The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1023

The Wraith Frost extracted from the wraith carried intense yin energy.

Even at a glance, the energy it radiated was clearly far from good.

After Davey had taken care of the wraith, the members of the Paranormal Club had left, blank as if they were in a trance.

- I’m done looking for ghosts from now on...

- The old saying was right. People are scarier than ghosts...

- Ha...

It wasn’t fear that had driven them away—it was something else.

But since they had no intention of getting involved in that kind of danger ever again, there was no need for Davey to offer them any advice.

"Ugh."

Evangeline winced the moment she saw the Wraith Frost.

She had been nourished by the emotional energy of humans even before birth. Because of that, she was exceptionally sensitive to emotions—more than anyone else.

"Daddy! What is that?!" She clung to Davey’s back, trembling violently.

"It’s for medicine."

"M-Medicine?!"

"Yeah. Good medicine is supposed to taste bitter, right?"

"But that’s..."

He knew it was only natural for her to show such reluctance.

The Wraith Frost was a manifestation of despair, sorrow, and agony—a concentrated mass of negative emotions that had coalesced to form yin energy.

The energy was so extremely potent that even if someone tried to use it as medicine, it could easily drive an ordinary human insane.

"It may be dangerous at first glance, but I’m not going to use it as-is."

What Davey needed wasn’t the emotional energy itself, but its powerful influence.

With the life essence orb infused with a mermaid scale and Wraith Frost in hand, he had gathered the necessary materials.

Next, he needed to extract a portion of the Wraith Frost’s power and link it to the life essence orb, awakening its dormant potential.

Following Woochi’s instructions, he drew a magic formation onto the ground and placed the Wraith Frost at its center.

It would be undeniably effective, but he needed to neutralize a portion of its energy first.

Too much of anything was never good.

The Frost held too much resentment, far beyond what Woochi had originally estimated.

"If you’re wondering whether it’s outright unsafe to handle, the answer is no," Woochi had told him. "Don’t use holy power, just slightly neutralize its sorrow.”

Davey couldn’t help but grumble about how much of a hassle it was becoming. But having expected as much, he knew finding another Wraith Frost of such caliber would be nearly impossible.

So he decided to do it himself.

"Alright, let’s take a look at what we’ve got here." Davey slowly reached out to the Wraith Frost, resonating with the magic formation.

Immediately, the Wraith Frost began pulling at his mind—almost as if it were pleading for him to witness and embrace its resentment.

Instead of resisting, he let it happen, and his mind was drawn into the Wraith Frost.

* * *

Clang!! Clang, clang!!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out before Davey opened his eyes.

"Kyaaah!!"

"Gaaah!!"

Terrified screams filled the air.

“Whiii!!”

Clop, clop, clop!!

He felt a sharp, stinging pain throbbing in his chest. He slowly sat up, noticed himself to be dressed in what used to be white robes, now soaked in blood.

His hands were rough and calloused. His skin was tanned, and his arms and body were solid—clearly honed by years and years of wielding a blade.

He clearly wasn’t in his own body.

"No! Deok!!"

"Father! Father!!”

He saw a girl being dragged by a rope thrown behind a mounted warrior.

She wasn’t the only thing that caught his eye.

The entire scene was like something straight from hell.

Men on horseback rode through a burning village, slaughtering people as they looted indiscriminately.

They weren’t ordinary bandits—judging by the way they moved, they had training leagues above common thugs.

Houses burned. Fresh blood splattered on the ground. The acrid stench of burning flesh stung the nose.

Slowly rising to his feet, Davey looked at the carnage around him.

He could tell that it wasn’t the real world.

His current body was likely the original form of the wraith Woochi had sealed—brought back to the place where it first harbored its deep resentment.

Davey clenched his fists as he watched the mounted warriors wantonly slaughter villagers and drag women away.

Though he wasn’t in the real world, he wasn’t entirely bound to the space’s constraints either. So even though his enhanced soul didn’t have the same power as his physical body, he was still stronger than he’d been when he finished his training in the Hall of Heroes.

Just as he was about to make his move, he heard Woochi’s voice echo in his mind.

[Don’t move. It’s not over yet.]

Davey let his gathered power dissipate.

Woochi was right. He needed to understand the source of the wraith’s resentment before he could resolve it.

"Husband!! Please, save me!!"

"No!! Stop!! I beg you!!"

"Kyaaah!! Nooo!!"

A man, dressed in relatively fine clothing, reached out desperately toward his wife who had been stripped down to her undergarments and was struggling in the grasp of a warrior.

"Just sit back and watch! This one’s nice and tender—tonight’s gonna be fun!"

A new voice suddenly spoke to him.

- Look closely...

Then the surroundings shifted.

Everything blurred as he floated up. He lost control of his body, and his perspective expanded until he could see the entire massacre unfolding at once.

People were being butchered to death.

A woman bit her tongue as she was assaulted in front of her husband. A little girl screamed at the top of her lungs as she was being kidnapped. A villager was being dragged through the dirt like livestock. Others coughed up blood as swords ran through them.

He saw everything.

They were the things that would happen if he did not intervene.

The wraith wanted him to witness it.

- Mr. Kang from the house across the street. Yeon-Shin from behind. And the blacksmith.

As the voice listed names, Davey turned and saw the person whose body he had briefly inhabited.

A man stood amidst the carnage and silently pointed at the dying villagers, one by one.

Whenever he called a name, they were either coughing up blood, dying, or suffering from something horrific.

Davey watched it all and finally spoke, "This is where your resentment stems from?”

- I was a criminal, but this village took me in. Just for that, they were slaughtered. The women were assaulted, and the elderly were trampled by horses.]

"They were killed just for helping you? Something’s not right. Those raiders clearly look like they’re from the north.”

- Yes. The ones who exiled me, the ones from the north, called them in. They wanted to erase me completely, so they even refused to send soldiers to stop the massacre.

Davey frowned.

"And you... Who were you?"

- I was the God of War of Buyeo. I lost my name a long time ago.

Considering that Buyeo was an ancient dynasty of Korea, Davey figured the wraith was someone who had lived a long, long time ago.

The wraith explained how everyone there had been eventually slaughtered.

“So. Is this your resentment?”

- They aren’t the only targets of my resentment.

Eyes bloodshot, he waved his arm, and the scene began to change.

Before long, Davey saw a man bound in chains inside a lavish palace, surrounded by a crowd. The man in question was the same one he had possessed just moments ago.

“Listen well! This man, who dared accept His Majesty’s command and become a God of War, has committed an unthinkable act of treason! He should be executed here and now! However, by His Majesty’s mercy, his life shall be spared. Banish him to the northern lands! Confiscate all his property, and his entire household shall be branded as criminals!”

A man, who appeared to be a noble, shouted beside a king clad in flashy attire.

It seemed there had been a resistance uprising—many people were already dead. The wraith, declared a criminal, had taken two arrows to the body.

- I served loyally all my life. But I was framed for treason by a disloyal subject and labeled a traitor.

The tragic end of a loyal servant who lost a power struggle wasn’t an uncommon tale.

“Your Majesty! I swear I have never committed treason!”

“Insolent fool! Do you think I don’t know the truth?! Heaven above and hell below know what you’ve done! You embezzled from the royal treasury and bought weapons for soldiers to plot a rebellion!”

Hearing the nobleman’s shouts, the man bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

But in the end, he didn’t resist.

“Your Majesty. Please, never doubt my loyalty. I do not care if I die. But for the future of this nation, please stop being manipulated by those treacherous snakes!”

“What are you all waiting for?! Take him away at once! Your Majesty, leave the troublesome matters to me and enjoy your meal.”

The king nodded quietly and turned away, the noble then giving a sly smile.

- Look...

Then, with another wave of his hand, the scene shifted again.

Now, he was kneeling on the floor of a quiet bedchamber, still bound in chains. In front of him stood the same corrupt noble who had accused him of treason.

“I warned you not to get in my way. No matter how high and mighty you were, in the end, His Majesty only listens to me.”

“You damn traitor!” the man shouted in indignance.

“You really crossed the line, always getting on my nerves. You should’ve just bowed your head and behaved.” The traitor flashed him a cruel grin and called out to someone outside. “Bring them in.” freёnovelkiss.com

The door opened, and several burly men dragged two women into the room.

“Yeon-Hee!!! Honey!!”

Bound and helpless, the man screamed in horror.

The women being dragged in were none other than the wife and younger sister of the God of War of Buyeo.

“This is all your fault. If you’d just handed them over when I asked nicely, I wouldn’t have had to tear you down myself to take them.”

With a twisted grin, the noble stroked the cheeks of the weeping women before violently throwing them to the ground. “Let’s get started.”

He then began tearing at their clothes.

“Stop!!! Stop it!!! How much more are you going to torment me?!”

“Hold him down so he has to watch.”

“Graaahhh!!!”

As the man thrashed and screamed with his hands and feet tied, one of the burly men pinned him down, making him completely immobile.

“Kyaaahhh!! Brother!!!”

“Please, save us!!!”

Their agonizing screams echoed through the room without end—but no one came to help.

He had been branded a traitor, his wife and sister been marked as criminals too.

In the end, he was forced to watch as his wife and younger sister were violated by his enemy. He could only scream in agony, unable to stop the nightmare unfolding before his eyes.

- Look.

Once again, the scene changed.

This time, it was the place where he had originally died.

- I was loyal to the royal court. I devoted my life to protecting the people, and yet the king, deceived by a traitor, turned me into a criminal.

Davey had no response.

- The two took their own lives, and I wandered as a madman. That bastard let me live—not because he graciously spared me, but because he wanted me to suffer a life worse than death.

As a madman wandering aimlessly, he was taken in by a small farming village in the northern region.

They were people he had once protected during his time as the God of War of Buyeo.

Naturally, they welcomed him with gratitude, cared for him, and did everything they could to help him recover his mind.

But this, too, could only last for so long—about three years.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that even his apparent rescue was all part of the traitor’s scheme.

The traitor, not satisfied with destroying him just once, had subtly led him to the village so that he would find a place to belong again—only to rip it away just like everything else he ever cared for.

Unaware of such machinations, the man truly began opening his heart to the villagers who had helped him regain his sanity. The traitor, watching all of it unfold, struck again—bringing him into a deep despair once more.

- The northern village had long been the target of raids. I even used to lead soldiers to protect them. But the truth was, the raiders had been working with that traitor from the beginning. The traitor received the goods they looted, and in return, turned a blind eye to their crimes.

“So basically, that bastard set this whole thing up for the raiders. Normally, going by the rules you put in place, soldiers should’ve come to defend the village. But they didn’t, right?”

- See for yourself.

Without denying, he showed Davey the next scene.

He was brutally slaughtered in the village. His resentment was so deep, he couldn’t even die properly—he ultimately turned into a wraith.

But his ghostly form at that time wasn’t especially powerful.

Burning with hatred for the traitor he so desperately wanted to kill, he made his way to the royal palace—lurking all the way into the traitor’s bedchambers.

There, the man who had framed him for treason slept peacefully, surrounded by the wives and daughters of those who had dared oppose him over the years, having been spared for their beauty.

The wraith, fueled by rage, moved to strangle him with burning fury.

But at that moment, the traitor opened his eyes and spoke, as if he’d been expecting it all along.

“I knew you’d show up, even as a wraith.”

Waiting for him were beings with spiritual power.

Special Ones.

Davey instinctively recognized them.

It wasn’t quite sorcery, but it was similar. They were beings with unique powers. But based on what he knew, there shouldn’t have been any Special Ones on Earth. Still, he couldn’t be certain.

So Davey kept watching.

In the end, the wraith was overwhelmed by the power of the Special Ones.

- I shed too much blood, all while being toyed with for so long by the traitor. My resentment has grown too deep.

He spoke directly to Davey.

- That was all long ago. The traitor lived a life of luxury and died peacefully after the king was slowly poisoned by him. The nation shook, the world fell into ruin... and I still followed his commands.

- Can you feel the weight of my resentment?

Davey quietly closed his eyes. The wraith had been powerless in life, and even in death, he’d been trampled.

But that place—the whole scene—was nothing more than an echo of the past. Even if he destroyed everything there, the reality outside wouldn’t change.

The wraith already knew that Davey had entered to subdue him.

That was why he’d asked what Davey could do after seeing all of this.

At that point, it became clear—the wraith Davey had captured back at the apartment was merely the shell, and the one before him was the true core.

He knew there was no way to completely dispel his resentment, not without losing the Frost he needed.

But still, what the wraith had shown him left him feeling disgusted down to his very soul.