The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1286

To the primordial demon, memories from long ago were nothing but a faint blur. That was because it was not its former self, but a corrupted version.

- Poor children. I have made you sad because of my incompetence.

It still remembered the voice of the goddess that had first spoken to it when the world was created. In a time beyond reckoning, Goddess Freyja had sought to create the world. Yet for some reason, she failed to sustain it, causing it to collapse.

The collapsed world lost its progression, and its laws twisted. Its kin, the failed creations, were few, but they all felt the same.

Though they were failures, they all yearned for the goddess who had once loved them. Alas, the goddess had left, and in the abandoned world, its kin gradually faded away, all still longing for her.

It was no different.

Some of its kin mocked the goddess, claiming she had merely deceived them and abandoned them, but it continued to believe in her. Even when its kin mocked it, calling it a fool, it didn’t abandon its resolve.

However, when it came upon a passage that led to the perfect world created by the goddess, including Tionis, it felt a profound sense of betrayal.

Unlike this perfect world, theirs had shattered. Yet, the beings of this new world had no idea of the goddess’s graciousness. These creatures, existing in a perfect world, still desired more, and to it, Tionis was a mass of revulsion.

That was when a being approached it.

The God of the Abyss, Thanatos.

That twisted god approached it, saying they, too, had been discarded by the goddess, and asked it to lend her power.

It couldn't help but think of the betrayal of the goddess, and the arrogant living beings who had gained what they had long desired without a shred of gratitude. That deep resentment and anger led it to join hands with Thanatos.

Yet, it was a little different from Thanatos.

The humans in the world that the goddess had created were unwelcome in its eyes. It felt betrayed by the goddess, too. Still, the perfect world she had created was everything it and its fallen kin had longed for.

This caused a conflict between them.

However, by then, it was already trapped by Thanato’s evil influence. By the time it regained its senses, it had already lost its original form.

Bang!!

“Pufufu.” With a strange sound, the demon staggered backward.

Though it was quite threatening, it was crude to the extreme.

“Ugh?!”

It counterattacked, striking down the Aura Blade with a single swing and knocking Evangeline back.

‘Is this your will, Goddess? You created us and told us you loved us, yet you used us. Now, after I’ve regained my senses, you just push me into this corner.’

In the world that was left only in sorrow and pain, it continued to become twisted and lost itself.

‘If you are to truly abandon us, if our prayers no longer reach you, who now possesses the perfect world, then I will burn brightly until the very end and make my point.’

An immense power of time gathered in its hands. It was a force unlike the hallucinations its fallen kin had given it. It was its own power.

The power of time began to twist the entire space. In the chaos, the demon passed on its desires to the human it had taken as a vessel.

“Begin.”

* * *

Evangeline took the front, with Abel covering the rear. Even so, their assault was a complete mess.

Evangeline had strength, but lacked the teamwork and experience needed when dealing with powerful enemies. Abel was also somewhat inexperienced, and his impatience made him lose focus of his own strengths as he charged recklessly.

The two showed a shocking level of disharmony against the sturdy demon.

Given the situation, it was unlikely for them to receive any backup. Davey had assumed the two of them would be strong enough to take down that incomplete monstrosity, even without divinity.

However, at their current rate, they wouldn’t just miss the chance to gain experience—one of them could end up seriously hurt.

If only Davey could summon Illyna there. Unfortunately, with the space-time distortion growing stronger, there was no way to get a signal to her in time.

“Saintess Lena. You haven’t found it yet?”

“Huh? Ah. No, I’m sorry. It’s too foreign.”

The source of the demon’s power felt obvious. It must’ve absorbed energy from the humans it attacked while making the sky red.

Saintess Lena was currently searching for Kouna, and also for the weak point in the space. The magic she was using was originally a type of healing spell, but it could also conduct analysis depending on how one used it. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Keep at it,” Davey reassured her.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“For now, I can support them. Yet eventually, as time goes on and my influence stops working on that thing, you’ll have to step in.”

Since the space-time of the area they were in was distorted, they also had to be prepared for any time-related attacks.

Step.

Clicking his tongue, Davey looked at Abel, who had carelessly put Evangeline in danger while trying to force an attack.

‘Do these two think this is some kind of game?’

Clang!!!

In an instant, Davey lunged forward and blocked the creature’s claw just as it was about to strike Evangeline. Then, pushing the startled Evangeline out of the way, he clenched one hand into a fist.

Thud!!

With explosive acceleration, his punch ripped through the air and struck the creature, but it didn’t do much damage.

On the other hand, the divine power within him screamed not to break the pact, leaving internal injuries in his body.

Crack!!

“Dad?!”

Davey knew full well how dangerous it was to overload his own power. Thanks to that forced overload, he’d managed to deal some damage to the creature, but the rampaging divine power had left a small wound on his arm.

“Are you hurt?” he asked his daughter.

Evangeline just stared at him, her expression full of confusion.

“Looks like you’re fine. Stay focused and stay alert. If it really comes down to it, I’ll take care of everything.” Davey tried to calm her down gently, but Evangeline didn’t respond.

“Pufufu.. How long do you think you can keep this up? I may not be able to kill you, but the more you exert your power on me, the more your influence fades. Eventually, you’ll have no choice but to strain your body further just to stop me. The moment you can no longer hold me back, I win,” it mocked.

Davey snorted. “Let’s hope things go your way, then.”

He already knew from its behavior that things weren’t entirely in its favor.

Just then, Evangeline’s eyes trembled slightly as she silently stared at the wound on Davey’s arm.

Soon after, she finally opened her mouth. “Abel. You saw that bastard hurt Dad, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I saw it.”

With that, she silently stepped back and gave Abel a hard push on the back. “Guard me. I’m about to bring out everything I’ve been hiding. Don’t you hold back, either.”

At those words, something seemed to click in his mind. He gave a small shiver and charged forward.

* * *

Radiating the distinct Fear of dragons, Evangeline shifted the atmosphere in an instant.

The demon, who had assumed they’d be manageable due to their earlier lack of coordination, scoffed at her sudden change. However, what they did next left it shocked.

They had suddenly shifted and become so in sync that it was hard to believe they were the same duo from earlier.

It wasn’t that their teamwork had suddenly improved. What changed was what Evangeline was doing from the rear.

The aura she gave off now was completely different from before.

“Who do you think you are,” Evangeline muttered in a chilling voice. “What the hell are you to be putting a wound on my dad?”

Strictly speaking, the injury had come from Davey neutralizing the demon’s attack and deliberately taking the blow himself. However, that didn’t matter in the slightest to her.

Evangeline sheathed the divine dragon sword Twilight and slipped it into her Pocket Plane ring, before cracking her knuckles with a loud snap.

At the same time, her hair began to sway ominously as if freed from gravity, and a violent current of energy erupted from her.

With a low growl, her hands began to transform, taking on the shape of dragon claws covered in scales, and her canines grew longer.

“What in the...?”

Davey wasn’t aware of her changes. Just as he sensed that Evangeline was exerting an unusual power and tried to stop her, Abel moved first.

At first, their attacks looked no different than before. They were still completely uncoordinated.

Seeing that Davey had also weakened, the demon race couldn’t help but smirk.

“Fools.”

Drawing attention from one side while landing a killing blow from the other, like a Rolling Wheel Formation, was a basic strategy.

Yet, since these two had absolutely no real coordination, the demon didn’t believe for a second that they could pull it off. After all, they’d nearly hit each other before, and even got in the way of each other's attacks.

Boom!!

However, what Abel did defied the demon’s expectations.

With explosive force, he slammed away its clawed arm, parrying it cleanly.

‘That was a first.’

Suddenly, the man’s movements had turned sharp.

It was a move that could make the opponent falter for a moment, but it also sent him flying back, leaving him completely exposed for an instant. It was the kind of reckless action one could easily criticize as foolish. Yet, the demon couldn’t.

The moment Abel created that brief opening, Evangeline dove in, as if they were moving as one. All the demon had to do was forcefully overcome the recoil and check her advance.

At least, that’s what it should’ve done.

Slash!!!

Yet by then, half its body had already been ripped apart by massive claws.

“Pufufu. What??”

Not even understanding what just happened, the demon watched as Evangeline closed in with her small frame.

Slash!!

In that same moment, she shredded it with a destructive sharpness and speed completely different from before.

“Kiaaaaaa!!!!”

The part of its body altered by Thanatos remained extremely vulnerable to ancient dragons. Her attacks triggered the demon’s primal survival instincts.

“Get off me! You little pest!!” Its shredded body rapidly regenerated as it swung its massive arm, trying to fling Evangeline away.

Boom!!

That instant, even though Evangeline had seemed to be attacking in a blind rage, she parried the blow at the right time. The demon was utterly dumbfounded.

Her physical ability; her attack patterns; and her threat level. Every aspect of her had completely changed.

The demon could tell that its two foes shared one thing in common—they had become so furious they’d turned ice cold.

Though Evangeline couldn't fully deflect the attack and was thrown back, the demon didn’t escape unscathed either.

It tried to twist the power of time to distort her body, but Davey immediately blocked that.

“Damn divinity!!”

Seizing the gap that opened, Abel appeared before it could even notice, his expression chilling as he drew his sword back and drove it forward.

Their actions clearly showed a deep understanding of each other’s combat patterns. What the two were doing wouldn’t have been possible without complete trust.

The demon scoffed at the absurdity.

‘All this... over a single scratch on that human’s arm?’

It wanted to laugh and say it couldn't possibly be the case, yet the unease crawling up its spine told it otherwise.

“Hey. Where the hell are you looking?”

Startled, the demon snapped its head toward the voice. It had turned its gaze toward Evangeline to keep her overwhelming mana in check, but Abel was already in close range.

[8th Circle Fire Spell]

[Prometheus]

A spell practically exclusive to Davey was unleashed before its eyes.

It figured it could endure this much. At least, that’s what it had thought.

However, Evangeline, off to the side, clapped her hands together, activating a spell that forcibly amplified Abel’s magic—as if she had anticipated he’d use that exact spell at that exact moment.

Its instinct screamed that death was near.

* * *

The demon reeled from the completely transformed coordinated assault.

Just moments before, they hadn’t seemed all that threatening despite the power they held. Yet now, the sharpness in their movements triggered its primal instincts. It felt like they could end its life at any moment.

It hadn’t gathered the full strength it needed yet, nor had it completely shaken off the lingering effects of Thanatos.

In fact, that was the biggest problem, preventing it from becoming fully immune to Davey’s powers.

Up to now, it had survived because Davey couldn't kill it outright. If the two were capable of taking it down, the chance of actually dying was high.

If it could just complete its shedding. Once that happened, it’d be completely immune to Davey and his divinity-based powers. It’d also be free from the suppressive forces interfering with its illusion and time-based abilities, and it could finally unleash its full physical potential against the ones pressing in on it in the battle.

However, it was still too weak to completely break free from Thanatos’s influence.

If only, just for a moment, it could find an opening.

Then, it happened.

Through the seed it was connected to, it heard Priest Roam.

- I will commence the ritual. Open the rift.

The moment those words rang out, the demon put on a twisted smile. Davey instinctively reached out to shut it down, but the demon moved faster.

At the same time, outside the sealed rift in the sacred temple, the massive red sky that had spread out once again indiscriminately absorbed the time of everyone beneath it.

Tremendous force began pouring into the demon.

“What kind of bullshit stunt is this?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t prepare anything? I had backup plans in place for the worst-case scenario. I set them up to restore my power.”

Davey couldn’t help but frown. “You think I’d just sit here and let that happen?”

“Pufufu... Did I ever say I’d be the one doing it?”

“You son of a—”

Davey gathered a massive amount of divine power in his hand. Before he could act, in the space where the axis of time was already distorted, a massive hole formed in the air.

“Urgh?!”

From beyond that hole, a flood of white spirit-like energy surged in and went straight into the demon.

Davey could sense its overall power growing rapidly.

“If I’m lacking adequate strength, I’ll simply draw in more.” Just like that, it began to strengthen dramatically, its form rapidly shifting.

At the same time, the surrounding rifts twisted further, and cracks began forming across its own body.

They were signs of an impending shedding.

“You won’t be able to interfere anymore.”

With that, every debuff Davey had applied shattered. The forces that had been suppressing its illusion and power of time abruptly burst apart violently.

Receiving the promise granted by the goddess herself, the demon began forcibly awakening into its true form.

Davey, who had attained divinity through the goddess’s influence, was bound by a pact that prevented him from killing it. Even if Abel and Evangeline had started to move in sync, they’d never be able to take it down without his support.

Realizing that, the two sagged their heads.

The power that surged through the demon as it began shedding felt far stronger than before. The energy it exuded no longer just resembled their father’s divine presence.

It now matched it.

In the midst of it all, the demon spoke to Davey, “If not you, who could possibly stop me? You can’t interfere with me anymore. Go while I’m still showing you mercy. If you don’t back off now... those three will die.”

“The fuck you saying?”

The endless rift of the sacred temple, warped by massive distortions of time, had served as a kind of barrier, cutting them from the outside.

What the demon didn’t know was that the very same barrier had also been the only thing keeping it safe all this time.

Boom!! Thud!!

Boom!!

Soon after, columns of pure white light dropped from the sky, slamming down beside him.

It was none other than mass-scale teleportation magic!

The demon tried to figure out the intention behind Davey’s sudden summoning.

In that moment, Davey let out a cold, mocking laugh. “You see, I can’t fully control a Continuum-Attacking Blade that splits dimensions.”

However, there was one insane prodigy in the world who had absorbed the principles of that technique in record time. Someone whose talent eclipsed anyone Davey had ever seen.

More pillars dropped to the ground as the two glared at each other.

Just then, from the pillar of light that had lit up first, someone began walking out slowly.

Sling...

A massive silver longsword, worthy of being called a divine blade, slowly touched the ground.