The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-440

‘Found you.’

A chill crept into Davey's eyes. However, his gaze wasn't fixed on the affected lump of flesh that Rinne had brought, but rather on her feet.

"Davey?"

Seeing Davey remain silent, Rinne pushed the lump of flesh even closer to his face.

"Hmm... Right, a gunshot wound?"

"According to Rinne's precise analysis, the injury is 99.8% similar to the rupture caused by a bullet."

Rinne sounded very serious and solemn. However, Davey, who was preoccupied with something else, couldn't dwell deeply on her words.

Davey had set up traps all over the territory to catch the elusive serial killer, but the killer had managed to slip away despite the siege. It was as if they could detect the traps. However, there was no way for them to know that the slightest mistake they made would eventually lead to their capture.

***

It wouldn't be fun if the game were easy, and Artist Grim was relishing this situation to his very core. He had always been distinct from other humans.

"Smile! It would look better if you were smiling!"

The man spoke softly, but there wasn't a single person in the room who could muster a smile. His voice was infused with something utterly dreadful, and no matter how softly he spoke, that would not change.

In truth, he was a vicious psychopath who took pleasure in displaying to his next victims how others had met their demise at his hands, making them realize they too would meet their end in the same terror and fear as those before them. He believed that only when they displayed vivid expressions of horror and fear could he create a magnificent work of art.

And, as if it were a ritual, he would ask, "Are you afraid of me?"

The man grinned broadly beneath his white mask as he gazed at a little girl tied to iron bars emerging from the ground. There were children all around him.

"You will be the decorations for my third piece." Grim wiped the cheeks of the crying and trembling children before tapping his white mask and saying, "Smile like this."

Then, he drew a smiling face over his mask with his index fingers. However, the faces of the children remained filled with fear. Most of the people he had detained here were children, after all. The theme of his Third Movement was children.

"This time, I will create a different artwork. It would be good if you all could help me. Show me your pure emotions."

"S-Save me!!!"

"Waaah! Waaaah!"

The stench of blood from severed flesh and tools in his hands made the children tremble in fear. They were terrified, very, very afraid of the horrifying spectacle before them.

There were approximately twelve children captured in this place, a shockingly high number. Despite several precautions and barriers in place, twelve children had been abducted without anyone noticing.

Were they foreigners? No, all of them were children who lived in Heins Territory. Grim enjoyed taunting the inept and useless humans who couldn't catch him.

"Ugh... Ughh..."

At that moment, a girl who had been lying on one side of the room struggled to open her eyes. She was a remarkably beautiful girl with large, bright eyes.

"So, you're awake."

"Hiiik!"

The girl trembled in fright as Grim thrust his masked face close to hers.

"You really... You have very attractive and enticing eyes. But you don't have to worry. I will ensure you leave behind a vivid expression."

"Why, why are you doing this?"

Grim smiled when he saw tears begin to stream down the girl's cheeks. "Are you curious?"

There was no response from the young girl. In this space, all that could be heard were the ceaseless sobs and cries of the children.

"I don't feel pain. That's why I became curious. What is pain? What is suffering? Since I couldn't understand it myself, what better way than to witness it through someone else, right? The more you display such a sublime expression, the more I feel like I can grasp the sensation of pain."

What Grim was exhibiting was a form of mental illness that none of the children present could comprehend. He had become obsessively fixated on watching faces contort in agony because he himself could not feel pain.

"T-Th-The lord will s-save us!" one of the children cried out.

The young girl had spent the day walking around the plaza selling flowers. It was in that very plaza where she encountered a charming, carefree young man. After successfully selling her flowers and receiving a gift, she felt elated. Plus, it was her birthday, and her mother had promised to prepare a special meal for her in the evening.

However, while on her way back from running errands, the girl heard someone humming a captivating tune. The melody drew her in, compelling her to follow it until she ventured into a dimly lit alley. There, she spotted a man humming while gesturing toward something immense and peculiar.

Terrified by the sight of the strange lump of flesh, the girl instinctively covered her mouth and took a step back. Unfortunately, this sudden movement caught the man's attention. The girl attempted to flee, but her tiny feet couldn't match the stride of an adult. In the end, the man managed to overpower her and tried to capture her.

A brilliant light suddenly emanated from the girl's necklace, propelling her away from the man. Confused, the girl didn't comprehend what had just occurred and sat there bewildered. As for the man who had attempted to capture her, he remained on the ground, staring at his hands in astonishment.

Crackle!!!

Then, the man drew what appeared to be a lump of iron from his waist. When the iron clicked as he pulled it, a deafening thunderclap echoed, and the girl lost consciousness.

"You say that the lord will save you. But how can you be sure he will really save you?"

"What... What?"

"I'm just creating art. And you're going to be part of this exquisite work of art. In the end, this will be good for all of us. Don't you think so?"

The girl trembled and shuddered at Grim’s insane remarks.

"Goodness. It's time to begin," Grim said calmly as he disappeared momentarily.

When he returned, he was dragging a large bag behind him. He then placed the bag on a bunk he had prepared earlier and tore it open with a sharp knife.

"Hmph!!! Hmmmph!!!"

What the girl saw inside the bag was a very, very familiar figure.

"M-Mom!!!"

The figure was none other than her mother, her most precious family member who had recently come with her to this territory.

The woman screamed in fear, her body covered in bruises as if she had put up a fierce resistance and had been treated violently in return. She continued to struggle fiercely, but her body was tightly bound by ropes, restricting her movements.

"Ho. It's not good if you're already getting impatient like this," Grim said.

The woman looked at him with terror in her eyes before turning away. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the children tied all around the place.

"Hmmph…"

Her eyes grew even wider when she spotted the girl tied tightly toward the end of the line.

"Hmmmmph!!! Hmpppphhh!!!"

The woman screamed and cried desperately. She twisted her bound body fiercely, completely disregarding the wounds and injuries it caused her.

"M-Mom!!! Waaaaaah!!! Mom!"

The girl burst into tears upon seeing her mom crying for her as blood dripped down her body. The other children, as if infected, also started to cry loudly, their desperate screams filling the otherwise empty warehouse.

"Yes, that's right. All works of art stem from true and pure emotions. That's what the envoy said," Grim said calmly as he brought his bloodied scalpel toward the woman's cheeks and used it to draw on her body.

The delicate skin easily yielded to the sharp blade, allowing blood to flow freely down her cheeks.

"Hmmmph!!! Hmph!!!"

"For once, I want you to show me what pain really is," Grim said as he tore the woman's clothes apart. "These fabrics only hinder art. Don't be shy; the artistic deed that will be born from you will be inherited by these children and will evoke even more vivid emotions."

"Hmmppphhh!!! Hmphhh!!!"

Amidst the woman's muffled screams, Grim slowly, agonizingly peeled the skin from her arms. The knowledge that her daughter was watching, coupled with the excruciating pain ravaging her body, made the woman scream until her throat grew sore.

"Mom!!! Mom!!!"

The entire warehouse was engulfed in deafening noise as the child also began to scream along with her mother.

"Hmmm!!! It's so f*cking noisy! You don't need a voice to become art!"

Annoyed by the loud and deafening noise, Grim moved to stab the woman in the neck.

Crack…

But then, the sound of something breaking apart resonated in his ears.

"Hmm?"

Simultaneously, something translucent materialized before his eyes.

"An intruder? Escaping?" Grim mumbled to himself, his confusion evident as he paused what he was doing to stroke his chin in contemplation. "That's impossible. This is my space, you know?"

No one else should be able to enter without his explicit permission. At least, that should be the case.

Crack, crack, crack… crack, crack!!!

However, the moment the thought flashed in Grim's mind, a black-haired girl emerged from the crack that had opened up in the space before him.

"The blood smells awful. You're truly a despicable bastard," the girl, her eyes flashing red, declared.

Grim was sent hurtling backward, and he became wedged against the wall as soon as the girl vanished from his sight.

The place was saturated with the stench of blood.

Josiah Frances, the girl who had thrown Grim against the wall, grabbed him by the head and repeatedly slammed it into the concrete walls.

Right after Josiah Frances, a silver-haired girl and a black-haired boy emerged from the crack in space. Everyone turned to look at them.

"This is terrible..." the silver-haired girl murmured, while the boy silently observed the horrifying scene around them.

Several children were tied to pillars, crying, with some having wet themselves out of fear. The little girl that Davey had encountered earlier didn't seem to be in good condition. Lastly, there was a woman, whose arm had nearly been skinned, desperately screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Hmm... What's this…?"

The boy approached the screaming woman in silence and slowly began to channel his powers.

Shwaaaaaaa—!

A brilliant and divine light enveloped the woman, and her body rapidly began to heal from the injuries she had sustained. The transformation in her body occurred so swiftly that one might consider it a miracle. White and unblemished skin reappeared on the arm that had been peeled earlier, and even the bruises on her body vanished one by one as if they had never been there.

"I already knew you possessed a unique ability. What I didn't expect was that you have an independent space of your own," the boy remarked, gesturing around him.

Upon hearing the boy's calm words, the silver-haired girl began to applaud.

Clap, clap, clap!

Simultaneously, tendrils of black energy extended outwards and severed the ropes that had bound the children to the pillars. All the children who could move immediately fled. As for the remaining young boys and girls, they had lost the strength in their legs and could only hug each other while crying.

"Yes, yes. It's alright. Everything's fine now."

After attending to the woman, the black-haired boy, Davey, approached one of the sobbing girls. He gently stroked the child's head and asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

“H-Hic… M-Mom… My mommy…”

Davey’s expression turned stiff when he learned that the woman was the young girl’s mother.

“Right… Is she your mother?”

“Yes… H-Hic, hic…”

Davey promptly employed illusion magic on his face and gazed at the crying girl. "Do you remember me, big brother?"

"Ah... the one who bought flowers..."

"That's right. Since this big brother of yours is a loafer, I have plenty of time on my hands. That's why I came here to rescue our dearest young lady." Davey smiled as he released his illusion magic once more.

"Are, are you the lord?"

Instead of answering, Davey simply embraced the girl and patted her when he saw the surprise in her eyes.

"Big brother will save your mother, so you have to trust me, okay?"

"Yes..."

The still sniffling girl seemed to find relief after finally seeing a very familiar face and relaxed. Eventually, the extreme stress overcame her, and she fainted.

After rescuing the children, Josiah inquired, "Teacher, what should I do with this bastard?"

Davey turned to look at the man with an expressionless face. "The provocation itself was rather novel and refreshing."

"How did you get in here?"

Davey didn't respond to Grim's question and simply seized him by the head, slamming him against the wall once more. The force Davey used was incomparably greater than the force Josiah had employed earlier.

"Your body is quite robust and resilient, huh? You despicable bastard."

Bang!!!

Davey swiftly seized Grim's head and pressed him against the wall before he could offer any resistance. Despite the loud and agonizing cries that escaped the man's throat, Davey remained composed.

In a hushed and serious tone, he ordered, "Perserque, take the children out. Look around and check if there are any other victims."

"That bastard. Don't dispose of him so easily."

"I understand."

Davey grinned upon hearing Perserque's calm voice. It appeared that she, too, was seething with anger. However...

"Aaaah... Aaaaaaah. Envoy, you told me I only needed to focus on my art!" The man, despite being under attack by others and cornered like this, screamed with his mask still on his face.

For some inexplicable reason, the man managed to move his contorted arm. He rapidly withdrew something substantial from his pocket and aimed it directly at Davey as soon as he saw him turn his head.

"Are you the boss monster? Fine. Since I opted for the master-level, this kind of interruption is only natural!" The man cried out loudly as he discharged whatever was in his hands.

Clang!!!

A blunt projectile shot forth, briefly breaking the sound barrier, hurtling directly toward Davey's forehead.

Ting!

and glared at Grim as she swung the small staff in her hands.However, what Grim saw in his eyes wasn't Davey's flustered expression due to the sudden appearance of the bullet or his instant demise. Instead, what he witnessed was a vibrant red liquid—blood—that enveloped the bullet, preventing it from reaching Davey's body.

"Do you even comprehend how valuable my teacher's blood is?! My teacher's blood belongs to me!" Josiah screamed.

Baaaang!!!