Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 100

There are No Bad Heroes in the World - 100

“Is that true?”

Pope Orban IV.

For the first time in a long while, a genuine smile graced his lips, not the usual forced one.

It was prompted by the report from Brian バルカツ [Barkatsu], a frontline commander.

“Reidrun. Abelson Marriott. An opportunity to eliminate Choi Hyun-seok all at once…”

Reidrun, a high-ranking officer in the Demon King’s army.

Abelson Marriott, the next Saintess.

Choi Hyun-seok, the Hero.

All three were major thorns in the Pope’s side.

Reidrun, the Red Nightmare.

His notoriety was among the highest in the Demon King’s army.

A powerful figure, comparable to a division commander, he was always at the forefront of battles.

The mere presence of the Red Nightmare on the battlefield was enough to demoralize enemy soldiers.

Moreover, Reidrun was a confidant of Hémès.

Eliminating Reidrun at this juncture would be like severing Hémès’s right arm.

The next Saintess, Abelson Marriott, was also quite a nuisance.

Gifted with the ability to hear the voice of God, she possessed knowledge of many secrets that were best left unknown.

Not only did she disregard his orders, but she also enjoyed immense popularity among the populace.

It was imperative to deal with her swiftly, as a single slip of the tongue could lead to exceedingly troublesome situations.

Lastly, the Hero Choi Hyun-seok.

‘Perhaps the greatest threat of all…’

The Pope was acutely aware of how dangerous Heroes could be.

Their strength grew endlessly and at an alarming rate.

That was precisely why the Pope had been striving to keep all Heroes under his control.

Otherwise, a situation like the Park Hyun-ah incident could repeat itself.

The damage Park Hyun-ah had inflicted upon the Empire still sent shivers down his spine.

Yet, Choi Hyun-seok was growing stronger at an even faster pace than Park Hyun-ah.

And he was within the Demon King’s army.

The Pope didn’t even want to contemplate the magnitude of the headache he would become in just a few short years.

“It seems God hasn’t abandoned me yet. Hahaha!”

The Pope chuckled, as if he had just cracked a particularly amusing joke.

“Eliminating those three at once will be as satisfying as pulling out a deeply rooted, rotten tooth.”

He couldn’t suppress his excitement, as if merely imagining it was a source of immense pleasure.

“What does he want?”

“He requests the withdrawal of soldiers from the vicinity of the Demon King’s 8th Division for a temporary period. And he’s asking for a five-thousand-man unit as a sacrifice.”

“A five-thousand-man unit? What’s the reason?”

“He claims he needs achievements to bolster his standing.”

The Pope’s smile widened at the mention of ‘achievements.’

“Was that demon’s name Grat? I’ve heard the name before, but he’s more cunning than I initially assessed.”

“Yes. He’s quite clever for a demon.”

“Accept the offer for now.”

Pope Orban readily agreed.

Cardinal Elrond couldn’t help but be surprised.

The Pope had essentially sanctioned the sacrifice of five thousand soldiers.

“Is that wise?”

“Of course, not our Empire’s soldiers. We’ll fill the ranks with soldiers from other allied nations.”

“A brilliant idea!”

“And after the allied soldiers meet their end, we’ll deal with that demon Grat as well. How dare a mere demon propose a deal? Isn’t that presumptuous?”

“Indeed… The real achievements will be reaped by our Empire. Hahaha!”

“That’s right. I trust that Lord Elrond will orchestrate the stage effectively.”

“Leave it to me!”

Elrond was brimming with confidence.

Setting up such a stage was his specialty.

Thousands of innocent soldiers would perish in the process, but it was a necessary evil.

‘A small sacrifice for the greater good.’

A benevolent smile, mirroring the Pope’s, spread across Cardinal Elrond’s face.

***

Early dawn.

The sun had not yet broken the horizon, and twilight still held sway.

In the dim light, the Hero Choi Hyun-seok was writhing.

An observer might have mistaken it for a bizarre dance.

A moment later.

As the rising sun cast its rays, Choi Hyun-seok’s body, gradually revealed, appeared even more peculiar than his movements.

Pshhh… Pshh!

The skin twisted as if boiling.

Blade-like protrusions emerged, only to suddenly transform into solid rock.

Occasionally, arcs of electricity would crackle across his form.

A process of stimulating the body with mana to forcibly induce change.

Choi Hyun-seok was relentlessly striving to discern a discernible pattern within it.

“Hoo… Should I call it quits for now?”

He steadied his breathing.

The body, which had been morphing into a multitude of shapes, reverted to its original form.

“Hero! Hero!”

Rahel, who had been squatting beside him, observing the training, scurried over.

“How is it progressing?”

“Not really anything concrete yet.”

“Tch. You’ve been flailing around like that all night, and there’s no progress?”

“Would it be reasonable to expect results in just one day? And where did you even pick up the phrase ‘flailing around’ from!?”

“I simply described what I witnessed.”

“I might actually kill you…”

Despite dedicating the entire night to training, there were no significant breakthroughs.

In truth, this was only to be expected.

It was simply that Choi Hyun-seok’s growth and skill acquisition had been extraordinarily exceptional up until this point.

Ordinarily, mastering something new was not as straightforward as one might imagine.

Others would invest months or even years just to learn a single skill.

Creating a skill was several times more challenging than that.

Not only skills but most things related to magic followed a similar principle.

It was quite remarkable that Choi Hyun-seok was learning and creating anything and everything so effortlessly at his current level.

“But I think I’m roughly getting the hang of it.”

Choi Hyun-seok scratched his head and smiled.

He had just expressed frustration at the lack of immediate results, but in reality, he was already experiencing some progress.

“What do you mean by getting the hang of it?”

“There were a total of five mana ampules [small, sealed capsules containing concentrated magical energy] I consumed back then, right?”

“Yes!”

Rahel nodded.

Choi Hyun-seok had ingested a total of five mana ampules at Rotark’s lab back then.

Hémès had even investigated the related data and personally handed it over.

“After experimenting a few times, I believe I can systematize each ampule by defining a specific form for each one. You could say it’s the most efficient method.”

“Ooh! A kind of transformation mode?”

“That’s right. The fact that blades keep emerging from me is undoubtedly related.”

“Why blades?”

“One of the mana ampules I drank was derived from a monster called Perminium. Its defining characteristic is emitting electricity from hard blades. Perhaps if I grasp the method, I’ll be able to control the ability to wield electricity as well?”

“Oho…”

“I’ll have to extract the characteristics of other monsters in a similar fashion and implement a method of transforming accordingly.”

Choi Hyun-seok elaborated on his thought process thus far.

Rahel, who had been attentively listening to the story, cast a suspicious glance at him.

“Hero. You’re acting a bit strange today?”

“What do you mean?”

Rahel circled around Choi Hyun-seok.

“No matter how I scrutinize it, it’s peculiar. Did you overexert your mana and suffer some kind of mental lapse? No! Are you truly our Hero!?”

“Why are you behaving like this?”

“You’ve suddenly become too intelligent! Who are you! What have you done to our Hero!?”

“I might actually kill you… And I was always smart, okay!?”

“Kyaa! A smart doppelganger [an exact double or look-alike of a living person] killed the Hero and donned his skin!”

Choi Hyun-seok shouted.

Rahel sprinted towards one side of the barracks without looking back.

Choi Hyun-seok, who was about to give chase, sighed and relented.

“Forget it. I don’t even possess the energy to chase…”

He felt utterly drained after staying up all night to train.

In reality, there were no physical repercussions from forgoing sleep for a day or two, but he was simply mentally exhausted.

“That’s why you shouldn’t have pushed yourself too hard.”

“I couldn’t bring myself to stop because I felt like I was on the verge of grasping something.”

Choi Hyun-seok hadn’t intended to stay up all night either.

Originally, he had planned to train for only an hour or two and then retire, but he ended up persevering through the night, as if possessed by something that seemed within reach but remained elusive.

“Ugh! Okay. I need to grab a bite to eat before I have to train with Reidrun again soon.”

He stretched vigorously and exited the barracks.

He was planning to indulge in a hearty meal before today’s training commenced.

‘I should meet Abelson while I’m at it.’

A smile naturally bloomed on his face at the prospect of sharing a meal with Abelson.

At that moment, Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.

A familiar cow head had just passed by.

“Lord Reidrun?”

“Ah, Choi Hyun-seok. Did you rest well?”

“Yes. Well… Haha!”

He couldn’t reveal that he had been training here all night.

Reidrun, who regarded rest as a form of training, would undoubtedly lecture him.

“I rested reasonably well. By the way, Lord Reidrun. Is something amiss?”

Choi Hyun-seok inquired, scrutinizing Reidrun’s complexion.

His demeanor was unusual.

Others might not detect it, but Choi Hyun-seok could sense it.

Reidrun’s expression was subtly distorted.

“Choi Hyun-seok. So you sensed it as well.”

“Pardon?”

“The atmosphere within the castle is unsettling.”

“Ah, it certainly seems busy.”

Choi Hyun-seok remarked, glancing around.

As he noted, soldiers were bustling about, moving here and there.

He had assumed they were merely engaged in training, so he hadn’t paid much attention, but it seemed Reidrun held a different view.

“It feels like they’re preparing for battle.”

“Battle…”

Just as Choi Hyun-seok’s tone turned somber, a group of soldiers rushed towards them.

“Lord Reidrun! Division Commander Grat is seeking you.”

“What’s the matter?”

“A battle is imminent, so he requests your presence at the strategy meeting.”

***

Many executives were already seated in the conference room.

It appeared that all executives of battalion commander rank or higher had participated.

All eyes turned to Reidrun as he entered belatedly.

“Late.”

“Is he acting all high and mighty because he hails from the legion?”

Even though it was a hushed murmur, it was clearly audible to Reidrun’s acute hearing.

Reidrun took his seat without uttering a word.

‘There’s no need to humor them.’

Despite rushing over as soon as he received the news, he was the last to arrive.

This merely indicated that he had received the message late.

Perhaps this situation had been intentionally planned and orchestrated.

“Sit down. The meeting will commence immediately.”

The conference room fell silent at Grat’s words.

He fixed his gaze on the demon standing at the very front.

“Proceed.”

“Yes. Since there’s a new attendee, I’ll reiterate from the beginning.”

In the conference room, a massive map created with magic was displayed.

It was a topographical map of the vicinity of Gadrak Castle.

The demon gestured towards the map and elucidated the situation.

“We have received an urgent report that human armies are converging to besiege Gadrak Castle.”

Red dots were scattered around Gadrak Castle on the map.

“The total force numbers approximately 20,000. It is anticipated that they will all converge at Gadrak Castle within two days.”

“20,000…”

“The issue is that the force of 20,000 is likely the advance party. Based on past experience, there is a high probability that a main force of a similar size is en route.”

As the explanation continued, the commanders’ expressions grew grim.

The visible enemy numbered 20,000.

And there was a strong likelihood that an enemy of comparable or greater size was approaching.

In that case, the enemy’s strength should be estimated at a minimum of 40,000.

“Those humans are truly resolute.”

In terms of the Demon King’s army, it was equivalent to the strength of two divisions.

It was uncommon for such a large-scale army to mobilize.

That signified that the enemy was also staking their lives on this battle.

“How many soldiers are currently stationed in Gadrak Castle?”

“Approximately 10,000.”

“It won’t be easy.”

Even with a defensive strategy, it was challenging to defend against 40,000 with 10,000.

Moreover, this was a world where magic existed.

Defense could potentially be a disadvantage rather than an advantage.

If a large-scale magical assault were to commence, the soldiers amassed inside the castle would be as good as a prepared meal.

“Can we request reinforcements from other castles?”

“It’s unfeasible. Even if reinforcements were to arrive, they would likely be defeated piecemeal [gradually, in small stages].”

Gadrak Castle was where the largest concentration of soldiers was stationed in this region.

The soldiers in other castles numbered at most three to five thousand.

They would be routed by the humans before they even reached here.

“…”

Silence permeated the conference room.

No one dared to speak in the face of the dire situation.

It was only natural, given that there were scarcely any executives with the intellect to even devise a strategy.

“It can’t be helped.”

Grat shattered the silence.

He surveyed the executives and declared, and simultaneously, shock rippled through the room.

“We are abandoning Gadrak Castle.”

Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]

Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]

There Are No Bad Heroes In This World 세상에 나쁜 용사는 없다
Status: Completed Author: Native Language: Korean
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[English Translation] Choi Hyun-seok, the undefeated heavyweight champion of Earth's most brutal MMA league, met his end, only to be reborn as a hero in a world teetering on the brink of destruction. Promised wealth, honor, and the adoration of countless beauties, he envisioned a glorious new life. But destiny had a cruel twist in store. Instead of a hero's welcome, he was greeted by a monstrous ox demon, commander of a relentless demon army, who scoffed at his arrival. "Hero? You dare call yourself a hero?" From that moment, Choi Hyun-seok's idyllic fantasy shattered, plunging him into a living hell. Prepare for a saga of survival, unexpected alliances, and the brutal realization that not all heroes are created equal, and sometimes, the line between savior and sacrifice is blurred beyond recognition. Dive into a world where the strongest fighter on Earth must become something more to survive, and discover if he can truly become the hero this world desperately needs.

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