The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 787

“What stupid bastards. If they had just stayed as they were, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything to them.”

Of course, their destruction was inevitable, even if they were left alone. By using their giant octopus legs like transmission towers to keep the Malicious Spirits here and empower them, they were essentially giving up on the tense power struggle.

There was no way to know what the destructive side’s true intention was. Even so, facts were they had taken the extreme risk of self-destruction.

[Don’t just think of it so simply. Even though they had abandoned the levels, that doesn’t mean their dignity just simply vanishes.]

“Yeah, you’re right.”

[First, we must free the people of Earth that the side of Neltarid encroached on. As of now… there are only a very small number of people who have survived the hallucinations. The same goes for those aboard the airship where you were.]

Perserque, Aeria, Rinne, and even the dwarves and elves—everyone was trapped in hallucinations, and he needed to save them.

“I can only take out so many using the power of taboo.”

[Lord.]

[Please, don’t forget.]

Arbit was one of the beings that could not afford to lose Davey. After Hercules disappeared, he had spent thirty thousand years in pain trapped within the Red Void. That place was where the seeds of a new world were supposed to sprout, but it wasn’t easy for a new world to just emerge.

Arbit’s body slowly transformed into light. He soon returned to the appearance of an old man then spoke slowly and carefully. After listening to what Arbit had to say, Davey simply responded,

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

And this was all he said in response.

[Remember, you must never disappear, my lord.]

“I have no intention of dying either. I’m just trying to survive; I don’t want to give up my life.”

[Hm. For someone who says that, you sure fight fearlessly, don’t you?]

As if something seemed to occur to him while speaking, he handed something to Davey.

[Take this.]

“What is this?”

[Do you remember that staff you had?]

“Yeah.”

[This is the same thing as that.]

Arbit said calmly as he handed the gem over. But the problem was…

“Arbit, don’t tell me you just pulled out your heart?”

[Although I was never a great ancient dragon, I’ve lived for thirty thousand years. This will be of great help to you.]

As Davey looked down at the clean, red gem, he felt an unfamiliar heartbeat.

Arbit was offering him his own heart. Davey quietly closed his eyes at the sight of Arbit handing out the very source of his power. Even though he had no heart now, he still couldn’t die—Davey couldn’t help but think that this was a curse of its own. He then realized that he had to live up to what Arbit was providing him with.

Leaving behind Arbit, who bowed his head respectfully, Davey lightly waved one hand, enveloping the power of taboo around it.

In this space, the power of taboo manifested itself in various ways, different from the simple decomposition characteristic it usually had. At least in this place, the power of taboo evolved into something beyond mere independence.

Originally, the basic nature of the power of taboo was completely independent, but the characteristics of his and Hercules' were different.

He moved his body accordingly to the power of taboo that was opening a rift in accordance with his will. He wondered if this was happening because he had been here a couple of times before now.

After leaving Arbit behind, he realized the time when he had fallen into the destructive side’s hallucination.

“This was the strange feeling I had at that time.”

The others had no idea, but Davey had at least noticed. He instantly felt a chill and looked up to see the ominous colored moon shining brightly in the night sky. A band of dreary colors surrounded the edge of the moon, burning like a solar eclipse. It felt like the moon was watching down on the world. The red moon, glowing with a bizarre hue, cast its eerie light over the world.

As Davey stared at that ominous and eerie moon, rather than succumbing to feelings of fear or dread, he went ahead and did what was on his mind.

“I should capture moments like this in my memory, as they’re hard to see again.”

The destructive side of Neltarid had descended upon the world after obtaining a physical body. Due to this, a countless number of humans and other living beings had fallen into hallucinations and froze in place as if they all turned into stone.

Davey knew that numerous accidents were bound to happen if moving people froze still. He knew that nuclear power plants could explode within a short period of time if they weren’t managed. He figured that there wasn’t time to manage each one, and unless he was in the Red Void, it was not very efficient to create waves through taboo power or to save them through divine power.

Accordingly, the only option left for him was to end this situation as quickly as possible before a major problem arose. He knew that depending on what happened to Neltarid, he might be able to find a solution regarding Thanatos as well.

Hum…

The first thing Davey did was set the coordinates to Asgard rather than the body of Neltarid, who was hiding somewhere in this land.

[Warp.]

He released mana throughout his body and manifested magic. The mana circulating in the blood circle created a simple circle in his heart, and the two circles rotated simultaneously to maximize efficiency.

Blink!!

In an instant, the surrounding city streets that were filled with people fell away to be replaced by a quiet, windy sky.

As soon as Davey stepped onto the deck of the huge ship, he released the Sin of God, the power of taboo, flowing throughout his entire body. It was the power that interfered with a being who used to be a god but gave up being god again to become mortal.

There was no reason why the power of taboo or divine power of the original god that his body absorbed should be pushed back or ineffectual.

Since it was Goddess Freyja’s divine power, he was technically interfering, but this power had now fully left her and permeated Davey. In a way, it was as if Davey, not Freyja, was the one manifesting such transcendent power in that moment.

'Alright. You can run as wild as you like.'

As soon as Davey gave permission, the devil mana infused with divine power, which had been pulsing with restless energy as if ready to burst out at any moment, went into a frenzy like a mad dog.

Psss…!!!

In an instant, a black fog began to spread around his body like waves.

“Everyone. Wake up.”

Davey was going to end this damn war sooner rather than later.

***

Davey still had a significant amount of divine power lingering in his body; they were the remnants left behind by the Goddess Freyja, who had descended upon him in an attempt to absorb him. While it wasn't infinite, it was up to him to use it however he needed in times of need.

In an instant, the low-circle magic Dark Fog, a black mist infused with divine power, completely enveloped the airship. No matter how powerful Neltarid was, Davey knew they wouldn’t be able to encroach on every single individual. He was sure this would be more than enough to be effective.

After the black fog swept over the entire airship and disappeared in an instant, he could feel panicky movements from the quiet airship. Once Davey had confirmed that it worked, he had no time to hesitate.

As soon as the ones on board recognized Davey’s presence, he saw Rinne coming up on deck. It seemed like she had returned to her senses much faster than the others.

“Master Davey. Rinne experienced a strange feeling. She rates this lowly, and requests an explanation.”

“It seems like Neltarid’s side of destruction is abandoning their levels and making a last-ditch effort. We’re already a bit late, so we need to quickly put them to sleep before a large-scale disaster occurs.”

Rinne didn't think much of Davey's answer. He wondered if she was done recovering. Although she hadn’t completely transformed into Sephiroth, she summoned the Spear that Can Melt the Balance of the World that stretched more than twice as long as her own body.

“Rinne stands by as support for Master Davey.”

“Stay here.”

“Rinne confirms that the temperature of her emotional circuit is fluctuating unstably. Rinne judges this must be anxiety.”

Davey sighed as he saw her looking up at him, unwilling to back down. Perserque had lost all her authority over the Abyss, so he couldn’t really rely on her as part of the force. The same went for Aeria, who could only handle a mid-level spirit. Beyond them, it was safe to say that there was virtually no one in Asgard who was truly suitable for combat.

Davey let out another short sigh and grabbed her head as she was floating and spinning around him. He then quietly warned, "I'm making this clear. Don't let yourself get destroyed—this is an order."

Previously, she had no qualms about risking her life to carry out her orders. Most of her physical body was a biological golem, so even fatal injuries wouldn't kill her. However, if the central system that controlled her ego were to break, that would still be the end for her.

"Command... Received."

She looked up at Davey with an expressionless face. But when he returned her gaze, he got the feeling that she wasn’t happy with what she had to follow.

"Master Davey, Rinne requests information regarding whether the target can be located or not."

At her request, Davey turned his head in a specific direction without hesitation. The place he was looking at was not the sky, but the ground far below.

He knew Neltarid was definitely in Korea. He also felt an eerie force that made it clear that it was calling to him.

"Megalodria, please protect this place until I later say otherwise.”

He felt uneasy with leaving Asgard to fend for itself alone. After placing Shandra Minea on the ground and Megalodria in the sky, Davey looked at the place not far away where he felt the vast, provocative force. He then flew out of Asgard without hesitation.

Ripple!!!

The tremendous sound of rushing wind roared past his ears. Unlike Rinne, who was descending with a pair of small wings fluttering from her back, Davey let gravity take over, plummeting straight down. After a while, as Davey shot through the clouds like an artillery shell, Rinne caught up and grabbed hold of him.

"Rinne, that way.”

"Command accepted."

Rinne flew quickly in the direction he pointed. Soon after, Rinne, who was holding him from behind and controlling the speed of their fall, placed her bandaged small foot on his back.

"Master Davey, Rinne requests permission to take care of the obstructions here."

"I'm making this clear: I will not allow the destruction of your body and ego."

Then, air currents the same color as the eerie band surrounding the red moon began shooting up. Rinne aimed for a specific direction and, with a swift push of her foot against his back, she sent him hurtling like a cannonball, enduring the force of the falling energy that was something which couldn’t be ignored.

After launching Davey toward the ground as if she had kicked him, Rinne began to ascend again, spinning her body in a series of aerobatic maneuvers.

In her hand, she summoned a spear infused with golden light. At the same time, the small cute wings sprouting from her back transformed into gigantic ones, expanding into three pairs. The circle above her head instantly shifted into a geometric pattern, each part rotating in a strange, clockwork-like motion. She unleashed a vast surge of energy—as the God of Machines gradually adapted to Sephirothization, her power limits continued to expand.

- Cawwwww!!!

Although they were insignificant compared to the original white wings, it was still enough to deal with a flock of gigantic birds that had been transformed by the encroachment.

She was a singular race, a one-man army.

As soon as the white-winged Sephiroth Rinne entered the battle, Davey hit the ground like a bomb in Incheon Port, where he could feel the energy of Neltarid.

Bang!!

With a tremendous explosion, numerous containers piled up in the port shook, with several unable to withstand the impact and toppling over. Davey slowly got up from the shattered floor and shook the dust off before raising his head.

He saw expressionless beings wearing clothes as viscous as black slime. Although they were human, they were no different from hostages, as they were corrupted by Neltarid.

Davey didn’t want to kill them. Since they weren't necessarily a threat, Davey picked up something that came out from one of the smashed containers without hesitation.

‘This should do,’ he thought.

“Get out of my way while I’m still asking you politely. Things will get ugly if you keep blocking my way,” he said while holding a silver spoon that shined brightly.

"You guys don’t know about the spoon murderer, do you?[1] Even if you’re encroached, it will still hurt a lot."

Soon, dozens and then hundreds of people who had gathered around began to pull out swords from seemingly nowhere. Some even aimed firearms that weren’t normally accessible in Korea directly at him.

Zzzt…

He even noticed people who didn’t seem to have any mana suddenly unleashing auras. Davey knew that if the expert knights from Tionis saw what was happening, they would have been in shock while indignantly lamenting how futile their own efforts were compared to such a ridiculous rate of development.

Dozens of humans let out an aura, the symbol of an expert, and dozens more pointed firearms at Davey, pouring large amounts of mana into their guns.

"Alright, fine then. I wasn’t expecting you to listen, anyways.”

There were about a hundred expert-level opponents who had stored mana in their firearms.

Zzzt….

They then initiated the fight. Whether Neltarid's side of destruction was trying to see what Davey was capable of, or simply trying to earn some time for themselves, the humans were pressuring him efficiently and buying time for them at the same time.

They went after Davey’s solar plexus with their swords imbued with aura.

Bang!!

It wasn’t long before the sound of metal colliding rang out.

***

The scene was surrounded by a dark red haze.

The black-skinned human standing alone in the middle of a completely shattered round table had cold, gleaming eyes as they looked ahead. They saw hundreds of people lying on the ground. And in the center of them all was a boy, or perhaps a young man, leisurely standing and holding a bloodied spoon.

The boyish young man was silent for a long time before he slowly raised his head. Destruction, who met his gaze, immediately smiled grimly at his actions.

As if sensing the animosity in his enemy’s gaze, the young man pressed his thumb against the neck of the bloody spoon and bent it. Then, without any hesitation, he threw the spoon away and made the gesture of slitting his own throat with his thumb.

He moved leisurely among the beings that were expert level and above, and those with firearms, without even panting. It only took about a minute for him to sever the connection between them and the one hundred or so subordinates.

Even while showing a truly overwhelming power difference, he did not seem to let his guard down.

Eventually, he smiled grimly as if he had discovered something and began to move, lightly stepping on those who had now fallen still.

Destruction, who had consumed a person in the past, silently created a sword made of pitch-black lightning and slowly rose and moved. At the same time, black things began to manifest around them.

It was a short few moments before Destruction, who had been waiting in silence, slowly turned their head to see a slow-moving freight elevator ascending.

Thud!!

Not long after, someone came out of the elevator, lightly tossing out a huge human.

“Did anyone order a spoon for delivery?” the young man said jokingly. He showed no signs of backing down before Destruction, who was now a demigod but also used to be a god at one point.

“Say something if you asked for something to be delivered, man,” Davey said coldly. He then hurled the spoon toward Destruction.

Thud!!

The space around them distorted, and circular waves spread out vertically.

Crack!!

Then black energy began to rise from the spoon. It passed through the distorted circular space in an instant and passed right by the face of Neltarid, who was standing silently. Destructive Neltarid's physical eyes began to glow eerily in response. The distortion of the space that had been holding on disappeared in an instant, succumbing to the black energy.

Destruction, now in the form of a grotesque black monster, glowered with their eyes, as if they didn't like what had grazed their cheek.

‘So those are the eyes of an impious being,’ Destruction thought.

“We both have nothing to regret, so let’s put an end to this,” Davey spoke calmly as he took a step forward.

At that moment, Destruction reached out for him.

Thud!!

Clank! Thud!!

Sounds that shouldn’t have come from a spoon resonated powerfully through the area. The spoon, which flew like a thrown sword, left distortions as it cut through the air, melting through Neltarid's torn barrier. It created a brief rift.

In an instant, the black sword and instantly drawn Super Ribbon collided.

1. The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon by Richard Gale ☜