The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

"Kghkk..."

"Lord Olga?!"

Davey paid no attention to the startled and terrified cries of the vampires surrounding him. He leaped down from the back of the man who stood over 80 centimeters taller than him.

"Should I make myself taller? This form feels a bit outdated."

—A height of 180 centimeters is not that short, Davey.

“I was just saying.”

Thud!!!

The vampires' already pale faces turned even paler when they witnessed how effortlessly Davey took the life of their Grand Duke without them being able to react.

"How? We didn't even sense..." one of the vampires stammered, their disbelief evident in their voice.

"You called me a monster? Well, in my eyes, you guys are the real monsters," Davey retorted with a jesting tone, emphasizing their fangs with his finger, which only served to worsen their already unpleasant expressions.

Poof!!!

But before the vampire could finish speaking, Davey had already passed them, his tone indifferent as he said, "Make sure to run as fast as you can and jump as high as you can."

Time was the most crucial factor in Davey's plan. If he failed to meet the deadline, his entire strategy would be twisted and shattered. That's why he was taking his biggest gamble here.

"Rinne, follow the manual closely," Davey mumbled briefly, attempting to take a step forward. However, he suddenly noticed a string of bright red blood under his feet, hindering his movement.

"Heok... Kghhk! How dare you... Where do you think you're going?" the gigantic man shouted angrily, struggling for breath.

Davey turned his head slightly to glance at him while murmuring to Perserque, "Doesn't he look quite muddy and filthy?"

—Did you just say filthy? Fufu…

Although the man couldn't hear Perserque's voice, it appeared that the vampire had been provoked enough by Davey's words alone. The provocation caused the blood restraining Davey to tighten even further. The droplets of blood dripping from Olga's body coagulated into sharp spears, moving as if they were alive, following his commands to shoot straight toward Davey's body.

Baaaaang!!!

However, Davey effortlessly deflected the first of the blood spears that nearly reached his body.

“Did you say your name was Olga?”

“Bastard! I won't die yet! I will not die until we have achieved our race's long-cherished desire!" Olga cried out, and the blood spears transformed into metal bullets aimed at Davey's body, hurtling toward him at an alarming speed.

Perserque appeared slightly surprised as she witnessed the bullets moving dozens of times faster than before. The velocity of the man's attack was so menacing that it seemed capable of piercing through multiple bodies. It made Davey question whether the vampire named Olga had truly been critically wounded just moments ago.

Shwaaaaa!

Of course, that didn't mean that Davey was foolish enough to be defeated by Olga. If he were to be bested by a single vampire like this, he shouldn't have allowed himself to be in this situation in the first place. As a human with much to protect, there was a limit to how reckless and impulsive Davey could be.

Davey's eyes flashed as a tremendous amount of mana swirled around him, freezing the entire area and halting the blood bullets that hurtled toward him. All of Olga's blood bullets and spears came to a sudden stop in mid-air.

"Impossible..." Olga mumbled, his gaze empty as he stared at Davey.

One of the blood spears trembled vigorously as Davey snatched it from the air. He turned to the vampire and remarked, "If you truly wished to stop me, you should have mustered all your forces."

They should have united their strength to halt Davey's advance. Assuming the stance of someone hurling a javelin, Davey wrested control of the blood spear from Olga and launched it back at him. The spear pierced through the vampire's forehead, causing his body to collapse after sustaining another fatal blow.

"That immortal ability of yours is incredibly vexing."

Shwaaaaaa!!!

In the end, Olga relinquished his resistance. He seemed to understand that he was already in a situation where he could not be revived, especially after witnessing a flash of blue, a power he knew could nullify his immortality, immediately following the blood spear.

"You monstrous bastard... I don't know how a bastard like you managed to find this place, but it's futile. We have already completed all the preparations," Olga grumbled.

"I am not someone who would cower and flee in fear of a trap when carrying out an assassination," Davey responded.

Once someone set their sights on their opponent's neck, fully prepared to deliver the fatal blow, there was no turning back.

"Urk! When did an assassination turn into a massacre?" Olga questioned.

Davey answered Olga's query by calmly reciting his creed, "It remains an assassination as long as no one witnesses it."

"You're a crazy bastard..."

Slash!

As Olga's head fell to the ground, Blue Ribbon's afterimage reappeared. Whenever the vampires' immortality was nullified, their heads would be severed. For high-ranking vampires like Olga, the result was death.

Baaaaang!!!

Davey could hear the murmurs of entities converging at the location where Olga lay motionless on the ground. With Blue Ribbon suspended in the air, he retrieved Odin's staff, the Transcendence Demise, and closed his eyes in concentration.

After a moment, he opened his eyes once more, activating his powers and channeling an immense amount of mana into his hands. Despite having already depleted a significant portion of his mana during the Eye of the Sky's usage, he still possessed an ample reserve. His mana capacity had significantly increased since his previous encounter within the Divine Tree.

A brilliant white flame materialized at the palms of Davey's hands, spinning rapidly and emitting a high-pitched, grating sound reminiscent of a high-speed electric saw.

‘This ruin is very tough and sturdy, no? It will not collapse completely.’

—Davey! No! Think about it a bit more!

“Ah, I don’t care. And if you keep thinking about useless things, then you will absolutely regret it, Perserque!”

As the spinning circle within Davey's heart aligned with the corresponding circle in his body, it felt as if a gear had found its rightful place. In that moment, the familiar yet incredibly unfamiliar sensation of the circle spinning in reverse started to manifest, accompanied by a distinct reaction.

“It’s, it’s that bastard!”

“He’s going to use some kind of magic! Stop him!”

‘It’s too late, you f*cking bastards.’

[Reverse 8th Circle]

[Blazing Fireball]

[White Nova]

‘I’ll strike no matter what. You have to think carefully about who you’re trying to put in that shitty body.’

Thud!!!

Davey gently tossed the white flame onto the floor, observing as it detonated like a powerful bomb, obliterating the surrounding area. Satisfied with the destruction it caused, he calmly walked away, leaving behind the aftermath of the explosive flames.

***

Baaaaaaang!!!

Harnessing the power of dark magic, Davey conjured a massive pillar of black flames, laying waste to everything in his path. Unlike his initial arrival, when he operated in secrecy, he now strode confidently and openly, almost flaunting his presence to all who crossed his path. Perserque observed this change in his demeanor with curiosity, but Davey offered no explanation, leaving her to wonder about his motives.

Bang!!!

As the vampires seized the opportunity and charged through the crumbling wall, ready to launch a surprise attack, they found themselves ensnared by the black flames that clung to their bodies. It was a trap that had been triggered, engulfing them in fiery tendrils before they could reach Davey.

“Keuaaaaaaack!!!”

“I, I can’t extinguish the flames!”

The vampires let out agonized screams as they desperately tried to extinguish the flames that clung to their bodies, even resorting to pouring water and manipulating the air around them.

However, the black flames persisted, mercilessly burning them. Undeterred by their suffering, Davey pressed forward, his demeanor composed despite the lackluster defense of the main unit. He moved through the pathways that presented themselves without a specific destination in mind, causing Perserque to appear puzzled by his seemingly inefficient movements.

—Something feels weird…down there, Davey.

“…”

Davey's eyes narrowed as he stepped into the expansive cavity indicated by Perserque. The sight that unfolded before him was a vast and seemingly endless underground space, shrouded in a dim, eerie blue-green glow. The source of this faint illumination remained elusive, making it difficult to discern the true nature of the surroundings.

The underground chamber resembled a colossal base hewn from natural stones, with multiple pillars crisscrossing and intertwining around a central pillar. This intricate structure provided substantial support, hinting at its enduring construction over an extended period.

“Amazing! This smells so good. Ah, I found it too late.”

—It seems like they have been living here for a very long time. From what I can see, this is a building designed to cover up an underground facility. Perhaps it’s because of the lingering power here that the vampires were able to escape pursuit.

It dawned on Davey that this underground ruin had retained its functionality even after the passage of 10,000 years, much like the one beneath the Heins Territory. The latter had wreaked havoc, causing drought and decimating the entire territory despite the lapse of time. Therefore, it came as no great surprise to him.

"Well, let's refrain from engaging in futile endeavors from this point onward," Davey remarked, his tone tinged with a hint of resignation.

He couldn't help but recall the countless instances where his curiosity had led to the shedding of copious amounts of blood in those ancient ruins. The unexpected appearance of Hercules' clone had surpassed his expectations by far, leaving Davey uncertain of his ability to contend with him should he resurface.

Bang!!!

Davey casted Fly Magic on himself as he slowly descended to the underground facility. That was when he realized the identity of the light.

And when he approached that light, a black spear flew straight toward his forehead.

Grab!!!

Davey reached out toward the spear in reflex, snatching it from the air and trying to throw it back to the person who had sent it to him. All the while he was using his Fly Magic. However…

Crackle!

The spear that had flown at Davey was not an ordinary spear. Before it could even leave his hands, a spark appeared on the spear and it turned into chains that bound him tightly.

“…”

Two men emerged from the darkness, their hands clasped behind their backs. One was a young man with long gray hair, while the other donned a fedora hat and a trench coat.

Silently, Davey cast a glance at the peculiar restraint that bound his body. This power... it felt strangely familiar, reminiscent of something he had encountered recently. It was the power to defy the providence of this world.

He had believed that they could no longer traverse beyond, having already destroyed the crack that connected to the other side of the world. However, it seemed that belief had been nothing but an illusion.

"Ah... The foolish human has arrived. I never expected you to venture this far without realizing you've been deceived."

"Deceived?"

"How can someone who has been lured in like a moth to a flame be considered smart, when you willingly arrived here without realizing it would become your grave?" taunted the enigmatic man, his face concealed beneath bandages.

With an expression filled with curiosity, he advanced toward Davey.

Sensing the presence of another person behind him, Davey remained undeterred. His focus was solely on the bandaged man.

Thud!!! Thud!!!

Gigantic men, standing over two meters and eighty centimeters tall, appeared and surrounded Davey. Like the man with bandages, they also wore fedora hats on their heads and trench coats on their bodies. They were not human.

"Ah. You created them for me?"

"The power of each and every one of them might not match yours, but..."

If eight of them were to unite against him, the situation would change. These individuals firmly believed that Davey would no longer be able to use any of his powers in this place.

Davey calmly gazed at the palm of his hand, his mana remaining still. As a result, everything the enemies had prepared to eliminate him began to manifest one after another.

Bang!!!

At the same time, seven of the unidentified assailants surrounding Davey raised their hands, tightening the seal on him with their strange power.

Meanwhile, another assailant charged at him, utilizing his heavy weight and enormous size. Before Davey could react, the assailant swiftly threw a punch, imbued with unimaginable power.

However, with his hands still bound, Davey subtly shook his wrists. From a hidden pocket within his sleeves emerged a small watch—the very first watch made for him by the daughter of his enemy and his younger sister, Aenotia, after he had given her a chance.

Upon glancing at the time, Davey frowned. He stated, "This won't suffice."

Crack!!!

Everyone in the scene believed that the eerie and spine-chilling sound signified that the assailant had successfully struck Davey. However, the reality was far from it.

"There's still plenty of time remaining," Davey declared in a chilling tone as he stepped on the head of the fallen giant. "No way. Are you telling me that's all?"

The man with long gray hair, who had appeared behind the bandaged stranger, was utterly astounded. As a Grand Duke-ranked demon, he could sense the dark mana swirling around Davey and the length of his horn, yet he couldn't comprehend how Davey managed to harness his power. And that bewildered expression was an added bonus for Davey.

"H-Hey! Didn't you assure me that no matter how powerful that human is, he wouldn't be able to wield his power?! What in the world is this..."

"T-That... It appears he also possesses a power that originates from another realm."

“What I have is something that’s way over your heads, you f****ing bastards.”

‘You’re curious about how I was able to do it, right? Well, keep on being curious then.’