The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

There was a famous saying that went, ‘One wrong decision can turn everything upside down.’

It really would not be a surprise if a nation was to fall into ruins like Boltis, especially considering the fact that the troubled forces at the moment were essentially from the Pallan Empire and the Heins Territory.

Of course, the likelihood was known to be low. Those who had carried the weight of a nation had absolutely no reason to take such a reckless gamble, and it would not be surprising if there was an international conference concerning this issue. However, the situation becheadache-inducingly complicated because unwarranted truths, which did not need to be revealed, cto light because of Reina.

Well, who would have guessed that it would be her, who was digging up the corrupt nobles of the Pallan Empire, who would uncover those unwarranted truths?

Sullivan, having gone utterly insane upon learning about the attack on Illyna, sought to obliterate Boltis.

But regardless of Sullivan's thoughts, what remained to be clear was how Davey treated the people who saw the Heins Territory like any other estate and committed foolish acts. So even if protecting the Heins Territory meant the ruin of his positive reputation, Davey would still protect the estate and those who had followed him. Such was the reward for their loyalty to him.

Davey nonchalantly warped to the Pallan Empire and strolled leisurely around the massive ramparts. He then surrounded himself with hellfire as he walked along with Sullivan, who was deep in thought.

"Prince Davey,” Sullivan said slowly, noticing the hellfire. “Shall we try talking first?"

"Are we not talking already, Crown Prince Sullivan?"

Davey was smiling at him thinly, but not even a sliver of kindness was in his smile.

"Prince Sullivan."

"I'm listening."

"The Pallan Empire has had a long-standing close covenant with the Heins Territory."

Though such a pact was not officially documented, their actions up to this point spoke volumes.

"The Pallan Empire doesn’t seem that apologetic. You know, I'm quite fond of you all. It is beneficial forif the Pallan Empire remains as the strongest empire for an extended period of time," Davey said. After all, it was generally good to make agreements with nations with common sense. "But doesn't it feel like you've been hit in the back of the head this time?"

"Calling it just one assassin is an understatement… I guess."

"You shouldn't be the one to say that. Considering who that scumbag aimed for, you should know."

Trying to kill a nuisance was to attempt murder, and so an assassin could never be condoned in an official setting.

"That's why I've cto listen."

"Why are you tellingthis?"

Davey snapped his fingers.

"Hell~fir..."

"Wait, wait, wait just a moment! First, I'd like to express my regret over the independence movement led by the Boltis Kingdom. To say that you, a prince, could not have foreseen this situation after declaring war and receiving their surrender sounds far-fetched."

"That doesn't mean I should accept what happened at the Heins Territory."

Sullivan quietly nodded.

"I will assist you so that the royal family of Boltis meets its end. But please lenda hand in return."

"Hell..."

"Calm down, please. The discussion isn't over yet! This isn't necessarily bad for you!" Sullivan burst in alarm, stretching out his hands in a placating but panicked manner.

"Just quell the hellfire for a moment. Yes. An enemy of my enemy is an ally, isn’t that so? After the death of Prince Rendos, there has been much talk in the Empire regarding your assassination. So I've asked Reina, the hero, to take this opportunity to shake them all down."

"You knew?"

"... Yes. It may sound ludicrous, but I found out later."

So why then did the rumors spread so fast?

"Hel..."

"So this is an opportunity!" Sullivan shouted as he dared to approach Davey a little closer.

He then took a quick and furtive glance around and whispered, "I'll handle the forces opposingwithin the Pallan Empire, and you could address whatever remaining issues might arise. But there are limits to my ability to stop them. So even if I take care of everything, the unrest or the rumors will explode at spoint. "

Of course such would be the case, since it wasn’t just any ordinary matter. It was the murder of a prince, and Prince Rendos, despite his incompetent appearances, was still a prince of the most powerful empire, Pallan.

"Let's set aside Boltis. So it would be just the matter of handling the culprits who interfered with this situation," suggested Sullivan.

"So you propose that I declare what happened and display my anger?"

"I will support you from behind. Manipulating public opinion is my specialty, after all."

"Hell..."

"Not done yet! It's mutually beneficial! Use the Pallan Empire, not a mere kingdom like Boltis! Show the impact a single assassin can have, shaking the Pallan Empire to its core. Of course, criticism may cfor going overboard... But considering the position you hold on this continent, it's sufficient.”

A single force—that was the label attached to Davey. Not a mere individual force like Duchess Kathryn of the Lyndis Empire. His power as a single force was on the scale of a continental force. He alone had the authority to mobilize the elves, and many dwarves also followed and rallied behind him. Apart from that, there were also those who favored Davey in the orc side for sreason. It was also no different among the beastfolks, which he had accepted.

Davey contemplatively ran his hand across his chin. "But an empire succumbing to an individual… That would result in significant harm to you.”

Shaking and searching through the entire empire for the culprit of a mere assassination attempt targeting an individual was a level of servitude that would be unprecedented.

Sullivan grimaced at what Davey just said. "Umm... Prince Davey. Are you not aware of your identity on this continent?"

"..."

"Hmm... So that's why you're reacting this way.” Sullivan paused, giving Davey a meaningful look. “Prince Davey, everyone who ought to know is aware of what you’ve done in the Holy Empire.”

From the incident of when Davey invaded the Holy Empire, creating a colossal fireball in the sky in protest, up until that twhen he intruded into the sanctuary to fight the Abyssal Princess Urd and set the vicinity ablaze… It really was not easy to predict Davey’s actions.

"Hmm..."

"So the prestige of the Pallan Empire isn't a big issue. No, it doesn't matter even if it's not you whom the empire is concerned with. The lower the empire's prestige gets, the higher it'll climb later on."

Davey nodded in understanding. "So that’s why you decided to reveal Reina's discovery to the world?"

Especially in the Pallan Empire, out of all places.

"That... Yes. The bigger the secret, the greater the disaster—even though Pallan Empire's prestige suffers in the process.”

"You could've kept it confidential."

"Against you in your current frenzy? Ha... It's an issue bound to be revealed anyway. Better to face the repercussions early on and make improvements than to try to hide it. Seems like it’s the wisest choice for an emperor who weighs both pros and cons."

The Pallan Empire was a conglomerate of large groups, and these groups would make decisions similar to deciding to remove a tumor if it interfered with the Pallan Empire, no matter how painful it would be.

"Many nobles will lose their heads. So Prince Davey, just make one covenant with the Pallan Empire."

Sullivan would give Davey the justification to weed them out officially, and that was why he wanted Davey to create the pretext that would allow him to do that.

"Later on, Whitebird will use this incident to interfere and end the Boltis royal family for you."

Hearing this, Davey mulled over a few keywords, muttering softly to himself, "Pressure, proxy handling... Alleviating the sentiments of Boltis..."

"That's right. Just apply the pressure. The rest is all up to me."

Sullivan exhaled in relief as soon as a thin smile appeared on Davey’s face.

The anger had not dissipated, but its target could not possibly be misdirected.

"Surprisingly impressive for a last-minute evasion. Not a bad excuse."

"..."

"I don't like broken promises, but I can't do whatever I want with an issue involving an imperial prince. I understand.” Davey let out a bitter sigh.

Sullivan noticed a contradiction in Davey's behavior. A person like him would not simply end things this smoothly. Why would he let it finish so easily? What Sullivan didn’t know was that he was going to find out the answer soon enough.

"I'll forgive this, just this once, in light of my connection with Reina."

"The hero... Reina? Your relationship with Reina?"

"Yeah. There is such a thing."

Reina, who had suffered countless times and yearned for her family, was basically equivalent to Sullivan’s beloved sister Illyna. And what Sullivan didn’t know was that Davey had already met with Reina in the imperial palace before he cto meet with him. After all, Davey never did share to him any of her words of pleading, asking Davey to show mercy to her brother, even if only once.

"What if... What if Illyna understands your intentions and acts nicely to you?"

"She'll be scolded," responded Sullivan.

Davey fell silent for a fleeting moment, taking a couple of seconds before he said, "As Illyna gets closer to me, she only gets in more danger."

It was a firm yet melancholic statement.

"But what kind of covenant do you intend to make?"

Sullivan could not help but flash a grin at Davey’s question. "Oh, nothing much. A political betrothal between you, Prince Davey, and Illyna..."

"Hellfire." With the intentional chant, Davey’s fireball spun wildly and soared.

* * *

"Sister! I'm here!!"

There were players from Earth—a pitiful pair of siblings who started playing Alf Online but ended up victimized by the heinous deluge of the Illuminati.

Returning to the Heins Territory, the brother, nicknamed Hydro Citrus Soda, or Hydro for short, immediately rushed to find his sister. His expression was then filled with surprise upon seeing her being well enough and reading sbooks.

"Sister!" He called out to the girl, who was named Oxygen Bear Soup, or Oxygen for short.

"Ji-Hwan!" She exclaimed, quickly standing up to welchim.

"Sister! Are you okay?! Are you in any pain? Are you hurt anywhere?!"

Such a display of care was normal since Hydro and Oxygen always showed genuine care and concern for one another, setting them apart from other siblings that were born to kill each other.

"Yeah, I'm fine,” she assured. “The holy man did most of the healing."

"Phew… So we can leave now?"

"No. I plan to stay here for a while."

"But why…"

Oxygen chuckled at Hydro's puzzled question. "This isn’t just a game, right Hydro? Or should I say Ji-Hwan?"

"..."

"I'm scared too. It hurt so much, and it was scary. But I know that as much as there are bad people, there are also those who are like the holy man who saved and helped us. Would it be right to leave without properly thanking him?"

"I just want to be done with this damn gas soon as possible."

"Let's at least say thanks before we go."

Convinced by Oxygen, Hydro quietly nodded. "But I heard you went to find out something?"

"Ah... Yes. I did look into something, but I'm not sure how accurate it is."

"What did you investigate?"

The question triggered a complex expression on Hydro’s face. "Well... Someone askedto find a person, and I honestly didn’t know how I would possibly find them. But with your life on the line, I used sdarker routes."

Concern dawned on Oxygen’s face. "Not that you..."

“Well… Since it was a request, I finally got an answer. Though it wasn’t easy to search through the personnel roster of the Sacred Group.”

“Who on earth are you looking for that you had to dig into the Sacred Group?”

“I don’t know either. The person is around twenty-three years old and goes by the nShin Hyun-Ah. Within the group, they are simply listed as an employee.”

“Did you use our savings account for this?”

"No,” Hydro denied. “Not from our savings. I funded it with the sale money from all my gear. And... What was it again? Neltarid? I was asked to figure something out about it too. I searched online, and you know what? It was kind of odd."

Despite several ridiculous incidents, like account deletions, the popularity of the gon Earth had not waned. Multiple streamers were still launching constantly, and various in-gcontents were being utilized as a sport.

"Odd?"

"There’s a rising religion of ssort. It seems to be simultaneously cropping up in Korea, the USA, China, the UK, France, the Arab countries, among others... Well, I don’t know."

Oxygen looked puzzled. "Hydro."

"Hmm?"

"Prince Davey… Isn't he from here?"

"That seems to be the case."

"Then how does he know about someone from Earth?"

At that question, Hydro and Oxygen fell into a round of silence. But it didn’t really last long because Oxygen eventually asked, "How does he even know so much about Earth?"

Her question left Hydro shrugging somewhat helplessly. "How would I know?"