Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 237

There is a vast desert in the northern part of the continent, near the Odria Federation.

Icilius.

It is an abandoned desert that no one seeks.

Sarah Dunphy came to this place, a landscape dominated by scorching sandstorms.

Standing atop a sand dune, she gazed out at the arid expanse below.

“It’s a pretty decent view.”

It was a desolate desert with nothing but sand, but she saw something more.

The magical nation of Ballington she had built.

The brilliant civilization that once flourished here was drawn like a picture on the sand of her mind.

“You have unique tastes. You think *this* is a decent view?”

A woman with a captivating voice interjected.

Sarah Dunphy didn’t turn around, a gentle smile gracing her lips.

“Can’t you see it?” she asked. “All I see is a desert,” the woman replied. “Hahahaha. Yes. This is a landscape only visible to the ghosts of the past.”

“Ghosts of the past, huh…”

Heemis, the owner of the captivating voice, slightly raised the corner of her lips.

For some reason, the word ‘ghosts of the past’ struck a chord deep within her heart.

“I am grateful to you. If it weren’t for you, I would have died on the spot,” Sarah Dunphy said, finally turning around.

The final battle with the Holy Empire of Gatrein.

Sarah Dunphy had been prepared to die there.

From the start, she saw no hope of survival.

“Your Majesty… forgive your disloyal servant for departing first…” Liam, her greatest warrior, had said. “There’s no need to worry. I won’t be long either,” she’d replied. “I will be waiting to meet you in the afterlife…”

The greatest warrior, Liam, returned to the earth first.

Magi [magic users].

Especially the magi of the undead were too vulnerable to divine power, so it couldn’t be helped.

Sarah Dunphy also resigned herself and was about to face her end when a voice that froze the battlefield rang out.

“Heung~ Looks interesting?”

Heemis appeared suddenly.

Everyone who thought she was dead was shocked.

“H-How can the Gourmet…!” one soldier exclaimed. “We were told the Gourmet was dead! Didn’t Lord Asael Vald risk his life to take her down!?” another cried. “Saintess! Say something!”

Magi filled the sky, ready to attack.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Heemis moved.

“Shall I fill my belly after a long time?” she mused. Craaaaaack-!

A massive fissure instantly swallowed thousands of soldiers.

Everyone was frozen like statues at the unbelievable tragedy.

In the meantime, Heemis grabbed Sarah Dunphy and fled.

If they had responded properly from the beginning, they wouldn’t have been so easily defeated, but Gatrein, caught in confusion, had no choice but to let them go.

Afterward, Heemis took Sarah Dunphy to the Icilius Desert, the place she had desired.

“There’s nothing for you to thank me for, is there? You looked like you were dying to die anyway,” Heemis said.

Sarah Dunphy, embarrassed to have her inner thoughts exposed, scratched her cheek.

“Nevertheless, I am grateful. There was still one thing I wanted to do. It’s something I can do thanks to you.”

“Heung~ It doesn’t seem like you can do anything in that state?”

Sarah Dunphy looked down at her body.

As Heemis said, she was definitely not in a state to do anything big.

A body slowly collapsing.

Her skin turned to ash and scattered as if it were burning.

“I can barely hold on with this much.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I can feel it. Choi Hyun-seok will be here soon.”

Sarah Dunphy came down from the sand dune.

Then she headed to a rocky cave she had scouted in advance.

“It will be tight to prepare until he comes.”

“What preparation?”

“I plan to hand over my magi to Choi Hyun-seok.”

“Hoo~”

Heemis wore an interested expression.

Transferring magi.

Or it could be expressed as inheriting.

Although Choi Hyun-seok is human, it will be possible because he can accept magi.

‘But that’s a meaningless action,’ Heemis thought.

Heemis stroked her chin with her white hand.

Giving one’s magi to another is not a good method.

From the beginning, the vessel that an individual can hold for magi is limited.

If you increase it forcibly, the body cannot withstand it.

So it is common to pass it on little by little over a long period of time.

Even that is not very efficient, so magi inheritance is rarely used.

‘This undead doesn’t have much time. At this rate, it will be three days at most. Within that time, the body will completely disappear.’

Even if she transfers the magi right now, it will only prolong her existence by three days.

Considering the preparation process and the time it takes for Choi Hyun-seok to arrive, the actual time given for the transfer is only about a day or two.

Transferring the magi in that short amount of time is meaningless.

Rather, a rejection reaction may occur in Choi Hyun-seok’s body, which has been changed to mana [magical energy], causing side effects.

‘I don’t think she wouldn’t know this… Is there another way?’

Even Heemis, who is knowledgeable in magical knowledge, could not understand what Sarah Dunphy was thinking.

‘Interesting.’

Heemis licked her lips with her tongue.

She was curious to see what this undead, once called the ‘Mother of Magic,’ was up to.

“Can I watch?”

“Of course. You are my benefactor.”

Sarah Dunphy moved diligently inside the cave.

Each time she moved, her body collapsed and ashes scattered little by little, but she didn’t care.

She poured all her concentration into drawing the magic circle.

Heemis also stood still in her place and watched the work with an interesting expression.

“I have one question.”

How many hours had passed?

Suddenly, Sarah Dunphy opened her mouth.

“What is your purpose?”

“Why my purpose?”

“From the moment I first saw you, I became interested and did some research. Fortunately, there are quite a few records.”

Sarah Dunphy sat on a rock as if to take a break.

She looked at Heemis and continued.

“Generally, high-ranking demons live for around 500 years. Occasionally, they live for nearly 1,000 years, but that’s exceptional.”

“That’s right.”

“But no one knows how long you have lived. Neither humans nor demons.”

“That’s understandable. I’ve forgotten how long I’ve lived myself.”

“I see… What’s even stranger here is that you, who are estimated to have lived for at least 1,000 years, are still thriving. No matter how much I investigate and think about this part, I can’t figure it out.”

Why doesn’t she age despite having lived for over a thousand years?

Is the destiny that all life cannot refuse going astray?

Heemis did not answer.

Whether she doesn’t know the truth either, or she doesn’t want to talk about it in this regard, is unknown.

Sarah Dunphy continued without waiting for an answer.

“Then I suddenly wondered. What are you living for? What is your purpose? Why are you doing this? There were so many incomprehensible things about your actions.”

Sarah Dunphy looks at Heemis calmly.

Heemis was not smiling.

She also looked at Sarah Dunphy with calm eyes.

“Well…”

Heemis’s lips, which had been closed for a while, parted.

“I don’t know either~ I’m sure I had a purpose, but…”

The corners of Heemis’s lips slowly rose.

“As you said, I’ve lived too long, so I must have forgotten.”

“I see.”

Sarah Dunphy also smiled back.

“Seeing this, living too long isn’t a good thing.”

“I agree as well.”

Sarah Dunphy, who endured nearly 500 years as a human, over 1,000 years as a demon.

Both were in a position of absolute power and were objects of fear and envy.

They reached a realm that no one could reach, and they walked a path that no one knew, so they were not understood by anyone.

Perhaps that’s why the two felt a strange sense of kinship with each other.

“Hoo, I have to start again. It will take about a day to finish, so I have to move diligently.”

Sarah Dunphy started drawing the magic circle again.

Heemis stood on one side and silently watched the work until it was finished.

***

Choi Hyun-seok returned straight to Mariette Palace.

Choi Hyun-seok shouted at Abelson, who was waiting for him upon hearing the news of his arrival.

“Mr. Abelson! What’s going on!?”

Although the subject was omitted, there was no problem in understanding. He must be talking about Sarah Dunphy.

Abelson lowered his head.

“I’m sorry… It’s all my fault…”

“I’m not here to discuss who’s at fault. Please explain what’s going on!”

He had heard a rough explanation of the situation from Olaven Grimier, but he didn’t know the details either.

Just that the Gatrein Empire was focusing all its efforts on catching a powerful undead.

Circumstantially, that undead was clearly Sarah Dunphy, and this was confirmed by Abelson’s reaction.

“It all started when the Deusis Order dispatched an investigation team…”

Abelson began to explain step by step.

That the Deusis Order dispatched an investigation team due to suspicions that the Mariette Kingdom and the undead were colluding.

That Sarah Dunphy, upon hearing the news, decided to act alone.

That she attacked Gatrein and lured the enemies.

Thanks to this, the Mariette Kingdom was safe, but Sarah Dunphy had to wage a fierce chase for two weeks.

Choi Hyun-seok sighed deeply after hearing the whole story.

“Hoo… Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘Sarah Dunphy didn’t want you to know.’

Because the Mariette Kingdom survived thanks to hiding behind her.

Abelson, feeling guilty and sorry for the fact, could only bow his head.

However, Choi Hyun-seok roughly sensed the situation with that alone.

“What did my sister say?”

“After hearing the news for the first time… she got angry and left the palace. I don’t know after that either.”

To make matters worse, Park Hyun-ah had also disappeared somewhere.

Choi Hyun-seok’s head began to ache.

Sarah Dunphy and Park Hyun-ah have both disappeared.

Sarah Dunphy is being chased by Gatrein in real-time, and Park Hyun-ah is not yet recovered, so combat is impossible.

‘I hope she didn’t just barge in out of anger…’

It’s unlikely, but he was worried that Park Hyun-ah, who was furious, might have invaded Gatrein.

‘No. Let’s think about Sarah first.’

Choi Hyun-seok organized his thoughts.

First of all, it is important to save Sarah Dunphy, who is being chased by Gatrein.

“Have you heard anything about Sarah? Such as the battle situation, or her whereabouts?”

“I heard that the number of troops moving in Gatrein is constantly increasing. Even what’s known is that the Saintess and three legends, 10,000 holy knights and priests, mobilized about 50,000 elite soldiers…”

“Are you saying that so many troops moved to catch Sarah…?”

Over 60,000 elite troops.

It was too large in scale to have moved to catch an individual.

“It’s not like this many people moved from the beginning, but as time goes by, it seems that Gatrein has taken the matter seriously.”

Abelson’s prediction was accurate.

Gatrein, who had not thought so seriously about Sarah Dunphy from the beginning, could not help but be surprised by her actual feats.

An existence that cannot be caught no matter how much they chase.

They gradually began to recall the nightmare of the Gourmet.

How much damage did humanity suffer from one Gourmet in the past?

In order to prevent such a situation in advance, Gatrein mobilized all the nearby troops to root it out when the opportunity came.

“So what happened?”

“Two days ago, I heard there was a huge battle.”

“And?”

“At the end of the battle, Heemis suddenly appeared and disappeared with Sarah…”

“Yes? Heemis appeared?”

“It’s just a rumor, so it’s not accurate. The atmosphere is hush-hush even within Gatrein.”

“Hmm…”

Choi Hyun-seok’s head started spinning rapidly.

‘If this is true, then Sarah is still alive… That’s enough.’

He doesn’t know why Heemis appeared, but it’s fortunate if she helped.

Considering that monstrous force, she must have broken through Gatrein’s siege and somehow escaped.

“So you don’t know where she is now?”

“Yes. I’ve also tried to find out, but not at all… It seems that Gatrein is also not getting a grasp.”

“Keueung…”

How can he find Sarah Dunphy in this vast continent?

‘It would be nice if the communication device worked… But it doesn’t.’

Choi Hyun-seok has a communication device that Sarah Dunphy gave him in the past.

As soon as he heard the news, he tried to contact her, but the other party did not answer.

This means that Sarah Dunphy is not responding to the communication, or the communication device is broken.

‘What should I do…’

Choi Hyun-seok stroked the communication device that Sarah Dunphy had given him with a feeling of regret.

“Choi Hyun-seok, what is that…?”

“Sarah gave it to me. I kept trying to contact her, but there was no answer…”

“Let’s try one more time.”

“I’ve already done it dozens of times.”

“But you never know, right? Try it one more time.”

“… Okay.”

Choi Hyun-seok reluctantly activated the communication device.

U웅…!

The communication device vibrated and emitted a bright light.

In this state, if the call is answered, the vibration stops and the light weakens.

U웅…! U웅…!

Choi Hyun-seok shook his head.

“It’s not working after all….”

-Choi Hyun-seok. Was the work resolved well?