The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

“Haa… Haa…” Illyna tried to catch her breath.

She had red eyes, flushed cheeks, and drool dripping down her chin. She looked so obscene, but her prim and proper clothes remained completely untouched.

“What a very mysterious body.”

The body was so mysterious that anyone would have the desire to touch and massage it. Anyway, it did not matter even after she had become a Sword Master expert; Illyna de Pallan would remain the same.

—Looking at the strength of her body, I can tell that the machine gun in your past life would not be able to pierce through her flesh, right?

That was the beauty of full metamorphosis. Humans were the only race that could overcome their limits. After all, they had the most indefinite power. Upon undergoing metamorphosis, their bodies would naturally evolve and transform.

Although their skin would remain soft and supple, it would become extremely tough armor when needed by absorbing mana.

Davey silently pulled out a dagger to see how powerful Illyna’s body had grown after being subjected to his fingers’ magic.

Illyna’s body bore no cuts from the dagger. Instead, it transferred that impact back to the dagger itself and made it crack.

“Ah, wait… I might feel this every time, but…”

—Your body is even weirder. It usually wouldn’t reach that point.

No matter how immune to a thousand poisons a Sword Master’s body was, the strength of Davey’s body was on a whole other level of ridiculous.

—Back then, you only underwent a metamorphosis once, right? Usually, for your body to reach this level of ridiculousness, you have to undergo metamorphosis three or four more times, right?

“How should I say this…?”

This had happened to Davey once before.

Back when he had tried to survive in a desert, he had accidentally gotten sucked underground and had been greeted by a gigantic sand worm with a mouth that was filled with thousand sharp teeth. It could even pierce through steel and crush anyone with a bite. Davey had almost died during their first encounter.

“After getting chewed on a few times, I eventually got used to it.”

—That… I don’t think that’s the kind of thing that you can get used to, even if you want to.

“That’s how my body got strengthened and reinforced. I was in my soul form back then. However, all of the power and strength that I’ve gained there has been engraved and imprinted on my soul. And now, they’re slowly getting applied to this body.”

Davey had previously told Perserque that the first thing that he had learned from Hercules, who had been a survival specialist, was to turn his body into an unmatched monster.

“That guy constantly tested the limits of the human body. He was the barometer that determined how strong a human could become.”

—How solid and strong is his body?

To answer Perserque’s question and illustrate how strong and sturdy Hercules’ body had been, Davey thought that the best answer was the battle that had determined the ultimate number one in the Hall. Back then, the heroes had not yet been as crazy as they were now.

“He blocked your father’s Splitting Seas with his bare body. Well, in the first place, that lunatic survival specialist never carried any armor or weapon on himself.”

—Goodness…

One could only imagine how powerful and strong that sword strike had been to be able to split the seas, especially one that had been released by the Sword God himself.

After all, the Sword God’s Longsword was a swordsmanship that did not focus on the technique but its destructive power. In fact, there was no other hero, except for Hercules, who could receive such an attack with their bare body.

“Ah… Aaaaah…”

Davey covered the trembling Illyna with a blanket. The smile on his face disappeared as he said, “No one else will listen to us here. Show yourself.”

Perserque looked at Davey in worry, feeling troubled by his words. After some time, she nodded in agreement and sat quietly on the simple bed inside the hut.

—Alright. I don’t have to stay by your side every second of the day.

“Alright,” Davey said and went out to walk silently with Belial for a long time.

Belial followed Davey with a wary look on his face.

After reaching a place that was out of earshot, somewhere a bit further away from the hut where Illyna was, Davey flicked his hand.

A Silence Curtain was created even though Davey hadn’t uttered a chant.

After looking at the absurd scene, Belial asked Davey, “What do you want to say to me, human?”

“There’s no need for formality. I don’t want to ask you this so bluntly, but you leave me with no choice. Clarify your purpose in coming here.”

“…”

“Otherwise, it wouldn’t matter what Illyna thinks. You will die right here and now,” Davey said with a solemn and grave expression.

Belial turned pale as an overwhelming amount of mana began to weigh down on him.

He was still injured and had to undergo recovery, so he wouldn’t be able to fight back even if he wanted to. Besides, even if he was in his normal state, he knew best that Davey was not an opponent that he could fight against. The gap between their power was just that overwhelming.

—…

“Silence, huh…”

Once Davey was done speaking, Belial immediately lost an arm.

“Urk?!”

“Does it look like I’m joking?”

Belial took a step back after seeing the grin on Davey’s face. He could tell that Davey’s smile held a different meaning from friendliness.

After seeing the demon falter and retreat instinctively, Davey said, “That arm. If you don’t attach that within thirty minutes, then you won’t be able to attach them again. Think about it properly.”

“As expected, you’re really a crazy guy. Madness has been embedded deep in your soul and not in your body.”

Hearing the demon’s surprising criticism, Davey looked at Belial in surprise. He then recalled the demons that Ares had previously materialized for him. Among them had been one demon that could tell Davey’s condition just by looking at him, and he had been…

“Was it Regent Melprogue?”

“That… You… How?”

“No wonder. Melprogue’s eyes can definitely see through my condition. A long time must have passed since his time. Then, you must be his descendant, no?”

“…” Belial gritted his teeth.

“Are you telling me that you’ll keep your mouth shut until the very end?”

“Lunatic.”

“To be honest, I haven’t told anyone about that.”

Any human who lived for thousands of years while retaining each and every single memory would not be able to have their ego intact.

“That’s right, I’m a tad bit crazy.”

Not long after, Belial’s other arm was cut off too. If others saw both Belial and Davey, they might find it ridiculous to see the demon getting pushed back by simple sword energy alone.

Davey couldn’t care less. He just asked quietly, “What is your purpose? Seeing that your power is not showing a red light even after hearing that I will crush the vampires, you are not actually cooperating with the vampires to stir up confusion in this place.”

“My purpose has long been gone the moment Nyx, the Demon Lord’s closest confidant, had died.”

“Are you talking about the restrictions and prohibitions Nyx had engraved on your body? That punk is already dead, so they are all useless now.”

When Belial looked away from him, Davey said, “Oh, you’re avoiding my gaze. I must have hit the nail on the head then?”

“…”

“Let’s see. I don’t think you’re particularly greedy. It seems like you’re also a bit pessimistic about the Demon Lord’s revival. And considering the fact that you’ve been sent here by the current rulers of the Demon World with restrictions, it’s a bit hard to say that you have the same purpose,” Davey said, smiling as he pointed out his assumptions one after the other.

“If you’re a descendant of Melprogue, the possessor of the Demonic Eyes, then you can see the soul,” Davey added calmly as he used his mana to lift Belial’s arms, which had fallen onto the ground.

Belial could not help but look at Davey in shock when he saw the dark mana pouring out of him. He murmured, “How can someone with holy mana…?”

With an incredulous expression on his face, he watched as his arms reattached themselves to his body. Then, he realized that he could move his arms again. He exclaimed, “What in the world, you… How much more do you know?”

“This is just what I can roughly tell. Melprogue was an extreme believer of Demon Lord Perserque. If you uphold your family traditions and values, then what you want is not just the revival of the Demon Lord but the safety of Perserque.”

Noticing the slight change in Belial’s expression, Davey continued, “Want me to say more? The problem here is that you do not have any reason to refuse when the vampires told you that they would resurrect the Demon Lord. In fact, you could have welcomed it.”

“Damn it…”

“But you refused. What’s your reason?”

Belial looked defeated, looking at Davey as if he were a monster.

“Even if you don’t listen to their orders, they have sent you here with the knowledge that you’re the only one who can find the Demon Lord’s soul. You’ve noticed that something’s wrong at some point, am I right?”

Belial said through gritted teeth, “The vampires…want to place the soul of Demon Lord Perserque in the body that they’ve created to have her act according to their wishes.”

Of course, they knew that Perserque was not an idiot and had been a Demon Lord who promoted peace. Nevertheless, they wanted to revive her because she had been the only Demon Lord who had the absolute power to attract all of the demons.

“You must have entertained plenty of thoughts the moment your restriction has been lifted. Once you found out who Illyna was, you stayed by her side. Why?”

Davey was sure that Belial would escape not if he had wanted to. After all, the demon’s trembling gaze at the sight of his eerie smile was evidence enough.

“There’s only one reason I can think of. I believe you’re trying to find the location where Perserque has been sealed. You must have determined that Perserque’s soul was sealed somewhere around Illyna, the owner of the divine sword.”

“…I am looking for the Demon Lord’s soul. Even if the Demon Lord has been sealed, I can still see her soul.”

“And so?”

“So, that…”

Belial was seemingly set to protect the soul of the only remaining pure-blooded absolute existence to him and his people.

“I wish for the revival of the Demon Lord. However, I can never let her be used by those vicious bastards. And because that human woman showed me sympathy, I made use of her.”

Human relationships could still hide plenty of unsightly and horrible things despite sharing friendly connections with one another.

Things had clearly been going well for Belial, but Davey did notice something strange about the situation. Perserque, in her spirit form, had always been by Davey’s side. However, Belial had failed to see her…

“You… What’s the level of your vision right now?”

“…”

“Since coming here from the other side, I have lost control over it.”

Davey did not know much about the Demonic Eyes, but he had experienced an overload like that at least once in his life. He hadn’t taken this into consideration, so he had overestimated Belial’s abilities. He now understood why Belial could not see Perserque despite having that ability and why Perserque remained undiscovered by his side.

“No one knows about this aside from me. How… How in the world did you find out?”

“How do I say this? I’ve lived in a place where you won’t be able to survive in your right mind. And once you go crazy, you will be able to see things that you normally wouldn’t be able to see.”

Tajjas were gamblers who cheated others just by changing something slightly, something that ordinary people would not be able to see.

“…”

“I can see what people think. Sometimes, I even mess up or get hurt on purpose. You know, I’m really good at acting.”

Davey could protect as many people as he wanted, but he could force no one to understand him. Also…

After a brief silence, Davey started to speak again, “I just took a shot, but I guess I got it right, huh?”

“You’re truly crazy. If you’re truly that good at guessing things, then there’s no reason for the Demonic Eyes to be called Demonic Eyes.”

Davey smirked. Suddenly shooting dark mana toward Belial’s overloaded body, he said, “Hey, you. Are you ready to give up your life for Demon Lord Perserque?”

“Why should I say anything to you, you bastard of a human?”

“I’m going to get a sense of what I will do and whether I will tell you my plans in the future or not. And everything will depend on your answer.” Davey grabbed the arms of the collapsed Belial and said, “I do not make any unnecessary investments. It would be normal for me to kill you on the spot, but if you’re worth my investment… I will keep you alive.”

He showed Belial a calm smile.

Anyone could hear of his plan, but Perserque should never hear it. He never intended the silver-haired former Demon Lord, who always stood by his side, to hear this. It was also too late for him to stop the vampires’ plans now.

“I’m saying that you should party up with me.”

“What are you saying?”

“Both you and I have the same purpose. How about it? Want to give it a try?”

As Belial remained silent, Davey stated, “However, you’ll have to pay a price.”

Belial was very quick-witted. It seemed like he found a hint of something from the crazy smile that bloomed on Davey’s face.

“Right. You need to pay a price.”

“What is it?”

Davey quietly told Belial the price that he had to pay, and this one thing was the most important thing of all.