The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

The little rascal clicked her tongue as she snapped her fingers back together.

Rinne looked pretty innocent at first. But after hearing her click her tongue, Davey could tell that Rinne had already seen everything that she could see through the gaps of her fingers. She was peeking through the hands covering her face.

Davey did not feel ashamed though. He only had complicated thoughts. In terms of age, Rinne and Perserque were both older than Davey. Rinne was an ancient legacy that had been sleeping for tens of thousands of years while Perserque was an existence who had lived alone for more than 3,000 years. To put it simply, Davey felt like he was being sexually harassed by some elderly people.

“It seems like I have lost my touch after not having done this in a long time…”

Despite its lacking efficiency, sorcery was a very peculiar and intricate type of magic. And Davey had barely used it since he had returned to his physical body. All of those factors combined meant that his first try in so long would not be perfect. No, perhaps it was more apt to say that Davey’s body had not yet fully adapted to this power since sorcery and daoist magic did not exist in this world.

But if Davey were being honest, he would just admit that a long time had passed since he had learned sorcery in the Hall. In other words, he hadn't gotten the hang of it.

Davey frowned slightly as he mumbled to himself. Then, he flicked his fingers and…

Poof!!!

The seven human figures in front of Davey turned into smoke before taking form again. This time, their appearance had already changed completely. They were now all dressed just like him.

“All done.”

Looking at all seven clones standing in front of him, Davey raised one hand and said, “Raise your right hand.”

Swoosh—

“Raise your left hand.”

Swoosh—

“Alright. Let’s get to work. Disperse.”

Davey could not deny the fact that the clones did not have the ego to listen to commands and follow orders. They moved according to his will, so they truly did not have the capacity to process and abide orders. They only moved based on the instructions that Davey would give through his will.

This was a power that the Divine Tree could not sense. With the use of sorcery and daoist magic, Davey could guarantee that he would be able to move around freely and do what he needed to do.

Once his clones disappeared in a flash, Davey began to move slowly. He said, “We’ll wait on standby here.”

“Rinne has a question. Rinne’s sure that Davey can find the World Tree quickly if you make more clones.”

“The World Tree won’t be able to notice the qi used to make the clones, but that does not mean that she will fail to notice me.”

Since Davey had mana in his body, he would definitely leave a trace that the World Tree could follow. Besides, a search should be done stealthily, right?

***

“…”

World Tree Yggdrasil had turned uncharacteristically quiet as she pondered deeply over their situation. However, the elven man sitting in front of her was very relaxed.

“Why are you looking so pensive?”

“It’s nothing,” Yggdrasil answered calmly from behind the hood of her robe.

The man was aware of the truth of the situation. After all, just one look outside and he would see that plenty of the Divine Tree’s leaves had shriveled up.

Considering the World Tree’s power, such an occurrence should have been impossible. However, the curse that the human had put on the World Tree was at a level that far exceeded what she and the Divine Tree’s Saint had initially thought of. One had to wonder how such a highly developed curse had returned to be used again in this world, where dark magic had almost died out.

The World Tree could see wherever she directed her gaze towards. However, the further the distance, the more power it would consume.

Yggdrasil did not mind, since the war had now turned into one of attrition. She knew that the most likely reason why it had come to this point was because the elves had suffered tremendously in their first attack.

Yggdrasil also knew her child Yulrgen well. Yulgren had a very cautious personality, so he would not attack recklessly after being hit so badly. However, the World Tree thought that it was better this way. After all, they would still be able to get what they wanted even if their army did not reach Heins Territory.

Having witnessed fate, which remained unchanged, Yggdrasil was confident in taking out the main force of the elves and the protectors of the Divine Tree. She only left a few of them to guard the World Tree, then secretly sent everyone else to the Heins Territory.

Soon, her children would report that they had recaptured Yuria. Why? This was their fate and destiny. They might lose the war but Yggdrasil would have won this fight. The furious Davey would storm this forest to find the Divine Tree’s sacred place and retrieve Yuria. But in the end, he would close his eyes and lay in eternal rest under her hands.

Fate and destiny had been fixed since the beginning of time. However, a new trajectory had diverged from the fate that Yggdrasil had witnessed. Why? Why did that happen? An unexplainable bout of anxiety plagued Yggdrasil and she could not shake it off.

Yggdrasil silently widened her eyes in shock. She had just seen something that should not have been there while scanning the entire Divine Tree’s Sacred Land with her gaze.

“I… Perhaps my eyes are playing on me?” Yggdrasil murmured as she used her gaze to scan the Sacred Land again.

There was nothing there. No signs whatsoever of any living creature or any traces of their mana. It was as if Yggdrasil’s eyes were just truly playing her. If someone was truly there, the World Tree was sure that she would be able to notice them. But there was nothing at all.

“You’re a bit too on edge these days,” the elven man, the Divine Tree’s Saint that the World Tree had chosen, mumbled leisurely. “He won’t be able to find this place thanks to the barrier that Mother has created. And even if he comes, Mother will immediately know once he tries to break the barrier. So, just sit back and wait.”

“Are you implying that I am nervous?”

“Yes.”

Yggdrasil’s smile turned cold at the man’s quick answer. She said, “Don’t make me laugh. Do you think I, who can see the future, will feel nervous?”

“Perhaps that’s the case. After all, you have been so hung up on that one variable that you can’t stop pacing around.”

Yggdrasil felt offended at the Saint of the Divine Tree’s words and chose to remain silent. She stopped looking around and focused her power on undoing the curse that had been wrapped around her body.

Once she lifted this curse, Yggdrasil would personally go to kill that human. The World Tree could use her original power inside the Divine Tree’s Forest. She was an absolute existence here and no one would be able to beat her. To her, this was simply fate.

Unbeknownst to Yggdrasil, who still believed in the flow of fate that she had seen, there were already seven existences devoid of mana scouring the entire forest and looking for her.

***

The Divine Tree’s Forest was extremely vast. This was the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land, so it would take days on end if Davey was searching around like a headless fly. However, thanks to the knowledge and information that he had gathered from Yuria, he was able to find what he was looking for in just half a day.

“Davey, can Rinne come out since you have already found the Divine Tree? Can Rinne’s successors come out?”

Davey shook his head at Rinne’s question and said, “Wait. The barrier protecting the Divine Tree is still intact. I have to smash that first.”

Davey felt an air of mischief hanging around Rinne, who tilted her head. He said, “The Divine Tree’s Sacred Land is where the World Tree’s original body is located. If that’s the case, how about sending Anabelle out?”

“A! Na! Belle!” Rinne uttered Anabelle’s name one syllable at a time in shock. She blinked at Davey and said, “Rinne looks forward to showing off Rinne’s new successor’s abilities in this special operation!”

“Right,” Davey answered.

Davey took a cube, which looked like disfigured human skin, from his Pocket Plane and threw it up into the air. The cube grew in size before perfectly transforming into the body of an elven woman. This was none other than Anabelle.

“Anabelle, you can do it, right?”

[Waiting for orders.]

“I will tell you what you have to do from now on.”

Anabelle remained expressionless. However, her eyes slowly opened at Davey’s words. Her pink pupils flashed slightly.

***

As soon as Anabelle left his side, Davey took out Transcendence Demise from his Pocket Plane.

Anabelle was a finely crafted golem. It would be hard for someone to see any glaring difference between her and the other elves. However, she was still a golem. For her to be able to infiltrate the Divine Tree’s Sacred Land safely and stealthily, Davey needed to break the barrier covering the entire area and attract the World Tree’s attention towards him.

This time, Davey was not using the staff for assistance. He used his power, and the entire forest began to shake as his mana explosively shot up.

At this point in time, Yggdrasil would have already noticed Davey’s presence. So, what if she knew that he was here? She should at least say hello to him.

—Davey, the World Tree is a tree that acts as a pillar in this world. If you cut her down recklessly, then…

“It’s fine. I have control of myself.”

Vwooooooooooong!!!

The tip of Transcendence Demise began to resonate and vibrate fiercely while Davey reversed the flow of mana that was rotating in the circles in his chest. Just then, his mana circles stopped rotating in the same direction, suddenly twisting and rotating in reverse.

The process created a friction that destabilized Davey’s mana. His complexion turned an unhealthy shade of white as the blood in his body moved as it pleased. The veins in his arms swelled to the point of possibly bursting open.

—Davey?! Are you crazy?!

Of course, no one with common sense would dare to reverse their perfectly rotating mana circles. But as a mage, Davey believed that he should look into the matter and see whether it truly worked or not.

Perserque watched Davey blankly as a fireball the size of a soccer ball appeared in Davey’s empty palm.

Creak, creak!!!

The overloaded mana circles in Davey’s heart began to creak.

[Reversing a circle is all about timing, Davey. If you don’t want to lose your life, then you have to remember my words.]

Even Davey’s reckless and ill-tempered magic teacher Odin had known that one had to be careful when dealing with such a sensitive type of magic. There was no way for Davey to guarantee how strong his firepower would be once the magic was successfully used.

Unlike the ordinary method where one had to utilize their mana circles as if they were rotating the gears of an engine to create high-level magic, this method made use of the repulsive force created by reversing the mana circles’ flow.

In theory, the concept of creating another circle could also be considered as a meaningless attack.

A 9th Circle Mage could use this method. In fact, even a 2nd Circle Mage was fully capable of doing this too. Of course, Davey had estimated that there would be no chance for someone with ordinary circles to catch up and use this magic even if they were very skilled.

—Davey? Something’s weird…

Vwoooooooong—

Sure enough, World Tree Yggdrasil had finally noticed Davey’s existence. She started to show herself as if she had been waiting for him. She said, “In the end, you’ve come here. Although I still can’t fathom how you came here without alerting my gaze… You just look funny to me.”

“You talk too much.”

“It doesn’t matter what method you use, there’s no way for you to break my barrier. Do you really think you can do it?” said the World Tree, which looked like a huge tree trunk that suddenly rose from the ground. Her words carried a sharp undertone.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s better for you to protect your precious elves.”

If the World Tree could not stop Davey, tens of thousands of elves would definitely be wiped out right now.

Davey quietly gathered his overloaded mana while speaking calmly. He was fully aware that it would be hard to break the barrier with just the power of an 8th Circle Mage. However, even if he was in such a situation, Davey still did not summon Fire Chicken. He believed that it was not yet the time for the World Tree to see Fire Chicken.

In the end, Davey had no choice but to use mana, which was the least compatible with him right now, to destroy the barrier. Was that even possible? Common sense would dictate that it was not.

If someone asked Davey if it was possible, he would answer that it was impossible using the usual method. However, Davey had learned magic from a teacher who had hated the conventional methods and had modified their magic at their own discretion. Clearly, he had already inherited their reckless researcher’s spirit.

In fact, Davey had a high evaluation of this high-ranking magic. But…what if he failed? Then, they would all die together.

Crackle!!!

World Tree Yggdrasil snorted when she saw the blazing ball of flames that hovered above Davey’s palm. She said, “It’s just a measly amount of power. Go ahead, run wild. I’ll happily watch your childish tantrum.”

“So, you can’t tell if this is some childish prank or a true disaster, huh?”

“What?”

Crackle!!!

The slowly rotating fireball started to suck in an unusual amount of mana, an amount that was so much more than what was considered normal.

—Davey! That fireball will explode on the spot if you put too much mana inside…!

Perserque widened her eyes. Her shout simply trailed off.

The fireball, which should have already exploded, suddenly turned white. It even grew bigger in size.

Yggdrasil’s eyes widened in shock. Finally noticing that something was strange, she mumbled, “What in the world is that…?”

Was it not a simple fireball?

“This will probably hurt a lot. After all, I used almost all of my mana for this.”

Yggdrasil immediately tried to attack Davey with a huge branch. Her gaze finally registered the strangeness of the situation. The tree trunks that she sent out looked so hard and sturdy that they overshadowed all previous attacks.

However, Rinne protected Davey, who could not move from his position, by shooting down the trunks and branches with her ultra high-heat rays.

[Reversed 8th Circle]

[Blazing Fireball]

[White Nova]

Once the spinning white sphere of flames rose to the skies and turned into a raging typhoon of flames, Yggdrasil changed targets and turned her attention toward the White Nova. Unfortunately, Davey was faster than her.

Davey swung his Transcendence Demise and pointed at the white sphere of flames. He commanded, “Expand. Tick, tock.”

At that moment, the white disaster grew larger, flew higher in the skies, and burned space itself. Then, it fell down.