The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 969

There were still too many unanswered questions.

Davey couldn’t bring himself to fully trust the words of the constellation, unable to understand why Odin would act like that all of a sudden.

He couldn’t help but question why the others hadn’t stopped her before she went full-on rampage mode.

‘But it is true that Odin is one of the most powerful beings within the hall…’

“Daddy…”

Evangeline approached him with a worried expression, likely sensing the concern written on his face.

Without a word, she held out a small cookie to him. It seemed like she saved one of the treats she’d planned to eat herself.

When Davey opened his mouth, she gently popped the cookie in and smiled.

“Hehe, I made it myself! It’s super sweet!”

"You made this?"

"Yep! Hovana taught me how!"

Her bright, innocent smile made Davey chuckle.

As if delighted by his reaction, she snuggled against him, and he lightly patted her on the back as he looked down at her.

“Evangeline, do you like it here?”

“Hmm… It feels cozy somehow…”

It was no coincidence that the Dragon’s Nest had been established in those particular mountains—the place held an air uniquely familiar and comfortable to dragons.

“Then how about we stay a little longer?”

“Okay!”

“Good. Daddy’s going to step out for a bit, but I’ll be back soon.”

At his words, Evangeline tilted her head curiously, then began to tear up.

“Daddy… Are you going to be far away?”

“No, I’ll be back in no time.”

“Okay…”

“When I get back, I’ll play with you more.”

Though other dragons were starting to warm up to her and even show her kindness, it seemed that the only ones who could truly make her feel secure were Davey and Rinne.

“Stay and play with Rinne, alright?”

“Mm…”

Davey handed Evangeline over to Rinne, who was munching on several skewers of meat held between her fingers. After ensuring she was in good greasy hands, he turned and set off.

He knew that blindly trusting the words of a constellation would be foolish, especially with the path to the Saint Sanctuary proving difficult to access as of late.

Even with the outlier Taurus, who was somewhat amicable toward him, it wasn’t like he could fully trust the constellations.

In his experience, the more friendly someone seemed, the more dangerous they were likely to be. The constellation Taurus was no exception.

“Are you… serious?”

Two dragons stared at Davey as if he were insane.

Maintaining a cold tone, Davey replied, “Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll let you live. Of course, I don’t agree with you fallen ones’ so-called principles, so you’d best hold back with your little rampages.”

“But—”

“Your choice. Guide me, or die.”

The two dragons glanced at each other nervously before nodding. Davey could read their thoughts like an open book.

“But still—”

“All you need to do is guide me. Once I know the location, I’ll take it from there. After that, I won’t lay a hand on you.”

“…”

“Besides, if you really want to kill me, now’s your chance to seize an opportunity, isn’t it? Things will only get worse for you if I start working closer with the moderate dragons.”

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The location Davey demanded was none other than the base of the fallen ones who had crossed over from Arrasis, a mysterious continent beyond the eastern seas of Tionis.

The two dragons hesitated for a long while, weighing the risks in their minds. They occasionally glanced over at Davey before continuing their quiet discussion.

In the end, one of them agreed that if this human joined forces with the moderate dragons, an already dangerous foe would become an outright disaster.

“We’ll guide you.”

“Hey, are you crazy?!”

“Shut up. What other choice do we have?”

Eventually finishing the information extraction, Davey tossed the recently filled memory stone up and down in his hand with a cold glint in his eyes.

"You know what happens if I find out you lied, right?"

“We’re not lying! Just like you said, if we want any chance of tipping the war in our favor, then we have no choice but to tell you the truth and send you there alone.”

"And you didn’t think about him turning around and sharing the location with the moderates?!” his companion raged.

At least the other prisoner was still suspicious of Davey.

But that suspicion amounted to nothing given their circumstances.

"Don’t get it twisted. If I had any intention of revealing the location to the moderates, I wouldn’t have asked you in the first place—I would’ve ripped your heads off and taken the information myself."

He then wondered if they had somehow forgotten about him turning most of their kin into undead dragons and binding them to his command.

The two dragons paled considerably.

"Now get lost before I change my mind. Oh, and rest assured that I’ll be putting that little gift you gave me to good use."

[...]

Possessed by an overwhelming desire to survive, the two blue dragons had scoured their old lairs in Tionis, offering up every last treasure they could find.

Thanks to them, Davey had acquired a considerable hoard.

Not that it mattered much—even without it, Assassination King Hermesia’s secret vaults had already provided him with more than enough wealth.

"Don’t push your luck here. I tolerate some level of dragon disputes over ideology, but if you lot think you can run rampant and seize control, you’ll have me to deal with."

Leaving the two freshly bankrupt, silent dragons behind, he activated the memory stone and began scanning their memories within, pinpointing the mountain range where their faction base was located.

"Southeast…”

- Kiii!!

Right on cue, Vermillion Bird Fire Chicken let out a piercing cry and soared down toward him. It seemed even this rambunctious bird had grown attached to him over time.

"Let’s go, Fire Chicken."

- Kiii!!

Fire Chicken flapped its wings and ignited a surge of blazing flames, transforming into a streak of light as it shot into the sky.

Its speed wasn’t quite on par with Megalodria’s, but that dragon was currently stationed at the Dragon’s Nest, busy guarding Evangeline and keeping an eye on the two constellations.

"Fly as fast as you can."

The movement of its massive flaming tail heated up and distorted the surrounding air, making the atmosphere seem to shimmer in its wake.

* * *

The southeastern region of Tionis was home to numerous city-states.

Long ago, this land had once been a vast and unified kingdom. However, the reign of a tyrannical king had pushed the lords to their breaking point, leading to an uprising that shattered it into a mess of independent city-states.

Among these city-states, a small easternmost nation bordered an unclaimed mountain range. It was the Lahtma Mountains, often referred to as the spine of the continent.

Beyond Lahtma, even further east, laid a massive, untouched forest. Much like the Arrassiss Continent, its land was largely unexplored.

The surrounding nations had yet to lay claim to the region. Its thick, endless vegetation had earned it the title of The Lungs of the Continent.

Ssss…

Deep within the forest, a cyclops wandered aimlessly with its gigantic club hefted on its shoulders, scouring the surroundings in search of prey. But for the previous few days, the cyclops had failed to hunt any game and been left extremely hungry.

For some reason, every small animal and monster it had come to expect had seemingly vanished. Now starving, the cyclops was so desperate that it was prepared to pounce on anything that moved.

In the midst of its dire contemplation, a presence appeared within its field of vision.

A large bird descended gracefully to the ground. A small creature then dismounted in a casual manner.

The small one was hardly enough for a proper meal, but the massive bird? It seemed like it could provide enough meat to last for a long time.

Luckily, neither of them seemed particularly dangerous.

The cyclops drooled looking at the two beings. It knew the bird was probably its last chance at survival, any successful escape being a tragedy hardly bearing even thinking about. It needed to stay low, approach carefully, and strike swiftly.

Creeping forward, the cyclops closed the distance, slipping into striking range. Believing it had the two firmly within its figurative grasp, the cyclops lunged its massive body forward.

- Guooo!!

But before it could land the strike, the red bird—having remained still all this time—calmly turned its head and locked eyes with the monster.

"Let it be. I’ll handle it."

And then—

The cyclops' vision suddenly flipped—up, down, left, and right. Its hearing was muffled, its sense of touch faded, and its awareness dulled.

Its sight blurred, and for a moment, it felt as though its body had shrunk.

Soon enough, it saw a familiar figure.

It saw itself from high above in the air. Where had its head gone?

That was the last thing the cyclops ever saw before it closed its eyes forever—never even understanding how it had died.

* * *

"There’s no need to retrace the memories from here on."

It was either because the place was so remote that they didn’t bother hiding their base, or because they saw no need to, given their strength. Either way, the thick scent of dragon mana was practically leaking out from every direction.

Davey knew he didn’t have much farther to go.

Sending Fire Chicken back, he continued alone through the dense forest. Before long, a massive mountain loomed in the distance. He saw countless wyverns circling around it.

Wyverns—a subspecies of dragons—were parasitic creatures that frequently submitted to stronger dragons. Of course, not all of them submitted to dragons, but many had done so and thereby traditionally became their loyal guardians.

- Kieeekkk!!

The wyverns’ presence was proof that dragons were nearby. After all, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

However, none of them seemed to pay Davey any mind. He recognized it to be a result of the massive barrier surrounding the entire mountain.

It was a 9th Circle magic barrier.

Even for dragons, manifesting a 9th Circle spell was no simple feat. Witnessing first hand such high-tier magic being used in the fallen ones base, Davey could only conclude with growing certainty that Odin was involved in the entire scheme, after all.

‘Fucking great.’

“Tsk, tsk.”

Standing before the barrier, he clicked his tongue, then smoothly slid his right foot backward. He pulled his right hand back, as if about to throw a devastating punch.

The whole stance felt oddly familiar, evoking a sense of deja vu, but that wasn’t important.

[Devil Ylgr's Exploding Fist]

[Asura's Ultimate Godly FIst]

"Excuse me—Open up!!”

Boom!!

An earth-shattering explosion tore through the forest. The massive 9th Circle barrier warped violently before gradually shattering.

* * *

Davey deliberately spread his presence throughout the forest as he approached.

Once the wyverns noticed his hostility, more of them began to gather.

It wasn’t only them; even some of the dragons within the mountain range—alerted by the disturbance—started to reveal themselves.

A dragon swooped past him at a low altitude, creating a massive gust of wind. It was like an aerial acrobat, gracefully circling back before landing amidst the bloodied wyverns lying among the remnants of the broken spell.

[The barrier has fallen… What in the world happened?]

The dragons exchanged glances, clearly bewildered by the sudden collapse of their barrier. After talking amongst themselves, they directed their eyes toward Davey.

Within moments, they pressured Davey with their presence.

[How dare a lowly human step foot here?! Do you even understand where you are?]

The dragons unleashed Fear, pressing down on him. But instead of responding to their intimidation, he simply posed a question.

“Is your monarch home?”

The moment he asked that question, their entire demeanor shifted.

It was because calling their leader “monarch” instead of the traditional “lord” was something only a being familiar with their internal affairs would do[1].

Realizing that he was no ordinary human, they redoubled their Fear spells.

[Are you a pawn of those cowardly moderates? Still, even if that were the case, there was a barrier right here. How did a mere human manage to get this far?]

"Because I destroyed it.”

Their expressions twisted in disbelief.

"Take me to your monarch. If you surrender, I’ll consider sparing your lives."

The dragons burst into laughter. But their arrogance was soon shaken.

Boom!!

The air itself tore apart.

A deluge of devil mana poured forth, flooding the space behind Davey like a storm. One by one, a group of undead dragons—his Black Flame Dragon Squadron—emerged, cloaked in dark flames.

"You can resist, if you really want. But I’m really not in the mood to play around."

The Black Flame Dragon Squadron—empowered by his devil mana—began channeling black flames into their open maws.

[W-What?! Bax?! Why is Bax there?!]

[Focus, idiot! Barrier! Raise the barrier!!]

Half the dragons were frozen in horror, recognizing their own fallen allies among his undead forces. The other half frantically scrambled to defend themselves, hastily putting up barriers.

Not that it amounted to much.

Walking past them with his hands in his pockets, Davey issued a command.

"Dark Breath."

Chiiing!!

"Fire."

The black flame dragons unleashed an onslaught of Dark Breath that shot at the base from every angle, each blast far exceeding the intensity they could’ve normally wielded.

* * *

The temporary lair of the fallen ones.

The eyes of three elder dragons within the grand cavern widened in shock as they sprang to their feet at the sudden explosion.

"W-What the hell is going on?!"

"E-Elders!!!"

A guardian came rushing in, panic written all over its face. The elders furrowed their brows in response.

"What nonsense are you spewing?! Who dares to make such a scene?!"

Not even for a second did they consider that it could be moderates attacking them.

"It’s an intruder!! They broke through the barrier our monarch put up and are charging in directly!!!"

"What! Who is it? Don’t tell me those cowards finally decided to fight back! What're the first and secondary dispatch teams doing?!”

"Wait, breaking through the monarch’s barrier?! That’s impossible—"

The elders roared. The guardian hesitated, swallowing nervously before carefully replying.

"It’s… not the moderates. It’s… the dragons from the secondary dispatch…”

“What?"

"And… a single human."

Silence.

The air turned ice cold in an instant.

The elders scowled, unable to believe the nonsense they had just heard. One of them opened their mouth, about to dismiss the absurdity and execute the audacious guard.

Boom!!!

The thick, solid walls of rock melted within an instant.

Although similar to their breaths structurally, the Dark Breath attacks were nothing like anything they had ever seen before, erasing the upper walls of their cave and reducing the roof to nothingness.

The black flames passed through like lasers, leaving behind searing crimson heat with black flames, illuminating the cavern in an eerie glow.

"Is your monarch home?"

The guardian, who had been panicking just moments ago, didn’t even get a chance to react. A flash of light separated its upper and lower body, turning it into a corpse.

The cold voice. The crimson eyes that gleamed like the endless abyss itself.

The elders froze in confusion and fear.

There was a human standing in front of them. They looked at the human intently, questioning if perhaps they were a member of a different race using Polymorph.

The young man stepped forward, his voice steady.

"I’ll only ask one more time. Is your monarch here?"

1. The moderate faction calls their leader “lord,” while the fallen ones have a “monarch.” ☜

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thoughts

Wtf, so Odin was their “monarch” this whole time? There’s no way that makes sense—I don’t buy it. I’m guessing their monarch lied and was like “yeah totally, I made those barriers. For sure. Trust me bro” even though Odin did it. That would have kept her influence less likely to be exposed.

I’m still proud of myself for coming up with a pickling army of cucumbers named the Brine Brigade. Perhaps I’ll serialize it eventually.