The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

The soldiers, taken aback by the colossal dragon's presence, were astounded by the sudden appearance of the golden chains. Their astonishment deepened as they witnessed ethereal white magic unfolding in the sky, accompanied by Reina's quiet prayer and raised hand.

Though the meteors that materialized above them were smaller in number and size compared to typical Meteor Drop Magic, they proved more than sufficient.

"In the sky..."

"Oh... by the Goddess..."

Both the soldiers and their vampire adversaries gazed upward, their expressions filled with disbelief, as the pure white meteors began their descent. Some even dropped to their knees in prayer, recognizing the sacred and divine nature of the falling meteors.

—Roaaaaaaaaaaaar!!!

Black Dragon Gargas, who had lost his reason, could only struggle furiously against the golden chains that had suddenly appeared in the sky to restrain him.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!!! Bang!!!

Gargas fought fiercely, breaking numerous golden chains that bound him. However, the remaining chains tightened, pulling him down toward the ground and threatening to suffocate him.

Bang!!!

Simultaneously, small white meteors rained down from the sky, relentlessly striking his body one after another.

Legends and myths surrounding dragons and their scales often contained vague and ambiguous information. However, the heroes of the Hall had always emphasized to Davey the significance of understanding the enemy, alongside self-improvement and empowerment.

—A dragon… It’s really been a long time…

“You must have seen quite a lot of dragons before?”

—A few… However, I don’t know much about them.

Perserque, who was watching the situation on the battlefield with Davey at a distance, said bitterly.

—Gargas, the dragon, had been an ally and supporter of my father. After my death and the downfall of the demon race, he must have departed from this place. The rest is history.

Perserque continued to speak, unable to hide the bitterness that had bubbled up within her.

—Davey, remember this well. While you may perceive the course of destiny, you cannot manipulate it to your liking. The grand current of fate will inevitably follow its intended path. Ultimately, you and I will become adversaries.

As long as Davey remained alive, he would be the sole adversary facing Perserque. The issue at hand was that they had no means to combat this particular fate.

—I will once again be the Demon Lord.

“Stop speaking nonsense.”

—Everything will eventually come to that conclusion. If I meet my demise at your hands, the Abyss will lose its reason to meddle in this world, and the course of fate will no longer be distorted. Yes, only by doing so will you escape God's judgment...

"You should be quiet now," Davey said, grabbing Perserque and placing her in his pocket. He smiled calmly and gently as he looked at Black Dragon Gargas. "Can't escape the flow of fate? That's a well-known saying."

The dragon scale was an invaluable treasure, comparable to the powerful magic Barrier. With the exception of the dragon's inverse scale, it was said that all other dragon scales possessed the strongest 9th Circle defensive magic, capable of nullifying any magic up to the 7th Circle.

Although Gargas had become a corrupted dragon, weakening his magical defensive power to the 5th Circle, he was still a dragon—a being beyond the average wyrm-rank creature and a master of magic. It was said that he could withstand the onslaught of several 9th Circle spells.

However, Davey paid no mind to that. He remained where he was, not moving forward. Bold actions required caution. They needed to seize the opportunity to quickly kill Gargas before he regained his strength and wits.

—Graaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

The pure white meteors collided with Gargas’ scales and turned them into dust.

[Were you the one who did it? Really, you always show me something more incredible than the last time…]

It wasn't surprise that tinged Reina's flustered voice, but rather a sense of novelty. After all, she and Perserque had witnessed Davey's monstrous abilities during the incident with Nyx. They had seen him effortlessly overpower a 9th Circle Dark Mage with the sheer force of his mana. So, what she witnessed now wasn't particularly astonishing.

However, Reina had a mistaken belief. While it was true that Davey skillfully manipulated the holy magic, the source of the holy mana he used, or at least most of it, wasn't his own.

“It’s your power. Well, try not to die and your power will probably reach the 8th Class every 50 years.”

Despite having the latest hardware, there was one drawback to this arrangement: the software was outdated. That was the only disadvantage they faced.

Reina had been reborn as the sole member of the angelic race, thanks to the power of Goddess Freyja. Unbeknownst to her, her body housed an immense amount of holy mana, far greater than someone who had never properly prayed in their entire life. The magnitude of this holy mana was truly extraordinary.

Thud!!! Thud!!!

The meteors descending from the sky were not mere manifestations of mana, but rather massive clusters of pure holy mana. These celestial projectiles held a power that went beyond conventional magic.

As for Gargas, the corrupted and demonic dragon, who had strayed from his true origins due to the influence of vampires that defied the divine, there was no alternative but to succumb to this overwhelming force.

[Ugh… I feel like I’m losing my energy.]

“The only thing I have done here is to materialize the holy magic. Most of the raw material used is yours.”

To be precise, Davey's role was to assist in the execution of the skill. During his training sessions with his holy magic instructor, Daphne, she often utilized Davey's own holy mana to launch attacks. She would exclusively rely on his holy mana and never use her own. This was a skill she had not been able to accomplish during her lifetime. However, spending an extended period in the Hall had transformed the Saintess into a formidable entity.

The fact that Daphne could discern and manipulate the unique code and structure of someone else's holy mana, appropriating it for her own attacks, seemed quite unfair. Yet, Davey could never forget the way she playfully overwhelmed him with a seemingly effortless stomp of her foot.

How could such a seemingly light action have such an impact on a person? Well, the answer would become clear when her actions summoned hundreds of pure white meteors that would crush and overwhelm their adversaries.

[Hahahaha! This is our God’s Drop Kick. You XXX f*cker!]

Davey had always wondered when drop kicks became capable of crushing opponents into flattened fish jerky. The sheer humiliation of being crushed like an ant by an overwhelmingly powerful attack was enough to ignite a burning resolve within him. He swore never to experience such a thing again.

Naturally, if he had endured such a humiliating defeat, it was only fair to share that experience with others to alleviate his own frustration, right? Davey dedicated a significant amount of time to perfecting that technique after their sparring sessions. However, in the end, he failed to master it.

[My holy mana? My body… Hooo… My body has holy mana?]

“You must have forgotten, huh? You brat, you’re no longer human. You are a member of the angelic race. Angelic race. God’s Servant.”

[I am your sword.]

There was a reason why Davey managed to resurrect Reina without encountering any difficulties, despite it being his first attempt.

“From now on, focus and give it your all in subduing Gargas. Leave the flow of the battle to me.”

[Yes.]

Without any hesitation, Davey turned his eyes away from the battlefield and looked at the girl who was approaching him. He commented, “You’ve worked hard.”

“Too many lives had been lost.”

A hint of sadness could be detected in those words.

“The embers of war will continue to take away the hopes of many.”

Despite the victorious streaks and the assistance of Davey and Warrior Reina, casualties were an inevitable part of war. Even in the midst of a post-apocalyptic situation caused by the zombie virus, the losses incurred by both sides were significant. Those who survived fought fiercely to secure their own survival, resulting in the loss of countless human lives.

The Forest Alliance, led by Emilia and comprising elves, ents, and nymphs, waged their own war, bravely blocking and ambushing the vampires' attempts to scatter their offensive. However, even they experienced substantial damage in the process.

“That’s why we have to finish everything quickly and safely.”

The more brutal and cruel a war was, the faster it would end.

“Now is the perfect time. Run as fast as you can and hit them from the sides. Once Reina moves to tie up Gargas, we will get the chance to exterminate them.”

Emilia carefully untied the crown on her head after hearing Davey’s words. Then, she looked up at him and said, “There would still…be a lot of them left.”

They were uncertain about the number of high-ranking vampires present. It was reasonable to assume that those who had received the power of the Abyss had reached at least the level of a Sword Master or higher, making them formidable adversaries. Their immediate concern, however, was dealing with the vampires who had resisted the targeted zombie virus.

"Continue your tasks and advance forward. Focus solely on organizing the aftermath," Emilia commanded.

"Please take care of yourself," Reina expressed her concern.

"Thank you for your concern," Davey replied, a smile gracing his face.

Emilia smiled back, turned around, and patted the Fairy Elk's neck before mounting it.

"Everyone has done an excellent job following my lead thus far. The enemies are currently in disarray. If we don't take down the black dragon now, we'll face even greater sacrifices in the future," Emilia murmured, drawing a small dagger.

‘Although you don’t like working and cooperating with humans, please endure it a bit more.’

Despite not harboring any goodwill toward humans, the elven elementalists and archers fought alongside them. Their loyalty stemmed from their connection to the previous generation World Tree, Al, and their saintess, Emilia. Many of these elves had existed alongside the World Tree for generations, fostering a deep sense of allegiance.

Davey left Emilia and her disciplined troops, who continued their march, and swiftly headed toward the areas where distress signals had been sent. After assessing the signals, he directed his attention to the location with the strongest signal, placing his hand inside his pocket plane.

As the soldiers on the other side were effectively carrying out their duties, it was now time for Davey to focus on his own tasks. Holy mana gathered in his palm as he extended it toward Reina, who was exerting pressure on Black Dragon Gargas. Water droplets formed at the tips of his fingers, gradually taking the form of a beautiful woman.

[Contractor.]

“What’s this? You look quite troubled?”

[…It’s nothing. What’s the matter?]

“Do you see that guy over there?”

Ellaim's eyes widened as she followed the direction indicated by Davey's pointing finger. Her surprise was evident as she witnessed Dragon Gargas, devoid of rationality, restrained on the ground and utterly disoriented.

[I see, he’s a member of the dragon race… He’s also above the Wyrm-rank. However, it seems like he has less than half, no, a third of his power from before.]

“Go and help the humans to deal with him.”

[I understand.]

Davey left Ellaim, who responded calmly, and ascended to the highest vantage point. Despite the challenging situation without him, they had the Spirit of Water, who possessed immense holy mana, along with two divine beasts. It would be illogical for them to lose to someone inferior to even a dragon.

The dragon race's threat lay in their Breath and magic abilities. However, for a wyrm-rank dragon, these aspects were generally weaker and more manageable. Moreover, being devoid of reason, Gargas would be unable to utilize magic effectively, right? Ultimately, Gargas was nothing more than a resilient and formidable mass of flesh.

Before long, a gigantic longbow emerged from Davey's Pocket Plane. Observing this, Perserque could only mutter bitterly.

—I wanted to see the Transcendence Demise one last time though.

“You sound like a pervert that wants to make love with magic,” Davey said, clicking his tongue. Then, he held the longbow tightly and pulled the strings without any hesitation.

Not long after, fierce winds began to gather at the end of the bow.

—…

Davey focused the power at the tip of the bow, taking aim at Gargas to test its strength. With one eye closed, he tightly gripped the string that held the brilliantly glowing arrow, crafted from dense mana rather than physical materials.

[Distance, 1200]

[Attribute, Demon]

As an archer's descendant in his previous life, Davey may not have been exceptional in archery, but he was confident in his abilities. He smirked, thinking, ‘Let me show you the precision of a sniper's shot from dozens of kilometers away, using a bow.’

[Great River Death]

[Light Expansion Gun]

“I’ll take off a wing.”

[Yes?]

Davey paid no attention to Reina's somewhat childish question and focused on releasing the bowstring. In a blinding flash of light, the arrow sliced through space, severing one of Gargas' massive wings. It was a remarkable feat considering the distance of several kilometers between Davey and the dragon.

"Now, onto the next target," Davey remarked calmly. Gargas was just one part of the equation. The high-ranking vampires were starting to disrupt the flow of the battle, and Davey knew they would be a formidable challenge. They had likely been waiting for the perfect moment to reveal themselves and fight with everything they had.

That's why Davey had chosen to abandon his military duties and position himself at a high vantage point – to be ready for their arrival.