The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-226

The sphere of white flames eventually transformed into a typhoon-like oval. It had only been slightly bigger than a soccer ball, but thanks to the power that the Transcendence Demise had loaded it with, it grew into something way bigger right now.

Thud! Thud!!!

The white flames soared to the skies above and soon split into dozens of spheres. Then, they fell down to the ground. The target? The Divine Tree’s Sacred Land. Of course, the unaware and unprepared elves would immediately turn to ashes the moment those fiery spheres struck the ground.

“Urk!” Davey coughed, then wiped his mouth. When he shook his hand to get the mess away from his palm, he could see a red substance splashing onto the nearby tree.

Not long after, Davey threw Transcendence Demise into the air without any hesitation.

—Ack! Such a precious item!

“I won’t be able to use it for a while.”

At the end of the day, a staff was just a staff. Besides, Davey would not be able to use his elemental magic since almost all of his mana had been depleted. Simply put, he would not be able to use the staff during his fight with Yggdrasil.

When the Transcendence Demise entered his Pocket Plane automatically, Davey pulled out Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon. Then, he swung his sword toward the spheres of white flames.

—Davey?! The sword basically uses elemental mana…

Davey’s heart was currently operating on a system that was similar to an engine. The circles in his heart would make most of the mana flow through his veins and circulate around his body before returning to his heart. For Davey to use elemental magic, he had to insert the elemental mana’s gear, place it in the circles in his heart, then circulate the mana in his body.

The problem now was that most of Davey’s elemental mana had been used up. He did not have enough mana to wield his swords. To compensate for the lacking mana, Davey had no other choice but to bring in a substitute for elemental mana. He chose dark mana, which was extremely similar to elemental mana.

The air surrounding Davey changed when black sword energy emerged from the swords in his hands.

The two swords had the same menacing power as the divine sword but were more lethal to the World Tree. Davey was very confident that the two swords in his hands would also be a tough opponent for the World Tree to fight against.

The World Tree distanced herself from Davey and used her power to either snatch or block the falling spheres of white flames on the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land.

The thought of a tree catching and blocking flames that burned through everything was ridiculously absurd. However, the World Tree was the World Tree for a reason. Her power was beyond anyone’s imagination. She created thick leaves to cover the fiery spheres before promptly devouring them.

Of course, Davey was not one to just watch the situation unfold like that.

“Do you think I’ll just let you be?”

Thud!!!

The ground cracked and shook when Davey took a step forward. In his hand was Red Ribbon, whose blade trembled from its sheer weight.

[Dark Longsword, Splitting the Mountains]

Slash!!!

Instead of the usual red and blue energy, Davey’s swords were shooting out black sword energy. The energy was so dark and gloomy that it could easily freeze the air around them. It corrupted everything around them.

Some of the World Tree’s branches stretched out to protect the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land, but they were promptly being cut off by Davey’s swords.

[Impudent!!!]

Yggdrasil cried and glared at Davey fiercely. At the same time, dozens of thick and heavy branches shot out to put pressure on Davey.

Unfortunately for her, everything was dealt with.

Slash!!!

Swoosh!!!

Red Ribbon’s blade quivered against the resistance of the barrier, but there didn’t seem to be any effect.

[Did you think that you will easily break the barrier that I’ve created?!]

The barrier was definitely holding out, but Davey had to wonder just how long it could last. Although the barrier could easily survive against the first volley of attacks, and there was no response to Davey’s continuous offensive, fine cracks started to cover the thin and sturdy barrier. Then, it began to crack.

Crack!!!

Perhaps Davey had been good at distracting her, because the World Tree failed to stop all of the fiery spheres from falling down.

With a huge explosion of white flames, the barrier came crashing down. A fierce fire started to devour the gigantic Divine Tree.

Thump!!!

Thud!!!

Some sections of the gigantic tree kept burning until the white flames died down. Those sections were burnt to a black crisp entirely.

With the barrier broken, the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land had no way of leaving unscathed from Davey’s attacks. Originally, the spheres of white flames should have hit the Divine Tree and the entire Sacred Land. However, Yggdrasil was able to snatch plenty of the fiery spheres and took the damage by herself.

“Rinne, get the Decepticon Fleet ready to attack. The target is the World Tree’s main body. Don’t show any mercy and shell her with all your might.”

“Carrying out commands.” Rinne nodded with her eyes flashing blue.

[The Elder Brain has given the command. Fleet Captains, exhaust all of your firepower and...]

A circle appeared above Rinne’s head. It immediately grew in size and began spinning fiercely.

[Cut down the giant tree.]

Thump!!!

The golems, who were all on standby, used up all of their ammunition to attack the World Tree.

***

The Divine Tree’s Sacred Land was the birthplace of all elves. The forest that its inhabitants cherished and loved dearly had now collapsed and burned down after losing all protection. The land was receiving the brunt of Davey’s attack.

Terror gripped the elves, who screamed and ran for their lives.

Slash!

Using Red Ribbon to cut down the trees that blocked his path, Davey said, “You know, this feels like I’m the demon lord who is here to destroy the peace on earth.”

It was not a very good feeling to have.

“Everyone!!! Pull your bows and kill the intruder! We must not let him set foot in our Sacred Land!”

Hundreds of arrows loaded with the power of the spirits flew towards Davey along with the never ending cries of the elves. The arrows flew fiercely and threateningly, aiming for the gaps in Davey’s defenses.

Even so, Davey did not stray from his path. He continued to walk toward the incoming arrows. Then, he stabbed Red Ribbon’s blade into the ground.

Boom!!!

Without any hesitation, Davey poured a huge amount of power into the sword and created a thick sword energy.

Bang!!!

The overloaded black sword energy exploded in an instant, breaking all of the arrows. Its momentum also did not decrease. It traveled even further to attack the ones who had sent the arrows flying.

Boom!!!

Screams rang rampant once again as the Decepticon Fleet let loose and sent artillery fire out to cause more damage.

“Aaack! My arm!!!”

“Sa… Save me!!! Save me!!!”

With the first line of defense instantly collapsing, the only ones left were the residents, the non-combatant elves, living inside the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land.

“Ru… Run!!! The devil is coming!!!”

“The children!!! Take the children away first!!!”

The elves still had the heart and mindset to protect the underage elves. The remaining elves had never fought in a battle ever, but they held onto weapons and stood in front of Davey. They wanted to try and buy time for the others to bring the underage elves to safety.

“Devilish bastard! You cannot and will not pass this place!”

The elves’ shouts forced Davey into silence.

—Pfft… pfft, pfft… You really look like a demon lord… Ah, that’s not good…

Perserque stopped smiling when she realized that Davey was being compared to her.

To be honest, Davey felt awful.

Shwaa!!!

If Davey was going to be called the devil, then he would rather instill fear in these elves. He wanted to instill so much fear in them that none of them would dare to fight him. Only then would Davey be able to prevent them from making some great sacrifices.

With a vicious flash of Davey’s sword, blood spurted from some of the elves who were blocking Davey’s path.

Although the elves were more agile than ordinary humans, it was still a fact that they were ordinary elves without any capability to fight. There was no way for the guardians of this forest to prepare a proper attack despite this being their home turf since they had been swept away by Davey’s attack.

The elves, who witnessed the fall of their comrades, stiffened from the shock of their current situation.

[8th Circle Dark Magic]

[Fear]

It was an illusion magic that had low mana consumption. This magic greatly affected opponents with low magic resistance by shaking all of their five senses and confusing them thoroughly. It could make them fearful.

The Lich, Grell Orfan, had not been the only one who could use such a power.

The elves that looked right at Davey completely froze in fear. Their teeth clattered, and their bodies shook uncontrollably as their minds collapsed.

Davey ignored the elves that had lost their fighting spirit and entered the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land. He could see that there were still many who had failed to evacuate on time.

“Sob… sob…”

In the middle of the road, an elven girl sat hugging a young elven boy while looking at Davey in fear. They were children who had failed to escape during the commotion earlier. The two elves looked like they were still underage.

No matter how much elves cherished their young and budding seeds, some would choose to value their own lives more. This was especially the case after being subjected to Davey’s 8th Circle dark magic. There were definitely quite a few elves who had chosen to protect their own lives and prioritize getting themselves to safety in this chaotic mess.

This was proven just by how many elven children had been left behind by the elves who had run away from fear. The adult elves had completely forgotten their oath to protect their young. And among these children, these two siblings were the ones who stood out the most.

While crying, the little boy clung to his sister very tightly. “Sis… Sister… Sister!”

The elven girl was scared and did not know what to do, but she still tried her best to comfort her younger brother. “It’s alright… It’s going to be alright…”

The siblings had given up on the idea of running away. Their legs were broken and had already given up on them too. They just sat there as Davey approached them, bodies trembling from fear.

Davey could see that the young elves were dressed in neat, vintage clothes. It would appear that the elves were children of a considerably high-ranking elf.

There was only silence for a while.

The elven girl, stricken with fear as she looked up at Davey, bowed down to try and cover her teary face. She tried her hardest to squeeze the words out of her quivering lips. “Please… Please spare us…”

The elven girl was begging for their lives. She begged, “It’s alright even if you don’t spare me… Just please… Please spare my brother…”

This situation was quite different. It would seem that the elven girl had escaped the confines of the magic.

[Fear] was a magic that amplified one’s fear of losing their lives. The target would be able to see dozens of visions that showed their death upon encountering Davey, the magic caster. It had a very terrible effect.

However, despite being exposed to such fear, the girl hugged her brother tightly. She was trying her best to protect him somehow.

Davey lowered his sword and approached the girl. Then, he bent down and patted the girl on the head. He also healed the girl’s injured leg with holy power.

The girl, who had somehow escaped from [Fear]’s influence, looked up at Davey with wide eyes. She looked doubtful, wondering why Davey suddenly healed her legs.

“Rinne, do you see anyone nearby? I don’t think I see anyone.”

“Davey’s eyesight is very normal. Rinne evaluates this very highly.”

The elven girl was very smart, so she understood what Davey meant right away. Although she initially struggled to get up, she hurriedly supported her brother. Then, they ran as fast and as far away as they could.

Davey saw that many elves and elven children had failed to run away, but he believed that there was no need to kill those who could not even fight him. After casting recovery and healing magic on the injured ones, Davey pretended not to see them and left the area.

***

Contrary to Davey’s expectations, not a single elf could be seen in front of the World Tree’s main body.

Davey said, “Hmmm. I thought that you would have gathered a lot of them together and used them as a meat shield.”

[Do not insult me. I do not take pleasure in sacrificing my children.]

Davey frowned at the voice of the World Tree’s will that resonated inside his head.

At the same time, an elf who was sitting in front of the gigantic tree slowly stood up and approached Davey. Although the elf had a small stature, Davey was wary of her. This was his first time feeling a great threat looming over him ever since he had returned to Tionis Continent.

She was World Tree Yggdrasil, not an incarnation that she had created to travel outside. The World Tree’s main body could command and bend various powers and authorities to her will. And the elf in front of Davey, which was nothing more than a figure created by the World Tree’s power, was her main body.

“Seeing that you’re wearing a robe, I believe it’s safe to say that the curse is still clinging onto you, huh?”

[You don’t know how many lives have suffered because of this poor and insignificant trick of yours.]

“So, where are the rest of the elves?”

[…Fate has dictated that you will attack this place. I have to save as many of my children as I can from suffering from your vicious attacks.]

“If that’s the case, then you should have let all of them hide from the very beginning.”

Yggdrasil frowned slightly at Davey’s harsh criticism.

“Your visions of fate and destiny… They’re getting quite blurry.”

Yggdrasil remained silent, choosing to not answer Davey. It was like she had expected such an event to happen.

Davey pointed the tip of Red Ribbon’s blade towards Yggdrasil, who silently watched him. He said, “The two of us can’t run away anymore. Either I cut you down or I die here.”

Yggdrasil had a cold glint in her eyes. She could see the black air current that was wrapped around Davey.

—Davey? What about sorcery…?

‘Not yet. Wait a bit more.’

“You have searched for this fate. It’s either me or you. One of us will surely meet our end today.”

[Fate has foretold your death. I am only following the flow of fate that I have witnessed. That’s why I will bring judgment to you with all my might.]

The air surrounding Yggdrasil began to change. Then, the bright red buds lying on her palms and hanging in her branches began to bloom.