The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1283

Evangeline growled as if she were facing an archenemy etched into her very DNA.

‘She can’t be the only one with that trait.’

When she was about to charge forward, Davey slipped his arms under her armpits and held her back.

“Let go of me! That bastard’s still alive!”

“Take a breath. Relax, Daughter.”

That last word made Evangeline flinch. She looked back at him with surprise.

When Davey slowly let her go, she trembled from head to toe and took a step backward, then another. “Dad... Did you hit your head or something?”

“What?”

“Why are you calling me something you never say? It’s making my skin crawl.”

At her words, Davey realized how out of character he’d been acting. Maybe after constantly referring to Abel as son, the habit had staying power. Even saying it made him cringe with embarrassment in retrospect.

“Let’s just wait a little. They’ll be—” Before he could finish, Saintess Lena and Alice appeared in the distance with a group of priests. “Looks like our key people just arrived.”

“Davey, was the young princess of Heins the one you needed to find the one behind all this? But that outfit...”

Once Lena asked, Evangeline politely gave a proper greeting. What truly caught Lena’s eyes was Evangeline’s clothes. The girl certainly wasn’t dressed for Tionis.

It was only natural for her and the others to be taken aback. Evangeline was wearing blue jeans and an oversized boxy shirt with a shoulder strap.

Davey quickly pulled an ornate robe from his Pocket Plane and threw it over her. She squirmed in protest, but quickly fell silent.

Normally, she would’ve grumbled about it being stuffy or annoying. Yet this time, Evangeline glanced around cautiously from under the robe’s hood, and after some hesitation, quietly grabbed Davey’s arm.

“How does she know where it is?” Lena asked.

“Does that matter?” Davey didn’t feel like explaining, so he decided to keep it simple. “If Evangeline finds it, I’ll take care of the rest. Easy enough, right?”

The Holy Empire’s side looked puzzled about how Evangeline could locate the enemy, but the urgency of the situation didn’t leave room for doubt.

“Stop it! What do you think you’re doing?” Alice snapped. “You think this notorious daughter-obsessed father just dragged his own daughter into this mess for no particular reason?”

“Archbishop Alice...”

“Saintess. I need your decision, please.”

Alice used to shoot down everything, always saying someone needed to teach that dumdum a lesson, it was practically her thing.

However, perhaps it was her position now, or that the years had softened her. Maybe even stepping away from her duties to the Holy Empire was part of it. Regardless, it seemed she had a little more room in her heart.

Whatever it was, she was surprisingly polite now.

“There are people who are hurting and in pain. Even if the number of deaths is low, whatever that red sky took from them, it must be something important and precious to them.”

Lena stepped forward. “I’ll go with you. The rest of you, focus on recovery efforts.”

One of them tried to argue, “But we should first discuss the context—”

“I’ll personally vouch that the Saint isn’t a bad person. And if I’m wrong, I’ll just stop him myself.”

“Understood, Saintess. Please stay safe.”

After exchanging nods with her people, Saintess Lena took a deep breath and raised her large priest’s staff. “Is it alright if I come along?”

“Do as you please,” Davey responded.

There was no guarantee this dumdum saintess wouldn’t become a burden, but that also wouldn’t change the outcome. Bringing her might also give the chance to clear up misunderstandings.

“Evangeline, you can let loose now.”

“Dad... Dad! You promise me you’ll absolutely crush that bastard?!”

Her almost compulsive hatred was unpleasant for him to see. When she was little, she’d dreamed of being a hero and loved protecting others. Even after growing up, she still used her power to protect people, despite all her grumbling.

The fact that the enemy was someone she couldn’t forgive was almost laughable.

Though ancient dragons were said to be the ancestors of dragons, they still had characteristics that set them apart.

In a world where the last ancient dragons, Arbit and Eclipse, had vanished, there wasn’t a soul left who truly understood what ancient dragons were. Well, except perhaps Goddess Freyja.

As soon as Davey gave the go-ahead, Evangeline hunched over, as if she could no longer suppress what she’d been holding back. Her pupils split into vertical slits, glowing violet, and Fear began to pour out of her.

Suddenly, massive magic circles formed over both of her shoulders, and enormous dragon forelimbs burst forth, slamming into the earth with a thunderous crash.

Boom!!

“Huh?!”

“Good heavens!!!”

Everyone knew Evangeline was Davey’s adopted daughter, but very few knew what she truly was.

When some heard she had grown rapidly since infancy, they thought she was just one of those exceptional cases. Others didn’t even know she existed at all.

Still, unlike Super Ribbon, there had always been curiosity about her, especially among the nosier nobles. They’d also wondered who she really was. Even after hearing she was the adopted daughter of the Saint of the Continent, they still questioned where she had come from.

For quite some time, prominent nobles from various nations who had built ties with Heins Territory had quietly tried to initiate marriage talks.

Davey had burned every single one of those proposals before Evangeline even found out about them. The position she held was far more significant than most realized.

“Grrr.” Crouched, she controlled the massive front claws of a dragon. The immense Fear pouring from her crushed the surroundings, then Alice gasped and clapped her hands together.

[5th Level Holy Magic]

[Wall of Purity]

Boom!!

As if two giant arms had sprouted behind her, the front claws now gripped the earth with even more force.

Crack!! Crack!!!

Then the air behind Evangeline split open again. Gigantic wings tore through the empty space, bursting out. People stared in awe and terror at the surreal sight.

Crack!!

Boom!!

She was soon engulfed in a swirling mass of black mist, which then expanded to cover the entire area. The fog spread out all at once, passing through the human bodies like they weren’t even there—then vanished.

“O-Oh. Goodness me!”

“Is this her true identity?”

Once the fog cleared, everyone stood with their mouths hanging open at what stood before them.

They saw a massive, overwhelming figure, far beyond anything they could’ve imagined. Her very presence made their hearts ache and stutter.

The enormous dragon asserted her existence in a way no one could deny.

“Hmmm. She’s bigger than last time, isn’t she?” Davey pointed out as he watched her manifestation.

Lena was surprised to hear that. “What? She got bigger?”

“Yeah, even though her body’s growth should’ve stopped already.”

That’s when a thought struck Davey.

Arbit and Eclipse. Both had possessed physical forms so massive they defied logic.

Yet Evangeline, despite being a half-ancient dragon, had always seemed a little smaller in comparison. If the other two were the size of ordinary ancient dragons, and she was appearing in a reduced state, there had to be some condition preventing her from fully summoning her original size.

That left the question of what that condition was.

There was only one thing that had changed rapidly in Evangeline over time.

Her power.

Thinking back on how she kept accumulating strength while streaming, he suspected that her increasing power was key in unlocking her full size.

Boom!!

She flapped her colossal wings once, sending out a crushing shockwave. Then, as if announcing her long-awaited manifestation, she tilted her head to the sky and let out a deafening roar.

“Graaahhh!!!”

The very ground quaked. For any normal human, the roar alone would’ve burst their eardrums. Fortunately, Alice had shielded everyone within range, and no one seemed to have been seriously harmed.

Still, they all stared at her in silence, overcome by fear and awe.

However, Evangeline wasn’t done yet. Her reptilian eyes locked onto the sky as she opened her massive jaws and began to gather energy.

Once finished, she raised her head and opened her jaws wide, unleashing a massive breath attack that tore through the air in a perfect circle as it surged upward.

The overwhelming pressure and shockwave that came with the breath made Alice go pale. Seeing that, Davey lightly clapped his hands and erected a barrier to prevent Evangeline’s power from destroying the surroundings.

Boom!!!

Her breathtaking breath tore straight through the crimson clouded sky.

Then, for the first time, a massive hole tore through the red fog. It had finally begun to clear! No matter how many times they had tried before, nothing had affected the sky.

“As expected, ancient dragons and demons are natural enemies.”

Apparently, just piercing a single massive hole through the red sky wasn’t enough for her. Evangeline lifted her head again and carved a larger circular ring straight across the sky with another blast of breath.

Where her breath had passed, the red fog vanished like it had never existed, revealing the blue sky beneath. It showed no sign of regenerating, either.

“That’s wild. Divine power didn’t work, and even when I used Predatory Assimilation, it just filled back in.” Davey had no clear answer as to why divine power hadn’t worked.

“Saintess Lena.” As Evangeline flapped her wings, Davey reached over and pulled Lena closer, slipping one arm under her legs and the other behind her back to lift her up in a princess carry.

“E-Eh? Saint?” she called out, flustered.

“Professor Alice, we’ll be going on ahead.”

“I’ll trust you with this and wait. I know you’ll destroy that bastard who did this to my homeland.”

Alice nodded with a helpless look, eyes locked on Evangeline.

Evangeline then launched upward with tremendous force, tearing through the air. She soared high into the sky before changing direction and beginning her descent, angling downward and gradually adjusting her trajectory.

From the ground, it looked as if a massive dragon were about to slam into the earth, only to twist away at the last second and shoot off into the distance.

The flags of the Holy Empire, mounted atop a tall building, whipped violently in her wake.

Everyone who caught sight of her enormous body could only stare in stunned silence, their minds blank, jaws practically on the floor.

“We’ll speed things up a little now.” Davey cast a Fly spell on himself, followed by acceleration magic, and shot off in the same direction Evangeline was headed.

Without a doubt, Davey knew the demon would be there at the end of her flight.

Not once. Not twice. This would be the third time Davey confronted it.

“I let it go twice. Not this time! No one gets a third chance. Speeding up again,” he warned Alice.

“Wha—? Ugh. Kyaaah!!!”

Ignoring Lena screaming, Davey continued accelerating, chasing after Evangeline at breakneck speed.

Whether or not the demon realized Evangeline could track it down so quickly didn’t matter.

The outcome would remain the same.

* * *

The presence of the massive dragon made Auxiliary Bishop Tophenne clench his teeth and curl into himself. He tried to shake off the fear that had gripped him moments before as she passed.

He was utterly terrified.

The being the God had spoken of; a once-blessed figure who had received the stigmata, only to lose them and fall into corruption for some unknown reason. To Tophenne, that was what the Saint of Tionis had become.

Standing and staring at him, the sheer presence made Tophenne instinctively realize just how small and insignificant he was, despite once being called an elite.

He couldn’t imagine someone like himself really holding such a being back. If that was truly God’s will, then Tophenne would have to give up his life to fulfill his divine duty.

However, he wasn’t confident he could do it.

“What is everyone doing?! Move, now! There may be no attacks, but this country is in a state of emergency!! We need to treat the wounded and find a way to stop that god-damned mist from harming anyone else!” Alice, one of the two saintess candidates Tophenne had respected long ago, shouted as she took charge.

Tophenne slowly turned his body. He was about to go after Davey. He figured if he rode a horse, it wouldn’t take long to get wherever that man was going.

Thud!

A woman dressed in priestly robes abruptly bumped into him.

“Urgh. Apologies, I was in a hurry and didn’t watch where I was going.” Flustered, Tophenne turned to the woman and quickly apologized. Yet after that, he couldn’t help but look at her in silence.

It was the first time he’d seen the woman. She was stunning, and stood calmly brushing herself off with a blank expression.

Her beauty was certainly enough to throw him off, but what truly caught him was the indescribable divinity and grace that was subtly concealed beneath the roughness of her aura.

“You okay?” When she quietly asked, he could only nod absentmindedly.

Judging by her attire, he guessed she had to be at least of bishop rank. Likely higher.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.”

She apologized, “Sorry. I was looking somewhere else and didn’t see you.”

“I understand. The situation is chaotic, a-after all.”

“You must be busy. You should get going.”

After she urged him with a soft smile, Tophenne finally remembered his mission and nodded. “Then, if you’ll excuse me—”

“Oh! Wait a moment, young priest.”

Tophenne flinched like a child caught doing something wrong and turned back around.

“Here. Take this. It’s a holy charm,” she told him.

“A Holy Charm? Why give this to me?”

“You looked like you needed it. When your heart’s in a rush, things that could go well tend to fall apart. Stay strong, young priest.”

“Thank you...” Blushing in embarrassment, he quickly turned and ran off.

The Goddess watched him go while smiling faintly. Once he was far enough not to hear, she muttered under her breath, “Good thing I stole a diocese bishop’s uniform. Geez... Does our baby brother even realize how much his big sister’s doing for him right now?”

* * *

Evangeline charged forward like a bulldozer, barreling straight at the demon.

Even though Davey possessed divinity, tracking the demon wasn’t easy. For some reason, it even felt like his divine power was interfering with the process.

Boom!!

Evangeline, having flown all the way to what looked like an ancient, long-abandoned grand temple, crashed into it head-on with her massive frame.

‘Ah. That’s not good.’

Just as Davey prepared to summon his divine power to stop her, an invisible barrier rippled to life and violently repelled her massive body.

Whummm. Thud!!!

Evangeline was sent rolling across the ground from the impact. Of course, that alone wasn’t able to inflict any serious damage.

Letting out a low growl, she stood and flared her wings. Her massive forelimbs, complete with razor-sharp claws, tore into the invisible barrier.

It let out an immense repulsive force, trying to stop her. Even so, the berserk Evangeline, consumed by rage, ripped through it with brute strength.

Alice shouted out, “Ah! No! The sacred temple’s barrier has a repulsion property!! If she tries to tear it by force—!”

Rip! Tear!

Her voice died in her throat as she watched.

“Repulsion property?” Davey asked.

Still in his arms, Lena muttered in disbelief, “I-It’s nothing. My goodness, the barrier of the Sacred Temple is something else.”

“I’ve never heard of the barrier of the Sacred Temple before,” Davey admitted.

“Well, when the Holy Empire was first founded, it was built here because of the Saint Sanctuary and the Sacred Temple.”

A sanctuary was a holy place that none but a select few may enter.

Davey had once dragged Skuld and Uld, each a Princess of the Abyss, to settle things. The Sacred Temple, it seemed, was a place of similar divinity.

It was hard to tell how old the temple was by the architectural style. They had heard that it had been blessed by Goddess Freyja since ancient times.

Alice informed him, “They say the temple’s barrier has lasted for thousands of years.”

‘I can see that. It seems like Goddess Freyja had put that barrier up herself.’

“Wait, something’s not right.” Davey frowned as Evangeline, now glowing with light and returning to her original form, finished tearing through the barrier.

Alice didn't understand what it could be. “Something wrong?”

“Isn’t it strange? This is a barrier that rejects intruders.”

“Yes, that’s right,” she confirmed.

“Then how is that damn demon sitting comfortably inside?”

It was odd enough that Evangeline could rip through the barrier made up of divine power, but the real absurdity was that the barrier made by the goddess was protecting a demon.

“Oh. I’m not sure.”

“Is there a traitor from the Holy Empire?” he suggested.

“T-That can’t be. Not even His Holiness the Pope could allow someone into this place.”

If no human could’ve brought the demon inside, then only one possibility remained—the goddess herself was protecting it.

Davey couldn’t be certain, but it explained why his divine power didn’t work well against it, as well as why tracking it had been so difficult.

However, why she would do such a thing also made no sense.

Evangeline, now deep inside the temple, suddenly stopped.

At that moment, crimson mist burst out from within the decrepit Sacred Temple.

Her eyes widened, then a massive figure emerged from the red mist, swinging a giant arm toward her.

“That son of a—!” Just as it attacked, Davey tossed Saint Lena aside and dashed forward.

Boom!!

It was a monster that was easily six meters tall, but its movements were sluggish due to its sheer size.

“Grrr. Grrr.”

Davey instantly moved to shield Evangeline and reached out to grab the monster’s arm.

He unleashed his divine power. He knew this would confirm his theory.

He intended to obliterate the arm by drawing in all of his divine power. Yet, the arm pierced through without faltering.

Even when fighting it on Earth or in Haetan, it had never been so resistant to Davey’s assaults. He became absolutely sure that the goddess was protecting it.

Whether it was truly her current will or not, it didn’t really matter. If she truly wanted to protect it like she once protected Alice, she’d appear before Davey.

So, as a Saint bearing the stigmata—

[Demon Ylgry’s Crowd Suppression]

[Strong Abdominal Strike]

Boom!!

‘Forget divine power. I’ll crush that thing with my bare hands.’

There was an old saying among saints—

- The more someone tells you not to do something, human nature only makes you want to do it more. Kids these days have no respect.

Compared to the goddess, Davey—though having complete divinity—was just a young man.

Crack!!!

The blow blew a massive hole through the monster’s torso.

Right after, Evagenline slammed down from above using her dragon claws, pinning the fallen creature and driving her claws deep into its chest.

While Davey was still trying to piece everything together, a strange crackling noise came from his pocket.

Bzzt.

“Huh?”

It was none other than Daphne, the First Saint.

- Davey, can you hear me?

“Yes, I hear you. Funny timing, I actually have some questions I've been meaning to ask you.”

- I figured, but I’m busy setting up a new barrier, so just shut up and listen.

Though her tone was indifferent, her words were serious.

- You’re thinking the goddess is protecting that thing, right? I figured you’d have caught on by now.

“Oh, I was planning to hunt that thing down and come ask her myself.”

“Long story short, the goddess isn’t protecting him.”

The unexpected statement made Davey pause. “What? You’re saying she isn’t? It’s already absurd that she’s protecting a remnant of Thanatos—”

- She’s not protecting it, she can’t kill it.”

‘Can’t kill it?’

Sure, the goddess wasn’t all-powerful in her current state, but it wasn’t a question of power.

“What do you mean, she can’t?”

- I know it sounds absurd, but it’s true. Listen, I’ll explain more when I’m done here. What you need to remember right now is that no being with divinity can kill that thing.

“What the hell kind of nonsense is that?”

- It’s a vow the goddess made when she created them. I’ll tell you more later.

If what Daphne said was true, the reason Davey couldn’t kill the demon, despite pinning it down and blasting it apart twice, was that he had become a being with complete divinity.

He scoffed. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Long story short, Davey couldn’t kill it.

“Then that just means I don’t have to be the one to kill it.”

Even with all the absurdity, giving up wasn’t an option for him.