The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

A mysterious collapse of a bridge that occurred recently had brought unusual international attention to South Korea. Poor construction management could easily be blamed as the cause of the incident, which had resulted in numerous fatalities.

But it was too riddled with questionable factors to be a plausible explanation for what had truly happened to the bridge, which had been reported to have no issues following an inspection conducted just a while ago. So how could it collapse so suddenly? What was even more absurd was how the bridge collapsed. It seemed to have been cleaved in one slice by a gigantic and sharp blade—a conclusion reached by the investigation team after examining what had been left of the bridge. Even though other traces were left on the bridge's remains, experts had deemed it impossible to cut through a bridge of such a size in one go.

Every day, throngs of people would swarm the dreadful-looking location to see the odd scene, where mighty entities seemed to have fought. But what heated up intecommunities the most was not the collapse of the bridge. It was the light pouring out from the middle of the river where the collapsed bridge had been located.

"Sister," Hydro, whose real nwas Ji-Hwan, said as he looked at the collapsed bridge with a stern face.

From the perspective of a non-expert, it was impossible to differentiate between a collapse caused by poor construction and one caused by aliens that wrecked it. Everything was utterly destroyed, and all that were left were just traces of the destruction. So how could they possibly observe and make logical conclusions/explanations? The majority of the intecommunity consisted of those non-experts.But it was the previously mentioned translucent, greenish light that got people so heated up about the collapse.

"It doesn't seem like I'm the only one who can see it." Ji-Hwan’s brow furrowed.

The fact that there was no known source or explanation for the massive afterimage of light, which seemed to defy the laws of physics, caused even more confusion. Rumors even circulated online, suggesting a myriad of things. Ssay it was a trace of aliens that had paid a visit, while others talked about how it was evidence of a new weapon secretly being tested by the government. There are also those who talked about it being a natural disaster. While there was much speculation, no one could assertively confirm anything. But Oxygen, or Ji-Ah, and her younger brother, Ji-Hwan, could not simply accept it as lightly as others.

"It looks like it might move at any moment."

"Do you see it too, Hwan?"

"An impossibly huge...octopus tentacle."

It looked like a gigantic octopus tentacle with suction cups. Others dubbed it a pillar of light, but the siblings saw something more than that—they saw the shape of a massive, hazy octopus tentacle. But since it was difficult to see the details of its form and was too large, it obviously would be a stretch to call it a Kraken’s leg. How cother people noticed nothing strange about it? Even Cat Tower, who was Ji-Ah’s friend, outright dismissed such questions as nonsense when they brought the topic up.

Even from afar, the sight of the gigantic octopus tentacle was clearly visible to Ji-Ah, who couldn’t get any closer than a certain distance. Her eyes then suddenly went wide, and she reached out a hand toward Ji-Hwan’s head.

Before Ji-Hwan could even react, she had caught something over his head—a pigeon with black feathers.

"Uh... what? Ahhh!" Ji-Ah screamed as she dropped the pitiful pigeon. She then collapsed on the ground.

Ji-Hwan immediately approached her, his eyes wide. "Sister!"

"What... what is that?!"

Even she was surprised, unable to steady the tremble in her gaze despite the fact that she had held it earlier. She did not understand how she managed to catch the dead pigeon that was about to land right on Ji-Hwan after falling from the sky.

"Did you... catch it?"

Frowning, she replied by muttering in horror, "Ah... No, I didn’t even realize..."

From Ji-Hwan's point of view, his sister, Ji-Ah, was famously known in reality for being terribly uncoordinated. How could she notice it first when Ji-Hwan himself remained incognizant? On top of that, how did she manage to move so swiftly?

"More importantly... What's with this pigeon?"

Not only was it dead, but it was also in a terrible state, as if something horrifying had torn it apart in mid-air. The unsettling occurrence left them in temporary silence. Then the startled siblings began running aimlessly without daring to look up at the sky.

The area where the two had been was suddenly bombarded with dead pigeons, which were all in dreadful conditions.

Greenish light and the numerous pigeons that fell from the sky were just the start of the horrible omens, causing South Korean public opinion to spiral.

Meanwhile, in the darkness, something that was feeding on the people’s fear and confusion began to slowly open its eyes.

***

Princess Davey had tried to elevate the level of her spirit using the Power of Taboo, which was a part of Hercules' power. Even though most of her power was suddenly stolen by Davey, she refrained from attacking him. Both of them knew that what he had done to disrupt her ritual to undergo Metamorphosis was a calculative move, and that it was too dangerous for the two of them if she attacked him to take her power back.

Princess Davey hesitated for a moment, but then she finally approached him and began to manifest other powers other than the Power of Taboo which was taken away by Davey.

"I usually refrain from cursing someone... But you're an exception."

There was no tension on Princess Davey's face as she spoke to him, but her gaze held a hint of bitterness. She was gradually realizing that she was fake. The discrepancies were corrected with each regression of this world, and bit by bit, Princess Davey cto remember what she had gone through with Davey.

The yellow card from Goddess Freyja was essentially a warning, and if Davey accumulated three of them, his relationship with her might get irreparably damaged. The furious goddess might strike him down with her power. She might also decide to never give him any more chances or worse, to bring him to her side against his will.

The important thing was, since Davey had already started the process of Metamorphosis, he had to see it through and witness how the whole situation would unfold after. If not now, there might not be another chance. Since he was in the dream realm, it might still be feasible for him to boost the level of his spirit even though it was impossible to restructure himself physically through Metamorphosis.

"Focus, damn it! Do you want to cross the River Styx, huh?!"

A power that was completely uncontrollable was as good as poison, and the Power of Taboo, which extended beyond his control, was pressing down on his spirit, ready to tear it apart at any moment.

Kneeling as he gritted his teeth, he kept his eyes wide open. And unlike when he was in the Hall of Heroes, he made full use of what he had at his disposal, like how he used the divine power of Goddess Freyja. Whether it was done in good faith or in ill will, she had imparted her power, which still resided within him. Davey had the power of a god, not that of a demi-god. Goddess Freyja’s power was on a whole another level than holy power, mana imitating a god’s power, so how could he not make use of it?

Goddess Freyja’s power mingled with the Power of Taboo, and the two started to sustain Davey, who swore to never fail again after countless failures.

With the sound of his spirit splitting apart, the Power of Taboo began to completely engulf Davey.

"Master Davey!"

Princess Davey shouted at Rinne, "Don't cany closer!! If you interfere right now, we will all die. Do you understand?! Rinne! Go and tell the others to evacuate all the civilians! Make sure not a single living being is left within a five kilometer radius of this place!! Move quickly!"

After Princess Davey gave her urgent instructions, Rinne quietly nodded. The wings on her back flapped repeatedly, propelling her to quickly fly into the sky.

"You, damned fool. Failure is not an option. I don't care whether you are fake or real. If one of my people dies because of you..." The princess trailed off, her gaze piercing directly into his eyes. "You know best what I’ll do to you."

"Just truston this."

Despite her threat, he grinned slyly as he started to let go of his consciousness, as though he was entrusting his spirit to the Power of Taboo, which beca lot easier to control after it had consumed Goddess Freyja’s power. Then, along with ssort of shift in his vision, a faint voice was heard.

[Oh pitiful and young Saint, who has made the repeated choice even throughout eons. May the last affection and blessing be with your wishes.]

Along with the resigned voice, there were traces of a faint light and pristine white feathers, as if a goddess had visited.

***

A severe winter storm had already turned the Pallan Empire into a hell of ice. A chilling aura radiated from the once dignified Royal Guards. They were supposed to protect the empire, but they had turned into frozen corpses and becthe undead that obeyed the Abyss. The palace, which was once filled with liveliness and order, had becfilled with silence and sorrow. Additionally, under an immense cold storm that brought coldness far more than just what was ordinary, the capital of the Pallan Empire had devolved into hell with not a single survivor. It was a coldness that made even inanimate objects tremble with fear, akin to the creepiness and shivering experienced by those staring into endless darkness.

As the power of Perserque grew stronger, the Abyssal monster Overmind that had successfully crossed into this land had fully settled in the underground altar in the imperial palace—the emperor's shrine. It was originally a sanctuary for worshiping Sword Lord Ares, who was revered as a god in the Pallan Empire. But at the moment, the shrine was filled with dreadful mucus and thick, disgusting tentacles with eyeballs. The monstrous shape, with hundreds of thousands of eyeballs stuck closely together around a giant eyeball on its main body, was stimulating fear emanating from disgust.

Shortly afterward, a chunk of body that had been moving dreadfully split open. Then a frozen man fell out, and half of him was crushed with a thud. Unidentified metallic or scaled skin sporadically protruded on the parts where the corpse had rotted. The face had beca smooth sphere, making it hard to make out any facial features.

But his attire and the sword he held, which symbolized the Crown Prince, revealed the man’s identity. It was the Crown Prince Sullivan of Pallan. Although his method of saving his younger sibling differed from the former Crown Prince, he was a man who insisted on his own way. But now he was turned into a hideous undead.

Overmind was an Abyssal entity that transformed its victim into an undead creature by continuously feeding them fear and misery. Overmind was basically the maternal figure of its undeads. It was also much more dangerous than the Princess of the Abyss, despite the fact that they did not have the smagnitude of power.

To guard itself, Overmind cunningly summoned the Princess of the Abyss, who would find it easier to enter Tionis compared to other worlds.

It also grew easier to cross over since Overmind strengthened Perserque's power and decreased Goddess Freyja's influence. Although it was technically impossible to cross dimensions, the Abyss was fragments of a god. And so, the origin of the Abyssal Power was undoubtedly superior.

With an ice sword in one hand and a fire sword in the other, the quiet Princess of the Abyss slowly approached Sullivan, the undead, and then slithered. As her lower body started to elongate like a snake, her long hair also transformed into dry ropes, covering half of the gigantic snake’s tail that had greatly enlarged. Her arms split into four pairs, each of which grew until it was more than twice of its original length. A dreadful sense of horror emanated from her sunken, chilling eyes that displayed patterns akin to flowing black tears.

Holding up a gigantic spear now and flashing her daunting eyes, she had already lost half of her original physical shape. The horrible mucus flowing from Overmind solidified, corrupting the environment and transforming everything into the undead. But the undead they created differed from the usual ones, which were simply the dead returning to life. Gradually, as Overmind continued to grow its power, it began to spread its power throughout the world.

Overmind expected that in various parts of the world, simultaneous mutations would occur, transforming humans into undead creatures that would bite and tear each other apart. That was supposed to happen. But the Princess of the Abyss, who had twisted her body unexpectedly, suddenly had an expression that was filled with surprise.

[What the...]

The half-snake, half-human Princess of the Abyss furrowed her brows with a horrifying sound that seemed to mix hundreds of voices. However, Overmind remained unfazed.

[Sssss... Our mother has started to control her power. It should be impossible.]

[...]

[It doesn't matter. He will not be able to thwart this plan. When he tries to stop us, there would be nothing left by his side. And when he falls, we will simply take our mother and return to the Abyss.]

With a chilly voice, Overmind, who blinked in its thousands of eyes, extended its tentacles toward the place where Sullivan had disappeared.

Its tentacles, which were escaping the underground altar, suddenly turned black and gradually crumbled into powder. Eventually, they were all annihilated completely. Overmind seemed to be taken aback by the unexpected change. It retracted its remaining tentacles and directed its massive eye toward the only passage that led from the altar to the court of the emperor, where there were two figures.

"I cannot save anyone who died before this moment because the tI regress to is already after that thing has arrived.”

A young man emerged from the darkness. A girl, who matched his stride and appeared to be his double, also revealed herself. She had enchanting red eyes that contrasted with her long and beautiful black hair.

[Pitiful mortals coming here changes nothing.]

The altar reverberated with Overmind’s will. Its voice carried a chill that would normally make any being cover their ears and tremble in fear. But the man and woman, who had seen Overmind and the Princess of the Abyss, smiled, their expressions showing their unwavering determination.

Without having an agreement between them on who would talk first, both of them spoke at the stime, proving how similar they were.

"I've always wanted to try this."

"I've always wanted to try this."

[I object.]

The half-snake, half-human Princess of the Abyss swung her giant spear, and the space was torn open. Her action caused several beings with overwhelming strength to emerge. It was an occurrence that did not happen during the regression loop. But his expression, as well as the woman’s, remained utterly at ease.

"Last tit was just the two of them. Now there are five... They have impressive stealth abilities."

"Really. I almost didn't notice."

"Sullivan turned into the undead and still calledin here. I think I know why. There were creatures like them hiding here,” the young man said calmly as he stepped forward. "My anger has been piling up over time. This is just perfect."