Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 180

Memorial Service (5)

The Celestial Realm. Or Heaven.

The land in the sky that ascetics who accumulate spiritual power and ascended beings who practice faith strive to reach. The higher world where immortals roam and angels perform miracles.

“The Celestine Codes have been inscribed with a heavenly revelation. All of Terraria’s forces shall gather in the small world to the south, and our family shall also follow heaven’s command.”

A decree was issued from the holy beings who stand in opposition to demon immortals and fallen angels.

It was an unprecedented revelation. For tens of thousands of years, the celestial realm had not directly intervened in the lower world.

Griffin Grace, the head of the Grace family, saw that the fate of Terraria hung on this revelation.

It wasn’t an abstract sentence filled with poetic expressions or metaphors, commonly known as ‘revelatory speech’.

[Lead all people to the small world in the south.]

[There, the second judgment shall take place.]

These were the two lines that Griffin Grace projected into the air.

“This is the apocalypse sent by the Holy Empire. Good and evil will clash head-on in the south of the continent. As we always have, we will survive. All of you, finish your preparations for deployment within a fortnight.”

He gazed intently at his five children, three sons and two daughters.

They are all mages descended from the Grace bloodline. They’re not quite satisfactory yet. But surely one of those children must be born with the potential to become an archmage.

That’s how it should be for a Grace. That’s how it has been throughout their long history. The Grace family has always had at least one archmage.

“It’s time to spread our wings that have been folded. Crisis is opportunity, isn’t it? I will engrave the name of Grace in history.”

Clever and bold.

His rank is mid-7 star.

This was the response of Alteon Grace, the eldest, who was closer to the status of an archmage than anyone else among the Grace bloodline.

Griffin was secretly pleased.

It seems he has raised his children as well as his father did. It’s just that Griffin’s own talent was exceptionally outstanding, but even at that age, 7 stars was impressive.

That’s not all. Even if one reaches the level of an archmage, without virtue and wisdom, it’s just an empty shell.

In that respect, Alteon possessed all the qualities of a successor.

“Sigh, what’s all this about? A holy war with celestial intervention? I wonder how many will die this time.”

“Sion. We’re in front of the family head. Mind your words.”

“Yes, yes.”

The polite one is polite. The frivolous child is frivolous. Each had their innate temperament.

Griffin Grace didn’t speak at length.

“This concludes the assembly.”

It’s a clash between Heaven and Demons.

A great war is about to begin, pitting half of Terraria against the other half.

Even without being pushed, they were children who knew the value of their own lives. They would prepare more thoroughly than ever before.

Thump—

‘What’s this?’

War is about to break out. So prepare to the best of your ability. That was the urgent assembly he had called to tell them.

Until he noticed an anomaly in his youngest daughter.

Griffin Grace’s piercing gaze stopped in front of Ophelia.

“Ah, aah…”

“What’s wrong!”

A sense of discomfort crept in.

She was a daughter he cherished more than his own eyes.

She was born pure. Yet such a child had grown up harshly within the confines of the worldly Grace family.

So he cared for her by turning a blind eye. To prevent his daughter from being embroiled in dirty power struggles.

That was Griffin Grace’s clumsy way of showing love.

“…Ophelia?”

There was something strange about Ophelia’s eyes. The dazed, sidelong glance was like that of an emperor.

No, it was even more than that. It was as if a higher being was looking down on those beneath it. The anxiety that had been swirling took concrete form.

Ziiing—

A magic circle appeared.

It was small in size. But the shapes and characters inscribed within it were something he had never seen before.

‘Celestial magic!’

Thump thump thump!

Something enormous descended.

That’s the only way he could express it.

“Could it be… a vessel?”

A hero or a saint.

The celestial realm selects ethereals from the lower world and uses them as their servants. It was a glorious thing, if one could call it that.

However, unlike the official heroes and saints of the Holy Empire, most of these servants couldn’t freely reveal their true identities.

This was because they often had to carry out spy-like missions.

“Vessel? Please call it an avatar.”

The self had already changed. A celestial being must have descended into Ophelia’s body. A panorama of emotions exploded.

Whoosh!

His daughter’s entire body was engulfed in flames.

Griffin Grace’s eyes widened.

“Fire? C-Could it be… Lord Uriel?!”

Saints and heroes are prepared vessels.

They are used for celestial beings to descend in times of emergency. This was closer to their original purpose.

“Ding dong! You got it right. It’s a shame I have to use a bow instead of a sword, but there was no body with a higher compatibility rate with me than this child.”

Swoosh.

Ophelia’s, no, Uriel’s hand caressed Griffin Grace’s cheek. He could still feel the warm body temperature.

“You’re sad, aren’t you? Don’t worry. I’m different from those other brutish angels. I’ll use this body carefully and return it.”

It was an artificial consolation. A sacrifice of the small for the greater good. It was the unquestionable, supreme doctrine of the celestial realm.

‘However.’

Noblesse oblige.

Because one has power, one must step forward first.

Sadness and excitement were overlaid with the spirit and experience of an archmage.

One of the four great angels had descended into his daughter’s body. He should consider it a family honor and serve with utmost sincerity.

That’s how it should be. That is the natural order.

‘So that’s why she was so quiet.’

He had thought it was a late onset of adolescence.

But there was a reason for everything. The sadness as a father was momentary. Griffin Grace had already regained his dignity as the family head.

Swish.

He knelt on one knee and kissed Uriel’s hand.

“It is an honor for our family. Please consider us as your lambs and lead us with the light of truth.”

“My, how kind. Well then, I’ll take a rest for now. I’m tired from forcing my descent. Oh! And could you bring some chocolate crepe cake and coffee to my room? I think my blood sugar is low.”

After ordering the sweet dessert, Uriel abruptly left the grand conference room. The Grace family, including Griffin, was speechless for a while.

They were all dumbfounded.

And such phenomena were occurring simultaneously across various parts of Terraria.

It was a coordinated movement to resist the great apocalypse.

===

*******

===

There was a sense of unease.

Isaac turned his head. It was towards the dry sky in the distance.

For some reason, he felt uneasy.

‘Let’s focus on the mission for now.’

He had completed multiple high-level missions across East Asia and North America. There wasn’t much left until clearing the main quest.

The invasion of the demon army had, in effect, prompted the global activities of the Harmony Clan.

The burly Hwang Man-deuk created a menacing atmosphere.

“So, you don’t know?”

“Yes, yes… I really don’t know. We just print what’s ordered. But, is it okay for a hero to act like this…! You’re not gangsters…”

“So. You really don’t know anything?”

Crack.

The fist was closer than the law.

The effect was doubled when the dark, Pacific Ocean-like face and front paws of the werebear were thrust forward.

This was a printing house in the suburbs. Even now, printed materials were being produced smoothly.

While the members were extracting information, Isaac examined one of the printed talismans.

Of course, no spell was cast on it.

‘The magical characters themselves are real.’

It seemed they had been mass-producing talismans by printing the magical characters, then going through a separate process to inject negative energy, sealing them with curse spells.

“How many have you produced so far?”

“About 30,000 sheets so far…”

This was serious. Even at this moment, curses must be consuming people.

The printing house manager, after some persuasion(?) from the members, became an answering machine, readily responding to questions.

Through this, Isaac was able to learn the next destination of the printed talismans.

“That guy looked like a criminal from the start! I’ve been waiting for real heroes like you to come. Being forced to do things I don’t want to do, it’s been really uncomfortable…”

It was a lie that wouldn’t even sprout.

The printing house manager testified that the freight driver who took the talismans had yakuza-like tattoos and a rough appearance, and that he had reluctantly participated in selling fake talismans as if they had sacred effects, knowing they were fraudulent.

‘He doesn’t know about the curse.’

He thinks we’re trying to arrest him for being a con artist. Tragically, the printing house manager had participated in something far more malicious. It was all about money.

===

*******

===

Folk beliefs can be found quite frequently in any part of the world. Since ancient times, humans have feared natural disasters and earnestly wished for their lives to go smoothly.

It was the same in modern times. Shamans receive money for performing rituals, and clients gain peace of mind.

Regardless of actual effectiveness, it would bring psychological stability.

‘They’ve dug in well.’

Whack!

The driver was knocked out with one blow.

The opponent was a villain. Hwang Man-deuk’s fist showed no mercy.

They had exploited the vulnerabilities of the people. They took advantage of others’ pain. That’s why villains were unforgivable.

Grooooowl!

Miyun District, Songzhu Road, Beijing.

An extreme amount of negative energy was detected in the basement of a remote, deserted shrine. It felt as if a chilling hostility was choking them.

It’s surprising that the area around the shrine wasn’t contaminated.

‘The evil spirit’s self-awareness is quite developed. It was suppressing the negative energy until we got close.’

The shaman who claimed to have performed the ritual was merely putting on airs, pretending to have personally made the talismans sold to the public. The real culprit was that guy.

It was the result of two days of tracking the anomaly.

“Yeo Jin-soo, take the lead.”

“Yes!”

The slender sword emitted a dawn-like light.

The legendary-grade weapon, Dawn Light, is effective in slaying evil spirits. On the other hand, Hwang Man-deuk, being a dark hero, is not suitable for hunting evil spirits.

This was due to evil spirits’ inherently high resistance to negative energy.

Creeeeak―

The shrine, oozing with negative energy, is a kind of dungeon. Anomalies could occur anywhere, anytime.

‘This time, I’ll try to stay out of it as much as possible.’

Originally, Lee Geon-ha was someone who had built a wall against fighting. What he was good at was clan management, member training, and leading difficult battles to victory with various battle items, combat skills, and leader skills.

Depending on how one trains heroes and uses battle items and potions, it’s possible to easily purify even monsters that seem impossible to defeat.

He might have taken a wrong turn. No, he was certain of it.

The human Lee Geon-ha wasn’t acting like himself. He had been too brave, trying to solve everything alone.

He had suddenly turned from an ordinary office worker into an overpowered hero. He couldn’t control it.

“Kekeke, so you’ve finally come.”

An old woman emerged from the darkness. She had already lost her self-awareness, entranced by the evil spirit.

The evil spirit spoke through the old woman’s mouth.

“First, I’d like to clear up a misunderstanding. ‘We’ are heroes just like you.”

It was a sophistry from the start.

He didn’t really want to hear it.

“Cut the nonsense and tell us where the kidnapped citizens are.”

“Why? Like other dark heroes, can’t we evil spirits be heroes too? We wish for the people of this land to no longer suffer from foreign invasions. We’re even cleaning up the rifts around Beijing. Evil spirits that eat monsters! Aren’t we close to being heroes?”

It was a dangerous idea.

They claimed to be heroes yet kidnapped citizens.

‘Have multiple consciousnesses merged?’

The old woman is not the main body of the evil spirit. She’s just a puppet being used.

“Yeo Jin-soo, cut her down.”

Swoosh!

The old woman’s head rolled on the ground.

The negative energy intensified instead.

Writhing smoke poured out endlessly.

Whoosh―

[The rift unfolds.]

[Screams pour out.]