The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-611

As if the powers were in competition, they began pushing each other away, fighting for dominance. In the end, the victor was not the power of Neltarid, but Goddess Freyja’s.

‘It's like she's saying to use hers, not Neltarid’s.’

Davey thought it was utterly ridiculous to witness the competition of blessings. White feathers engulfed in light started to gather on his palm, and then transfigured into something else entirely.

"Why didn’t you give it to me earlier?" Davey snickered as he looked at the two objects resting in his hand.

"One of these is what I’ve been trying to obtain, so that’s that... But what is this?" His eyes were narrowed as he continued to scrutinize the items in his hand. One was a small sword made of bone and just slightly larger than a dagger. Then, there was a transparent gem.

It was not the Gem that had synchronized his soul and body during his previous battle with Nyx. He could not feel anything special from the gem, apart from the odd feeling it gave him. He did not know for sure what it was, but it was certainly not a bad item. The problem was that he did not know what it was for, so he could not plan how he would use it. This uncertainty made him feel uncomfortable.

"Hmm..."

There was nothing else to do but keep it safe in the meantime. Which was why Davey placed the transparent gem into his Pocket Plane along with the small sword.

Beep.

Light gathered once again on his palms, and another object appeared. It was an item imbued with a flickering flame, one of his favorite divine relics from Goddess Freyja.

"A Lasting Ember? That's awesome."

The Lasting Ember was an extra life and could quite rightfully be considered the best item. The problem was...

"If she sent this to me..."

It also signified that Davey might die, and he couldn’t escape the bit of worry that started to gnaw at his gut..

“…”

The Princess of the Spirit Realm, who was still unsettled by Versha's curse that ignored her protective powers, kept her silence.

"You can go back. The passage is open, so there won't be any trouble in going back and forth between realms, even though you can’t have large numbers of people cross over at the same time."

He planned to leave it open for a while.

"Go and tell the Supreme Lord that he should come through the passage I opened and set up the Anti-Demonic Barrier in all four directions of the Lower Realm.”

Her eyes widened in shock. "How can a being from the Lower Realm know about the Anti-Demonic Barrier?!"

The Anti-Demonic Barriers were spells that the entities of the Spirit Realm could cast, and these spells could purify an entire region, making it as pure as the Spirit Realm.

"And bring me the Jewel of Eight Deities. If you do that, I'll give you back the Royal Seal of the Immortal King, the symbol of the Spirit Realm."

Although the real Royal Seal of the Immortal King was somewhere in the Lower Realm, Davey also had in his Pocket Plane another authentic royal seal made by Dokgo Jun himself.

"The Royal Seal of the Immortal King?! How can that be?! It’s in the possession of the Supreme Lord..."

"That thing," Davey interrupted her, smiling blandly, "is a fake. And this is..."

It was not a transcendental item, so Davey had not used it, leaving it untouched for quite some time.. The reason he had the seal was simple. During his class with Surtr, the Thousand-Day Blacksmith, he had secretly stolen it from Dokgo Jun when he needed decent engraving practice.

Dokgo Jun knew about the theft, but he might as well have just given it to Davey, knowing the seal’s lack of importance. In some ways, the items made in the Hall of Heroes were the most overpowered ones.

‘Really, why did Goddess Freyja create something like the Hall of Heroes? Hmm… no.’

Davey was not even sure if the Hall of Heroes was indeed created by Goddess Freyja. Creating something from nothing was impossible. Whenever the Heroes crafted something for him or gave him an item, it was in exchange for Davey fulfilling one of their wishes or giving up something in return. Sometimes, he was not sure what had to be given up in return, but if possible, he intended to utilize everything to his advantage.

"In the past, Dokgo Jun, the Heavenly Destroyer, defeated your Supreme Lord and obtained the Royal Seal of the Immortal King that harbors the Supreme Lord's powers."

"I never heard of such a story! The Supreme Lord handing over the Royal Seal of the Immortal King is absurd!"

"If you find it hard to believe, then don't say anything. It won’t make much of a difference to me."

Confusion was written on her face as she looked at Davey, trying to wrap her head around his claims.

After a beat of silence, she then asked,"What do you plan to use the Jewel of Eight Deities for?"

"What else? I need to summon that insane yellow worm. But it seems like its power won't be enough."

Davey basically wanted to give it a tonic and make it strong.

"What?! To use the symbol of the Spirit Realm as mere consumables..."

"If you don’t like it, then piss off!"

* * *

Rinne's regular report came in. There had been no attempts to kill Cheon Ji-Hee yet, and they were going to continue investigating the abnormal events that had occurred in the Heavenly Central Plains. Currently, Davey was in the imperial palace of Hwan, the Golden Palace. A day had passed since he had contacted the emperor through a messenger, and then the emperor sent an order to make Davey come to the imperial palace.

At least those in Hwan did not foam at their mouths and flip out over Davey. Originally, Hwan had raised troops to hunt him down for killing the Crown Prince, Wol Gye-Woo, but it turned out that the real murderer was someone else, and they had invited him to hear about the bizarre phenomenon that had taken place in this world.

Creak!!!

"Let me warn you just in case, even if you are a being from the Spirit Realm, do not treat His Majesty the way you treated me. Even if you are a royal of the Spirit Realm, His Majesty is the ruler of this land."

"Whatever. Whether it's Hwan, Yu, the Righteous Path Martial Alliance, or the Evil Path Martial Alliance, I don't care," Davey responded.

Jo Soon slowly led Davey inside the palace.

And when they arrived at the area where the emperor resided, Davey could see many soldiers lined up in two rows.

"This is the Righteous Order Unit, the top unit of the Embroidered Uniform Guards. The outstanding members of the guards were made part of an independent unit, to serve as the ultimate soldiers who attend to His Majesty."

The Assassin Unit was certainly made up of decent members, but these Righteous Unit soldiers were even a cut above that, and their loyalty was beyond question. Even if the country fell, they would not leave their posts but stay and protect the emperor.

It was an intimidating display, as if meant to threaten Davey. Simply put, it was a show of force. They boosted their country’s spirit by showing off their force when someone from another country or an outsider came. It was, in fact, a pretty obvious trick.

"Interesting," Davey murmured impassively as he took a step forward.

Boom!!

An intangible energy began oppressing him. It seemed to ask, “Do you dare to step into this place?”

After the war with the Abyssal beings had ended and the allies had momentarily retreated, the reports about the enemy they had encountered had already been sent, and his identity, along with that of the Celestial Maidens impersonated by Perserque and the two Avenger golems, had become widely known.

"Is this foolish act also an order from the emperor?"

“…”

"Will you not answer?"

A member of the Righteous Order Unit slowly spoke up, "What are you talking about? His Majesty is waiting. Enter quickly."

"So that's how it is, huh? It makes sense that you support the Black Path Martial Alliance."

‘If this is their tradition, then I’ll play along with it.’ With that thought in mind, Davey glanced at the closest Righteous Order Unit member.

'If you truly are a prince of the Spirit Realm, try passing through here, through our pressuring aura.' This was what they wanted to say through this show of force. Amused by their not-so-adorable tricks, Davey stopped in place.

Boom…

From where Davey’s foot touched the floor, a shapeless shockwave spread out.

"What?! Ugh!" They gritted their teeth, trying to endure it, but the man standing before Davey fell to his knees.

"Oh my, you’re the personal attendants of the emperor and yet you kneel before another? What a great job!" Davey sneered sarcastically, resuming his walk with smooth steps.

The martial technique he used was the Crushing Force of the Heavenly Destroyer Divine Art, which he simply channeled through his foot. Of course, the Crushing Force that Davey used was different from the original.It was infused with immense qi, similar to the energy Davey used while wielding the Longsword of Ares, the Sword Lord..

The members of theRighteous Order Unit, who were lined up in rows, paled and struggled as Davey passed by. They clenched their teeth, trying to maintain their pride, but it was easier said than done. Although they were certainly skilled, Davey had already encountered and triumphed over far tougher opponents in multiple worlds, including this one. How could a level 30 player intimidate a level 99 one?

"Ugh!"

"Ahh!!"

Despite witnessing some of their comrades kneeling and collapsing, the other members of the Righteous Order Unit did not change their expression.

‘Oh? Are they used to such things?’ Feeling a sudden mischievous impulse, Davey paused his steps again.

"Ugh?!" The man standing before him tried to endure, but he was anything but relaxed, given the way he was harshly gritting his teeth.

For a brief moment, the glances of the tense Righteous Order Unit members shifted toward Davey.

"Hey, are you not feeling well?"

"Ugh?!"

Davey increased the intensity of the Crushing Force, making the man's face turn deathly pale.

"Are you hurt somewhere? You seem very tense."

"......"

"Being too tense isn't good for your body. Right?"

Crack! Crack crack crack!!!

Despite Davey's gentle smile, the floor where he stood began to fracture. The floor could not withstand the pressure of the Crushing Force.

Destroying the surrounding area by pressing it with just one’s energy was a ridiculous feat. It was as implausible as killing a person with a glare.

"What?!" A few shocked Righteous Order Unit members let out cries of horror but quickly clamped their mouths shut.

Before the eyes of one hundred members of the Righteous Order Unit, Davey slowly concentrated the Crushing Force on a single person.

"Ugh?! Ahh?!" The man's face betrayed his inability to maintain his composure as even the most natural act of breathing became an immense struggle for him.Eventually, he collapsed.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Davey ignored the rest of the Righteous Order Unit, and kept increasing the force's intensity as he approached the man he was singling out.

Although he could not directly read the thoughts behind the expressions etched on the man's face, it was pretty clear what the latter was thinking: ‘Just pass by, you bastard!!’

According to Jo Soon's story, a shamed envoy had once fled from before the Righteous Order Unit, even wetting himself out of fear. The members of the Righteous Order Unit would never have imagined being in the envoy’s shoes.

"Come on already! What are you doing?!" Jo Soon, who was leading the way, urgently stopped Davey.

He had witnessed what Davey could do, so he did not dare to treat him carelessly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Stop! Do you think we have a lot of time to spare?”

"He looks unwell to me."

‘You're the one making him feel unwell, you bastard!!’ Jo Soon’s unvoiced thoughts were loud and clear from the look on his face.

"Hmm... perhaps visiting a physician would be good. I happen to have some knowledge in medicine. It seems he just developed some problems all over his body."

With a face ashen with worry and fear, Jo Soon made hurried efforts to take him away.

‘Should I let this slide?’

Davey was about to turn around when he stopped mid-step and turned back. "No, I can't just pass by a patient! That would be against my principles as a physician!"

Davey's statement caused the oppressed man to finally cry out tearfully, "Please, just go on your way, you bastard!!!"

"What? Bastard?"

"A... Ah no! Move along!!"

"But you seem unwell, you know?"

Davey further increased the intensity of the Crushing Force.

Crack! Crack crack crack!!

As the floor shattered further, the overwhelming pressure spread to the surroundings, making the faces of the other Righteous Order Unit members turn pallid.

"Let's see. Just stay still for a moment. I'll take a look at you."

As Davey approached the man with a chilling smile, despair and panic spread over his face. Yet, no one dared to ask Davey to withdraw the pressure till the last moment.

"I... I can't leave my post... I can't back down just because... because I feel unwell..."

"Oh, is that so?"

Crack!!!

The pressure intensified even more. The man started to tremble as his cold sweat trickled down like rain, and he looked like he was seconds away from fainting.

"I see... Well, I understand that it would not make sense for someone with an important position to leave his post."

Davey’s words caused a spark of hope to light up on the face of the struggling man. And then, as Davey moved past him, the man's face relaxed into an expression of complete ease, accompanied by a huge wave of relief.

"No, let me help you. After all, I'm rather skilled at..."

The man’s relief instantly vanished, and his turmoil returned in full force as Davey continued to exert pressure.

"Arghh!!!" A pitiful groan echoed.

Since no one could directly speak or ask for the pressure to be lifted, they were left unable to articulate their pleas. The Righteous Order Unit members Davey had passed by seemed as though they could no longer talk, and those who had experienced the agonizing pressure could not conceal their looks of sympathy.

Just then, Davey suddenly drew Red Ribbon, startling the Righteous Order Unit.

“Didn’t we confiscate all your weapons?”

"You’ve taken away an iron sword I bought from a shop. Spare me your nonsense."

After retorting tersely,he turned to address the Righteous Order Unit members who were blocking his path. "Get out of the way if you don't want to die."

[Heavenly Destroyer Divine Art]

[Sword Manipulation]

Cling cling cling cling!!!

The swords that had not yet been drawn by the Righteous Order Unit flew into the air following the path of Davey’s sword, as if waiting to descend upon their targets.

"Sword manipulation?!"

"Impossible!"

They knew it was not just any ordinary technique, but they didn’t expect for their swords to be taken in a blink of an eye.

"Stop him!!"

The flustered Righteous Order Unit tried to grab their swords, but Davey was faster than them. He waved his hand, launching the swords higher into the air and slashing horizontally with Red Ribbon.

[Longsword]

[Boulder Cleaving Strike]

Slash!!

A chilling sound echoed as the enormous palace was cleaved in half.

Rumble rumble rumble…

As the grand palace of Hwan crumbled in a single blow not far from Davey's view, he bellowed with a murderous intent, "Don't you dare get ahead of yourselves before me."

With his warning, the interior of the fallen palace came into sight. Anyone inside would probably have been killed by the impact, and yet astonishingly, the emperor was alive. Or rather, he was barely clinging to life.

"......"

A boy who looked about eleven years old was floating in the air, holding his own throat in still silence, as if he was dead. Next to him, a disheveled woman stood among the debris, and Davey could see the ruins decaying around her.

"Oh? I was going to kill quickly and leave. Seems like I failed?" The woman's voice was slightly hoarse.

It was her. She was the one who had spread the swamp of corruption across the land.