SFRW-Chapter 93

Ch. 93 Sword God From The Ruined World  

The most essential thing for human activity is life force, known as ‘Soul’. 

No matter how great a knight or wizard one may be, once their Soul is exhausted, they can no longer sustain life.  

The reason human lifespans are not very long is that Soul naturally depletes from the moment of birth.  

While consuming elixirs can slow the rate of depletion, even that cannot indefinitely extend the limit.  

Humans expend Soul at an accelerating rate as they age.  

Thus, while Soul is essential energy for sustaining human life, there exist lifeforms that do not require life energy like Soul—unlike humans.  

The most representative of these are undead monsters.  

They sustain their existence solely through magic.  

Moreover, depending on the quality and quantity of magic, they could possess even greater power, meaning the strength of an undead monster is classified by how much magic it holds.  

Among undead monsters, Liches possess the highest level of magic by far.  

Summoning countless undead monsters and wielding powerful magic required an immense amount of magic.  

“A considerable quantity.”  

Furthermore, when a former human dark mage becomes a Lich of their own will, they inevitably possess far more magic than a Lich created purely as a monster.  

This is because the magic accumulated over a human lifetime, combined with the relentless desire to grow stronger—even at the cost of abandoning humanity—allows them to amass even greater power.  

Moreover, Avarr had lived his entire life clinging solely to ‘revenge’.  

Seo Do-jun looked down at Avarr’s Soul stone in his hand.  

A small, dark blue pebble-sized Soul stone.  

Though incomparable in quality to the Soul Gems Seo Do-jun possessed, and reusable, it could only hold a single soul—unfortunately.  

The magic emanating from the Soul stone containing Avarr’s soul was beyond imagination.  

Even Seo Do-jun would never willingly give it up.  

The problem was the nature of the magic.  

Avarr’s magic, refined through pure 100% dark magic, was far more concentrated than the dark magic that had transformed the Brazil Rift Zones.  

Most mages or knights wouldn’t even dare think of absorbing it.  

And that included Seo Do-jun.  

However.  

“Had it not been for the Letonia Flower, I would’ve had no choice but to give up.”  

Whether by fate’s jest, Seo Do-jun had obtained the Letonia Flower at the Gold Market and was now in a position to use it perfectly.  

The Letonia Flower, capable of altering the nature of any magic.  

“I’ll put it to good use.”  

Avarr’s Soul stone vibrated as if begging and pleading for its life.  

Seo Do-jun ignored it lightly and retrieved a Soul Gem from his pocket dimension.  

Responding to Seo Do-jun’s magic, ten Champion Death Knights were summoned.  

Though Avarr had been dealt with, the Skeleton Mist he had unleashed remained active.  

Its influence would diminish over time before disappearing entirely.  

But the skeletons wandering within the mist, like dogs who had lost their master, would roam and attack all living beings except their own kind.  

“Kill all approaching enemies.”  

The ten Champion Death Knights, brimming with more energy than usual, surrounded Seo Do-jun and took their positions.  

The dark magic emitted by the Skeleton Mist acted like a tonic for them.  

Having prepared safeguards to protect himself while defenselessly absorbing Avarr’s magic from the Soul stone, Seo Do-jun plucked a black petal from the Letonia Flower and placed it in his mouth.  

Then, he began absorbing the magic from Avarr’s Soul stone in his hand.  

Kwa-gagagagagaga—  

An overwhelming surge of magic flooded into Seo Do-jun’s body.  

It was an immense quantity, as if a narrow channel were being filled to the point of overflowing.  

‘Had I not expanded my magic roads with Laroc’s Eggs, I wouldn’t have been able to handle even this.’  

It was also fortunate that he had expanded his magic roads before obtaining Avarr’s Soul stone.  

Otherwise, his narrow magic roads would have been torn apart by the Soulstone’s magic, leaving him crippled.  

The magic Avarr had gathered, even at the cost of becoming a Lich, was incredibly violent, dark, gloomy, and savage.  

Given that Avarr had spent his entire life clinging to revenge and striving for strength, it was inevitable that his magic would reflect that.  

Avarr’s magic was so violent that it would crush any magic of a different nature upon contact, making it impossible to harmonize with Seo Do-jun’s existing magic.  

But the black Letonia Flower petal in Seo Do-jun’s mouth prevented Avarr’s magic from clashing with his own.  

The Letonia Flower had seven petals.  

The black petal Seo Do-jun held in his mouth carried the attribute of darkness—the purest form of primordial darkness.  

Infused with this essence, the black Letonia petal began fusing Seo Do-jun’s magic with Avarr’s as he willed it.  

Determined not to waste even a wisp of magic, Seo Do-jun focused intently, absorbing the Soulstone’s magic while rapidly binding it with his own.  

As time passed, the deep blue of the Soul stone gradually faded.  

As the magic diminished, the soul’s light grew dimmer.  

Eventually, the soul’s color turned white, then transparent.  

The soul’s annihilation.  

Since Avarr had bound his soul with his own magic rather than being forcibly restrained by another, his soul vanished once all his magic was stripped away.  

Satisfied with the vast quantity of magic now filling his body, Seo Do-jun plucked a red petal from the Letonia Flower and placed it in his mouth.  

The black petal, having fulfilled its purpose, dried up completely, falling to the ground and crumbling to dust.  

With the red petal—imbued with the essence of fire—in his mouth, Seo Do-jun once again altered the nature of the merged magic.  

The violent, savage, and dark magic transformed into the nature of scorching flames.  

The reason he chose the red petal over others was that, due to the Eternal Ember he had absorbed, fire-attribute magic was the most effective for him to wield.  

After another long stretch of time, Seo Do-jun finally spat out the red petal.  

It, too, fell and shattered upon hitting the ground.  

Having perfectly absorbed Avarr’s magic, Seo Do-jun calmed the surging energy within him.  

It took half a day using the Vandeyan family’s Magic Heart Method to fully make it his own.  

“…Now, it’s only the strength of my past.”  

Despite regaining the power he once wielded as the Sword God in the ruined world, no trace of joy could be seen on Seo Do-jun’s face.  

***  

“Go on! Struggle! Thrash about! The more you struggle, the greater your despair will be! Karserian! You wretched man burdened with the world’s destruction! You, more than anyone, should know! My king is an omnipotent god—one you can never oppose! Kehahahaha! Uhehehehe! Tremble in fear and wait! My king will lead you and this world to ruin—!”  

The one who had brought ruin to the Leverka Continent now had Earth in his sights.  

Though it was unclear why he was targeting Earth in a completely different manner than Leverka, one thing was certain: Earth faced imminent destruction.  

The rift zones were only the beginning.  

Seo Do-jun’s gaze turned toward the entrance of the rift that had triggered the 8th Monster Wave.  

No rift zone entrance on Earth had ever been this massive before.  

The ‘tear’ in space itself reminded him of the moment when the skies of Leverka had split open, unleashing hordes of monsters.  

“Is it because of Earth’s environment?”  

For now, that was the most plausible assumption.  

Earth’s environment was entirely different from Leverka’s, which might explain why the invasion had to take this form.  

Avarr’s words had also supported this theory.  

“To rapidly increase synchronization with this world, cooperation wouldn’t be a bad idea.”  

Avarr had called it ‘synchronization’ and even kindly mentioned that the rate was at 30%.  

Presumably, the synchronization rate was closely tied to the monster invasion.  

After all, Avarr himself had crossed over through 30% synchronization.  

Recalling Avarr’s words, Seo Do-jun’s expression twisted.  

“I’ve heard they’re deciding the order. Either Rebley or Kusak will come next…”  

He didn’t know who Rebley was.  

But.  

Avarr had definitely said ‘Kusak’.  

The name was all too familiar to Seo Do-jun, and he regretted not confirming it when Avarr abruptly changed the subject.  

“It must be someone else.”  

The Kusak, Seo Do-jun knew had fought monsters to the very end before meeting his death.  

Unlike Avarr or Vaital, who had betrayed humanity, he had been different.  

“It can’t be the Kusak I knew.”  

Before his thoughts grew any more tangled, Seo Do-jun decided to focus on the immediate task at hand.  

First, he dispersed the ten Champion Death Knights throughout the Skeleton Mist.  

This would both clear the living skeletons within the mist and allow the Death Knights to grow stronger.  

Under the Skeleton Mist’s influence, there was no risk of the Champion Death Knights falling to mere skeletons. Even if they sustained heavy damage, their souls would automatically return to the Soul Gem if they were at risk of annihilation, eliminating any need for concern.  

Watching the ten Champion Death Knights scatter like knights embarking on training, Seo Do-jun also moved.  

Toward the rift entrance—the one that had triggered the longest-lasting Monster Wave on Earth, now gaping like the maw of a colossal beast, radiating ominous energy—Seo Do-jun stepped forward and pushed his body inside.  

***

Meanwhile…  

The military leaders of the three nations, who had utterly crushed the organized skeleton army with modern weaponry, would have immediately deployed fighter jets and tanks had modern weapons worked inside the Skeleton Mist.  

But since all modern weapons—and even electronic equipment—turned into scrap metal within the mist, their only option was to position troops outside, waiting for monsters to emerge.  

Sending Heroes into the mist was also impossible.  

South Africa had officially announced their situation: 120 Heroes had lost contact, along with those sent to find them.  

Thanks to South Africa’s transparency, Angola and Botswana—who had been quietly preparing to deploy their own Heroes—were able to avoid sacrificing their precious forces.  

Thus, the three nations could only maintain a tense standoff around the Skeleton Mist.  

“Seo Do-jun will be alright, won’t he?”  

At Gloria’s question, Hyun Joo-yeon forced a nod.  

“He should be.”  

When Seo Do-jun had announced his intention to enter the mist—the same one that had devoured South Africa’s Heroes—Hyun Joo-yeon and Gloria had been the ones who tried hardest to stop him.  

But knowing the mist’s nature, and confident that it posed no real danger to him, Seo Do-jun had reassured them.  

In the end, they had no choice but to let him go.  

No—they knew that even if they tried to stop him, he would go anyway.  

Now, three days had passed since Seo Do-jun entered the Skeleton Mist.  

The three nations remained on high alert, uncertain when monsters might surge from the mist.  

Countless Heroes stood by, monitoring the situation.  

Hyun Joo-yeon and Gloria were also stationed at South Africa’s first defense line.  

“The mist seems a little farther away now.”  

At Hyun Joo-yeon’s words, Gloria squinted at the mist.  

Given its nature, accurately measuring the distance was difficult, and no matter how hard she stared, she couldn’t tell.  

“I can’t tell. Maybe your eyes are just better than most?”  

Gloria’s reply left Hyun Joo-yeon flustered.  

Why couldn’t Gloria see what was so obvious to her?  

Was her eyesight really that much sharper?  

But she had never been praised for having good eyes before.  

Then it struck her.  

‘Now that I think about it…’  

Lately, many things about her had changed noticeably.  

Her body felt lighter, her strength had increased, and all her senses had sharpened.  

And that was because—  

“Wow! Sister, look at that bird flying over there! It’s carrying food in its beak! It must’ve caught it to feed its babies, right? I saw that on an animal documentary once!”  

When Eun-young had pointed out a bird flying in the distance, carrying food in its beak, Hyun Joo-yeon had dismissed it.  

But now, she realized—seeing a bird’s prey from that far away wasn’t normal.  

‘My height, my eyesight… It must all be from practicing the Magic Heart Method.’  

There was no other explanation.  

Practicing the technique had dramatically enhanced all her physical abilities.  

Seo Do-jun had shared this incredible secret with her alone.  

“Why are you looking at me like that?”  

Gloria frowned at Hyun Joo-yeon’s sudden, unsettling gaze.  

“L-like what?”  

“That look in your eyes just now… It was really unnerving…”  

“N-no way. Must be your imagination.”  

Flustered, Hyun Joo-yeon quickly turned away.  

Unconsciously, she had been looking down on Gloria from a position of superiority.  

But the superiority she had been so confident in shattered completely within days.