The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Davey's mind raced with all sorts of thoughts. He had no clue what had happened. Illyna stayed frozen for a moment before her eyes widened as she seemed to piece together the situation.

“Aaaah…!!!”

She screamed as she quickly covered her body. Davey also reacted as well.

“C-Calm down! Calm down!” Davey yelled, grabbing the half of the blanket she was frantically trying to pull away.

“I-I’m more shocked than you?!”

“Something's not right! We don’t know anything for sure yet, so just calm down!”

“You’re really saying that when you see us like this?!”

“J-Just keep calm!”

“Kyaaa!!”

The situation was a complete mess. Unlike the tense, subtle atmosphere from the day before, Illyna and Davey were both in a full-blown panic, unable to get themselves together in fear of what happened. He found the situation ridiculous as he watched her freaking out, covering herself and screaming while he spat out random words.

“Alright, enough of this. Put something on!” Davey shouted, throwing a robe from his Pocket Plane, which happened to land right on her face. She began flinging everything she could get her hands on in retaliation.

“How dare you… You!” she yelled.

He didn’t have time to dodge the things she threw at him. However, when he caught something small and white in his hands, he frowned.

“Aaaah!!!” she screamed, filled with pure embarrassment as she realized what he was holding.

***

Davey always welcomed new drinks, but…

“...”

‘Except you.’

Crack!!

He didn’t need some damn alcohol that instantly made him lose his senses and cause a mess. He stared at the shattered gourd on the ground and sighed.

“If I ever drink again, I’m a fucking idiot.”

He clutched his head and frowned. His physical condition had definitely improved, but he had paid a huge price for it. He had always reminded himself that he shouldn't do something he couldn't take responsibility for. And even after making that promise with Perserque, he got himself into this disaster after drinking. If he could go back in time right now, he probably would grab himself by the collar and slap himself for being so reckless.

“Sigh… Let’s calm down. We don’t even know what really happened yet.”

Davey tried his best to avoid reality.

‘Yeah, this might just be some crazy coincidence…’

But then…

“Ugh… My back hurts so much...” Illyna groaned.

“...”

Davey pressed his fingers against his eyelids and sighed.

“Shit…”

He drank and passed out. When he woke up, his body was covered with a blanket he had no memory of taking out... and he wasn’t wearing anything, either. The same went for Illyna.

‘What have I done…?’ he thought.

As a married man, with a wife like a vixen, he’d spent the night with another woman.

He had no clue how accept this reality. Even though he wanted to believe otherwise, it was hard not to think about the situation that seemed all too obvious. If what he feared was true, he had no idea how to handle it.

Davey imagined Perserque, who was so kind she bordered on nativity, might just say it was fine. Or, with the danger gone, she might get angry, cry, and/or accuse him of betrayal. He knew everything was all his fault—he had to take responsibility and make things right.

“Did we... did we really doit?” Illyna asked in a weak voice.

“I don’t even remember...” Davey replied, just as lost. He only grew more frustrated as he also had no memory of what happened.

But then, he remembered one person who could be a witness. His damned father-in-law, who had handed him that gourd. Davey couldn’t help but think that this was all because of that damned Dokgo Jun’s gourd he gave him. Fortunately, he sensed his spirit not far away.

“D-Davey...” Illyna called, catching his attention as he was about to leave. She avoided looking at him, her face flushed.

“Honestly… I don’t remember much... but it’s okay. I was the one who asked for it. I’ll keep this a secret for the rest of my life. I don’t hold you responsible for anything.”

She seemed to accept what they’d done.

“It’s alright… don’t worry too much.”

He didn’t understand why she was telling him not to worry. To him, she had the wrong idea. Davey had no intention of doing anything like that, not even for a night, and even if he had done so, he had no desire to make a foolish decision that would make her feel like she was just some bus that went around town.

If they really had gone that far together, then..

His heart grew cold, a reflection of the thoughts running through his mind.

“Illyna de Pallan.”

“H-Huh…?” she answered as she stuttered and eventually came to a pause.

“If you say one more stupid thing like that, you’re going to be in serious trouble,” Davey said in a low voice before walking out of the cave.

[Oh, look who’s finally up and about.]

“Last night. What did you give me to drink?”

[Didn't I tell you? It's called Yakju. It was supposed to help you somehow.]

[1]

“Is that so? Well, I must say, it certainly had a powerful punch, but let's be clear. What exactly did I do last night?”

When Davey asked again, Ares grinned.

[Does it matter? In the end, it was your choice. It's too late to blame it on being drunk... That would be lying to yourself.]

“Are you mad?”

[Is there a reason for me to be mad? The choice was yours, after all—not mine.]

Davey pressed his throbbing head as he heard his answer.

“This is insanity…”

[Pfft… You’re such an idiot.]

His statement made Davey even more frustrated. But he needed to hear the truth from the one who was laughing at him right now. He knew Ares knew what had happened; there was no way he didn’t. Davey at the moment couldn’t help but think about how water torture made people tell the truth.

“Just tell me. Stop messing with me.”

[What are you going to do if I confirm what you think actually happened?]

“At least then there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings.”

Instead of answering, Ares made a vague hand gesture.

[I told you not to fight that ancient dragon, Eclipse, for a week, remember? But that doesn’t mean you get to just rest up.]

“So you want me to beat Eclipse and then you’ll tell me?”

[Exactly. In this special space, we can interfere a little. I brought a soul here to retrain you because you’re so weak.]

As he finished speaking, Davey began to feel an overwhelming presence.

“King of Martial Arts Ylgr.”

He was the ultimate master of martial arts and the husband of Spirit Empress Yuriana, the ultimate elementalist of the hall. A demon from some random continent. A fighter so monstrous that he started with nothing but his bare fists and eventually tore a hole in the world.

He was a man fascinated by the strange stickman alchemist Eva created, and went on to develop a ridiculous yet highly effective fighting style called Crowd Suppression. He was only mid-level in terms of overall power among the heroes, but so formidable in pure combat that even the strongest heroes hesitated to face him one-on-one.

[It's been a while, kid.]

Behind Ares, a large man appeared, grinning widely. He had a joyful tone to his voice, just the way Davey was familiar with. It hadn’t been long since he’d last seen him; Davey in fact always complained and trash-talked about them, but there was one of them—someone Davey already missed, standing in front of his eyes.

[You’re something else. How did you manage that?]

“...”

Ylgr seemed to know everything, too.

“Ylgr.”

[I suppose you heard the conditions. Show me what you got.]

“Don’t think I haven’t changed.”

[You’re still a puny, weak kid to me.]

Thud!!

In an instant, their fists collided.

[Alright, I take that back. You’ve grown quite a bit.]

“You’re quite a monster man yourself, Ylgr. I suppose you don’t know how scary students these days grow, do you?”

[I’m one of those kinds of students, you bastard.]

Bang!!

The clash between them began as their powers collided.

***

Bang! Bang!!

Illyna de Pallan, who came out of the cave wrapped in a robe, was so embarrassed that she stopped in her tracks. This was because she saw two men crashing through the canyon, creating afterimages like a huge flash of lights.

“That person…”

[King of Martial Arts Ylgr. He is the Demon King of the continent of Berdel. He’s also a master of the best fighting techniques in the hall.]

“Oh… He’s the guy who made that weird Crowd Suppression or something, right?”

She knew this, as she had seen what Davey had done so far in his battles. Each and every technique seemed ridiculous to her.

“It’s a bit vicious, isn’t it?” Illyna commented.

[You're quick to notice. That guy is very professional when it comes to fighting against other people. At least, he’ll be helpful in raising our student’s current limitations.]

To Illyna, Davey was like an ironclad castle that would never collapse. An unbreakable wall. However, the devil named Ylgr—who was fighting Davey and sending chills down his spine—was on a completely different level.

[Do you feel like it’s futile?]

"What do you mean?"

[Futile about the fact that despite all your efforts there’s still a massive enemy out there, one that seems capable of defeating the ones you fought.]

"To be honest… it would be a lie if I said no.”

[That’s only natural. This is something I didn't even tell Davey...]

After a brief silence, the Sword God Ares picked up his sword.

[But we didn’t simply stop on the path of a hero. Davey may not know, but no living being can reach this point alive.]

“Well, you won’t know unless you try...”

[Raise your sword. Ylgr will teach Davey, and I will be in charge of your training for a week.]

“Is this the same training as before?”

[No.]

[The training method you’ve gone through so far has been less than one-tenth of the difficulty level of the training method we originally used for Davey. From now on, I will increase the difficulty level to half that, so wield your sword with all you’ve got if you don't want to end up terribly beaten.]

Illyna lifted her sword at his words, putting the embarrassing incident that had happened with her and Davey a while ago to the side.

"I look forward to your training!”

[From now on, there is only one thing you as my descendants have to do.]

Survive against me.

***

The phrase living hell described the current situation perfectly.

Ylgr, the King of Martial Arts, whom Ares had managed to manifest in this space that seemed to be the same as the hall—presumed to be created by Rho Aias—relentlessly pushed Davey nonstop.

There were several moments when Davey was pushed to the brink of death as he tried to set up extreme situations for him, but he had been training like this for far too long to complain about such a mundane thing.

Ares, unlike other heroes, could remain for an extended period in the form of possession. However, Davey didn’t ask Ylgr how he could exist here for a long period of time. He felt like the fighter would disappear if he did.

[Absolute Dragontongue]

[Stop.]

Thud!!

Now that Davey had become quite familiar with the Dragontongue implemented through Eclipse's mana, he could freely manipulate it as if Absolute Drangontongue was his ability from the start.

[You’re not finished after simply acquiring strength! If you don't use and apply it, it's a power that's worse than nothing!]

Bang!!

The space that was originally a canyon was completely reduced to dust, except for the area where Illyna and Davey were staying.

The method used for training was simple: suppressing the opponent while preventing nearby destruction as much as possible.

Ylgr overpowered Davey, and he resisted him by using the powers he transformed by his rediscovered Predatory Assimilation characteristic. He had the option to simply defeat him, but he realized how arrogant he had been.

Ylgr was a monstrous man. In fact, he was a monster among monsters in the hall.

He had extreme fighting wisdom, making full use of his body from head to toe and qualifying him as the best teacher when it came to duels among humans.

Without being able to meet Illyna again, Davey had started training nonstop. When he came to his senses, Ylgr, who had been restraining him, told him that five months had gone by. He remembered that they told him they would train this time for about a week and realized they were just a bunch of tricksters.

Thud!!

Davey frowned as he casually countered Ylgr’s surprise attack.

[You have grown quite a bit. Now you know how to control your strength quite well.]

Davey lightly retrieved the mana in his hand and asked indifferently, “You didn’t even go a hundred percent against me…”

Davey didn’t want to admit it, but Ylgr was way too overpowered.

“If even one of you folks had existed in this world, neither Neltarid nor Thanatos would’ve been able to do the things they did.”

[Davey, we were able to reach this level because we died. There are only two people who have reached this level in their lifetime.]

Ylgr muttered bitterly.

[Alright. We’re done. With your current level, I won’t be embarrassed to tell others you learned from me. Keep devoting yourself to getting stronger. It took five months to control half of that power.]

“Like I wouldn’t know?”

Ylgr had really attacked him without mercy. Broken bones were a given. There were several instances where his internal organs were ruptured, and had them forcibly stimulated.

The training method was so intense that it reminded him of training in the hall—something he was experiencing for the first time in a long time. The difference now was that Davey had a certain level of skill, and since the main purpose of the training was mastering his strength, he continued his training with a focus on actual combat.

The insane traits of Predatory Assimilation—the power to transform the power he consumed to suit him and create a new power. Thanks to the rather illogical power of being able to get rid of penalties when necessary, Davey had made four powers completely his own, and he was on track in changing yet another power into his own specially tailored ability.

Eclipse’s mana.

Holy power.

The Continuum-Severing Blade that Illyna showed him—a dimension-type sword technique he normally wouldn’t have been able to acquire.

And elemental mana.

He had completed these four. The one he was still just getting a feel for was divine power, which was surprisingly the most efficient for him to comprehend so far—despite its power being significantly stronger than the other energies.

All of them blended together, compensating for the drawbacks Davey faced while maximizing their strengths. As a result, he could effortlessly manifest magic that would be impossible for an ordinary wizard. He was wielding powers that were normally impossible, powers that one had to acquire innately to use.

He felt like he was gradually turning into something less human, but he couldn't stop now. He wanted Thanatos to grab onto his bait just once so that he could show her what he was capable of.

It had taken him a long time to get used to the four, so he couldn’t even get onto his qi energy, spirit mana, devil mana, divine power, and the power of taboo. Even so, the four were enough to make him confident.

[I'm saying this now, but out of all your powers, don't consume too much of the power of taboo. Even if you don’t resort to consuming it, there will be a way to beat the half god who abandoned the levels.]

It was his most powerful force—which was why it wasn’t easy to make it his own even through Predatory Assimilation. Despite its strength, he knew dangerous powers were better off not used unless necessary.

"I’m aware.”

For five months Davey had tried hard to consume and modify the power of taboo, but he had only reached one conclusion—he was dealing with a power that he couldn’t do anything with. He could consume it, but he lacked the ability to transform it. He didn’t have enough parts, and he wasn’t proficient enough with Predatory Assimilation yet.

The power was truly like a final boss among powers.

[In the first place, if you can consume that power, you’ll be able to consume even gods.]

A god was a transcendental will, or concept. They were already included as a predation target for his characteristic.

“Are you going already?”

[I’m different from the Sword God that possessed the blonde girl over there. I cannot exist any longer.]

“Are… Are you going away?” Davey asked in a calm voice. Ylgr smiled in response.

[Davey. Every being has its own path.]

“...”

[You've worked hard, so now it's time to test your efforts.]

Davey felt irritated by Ylgr's relaxed behavior considering the circumstances. He couldn’t understand why he regarded his soul disappearing as such an insignificant thing. It was perhaps for that reason that Davey ended up asking a question that he wasn’t actually very curious about.

“Shouldn’t you tell me how you got here?”

[The remnants of the Sword God and the God of the Abyss fought here and created a large hole. Thanks to their clash, the time difference between the outside world is reduced, making room for me to squeeze in.]

With those words, Ylgr dispersed like smoke. Where he disappeared, only traces of massive destruction remained.

Davey wondered if they would all eventually disappear.

No matter how much Davey thought about it, he couldn't think of what price they had to pay for interfering with the real world. After looking at the spot where Ylgr had disappeared for a while, he suddenly noticed Sword God Ares approaching him.

[Davey. A guest is here for you.]

‘Guest…?’

As soon as he shook his head, enormous dark clouds began to gather in the sky. Then, a familiar being began to appear, tearing apart the space with both hands.

“Eclipse.”

But she wasn’t a fake. She was the corrupted and crazy ancient dragon that had become one with Thanatos. The real Eclipse appeared before him.

[She is close to immortality due to the power of Thanatos, but... you can still kick her out, right?]

Davey smiled bitterly at his question.

“I guess something will happen if I chew on her enough times.”

Zzt…

The holy power gathered at his fingertips instantly took the form of a saw blade. He then flew toward her at high speed without saying a word. Eclipse, who had jumped out of space, stretched out her arm and lightly struck away the saw blade of holy power.

Rrrr!!!

But the white saw blade she struck didn’t bounce back, instead leaving a large wound on her hand. As Davey approached her while she was still startled, he reached out his hand to her shoulder and snatched her up.

[Stop.]

She went stiff for a very brief moment. He knew this would be enough, as he was able to get her abdomen with his fist energy that contained explosive rotation.

Boom!!!!

In an instant, her body struck the ground. She looked up at Davey, surprised by his unexpected change since she last saw him.

“Does it hurt?”

At that question, her eyes split vertically and began to pour out a vast amount of power.

“Dragontongue? Why do you have that, Davey?”

Davey grinned at her shocked cry.

“Come on now, we should share the good things together.”

Crack!!

The authority of Predatory Assimilation manifested in an instant, biting into the power of Eclipse who was one with Thanatos.

Davey knew that the real Eclipse's mana was absolutely necessary for the coming fight. Even if he didn't use it right now, he knew there would definitely be a time for it.

1. Yakju is a clear, refined Korean rice wine often referred to as Cheongju. It is similar to Makgeolli, another type of Korean rice wine. ☜

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