The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1014

"You mean... I can meet him?"

Tears streamed down her face, and Davey gave her a calm nod.

"If the price is right."

Her eyes flashed.

"Just wait a minute!"

Her eyes widened as she quickly clapped her hands together and formed a unique hand seal.

Chiiing.

At the same time, qi began gathering around her before a peculiar-looking hedgehog appeared.

"Kyaak! So cute!" Hyun-Ah exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

The small mythical beast she had called forth certainly had an adorable appearance.

"Spit out gold!"

Hearing the urgent command, the hedgehog stretched its mouth wide open.

- Barf!!

And then, in a most unexpected turn of events, it began vomiting gold bars.

One by one, the gold bars began piling up, but her expression remained filled with anxiety.

They weren’t just ordinary gold bars; they were priceless artifacts from the Silla Dynasty, holding immense historical value. If sold through the proper channels and auctions, Davey figured they’d likely fetch far more than their weight in gold.

Not that he was after money in the first place—whatever amount she offered was just an added bonus.

Once the hedgehog had spit out more than ten bars, Hyun-Ah muttered in disbelief, "How can so much come out of that tiny body? It’s like the perfect wallet..."

"Is this not enough?" she cautiously asked once there were around twenty gold bars on the floor. "I swiped all of these when I snuck into the royal palace ages ago, just to mess with them."

"Twenty, eh? They do have significant historical value, but... it’s still not quite enough."

"T-Tell me what you want, then! I can give you more! I have jewels from the West, too! If not even that is enough, then..."

She hesitated.

"Don’t tell me... you want my body?"

Davey instinctively reached out and grabbed Perserque, stopping her from rising to her feet.

"What’s wrong? You’re getting a lot angrier than usual."

"You don’t get it at all." Perserque shot up from her seat, huffing with frustration.

"Guess those nine tails aren’t just for show."

Hyun-Ah watched Perserque storm off with a puzzled look, but Davey couldn’t help but feel strange about what had just happened.

"Hic. Sniff. I-I don’t have anything else left to give." Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes as she sniffled. "Is there no other way? If you just let me meet Woochi..."

"Davey... She's begging like this. Don’t you even feel bad for her?"

She finally resorted to scolding him.

"They’re a married couple! If you can help, why not just do it?"

Regardless of her protests, Davey silently stared at her before speaking, "Let’s do this. I’ll take just three gold bars. As for the rest of the payment..."

She fell silent at his final offer.

* * *

Davey went after Perserque, who had stormed out.

He found her leaning against the terrace railing, quietly gazing out at the scenery.

"What are you doing out here?"

"What did you decide to do?"

"I'm going to help her."

"So you gave in after all. Those Nine-Tails really are something,” she scoffed. "Never thought you’d fall for it so easily."

"Fall for it?"

"Never mind. What do you think of her?"

"She’s a lot different from Aeria. They seem related species-wise, but she’s a Gumiho that’s been gathering vital energy over time."

"Typically speaking, Aerie is the unusual one,” Perserque added. "Haa. If you’ve already made up your mind, I won’t say anything more. But still..."

"What’s got you so worked up?"

Perserque remained silent for a moment, staring out the window before finally answering in a quiet voice. "You need to be more cautious when it comes to a woman's tears."

Her words made him chuckle.

"So you think she’s faking it?"

"At the very least, she’s not being completely honest."

"I know that much," Davey responded flatly before moving to stand beside her. "But isn’t that a good thing?"

"Huh?"

"If she was crying just because she couldn’t see Woochi, I wouldn’t have agreed to let them meet."

Most people had the wrong idea—a half-hearted reunion could sometimes be even more painful.

"It’s actually better that she’s more cunning than she seems at first glance."

If she was capable of looking out for herself, then no matter how things played out, the aftermath wouldn’t turn into some tragic drama.

Perserque frowned deeply, finally understanding what Davey meant.

"But one wrong move, and this could end in tragedy."

"On the other hand, letting her wake up in a completely unfamiliar world with no one she knows would be far crueler."

Fake tears; suspicious motives. A lot of things stood out, but he could tell one thing for certain—she truly loved and missed Woochi.

"You, of all people, should know that best."

She had no response.

"And I hope you take something away from this as well."

Three thousand years was a long time. Surely, by that time, there was no reason to leave things unsaid.

Perserque began to walk away from Davey with a sigh.

"What right does a disgraceful child like me have to speak?" she said while letting out a bitter laugh. "So? What are you getting in return? Even if you enjoy watching entertaining situations unfold, you wouldn’t be doing this for free."

"Perserque."

She reluctantly met his gaze.

"Do you know the legends surrounding Gumihos?”

"Legends?"

"Yeah. They’re similar to Nine-Tails, but the ones on Earth come from an entirely different lineage. Do you know their mythology?"

Perserque shook her head. "Can’t say I’ve ever heard of them."

"That’s fine. Christmas is coming soon, and you should look forward to it."

"If you’re talking about gifts for the children, I’ve already prepared them. What’s there for me to look forward to?"

She headed toward the sky lounge.

Davey quietly murmured to himself as he watched her go, "From Santa’s perspective, all humans are the same—whether they’re kids or adults."

* * *

“No matter what it takes, since I’ve received my payment, I will bring him before you.”

"Really? But... is this all you’re going to take?”

"The last remaining Gumiho in this world... Though this may seem ordinary to you, not everyone can do what you do.”

At that moment, Davey, Perserque, and Gumiho Bi Yeon were not in America. They were in Korea—specifically, they were at the private villa that Hyun-Ah and her uncle had prepared for Davey.

She had been reluctant to reveal her name, at first. But after realizing that the ultimate soul incense had little to no impact on Davey, she had eventually told him her full name.

"By the way, human technology is really incredible. This is amazing! Whoa, is this an ice storage chamber," she asked excitedly as she yanked open the refrigerator door.

"It acts similarly, but it's far more efficient. It’s called a refrigerator."

"And this?"

"That’s an oven, used for baking and roasting food."

"But there’s no place to put firewood?"

"Who uses firewood these days?"

"Then what about this?"

"A dishwasher. That’s a water purifier, and that’s a wall-mounted TV. Now, can we move on? If you keep getting distracted, I might just cancel our deal.”

"Oh, okay! My bad!"

Even as she walked over, she kept glancing around in fascination.

"By the way, is it really true that you’re connected to Woochi? The manifestation of your Vermilion Bird is an exact match with his."

"That’s because it really is true."

"Alright, if that’s the case, I can trust you. Also, I’m really glad you’re not a woman," she suddenly said unprompted.

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Huh? Ah, nothing! Anyway, you’re making plans, right? Honestly, I don’t even understand why I can’t find Woochi or why I can’t meet him, so explain it to me."

Davey decided to give her a rough explanation of the current situation.

"First off, Woochi’s soul no longer exists in this world."

"What? That’s not what you told me before!"

"No, it’s still the truth. It’s just that his property has changed. His soul has become a higher existence. Simply put, it’s similar to achieving enlightenment and ascending to the heavens."

In reality, his current position far surpassed such a simple concept—he was now a regulator of the world itself.

"On top of that, I’m pretty sure he’s already caught on to what’s happening."

She didn’t know how to respond.

"He’ll do everything in his power to avoid showing up."

"Ugh."

She looked like she was about to burst into tears again, so Davey cut her off her trail of thought.

"That’s why we need to come up with a strategy."

"A strategy? What kind of strategy?"

"Have you heard the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl?[1]"

* * *

"You dumb bastard! I knew it!”

The Saint Sanctuary contained countless domains.

The place where Woochi currently resided was hidden within the absolute depths of the sanctuary—far below, deeper than any underground shelter humans could ever create.

It wasn’t just any cave, either. It was a bunker reinforced with divine steel, a material that only existed in the Saint Sanctuary. Coated with layer upon layer, it prevented any form of magical interference within the cave.

Woochi had recklessly invested the entirety of his precious blood, sweat, and tears to create this unbreachable sanctuary for himself.

"Hehehe. Hehehehehe! You idiot, you messed with the wrong guy. I’m never going down there. That’s right, I’m never coming out, you bastard."

Not even Davey could forcefully drag him out. And the idea of Bi Yeon making her way to his place was even more impossible.

In other words—

"As long as I stay here, there won’t be a problem.”

Because of the divine steel, Woochi couldn’t know what was going on in the outside world. But that didn’t matter to him.

The moment he heard that Davey had made contact with Bi Yeon, Woochi instinctively realized that the damned lunatic would surely find a way to make them meet.

"You can wait a hundred, or even a thousand days. I’m not coming out."

With nothing but a timekeeping device in hand, he completely shut himself away.

But Woochi had forgotten one thing—the same as he knew Davey well, Davey knew him just as thoroughly.

"Let’s begin."

Davey stood before the entrance of the massive underground cavern where Woochi had sealed himself away. He couldn’t help but give a sinister grin.

Odin let out a brief sigh from next to him.

"How long should I fast-forward?”

"This guy’s stubborn as hell. He won’t come out for at least ten years. Let’s fast-forward ten years."

"I’m not taking responsibility for this."

While standing on her cane, Odin slowly removed her eyepatch, revealing her Dark Eye. At that moment, an overwhelming surge of mana began to stir.

Davey had once brought up a debate on who was the strongest among the heroes. Back then, an apocalyptic consequence had been descended.

The final contenders of that chaotic event had been Hercules and Rho Aias.

Even back then, Odin had never removed her eyepatch.

But Davey, knowing the truth, simply let out a chilling laugh.

"This is the only place that has divine steel, right?”

"For now, yeah. No matter how powerful Woochi is, he can’t create another divine steel cave. Once we drag him out, we can make sure he never hides again."

"That’s all I need. Raiding another hideout like this would be troublesome."

"Woochi probably prepared multiple escape routes, you know."

"I don’t care. Let him run."

As the light left her fingertips, forming a clock that began ticking.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Woochi knew Davey very well. He had correctly assumed that Davey would immediately assist Bi Yeon. As such, he figured all he had to do was hole up and wait until she exhausted herself and gave up.

But what Woochi failed to account for was that the other lunatics residing in the Saint Sanctuary were far from merciful beings.

"Why did you accept the life essence orb from the Gumiho?"

The payment Davey had accepted was the condensed essence of an extraordinary power.

A power that neither Demon Kings, divinities, nor any other beings could create.

It was a miraculous phenomenon that could only be granted by a single species under perfect conditions, or by the Primordial Gods themselves.

Odin slightly opened her Dark Eye and began warping space itself with her magic.

"A Gumiho surviving for nearly a thousand years is impossible. But if one does manage to live that long, their life essence orb becomes a blessing akin to a miracle. It’s something that neither of us can afford to handle carelessly.”

Odin gave a knowing nod.

1. It’s an Asian fairy tale about a forbidden love in the heavens. The lovers are forbidden to see each other except for once a year. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, a flock of birds would form a bridge to help the lovers reunite for a single day. ☜