Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 238

Hot sand brushed against his skin.

Choi Hyun-seok, having arrived in the Aisilius Desert, slowly surveyed his surroundings.

“Somewhere around here, Ms. Sarah is…”

After his conversation with Sarah Dunphy, Choi Hyun-seok headed straight for the Aisilius Desert.

Sarah Dunphy had said she would be waiting here.

“Why haven’t you been answering your calls!? More importantly, are you alright!? What about Gatrein? Did you shake off the pursuit?”
-You’re too impatient. Calm yourself.

Immediately after the connection was established, Choi Hyun-seok bombarded her with questions.

Sarah Dunphy answered each question carefully.

-Communication device, broken, found out later. Just fixed it.

-I’m, alright… Don’t worry too much…

-Shook off the pursuit. Hemes helped, don’t know when I’ll be discovered again.

Perhaps because the communication device had been broken once, the reception wasn’t good.

Fortunately, there was no problem understanding what she was saying.

-So, I want to, meet you right now.

“Where are you? I’ll go there immediately.”
-The place, we first met. I’ll be waiting there…

Before she could even finish saying she would be waiting, the communication was cut off.

After that, Choi Hyun-seok tried to reconnect several times, but the communication never resumed.

So, he came to the Aisilius Desert without a plan.

“The place we first met is this desert, so she must be somewhere around here.”

His first meeting with Sarah Dunphy.

To be honest, it wasn’t a very pleasant memory.

In the first place, he had met her as an enemy.

Back then, Park Hyun-ah, who fought alongside Choi Hyun-seok, had almost died.

‘Come to think of it, it was strange from then on.’

Choi Hyun-seok recalled the not-so-distant past.

Their guerrilla warfare against the undead in the desert.

The final battle that was finally fought.

The last battle was one of the most intense he could count on his fingers.

Park Hyun-ah defeated the undead army with tremendous magic.

After a fierce battle, with only the supreme warrior Liam left.

Suddenly, Sarah Dunphy appeared and proposed a truce.

“The reason I’m proposing a truce is to save the kingdom’s supreme warrior, Liam. It’s not because I’m afraid of being defeated by you.”

At the time, he thought it was a bluff.

Choi Hyun-seok, who was on the verge of collapsing, was also trying to appear calm.

Choi Hyun-seok was desperate to hide his condition, to the point where he fainted while standing with his eyes open.

So, he thought Sarah Dunphy was the same, but looking back now, it wasn’t.

‘Rather, it’s the opposite. She could have killed me and Hyun-ah noona [older sister/female friend] without having to propose a truce.’

Not only Choi Hyun-seok but also everyone in the party at the time was in a dying state.

And Sarah Dunphy was fully aware of that fact.

Her condition wasn’t great either, but taking care of a few half-dead bodies would have been a piece of cake.

Yet, Sarah Dunphy proposed a truce.

She made an excuse about the supreme warrior Liam, but was that really it?

Thinking about it now, it was strange.

‘No. This isn’t the time to be thinking about this.’

Choi Hyun-seok shook his head to clear his thoughts.

‘I need to find Ms. Sarah quickly.’

He had to hurry to find Sarah Dunphy, who was somewhere in this vast desert.

Choi Hyun-seok increased his speed.

***

‘That’s strange. The place we first met was definitely around here.’

How much time had passed?

Choi Hyun-seok wandered around the desert like crazy.

However, Sarah Dunphy’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Because they had encountered each other in so many places due to the guerrilla warfare at the time, it was difficult to know the exact location.

Moreover, the confusion was further increased by Park Hyun-ah’s long-distance teleportation magic in between.

In the end, Choi Hyun-seok had to wander the vast desert for a long time.

‘Where is she? Where the hell is she!?’

No matter how much he wandered, it felt like the same place was repeating.

Even when he asked Rachel, he only heard that she didn’t know.

He gradually began to feel impatient.

‘Let’s calm down. Ms. Sarah definitely said it was the place we first met. The place we first met…’

After much deliberation.

Choi Hyun-seok finally arrived at one place.

‘It has to be here.’

There were many battlefields, but there was only one place where Sarah Dunphy and Choi Hyun-seok could be said to have met.

‘This place where we fought the final battle.’

On the day of the final battle.

Choi Hyun-seok faced Sarah Dunphy up close for the first time.

It was short, but they also had a conversation.

So, Sarah Dunphy was definitely in this vicinity.

“Where could she be…”

Choi Hyun-seok, who had climbed onto a high rock wall, surveyed his surroundings.

The traces of battle left in various places caught his eye.

In fact, this place was one of the first places Choi Hyun-seok had explored.

He didn’t find anything at that time, so he left quickly, but no matter how he thought about it, this was the only place, so he came back.

“Hoo…”

Choi Hyun-seok closed his eyes and concentrated.

He poured all his nerves into detecting even the slightest magical energy.

Drip- Drip-

The sweat that flowed down his forehead dripped from the tip of his chin.

After a long time, Choi Hyun-seok opened his eyes.

“There’s nothing here after all…”

Even when he concentrated to detect magical energy, he couldn’t feel anything.

It was definitely supposed to be here.

Why couldn’t he see any traces of Sarah Dunphy?

The moment Choi Hyun-seok clenched his fist in frustration.

A voice came from behind.

“You came quickly.”

Turning around, he saw Hemes wearing a black dress.

She looked at Choi Hyun-seok with an unusually calm expression.

“You’re later than I thought.”

“I’m sorry…”

It couldn’t be helped.

This was an abandoned desert.

There was no teleportation gate, and no one knew the spatial coordinates.

He came running on his own two feet.

Even after arriving, he endlessly roamed the desert to find Sarah Dunphy.

He didn’t know exactly how much time had passed, but it must have been quite a bit.

He had almost run out of mana just from running.

“At the end over there. The collapsed part under the rocky mountain. Do you see it?”

“Yes.”

“It’s an illusion magic. If you get close, there’s a cave.”

“Ah, thank you!”

He couldn’t find it because it was hidden by illusion magic.

He didn’t know why he hadn’t sensed it, but what was important now wasn’t that.

He had to meet Sarah Dunphy quickly.

The moment he was about to run straight away.

Hemes’ voice, mixed with laughter, came from behind.

“You better go quickly. Because if you’re any later, you won’t even be able to say hello.”

“Yes? What do you mean by that…?”

Choi Hyun-seok turned around with a bewildered expression.

Not even be able to say hello.

However, Hemes had already disappeared.

With a sense of foreboding washing over him, Choi Hyun-seok kicked off the ground and ran quickly.

***

“This magical energy is…”

Choi Hyun-seok was startled as he entered the cave.

The entire cave was filled with thick magical energy.

He definitely hadn’t felt anything when he came to the entrance.

As soon as he entered, an unimaginable amount of magical energy rushed in.

Choi Hyun-seok felt suffocated, so just entering would be life-threatening for most people.

“Ms. Sarah! Where are you!?”

Choi Hyun-seok shouted as he walked around the cave.

He couldn’t come to his senses because of the colorful magic circles and thick magical energy filling the inside.

Even if he tried to feel it, it was all magical energy, so exploration itself was impossible.

Just as his steps were getting faster in frustration.

“You’ve finally come.”

Sarah Dunphy’s voice was heard.

Choi Hyun-seok ran straight in the direction of the sound.

“Ms. Sarah!”

Choi Hyun-seok finally faced Sarah Dunphy.

His eyes widened.

“That appearance is…!”

Sarah Dunphy’s body was breaking apart.

It was breaking into very small pieces and scattering like ashes.

The outer form looked fine, but Choi Hyun-seok knew.

That there wasn’t much of her body left.

What he was seeing now was just an appearance made with illusions.

Most of her body had already scattered into ashes, so even standing was difficult.

Choi Hyun-seok bit his lip tightly.

“…What happened?”

“I’m just returning to where I should be. I’m following the natural order.”

“You’re just dying.”

Sarah Dunphy shook her head.

“I’m already a dead body.”

She raised her arm.

The accumulated ashes scatter all at once.

Sarah Dunphy, who was quietly watching it, said.

“Does that look like a human death to you?”

Choi Hyun-seok lowered his head.

He didn’t want to give up.

He wanted to save Sarah Dunphy somehow.

However, there was no way.

Sarah Dunphy was dying.

No, she was disappearing.

If she had been a normal undead, she would have turned to ashes and disappeared a long time ago.

It was only because she was Sarah Dunphy that she was holding out this much.

“I’ve prepared a small gift. I’ve prepared a device so you can absorb my magical energy. It will be a long time of enduring pain, but you will be able to do it.”

“I didn’t want this… Why the hell…!”

Choi Hyun-seok, who was shouting, closed his mouth.

He couldn’t say anything more.

Because Sarah Dunphy was smiling so brightly.

Why she fought Gatrein alone.

Why she didn’t ask him for help.

He wanted to press her and ask, but.

For some reason, he couldn’t open his mouth when he faced her smile.

“Thank you for everything. Choi Hyun-seok. Thanks to you, I’m taking good memories with me.”

She said, still with a happy smile on her face.

“It’s almost time. I have to go now.”

“…I have one last question.”

“What is it?”

“When we first met… Why did you save me and my companions? You could have killed us all if you had made up your mind.”

Sarah Dunphy’s eyes widened.

And then she started laughing loudly.

“Hahaha! I thought you didn’t know, but you knew.”

“Actually, I noticed just before arriving here.”

“Hmm, why did I save you? The reason is…”

Suddenly, Sarah Dunphy hugged Choi Hyun-seok.

“Heop!?”

Just as Choi Hyun-seok, who was flustered, took a breath.

Sarah Dunphy’s whisper was heard in his ear.

“You are….”

A very small whisper.

Choi Hyun-seok’s pupils grew.

Soon, Sarah Dunphy’s body completely turned to ashes and scattered.

“…”

Choi Hyun-seok blankly looked down at his feet.

As if the voice that had been whispering a moment ago had been a lie.

There was no one there.

Only the scattering ashes told him that Sarah Dunphy had been here.

“…Me too.”

Choi Hyun-seok raised his head.

A bright smile was already on his face.

“Ms. Sarah was also… enough to change my ideal type, who liked blonde hair and white skin… you were my style.”

***

A thousand years after her death.

Sarah Dunphy once again made the continent tremble with her name.

Gatrein searched for Sarah Dunphy with all his might, but eventually failed to find her.

Perhaps because he had used too much power, Gatrein retreated as if to catch his breath.

The investigation into the Marriott Kingdom also fizzled out.

That’s how time continued to flow.

A week passed.

A month passed.

By the time half a year had passed, the name Sarah Dunphy had almost disappeared from people’s minds.

Instead, a new nightmare emerged.

Park Hyun-ah.

Once called the enemy of God, and one of Gatrein’s most formidable foes in history.

She was active again, making Gatrein tremble.

“Haa, that rat-like bitch. She’s really annoying.”

Gatrein’s legend, Kinley Fusel, sighed deeply.

It had already been three months since she had been chasing Park Hyun-ah.

For some reason, Park Hyun-ah’s power, which had become much stronger than before, made it impossible to even buy time unless one was a legend.

If they could lure her into a prepared battlefield, there would be a possibility of killing her, but even that wasn’t easy.

Park Hyun-ah thoroughly maintained a hit-and-run guerrilla warfare, steadily accumulating damage to the empire.

“Where did she learn that from…”

Gatrein had to focus all its efforts on defending major cities while pursuing Park Hyun-ah.

An astronomical cost was spent on covering the entire city with defensive magic, but it couldn’t be helped.

If they didn’t do this, they wouldn’t know when the city would be blown away.

Because she was casting magic that could blow away an entire city, it was already too late to use defensive magic once the battle started.

“The Pope’s pressure is also getting worse… I really need to produce results now.”

Currently, Kinley was in charge of the pursuit team.

Because her power, status, and influence were so great.

The Pope also initially trusted her, saying he would entrust her with full authority.

However, his attitude was changing as time went by.

Especially in the last conversation, the Pope openly expressed his anger.

“Ms. Kinley Fusel. I hate incompetent people.”

Even the Pope couldn’t treat Kinley and her colleagues carelessly.

There had already been more than 10 Popes who had passed through them.

No matter how much of a Pope he was, he would have been angry if he ignored her, but Kinley couldn’t say anything.

‘Just what the hell is that guy…?’

The tremendous force that emanated from the Pope for a moment.

It was a short moment, but Kinley was overwhelmed by the Pope’s force.

“Haa, the more I think about it, the more annoying it gets.”

Kinley roughly ruffled her hair.

She was someone who had lived for hundreds of years and had never failed.

But this generation had already failed twice.

Sarah Dunphy and Park Hyun-ah.

Kinley’s nerves became sharper day by day due to the continuous failures.

“Are you Kinley?”

Then, a strange man’s voice was heard from behind.

Kinley was startled and turned around.

Since when had he been there?

A man with a strange appearance was grinning.