The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1276

Davey had thrown a bluff at the Haetan royal family under the pretense of hunting down the individual spreading strange rumors.

Anyone could question whether such a trivial matter really required his personal appearance, and whether his intervention meant he had something to hide.

That kind of suspicion wouldn’t be surprising. Since things had already reached this point, Davey intended to take advantage of the situation by shifting things in his favor.

Conveniently, he was already in the Haetan Kingdom, so that alone served as enough justification for his actions. Also, the rumor that Davey and Perserque had a loving relationship was already well known across the continent.

Yet, there was no helping in catching a culprit that didn’t exist.

The truth was that Abel had been the one trying to expose Perserque’s identity. Yet that same Abel was sitting beside him, clutching his head and fidgeting with a bishop on the chessboard.

“Where’d the confident guy playing chess go?”

“Father, just let me take it back. Just once.”

“Someone who sucks at chess can’t possibly let others go back on their mistakes. What if that makes me suck even more?”

“Haah. You really hold a grudge.” Abel sighed before breaking into a rough coughing fit, as if pain had surged through him. “Cough! Cough! Haah.”

While he might’ve looked fine on the outside, his body was a wreck internally. He was only able to move around thanks to temporary treatments, so Davey had forbidden him from using mana.

“Father... we’re looking for a criminal who doesn’t exist, right?”

“That’s right.”

Because the real culprit was no other than Abel himself.

“Then what if this drags on, or we fail to catch anyone? What will you do about the fallout?”

“That won’t be a problem.”

While Abel hesitated over how to move his bishop, Davey casually picked up the knight he had captured earlier and placed it back on the board, pulling one of his own pieces back.

“Ah...”

“We’ll pretend to investigate for now and try to look for the traces we want to find. At the same time, I’ll create a trail to make it seem like someone had escaped. If that doesn’t work, we move to the final plan.”

“The final plan?” Abel was surprised there was still more to go.

“I’ll hit the king with a weakness of his, one that he’d never dare speak of. Just leave those details to me, and you focus on the investigation.” Davey didn’t particularly enjoy handling things that way, but he couldn’t ignore the uneasy feeling tugging at him.

“Thank you, Father.”

“I still don’t know why the future me sent you here, so suddenly and without explanation...”

The moment Abel began recovering thanks to Davey letting him take a move back, Davey slammed one of his pieces onto the board and blocked every retreat Abel had.

His face went pale.

“Family is about helping each other out, Son.”

Now that Abel had lost the authority of time, he’d be pulled back to his original timeline once his borrowed time ran out. Each of their timelines would then become two parallel worlds, just like two coins facing each other. Yet that didn’t make the Abel in front of him an illusion or fake.

Davey had no intention of changing his decision. He didn’t want to be the kind of father who stood by and watched his son suffer.

“I won’t be like your grandfather.”

He hadn’t forgotten the vow he’d made countless times after waking from his coma.

* * *

Though Davey had received permission to stay in the royal capital under the pretense of tracking down the intruder, the situation was still laughable to a certain degree. Even so, no one stepped forward to challenge a decision that had already been made.

That said, there were clearly people who weren’t happy about it.

“These are the knights assigned to accompany you, Your Highness. All are royal knights with exceptional skill,” the envoy who handed over the two knights said with a wary, stiff expression. “His Majesty may have granted permission, but you are still an outsider. We ask that you, as the Saint of Tionis, act with proper dignity.”

It was made clear from the beginning that he didn’t like Davey one bit.

Davey responded with a relaxed smile and clapped his hands once.

‘May the sun shine upon your scalp.’

“Take care of your head,” Davey solemnly advised.

“Excuse me?”

“When your scalp overheats, it gets damp, and a damp scalp leads to hair loss. You should be careful. Also... seems like your liver’s not doing well. If you keep that conduct up, you’ll collapse. Quit drinking.”

The man coughed awkwardly at his casual remark.

“Just some friendly advice from a doctor. You might want to take it seriously.”

Though it was already far too late to save him.

With Abel and the two knights in tow, Davey began making his way.

That’s when it happened.

“You, follow me.” The envoy gestured toward Abel.

“You summoned me?”

“How arrogant! Even if you are Prince Davey’s attendant, you’re still just a servant. You haven’t been granted permission to join this search.”

Hearing the envoy’s smug tone, Abel frowned. Still, after a moment, he turned to Davey, clearly remembering what they were trying to do.

[What do we do now, Father? Causing a scene here would just ruin everything. What should—]

Davey gave a slight nod.

[Confuse]

Zzzing!!

“Urgh?!”

The curse of Versha that still resided in Davey seeped into the marquis.

Since it was a power from the Abyss, different from mana, it’d be nearly impossible for any experts to detect through conventional magic.

After the noble fainted, his attendant rushed forward, startled. “Marquis! Are you alright?!”

“The marquis doesn’t seem well. I’ll take care of my own attendant, so why don’t you go on ahead?”

The attendant glanced at Davey in confusion.

“I told him, didn’t I? Stop drinking. Bad liver.”

Completely unaware that his master had just been cursed, the flustered man carefully supported the unconscious noble and led him away.

‘That’s why you should never talk down to my kid.’

If this noble ended up being connected to what Davey had discovered, there was no way he’d let him go unscathed. However, he assumed most of them probably didn’t know what was really going on.

“Then let’s get going. First, we’ll start with the area where the intruder supposedly fled.”

Davey had told the Haetan king that the intruder had breached the outer walls of the capital.

Unless receiving help from someone on the inside, there was no way an infiltration like that would be possible. So, the king had no choice but to consider the possibility that someone on the inside had betrayed them.

To conduct a proper investigation and manipulation of evidence, Davey first needed to neutralize the most annoying obstacles. Since he had full control over the flow of information, he chose the first location to investigate and spread the word that the intruder had entered through that section of the wall.

Of course, the knights, who also didn’t know the truth, just followed along.

The royal capital was in a frenzy hunting down the infiltrator. Davey figured there wouldn’t be any real problems at first, but the longer that it dragged on, the more doubts there would be about there actually being an intruder or if there really was a traitor from the inside.

That meant the key to the operation was speed. He needed to prioritize striking fast and getting out.

Abel was desperately trying to find the special energy he had come back in time for, making use of the short time he had left, but Davey had already given up on that.

He figured it was possible that it could’ve changed over time, and he had a solid reason to believe that.

“This is the place you mentioned. It's on the opposite side of where you claimed to have seen him.”

They were now inside the royal capital, on the opposite side of the place where Davey claimed to have lost the infiltrator. If the infiltrator really existed, this would’ve been the path he took to escape deeper into the capital.

The knights, not knowing the truth, simply guided Davey through the area, believing he was tracking the suspect.

Still, a flicker of suspicion lingered in their eyes.

In response, Davey summoned spirits as if searching for traces in the surroundings. The knights immediately murmured amongst themselves in awe.

“Is that a spirit?”

“Incredible...”

Even though the knights were supposedly just escorts, Davey could tell at a glance that the men were no ordinary soldiers. It was obvious that they were important members of the royal guard.

Soon, he began his act with the spirit, just as he had planned.

“Gnoum, can you find the direction the intruder disappeared to?”

Yet, in the language of spirits, he quietly gave a different order.

[There’s a faint trace of a special kind of energy inside this castle. Track it. And while you guide us in front, leave behind a few traces, just enough to make it look like someone actually infiltrated.]

While Davey loudly mentioned things like the memory of the earth and the pressure of the land, Gnoum sank wordlessly into the ground. After a few seconds, it emerged again, pointing its tiny finger toward a specific direction.

“Is it saying that it went that way?” one of the knights wondered.

“Yes,” Davey responded. “Let’s go.”

“But that’s the inner citadel... It’s bad enough that an intruder supposedly broke into the castle, but the inner citadel?!”

“If he had inside help, that would’ve been easy enough.” Ignoring their protests, Davey strode forward.

“Wait! Please stop here! You can’t go any farther!”

“Hey,” Davey said in a calm, low voice, cutting them off. “Should I take that restriction as the royal family protecting this man?”

“W-What nonsense?!”

“Then why are you trying to stop the investigation?”

The man was stumped. “That’s!”

“And, correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re here to guide me, not to order me around, aren’t you?”

Despite being assigned as watchdogs, they weren’t allowed to boss Davey around.

“Understood.”

Seeing them finally back down, Davey eased his tone and continued toward the inner citadel, following the direction Gnoum had pointed out.

If the energy flow Gnoum had detected led somewhere outside the castle, Davey would’ve headed there instead. Yet to his surprise, the energy detected by the magic circles was coming from within the inner citadel.

At first, the knights followed him with skeptical faces. However, as they went deeper, they began noticing faint traces that made it look like an intruder really had passed through.

As their unease grew with every step, Davey’s expression only grew darker. The further he went, the more he noticed strange barrier magic circles embedded in the castle’s foundation, placed as if meant to hide something.

“Father, something is up,” Abel whispered, noticing it too.

“Abel, you still can’t feel the energy you were searching for, right?”

“Correct.”

“It might’ve changed over time,” Davey suggested.

Perhaps the future version of Davey had realized that and sent Abel to stop things before they spiraled out of control.

Davey didn’t know how he may have changed in the future. Yet if he was anything like he was now, he would’ve made the same choice, teaching his son how to save Kouna and giving him the power needed.

“Stop right there!!”

Once they reached the inner part of the citadel, the knights finally stood their ground. Despite seeing traces that clearly shouldn’t have existed that far in, they suddenly stopped him in his tracks, faces pale and tense.

“From here on, it is the Hall of Honor. Entry is strictly forbidden to all outsiders, even foreign royalty. Only members of the royal family may enter.”

“So you’re saying the insider helping the intruder is one of Haetan’s royals, then?”

The knights flinched. They were clearly confused, actually questioning whether one of their own royals had been involved.

Yet, even so, their unwavering loyalty made them step forward, more determined than ever to keep Davey from seeing what lay inside. “This goes beyond the terms of the agreement. From here on, the Haetan Kingdom will handle the investigation internally—”

‘They definitely have something hidden here, or else they wouldn’t have set all those barrier magic circles. Besides, the way they’re trying to block me from getting in is indicative of something else.’

For some reason, Davey already had a pretty good idea what it was.

“Move.”

His cold warning made them exchange uneasy glances. Even though they knew they couldn’t win, they drew their swords in an attempt to stop him.

“No matter how revered you are as the Saint of Tionis, this is still the Haetan Kingdom! You must abide by our laws. Entry is absolutely forbidden.”

Facing their stubborn blockade, Davey closed his eyes for a brief moment. Abel made a subtle gesture urging him to step back, worried that forcing their way in might cause bigger problems later.

Thud!

“Gah!”

Before Abel could speak up, Davey had already knocked the knights out cold with swift blows to the abdomen.

“F-Father?!”

“If we back off now, how do you think the Haetan king will act? Hmm, Abel?”

“Well, of course he’d... try to hide it again.”

“Exactly.” So there was no walking away from it. “Who knows what they’re hiding here. I’m not leaving it alone.”

Clang!!!

The heavy doors of the Hall of Honor, where relics of Haetan’s royal ancestors were kept, shattered.

An earsplitting alarm erupted instantly, echoing through the castle, but he ignored it. His eyes were locked on the center of the grand hall, where a massive sculpture stood.

The sight rendered Davey speechless.

The statue depicted a member of the demon race that Evangeline had once gone berserk trying to kill! That demon egg, which the demon who possessed the Emperor of the Nacha Empire had hidden and awakened on Earth, was right before his eyes.

It was the very same demon Davey had crushed with a wide-area destruction spell, now turned to stone and resting inside Haetan’s royal palace.

He’d definitely destroyed it. Smashed it beyond recognition. There was no way for it to still exist.

“What is—”

“This demon,” Davey said grimly, “I killed it before, but its energy feels different this time. I believe its energy waves might’ve completely changed with time.”

That meant the petrified demon was the prime suspect behind what would happen to Kouna.

Abel was surprised. “Then that demon...”

“I’m not sure how it’ll grow in the future, but if its power grew stronger over the decades, it certainly could’ve reached the level of being a lethal threat to her.”

While Kouna might’ve wielded Haitai’s power, in pure combat capability, she wasn’t exactly a top-tier powerhouse.

Rumble! Clatter! Slash!

Moments later, the outside of the Hall of Honor burst into chaos. A squad of soldiers and knights stormed in, blades drawn, surrounding Davey and Abel.

Behind them came the Haetan king himself, panting as if he’d run all the way there, his face twisted with rage. “What is the meaning of this, Prince Davey?!”

Davey simply pointed to the statue. “What is that?” 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“W-What are you talking about?! This hall is sacred ground, where the relics and legacies of Haetan’s royal ancestors are kept! Regardless of any agreement, your intrusion is a blatant violation of international law! I’ll file a formal complaint with the International Federation at once!”

As the king shouted furiously, Davey closed his eyes briefly. He then raised his hand, and a crushing field of gravity instantly swept across the area.

“Ghhhk!”

“Ughh!”

The soldiers and knights were crushed to the floor. Faces of panic filled the room.

Davey didn’t know how the demon had crossed dimensions from Earth to Tionis. However, one thing was clear—that demon had been hidden in secret for decades into the future, and the catastrophe it caused had left Abel in his broken state and put Kouna into a coma.

Davey bore some responsibility, as he hadn’t confirmed the kill. Yet he’d never imagined the thing he’d obliterated would somehow revive, and even nest itself inside Haetan’s royal palace.

Rumble. Crack!

Just as he turned to demand an explanation from the king, the petrified statue trembled and split apart.

The energy seeping from within was far stronger than what Davey remembered. He immediately raised his hand, ready to destroy it outright. However, before he could do anything, the uniquely colored mana stones placed around the statue shattered and were sucked into it.

A massive vortex of spacetime erupted, swallowing everything around them.

“Ah! Come on, a spacetime storm? Really?!” Abel shouted in a panic.

Massive violet streams of energy exploded outward, spreading through the hall and lashing toward the knights, soldiers, and even the king himself.

“Gaaahhh!!”

“Gghhhk!!”

Davey severed the strand of energy aimed at the king, though dozens more had already struck others, draining their life force on contact.

Then, an immense, unfamiliar wave began to spread through the air.

“This can’t be—!” Abel’s eyes widened as he realized it too. “Father! This wave, it matches! It’s almost identical to the one I found at the ruined Haetan palace in the future!”

As his words echoed, a colossal surge of power erupted outward. It moved at a speed too fast for even Davey to make a move.

‘There’s no way this is the same demon I fought before.’

It was beyond a demigod in power, and perhaps even beyond Sleesia, a Princess of the Abyss.

Maybe the future version of Davey had known, and had sent Abel back in time to stop this exact monster before it evolved into something unstoppable.

It survived against most forms of force and grew stronger without limit. Even the power of Predatory Assimilation that Davey carried might not have been enough to erase it completely, which meant the creature had evolved into something far beyond ordinary demons.

If the future him had set up the toss, then his job now was to spike and finish the game.

He released the barrier protecting him and Abel from the energy it had been emitting. He then saw that the royal capital had turned into a living hellscape in an instant.

Davey silently took it in before asking, “Was it like this in the future too?”

“It was even worse,” Abel replied quickly. “But where’d it go? It disappeared!”

Pressed for time, Abel couldn’t hide his frustration.

Davey’s eyes narrowed, scanning for any traces left behind. The demon had triggered a massive explosion, plunged the capital into chaos, and ran away.

“I need to hear what the Goddess has to say about this...”

Somewhere in the world, there was something the Goddess hadn’t told him.

There was no other way to explain this incomprehensible kind of power the demon possessed.