The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 967. Independent Movement

If they had been the kind to listen the first time, Davey wouldn’t have had to waste his breath.

Most of the dragons ignored him and began soaring into the sky, while one or two began gathering breath attacks in their maws.

[What is this insignificant being barking about?]

[Just hurry up and take care of him. We need to regroup quickly, if we want a chance at salvaging anything from this debacle.]

While they found his actions to be absurd, voluntarily facing dragons head-on, they seemed accustomed to erasing nuisances like him from the battlefield.

[Hahahaha! You're as good as dead now! I’m guessing you're some reclusive elder-level dragon, but even an official elder wouldn’t have a chance at winning against all of us!]

A blue dragon, still arrogant despite having been beaten to inches from death by Killer Rabbit and subsequently subdued by Davey, cackled loudly.

"Oh yeah? Is that what this situation looks like to you?"

With a grin, Davey casually let go of Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, letting the two swords hover midair.

As soon as he did, they automatically moved to point their tips at the dragons.

[What are you fools still doing down there?! Get up here and join us!]

Noticing the two blue dragons still on the ground, the others berated them while charging their breath attacks to the limit.

Not just one, but two full-powered dragon breaths.

Davey figured if their attacks were successful, it was likely the entire landscape would be reshaped.

Still, their breaths weren’t given the chance to fire.

With Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon in the center, energy swords began appearing.

On their own, energy swords weren’t particularly threatening to dragons. At best, they could be somewhat of a nuisance.

But it’d be a different story if they weren’t just simple energy swords.

Despite not being cast by a god, they were made with divine energy interwoven within them. They were energy swords made from a swordsman that surpassed the Sword Saint, on the level of the Sword God.

They were certainly a departure from standard energy swords.

Even without understanding the true nature of the sword, the dragons’ primal instincts screamed at them and caused them to recoil with fear.

Not that it particularly mattered to Davey.

Without hesitation, he condensed the energy swords further, causing them to vibrate with deadly force.

[A-Absolute Barrier!!]

Sensing the overwhelming danger, the dragons reflexively deployed an advanced barrier magic.

Hexagonal, iridescent barriers stacked with each other, not just once or twice, but dozens of times, forming a defensive wall thick enough to make nuclear bunker doors seem flimsy in comparison.

Fortunately for them, they had made the right decision. Had they been careless and delayed for even a second longer, they would’ve been ruthlessly skewered on the spot.

Of course, their fate was still inevitable.

[Release]

Thousands of shining streaks shot toward the sky at an angle.

Davey knew he’d have no problem tearing apart each individual barrier. But when layered dozens of times, it became an entirely different matter—regardless of how sharp his energy swords were.

Some of the swords he released made enormous sounds on contact, slamming into the barriers with enough concussive force to make several of the dragons cough up blood.

Terrified by their rapidly crumbling defenses, the dragons scrambled in an attempt to preserve their protection.

But Davey wasn’t done with them yet.

He still had another gift to bestow.

Two swords—one red, one blue—remained floating around him, locked and loaded.

As they pulsed with light, Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon fused into a single massive greatsword, Super Ribbon. The aura that the enhanced Super Ribbon let out was so powerful that even ancient dragons—hell, even gods like Thanatos—couldn’t help but shudder before her might.

A mere full-fledged dragon stood absolutely no chance against her.

Crash!!

Their incredibly thick barrier shattered with the blow. Their flesh was thus fully exposed to the relentless storm of energy swords.

[Kraaahhh!!]

[Guh! What the—?!]

The dragons, who had barely been holding on behind their barriers, screamed in shock as they found themselves wide open. The swords pierced their wings and torsos—some even lost control over their mana entirely and began plummeting from the sky.

A few unlucky ones took hits to their dragon hearts or other vital points, dying on the spot.

"What a waste."

Though full-fledged dragon hearts weren’t anywhere near as valuable as the ones he had used for Transcendence’s Demise or Twilight, they were still precious materials.

Davey wasn’t about to let them go to waste.

He had already progressed beyond Imperfection—it was time for his second existence to take over.

‘This isn’t a bad way to stretch, relieve some stress, and stock up on rare materials all at once.’

[In the name of the Death Lord]

[Rise]

His chilling voice resonated through the battlefield.

The bodies of the lifeless dragons, bloodied and broken, began to move once more. They transformed into dragons surrounded by eerie black flames.

Watching the spectacle unfold, Killer Rabbit muttered in amusement.

[Ohhh. That’s badass.]

The newly resurrected dragons, eyes burning with intensity, lined up in formation behind Davey in perfect ranks.

Their overwhelming presence weighed heavily on the surrounding space.

Regardless of their original color, all of these dragons were now cloaked in black flames. It was as if they were...

“Let’s call you guys the Black Flame Dragon Squadron.”

Even though Davey was just going to toy with them a little bit, he figured they at least deserved a name.

Sure, the name sounded like something one would name their guilty pleasure toy, but it wasn’t like he was the one who had to bear the shame—it was the corpses of these dead dragons.

The remaining living dragons stared in stunned disbelief at the sight of the undead dragons standing in disciplined ranks and awaiting orders like soldiers ready for battle.

Turning to his newly claimed undead dragons, Davey issued his first command.

"Go bite them.”

‘And bestow them with pain.’

Boom!!

At his signal, the undead dragon legion roared, flaring their black flames and charging at the surviving dragons with fierce aggression.

While the undead dragons had limitations despite his enhancements, their overwhelming power was more than enough to deal with the severely wounded survivors.

[...]

"Now, what was it you said earlier? Something about an elder-level not being able to win against you all?"

The two blue dragons who had been subdued by Killer Rabbit earlier exchanged panicked glances before bowing their heads to the ground.

[Please spare us!!]

[We’ll do anything!!]

For all their pride, it seemed dragons knew the value of their own lives.

As the undead legion took down the secondary dispatch team, Davey leaned back leisurely.

"Do you guys have a lot of treasure in your lairs?"

The question made the two blue dragons flinch visibly.

[T-That is...]

"I asked if you have a lot.”

[W-We’ll give it to you!!]

Their panicked shouting made Davey smirk briefly before his expression turned cold.

"Handing it over is a given.”

[What...?]

"I’m asking if you have a lot, you idiots.”

When Davey motioned toward the undead dragons behind him, their expressions turned pale as ash.

"Answer me properly. If your wealth doesn’t meet my standards, you’ll end up just like them."

The two dragons frantically began racking their brains for a response.

"By the way, even if you say you don’t have much... you’re still going to end up like that."

[W-What does that mean?!]

"It seems like you don’t understand,” he said with a smirk. “If you don’t have enough, you better go claim treasure from elsewhere. I’ll come by soon to collect it.”

His words made the two dragons make hollow expressions, as if their souls had left their bodies.

Unbothered by their despair, Davey finished his intimidation session and decided to follow up with a bit of divine confirmation.

He slowly infused his stigmata with holy power, allowing it to resonate.

[Breaker breaker, this is Bandit looking for a response from One-Eye. Come in, Odin. If you’re listening, send a blessing or something, will you? Over.]

Unlike Goddess Freyja, he had a direct connection to Odin, so there was no way his voice wouldn’t reach her.

Yet—

"..."

He didn’t hear any response.

Odin was the guardian of dimensional walls, so she couldn’t leave the Saint Sanctuary.

And still, she remained silent.

* * *

The stars began to stir.

One by one, constellations that revolved around the central star of the Zodiac began to awaken.

Or rather, it wasn’t so much that they awakened—they had always been active, moving quietly as though they were asleep. But now, they began erupting with motion.

"Only half, huh... What a shame. I thought I could claim most of them, besides the Zodiac itself, but to walk away with only three..."

In the center of a dark space stood a small altar. Resting atop it was a sphere, shimmering as if it contained the night sky itself.

A petite girl with a single eye stared silently at the sphere, ignoring the young man who addressed her.

"Aah, it would’ve been nice if you answered me,” the man said as he gently ran a hand across her cheek, his gaze growing colder as he studied her.

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"Thanks to you, we’ve gained new power. Thanks to you, we’ve shattered the old rules and opened the path to a new world."

He leaned closer, whispering in her ear as though she was his lover.

"So stay by my side forever, and use your power for me, just as you always have."

He then slid his hand from her cheek to her shoulder, caressing her as though mocking her.

The one-eyed, blond-haired girl remained unresponsive. She maintained an expressionless face—neither rejecting nor welcoming his touch.

"This won’t do—I need your strength again. Please eradicate the rebellious forces that dare to rise against us."

With that, he unfolded a map.

"There are still those who defy me. I want you to crush the insolent fools who dare raise their swords against me. Declare war on them. Devastate them. Tear them apart until nothing is left."

It was then that Odin moved for the first time.

Her body was instantly surrounded by a complex, multi-layered magic circle.

In the blink of an eye, she pierced through the barriers like nothing—despite the spatial warping interference spell barriers being something top-tier mages painstakingly crafted—and disappeared.

She was absolute.

A being beyond comprehension.

An entity so overwhelming, so unparalleled, that to name her was an act of audacity.

She was a living legend of Atrellia, the ultimate aspiration of all the mages who sought to reach the forgotten heights of the lost age.

Soon after, one of the magic stones connected to the Mage Tower began to dim.

It was the same tower that had transported the golden-haired girl—and the very one currently locked in a cold war with the man.

The two towers had refrained from fighting directly, wary of the devastating mutual destruction such a conflict would bring.

But the moment Odin came into the picture, the man didn’t need to think of the complications.

She was the ultimate magician.

That made her the ultimate tool.

The man made a euphoric face.

"Once this is over, we’ll wed. Oh, don’t worry. Even though your body is small, I don’t mind.”

His eyes shone with a deranged mix of obsession and twisted affection.

"My... my demon god...”

The man slowly traced the lips of her portrait with his finger.

"Odin,” he said in a chilling voice.

However, the man was unaware that the ones he had failed to capture were now desperately moving to find a certain individual.