Hugo screamed.
“What?! That beggarly thing collapsed again?!”
“Yes, yes…! Your house, sir, it’s been wrecked again.”
“Argh! That damn money!”
That was how it was.
The “Lee Geon’s house” they meant was none other than the old Singungjwa Building.
In other words, the place Lee Geon had arbitrarily invaded and turned into his own inner sanctum.
But even that had been remodeled using Lee Geon’s power.
The moment he vanished, the building crumbled and became a dangerously unstable structure.
‘Well, I suppose it collapsed because Geon’s power disappeared.’
In the end, it was judged uninhabitable. Hugo and the Singungjwa saints had no choice but to find a new home and office.
But they didn’t want to demolish the building and erase the traces of their friend. So every time, they asked the Magaljwa to restore it to its original state!
“And it collapsed again?!”
“Yes…! It seems no one can properly repair it without Lord Lee Geon’s power.”
Hugo clutched the back of his neck.
In other words, memories, belongings—none of it could be resolved unless he returned.
“Argh, can’t be helped. Let’s fix it again.”
“A-are you sure it’s all right? This is already the 17th time. The repair costs each time aren’t small….”
At those words, Hugo furrowed his brow.
Of course, they’d asked the other saints for support funds to restore the building, but perhaps because memories were fading—
[Kevin: Lee Geon? Who’s that lol? I don’t know him? lol?]
[Steven: Lee Geon? That goddess?]
[Sophie: Who is that???]
They seemed unable to remember Lee Geon(?), and Heiji….
[Did you wreck it again?!!]
At least Heiji had helped a lot, but lately, after a fight and getting upset, they’d lost contact.
“In any case, there are plenty of places where money needs to go, but every single one is a problem….”
As Hugo groaned in pain, the saints gave awkward smiles.
“P-please don’t worry too much! Lord Hugo, we and the Bamyuinjwa saints are all diligently preserving records of Lord Lee Geon, and Lord Lee Geon will return soon…!”
“That’s right. We just have to endure until Lord Lee Geon comes….”
“No.”
“!”
“At least not in this century will I see Geon.”
“……!”
“…I only wished that Geon could retire and live comfortably as a jobless bum.”
Lee Jae-won couldn’t say anything either.
Going to the Void Realm meant something like that. And if no one else, Hugo had already anticipated it.
‘Even if he can return, it’ll take at least hundreds of years. No, thousands of years.’
That’s why someone said, ‘Lee Geon has probably already been extinguished,’ ‘No matter how hard you try to leave records, the speed of their disappearance is faster, so give up.’
What meaning was there in struggling alone when everyone else had forgotten?
But Hugo had no intention of giving up.
Because he had promised to wait until the end.
Because with the power of [ ], he could live a hundred years, a thousand years.
So even if everyone forgot, even if everyone died and no one remembered Lee Geon, it didn’t matter.
‘As long as I don’t forget.’
Though this generation would no longer get to see Lee Geon, he would wait, be it a thousand years or ten thousand years.
That was his resolve.
“This time for sure, live as a jobless bum the way you wanted.”
“…Excuse me? Lord Hugo? What did you just….”
“Ah. It’s nothing. Let’s go quickly. We need to assess how wrecked it is this time.”
“Yes!”
As Hugo was about to follow the saints outside,
Booom!!!
A tremendous roar resounded.
And at the same time as the roar, a massive earthquake struck.
Boom!!
“Cough!!”
It was an earthquake so intense that it was impossible to remain standing.
And that wasn’t all.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
“Kyaaak!!”
Light bulbs shattered, buildings cracked. In an instant, the city turned into a scene of chaos.
And just as they wondered what on earth was happening, a chilling sound echoed throughout the city.
Waaaaaaaaah—
At that sound, they, and all the citizens, froze.
There was no choice.
“L-Lord Hugo!! That sound is!”
“The Red Zone alarm?!”
It was the evacuation alarm that sounded when a monster appeared in the city.
And while it was called a Red Zone alarm, it was practically a sound of death, signaling that more than half the country was being wiped out!
But after peace was found, it was a sound that hadn’t rung even once!
And the reason this sound was going off was one thing.
“I-it really is a monster!”
There was no doubt.
After all, with Lee Geon’s power gone, the force protecting Earth had weakened.
It wouldn’t be strange if bastards like K’ruth’der invaded again.
‘Because K’ruth’der can naturally spawn at any time in the Void Realm.’
Just as expected.
Kwoo-goo-goong!!
Everyone swallowed hard at the ominous aura surging up from the ground.
“Sect Lord! This power, it’s definitely!”
“Damn it! Enemies!”
A new air raid had begun.
And then, a massive shadow draped over the earth.
Those who looked at the sky were horrified.
“A-a meteor?!”
A strike full of murderous intent was falling toward Earth.
And the shadow of an unidentified monster appeared in the sky!
At that moment, a single meteor struck the earth.
BAAAAANG!!!
“Aaaack!!!”
A pillar of fire shot up into the sky.
It was a calamity they had faced again after many years.
It was only natural that saints all over the world were summoned in this wartime situation.
“Prepare for battle!!!”
“A monster has appeared again!”
Emergency alerts were issued in every nation across the globe.
There was no doubt. The murderous intent was even greater than when the first General-class, Monarch-class appeared on Earth!
Just in case, Hugo checked the emblem of his that had once been imbued with Lee Geon’s power.
Wondering if, by any chance, Lee Geon might reveal himself in this crisis.
But nothing happened.
Lee Geon’s power did not appear.
“Damn it!”
Hugo and Lee Jae-won rushed to the armory and looked for bows.
“Goddammit! Since we had no monsters to fight, I shoved the monster-use ones away somewhere…!”
Where did I stow them?
As they were frantically rummaging through the armory,
Swish.
A black bow flew at Hugo as if to say, “Is this what you’re looking for?”
Hugo caught the bow and immediately thanked them.
“There it was, thanks, Jae-won….”
But the moment he confirmed who it was, Hugo was startled.
Though only for an instant, the one who threw the bow and disappeared was none other than a slime!
‘Aslan?’
It was definitely the slime that had vanished without a trace along with Lee Geon’s disappearance!
And then, just as he thought he might have briefly seen something wrong.
Flash!!!
A familiar green light flared up from the armory.
And things began to appear everywhere in the air, glowing. Everyone flinched in shock.
“L-Lord Hugo!”
They were none other than Lee Geon’s belongings that had vanished when he did!
All of his crafted items were returning!
But the truly astonishing thing was right then.
Buzz.
“Lord Hugo, your phone, your phone…!!”
Hugo’s heart sank at the buzzing phone.
Because it was an unregistered number.
And hadn’t he had a similar experience once before, some time ago?
In the end, with trembling hands, Hugo answered the ferociously ringing phone.
“Hello?”
[Hello!!!]
At the voice he heard, Hugo became flustered and looked at his phone screen.
“Ji-u? What’s with this number?”
[It got wrecked, so Ji-su brought it! More importantly, it’s a big deal!! There’s a baby!]
At that urgent voice, Hugo froze.
“Why! Did Ji-su cause trouble again?! Did she fly over there and cause more trouble?!!”
[No! A baby appeared!!!]
For one second, Hugo fell silent, then turned pale for a different reason.
“She’s pregnant?!!”
[No! I said a baby appeared in front of our house!]
Hugo’s expression was a sight to behold.
“……???”
A baby appeared in front of the house?
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
In the end, they had no choice but to hurry to Hugo’s house.
But the homeowner who soon arrived couldn’t help but scream.
The detached house that had stood tall on the spacious lot had been blown away.
“Ack!!! A house with five years of mortgage left!!!”
Everyone was in an uproar as they looked at the scene.
It seemed to have been blown away by the meteor that fell from the sky.
Then Hugo and the saints, having spotted Cheon Ji-u, rushed over.
“Honey! Are you hurt?!”
“Ah, no. When I came back from grocery shopping, it was already like this….”
Thankfully, no one was injured, and the neighboring houses didn’t appear to have suffered damage either. But Cheon Ji-u was far too calm.
“More importantly, a baby appeared!!”
“A baby??!”
“Yes, over there!”
Indeed.
From a deep crater in the garden, the sound of a baby crying could be heard.
The saints looked at the baby and grew wary.
“The monster alarm is pointing to that newborn!”
“It seems to have fallen together with the meteor….”
“A humanoid K’ruth’der?!”
But at the sound of that newborn’s crying, Hugo’s expression suddenly changed.
‘No way…!!’
No, that couldn’t be.
‘It was clearly a monster’s murderous intent.’
Hadn’t it been a power so great that the calamity-alerting alarm reacted to it!
But the terrifying alarm that had been ringing was already silent.
And the meteor they thought had fallen from the sky—perhaps it was those strange husks scattered in the garden?
Because of that, Hugo’s heart swelled as he confirmed it.
‘It’s impossible. There’s no way he could deal with the enemies in the Void Realm in just three years…!’
Hadn’t even he himself said it might take more than twenty years!
As everyone else buzzed while looking at the newborn,
A massive power so fearsome that they were afraid even to approach.
Just who was this child, they wondered.
“I-isn’t it a monster?”
“No doubt. It’s a Monarch… a Primordial God… no, a monster beyond that! It’s not human!”
But there was only one person.
Hugo alone looked at the child with a tearful smile.
And when he moved, everyone was horrified.
“Lord Hugo?! No! It’s dangerous! If you get close!”
But Hugo approached the child and smiled.
Because there was a phrase that suddenly came to mind.
It was the last smile he’d seen of Lee Geon.
―The next time I appear before you, I’ll be your spine breaker.
Hugo touched the writing on the tiny child’s hand.
“You bastard. So this is what you meant by ‘spine breaker’?”
You crazy son of a bitch.
It was right then.
“Sect Lord! Are you all right?!”
“Dad!!!”
“Hugo!”
From all over, people had rushed over in alarm at the news that Hugo’s house had been attacked.
Heiji, the Cheon siblings, even all the saints from elsewhere—they came swarming, apparently worried.
“Why is your house in this state!”
“Who’s this little one?!!”
“Is it a monster?! What’s this sudden calamity!”
“This baby is the culprit, I see!”
In fact, the power the child exuded was that of a monster they had never seen before.
Just as expected.
“Move aside! I’ll dispose of it immediately!”
At that, Hugo, holding the newborn’s hand, hastily stopped them.
“Ah ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. No need for that.”
Hugo smiled as he looked at the child, who was sleeping calmly despite having wrecked someone else’s house.
“A real disaster-class hero has returned.”
The goddamn hero had come back.
***
Author’s Afterword
Hello, this is Sanji Jik-song.
I sincerely thank all the readers who have been with us for the long story of
Furthermore, the fact that
It might feel like a spoiler, and because they are such separate stories, I wasn't able to mention it, but as you might have guessed,
Therefore, the gods of
And though it wasn’t covered in
Of course, in
(Actually, these parts are stories that lie between the two novels, and I’m a bit sad because they’re ambiguous topics that I’m not sure which one to resolve them in….)
Since the previous work dealt with
(Of course, the two novels are separate stories that unfold in their own worlds, so it’s perfectly fine even if you don’t know each other’s stories…!)
There’s much more I want to say, but somehow the afterword seems to be getting too long, so I think I should keep it short.
There were stories I wanted to write more, and stories I couldn’t write, but
I think they’ll likely be short vignettes of things only briefly mentioned in the main story, and I plan to freely and irregularly cover the heroines’ stories as well. Please enjoy them lightly, separately from the main story!
If you have scenes you’d like to see, or if you leave them in the comments, I’ll try to include them in the side stories.
Because I am always a writer lacking in many ways, this work was also full of shortcomings, but I am truly grateful that you stayed with me until the end.
Thank you!