The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-821

"Rab...bit?”

As Arita muttered in shock, a muscular rabbit proudly and confidently began striking poses, showing off its ridiculously swollen muscles with wild enthusiasm.

As everyone stood in shock at the sudden appearance of the muscular rabbit, it continued its display, flexing repeatedly.

The muscle rabbit eventually turned its head toward one of the approaching gray knights. It charged forward with fierce determination, wrapping its arms around the knight's neck in a wrestling move. It then flipped its body and dragged the knight off the fortress wall, plummeting together toward the ground.

"Bulldog!"

It was a technique that Demon King Davey had once used to crush demons—it was known as the bulldog among wrestling enthusiasts.

As Arita watched the muscle rabbit and gray knight plummet from the wall, another muscle rabbit appeared behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she turned around to see it easily lifting a giant dumbbell before handing her one of her own.

‘Me too?’

"Kyu," the muscle bunny growled.

Suddenly burdened with the shocking weight of the dumbbell, Arita sank to the ground as the color drained from her face. The muscle bunny scratched its head, shrugged, then threw the dumbbell aside and leaped off the castle wall to join its companion in the fight below.

Seeing the rabbit’s near-suicidal move, Arita raced to the edge of the wall to look down. Her jaw dropped as she witnessed more muscle rabbits—dozens, perhaps even hundreds— emerging from the ground, their strange cries filling the air as they launched themselves at the gray knights.

The tide of battle was turning with the addition of such a sheer number of rabbits. But she was confused—she knew the eerie muscle rabbits were ancient beasts, common enemies of the demons.

She had no way of figuring out what was going on, but she knew the conflict had finally turned for the better.

* * *

“La... Las... Gaaa!!”

Isildi appeared in a flash and swiftly kicked one of the princesses trying to block Davey’s path. Even though she had lost much of her original power, it was still overwhelming for the newly born princesses of the Abyss.

Unlike the others who relied heavily on special powers, Isildi used brute force. In other words, a loss of powers impacted her much less than it did the princesses.

“Gaaa... Why... Why are you attacking your own kind...”

“I have no intention of dying like you,” Isildi responded coldly.

‘I still have things left undone.’ she thought.

“My priests are waiting for me,” she added, voice sharp.

With the path cleared, Isildi turned to Davey. "What are you waiting for? This is why you called us here. Go and take care of business."

Davey nodded, then slowly made his way toward the cave filled with flesh. He could feel her divine power emanating from within. Zero attention was paid to his odd surroundings—he couldn’t have possibly cared less about why she had turned this place into some kind of fleshy hell.

“Sigh...”

He heard short, ragged breaths. He saw a woman connected to massive black tentacles, slowly raising her head to ominously gaze at Davey with her glowing yellow eyes.

“So, it looks like you’ve attained divinity.”

“Why have you been so stingy about it? You should’ve shared it with me.”

“You’ll regret it,” she said calmly.

He advanced with Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon in his hands. Each step brought him ever-closer to his troublesome enemy, gradually accelerating.

Shing...

Once he reached a certain speed, he took a final step in a flash as the sound of steel being drawn echoed out.

[Demonic [Spirit] Sword 80th Form]

[Dying to Live, Living to Die]

Clank!!

Thanatos managed to block Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon using her black claws. He had swung Red Ribbon utilizing non-physical laws and Blue Ribbon with physical laws. She blocked them, recognizing the powerful synergy between the two swords.

But with her move, Davey now knew that Eclipse’s body Thanatos was occupying was getting affected by their power. That power was thanks to their upgrade from Arbit’s dragon heart. She had shown him herself that the two swords had reached a level where even merely defending was dangerous.

“There’s nowhere left for you to go. Cliff behind, enemy in front. You’ve burned your bridge out, there's no escape.”

“Fleeing be damned. Destruction is all that’s left if I can’t kill you here,” she snarled.

Davey noticed her chipped claw recovering. He assumed she had damaged it in an attempt to defend herself earlier. But then, she opened a black space behind her, drawing from within it a thin, black longsword which was even taller than her body.

From then on, the two clashed without saying a word.

Clank!

‘I can’t remember if Eclipse was the one who was good at swordsmanship or if Thanatos was good at it already,’ he thought.

Her atmosphere changed the moment she wielded the sword.

“I didn’t know you were this good with swords.”

“Swordsmanship is just a culture. Particular techniques for wielding it are a limit puny creatures have imposed on themselves.”

Her movements were swift, counters precise, blocking his attacks and launching counterattacks of her own.

‘Alright then, let’s see what you got.’

Clank, clank!

The flesh on the ground flew left and right accompanied by black sparks.

[Longsword]

[Splitting the Mountains]

Clank!!

Her sword remained intact even after barely blocking Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon. As she blocked the swords imbued with overwhelming weight, she managed to launch a highly practical counterattack of her own with incredible speed.

It wasn’t simply flashy; her swordsmanship had no set form or pattern, but it was backed by overwhelming physical strength.

Clank! Clank!!

They clashed further, black flames being sent flying around. Davey then intentionally created a gap between them to bait her in.

"Hmph!"

She seized the opportunity without hesitation, flashing toward him to strike his abdomen.

[Ylgr’s Crowd Suppression]

[Fierce Abdominal Strike]

Thud!!

Once she got close, he managed to hit her solar plexus with intangible energy and create an opening.

“I recommend you not block my moves.”

Zzzt!!!

He followed her as she went flying, merging Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon in a flash. Once he gripped the sword with both hands, an explosive surge of energy coursed through his entire body.

He then applied the power he had gained by absorbing Illyna’s blade energy and talent. It was originally a power beyond his capability, but no longer.

The Continuum-Attacking Blade was a type of swordsmanship that manipulated mana when the weight of the longsword surpassed a certain limit, creating interference in the surroundings and forcing it to go into a frenzy. He hadn’t known how to take advantage of mana before, but he now did it as easily as if it were second nature.

It was a wild collision between a god, gifted with perfect talent from the start, and the owner of a divinity that consumed everything and made it into his own talent and experience.

On the surface, the former seemed stronger, but entities inevitably hit one limit: lack of experience.

[Continuum-Attacking Blade]

[Singular Power Slash]

Her eyes widened as she raised her sword to defend herself, an overwhelming force cutting through the space between them. She quickly abandoned her defense and attempted to flee, but... it was already too late.

Clank!!! Thud!!

She barely deflected the sword, reducing some of its force, but much of the power had already reached her. Her black blade shattered in an instant, leaving a deep wound on her body. As she was thrown back and pinned against the wall, Davey clenched his fists for a follow-up.

He wasn’t going to give her any time to think.

[9th Circle Dark Magic]

[Courtship of the Longing]

Suddenly, black hands emerged, containing her before massive explosions of void energy erupted around her. She didn’t even scream as the dark magic, which devoured everything, consumed her, but Davey could feel it—the strong tremor in her divinity.

Now that he knew his attack was effective even against beings with levels of divinity, there was no reason for him to hesitate. He prepared to deliver another follow-up blow, knowing it would be easier to finish her off before she could recover.

But just then, what looked like a massive egg nestled in the blob of flesh broke open and a bizarre creature emerged. It was a grotesque, human-like figure with arms made of black fog that stretched several meters long. The monster, devoted to protecting its creator, used its enormous strength to push him back before swinging its massive arms to attack.

Davey could tell this dark, fog-like creature was powerful despite its awful appearance.

[10th Level Transcendental Holy Magic]

[Proclamation of Holy War]

Thud!!

An overwhelming surge of holy power flooded the area, forcefully enhancing his body. When Davey swung his sword once again, the black fog kept advancing as if confident in its strength against him.

But Davey knew that it no longer stood a chance against him—he was now empowered by holy power strengthened by his characteristic Predatory Assimilation.

The two were now on a completely different level.

Thud!!

The black fog that had once overpowered him faltered, seemingly startled by how strong Davey had become. It affording him an opportunity to respond only meant the hastening of its death. Of course, it wasn’t a princess of the Abyss, instead something else unique. He figured its objective wasn’t simply stopping him.

Suddenly, the black fog covering the surroundings manipulated the space around them. It created a false Abyss, rendering Davey unable to see anything in his surroundings. As he tried to locate Thanatos, she swiftly appeared and grabbed hold of him while flashing her vertically slit, reptilian eyes.

A massive mouth opened behind her, unleashing a blast of scorching hot breath straight at him.

Crackle!!

The searing breath, coming from an unavoidable distance, also carried the power of Thanatos, differing from the usual breath attacks Eclipse used.

Davey instinctively tried to use his Predatory Assimilation characteristic to absorb it, but the sheer force of the attack pressed down on him. Thanatos didn’t fully understand the nature of his characteristic, but she still had somewhat of a grasp on it. She believed that if she constantly applied pressure on him, she could eventually suppress him.

"Tsk."

Davey clicked his tongue as he was pinned down by the crushing force almost as if being pressed under intense gravity, then began gathering strength in his other hand.

He absorbed the divine power of the Abyss from Thanatos, merging it with his own divine power—the power of Goddess Freyja—and also with the divine power of Neltarid.

‘If the power of the Abyss was created exclusively for you, I’ll just change it to fit me instead.’

"Hrmph?!”

Thanatos’ eyes widened in panic when she sensed the familiar form of force gathering in his hand. She tried to get away, but Davey didn't hesitate to grab her arm and unleash his strength.

Boom!!

He attacked her with her own power and created an opening. While he was still limited on what he could do with Predatory Assimilation, he could now tap into the core powers of his foes. Davey assumed that he could interfere with her energy and bounce it back to her if their powers were the same.

As he destroyed the divine force that had been protecting her with the same divine force, he drew Super Ribbon into his hands. He aimed the blue-red blade of Super Ribbon at her heart.

"W-What?! How did you use my authority?!”

"I won’t lie; your authority’s fucking incredible!”

Squelsh!!

Davey pierced Super Ribbon through her heart.