The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1066

Gray ash scattered around before completely fading into the wind.

That was all that signaled the death of the vampire Silcy. It had been her own fault, having relied solely on the meager strength and immortality she was born with, taking no proper precautions. There was no one else to blame.

“Even a Princess of the Abyss would’ve been more troublesome than her.”

Their difference in power was simply on another level. Even though the average power level of the era was higher than that of the future, the great race war hadn’t broken out yet. Thus, while individuals were stronger on average, they weren’t overwhelmingly so.

That said, a high-ranking vampire like Silcy wasn’t someone to be taken lightly. She was one of the key subordinates of the chancellor of the Arbute Kingdom. If he had even one or two more individuals like her on his team, the chancellor would be nearly untouchable, with absolute power.

Davey casually walked over to the people, all busy staring blankly at the remains of Silcy, simple dust in the wind. He used a portion of his holy power to heal their injuries, deliberately limiting himself.

“My wounds!”

“You... Are you a priest?”

Their stunned faces were full of disbelief. Understandably so, even.

“There’s no mana coming from his body at all, is there?”

“Who even is that guy?”

Ignoring the resistance fighter murmurs, Davey asked, “What now?”

[With them.]

She had said she would protect the integrity of his future. In other words, she was going to keep a leash on the many variables soon to come into play.

He was still a bit stunned by how absurd it was that a god was showing such blatant favoritism to one single mortal. Still, he supposed the goddess before him now was far more human than the Freyja he used to know.

Given her usual expressionless face and the way she wrote everything down in a notebook rather than speaking, he figured it might be a stretch to call her a pure, full-hearted, and expressive human, but compared to how she used to be, it was already a major leap forward.

“Didn’t you say you had something to discuss with me?”

“Who... Who are you, really?” Eldna quietly asked.

Davey paused for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle. “Just some dude.”

* * *

The leader of an extermination had experienced a completely unexpected death, and the resistance was having a hard time accepting that fact. That unwillingness led them to delude themselves about the situation instead.

“That monster Silcy isn’t someone who’d die that easily. I think she’s still alive.”

‘Nope, she’s really just dead, dumbass.’

“She’s a clever bitch, too. What if she staged all of this just to lure us into letting our guard down?”

‘She’s dead. Seriously.’

Still dedicated to following Goddess Freyja’s instructions, Davey moved alongside the resistance. Every single action Davey took had the potential to alter the future. If he wanted to move without a single mistake, he had no other choice but to trust in her. freēnovelkiss.com

[You can still go back.]

“Once I start something, I see it through. Besides, that bastard’s still wide awake and breathing. You really expect me to just walk away? Isn’t the reason divine punishment hasn’t fallen on this place precisely because I saved you back there, anyway?”

If the Arbute Kingdom had been allowed to continue without suffering divine punishment, there would be no telling how twisted Tionis’s future would’ve become. Perhaps Perserque would no longer exist, or even the Pallan or Lyndis Empires could be wiped out. In fact, the Rowane Kingdom may not have existed either.

[This is the path you chose.]

“I always stand by my choices.”

Luckily, it didn’t seem like it would take too long to conclude.

“So now we wait?” She gave a quiet nod as they sat waiting in the castle’s shabby guest room, an odd silence filling the air.

Then, without a word, she reached out and gently pulled Davey by the arm, laying him down on the bed and placing his head on her lap. Once done, she looked down at him.

“This basically qualifies as cheating on my wife, you know.”

[It’s fine here.]

‘Because no one’s watching? That makes it okay?’

“I’m the one who’s not fine.”

She stared at him for a moment, then turned her head away. He recognized it as a silent protest that she wasn’t going to listen.

“So, when do I get to start raising hell?”

She wrote something down in her notebook. He looked at what she wrote and let out a defeated sigh.

“So that’s what you meant when you asked if I wanted to save you.”

She didn’t answer, but her silence was already enough.

Guided by Eldna, Davey later entered another room before numerous men and women turned to look at him all at once. A strange, heavy pressure filled the room.

“I’ll warn you about this just once. If any of you pull something like this again, thinking you’re being considerate of the lady behind me, I don’t care if you’re the head of a kingdom or whatever else. You’ll regret it.”

The eyes of the man sitting at the head of the table slightly widened. “Impressive! Even without any detectable mana, you don’t flinch at all before our pressure.”

“I already told you, he overpowered Silcy!” Eldna shouted.

The man made an abstruse expression. “First, let me thank you for rescuing our comrades. I’m Malton, Acting Commander of the resistance.”

Davey introduced himself, “I’m Da— no, Hyun-Soo.”

“Hyun-Soo? That's an interesting name. Are you from a nomadic tribe on the western continent?”

“Think whatever makes you comfortable, man.”

Davey unfolded a chair on the opposite side of the rectangular table and sat down. He then took the arm of Goddess Freyja and seated her down next to him.

“Who’s the woman? Your lover?”

“My boss.”

They all made confused expressions. On the other hand, Goddess Freyja seemed oddly satisfied, her shoulders and back straightening ever so slightly.

“Boss, huh? So you’re affiliated with some organization, then?”

“You could say that, yeah.”

“Which kingdom?”

“Tionis.”

Malton let out a chuckle, clearly thinking Davey was joking.

“You’re not planning on telling us, I see. Well, fair enough. It’d be strange for a foreign power to admit to meddling in this country’s affairs,” he said while staring directly at Davey. “By the way, we also did some digging. Did the chancellor kidnap your boss, becoming the cause of this mess? It would seem during that rescue, you happened to free Eldna and our other comrades as well.”

“Two birds, one stone.”

Malton nodded and bowed his head. “Let me thank you once again, Hyun-Soo. With our forces stretched thin, we had basically given up on rescuing Eldna. To be more precise, with our current forces, attacking that place was impossible. Thanks to you, we were able to get our troublemaker back.”

“If you know how much she’s worth now, then don’t assign her any duties and keep her under strict recovery orders. In my professional medical opinion, if she doesn’t get immediate rest, she’ll end up with permanent injuries.”

Malton shot a sharp glare at Eldna, who flinched.

“You said you were fine, didn’t you?”

“Well, I. Uhhhh,” she murmured.

“Go back to your room, Eldna, and make sure you don’t leave the building until I say so.”

“But—”

“That’s an order!” Malton shouted.

Eldna sighed and left the room.

“I didn’t know you had medical knowledge as well. To possess that kind of power and also be skilled in healing...” Malton trailed off.

“What are you trying to say?”

“It’s more of a personal curiosity, really. Just... what are you?”

That was a loaded question, if Davey had ever heard one.

“Frankly, what I’ve read in the reports is very hard to believe. You enhanced a fish with an Aura Blade and beat Silcy with it, later using holy magic to heal our soldiers. It’s common sense that those two disciplines are fundamentally incompatible for the human body to handle,” Malton stated while meeting eyes with Davey.

Clearing his throat, he asked, “Are you... a dragon, by chance?”

When given no other alternative, ‘dragon’ was the go-to label for an apex living being.

“Do I need to answer that?”

“No, it’s just a personal thought,” Malton clarified.

“Then it’s probably better if you don’t know. Nothing good would come of it.”

“Alright. Then let me cut to the chase,” he said, giving Davey a stern look. “If you can move around so freely, that must mean you aren’t operating under any restraints. Can you help us?”

“Help, huh?”

“On the surface, anyone would call the Arbute Kingdom beautiful. However, anyone who knows the truth would insist the opposite. This place is so rotten, it’s practically a living hell,” he said as he trembled. “Anyone who displeases the chancellor ends up in the torture chambers, first subjected to unspeakable horrors before being fed to monsters.”

Davey hadn’t witnessed the torture firsthand, but judging by the condition of the prisoners, he could easily surmise what they had suffered.

“Whether it’s torture, abuse, or massacres, it’s all just hobbies to them. One of the central nobles who Eldna assassinated recently had a hobby of capturing travelers, locking them in cages, and testing poisons on them.”

It was said that they would laugh as they watched the ones they captured slowly suffer and die from poison.

“Neighboring nations would normally never just stand by and watch that happen.”

“Arbute Kingdom is a powerhouse. The land may be small, but the chancellor’s forces are enough to keep every surrounding nation on edge. Besides...” He clenched his teeth. “There’s too much conflict right now between humans and other races. No one has the bandwidth to care, and our resistance is still far too weak. However, you have the strength to defeat an execution unit leader! We need your power.”

“What if I say I can’t get involved because I’m from another country and it’s none of my business?”

“I’d bet my life that won’t be the case.”

Davey let out a faint chuckle. He figured Malton probably wasn’t willing to gamble on the resistance’s existence.

“So then, let’s hear it. What exactly do you need from me?”

If he knew the full extent of Davey’s power, he probably would’ve asked him to take out the chancellor, the execution unit leaders, and the guardians too while he was at it. In reality, it wouldn’t be difficult for Davey to take care of all of them. Even if the cost-benefit didn’t line up, he still would’ve gotten involved anyway.

Unfortunately, Malton hadn’t quite grasped Davey’s true capabilities yet.

“They’re planning a public execution soon for our leader, the Red Scorpion. Fortunately, the security detail they’ve assigned isn’t that heavy.”

“So?”

“So if things get dangerous, then at the very least, please help our leader escape. As long as he survives, the roots of the resistance will live on. Only with him at the helm can we restore this hellhole to what it used to be.”

Davey figured their leader Red Scorpion must be extremely influential pivotal for the purpose of carrying out such a cause.

“And what exactly do I gain from this?” he asked, emphasizing that he wasn’t part of the resistance to begin with.

In the end, Malton resorted to an emotional plea. “Please. I’m begging you!”

Davey didn’t find it to be particularly persuasive, but if Goddess Freyja said to help, then that was what he’d do. He turned to look straight at Freyja.

‘Alright, then. What now?’

Sensing his gaze, everyone else instinctively turned their eyes to her as well. Since he had called her his boss, it was clear to them that she was the true decision-maker.

“Please, we have to end this nightmare. We don’t have much to offer, but if you help us...”

As Malton pleaded, Freyja silently watched him.

Then she placed a red stone on the table from god knows where she had pulled it from.

After that, she scribbled something in her notebook and showed it to Davey.

[Help them.]

“Sure, I’ll do it.”

There was no turning back now.

As she wished.

[But don’t make a move until three days from now.]

“I’ll help you—three days from now.”

“That’s fine. The execution is scheduled exactly three days from now anyway. And I’ll try to make sure you won’t need to step in directly.”

Malton made a face of relief.

Afterward, as Goddess Freyja led Davey outside, she spoke to him again.

[Stop Sword God, Ares. Make sure he doesn’t come here.]

[Without revealing your identity.]

‘Stop Sword God Ares?’

Davey didn’t know the reason, but it meant Ares was moving to interfere in the Arbute Kingdom, and Freyja wanted that prevented.

Even though the reason was unclear, Davey nodded.

[And—]

Her expression subtly shifted into something more serious. From the way she was dragging out the last sentence, it was clear this was the most important part.

[Fried rice. Right now.]

At her sudden and absurd request, his eyes widened. She built up the tension as if it was the most critical issue—and fried rice was what she wanted.

Regardless, she reached out and placed her hand on his chest.

Instantly, his clothes were enveloped in a glow and transformed into something resembling a chef’s uniform from Earth.

Clean, polished, and professional.

Frowning at her sudden antics, Davey watched as she clutched her nose with one hand and ducked her head as a nosebleed started to drip.

He wondered if it was because she forcibly interfered with the world.

Davey didn’t know why she was doing all this, but whatever she was doing wasn’t within the realm of magic.

They were miracles themselves. Miracles that went far beyond the powers of her avatar form—acts beyond her authority.

Knowing how her actions put enormous strain on the nature of her divinity, Davey rushed to support and lift her into his arms.

But strangely, there was no sign of damage to her divine power. It was as if the nosebleed, the whole act, had been a lie.

“...”

[Perfect.]

The words she had written in her notebook made his expression turn cold.

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