The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-774

The current Demon World was located in the southwestern region of the Tionis Continent, deep under the Tartaros’ Subterranean Mountain Ranges.

They had been forced to retreat after the demon race’s defeat during the Demon War of the past , driven away into the Tartaros’ Subterranean Mountain Ranges. Ever since then, the entire subterranean mountain ranges had been sealed off—with the demons’ hatred towards the human race added in, no trade or communication had taken place between the two races.

The human, Davey O’Rowane, had destroyed the vampires’ scheme and killed the demons who attacked the Tionis Continent. Yet it was not enough for the human, Davey O’Rowane, to drive away the demons—he even usurped the Demon King and took over the role himself. In the end, he completely burned down the barrier that sealed off the path connecting the Tionis Continent and the Tartaros’ Subterranean Mountain Ranges.

But the consequences and implications of his actions did not end there.

When he became the Demon King, the Demon King’s authority was splintered and distributed in pieces. Only a few of the Demon King’s authorities remained with him, while the rest were scattered all over the place. Those who had the authorities were hailed as a Demon King. Faced with such circumstances, the Demon World was left in a continuous cycle of power struggles.

“Explain it right away! You cannot stay silent like that forever!” the balrog shouted, his gigantic figure equally intimidating as his eyes burning with fury.

This furious balrog was the one who took over the throne when the Balrog King died and disappeared in the past. Of course, the balrog was a completely different race from the demons. However, they had already been tied together for a very long time before now.

“Tell me! Why can't we do it?! If I don’t get a satisfactory answer from you, I will bring my army right away to turn your territory into rubble!” the balrog cried loudly.

The blue-skinned demon sighed. “Enough with the vulgarity, Grosche. Use that brain of yours, that’s filled with nothing but muscles, for thinking sometimes.”

“What the hell did you just say to me?!”

“If you don’t like it, then let’s have a match right away!”

The Demon World’s Grand Duke Astaroth released an exhausted sigh as he watched the two demons fight and growl at each other.

The Demon World had changed. Of course, the fact that they harbored hatred and resentment towards the humans did not change. Still, the Demon World was forced to reform—they could no longer treat the humans as enemies and were forced to turn their attention inward towards developing their own powers and forces.

As for whether it was good or bad… Well, there were both good and bad points. The bad part was that there were now conflicts arising among their own race. The good part was that the stagnant Demon World had started the process of development and was slowly advancing forward.

The Demon World had always focused on their ever-growing resentment and hatred toward mankind, neglecting their practical development. Surprisingly enough, now that they had turned their attention onto each other and were showing hostility towards each other, their stagnant world had started to develop and grow.

Of course, that was not the main focus right now.

“Damn it! I can’t stand hearing that damn bastard’s voice ringing out in my own territory!”

The damn bastard. It wasn’t just the balrog who was referring to it as that. All of the self-proclaimed Demon Kings, those who obtained one of the authorities, present here were of the same mind.

Whispers had started to ring from underneath them, and this had caused confusion among the demons. Why? It was because those who listened and fell for the words of the voice had started to absorb the power of the damn bastard and had become ferocious.

“Grand Duke Astaroth, do we have no way to stop them?”

“I’m still looking for a good method.”

In fact, there was no easy way for them to stop them. They could not stop the whispers of the voices of those sealed underneath them. If they tried to open that seal, then they couldn’t possibly predict what would happen to them. Although they did not like it, they had no other way. Especially after they had heard from that human named Davey about the ancient demonic beasts sleeping underneath them.

There was Fenrir, the wolf who dared to eat the branches of the World Tree.

Yom, the snake who wound itself around the world and made and ate poisons.

Khan, the gigantic locust that covered the heavens and turned the sky dark.

And of course, there were many more—there were numerous types of ancient demonic beasts hidden beneath their feet.

There was a legend speaking of the unique beings, ones that rarely appeared among the demonic beasts and the demons. Although rare, they were able to find these special existences and entered their dreams. They lured them into signing a contract with them and releasing them from their seals.

Except for the existence of the succubus, this was typically a very rare occurrence. But now? It was happening all over the Demon World all at once. How the hell could they let their world work its way along such a disastrous path?!

The balrog, a very complicated expression on his face, ended up succumbing to his anger. He shouted, “It’s all because of that damned Demon King!”

“Demon King!”

“We wouldn’t be in a situation like this if that fucking human Demon King never came here!”

None of them outwardly agreed or disagreed with the balrog’s cries. They might think the same on the inside, but on the outside? They weren’t in any position to openly show the same feelings.

After all, the bloody wind that blew in the Demon World when Davey appeared in front of them in the past was still vivid in their minds. The man neither suppressed nor neglected them as he ruled over their Demon World. But once they stained his hands with blood? An unstoppable disaster would await them.

He was not in the Demon World right now, having gone somewhere else. That was why they could talk like this. But if they said these words in front of him, then what would be in store for them was… Well, everyone was aware of what would be waiting for them.

Nevertheless, it certainly didn’t stop the newly appointed leaders of the balrog race from talking shit about the human behind his back.

“That fucking human is the problem! It wasn’t enough for a damn human like him to usurp the throne and take over the position of the Demon King—he even dared to suppress our customs and traditions!”

At that moment, one of the demons flinched.

“H—Hey. Arla, you should stop now…”

“Stop?! What do you mean by stop?!! What do you know?! That fucking human bastard revived the former Demon King and promptly brainwashed her just so he could take her throne and gain power!!! Can’t you see?! He killed so many demons and locked them up in this place again!!!”

Another demon flinched. Of course, Arla didn’t pay it any mind and just continued to talk shit about their Demon King.

“I see. So?”

“So?! What do you mean by ‘so’?! From what I can see, if we can connect to the human world then it’s no different from being in our own element! How dare he divide us like this?! Didn’t he kidnap the former Demon King to marry her?! That’s our ruler! She’s not the kind of being that he can just use however he pleases!”

“Mmhmm. Is that so?”

“Yes! It’s time for us to make a stand! If we join forces, we can subdue that human! Then, we can bring him underground and offer him as a sacrifice to those damn demonic beasts that keep on whispering!!! Anyway, he’s just a fucking ugly human being!”

Balrog Arla, who finally looked up, realized that all of the demons present wouldn’t make eye contact with him. At that moment, he realized how silent the surroundings were. Their expressions… were filled with fear and terror.

“Eh? What’s the matter…” Arla’s words trailed off when he felt the soft touch that landed on his shoulders. It was the touch of a small and soft hand.

Who dared to put their hands on the shoulder of the Balrog King?! Furious, Arla turned his head and followed the gazes of the demons. He was then left frozen in place.

Red eyes. Black hair. Despite the infinitely smaller build compared to Arla, a balrog, the man was demonstrating extraordinary force.

“...”

Silence enveloped the area. The terrified demons had already started to shake and tremble.

“Hmmm. So you have misgivings with my marriage to Perserque? Why do you disapprove, huh?”

“...”

“It’s funny—you don’t even know what kind of an existence a Demon King is, do you? Simply following her just because she’s a member of the demon race… is completely not in line with the traditions and customs of the demon race,” a blue-haired young girl said.

There was an interested smile on her face as she stepped out from behind the young man. At the same time, a boy much smaller than the young man heaved a sigh and peeked out from behind.

Balrog Arla, who looked like he wanted to escape from reality, trembled. There was a tremble in his voice as his teeth clattered while he tried to speak. “De… D-D-D-De…”

“Right, right. If you have something to say, then go on and keep speaking. Why don’t you continue? You can even curse your own ruler. Weren’t you doing well when you were talking behind his back?” The boy grinned as he jumped off of the young man. Then, he turned to look at one of the demons. He asked, “Am I right? Don’t you think so too?”

“N… No! I don’t think that way at all!”

“Hmm… Is that so? Then, what about you?”

“W—What do you mean?! I don’t know what you’re talking about! I am completely different from that muscle-brained bastard!” A female demon cried out in fear.

Silence descended upon them once again. Amidst that silence, the young man, Davey, turned to look at Arla and asked again, “Why did you stop talking? Go on, keep going.”

“De… De- de- de… Demon King…”

“That’s right. I’m the Demon King. And from what I can see, you’re all at the rank of Demon King too. That’s fine then—come at me,” Davey said, the smile disappearing from his face. “Well, it’s obvious that some of you will have complaints just because we’re of different races, but…”

“Ugh…” A terrified groan escaped from Balrog Arla’s mouth as Davey calmly grabbed his ribs.

“Unfortunately… I can’t stand someone calling me ugly!”

Crack!!!

Just like that, one of Barlog Arla’s ribs was broken. The pain made his pupils shake and tremble.

“K… Keeuaaaaaaaack!” Barlog Arla screamed.

Only after he collapsed and went limp did Davey then let go of him. Having let go, the bright light of holy power slowly gathered in his palms.

To be accurate, although holy power could counter the vampires, it was not a power that could counter demons. However, the sword made of bright white light in Davey’s hands looked like a punishment sword and had still left the demons scared out of their wits.

“Do you have any last words?”

“S—Spare m…”

“Hey, who said I will kill you? I’ll just hit you and stop before you die. Of course, judging from how you look right now you’re just one hit away from death.”

Not long after, the pathetic and terrified screams of Balrog Arla, self-proclaimed Demon King who took over the position of the dead Balrog King, echoed loudly in the area.

***

The demons clamped their mouths shut. They could only look at Davey nervously as he crossed his arms and remained silent after hearing the current situation in the Demon World.

Davey said that he would not interfere with them and although he was their enemy before, he also declared that he would bring as much convenience as possible to the Demon World. He even broke the barrier that kept them suppressed and helped the demons improve their way of living by imparting knowledge to them.

Although Arla had talked shit behind his back, there were many demons who did not agree with the balrog’s logic. The enemy was the enemy, sure. But there were many among them who believed that it was going against their creed, to deny and ignore the benefits that he brought with him.

“So, the self-proclaimed ancient gods sealed underground whisper to you every single night and have interrupted your sleep?”

“Y—Yes,” A petite and cute girl said as she stepped out from behind Grand Duke Astaroth. It seemed like she was responding on behalf of the demon race.

The demon girl had an unusually large pair of horns. Most of the demons only had horns the size of a thumb, but the pair of horns on her head were very large and looked similar to the horns of a mountain goat.

“What the hell? I didn’t expect there to be a runt among those who devoured the Demon King’s authorities. Well, you should pretty much have a grasp on everything, right?”

“Runt? Use nice words.”

“You guys, shut up for a bit,” Davey snapped at Isildi and Kain.

When he turned around, he saw that the little girl’s cheeks were puffed up and she was glaring at them with teary eyes. She looked absolutely adorable trying to hold her tears back.

“Arita! Enough!” Astaroth shouted as he pulled the girl and hid her behind him.

“Astaroth, it seems like your tastes have changed?”

“Please watch what you say! She is my kin!”

Davey flinched when he heard Astaroth’s words. He said, “Hmmm…

Alright, sorry. By the way, did you say kin? I’ve never heard of anything like that here.”

“Do you even pay attention to us demons? She’s the mixed-race princess born from my dead son and Liline Orlouge.”

The term mixed-race prince or mixed-race princess were used to call the children with the blood of high-ranking demons mixed together. It seemed like the girl behind Astaroth was one of them.

“Well, that’s not the point. So? Have you guys figured out how many of those psychopath self-proclaimed ancient gods are sealed underneath?”

“We know a total of four, but we believe that there are more of them…”

“That’s great,” Davey said.

Everyone turned to look at him in confusion.

“Let’s release them all.”

But his following words left everyone shocked.

“What do you mean by that?!”

“Are you insane?!”

They immediately protested. They kept on going about what would happen to this place if the monsters were released. After all, their voices alone were already enough to torture them and leave them in fear—letting them out of that place would be nothing short of suicide!

“You bastard!!! Did you finally decide to slaughter our entire demon race?! Even if you’re the Demon King, I would never let you go! Come! Accept my challenge for a Demon King’s Grapple!” One of the demons shouted, unable to bear it any longer. He stood up and immediately grabbed the gigantic handaxe hanging on his waist.

The other demons looked scared too, but they kept their mouths shut. Even so, one could see that their expressions were terrible.

“What the hell? Are you all morons? How long do I have to listen to all of your bullshit?”

“What?”

“I’m going to release them and round them all up by myself. You’re just in charge of dealing with the special demons whose dreams have been invaded by them. I’ll do the rest.”

He suddenly appeared and immediately decided to solve the biggest headache that the Demon World was suffering from. If the demons were to be honest, they thought that he had eaten something wrong before coming here, but… they also started to hope that this man would be able to destroy and slaughter those monsters. Of course, that hope didn’t endure for very long.

“Don’t make me laugh! If those monsters are released, then the Demon World is completely done for!”

“Ah, I see. But didn’t I say that I will handle it? I was just thinking of how to get them out, so this works out perfectly for me,” Davey said leisurely.

It seemed like he truly came here to solve this problem for them. The demons looked at him suspiciously—they all knew that he was strong, but they were just far too afraid of the self-proclaimed ancient gods sealed underneath them. Then, at that moment…

–Haa… Someone with a very delicious mana has come.

Suddenly, a huge force appeared in the middle of the round table where all of the demons were sitting. The energy slowly morphed and turned into the image of a gigantic snake.

“Y… Yom!!!”

“The snake that winds around the world!”

One of the monsters that was supposed to be buried and sealed deep underneath materialized, appearing before them in a translucent form.

“Hoo… There’s a lot of delicious meat here.”

Even though Yom was surrounded by demons, it looked completely relaxed. This was because it’s figure that was present here was not its real form.

“H-How did you get out…?”

“The seal has weakened. As such, it’s now possible for us to release our will and let it materialize outside. Fufufufu. How is it? Are you afraid of my existence?” Yom teased them as it released its forked tongue and licked its lips.

But then…

“Let me borrow this for a sec,” Davey said calmly as he grabbed the neck of a square liquor bottle near him. He smashed the bottle on the table and then jumped up.

Yom, who had materialized its will and used it to dampen the burning will of the demons and instill fear upon them, finally saw Davey.

“You better stay where you are. I’m on my way straight to you right now. You’re quite perfect to use for making some snake wine.”

At that moment, while all of the demons were frozen stiff from fear, Davey stood there calmly and shot back leisurely, “This bottle contained wine full of divine power. You can’t get it anywhere even if you have the money to pay for it, you know?”

Even though he was speaking playfully, no expression could be seen on his face.

“Well, we don’t have a lot of time to spend here. So, we can’t just be leisurely and relaxed. Come on now, guide me. Starting with that damned snake, I will slaughter all of the magnificent ancient gods here in the Demon World.”

Doubt flashed in the faces of all of the demons present. This was because Davey’s expression had turned solemn when he said those words. His face was devoid of his usual calm and relaxed expression, but there was also no sense of hurry present—if they couldn’t afford to be leisurely, then why didn’t he seem hurried? Was there a problem with his body?

Among the demons, half-hopeful and half-doubtful, one tactless demon raised their hand. “Are you going to search for them?”

The tactless demon, who asked the question innocently, was none other than Arita—Astaroth’s granddaughter.

Davey answered her leisurely, “If I get back home late, Perserque will nag at me. Ah. Are there any demons that are still bachelors? To think that you still haven’t married at this age and are still crazy about fighting? Haaaa.Tsk, tsk.”

Davey’s teasing words made the veins on the demons’ foreheads bulge. He was already so strong… So much so that they couldn’t understand why he had to be so detestable too.

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