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“A month ago, the Demon Empire expressed to us their willingness to surrender. Seven Stars dictated on their own to accept the Demon Empire’s surrender and all the processes that surrounded it. Do you agree with this point?” Chi-Hyun asked, and Chi-Woo looked irked.

“On our own?” Chi-Woo’s voice also turned sharper. “I acknowledge that I led the process of accepting the Demon Empire’s survivors, but not that we acted on our own.”

The two clashed fiercely from the start.

“So, you won’t admit that you acted one-sidedly.” Chi-Hyun smiled faintly after hearing Chi-Woo’s response. “Of course, you went through the hurdle of asking several groups for their understanding. Yet that process was flawed, and rather than persuading them, it seemed more like Seven Stars was one-sidedly relaying their views and enforcing their stance,” Chi-Hyun continued, “Thus, it seems right to say that Seven Stars did act on their own.”

Unlike his carefree, relaxed tone, Chi-Hyun was also feeling tense from the inside. Perhaps that shouldn’t matter in this case, but Chi-Hyun had never beaten Chi-Woo in an argument before. He knew the reason for it too and was aware of the methods his brother often utilized to win. First, Chi-Woo heard his opponent out till the end. After listening to each word carefully, he confirmed the facts once more.

‘You said that, right? Right?’ And after confirming his opponent’s claims, Chi-Woo would begin his rebuttal. In other words, when arguing with his brother, Chi-Hyun wouldn’t be able to take back his words once he spoke them. Thus, he needed to be careful about every word that he used.

“This is the reason why I decided to step onto this stage.” In times like this, he shouldn’t give his opponent anything to latch onto and turn against him. “It’s true that I delegated this decision of accepting the Demon Empire to other groups, including Seven Stars. Yet Seven Stars didn’t take enough consideration of the opinions of the Shalyh residents when leading the process.” With this statement, Chi-Woo could no longer say that he simply did what he was told to do by Chi-Hyun.

Chi-Woo closed his eyes momentarily and inhaled deeply. He didn’t like the current situation. It felt like he was being interrogated as a defendant in court. Rather than an assembly, this was more like a public hearing.

“It isn’t that I didn’t consider the opinions of the Shalyh residents.” Chi-Woo opened his eyes with a long sigh. “But I was aware that my decision went against the general sentiments.”

“I am curious about the reason.” With this, the opening was over, and they were diving into the main topic.

“Is there more for me to say?” Chi-Woo replied. “An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. It’s a saying I like. I believe that those who did wrong should be punished. And if those survivors of the Demon Empire had committed a crime, I would’ve empathized with all your views and made a decision accordingly. Yet the fact is that they didn’t commit a crime.”

The Demon Empire captured humans and made them live miserable lives as slaves. Yet there were rare great demons among them who didn’t do such. They protected humans and took them under their wings like they would the demons in their territories. An example of such was Purupuru’s territory, which Chi-Woo had visited, and such instances were proven without much doubt with testimonies of former slaves from these territories.

“So,” a cold smile formed on Chi-Hyun’s lips, “Is that your only reason?” Was that all Chi-Woo could come up with after coming to this stage? Chi-Woo met Chi-Hyun’s chilling eyes and gritted his teeth.

“No, I have one more point to make, sir.”

“What is it?”

“I’m sure everyone here remembers the time when the Demon Empire first attempted to invade Shalyh.” When the Demon Empire first assessed that it was time to crush humanity, they headed to Shalyh. Because they were able to predict the Demon Empire’s moves beforehand, however, humanity and the Cassiubia League achieved an easy victory and crushed the Demon Empire mercilessly.

“The person who gave me the most important information at that time was the great demon named Shersha, who is currently in Shalyh,” Chi-Woo continued. “We have to consider this matter as a precedent.”

“What do you mean?”

“Though the Demon Empire, Abyss, and the Sernitas united under a coalition recently, there are definitely individuals from these factions who don’t think well of their group’s decision. There are those who think Liber can’t be handed over to aliens and must wholly exist only for those born here,” Chi-Woo continued. “There are certainly great demons in the Demon Empire who wish for that, and some have in fact proven that by helping us. There’s no reason that might not be the case for Abyss.”

There were always those who held contrary opinions from the majority in any organization. In order to make such individuals actually act on their thoughts, there needed to be a path for them to live after taking actions. What would happen if they killed those who switched sides and helped them? It would send a message to everyone else thinking about switching sides that they mustn’t act on their thoughts—that they must stay loyal to their factions.

Thus, humanity and the League must treat those who went as far as to defect with proper respect and care. At the least, they needed to provide these individuals with a way to live and aid their assimilation. Chi-Woo’s words had a clear effect on the audience, and they began to murmur. Chi-Woo just highlighted the possibilities of forces inside the Abyss who opposed the Sernitas. The enemy of my enemy was a friend. It would be a huge help to them if even one chasm following the Abyss King switched sides.

Chi-Hyun looked a bit taken aback. His brother had brought up a new and fresh perspective that he hadn’t expected. But there wasn’t anything more to it. If that was all his brother prepared, in five minutes, Chi-Woo would be sitting with his shoulder slouching, looking defeated and sad.

While scanning the murmuring audience, Chi-Woo met eyes with Evelyn, who was sitting close to the central stage. He was able to make the point he just brought up thanks to her. Evelyn had told him that she felt there was something off when seeing the Abyss King in the recent war and investigated what was going on inside the Abyss.

With the investigation, she unearthed a couple of important pieces of information. It was news that there was a structural change after the disappearance of the Abyss Queen. This was the secret Evelyn had whispered to him earlier and the foundation of the argument that Chi-Woo just brought up to his audience.

“How naïve.” Yet the noisy audience immediately became quiet when Chi-Hyun uttered only one line. “It’s as if I’m seeing a newbie who just rose to the Celestial Realm recently.” Chi-Hyun’s eyes narrowed, and his face remained ice cold. He nodded.

“A hero’s true duty is to save a world from a crisis. I admit that. But— ” His words took a turn as he enunciated each syllable clearly.

“Nevertheless. And I do mean nevertheless, saving a world isn’t the end.” Chi-Hyun spoke like a teacher chiding a disciple. “You have to also consider the process it took to reach your goal. One can’t use any means possible to achieve salvation. That wouldn’t be proper salvation.”

Chi-Hyun continued. “You must walk the path that everyone can accept. Only then will we all get closer to the ideal that everyone wishes for. Walking such a path is not that difficult. You must never compromise what you believe is right.”

Chi-Woo looked at his brother with disbelief, but Chi-Hyun simply met his eyes straight-on. How could a guy speak like that after making all that trouble in the past?

“You said it yourself—that the human natives are heroes.” Since he hadn’t been expecting an answer anyways, Chi-Hyun immediately continued. “It’s as you said. We from the Celestial Realm aren’t the only heroes. The Cassiubia League who shed blood while fighting alongside us and the human natives who supported us quietly from behind are heroes just like us.” Chi-Hyun cleared his throat. “A hero’s duty isn’t simply to defeat the crisis endangering a world. They also have the responsibility of turning a ruined world back to normalcy. This means that we must also consider what will happen after this world’s salvation.”

Chi-Hyun said firmly. “And on that note, the Demon Empire is an impurity that doesn’t suit the rightful and orderly salvation of this world. This is, of course, true for the Sernitas and the Abyss as well. Anyone can see that by looking at Liber’s history.” Chi-Hyun explained, “The Demon Empire had fought consistently for dominance over the Middle World with humanity since the beginning of history. They bared their fangs at humanity every chance they had, and there were many times when the world almost fell into ruins because of them. They had shown insatiable greed to swallow up this beautiful planet and for thousands of years, they had been playing the role the Sernitas are playing now.”

Members of humanity and the Cassiubia League looked deeply sympathetic to Chi-Hyun’s words. The Demon Empire was an enemy their ancestors had fought against to protect the Middle World. Even if they joined hands right now, who knew what would happen once the Demon Empire recovered their power?

“Even when Liber was faced with the greatest crisis it had ever faced, they never made a different decision. In other words, it’s not only out of a simple sense of revenge that we are rejecting the Demon Empire.” Chi-Hyun’s voice was authoritative and firm. “Thus, the judgment I made is simple.”

Chi-Hyun tore his gaze off Chi-Woo and looked around before continuing, “We are the only ones qualified and entitled to decide what would happen to this world after its salvation. And the vast majority of us decided that we can’t trust the Demon Empire.”

Chi-Hyun met the countless gazes pouring onto him. His cold voice was soon strengthened with more force as he declared, “We can’t accept the Demon Empire for the future we envision. Thus, we have to administer punishments befitting their crimes and kill all of them to the last survivor, uprooting them out of existence.” Chi-Hyun clenched his fist and raised it in the air. “This is the proper conclusion. For a healthy and bountiful future, everyone gather your hearts—” Chi-Hyun shouted while imbuing mana into his voice.

“As heroes!”

In reality, this was all part of a not-so-noteworthy performance. However, it was scary when a person who didn’t usually get angry got mad, and the unexpected nature of his outburst gave his words greater gravity as his mana-filled voice rang inside the enclosure.

—Waaaaaaaah!

A thunderous applause was followed by a thunderous cheer. They went beyond simply clapping. They all thought they were working for a brilliant, shining future that existed only for them, and the entire audience—the human natives and the Cassiubia League—got up, raising both arms and shouting their hearts out. The heroes from the Celestial Realm were the first ones to start as they had always admired and praised the legend. They shouted, ‘As expected of the Choi family! He lives up to his name!’ and clapped.

—The legend! The legend! The legend! The legend!

Soon, the stadium burst into a frenzy. All of them cheered for Chi-Hyun in their own ways and waved their raised arms. Whether Chi-Hyun spoke from his heart or not, his words exactly expressed what the vast majority of the audience was feeling, and they celebrated him for giving them voice.

Of course, there were exceptions who didn’t sympathize with the rest of the audience. For instance, Apoline sat cross-legged in her seat with her arms crossed like she wasn’t pleased by the current situation while glancing behind her. Meanwhile, Alice was clutching both hands and praying for Chi-Woo. Yet they were the minority. The entire venue soon became one that existed solely for Chi-Hyun.

Chi-Hyun heard his name being called from all over the place and looked below him.

‘How is it?’ he thought, looking at Chi-Woo while he was standing still. ‘Will you be able to overturn this situation…?’ But that was where Chi-Hyun’s thought came to a halt. He thought for sure Chi-Woo would look flustered and would be twiddling his thumbs, not knowing what to do. Yet Chi-Woo was smiling.

He hadn’t seen wrong. Chi-Woo was smirking and chuckling soundlessly. “You’re laughing?” Chi-Hyun spoke out loud, and the commotion died down slightly.

“Ah—it’s just so funny,” Chi-Woo replied.

“What’s so funny?”

“How could I not find all this hilarious?” Chi-Woo shrugged. “It’s as if I’m seeing a stadium with stuffed pigs.” The settling commotions instantly died down.

“…Stuffed pigs?” Chi-Hyun furrowed. That was a strong remark—far beyond the line. “Even though you are a war hero, you can’t justify unwarranted insults.”

“Well, I apologize for that part. Anyways, thank you for your speech. I listened to it well,” Chi-Woo easily apologized and let out a deep sigh. Then, he repeated the words he had just heard. “You say that we are all heroes…and thus, we are the only ones who can decide this world’s future…” Chi-Woo looked up at Chi-Hyun. “That’s your point, right?”

Chi-Hyun flinched and realized it then: Chi-Woo was just getting started.