Heroes Return

As the pillar collapsed, Thirteen burst into the air from the black flames, hurtling towards Solomon. At the same time, a layer of sturdy, special armor appeared on Thirteen's body.

Solomon recognized it; it was armor specifically crafted for the god of war, a creation of the mythical era. But she hadn't expected Thirteen to be able to conjure such a mythical artifact out of thin air. In that moment of stunned silence, Thirteen had already collided with Solomon.

It turned out that his close-combat skills were ultimately no match for Solomon's; Solomon easily blocked Thirteen's attack with a single hand. Neither of them said anything. A black whip formed of flames appeared in Solomon's hand, and he hurled it directly at Thirteen.

With a deafening roar that tore through the air, the whip and a longsword clashed.

However, Solomon wasn't paying attention to Thirteen at this moment, because right before her eyes, another Thirteen was advancing towards the pillar. As for the others around them, they were all entangled in fighting the various object-shaped monsters that kept appearing, and for the time being, they were completely unable to stop Thirteen.

“Don’t try to do these things!” Solomon said to Thirteen, who was fighting her. “The consequences of doing so will be very serious.”

"The worst-case scenario is that it could kill 99% of humanity? Is that serious?" Thirteen said coldly, "In my memory, this power might be able to kill him! As long as he is killed, the descent of the gods will end! And to kill him, this is the only chance! You should know, right? That person's power! It's invincible power! Once the gods release him, humanity will have no chance of winning!"

“You can try to believe in Zero. Maybe Zero can defeat him,” Solomon suddenly said.

“Zero? Even zero is impossible. No one can win against that person's power! Zero is no exception! If you are truly on my side, then don't stop me! This might be the only chance to kill her!” Thirteen said coldly to the man before him, “I possess a weapon powerful enough to kill him, a weapon I treasured before even signing the contract with him!”

"..." Upon hearing Thirteen's words, Solomon fell silent.

"Do you really think I'm a fool? Would I use his power to try and kill him?" Thirteen said calmly, "For the past thousand years, I have been searching for a special power that can kill him, and I have finally found it."

“I’m sorry, but I have to stop you!” Solomon said after hearing Thirteen’s words, “I don’t believe your plan can succeed, so I can’t let you do it!”

As Solomon spoke, a massive burst of flames erupted in front of the other thirteen on the ground, from which countless terrifying sounds emanated. A multitude of bizarrely shaped demons appeared before this other thirteen.

"I still can't trust you!" Thirteen sighed helplessly. "I've already revealed my trump card, but you still want to stop me."

As Thirteen finished speaking, the heavens and earth seemed about to crack open. Almost simultaneously, a gigantic axe descended from the sky, crashing down towards the ground. With the axe's cleavage, the surrounding world was split in two. The monsters that had appeared were swept away by the massive axe in an instant.

The End-of-Dharma Barrier that was blocking the thirteen teleportations was also directly cleaved open.

"The Heaven-Opening Axe!!!" Solomon finally showed a shocked expression when he saw the axe falling from the sky.

"A full dozen centuries! Is this what you've prepared for over a dozen worlds? Heh heh, you've really gone to great lengths! It really is a betrayal from Judah!" Even Solomon couldn't help but marvel at the scene before him.

"A dozen centuries?" Upon hearing this, Thirteen calmly replied, "Also, don't call me Judas! And don't compare me to Judas! You know, I'm not Judas! Just an unlucky guy!!"

"But you are doing the same thing as Judas."

"The same? Not at all!" Thirteen said, and attacked Solomon once more. This attack carried the power to destroy all space—the power of the Heaven-Opening Axe, a power strong enough to cleave chaos in two.

Faced with such power, Solomon had no choice but to carefully parry.

Thirteen knew very well that a clone and a clone with an axe could not defeat Solomon, but they had bought him enough time.

At this point, Thirteen had arrived at the foot of the final seventy-third pillar. Unlike the other demon god pillars, this was a pillar of light, but in Thirteen's eyes, this pillar was far too dazzling.

"You've finally arrived. I've been waiting for you for so long." The son of God on the pillar wore a charming smile.

"You're awake? I thought you were still asleep." Thirteen's face showed a cautious expression as he looked at the person on the pillar who looked exactly like the Son of God.

"Yes, the tremors outside woke me up." The Child of the Body's smile remained kind: "It seems you've come to fulfill your mission!"

"Yes, I've come to fulfill my mission! That is, to completely annihilate you!" Axe had appeared in Thirteen's hand without anyone noticing! With the terrifying power erupting from the axe, everything around them began to change.

The power began to erupt uncontrollably. Under the influence of divine power, the axe began to expand continuously, eventually becoming enormous.

"Alright, I admit your preparations exceeded my expectations, but do you really think you can kill me like this?" Looking at Thirteen's axe, the Son of God still wore a charming smile: "Since you think so, then do it."

"Are you really going to do this anyway?" Solomon shouted again as he saw the axe in Thirteen's hand fall suddenly.

"Don't worry, I've thought it through! I won't be easily manipulated by this bastard!" Hearing Solomon's shout, Thirteen put down his axe at the most crucial moment: "Indeed, I can't attack you here."

"..." Upon hearing Thirteen's words, the man inside the pillar fell silent for a moment.

"I just figured it out, why I was so convinced Zero couldn't be here! You know, if there's anyone in this world who can fight you, it's Zero! But why didn't Zero come here?" Thirteen's voice seemed to recall something as he said, "Me, Xiao Zhan, Lin Jie, Glasses. We're all comrades, right? But why do I no longer trust my comrades at a time like this? Is it really just my stubbornness after regaining my memories? I've already reincarnated once! So I shouldn't still be the Thirteen from my previous life! I should be the Thirteen of now!"

"So you're planning to give up the best chance to kill me?" Upon hearing Thirteen's words, the Son of God smiled once again.

“We should give up this chance to release you! You must have tampered with my memories, right?” Thirteen suddenly said upon hearing the words of the Son of God.

"Alright, everything is as you expected. My abilities allowed me to know before we met that you would become Thirteen, and that you would find the Heaven-Opening Axe." The Child of the Body suddenly laughed and said, "So I tampered with your memories. Tell me, why did you awaken at the last one?"

"I don't know, I just thought of my companions before I acted," Thirteen suddenly said. "Because of you, I became someone hated by gods and demons, but they didn't care at all and stayed with me. And after I regained my memories, I had no intention of continuing to trust them. This unfounded suspicion made me hesitate."

So you've given up?

“Yes, I give up,” Thirteen suddenly said. “Don’t think that gods can control everything in this world. We will choose our own destiny! You can stay here and wear your prison saddle!”

"Very well, you can leave now." The Child of Body said with a smile, "So you were seen through after all? That's right, in the face of omniscience and omnipotence, such subtle inconsistencies can still be detected. Congratulations on changing your destiny once. Well then, your mission is complete, and from now on everything about you will disappear. Congratulations, the curse is over."

"What did you say?" Upon hearing the other party's words, Thirteen's face showed a shocked expression! He did not expect that the other party would still react so calmly after hearing Thirteen's words, not only admitting it frankly, but also saying that he would take back Thirteen's curse.

“God is always loving and magnanimous! So, see you in the new world.” As the Son of God spoke, his eyes closed slightly.

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

Even Thirteen was somewhat surprised by this situation. However, Solomon, watching from afar, breathed a sigh of relief. This meant she didn't need to use her trump card before the gods descended.

However, Thirteen felt a sense of relief wash over him, as if something had vanished from his body. Feeling this, he finally turned and walked away. Although he didn't understand the meaning behind the other person's words, "Your mission is complete." After all, Thirteen didn't believe he had done what the other person hoped for.

Humanity's destiny is in its own hands; Thirteen had known this for five years. The hero known as Zero had repeatedly altered predetermined fates. It was precisely because of this that the world was able to continue. And this time, Thirteen made a choice that seemed impossible.

Solomon did not stop Thirteen from walking outside.

However, due to the loss of his abilities, all the monsters Thirteen had summoned had vanished. He was now surrounded by a large number of magical girls, who were all glaring at him with gritted teeth, as if they would swarm him and give him a good beating at any moment.

"Um, could you please not hit my face? After all, I might have to rely on my looks to make a living in the future," Thirteen said helplessly to the angry girls in front of her.

"You may leave," Solomon's voice suddenly rang out. "Now that you've made your choice, it's all over."

“Yes, it seems to be over. The curse on me seems to have disappeared as well.” Thirteen said to Solomon with a smile, but as he turned to leave, he suddenly spoke to Solomon again: “You alone cannot stop the gods.”

"Hehe, do you really think so?"

“Go find Zero for help! With your looks, he’ll help you.” Thirteen spoke again: “Lies may help you achieve many things, but only honesty can win people’s hearts.”

"..." Hearing Thirteen's words, Solomon remained silent. With a flick of her wrist, Thirteen vanished from the spot. When Thirteen reappeared, he was utterly dumbfounded. Before him stretched an endless desert, one of the world's most famous uninhabited areas.

Seeing the scene before him, Thirteen could only smile helplessly. He then pulled out his phone and looked at the app on it: "I never thought I'd be able to use this program... *beep beep*..."

……

Peace returned to the space where Solomon was. The demon pillars that had collapsed had risen again, though this time there were no demons inside. The seventy-third pillar remained standing there peacefully.

Everyone was so busy with the reconstruction work that no one noticed the two figures appearing.

"I've been waiting for you." The pillar-like man's voice rang out once again as he looked at the person who had just arrived.

“Did you know you’d come? Hahahaha! How interesting! Come to think of it, if Mr. Thirteen had kept everyone’s attention here, I wouldn’t have been able to get in here right under Solomon’s nose!” the man said with a laugh to the person on the pillar.

Because the seventy-third pillar was very far from the others, and because Solomon was currently repairing the damage caused by the Axe of Creation, and no one was allowed to approach the area, no one noticed the arrival of the two figures for a time. Ivan and the Mysterious Master.

“Evan, why are we here? This isn’t what we agreed on.” The mysterious master looked at the pillar in front of him with displeasure. “I don’t want to see this face!”

“But I really want to see this face!” At this moment, right in front of Ivan, the person in the pillar had completely transformed into Zero: “But you make me very angry! You would never appear in front of me like this! You know what? If it were me just now, I would have chopped you down with that axe without hesitation! No matter what the consequences were.”

“Fool,” the person on the pillar said calmly to Ivan, “State your purpose!”

"Hahaha! Speaking of which, you said Thirteen's mission was complete, which means you knew all along that Thirteen would appear? And you knew he would stop, right?" Ivan's face broke into a smile at this moment: "So you saw through his choice all along! In that case, did you deceive Solomon or Thirteen? I'm very curious! Which side did you deceive? Or both? What would have happened if Thirteen had really swung his axe back then? I'm really curious! In the end, was the real purpose of Thirteen's appearance just to divert their attention and help me infiltrate better? Hahahaha!"

"Though we know, the uncertainty stems from their own actions. After all, humans always like to fight against fate, don't they? And as an all-encompassing god, I naturally wish to see them struggle against fate." The being on the pillar calmly said to Ivan, "Explain your purpose."

"Now that you know everything, you should know why I'm here, right?" Ivan's gaze sharpened at this moment: "I hope you can really help me!"

"..." Upon hearing Ivan's words, the person on the pillar calmly replied, "I agree. You may use the descendants I left behind in the human world at will."

After calmly saying those words, the person in front of the pillar closed their eyes once again.

"Hahaha! You really are annoying! You know what? Maybe I'll make sure you never get out." Ivan suddenly laughed and joked at the pillar. But in the end, he received no response.

"Didn't you say that you should kill the charlatan before doing anything else?" the mysterious master suddenly said to Ivan. "The world's biggest charlatan is right in front of you. Go and take him down!"

“If possible, I will!” Evan said, pointing his large-caliber energy gun at the man on the pillar in the distance. However, an invisible force blocked the attack: “You see, I have no way to hurt him. But I can pee under his pillar.”

"..." The man on the pillar remained with his eyes closed and did not react, while Ivan took a good piss next to him.

"..." Even the mysterious master was speechless: "I'm the first person I've ever seen dare to urinate in front of a future god..."

"What do you know? Perhaps this will be included in a completely new Bible in the future." As the two spoke, Ivan had already vanished from the spot. The mysterious master also disappeared; a peculiar residual power seemed to have teleported Ivan away.

……

"Have you bought a house yet?" an older woman asked Xiao An.

"Second Aunt, I haven't bought it yet."

"That won't do! You're not getting any younger, you should be of marriageable age, how come you haven't even bought a house?" another person asked. "Our second son's child can already walk. He's about your age, right? Oh, right, I almost forgot, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend... I don't want to find one right now."

“That won’t do! How can you not have a girlfriend?” another person said. “You’re not getting any younger, it’s time to get married.”

"Yeah, by the way, Xiao An, what do you do for a living? How much do you earn a month?" another person asked. "How's business going these days?"

"Um..." Xiao An looked helplessly at the endless questions from his aunts and uncles at the gathering: houses, cars, jobs, wives. Everyone was comparing themselves to others, even the kids were being compared in terms of academics... This barrage of questions left Xiao An, who was working away from home, feeling overwhelmed.

But the next second, Xiao An was shocked to hear a gunshot. With that, Ivan appeared out of the room for some unknown reason and opened fire without hesitation. In the blink of an eye, all the relatives who had been showing off their superiority were killed by Ivan's gun.

The scene quickly became extremely bloody, and Xiao An trembled uncontrollably, her teeth chattering. Seeing the scene before her, and then realizing that the people in front of her were Ivan and the mysterious master, Xiao An was completely paralyzed with fear.

At this moment, Evan stepped forward and hugged Xiao An.

"Hahaha! You don't need to thank me! You must have been feeling annoyed for a long time, right? Don't worry, I've taken care of them for you." Evan said, then put his arm around Xiao An and sat down on the sofa: "By the way, can I borrow the phone here?"

"Aren't you going to explain to me what you're trying to do?" The mysterious master suddenly used magic to destroy Ivan's phone: "It seems like your call might attract the heroes, won't it?"

"Hahaha! Sorry, I was so excited I almost forgot about the wiretapping system on the phone. It seems the World Government hasn't given up on this privacy-violating project after all!" Ivan laughed as he said to the Master, "I was just too excited."

"So! What exactly is your purpose in going to see that guy? Do you know what kind of being you were just talking to?" The mysterious master said coldly, "Quickly state your purpose, otherwise I will not continue to help you! What you have done has gone too far!"

"Actually, my purpose is very simple! Of course, it's for the game! For a game with Zero! Ahahaha! That's my biggest purpose! The game with Zero is exactly what I'm after!" Ivan's expression turned manic at this moment. After casually killing the person in his arms, Ivan excitedly looked at the mysterious master: "Do you know? I've prepared an ultimate game! An extraordinary ultimate showdown! Ahahahahaha! An extraordinary ultimate showdown between me and Zero! Do you know how many clues and intelligence I've gathered to prepare for this? Ahahahahaha! It's so amazing! Five years have passed! It's so amazing that Zero is alive! This world is so amazing! Humanity is so amazing!"

Ivan's voice grew increasingly frantic, and for a moment, even a powerful magician like the Mystic Master felt a chill run down her spine when facing Ivan's face. In terms of sheer presence, this mortal easily overwhelmed her.

"But the gods..."

"Gods? Hahahaha! Who cares about those boring things! Zero is my only goal in this world! Hahahaha! Those guys have been unable to manipulate humanity for a long time! This time they will enjoy the feeling of being commanded by a mortal! Hahahaha! I can't wait for this game!"

Chapter 35

While Ivan was excited, Lin Jie did not immediately go to Kuror's place. In fact, Lin Jie was looking at the figure on the communicator in front of him.

"Thirteen? Where are you right now?" Lin Jie asked directly upon seeing Thirteen's figure appear.