The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1319

Dark alleyways were often home to abandoned cats or strays born on the streets. These cats, known to be nocturnal, sometimes moved in groups and other times roamed alone. Either way, strays often went hungry.

A mother cat led her recently weaned kittens up to Super Ribbon in an alley.

“Are you not scared of me?” she quietly asked them.

The cats just looked up at her in silence, and she didn’t know what to say. It was ridiculous to expect an answer.

Her eyes shone dangerously. “Come here.”

The cats flinched and backed away one step at a time.

Face expressionless, Super Ribbon once more commanded, “Come here while I’m asking nicely.”

Some hissed while others were wary, but Super Ribbon didn’t so much as blink an eye.

After staring at them for a moment, a black substance then abruptly spilled out from her entire body.

“I’m telling you for the last time. Come here. Right now.”

Mere animals couldn’t possibly endure the heavy pressure she was emitting. The terrified cats just stared blankly up at Super Ribbon, unable to even think of running away. She flicked her hand, and they trembled before slowly approaching.

Super Ribbon smiled coldly.

The cats instinctively knew their death was near. They realized that what they faced was an inhuman predator.

Grappling with their imminent demise, the cats lowered their bodies and looked up at her with trembling eyes.

Once Super Ribbon moved her hand right, the cats tightly shut their eyes.

Clink. Ting!!

The cats flinched in surprise and raised their heads, then stared blankly at what was placed before them.

“I picked it up on the way.” She placed a few more open cans of cat food on the ground and decisively turned around.

The cats watched her leave, stunned. Only after she disappeared did they cautiously put their tongues to the canned food and began to devour it.

The recently weaned kittens huddled together and focused on their meal as soon as the mother cat moved aside.

* * *

Except for the bloodstains, the traces in the interrogation room itself had been wiped completely clean. However, the corpse still had quite a few clues remaining.

Davey had used those clues to surmise that the culprit wielded the power of Predatory Assimilation—or more precisely, something very similar to Predatory Assimilation.

He was also certain that the opponent had only committed the crime on impulse, all cleanup and evidence an afterthought at best.

The intelligence agent cautiously asked, “Do you need anything else from me?”

“No. I have something else to investigate, so please give me some space.”

The agent thoughtfully looked at Davey, nodded, and stepped back.

Davey then summoned the Spirit King Gnoass once more. “Gnoass. Can you check the memories left on this corpse too?”

[None here either.]

‘Figures.’

The crime scene and the corpse were not far apart when discovered. The culprit hastily erased only the parts where their memories remained, such as the memories of the spirit. There was almost no trace of Predatory Assimilation left in the interrogation room, but it remained on the corpse.

Davey couldn’t tell whether they had simply run out of time or intentionally left the traces on the corpse alone. Along that same train of thought, he wondered if it was even a proper clue.

“Davey, it might’ve been a second infiltration.”

“A second infiltration?”

“After committing the crime on impulse, the culprit initially fled, leaving the body unattended. Then, after the agents moved the body, the culprit returned and erased the traces.”

“I suppose that’s possible. Still... wouldn’t you say it’s too incompetent for the agents to not even notice a second infiltration?”

“The culprit had already set a precedent with their stealth. Plus, based on the info I gathered on the way here, everyone's attention was focused on the body at the time.”

If the intelligence service solely guarded the body, the culprit could only have tampered with the interrogation room.

Davey called Gnoass back over to confirm their suspicions. If Perserque was right, he could restore the memories remaining in the body through Gnoass.

He honestly didn’t expect much. After all, any lingering memories would likely remain in the scene, within the interrogation room and not the body itself.

When Davey summoned Gnoass again, it understood what it had to do without being told and used its power on the corpse.

“So?”

[A little... memory remains!]

Davey was pleasantly surprised. “Then that means Perserque is correct. How much was left behind?”

[A lot was lost, but very small fragments remain.]

Gnoass gestured with its hands, and dirt began to gather in the air. The dirt quickly condensed into light and began showing a blurry scene. The image showed the lower body of a figure wearing a black dress, whose face was unfortunately not visible.

- S...Stop! I was wrong! I was wrong! Ugh!!!

Those desperate shouts were all the evidence they obtained about the killer.

“Judging by the physique, the killer seems to be a girl who’s about ten years old.”

When Davey roughly discerned the culprit’s physique, Perserque stroked her chin. “To possess that much power at such a young age? There’s a chance of them not being human, perhaps even a transcendental being.”

“Can’t completely rule it out,” Davey agreed.

In the end, the only clues Davey obtained were the slightly corrupted power of Predatory Assimilation as well as the fact that the culprit was female, and a young girl at that.

The intelligence agent wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. “Are you going to disclose this information?”

“Hmm. What’s the point? We found out that the culprit wore a black dress and has a feminine figure. What else did we find out?”

“Well...”

“Let’s just see how things turn out for now,” Davey decided.

There wasn’t enough evidence to make a summary judgment.

* * *

Seeing there was nothing more to be gained from the crime scene, Davey returned to Hyun-Ah’s house and watched the projection of the murder on repeat.

“It’s not a typical sword. Looks like... a type of energy sword?”

Using an energy sword, which condensed mana like a sword, was far beyond the average killer.

With just simple traces to go on, it proved difficult to narrow down the suspects.

Just then, Evangeline, holding Darian, came into the room with sleepy eyes. He had been so focused that he didn’t notice her coming in.

“What are you watching, Dad?”

“Oh, this? Nothing much,” he replied dismissively.

“Huh? What kind of video even is that?”

“It’s the only clue we have of the culprit who killed the terrorist.”

There was no point in hiding it, since she had already seen it.

Evangeline quietly looked at the video as it kept repeating.

“Hmm. So it’s a woman?” she asked.

“It seems so,” he confirmed.

“Is she... a member of an extreme cult, perhaps?”

“I’m not sure. It’s a reach. Wait, what’s the point of me even discussing it with you?”

Evangeline pouted at his answer, grumbling, “You never tell me about anything.”

“In this case, it’s because you’ll be in danger if you get involved.”

Her head tilted, intrigued. “I’ll be in danger?"

“Predatory Assimilation.”

She froze at the bombshell.

Davey continued, “The culprit has the power of Predatory Assimilation.”

“Wait a moment! The culprit has the power of Predatory Assimilation? But that’s something only you have...”

“That’s what makes it such a mystery.”

Davey had tried to ask the Goddess for advice, but she proved resolutely uncooperative. Whenever Goddess Freyja acted like that, it often meant that Davey had to resolve the issue alone.

“That’s strange,” Evangeline muttered. “Why would someone else have that?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be sitting here worrying so much.”

“Besides, judging by the silhouette, if she’s human, she looks like a kid, not an adult...” Evangeline added.

With someone like Illyna around, powerful individuals who happened to be teenagers weren’t impossible, though it still felt somewhat out of the blue for one to suddenly appear as an assassin.

“That’s strange... I’ve never seen that outfit, but it feels familiar for some reason...”

It was then.

“Goo goo! Ga ga!” Darian reached out his hand while looking at the video.

“Darian?”

“Goo goo! Ga ga!”

“Lullaby?”

“Dada!!”

Seeing him giggle, clearly happy about something, Davey couldn’t help but chuckle.

Since the video wasn’t appropriate for a child to watch, Davey turned off the projection and the spirit mana scattered about.

Darian just smiled brightly, as if he knew who the culprit was.

‘That can’t be right... Among the people Darian remembers, there shouldn’t be anyone with that much power, right?’

Evangeline suddenly mused to herself, “Super Ribbon?”

Hearing her confused tone, he quickly turned to her. “What did you say?”

“Huh?”

“No, just now,” he quickly clarified.

She looked to be at a loss. “Did I say something?”

‘Did she murmur unconsciously?’

Evangeline, who began groaning as if she had a headache, turned her body while holding Darian in her arms. “I’m going to go and rest.”

“Alright.” He figured he’d let it be.

Darian was just excited to be on the move again, gleefully shouting, “Ba ba!”

After waving his hand, he raised both arms and made a heart shape over his head.

Illyna had picked that up somewhere recently, even teaching him to try to say ‘I love you’ while doing it.

It seemed to have become a habit.

Davey smiled as he let the two go. Once they left, he sank back into thought. Realizing he wouldn’t solve it with his current mood, he walked outside, quietly closed his eyes, and savored the night breeze.

Having no means of finding the culprit, Davey was also getting a headache.

However, he didn’t stay like that for long. He suddenly felt a familiar power, instinctively shooting off towards it.

Boom!!

Rocketing through the air and increasing his speed, Davey was able to spot a figure wearing a black dress and a pitch-black mask.

That figure drove a terrified young man and woman into a corner of an alley before drawing out an energy sword mixed with blue and red.

At first glance, the actions resembled those of a psychopathic killer, but what drew his attention was the strange power of Predatory Assimilation flowing from their body.

It was the culprit!

The black dress seen in the video; the form and color of the energy sword; and most importantly, the power of Predatory Assimilation that was surging out from them.

Davey quickly realized it wasn’t exactly the same as his own, but shifted his focus to the important part. He reflexively gathered a massive agglomeration of mana into one hand and reached out to suppress the girl who was slowly approaching to kill the people.

However, before Davey could even approach, she seemed to notice his presence, instantly vanishing into the air.

“Ugh! It hurts...” Only the young man and woman, both bleeding, remained in the dark alleyway.

She wasn’t a simple terrorist. Not only did she kill a terrorist, but she had also just attacked ordinary people.

Davey was very curious about her identity, but the opponent had carefully erased all her traces.

After providing basic treatment to the victims and calling an ambulance, Davey returned home with complicated thoughts.

He heard a voice call out from behind him, “Dad?”

“Super Ribbon?”

“What’s going on? Is there something wrong?” she asked him with concern.

“No, it’s fine. Where are you coming back from?”

Sporting a brilliant smile, she told him, “I went for a walk.”

Davey’s head tilted at the sudden form of address.

‘Hmmm. I don’t remember her calling me Dad before.’

“No ‘Father’ anymore?”

“Hehe. I think ‘Dad’ is more affectionate.” Super Ribbon nestled into his arms and let out a pleasant sigh. “Haah. I love you very much, Dad.”

He felt a bit blindsided. “Oh... Oh? Oh, right.”

“I love you the most in the world.”

It felt like something had happened to her. Just then, Davey saw a slight stain of blood on the back of her pure white dress.

“Super Ribbon, why is your back like that...?”

“Oh! I fell down.”

She kept that sweet smile, but he simply gaped at her.

‘It can’t be...’

Despite thinking it was impossible, he went ahead and began, “Super Ribbon.”

“Yes?”

“Where did you go just now?”

“What do you mean? I already said I went for a walk...”

“You’re lying.”

The firmness in his voice made her flinch.