Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 249

In the middle of a conversation with Emperor Lambert,

Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-ah simultaneously paused.

A Hero Quest had been triggered.

The two exchanged glances, realizing that the quest had been activated for both of them.

★☆★☆ Hero Quest! ★☆★☆

This is a crisis for humanity!

Thump-!

It’s time for the legendary hero Choi Hyun-seok to step up!

Drive out the evil Gatrein and Deusis and bring peace to the continent!

· Objective: Thwart the Pope’s plan, ‘The Empire’s Devotion’
· Reward: A large amount of experience points and 200,000 Hero Points

The quest content was simple.

Thwart the Empire’s Devotion.

The reward was 200,000 Hero Points.

In fact, Hero Points weren’t that necessary at this point.

Choi Hyun-seok still had plenty of points, and Park Hyun-ah had an abundance from the start.

The key was the large amount of experience points that would come with it, rather than the points themselves.

Since experience points were generally proportional to the reward points, they would probably be able to level up tremendously.

‘Are we finally getting to the core?’
‘Shit… that took fucking long.’

Upon seeing the quest details, the two instinctively sensed it.

That their lives as heroes were coming to an end.

“So. How do you intend to defeat them?”

Emperor Lambert asked.

He was asking about Park Hyun-ah’s last words, ‘Defeat the villains like heroes.’

“First, we’ll stall for time. As long as we can. During that time, we need to delve into that magic called the Empire’s Devotion as much as possible.”

“And after that?”

“After dragging it out like that, when we judge that we can’t hold on any longer…”

Park Hyun-ah and Choi Hyun-seok looked at each other.

They nodded, and Choi Hyun-seok answered.

“Please send us to Gatrein’s capital.”

***

Pope Orban IV demanded negotiations with the Drasen Empire through thinly veiled threats.

Kill Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-ah.

Otherwise, the continent will perish.

It had already been two weeks since he conveyed those words.

“Still no contact?”
“I’m sorry. Drasen is asking for more time.”
“Asking for time? At this very moment, they are rampaging in the sacred land. How much longer do we have to wait?”

For two weeks, Drasen had only asked for time.

Meanwhile, Park Hyun-ah and Choi Hyun-seok were still rampaging.

The Pope’s patience was gradually reaching its limit.

“We can’t wait any longer. Notify Drasen. Tomorrow. If they don’t bring an answer by then, we will execute the plan immediately.”

Just then, someone knocked on the door from outside.

The Pope sighed and said.

“What is it?”

“A letter from the Drasen Empire.”

A letter had arrived from the Drasen Empire.

It was as if they knew that the Pope’s patience was reaching its end.

The Pope was inwardly displeased, but he couldn’t ignore the letter that had arrived.

He immediately checked the contents.

Three days later.

We will send Park Hyun-ah and Choi Hyun-seok to the capital, Gratiam.

The Drasen magic corps will also move as bait.

Eliminate them all in Gatrein.

This letter will soon disappear.

After reading the contents, the Pope nonchalantly threw the letter away.

His subordinates were momentarily taken aback by the letter rolling on the floor.

Whoosh-!

The letter burst into flames and vanished in an instant.

“These, these outrageous bastards! How dare they tamper with a letter for His Holiness!”
“That’s not it. It’s a measure taken for secrecy, so don’t worry about it.”
“I’m sorry! It’s my fault for not checking properly, which could have harmed His Holiness’s body….”
“Are you going to take responsibility?”

The Pope cut him off in a calm voice.

The subordinate, who had been showing excessive loyalty, immediately shut his mouth.

“It’s a joke. Step back.”

After dismissing the useless subordinate.

The Pope pondered, recalling the contents of the letter.

‘There’s nothing wrong with the content itself. In the first place, the request was to hand them over.’

He wanted to tell Drasen to deal with them, but that was impossible.

The proud Drasen would never accept such a radical request.

If he pushed them too hard, it could backfire.

So, the best compromise was to hand them over.

It took some time, but as a result, the Drasen Empire agreed to the request and decided to send them.

Along with Drasen’s pride, the magic corps.

‘The magic corps is bait to deceive them. They probably told them it was an operation to attack Gatrein.’

In the letter, Drasen said to eliminate the magic corps as well.

It seemed they wanted a clean finish to avoid any repercussions.

‘They wouldn’t really sacrifice their precious magic corps. It’s probably a corps composed of clones.’

Clones are the essence of magic and magical engineering.

The user can possess and control a clone that looks exactly like them.

If they are really clones, Drasen can end this operation without any damage.

‘But, there’s a high chance that Park Hyun-ah will notice the clones.’

Could Park Hyun-ah, one of the top magicians on the continent, not notice the clones?

If she notices, will Park Hyun-ah come to Gratiam knowing that the unit she’s with is made of clones?

No, maybe all of this is a deceptive tactic.

They might say they’re coming to the capital, but then attack the empire’s major strongholds while the forces are gathered in the capital.

His head was getting more and more complicated.

“Hoo… I can’t help it.”

The Pope stopped worrying.

There was no point in worrying more, as it wouldn’t solve the problem.

Now, he had no choice but to believe that the enemy was coming to the capital, Gratiam.

What if this was a lie, and it was actually a deceptive tactic?

‘Then we’ll just wipe them all out.’

That would be the end of the continent.

He wanted to avoid using the Empire’s Devotion as much as possible.

But he’d rather destroy the entire continent than see Gatrein fall.

“Three days from now. They will come. Finish the defenses by then.”

Having made his decision, the Pope began to move in earnest.

Three days was just the right amount of time to set a perfect trap.

At the same time, the Pope did not forget to put in place safety measures.

“And… contact each grand temple. Tell them to prepare to initiate the Empire’s Devotion at any time.”

If the enemies broke their promise and showed signs of attacking, he was going to turn everything upside down.

***

Park Hyun-ah, having packed her bags, looked at Choi Hyun-seok.

“Are you ready?”

“I was ready a long time ago.”

The two were now heading to Gratiam, the capital of the Gatrein Holy Empire.

They were going to put an end to the long-fought war.

“Will we be able to see the Pope when we get there?”
“Well, probably not. What are you going to do looking at an old man’s face anyway?”
“I’m just curious.”
“I guess. I want to see him once before I die. I’m curious what kind of face he has. Very curious.”

He wanted to see the Pope’s face at least once before he died.

If possible, it would be even better if he could hit him once.

Choi Hyun-seok chuckled.

“Who’s dying?”
“We are. We’re going to die.”

“I’m not going to die.”

The situation was different from before.

The enemy would put all their efforts into making perfect preparations.

No matter how strong Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-ah were, they would have prepared a trap that they couldn’t escape from.

“Are you confident?”

“Of course.”

“We shouldn’t be thinking about surviving, but rather how to endure for an hour?”
“We just have to endure for an hour. And when the time is up, we’ll get out.”

“Easy to say.”

Moreover, this operation didn’t allow for attacking and immediately running away.

They had to endure in the battlefield for at least an hour.

While Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-ah were fighting in the capital, Gratiam, the Drasen Empire planned to move and destroy the grand temples in various locations.

“It’s impossible to destroy the grand temples recklessly. It would be a disaster if the enemies activated the magic before they were destroyed.”
“Then what do we do?”

“You will be the bait and buy us time. One hour. If you can hold out for just one hour in the imperial capital, we will neutralize as many grand temples as possible.”

It was a simple principle.

The enemy still didn’t trust them 100%.

Even now, they were on high alert, ready to activate the magic at any time.

So, they would throw themselves in as the enemy intended.

After that, at an unexpected moment, the Drasen Empire would quickly move to destroy the grand temples that were the bases of ‘The Empire’s Devotion.’

The reason they had stalled for time for the past two weeks was all because of this.

It took a considerable amount of time to understand and analyze the enemy’s magic and to establish a plan on how to stop it.

“Is your side ready to depart?”

“Yes.”

A man wearing a robe said in response to Park Hyun-ah’s question.

He was the commander of the Drasen 1st Magic Corps.

In this operation, 1,000 members of the 1st Magic Corps would depart.

The magic corps would play the role of seeming bait and would support Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-ah on the battlefield.

Although they were clones and couldn’t exert even half of their original power.

As the Drasen magic corps, they would be more helpful than nothing.

“Then let’s go!”

“Let’s go!”

Choi Hyun-seok and Park Hyun-ah set off energetically at the front.

They were too bright for people who were about to face death.

***

“One hour until arrival at Gratiam. Please prepare.”

The magic corps commander said.

The group was currently heading to the Gatrein capital, Gratiam.

For now, they needed to appear as a special forces unit moving secretly to surprise the enemy, so they moved slowly, hiding their presence as much as possible.

“Sis.”

While moving.

Choi Hyun-seok called out to Park Hyun-ah.

“What.”

“If we survive, what are you going to do?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Just. I was wondering what you would do when everything is over and there’s nothing left to do as a hero.”

After a brief moment of thought, Park Hyun-ah said.

“Well. I haven’t thought about it.”
“Think about it from now on. Become rich and live lavishly. Or go back to Earth. Something like that.”
“Is it even possible to go back to Earth in the first place?”
“Wouldn’t a god grant that much?”

“I guess so.”

Park Hyun-ah nodded without realizing it.

Since they brought her here, there was no reason why they couldn’t send her back.

“Earth…”

It had already been over 15 years since Park Hyun-ah came here.

How would Earth have changed?

How much time would have passed?

During her conversations with the heroes, she knew that the flow of time was different between Earth and this world.

Although it wasn’t exact, it was certain that this world flowed more than three times faster than Earth on a yearly basis.

‘Maybe it’s been 5 years at most. Maybe even less than that.’

A 5-year difference was significant, but not to the point where she couldn’t adapt.

If she could really go back to Earth, she could enjoy a normal life again.

‘No, would she really…’

Park Hyun-ah looked at her hands.

Thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of blood had stained these hands.

Even the most vicious war criminal wouldn’t have killed this many people.

By Earth’s standards, she was already beyond a mass murderer, she was Satan himself.

Park Hyun-ah smiled bitterly and looked back at Choi Hyun-seok.

“I still don’t know.”

“Is that so?”

“What about you?”

“Yes?”

“When it’s all over. What are you going to do?”

“Hmm…”

Choi Hyun-seok stroked his chin and fell into thought.

At that moment, Rahel suddenly appeared and hit Choi Hyun-seok’s chest.

“Hero! You have to live happily with Rahel!”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Choi Hyun-seok asked back with a dumbfounded expression.

Rahel glared fiercely, put her hand on her hip, and shouted.

“What do you mean what am I talking about! Were you planning to abandon Rahel!?”
“Of course! Did you think I was going to follow you around for the rest of my life!?”

“Of course!”

“What nonsense are you talking about!?”
“Ha! Hero! After defiling me like this!”
“Wait a minute. Defiling? Let’s not say things that are open to misunderstanding.”

Despite Choi Hyun-seok’s plea, Rahel didn’t stop.

“You’re tired of me now, aren’t you!? You’ve had your fun, haven’t you!? Hero! Were you such a depraved person!?”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
“Trash! The scum of humanity! A psycho who only cares about women!”
“This sociopathic fairy…!”

Choi Hyun-seok grabbed and shook Rahel.

Rahel clung to Choi Hyun-seok and screamed.

Park Hyun-ah chuckled as she watched the two shouting at the top of their lungs.

‘I don’t know if there will be a next time, but if such an opportunity is really given…’

She thought that it wouldn’t be bad to hang out with those two.

At least it wouldn’t be boring.