  

Knowing that Eun-young had been the most devastated when he entered the new rift zone, Seo Do-jun had spent the past few days trying to reassure her.  

Without a word, Eun-young hugged one of Seo Do-jun’s legs tightly, as if trying to keep him from leaving.  

Seo Do-jun silently stroked her hair.  

“Brother… You can’t go to heaven and leave me behind like Mom did.”  

“…”  

Seo Do-jun’s hand paused briefly before gently smoothing her hair again.  

“Of course. Brother won’t leave you behind.”  

“Promise?”  

“Absolutely.”  

Seo Do-jun smiled brightly at Eun-young, who was staring up at him intently.  

“Want to go get hamburgers?”  

“Yeah! Let’s bring Grandma along too!”  

“Okay, let’s bring Grandma.”  

“I’ll go tell her!”  

Unlike when she’d entered the room sullenly, Eun-young dashed out excitedly.  

Watching her, Seo Do-jun could only hope these small moments of happiness would last forever.