The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

- Krrraaaaaaang!!!

After having crushed the formless Abyssal monster Oedon, the massive terrestrial dragon, Shandra Minea, slowly raised its head with glowing, reddened eyes. Then, it loudly and ferociously howled at the other King of Mythical Beasts in the sky, Megalodria, who was currently the only one with a proper summoner.

Simultaneously, fissures began to appear all over Shandra’s body, and scarlet flames started to flicker from these cracks signaling that its dormant instincts were starting to awaken.

[Is it regaining consciousness?]

To a pair of untrained eyes, Megalodria's expression was indiscernible, but there was actually an unusual sense of elation in its expression.

Shandra Minea possessed several powers: earthquake, psychic manipulation, clone generation, and energy barriers.

The three Kings of Mythical Beasts that grew up being fed by a human for so long were surely nothing more than insignificant beings at the beginning. That was why Megalodria appeared to have a strong attachment to Shandra Minea, whom Megalodria grew up to be strong with. However, this attachment was soon to be a massive mistake Megalodria hadn’t ever thought of.

"Step aside."

Davey blocked Megalodria, who was rapidly descending to check on Shandra Minea's state, and with the energy concentrated at the tip of his foot, Davey swiftly kicked Shandra Minea upward. At the sinstant, Shandra Minea’s tail flicked toward where Megalodria was flying to.

Had Megalodria descended as it intended, the tail would have inflicted lethal damage. Megalodria was known to be the wisest among the King of Mythical Beasts. But its own wisdom made its weaknesses more pronounced, unlike Behemoth, who fought in an instinctive manner.

[Why, why are you attacking me?!]

Megalodria cried out in shock, believing Shandra Minea was attacking despite seemingly gaining back its sanity.

"I heard you fought Shandra Minea's clone before. Unlike you, it looks like Shandra Minea and Behemoth can manifest sstrength even when they are corrupted."

Megalodria's face darkened, realizing that Shandra Minea was still under the influence of the corruption.

Suddenly, dozens of grotesque tentacles tightly wrapped around Davey.

"Davey!"

Davey’s gaze was fixed solely on the ground below where Shandra Minea had just trampled.

As if alive, the tentacles slithered and tightened around Davey completely.

Simultaneously, the surrounding landscape began to change. The land, which still had sgreenery, turned into a sticky mucus-like substance, and the surrounding trees lost their color and turned black. From within the ground, strange beings also began to emerge.

[How dare you tarnish the existence of the King of Mythical Beasts and think you can live to tell the tale?!]

Megalodria’s chilling murderous intent began to pervade the area.

For Megalodria was the storm, and the storm was Megalodria.

As if responding to its rage, dark and immense thunderclouds began to form, which were then accompanied by lightning. Eventually, with flickering red eyes, Shandra Mineastarted grappling the surface of the ground from where it was lying at the bottom,, and Megalodria snatched Shandra Minea away, soaring up high into the sky.

[Even if I cannot stop you, the catastrophe has already begun.]

An eye emerged from the mass of tentacles and stared at Davey. Then, the pupil split apart, revealing a ghastly mouth that taunted Davey.

“Is that your last will?”

[Grrrrrrr]

The tentacles that had wrapped around Davey squeezed him even tighter, but within the pressure of their firm and unyielding hold, Davey unleashed the Taboo’s Karma. The tentacles that had wrapped around Davey began to crumble into ash while emitting black aura.

At the stime, the black aura started to circulate around the tip of Blue Ribbon as it was getting absorbed by the sword’s blade energy. Once every last drop of the wild power was completely absorbed, the formless monster desperately sent its tentacles flailing toward Perserque.

However, the tentacles never reached her, because before they could go far, a blue blade energy cut through all of the creature's tentacles and tore its flesh to pieces.

[Ugh! Ahh!!]

A desperate scream filled the air, and the region began to warp and collapse. But the creature's horrific eyes remained fixated on Davey.

[Killingchanges nothing. Everything... has already begun...]

“At least it's better than leaving you alive.”

Slash!!

Once more, Davey swung Blue Ribbon, splitting the creature into pieces and making its flesh dissolve completely. The sizable jewel that it possessed, which also allowed Davey to track it, dropped to the ground with an audible clink.

"The Absolute Gem!" Perserque exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

Without a word, Davey grasped the Absolute Gem, and fragments that were emanating light jumped out from the Pocket Plane and spontaneously began to merge.

“This should yield sresults.”

“But... Davey?”

“What?”

“Why isn't Shandra Minea regaining its sanity?”

“Right now, it's impossible to undo Urd’s corruption with my power.”

Davey had erased the power that had eroded Megalodria when he was in a parallel world possessing all powers. Megalodria and Shandra Minea were both beyond Grandmaster-level summoned creatures. Since Urd’s distinct power that corrupted Megalodria in the past was so powerful, erasing the erosive power with Taboo’s Karma was not so easy.

“Then... there’s no way to save it?”

“There is. I just have to do it like when I saved Megalodria.”

It should be a bit easier than it was with Megalodria, since Davey had Shane Scrift’s genes. As he observed the world around him, still terribly distorted even after dealing with Oedon, he retrieved a small card deck from the Pocket Plane.

A colossal battle raged, making heaven and earth tremble and the ground weep.

Without a word, Davey watched the battle of the two Kings of Mythical Beasts. While the Blue Ribbon floated in the air, he slowly raised the Divine Spear Longinus in its second form, which was a ludicrously sturdy weapon. The spear then began to seethe with streaks of lightning.

A super-sized thunder spear, which was different in nature from the one Davey used during his unstable Metamorphosis, began to form. Its length stretched up to tens of meters, while expanding several meters in thickness. Then the blindingly brilliant spear soared high in the sky. At that instant, as Megalodria struck Shandra Minea several times and tossed it into the air, Davey unleashed a massive amount of mana.

An extraordinary surge of energy poured out amidst the intense sparks. It made Shandra Minea look up, belatedly realizing the nature of the thunder spear. But the purely instinctual creature chose to defend rather than evade, which turned out to be a complete mistake.

With the sudden blow of Megalodria's wind breath, Shandra Minea struggled to keep its balance.

Then the thunder spear impaled the creature before it had a chance to react.

[Foolish!]

Megalodria rushed toward Shandra Minea and grabbed the protruding end of the spear that impaled it. Megalondria then veered in a different direction and took a nosedive to the ground at full speed.The colossal body of Shandra Minea, still lanced by the thunder spear, was unstoppable as it hurtled to the ground with immense force.

“It’s going to sting a bit.”

In the blink of an eye, the fall of the two Kings of Mythical Beasts caused a massive explosion, and then an enormous shock wave burst out. But Davey stood stubbornly against the strong gush of gale as he opened the card deck and drew more power. It was the power of a hero, a Heavenly Demon.

Davey rubbed his palms firmly, and when he was through, sparks lit between his hands as countless cards flew out from the deck and into the air, enveloping the area where Shandra Minea and Megalodria crashed into the ground.

Synchronized with Davey’s power, the palm-sized cards then began to expand, growing massive and orbiting the two creatures while emitting rays of white light.

And from within the massive cloud of dust, a dark silhouette could be seen darting back to the sky. But the rays of light from the cards started to bind the giant terrestrial dragon, foiling its plan to escape..

[Summoner!!! I have a request!!]

"Speak."

[I shall give my life to you if you fulfill my request. Save Behemoth as well!]

Davey’s only response to the request was to spread his hands even wider. A massive spark jumped between Davey’s palms, creating an odd force, and soon the light from the cards began to compress around Shandra Minea’s colossal frame, pulling it into the card.

- Krraaanggggg!!!

Shandra Minea flared brightly as it let out an immense roar, and the ground it struck rumbled and quaked violently, creating fissures that spewed magma. This area, known as Cloud Valley, was once a lush forest, a place filled with charming sceneries. And now, this outstanding vista that had been preserved for thousands of years collapsed in an instant.

“I’ve beca cultural vandal…” Davey muttered bitterly, pushing Shandra Minea into the card and then drawing the card between his distanced palms, clapping them together.

At the stime, golden chains materialized out of thin air, shackling Shandra Minea inside the card. After several seconds of violent jingling, the chains gradually becsilent.

Davey hunched over with a frown, trying to catch his breath for a brief moment. Feeling better, he straightened his posture and lifted the card that now had the massive terrestrial dragon's image.

“I’ll dispel the corruption later.”

It was tough now. After briefly staring at the image of the terrestrial dragon bound in massive chains, Davey slipped it into the card deck, which he then tossed back into Pocket Plane. Saving Shandra Minea was not as straightforward as saving Megalodria. So for now, observation was all that he could do.

Having successfully retrieved the second King of Mythical Beasts, Davey gave himself a minute to silently survey the surroundings. The lush and beautiful vista was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was filled with the terrible corruption left by Oedon and the disastrous aftermath left by the battles of the two Kings of Mythical Beasts.

"Davey... this mark of corruption is not disappearing." Perserque pointed toward the perpetual tentacles of corruption extending toward her. She quickly hid behind Davey and complained, saying, "That's disgusting. I don't want to get closer."

"Yeah, don't get closer."

The tentacles required something beyond cleansing magic, and they slightly missed the mark even with the Taboo’s Karma.

"The source of the corruption... Its death has now eroded this world, rotting everything in sight. The damage done in this land is irreversible. We must find the source and destroy it..."

The voice was as cold as ice, and Davey turned around instinctively, slapping away the hand that was clawing at him.

“Aaah!!” Yun Hee-Ryeong screamed as she staggered back. She then gasped for air as she tried to recover.

"What are you doing, takingby surprise? Do you want to die?"

“Ugh...” She moaned in pain, frowning. Then she shouted at Davey, “What are you doing!!”

It was as if she did not remember what she had just done.