The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-725

The Neltarid Church decided to build its headquarters in Germany, Western Europe because Bill Gericault, the man who had received the revelation to lead the church, was German. With him as the center, people who were also given revelations gathered from all over the world.

Of course, simply being the recipient of a revelation wasn’t enough to become an active member of the church. Like Bill Gericault, many among them were very wealthy. Astonished by God's will and the miracles that they had personally witnessed, they invested generous amounts of money to prepare for the coming disaster, thus creating the Neltarid Church in secret.

Their purpose was simple—to train humans to survive the upcoming disaster.

Hence, their long preparation began. They convened with one thought and accepted help from the Valkyries—the seeds of God and Kain’s race. Their existence was currently kept under extreme secrecy, so only a few within the church knew about them.

With their connections and money, they also developed a device that allowed them to access Alf Online behind closed doors. Alf Online back then was a prison for Malicious Spirits, a world that had existed since the beginning.

The Valkyries lent them a hand with the magical elements that human science couldn’t explain. Moreover, they also looked for someone who could help them with distribution and mechanical tech, eventually getting significant assistance from a Korean company. Although the company was not directly involved with the game, they still provided the necessary equipment.

Since it was a perfectly crafted world, it did not have any bugs.

Much to the people’s surprise, they eventually learned that the Neltarid Church created Alf Online to save the masses. As a result, many abandoned their existing beliefs and devoted themselves to the Neltarid Church. Since the church had always been short of followers, they saw this as a good outcome. People thought that they knew what the church was doing, but in reality, they only knew the tip of the iceberg.

“Considering the incident with the Saint of Tionis and this recent event, I’m now certain that we have a traitor among us,” Bill Gericault muttered. He looked tired.

Bill Gericault knew that the Saint of Tionis could have caused major problems if he had taken more extreme measures. He also knew that time wasn’t on their side, especially since the people’s growth rates were much slower than expected, and that the Malicious Spirits’ interference was more impactful than he had expected. To top it all off, a troublesome fellow had come from another dimension.

He believed that among the people who joined their order were horrible Illuminati members—not those who existed in rumors, but the ones with the intent to control and change the world.

Their true purpose remained unknown since each member had different objectives. Regardless, they were all striving for a leap toward evolution and another goal. From his perspective, they seemed to be preparing against their fear.

Because of them, the church had faced many interruptions, and people had lost a lot of trust in the Saint of Tionis. The barrier device they sent to support Korea had also been stolen, and one of the church's biggest benefactors had turned into a monster.

“Karim, brother,” Gericault called. A man wearing glasses slowly walked in, his expression serious. He then asked, “Would you go to Korea for me?”

“What for, Sir Gericault?” Karim asked.

“You don’t have to use honorifics when it’s just the two of us. There’s no need for formalities. Anyway, the situation in Korea doesn't make sense right now. At this rate, the Illuminati will soon take over the entire church.”

“Are you… trying to put an end to them?”

Instead of responding, Bill Gericault frowned and brought a thick cigar to his mouth. He certainly planned to send Karim to Korea so he could mediate and eradicate the Illuminati hiding within the church.

“Yes. We have to prevent them from claiming more victims.”

“I can’t do that.”

"What?”

Gericault’s eyes widened. He couldn’t understand what Karim was saying. The moment he looked up, he found Karim pointing a pistol fitted with a long silencer at his head.

“Your presence itself disrupted the organization, but it was only temporary. Now that you’ve decided to cross this line—”

“You’re with the Illuminati?”

Karim took out a small emblem from his pocket and showed it to Bill. It had eyes engraved on it—the symbol of the Illuminati.

“Oh, Heavenly Father...”

“Do you have any last words?”

Bill just shook his head in silence. Karim pulled the trigger.

Bang!!!

***

Wooo!!!

The cry was grotesque, yet it was filled with sorrow. Davey slowly clenched and unclenched his fists as he approached the man closest to him,

“Make sure he can’t mo—gaaah?!” the man choked. Davey had grabbed him by the neck and was now looking at him indifferently.

“Let me deal with you guys first.”

"W-what…?!

Crack!

Swiftly, he snapped his neck. Davey threw the lifeless body away and stretched out his hand.

[Corruption]

Black devil mana spread out. As if it had been waiting for this moment, it maliciously wrapped itself around the corpse and began rotting it, causing a terrible stench to permeate.

"What?!”

"Y-you crazy bastard!”

“The smell isn’t coming from you. I won’t let you even keep your souls.”

When the soul left the body, Davey grabbed it and pulled it back down. He then applied force to it.

- Kyaaah!!!

The soul let out a terrible howl. Davey knew firsthand how painful it was for a soul to be stopped and corrupted before one could reach the cycle of reincarnation. The most vicious part about this magic was its terrifying appearance that sent chills down one's spine just by looking at it.

After tearing out the sagging souls, Davey turned his attention to the remaining enemies.

“Let’s take it slow, shall we?”

“Hup?!”

"B-barrier! Hurry up and create a barrier!”

The remaining hooded figures quickly cast magic. As if they had simulated this beforehand, a black magic circle appeared around Davey, isolating him.

"We don’t have time! We can’t hold him back for long!” shouted one of them.

While some maintained the barrier, others quickly approached Hyun-Ah.

"D-don’t come any closer!”

“Stay still!”

With a stiff expression, Kouna drew her sword as they approached. Unfortunately, she couldn't stop them.

Clang!

“This is what they hired me for,” said one of the hooded figures who had blocked her. He had pulled out a strange-looking longsword.

“You’re going to regret doing this,” Kouna warned.

“Don’t get cocky. I’m going easy on you so you don’t feel overwhelmed.”

“I don’t really care.”

The hooded figure smiled darkly at her. Lowly, he whispered, “I really like the metallic smell of blood.”

Slash!

Before Kouna could react, blood spurted out of her, and she collapsed.

“Argh!”

“Hehe, See? It smells good. You’re not the only one who obtained a special class.”

He smeared Kouna with blood and laughed like a psycho. Although Kouna was overwhelmingly strong as an Awakened, she couldn't handle the power of Haitai properly. After all, her martial arts skills weren’t as good as they used to be back in the Arab states.

With Kouna subdued, Hyun-Ah was the only one left. Just as the hooded figures reached out to take her away, the monster, who was once her uncle, stretched out his huge arms and swatted them away.

- Guooo!!!

"What the hell?! The monster’s rampaging again! Take it down already!”

Seemingly having a way to control the monster, they split into two groups. As one group drew the monster's attention, the other used some strange magic, causing the monster to cry out in pain and writhe.

“Damn it! Why is it giving us a hard time?!”

“You fucking failure! Get down!”

"Uncle! No!"

Noting Hyun-Ah cry and scream due to the collapsing monster, Davey felt a black current emanate from him. However, he forcibly suppressed it. He couldn’t waste all the time he had invested in training to suppress the madness within him just because of these hooded figures.

Boldly ignoring the characteristics of the barrier, Davey pulled out Blue Ribbon. Nevertheless, he knew that even if Blue Ribbon completely ignored non-physical laws, it still couldn’t slash Rho Aias’ magic for as long as it hadn’t awakened to the level of Super Ribbon.

Fortunately, the Rho Aias magic that the hooded figures were casting was incomplete. Moreover, they couldn’t handle it properly either.

He slashed the barrier with his blue sword, leaving a bright blue trail behind.

Shatter!

"Huh?!"

“Your barrier’s gone. What now, bastards?” Davey muttered coldly. He could tell that his enemies’ expressions were now filled with bewilderment.

‘They can’t seem to get information from each other. Not that it matters,’ Davey thought.

The madness Davey had suppressed time and again whenever he sought power in the hall grew stronger and overtook him for a moment.

"Hmph..." Davey smiled faintly. He grabbed the closest among those who looked at him in surprise and slammed his head into the ground.

Bang!!!

An explosion went off, followed swiftly by a serene silence. He then trapped the soul of his dead target in his target’s corpse and repeatedly bashed his head on the ground. Afterward, he smiled. “I speak to the gracious Lord of the Beginning.”

White energy took over the madness-inducing black current and slowly pushed it away.

‘Hmm, I guess it does work,’ Davey thought.

He figured that maybe—just maybe—he could restore his uncle's body to its original state. However, he wasn’t too sure if he could do the same with his ego.

“Stand by your Lamb and light his lamp as he walks in the dark.”

The pure white light of grace fluttered at his fingertips. He then reached out to the monster, which was making sad noises as the hooded figures subdued him, and made the light pierce through him.

“Let your grace and will reach him. May you be generous enough to open the way to salvation.”

The monster just stared silently at the warm light seeping in. Although he still had no rationality, he had at least quieted down, much like a well-behaved animal. Unable to stop Davey, the hooded figures could only watch blankly, unable to understand what was going on.

Thud!

Soon, the giant monster began to slowly collapse. Davey took back the divine power that he had instilled in him and turned around.

“And I hope you tear those immoral bastards.”

The divine power that had spread to comfort the monster completely disappeared, and black devil mana spread out once more.

“Looks like God’s angry,” Davey jokingly said.

“D-don’t be ridiculous! You mean that devil mana is divine power?” one of his enemies cried out.

“Oh? How’d you know?”

Davey couldn’t really care less. Devil mana was simply a type of mana.

He then reached into his Pocket Plane and took out a cross with a pattern that symbolized the goddess Freyja.

“You people must be sick.”

‘Both mentally and physically. As a doctor and a Saint who has mastered sacred magic, I will heal you to the best of my abilities,’ Davey thought.

“Divine healing,” he quietly said. Divine light seeped into the cross in his hand.

"Attack."

Bang!!

Davey punched one of the dazed people, causing his head to explode instantly.

“The treatment may be a bit painful.”

A doctor saying that something might hurt actually meant that their patient might feel a tingling yet sharp sensation. Unlike them, what Davey meant was that he would hurt them worse than death.

He silently implanted devil mana into another enemy.

Whatever plan they had in mind, he would end all of it today.