Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 84

“This is truly absurd.”

Choi Hyun-seok chuckled in disbelief, looking around.

He suddenly found himself in an unfamiliar forest, which turned out to be 100km away from the Black Star Fortress.

To be flown this far with just a flick of a finger.

He knew Hémès was strong, but he couldn’t help but be amazed every time he witnessed such extraordinary power.

“The Legion Commander has shown you a kindness.”

Roiger, who was beside him, said as he tucked the map into his chest.

“Kindness? What do you mean?”
“If you go about 30km in this direction, you’ll find the Dritmon Fortress. From there, you can use the space-time gate to move.”

It turned out there was another fortress nearby.

Hémès had been considerate enough to minimize his walking distance.

“Then let’s get going.”

The journey to Dritmon Fortress ended quickly.

Walking 30km might seem like a long distance, but Choi Hyun-seok and Roiger were not ordinary humans.

Even Abelson, who was to be the next Saintess, boasted overwhelming physical abilities compared to ordinary people.

Thanks to that, the group arrived at the entrance of Dritmon Fortress in just 2 hours.

Choi Hyun-seok wore an indifferent expression as he looked at the fortress.

“It’s much smaller compared to the Black Star Fortress.”

He had been looking forward to visiting another fortress for the first time, but Dritmon Fortress didn’t seem to have much to see.

The scale seemed to be only about a quarter of the Black Star Fortress.

“Of course. The Black Star Fortress is the largest fortress in the entire Demon King’s army, so any fortress would inevitably look small in comparison.”
“Is it even bigger than the Demon King’s castle?”
“Well… if you’re just looking at the size, it might be similar or slightly larger.”
“Wow, I knew it was unrealistically big, but it’s really something else.”

Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.

He knew the Black Star Fortress was big, but he didn’t realize it was comparable to the Demon King’s castle.

Leaving the surprised Choi Hyun-seok behind,

Roiger approached the soldier guarding the entrance of the fortress.

A goldfish-headed soldier blocked their path.

“Who are you?”

“I am Roiger. I need to use the space-time gate to carry out the Legion Commander’s mission, so guide me.”

Roiger presented a nameplate stamped with the Third Legion Commander’s seal.

The goldfish soldier received the nameplate and blinked.

Choi Hyun-seok quietly watched the scene from behind.

‘That bastard doesn’t seem to know what’s going on.’

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t trust the goldfish head.

The goldfish hesitated for a moment before guiding the group.

“Ah, I understand! Follow me!”

Choi Hyun-seok was convinced by the guy’s flustered appearance.

‘He doesn’t even know what it is, but he’s scared because it’s the Legion Commander’s order.’

There was no basis, but he was sure.

That goldfish is stupid.

After a while, they arrived at the space-time gate.

Another soldier managing the gate received the group.

The soldier manipulated the gate and said.

“I have set the coordinates to the Todun Fortress. From there, move to the Second Legion Headquarters, the Magic Tower, which is your destination.”

Choi Hyun-seok was puzzled after hearing the explanation.

“Roiger, aren’t we going straight to the Second Legion Headquarters?”
“The Second Legion Headquarters can only be accessed from designated locations for security reasons.”

“Ah, I see.”

It was unexpected.

To think the Demon King’s army would care about security.

‘I don’t think there was anything like that in the Black Star Fortress?’

Choi Hyun-seok scratched his head and followed Roiger.

Abelson silently followed behind them.

They passed through the space-time gate and arrived at Todun Fortress.

There, a similar process was repeated.

Roiger presented the nameplate.

When he stated the destination, the officer in charge came out.

However, there was one difference from before.

‘Is he even a soldier? He’s almost a battalion commander.’

The level of the soldier in charge of the guide was quite high.

On the outside, he was clearly just a large rat.

Even then, he was about 1.5m tall, almost like a goblin.

However, the magical energy emanating from him was unusual.

Even without using a combat power measuring device, Choi Hyun-seok could tell that the soldier was a formidable powerhouse.

The soldier stood in front of Roiger and opened his mouth.

“Squeak! State your purpose for visiting!?”
“It is the order of the Third Legion Commander.”
“Squeak! State the exact purpose. Otherwise, passage is not allowed.”

The soldier was even smart.

Unlike most of the Demon King’s army, he used fluent vocabulary to ask various questions and carefully checked the nameplate Roiger handed over.

Then, he held some documents and read something.

Considering that most of the Demon King’s army couldn’t read, he was very intelligent.

Soon, having completed all the procedures, the soldier nodded.

“Passage granted. Follow me. Squeak!”

The group was guided to a space-time gate prepared separately on one side.

It was a gate that went directly to the Second Legion Headquarters.

“Then let’s go.”

“Yes.”

They passed through the gate where magical energy surged on the surface.

A bizarre sensation that never gets old, no matter how many times it’s repeated.

Choi Hyun-seok frowned at the queasy feeling and raised his head.

Naturally, the scenery in front of him came into view, and Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.

“Wow…”

The Second Legion Headquarters greeted him with a completely unexpected appearance.

***

Choi Hyun-seok’s mouth dropped open.

It was because of the huge building that filled his vision as soon as he came out of the gate.

“It’s enormous.”

“This is the famous Magic Tower…”

Abelson was also busy looking up at the tower, equally surprised.

The Second Legion Headquarters was a tower, just like its name, the Magic Tower.

But the height was unusual.

The tower soared high into the sky.

It was so high that it reminded him of the L Tower in Korea [a famous landmark in Seoul, South Korea].

“Squeak! Are you visitors!”

Soldiers who had been waiting nearby approached.

Choi Hyun-seok narrowed his eyes as he looked at them.

‘Are they rats again this time?’

Just like the gate guide soldier from before, the soldiers who came out this time also had rat-like appearances.

“Squeak! Please identify yourselves.”
“I am Roiger, affiliated with the Third Legion Headquarters.”

Roiger presented the nameplate he had.

The soldier who checked it lowered his head.

“We have been waiting. Squeak! I will guide you right away.”

It was annoying to keep hearing the squeaking, but the attitude was polite.

As if they had already been contacted, the soldier immediately guided the group.

Choi Hyun-seok chuckled as if the excitement had worn off.

“I thought it would be more difficult than I expected.”
“From the start, it’s a simple task of transporting items. There’s nothing difficult about it.”

Originally, he thought he would have to wait at least a day to receive the necessary materials, but it didn’t seem like that would be necessary.

The place they arrived at following the soldier’s guide had a magic circle.

“Squeak! This is a magic circle that goes straight to the Legion Commander’s room.”

“Hmm?”

Roiger’s eyebrows twitched for a moment.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding. We didn’t come to see the Legion Commander. We came for the space interference magic field…”
“I know. You will have to wait about a day for the items to create the magic field.”

“Then why?”

Why would they have to meet the Legion Commander when they could just wait quietly?

The answer to the question was simple.

“The Legion Commander is waiting. For the human behind you.”

The soldier pointed his finger at Roiger’s back.

Choi Hyun-seok, who was in the way, moved slightly to the side.

He wondered if he was pointing at Abelson behind him.

But the finger relentlessly followed Choi Hyun-seok.

“Um… are you talking about me?”
“That’s right. Squeak! Please go up quickly.”

“Well… I guess.”

What could he do when the Legion Commander told him to come?

If he was told to do it, he had to do it.

Choi Hyun-seok felt uneasy, but he had no choice.

He stepped onto the magic circle.

Roiger and Abelson approached and stood side by side next to him.

“Roiger, are you going with me?”
“Yes. I have to report to Hémès if something goes wrong with you.”
“…Don’t say unlucky things.”
“Do you think I want to do this?”

In fact, Roiger had a very tired expression on his face.

He was exuding an atmosphere that he didn’t want to go but was forced to go.

‘I hope nothing happens…’

Roiger had heard rumors about the Second Legion Commander.

‘A psycho scientist who enjoys conducting live experiments…’

Although his martial prowess was inferior to other Legion Commanders, no one ignored him.

Roiger just hoped that this meeting would end as a brief incident, but that seemed unlikely.

As he sighed at the rising anxiety, the magic circle on the floor began to shine brightly.

***

The magic circle on the floor shines.

The Second Legion Commander, Rotark, grinned.

‘He’s finally here!’

Recently, rumors about Choi Hyun-seok had been spreading rapidly in the upper echelons of the Demon King’s army.

This was because he was the only participant who survived the battalion commander tournament, which had everyone’s attention.

“I heard he’s a unique human who uses magical energy even though he’s a hero.”
“It’s absurd for a human to use magical energy.”
“Hmm, I wonder what Hémès is up to again…”
“There are rumors that he went from a regular soldier to a battalion commander in just a few months.”

In fact, Rotark had been watching Choi Hyun-seok long before the rumors spread.

A case that had never appeared before.

His interest in humans who wield magical energy grew day by day.

Then, he received a call from the Third Legion Commander, Hémès.

“Remember Choi Hyun-seok I told you about before? I’m going to send him there, so check his condition. Don’t kill him.”

She didn’t say specifically what condition to check or how.

It meant that she would leave it to Rotark’s discretion.

He could already feel his body heating up.

‘A human who uses magical energy! I heard his body is also becoming demonized?’

The field of research that Rotark had been focusing on recently was chimeras [a creature made of mixed parts of different animals].

Among them, the most important task was physical changes and fusion caused by magical energy.

Choi Hyun-seok was the best data and sample in this research.

However, one disappointing thing was that Choi Hyun-seok was Hémès’ subordinate.

‘Tsk, should I just do it? I’m worried.’

That ancient monster hates people touching her things.

He didn’t want to get caught up in unnecessary things these days when there were already ominous rumors circulating.

He was afraid that it would disrupt his research.

Because if Hémès threw a tantrum, the Magic Tower might collapse.

Whoosh!

While he was in short thought, the group arrived at the place where Rotark was.

A strange demon standing on the magic circle

One and two humans.

Rotark frowned at the divine power he felt momentarily.

Then, he smiled brightly as if nothing had happened when he saw Choi Hyun-seok.

“I greet the Second Legion Commander.”

Roiger, who was at the very front, bowed his head as a representative and greeted him.

Rotark didn’t even pretend to listen.

His gaze was fixed only on Choi Hyun-seok.

His red eyes widened as if they would pop out, and the corners of his mouth were torn to the point where they reached his ears.

“This is… really something!”

***

Choi Hyun-seok was standing there, sweating profusely.

“Squeak, squeak…!”

A huge rat was circling around him, squeaking incessantly.

‘Is the Legion Commander also a rat?’

He couldn’t believe it, but Rotark, the Second Legion Commander, also had a rat-like appearance.

The difference was that unlike the blackish-haired soldiers, his fur was pure white and shiny.

He was even wearing a pure white gown like a doctor.

His physique was also much larger than other soldiers.

He was over 2m tall.

Even so, he was small compared to the average Demon King’s army, but he felt an unknown sense of intimidation because of the title of Legion Commander.

‘It’s like a lab rat has grown huge.’

A third-rate movie he had seen a long time ago suddenly came to mind.

It was about a mutant rat that grew huge due to live experiments, ate all the scientists, and used humans as test subjects.

The protagonist of that movie looked just like Rotark in front of him.

“Squeak! Amazing! I’ve never seen anything like this in 400 years!”
“Magical energy and the body are in such perfect balance! Is it a product of chance?”
“No. It’s still in progress. Squeak! It won’t take long if it continues like this.”

Rotark kept muttering incomprehensible words.

He suddenly stopped and stared intently at Choi Hyun-seok.

“Human. Was it Choi Hyun-seok?”
“Yes! Legion Commander Rotark!”

Choi Hyun-seok answered with a lot of energy.

“Hold on a moment.”

“Yes?”

Instead of answering, Rotark placed his hand on Choi Hyun-seok’s shoulder.

At the same time, a chilling magical energy began to flow in from the point of contact.

Choi Hyun-seok took a sharp breath.

‘What is this…!?’

Rotark’s magical energy scanning his body was an indescribably disgusting feeling.

To put it simply, it felt like thousands, tens of thousands of bugs were crawling inside his body.

He wanted to shake off Rotark’s hand right away, but Choi Hyun-seok desperately endured.

‘The opponent is a Legion Commander. I have to endure it.’

The experimental rat in front of him was, despite his appearance, a Demon King’s army Legion Commander.

A powerhouse who could blow Choi Hyun-seok’s head off with a single gesture.

He must never offend him.

That’s why Choi Hyun-seok quietly waited for Rotark’s observation to end.

Cold sweat began to pour down his body like rain.

‘Enduring any longer is…’

Just as Choi Hyun-seok’s mental strength was reaching its limit, Rotark took his hand off.

Choi Hyun-seok barely regained his senses, panting.

“Hah, hah…”

The floor was soaked with the sweat Choi Hyun-seok had shed.

Rotark had only touched him for 30 seconds.

Choi Hyun-seok looked exhausted, as if he had fought a life-or-death battle.

‘I’d rather get beaten by Raidrun for 30 minutes…’

It was that terrible 30 seconds.

Choi Hyun-seok struggled to raise his head.

He saw Rotark smiling at him.

“Human! Your mental strength is quite something! Very excellent!”
“Th, thank you…”

“The influence of mental strength on how well your body endures cannot be ignored. Interesting. Squeak!”

Rotark rubbed his hands together like someone who couldn’t control his excitement.

Choi Hyun-seok, who was embarrassed by the playful red eyes, was reflected in them.

“But human. Do you know that?”
“What are you talking about…”
“You’re going to die if this continues.”

“Yes?”

Suddenly saying he was going to die without any context?

But it was too early to be surprised.

Because the words that followed were even more absurd.

“You don’t have much time left. Squeak! You’ll be dead in three months at the longest.”

A limited life was declared without warning.