Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 248

“To actually see the nemesis of God I’ve only heard about… It’s an honor,” I said.

The conversation proceeded amicably.

Park Hyun-ah was unusually polite, and Emperor Lambert also praised her without asserting his authority.

“Speak comfortably. I heard you’re not that stiff. Am I mistaken?” Lambert asked.
“I know that Drasen helped when I was wandering the battlefield alone in the past. Let’s just say it’s a courtesy to my benefactor,” Park Hyun-ah replied.
“Oh dear, I told them to help secretly. It seems information has leaked.”

Emperor Lambert wore a stern expression.

Park Hyun-ah has been called the nemesis of God for a long time and has been at war with Gatrren.

Helping her was a top secret, unknown to anyone.

No matter how involved she was, there was no way Park Hyun-ah could know about Drasen’s help.

Just when he thought the secret had been leaked, Park Hyun-ah chuckled.

“It’s not so much your mistake as it is my quick wit.”

Despite the potentially arrogant attitude, Emperor Lambert seemed pleased and laughed heartily.

“Hahaha! That’s right! Indeed. You might have already known.”
“Actually, I didn’t know from the beginning, but I noticed it relatively recently,” Park Hyun-ah admitted.
“Was that so… However, this is also a misunderstanding. I only ordered you to help for the sake of our Drasen Empire. You don’t have to be so grateful. So, you don’t have to be so polite.”
“I’m the type who values results. But well… if that’s what you really want, I’ll speak comfortably.”

As Park Hyun-ah continued, she naturally returned to her usual, cocky demeanor.

Watching this, Emperor Lambert nodded.

“Personally, I prefer that arrogant attitude. After all, the story we have to share from now on is bound to be heavy.”

“I like it.”

At that moment, Park Hyun-ah’s eyes narrowed and shone sharply.

She realized that the Emperor wanted to get straight to the point.

“So, what’s the reason for inviting us here?” she asked.
“As you might have guessed, it’s because of Gatrren.”

“Why Gatrren?”
“A letter came from Gatrren. They said they would annihilate the continent if we didn’t hand you over.”

Park Hyun-ah frowned and pondered.

Even though it was just one sentence, there were too many things to nitpick.

“First of all, it’s funny that Gatrren is asking Drasen to hand us over, but let’s skip that. It’s true that Drasen has been helping us from behind the scenes, so they might misunderstand that we belong here. But what? Annihilate the continent? You want us to believe such absurd words?”

Annihilate the continent.

Not only is it nearly impossible, but even if it were possible, why would they do such a thing?

Gatrren is already a powerful empire.

There’s no reason to create the worst-case scenario of world destruction.

“First, let’s correct a misunderstanding. Gatrren knows our relationship accurately. Drasen is just a helper. They can’t force you,” Emperor Lambert clarified.
“Then why are they asking you to hand us over?”
“Here’s the second point. We need to talk about the continent’s destruction, and as a result of our investigation, Gatrren’s words are not empty.”
“Gatrren actually has the power to annihilate the continent?”
“Yes. It’s closer to mutual destruction than annihilation, but the continent is still in danger.”
“So, to summarize…”

Park Hyun-ah sighed deeply and continued.

“Gatrren has a self-destruct switch that will destroy the continent, and they’re telling us to hand ourselves over quietly if we don’t want to see that switch pressed?”

“Exactly.”

“But why? What can Gatrren gain from self-destruction? It’s a huge empire that divides the continent, after all.”
“Because Gatrren has become desperate. Thanks to your continued efforts.”

“Desperate?”

“On the surface, Gatrren still maintains a large size, but if you look at the reality, it’s completely different. It’s rotting from the inside. What you’ve done has unknowingly eaten away at Gatrren’s interior.”
“Ah… is that what happened?”

Park Hyun-ah quickly grasped the situation.

In fact, she had been somewhat aware of it and had half-intended it.

The foundation of Gatrren is the Deusis Church.

And the foundation of the Deusis Church is the demons.

The Deusis Church can only remain powerful if the demons exist.

‘Originally, Gatrren was going to deal with the demons to maximize the power of Deusis and then swallow the continent in one fell swoop.’

If the war with the demons was decorated with victory, the power of the Deusis Church would cover the entire continent.

After that, it’s simple.

If they witch-hunt only a few powerful countries among the remaining countries by associating them with demons, it would be easy to take over the continent.

‘But that plan failed from the start.’

Although they eliminated the Demon King, the demons still remained, and they even made a peace treaty.

The doctrine of the Deusis Church, which claimed that demons are evil that cannot coexist, was shaken from its roots.

After that, the infighting continued within Gatrren.

The deaths of cardinals.

The national power and the power of the doctrine continued to be consumed.

As the power naturally weakened, the misdeeds and truths that had been hidden until then were gradually unveiled.

Then, the public sentiment of the Deusis Church and Gatrren worsens in a vicious cycle.

“I don’t intend to blame you now. Our Drasen was also involved. No one knew that Gatrren was hiding such power.”
“Gatrren is funny too. This is practically self-inflicted. All we did was expose the already rotten interior.”
“Hahaha! You could see it that way. Anyway, the important thing is that Gatrren is in a corner. It’s still okay, but they realized that there’s no future as it is.”
“So they threatened? With the entire continent at stake?”

“That’s right.”

“What basis do we have to believe that? What, did they plant bombs all over the continent?”

“Similar.”

“Huh…?”

Park Hyun-ah blinked, momentarily flustered.

“You planted bombs all over the continent?”
“To be exact, we have planted divine power.”

“Divine power…”

“Until now, divine power was thought to be the power to protect humanity from demons, but in fact, it was the most deadly poison.”

The Pope’s explanation followed.

First, he unfolded a map showing the Deusis Church’s temples within the continent.

Looking at it this way, the temples are just scattered irregularly, but the story changes when you draw lines mainly around the grand temples.

“A magic circle…?”

“It’s not just a magic circle. It’s a continent-sized magic circle.”

The magic circle created along the grand temples covers almost a third of the continent.

When looking at the human territory alone, it covered about half of it.

“Once activated, at least half of the humans will be within range.”

“That’s right.”

“So, what happens when the magic circle is activated?”
“Those with divine power will all go berserk.”

“Berserk…?”

“They become madmen. You could see it as similar to a type of undead.”

Park Hyun-ah was speechless.

The power to protect humanity, divine power.

To create a state similar to the undead with it.

No, even if that’s possible, what kind of group is Gatrren, thinking of making half of the continent like that?

“Gatrren calls this the Empire’s Devotion.”
“They named it really well…”

It’s easy to see why this magic is called ‘The Empire’s Devotion’.

The magic circle was designed to activate not only throughout the territory of the Gatrren Empire but also mainly in pro-Gatrren countries.

“Gatrren has more people with divine power than any other country. If they activate that, it’s the same as making all their citizens go crazy, but they’re doing that?”
“So that’s why they call it the Empire’s Devotion, isn’t it?”

“Crazy bastards.”

“There’s still something really important left.”
“What else is left…?”

Park Hyun-ah asked, looking exhausted.

More than 20% of humanity might go crazy in an instant, is there anything more important than this?

“Those who become madmen all become Gatrren’s army. They have far superior physical abilities than ordinary humans, and they don’t know fear. The strongest army is born.”

“Heo…”

“If that magic is activated, the continent is practically doomed.”

Sacrifice all their citizens.

Gatrren, with no turning back, will try to conquer the continent by any means.

And their conquest of the continent will likely succeed.

Because they will have more and stronger troops than all the armies of the continent combined.

“I don’t know what will be left on this land after the war. Gatrren wanted to have the continent even by doing that.”
“What a crazy psycho…”
“Anyway, the Empire’s Devotion is the last resort for them. So they are trying this negotiation disguised as blackmail, to avoid using that last resort at all costs.”
“Thanks to that, we have no choice but to follow?”
“I have no intention of forcing you.”
“We have no choice. If we don’t, the continent will be destroyed…”

The enemy presented a nuclear bomb switch that would erase the continent with a small negotiation card.

And then he said.

If you don’t want to see this button pressed, come and sacrifice your life.

What else can we do but die here?

“Perhaps… Is there no way to stop that magic?”

At that time, Choi Hyun-seok, who had only been listening to the story, joined the conversation for the first time.

The Emperor shook his head at the question.

“Unfortunately, it’s impossible. We haven’t fully grasped the magic yet, and most of all, we don’t have enough time.”

“Time?”

“We have to attack and destroy the main temples of the continent simultaneously, but that’s physically impossible. If you show an attitude of trying to attack the temples in a half-hearted way, the enemy may activate the magic circle first.”

“Ah…”

To put it in perspective.

To prevent a nuclear bomb from exploding, you must completely turn off the power to the switch.

To do that, you have to cut off the power supply spread all over the continent.

It’s physically impossible.

If you show a move to cut off the power recklessly, and the enemy presses the switch before the power is completely turned off, then it’s over.

“As I said many times, I have no intention of forcing you. If you continue to fight as you are now, we will be grateful for that alone.”

Park Hyun-ah sneered at the Emperor’s words.

“You don’t have to worry too much about your image. I understand. If only the two of us die, we can cleanly protect the continent, so honestly, you can’t help but wish for it.”
“Hmm, you seem to be misunderstanding. I’m saying this sincerely.”

“Sincere?”

“The peace that can be obtained by sacrificing you… That’s temporary.”

Emperor Lambert continued with a serious expression.

“They still have that bomb switch. If they hand you over, what will they ask for next? Influence in neighboring countries? The dissolution of the alliance? If we give them one by one, they will ask for it someday.”

The Emperor’s eyes were full of conviction, as if he was seeing a predetermined future.

“To hand over our empire.”

He chuckled and waved his hand.

“With such a future in sight, is there any need to force unnecessary sacrifices on you?”
“If we don’t, the continent might be destroyed right now, not in the future?”
“That’s not wrong. But we are the Drasen Empire.”

The Emperor leaned back on the backrest and continued.

“Even if the continent collapses, we will be the last country left on this continent. If we survive, we will rise again, and if we fall, the continent will be over.”

It was arrogant.

It was the same as saying that the Drasen Empire is humanity itself.

However, the Emperor was as calm as someone talking about a very obvious common sense.

“Although the damage will be great, my honest feeling is that we will find a way before humanity is destroyed.”
“The Emperor is so carefree.”
“The Emperor is originally such a position. If you worry about trivial matters, you can’t live to your full potential.”

That the empire, and even the continent, might be destroyed is a trivial matter.

Even if it was a joke or a bluff, his guts were thick.

‘Looking at his expression, it seems like he’s serious.’

Looking at his unwavering and consistently relaxed expression, I also thought that maybe it was real.

“I won’t ask for an answer right away. Gatrren also gave us time. Three days. Give me an answer within that time. Whether you will go to die or not.”

Park Hyun-ah shook her head.

“Let’s just say it now. Nothing changes if you give us time.”

Choi Hyun-seok and I have already talked and our opinions have come together.

There’s no need to wait three days.

No, from now on, time is gold.

We have to make a decision right away and move quickly.

“What the heck. Let’s die once.”

Even so, the two are heroes [Yongsa].

We can’t cowardly run away when the villain takes humanity hostage and threatens us.

Also, being helplessly defeated by the villain is far from the duty of a hero [Yongsa].

“However, it won’t flow in the way those guys want.”

So we will risk our lives as they want.

And we will thoroughly destroy them.

As always.

“We will defeat the villains like heroes [Yongsa].”