The Return of the Disaster-Class Hero

“You shouldn’t do that.”

“!”

Lee Gun heard a familiar voice come from Pixiu’s stomach. He felt like he had been sucker-punched. His reaction was understandable.

“Hailey?!”

Why was he hearing her voice in this place? Moreover, why was her voice coming from Pixiu’s stomach?!

“Why are you in there!?” 

Lee Gun was taken aback as he continued to hold on to the Great Spirit of Ennead. However, that wasn’t the only shocking part.

“Daughter-in-law… You agreed to stay hidden! You shouldn’t have said anything!”

“?!”

Lee Gun heard Aslan’s voice this time! Although he couldn’t see their faces, he had heard their voices. It made him angry. How dare they!

“Why are you two over here? Also, why the hell are you hiding inside Piggy Bank’s stomach?”

“Why else? I knew you would do this, so we came here!”

“What?”

Hailey was the one to answer. She continued, “Since only two exoneration tickets were left, we knew what you would choose to do. How can we not?”

“…!”

Flustered, Lee Gun tried to chase the two of them out of the Cradle.

But Aslan snorted. “Your efforts will be in vain! You can try to chase us out, but it will be useless since we aren’t your Constructs.”

They really were going to act this way? An angry Lee Gun glared at Piggy Bank, who was keeping its distance from him.

“Spit them out! Spit them out before I cut your stomach open!”

A terrified Pixiu whined and retreated. Its action didn’t matter.

Lee Gun decided to take advantage of this situation since he had heard his father’s voice.

“I'm glad you’re here. I want you to look out for Yeonwoo and Junwoo. Also, I want you to take care of the Primordial god’s power.”

Lee Gun immediately activated the book and used an exoneration ticket. Now, only one was left.

Lee Gun looked at the space of Death that had unfolded beneath the feet of the Fire Wheel Lord. In this space, everything was ripped apart. It was the destination before one passed through Life.

Death within Cradle looked different from what it usually did outside in the light. Here, it looked like the galaxy. However, the lights were so bright that it was almost shocking.

While he held Ennead’s Great Spirit, Lee Gun’s body also started to break down.

“Koohk…!”

One of his arms was destroyed.

Ennead’s Great Spirit had only a deep-seated grudge within him, so he let out a fierce laugh.

[What did you think you could do with such a body? Yes! I knew something was off! You are a baby who hasn’t even reached the age of a hundred years, yet you thought you could use a power of that magnitude!]

Lee Gun was still relatively young. The universe was unable to remember him.

[You being able to handle that much power is amazing in itself! Since things have turned out like this, I can admit it! I’ll give you this compliment!]

Lee Gun grabbed him as if he could go to hell. Of course, he knew Ennead’s Great Spirit was trying to take him and the entire earth as his travel companions to the afterlife.

So Lee Gun yelled as he suppressed the power of Ennead’s Great Spirit. 

At this rate, his body would break down before he could use the exoneration tickets. That was why the best course of action for him was to use all the exoneration tickets. Then he would jump toward Death with this bastard in tow.

Lee Gun activated the last exoneration ticket.

‘It is…the last one…’

This one was reserved for Hailey.

“Wait a moment, Daughter-in-law! No!”

“!”

Aslan’s desperate voice came from Pixiu’s mouth.

When Lee Gun turned his head, he saw Hailey trying to exit Pixiu’s mouth and Aslan trying to stop her.

“You promised to do nothing. I’ll take care of—” 

Aslan couldn’t speak any further.

Flash!

“!!!”

When Hailey placed her hand on him, Aslan turned into his slime form, surprising the former Creator. To make matters worse, he couldn’t move.

Seeing this, Lee Gun ordered Pixiu to swallow Hailey. He would then send Pixiu out of the Cradle.

Flash!

“…!”

Lee Gun’s field of vision suddenly changed. He had been transferred to a different location, and instead of Ennead’s Great Spirit, he was now holding a powerful flame!

This surprised Lee Gun.

‘It’s the Red Monarch’s Flame….’

He was wondering why the power of Hailey’s mother had appeared here when soft fingers grasped his face and turned his face to the side. It was Hailey.

Lee Gun became surprised when he met eyes with her. “Hailey— Oohp!”

As soon as he turned his head, Hailey kissed him. It was a deep kiss.

However, Lee Gun realized something. This wasn’t a simple kiss. Through Hailey’s body, a certain power was passing into him. Lee Gun realized what this power was.

‘The Red Monarch’s power.’

Since had seen it before, he was sure of it. This power belonged to Hailey’s mother, who had been captured by the gods and had her sweat and blood squeezed out of her.

The power of the Flame monarch was entering his body. Lee Gun had previously saved Hailey’s mother, but she had been in a very poor state.

After the incident, he had heard that she had ceased to exist. So he had assumed she had died after passing on her power to her daughter.

‘Why now?’

At that moment, the shadow of Ennead’s Great Spirit tried to snatch away Hailey and Lee Gun. It flew toward them, unleashing a fierce attack.

Poo-hahk!!!

‘Koohk!’

A tentacle shaped like a hook extended out from the shadow and ruthlessly attacked Lee Gun’s back. 

It was an attack aimed at a vital point, so Lee Gun instantly hugged Hailey as if he was covering her up. He was in pain, but the pain lasted for just an instant.

“!”

‘It doesn’t hurt.’

It hadn’t pierced him. The attack should have been strong enough to pierce through his skin to reach his stomach, yet it couldn’t. It had bounced off his skin!

He was wondering what was going on when…

Flash!

[Your body has become sturdy now that the power of a first-generation monarch has entered it.]

[The power of the powerful Life Flame has strengthened your body.]

[Nothing can pierce through your body.]

It was as if Flame had created life.

The enormous power was strengthening his body. It looked similar to the regeneration of Life at a glance, but it was different. 

[You will be able to withstand the enormous power of a Great Spirit.]

The monarchs possessed incredibly strong bodies that didn’t easily lose to the gods. In fact, their bodies were sturdier than gods’.

Among the monarchs, the ones with the strongest bodies were the first-gen monarchs.

Basically, right now, Lee Gun’s body was like that of a newly born god, and it had been strengthened by the power of the monarch. He could now withstand the power of a Great Spirit.

This was something the Divine status of Life couldn’t accomplish, but it was another facet of life.

It was like a flame that could endure any situation and which emitted powerful life energy.

[Body Strengthening]

Lee Gun’s body became as sturdy as the body of a monarch.

[Your body has stopped breaking down.]

“…!”

Ennead’s Great Spirit was surprised.

[That damn woman…!!]

Hailey looked at Lee Gun. “This is my mother’s power. It was the last thing she left me.”

“!”

The monarch of Flame had given her power to her daughter before ceasing to exist. She knew her daughter would die because of her Karmic debt. So she gave her power to her daughter as a tool that would extend her life.

The characteristic of Eternal Change was imitation, and that of Wind was movement. For Flame, it was never-ending life energy. That was why the gods had used her power. 

“You’ll be able to withstand your power with it. There won’t be a problem.”

Lee Gun no longer had to think about sacrificing himself because his body was breaking down. If he used the exoneration ticket that created the tools, he would be able to live a long and happy life.

But…

Hailey vomited blood at that instant. Lee Gun immediately realized Hailey’s body had weakened because of the power transfer. Moreover, she couldn’t withstand the power of Ennead’s Great Spirit, so her body was breaking down.

Lee Gun tried to use the power of the Creator to reconstruct her body. “Hailey!”

However, Creation was unable to regenerate her body. Her body was breaking down at an extremely high speed. 

Lee Gun was taken aback. When he had a realization, he tried to take something out of her chest. “What do you think you were doing?”

She had used the Primordial god’s “Eliminate” on herself. The power of the Primordial god couldn’t be used by just anyone. It was why the greedy Great Spirits had split the powers.

Someone who wasn’t a Zodiac had used the power. However, that wasn’t important right now.

Lee Gun tried to use the power of Elimination, yet Hailey seemed to have planned this out from the start. She grabbed Lee Gun’s arm. “Do not try to save me. I want you to use the exoneration ticket on yourself. I want you to live a happy life with Hugo and Yeonwoo.”

“What?”

Lee Gun couldn’t accept it. “I was going to save you. Why the hell are you trying to die?”

Hailey laughed as if she was rejecting such an idea. “A world without you is meaningless.”

“!”

“You have no idea what emotions go through someone’s heart when they are left behind. I don’t want to feel those feelings again.”

“…!”

Twenty years ago, Lee Gun had disappeared into the Devil’s Tower. Since then, Hailey’s life had been lonely. She felt a sense of guilt and loneliness. And the thought of Lee Gun no longer existing only gave her pain.

“Gun. Without you, everything feels meaningless.”

Lee Gun sighed as he watched Hailey’s breathing get weaker.

The day Yeonwoo had died, Time had brought Oblivion along with him, and Oblivion had consumed Lee Gun’s emotions. 

This was why his emotions always seemed dull, but for some reason, his heart started hurting right now. He finally felt the reality of her death, and this experience allowed him to realize something.

Lee Gun had always been on the frontline; he was the first to lead and leave. So he had never realized this. The people whom he had left behind felt differently, and he had never paid attention to their emotions.

If he thought about it, two people had been distressed and tormented by his death for twenty years. Yet he was planning to do the same thing to them again. No, everyone else would be in the same boat too.

‘It’s meaningless unless everyone lives.’

Lee Gun had this realization. He carried Hailey into his arms and nodded. He had to find a way to save all three of them.

As he got up, however…

Koo-goo-goohng!!

“!”

The floor roiled as an unknown black shadow appeared on it. The shadow was trying to take Hailey.

An angry Lee Gun tried to grab the black shadow, but his hand merely passed through it.

“!”

The power of the gods didn’t work against the shadow, and it wasn’t because Lee Gun’s power had weakened.

[You cannot touch it unless you are a resident of the World of Emptiness.]

[It’s the power of a world that you cannot meddle in.]

“…!”

In the end, the shadow took Hailey and disappeared somewhere. 

Lee Gun tried to chase them down, but the dying grudge of the Fire Wheel Lord laughed.

[You cannot go there. It came from the World of Emptiness.]

“What?”

[She is the forbidden child. You wanted to save her using the exoneration ticket, but you couldn’t save her with it in the first place.]

“What?”

[The King of the World of Emptiness won’t forgive the forbidden child.]

The World of Emptiness was a world of death, which was worse than the World of Torture. It was a place where even gods suffered eternal pain and labor.

Evil gods, monsters, and those with Karmic debt were sent to this world of sinners. It was the world of Yang, which was different from the Divine world, the earth, and the other colonies—a world of eternal labor where there was no light.

[Who do you think made the rule that said a god and a monarch cannot mate?]

It wasn’t a rule made by the Primordial god, but one made by the King of the World of Emptiness.

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

[Anyway, there is no way a god can go to the World of Emptiness.]

In general, only those with Karmic debt could go there. Everyone who went there was crushed by their Karmic debt, and they became slaves to the king.

[That is why you are useless— Kuh-huhk!!]

Ennead’s Great Spirit was ruthlessly ripped apart. After cutting down the Great Spirit, Aslan showed up. He was barely able to regain his human form. 

He furrowed his brows. “In the end, things turned out like this. I never wanted this, so I planned on taking on your Karmic debt."

“What?”

Aslan had planned on using Galan’s power. “If you had used the exoneration ticket on Hailey, I would have taken your Karmic debt.”

Aslan planned on becoming an evil god and dying instead of Lee Gun; it would allow him to save all three.

“I never would have expected that child to use the power of the Primordial god.”

In a flash, Hailey had suppressed and sealed his power. It might have been possible because she was a forbidden child.

‘There is a reason for the rule that forbids Cluders and gods from mating.’

Lee Gun furrowed his brows. It didn’t matter in the end. “Is using the exoneration ticket on Hailey useless? What is he talking about? Is it true?”

“He’s half-right and half-wrong. The exoneration ticket would have gotten rid of all her Karmic debt that… However, the same problem would have repeated itself unless the rule was destroyed.”

In other words, her Karmic debt because of being born as a forbidden child and the Karmic debt of getting close to Lee Gun would have been wiped clean.

“However, she would’ve incurred Karmic debt once again if she merely joined hands with you. It’s because you guys are a god and a Cluder.”

“…!”

The one to make this rule was the King of the World of Emptiness. In simple words, Hailey would be cursed again until this rule was present.

Of course, Hailey probably knew this. Even if she was exonerated, she wouldn’t be able to get rid of her love for Lee Gun.

“The more you like someone, the more you want to touch them. You want to stay next to their side. That’s an instinct.”

Lee Gun raised his eyebrows as if he was dissatisfied. “Who the hell is the King of the World of Emptiness? Is he different from the Primordial god?”

“You know him too.”

“What?”

“Universe.”

“!”

It was a being that remembered the existence of the gods. Universe was the King of the World of Emptiness.

This was why the gods were averse to going there. Universe was a being that transcended the gods.

However, Lee Gun merely laughed in contempt. Universe? “Ah. He’s the imbecile that couldn’t remember me despite me causing all kinds of trouble? ”

“Uh… Yes. That’s right”

Lee Gun smirked as if he had thought of something.