The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

[Stop!! I’ll listen. Please stop!]

“I think you still need some more?” Davey said.

‘Is this guy trying to mess with me? I’m not the same tolerant person I used to be,’ he thought.

“Davey!”

As he turned his head, he saw Illyna yelling at him from a distance.

Grrr!!

As soon as he landed after shrinking his body back to normal size, she rushed over to him.

“I’m a little busy right now. What’s going on? Did you hear something strange from Prince Sullivan?”

“Davey, you know how there’s a lot of city-states at the southernmost tip of the Eastern Continent, right?”

“Well, it would seem they made an urgent request for assistance to the empire a while ago.”

Though it wasn’t quite at the level of an all-out war zone, it was an area prone to conflicts, with civil wars breaking out frequently.

‘So, what about them is the issue?’

Illyna bit her lip, responding to his unspoken question, “Just follow me for now. Things are progressing faster than we expected.”

She then grabbed his arm. Recognizing the urgency, he sealed Shandra Minea back in his card before stowing it. Unlike Megalodria, he hadn’t fully contracted with Shandra Minea yet.

When they returned to the territory, Amy was waiting with a crystal ball in her hand, expression stern as if she’d been waiting on them.

“This is something that the 6th Circle Red Tower wizard transmitted at the cost of their life. It looks like they themselves didn’t make it; only the crystal ball and his arms made it through.”

“But why did they send this to me?”

Although they were allies, he hadn’t had much contact with them, except for Valkass.

“Do you remember the maritime city, Valkass?” Amy asked. Hearing this, Davey’s expression hardened.

He remembered Valkass as a small city-state he had passed through while subduing the First Lich Nyx.

“In just three hours, the entire city-state was turned into a land of death. Just take a look…”

Amy activated the crystal ball. The image quality was poor, but the wizard had managed to capture everything essential, giving Davey the impression that they were quite skillful.

Thud! Thud!

A massive dragon with black scales descended on the city, the ground trembling beneath its weight as it gathered its breath.

Roar!!!

As soon as it released its breath, a part of the city vanished, wiped out by the ultra-high-temperature energy beam.

“The humanity…”

People died horrifically to its breath, but that wasn’t even the worst of it. A black swamp appeared under the dragon, and anyone who came in contact with it was swallowed up as they screamed in terror and agony. When those who were completely devoured eventually managed to crawl out, their bodies were twisted and transformed into monsters that seemed to be covered in black tar.

- Kill... me…

The voices of the twisted figures were barely human. They were begging for death. It was only obvious how much they were tormented and disfigured inside the swamp of distorted space and time.

“A contaminated area…”

“And…?”

“It took less than six hours for all five city-states to disappear. It’s spreading like a plague, devouring the continent bit by bit.”

This desperate request for help was all that remained. Despite the tragedy, Davey wasn’t just focused on the victims who craved a death that just wouldn’t come. His attention was on Eclipse, the ancient dragon that had turned the city into a land of death.

No. Precisely speaking, it was on Thanatos who had completely consumed Eclipse.

[I know you’re somewhere far away watching me. Come here, and I’ll give you a one-way ticket to hell.]

Davey heard the message spoken using the language of the gods, something others couldn't hear. He couldn’t help but laugh at Thanatos’s provocation.

“You think you’re so tough? You’re biting off more than you can chew, crossing the line like that.”

“Huh?” Illyna looked at him, confused.

“Your… Your Majesty? Amy asked

Though everyone seemed surprised by what Davey suddenly said, his eyes were locked on the video. He didn’t care who or what was behind all of this in the first place. He had already made up his mind.

“The Kingdom of Rowane will withdraw from this matter and focus on defense.”

“Davey?!”

“Your Majesty?”

Illyna and Aeria looked at him in shock. Amy was silent, but Perserque reached out to him.

“Transcendence’s Demise,” Perserque murmured.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“There’s no way I’m going to let you leave without me. You got that?”

Her firm voice made him pause for a moment before he nodded.

“Then.. what are you going to do?” Illyna asked.

“What does that monster look like to you?”

“The ancient dragon Eclipse… Wait, no… It’s something different. That’s… Thanatos.”

Davey had no clue how, but Thanatos had become one with Eclipse. He assumed that she had given Eclipse immortality and authority, while getting back the authority to interfere.

‘They think they’re doing some final fusion crap…’ Davey thought.

“Go tell your brother that instead of gathering an army that we don’t need, he needs to make everyone stay home and pray.”

There were some things that worked and some that didn’t work when people came together. Right now, it was clearly the latter. He knew there was inevitably going to be a reset that wiped everyone out anyways, but that didn’t mean he could just ignore Thanatos and let her go on a murderous rampage. Even if his current power wasn’t enough to defeat her, as long as she didn’t fully root herself on Tionis, he knew he still had a chance.

“Rinne, find out if Elder Golgouda ​​has any leftover adamantium or orichalcum.”

There was a reason he had put up a barrier with the Spirit King. He was going to entirely focus Arbit’s Dragon Heart on refining Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon.

He knew it would be tough to inflict serious damage with Super Ribbon at the moment, but if they fully absorbed Arbit’s heart, he knew things would be different.

“How long will it take until it’s ready?” Illyna asked.

“Well…”

As he pondered her question, he quickly calculated the odds. For a complete victory, he knew at least one of two conditions had to be met. Regardless of whether or not the conditions were met, the Absolute Gem was still essential; he wasn’t certain if he could wield Thanatos’ power after consuming of the Abyss. He had some confidence in handling Eclipse’s mana, but Thanatos was another matter entirely.

“At least four days.”

By then, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Eastern Continent was practically destroyed. Still, that was the bare minimum time needed.

“And the max…?” Illyna asked, her voice filled with anxiety.

“A few months. By then it’ll basically be the end for the entire continent. So, even if it means giving up on the whole Eastern Continent, we need to finish preparations within a week.”

Time was the biggest challenge. Hercules had suggested to Davey that he gain godhood as a way to defeat Thanatos, but the only method he could think of obtaining godhood was through the Absolute Gem.

However, if Thanatos managed to emerge before the space in the hall was restored… they had to abandon their options.

Illyna turned pale at his answer. She knew he wasn’t exaggerating. If only there were a space similar to that hall where they could buy more time…

“Uh…”

Just then, Aeria, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up.

“Prince Davey, what is this?” she innocently asked, looking at the rift in the air in front of her.

At the same time, some kind of power began to ripple through the area. The rift quickly expanded, swallowing Davey, Illyna, Perserque, and Aeria and Rinne—all those who were closest to it.

Davey felt dizzy as he was sucked in.

[...]

He then heard a voice, but his body refused to move. He felt frozen like a statue.

“Davey,” the voice growled lowly, calling his name.

“Don’t you remember what I said would happen if you messed up like this?”

He felt the blood in his veins turn to ice.

“Davey?”

He saw a smile, but it was nothing short of vicious.

“Am I seeing things…?”

“Seeing things my ass. You fucking bastard, you’re saying bullshit like waking up in the middle of the night, then sleepwalking, and thinking you’re walking on water.”

He was certain it was her. Even so, he didn’t know why she had appeared in front of him. Then it hit him—it made sense for her to be here. After the Sword God Ares disappeared, he was told that the others were bound to step in and help him. In the process, most of the heroes had sacrificed their souls for his sake.

He looked up at her blankly. Her dark hair fluttered as her elegant clothes billowed in the wind.

“Oh shit, for real? You even got stigmata? That’s unbelievable. And what’s this? You’ve gone and got yourself the stigmata of some random ass god as well? I told you to take better care of yourself, but no, you just wouldn’t listen, huh?”

"D-Daphne."

Wack!!

"Don’t call out my name like we’re equals, you damn bastard. You probably think you’re all grown since it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, and now you’re trying to get… What the hell is that thing called?!"

"Botox."

"Oh, that’s right! Did getting Botox somehow make you audacious enough to act like this? After living just a mere thousand years, are you already so freakin’ blind that you can’t seem to figure out what you’re looking at? I guess those mosquito bastards must be sucking your eyes out to the point that you can’t see anything!"

Davey knew he had to respond with something, but his mind was becoming hazier by the second. It wasn’t just her harsh words that made him want to puke; it was the enormous amount of devil mana trying to put him to sleep.

"D-Davey!"

He heard Illyna urgently crying out his name.

"Stay back and watch the show. Fufu, you made quite the weapons. I’ll need to take a look at them.”

Someone picked up Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon, the weapons Davey had been holding. He instinctively tried to reach out for them, but the devil mana kept encroaching on him. He tried to eat away the mana by using his Predatory Assimilation, but there was more encroaching him than he could offset.

"Oh wow, look at you all pathetic and confused! What the hell, man? Should I just impale your body on a cross, send it flying into the sky, and paint a rainbow across the sky with your blood so you'll finally come to your senses? You should've attained godhood by now, but you're still just a demigod."

Though he couldn't see, Davey could tell that the space he was in was the same place where the Sword God Ares and Martial King Ylgrg had trained him.

While Illyna had been Possessed by Sword God Ares, he was able to contact Davey and create a rift for him to enter. But now, it was as if the space itself was swallowing him up, meaning it could interfere and ignore any resistance he put up.

Being able to interfere with Davey directly meant that someone had forcibly intervened at the cost of their own soul being sacrificed in the process.

Davey wondered who had done so. He wanted to know who disappeared again.

"Ahahaha!! You’re just a walking corpse! A walking corpse! Human organs are really expensive, so should I just start calling you a piggy bank from now on?”

"Daphne, don’t cross the line."

"Oh please, just shut up!!" she shouted, her giggling suddenly exploding into a fury that was filled with a rage Davey had never heard before.

"How dare that damned bastard, that random-ass throwaway god Thanatos…”

Davey felt his consciousness slipping away.

"Let’s begin the awakening of godhood."

He then heard a soft, nostalgic voice before his mind was pulled into a new space. There, he felt both emptiness and vastness as if he had been thrown into a huge universe. He was certain that he had heard something about the awakening of godhood before losing his consciousness trying to handle the devil mana.

He then realized that he was at the boundary between a living being and a creator. He had no clue what was going on, but something far more immense than he could fathom began to move.

Boom…

He felt as though something had exploded on the other side of the vast space before him. Then, as if a supernova had detonated, a massive mushroom cloud expanded on each side of him. Waves of vibrant colors instantly surged toward him and enveloped him completely.

[And the Goddess said.]

[Let there be light.]

This was different from what Davey had expected.

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thought

I like it when Davey’s harsh teachers come back, because I get to curse and be belligerent lol. Whenever they’re training Davey I always picture something like: