The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 979

"Urgh!!"

A group of burly men dressed in black had tied a man to a chair, mercilessly beating him.

"Urgh... Cough cough... Damn it..."

His nose was broken and blood was pouring. One of his eyes was so swollen that it was barely recognizable, while the men had also pulled out a couple of his teeth. His fingers were covered in so much blood that it was hard to distinguish his fingernails from his skin—evidence of the brutal torture he had endured.

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"Come on, Leader Oh, just sign here."

A middle-aged man with a stern face approached the beaten man, quietly holding out a document.

"Ugh..."

"Sign this, and we'll let you go. I promise."

At those words, the barely conscious man lifted his head and stared hazily.

"You... damn thug."

Silence filled the room.

"You ever heard of dereliction of duty?"

“...”

"It's a serious crime, you know. If I sign that paper, that means I'm neglecting my duty. That’ll be a stain on my life.”

"You're already suspended. Just sign the damn thing and be done with it."

"You really think a document signed under duress is going to hold up in court?"

"That’s not your concern. Just sign, and you get to walk out of here."

Captain Oh let out a low chuckle before suddenly spitting at the man.

"Do you even know how many people are dying in this country, you bastard? Tens—hundreds—are dying at the hands of murderers like you."

“...”

"And you want me to look the other way when I should instead be locking each one of you away? Screw you, you son of a bitch."

The man holding the document let out a sigh.

"Guess there's no choice. Start."

Vrrr!!

One of the thugs, who had been working on something in the shadows, pulled out a menacing grinder. It was slightly smaller than his own massive frame, but the spinning blade looked just as terrifying.

"Don't hold it against us. Orders are orders. We don’t kill people for fun, you know. Especially not cops."

Leader Oh shut his eyes as the man with the grinder blade walked closer.

Crack! Bang, bang!! Thud!

Suddenly, a series of dull impact sounds echoed through the room, followed by the noise of bodies hitting the ground.

Startled, Leader Oh lifted his head.

"You look like hell. Think you can drink this?"

A beautiful girl with golden hair stood before him, holding something out with a smile.

"Ah. Who...?"

Leader Oh squinted at her, his vision blurry as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"My name is Illyna. Illyna de Rowane. It’s unofficial, but from now on, we're in this together. No point in hiding it."

* * *

An unexpected clash.

Even though Davey had heard about Odin from Leo, seeing her in such a place twisted his emotions into a mess.

Odin was a spirit confined to the Saint Sanctuary and the Hall of Heroes. And yet, there she was, standing right before Davey.

And that wasn’t the only problem.

Ziiing!

As soon as she swung her staff, a massive blue magic circle, spanning at least tens of kilometers, had emerged high in the sky.

At first glance, it looked like just a beautifully intricate magic circle. But Davey knew better.

Upon close examination, one would realize it wasn’t just a single magic circle—it was a combination of countless smaller ones, all layered and structured to form something far more complex.

A regular mage creating such a thing on their own, and maintaining it without external support, was beyond ridiculous.

Ziiing! Boom! Boom!

Powerful spells rained down relentlessly onto the barren plains. The first moment Davey showed even the slightest opening, invisible forces coiled around him, tightening like a noose.

Yet still, that wasn’t all.

Odin was beginning to put together combinations of spells that, while technically possible, were ideas so unconventional that most mages wouldn’t even think to attempt them.

"Kyaaa!!"

Perserque, who had been standing near Davey, let out a scream as she was flung backward.

"Per, can you destroy that magic circle?"

"I can try. Just don’t get yourself hurt.”

With a grim expression, she gazed up at the enormous formation in the sky and unsheathed Transcendence’s Demise.

Odin attempted to intercept her with magic, but before her attacks could reach Perserque, they were either dispelled or completely canceled out.

"You think I’d forget how to use Dispel when you were the one who taught me?"

High-level spells were difficult to break, but lower-tier magic was easy enough to handle.

[O’ Lord, grant me salvation.]

Odin recited a prayer, but it was clear from the result that it wasn’t some simple prayer for comfort.

Zzzzt!

Above them, an enormous cross-shaped radiance flared to life.

A combat spell that mimicked holy magic.

A massive cross, infused with an overwhelming amount of elemental mana, began distorting the surrounding atmosphere. Light particles slowly escaped his body, drifting toward the cross. Realizing the danger, he quickly clapped his hands together, unleashing his own magic.

[Causality Reversal]

Crack!!

The atmosphere twisted violently, and the cross crumpled as if a telekinetic force had compressed it. The light particles that had previously escaped rushed back toward Davey and Perserque.

From what he could tell, it would seem that he had managed to neutralize her high-level magic!

[Accelerated Release]

Bzzzt!!

‘Damn it.’

The spell hadn’t fully charged. But Odin simply compensated for the missing power with her sheer mana control and other abilities.

Szzzt!

"Davey!"

Perserque, sensing something unnatural happening in the sky, hurriedly tossed the Transcendence’s Demise over.

Davey caught it, immediately channeling his magic through the weapon as he spun the staff.

"Grow. Abracadabra!"

Boom!!!

A massive cascade of lightning bolts, as if divine punishment itself had descended, rained down relentlessly.

* * *

Davey knew that if the fight continued without either of them holding back, it would undoubtedly lead to catastrophe.

However, both he and Odin were deliberately containing the impact, preventing the destruction from spreading beyond a certain range.

For Davey, this was an obvious measure. Yet even the bastard Loki didn’t seem to want the place to be reduced to rubble, which was probably why he was keeping Odin in check as well.

Throughout the countless clashes, Odin had relentlessly pressured Davey with her extraordinary creativity and mana control.

But Davey was able to use abilities like Predatory Assimilation, the dragontongue of ancient dragons, and divinity to bridge the power gap between them.

Among them, the most effective was, without a doubt, his Predatory Assimilation.

It enabled him to drain her mana without any consequences.

With the right application, he could nullify her attacks without even consuming them; to him, it was his impenetrable shield. Of course, it wasn’t easy to use for attacking opponents with physical forms, but as a defensive measure, it was invaluable.

The most efficient option would’ve been using the power of taboo, but it was something he never wanted to rely on if given the choice.

"Let me ask again. What the hell happened to you?"

She was overwhelmingly powerful.

If someone had actually managed to force Odin into such a situation with sheer strength or some elaborate trap, then Thanatos and Neltarid would’ve been far more wary of that person first, not Davey.

In fact, not even first; they would’ve been on constant high alert.

Suppressing Odin, someone who had banished another god during her brief ten-second manifestation?

Attempting to subdue someone at her level of power was beyond reckless.

Davey couldn’t figure out what had really happened to her. As he intercepted and neutralized the barrage of spells she hurled at him, it just kept nagging at him.

Despite his precise counterattacks, a few magic missiles suddenly shifted form, morphing mid-flight into Hellfire.

Her switching spells mid-flight was absurd enough, but hiding a spell from the start was even more insane. And this was all while simultaneously casting dozens of other spells.

The difficulty of multicasting rose exponentially with the number of spells being cast together. It was still easier than stacking multiple buff spells at once, but only by a thin margin.

The conclusion was clear—Odin wasn’t being suppressed by some external force. She was moving entirely of her own will.

However, the Odin he knew wasn’t someone who wore such an empty, expressionless face.

She had personally told him that promises shouldn’t be made lightly. It seemed likely that whatever promise she had made was the key to her condition.

Thud...

"Alright then. Let’s give it a try.”

Preparing to close the distance, Davey reached into his Pocket Plane and pulled out some equipment.

One second was all he had to work with.

If he could just get it to work once, that would be enough.

Whips of fire lashed toward him. They appeared to be a deadly inferno, but anyone who assumed they were simply flames would be frozen solid before they even realized their mistake.

Crack!!

Making his way through the relentless cascade of magic, Davey canceled out every single spell in his path and pressed forward.

And then, he drove his fist straight toward her abdomen.

Thud!!

But his attack never landed. A transparent barrier had sprung up around her and stopped his strike.

Odin acted as if she had been hit, using the force of the impact to widen the gap between them.

She then stomped with her small foot, making the surrounding energies shift.

"So that was just a warm-up, and now you’re really trying to kill me?"

Davey let out a dry chuckle before leaping into the air.

The ground where he had just stood—along with everything in the surrounding area—began freezing up instantly.

It looked like ordinary ice, but it wasn’t. It was crystal compressed under high pressure.

"It’s not ice?”

Perserque muttered in disbelief, finally grasping the sheer absurdity of what was unfolding before them.

Crack, crack!!

Odin’s domain didn’t stop at simply turning the ground into crystal.

The solid formations surged upward like stalagmites from a cave’s floor, shooting up to snatch Davey’s legs out of the air.

He wasn’t freezing—he was undergoing an ultra-dense crystallization process.

As it attempted to completely immobilize him, he let out a quiet sigh and moved his lips.

[9th Circle Transcendence Magic]

[Ragnarok]

Boom!!

Enormous orange pillars of energy immediately erupted from all directions, engulfing Odin within their range.

Forced to react quickly, she leaped away from the ground before the crystallized structures shattered instantly.

"You taught me this magic yourself—you should know how powerful it is."

It was too soon to say he had surpassed her, but he was no longer the Davey that she could overwhelm so easily.

Besides, Davey had more than just magic at his disposal. That was where his advantage lay.

Of course, the absurd part was that it was only after adding up all of his other abilities that he could barely be on equal footing with her.

Ssss.

The light in the air began to twist, coalescing into a single spear.

Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of glowing orbs formed, their radiance intensifying.

Watching the unnatural phenomenon unfold, Perserque mumbled in disbelief.

"What in the world is that...?”

Even an 8th Circle mage like her couldn’t grasp what exactly was happening.

Davey answered quietly.

"A miniature solar core."

‘Holy crap.’

He couldn’t figure out what Odin could’ve possibly gone through to end up in such an emotionless and inconsiderate state.

In response, he quickly merged Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon.

There was a saying that carelessly dual-wielding swords would only lead to death, after all.

Holding Super Ribbon in his hand, he asked, "The magic circle?"

"Just a little longer. There! Got it!"

The massive magic circle floating in the sky was a key support system for Odin. Breaking a single cog in that mechanism would provide them a massive advantage.

Odin knew that too.

Perhaps that was why, within an instant, she coalesced the glowing spheres she had manifested and unleashed an enormous, concentrated beam of light straight at Perserque.

Slash!!

Davey immediately cut through the attack and lunged straight at Odin. Condensing mana into his hand, he drove it into her shoulder.

Crash!!

As he shattered the control mechanism of the magic circle, the entire structure collapsed in a chain reaction.

Seeing the magic circle collapse, Odin didn’t hesitate. She withdrew her magic and vanished without a trace.

"Davey! We can’t let her get away!"

The whole point of this confrontation was to capture her. And yet, Davey let her go.

"No. If we keep fighting, one of us will die."

Odin wasn’t in good shape, sure—but neither was Davey.

He had taken on the burden meant for both Perserque and Hovana, carrying the immense weight of the battle alone. Even so, he needed their strength, so letting go of them wasn’t an option.

"But if we lose her now, there’s no way for us to track her back down."

Davey smirked and tapped a small device.

It was a simple transmission unit—two connected pieces of equipment that could send and receive signal waves, even over long distances. It wasn’t needlessly complicated, and with the right adjustments, it worked as an undetectable tracking device.

"It’s giving off a purple resonance, which means she’s roughly five hundred kilometers out, and it’s pointing to the north."

The detection had been brief, and with the possibility of jamming, the accuracy was only around fifty percent.

But no matter how much interference was at play, the general direction and distance wouldn’t change much.

This meant that somewhere within a five hundred kilometer radius to the north, Odin was recuperating.

"He probably predicted I’d be in this condition, which is why they chose to send Odin. He wanted to put an end to me while I was weakened."

But ultimately, they had failed.

"Then shouldn’t you focus on recovering first? Need my help?"

"How about some of this, then?"

Davey tapped his lips with a mischievous grin. She shot him a silent glare before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him down.

She then roughly kissed him, soft warmth and moisture filling his mouth.

It was sweet and addictive.

"Next time, don’t go on a trip for more than three days.”

"I wasn’t planning to.”

It seemed they had both been holding back over the past month more than they’d realized.

"Illyna and Aeria are the same. They’re holding back for now because of the situation, but..."

"I definitely find this relaxing, though."

She giggled at his remark and playfully poked his cheek.

"Alright, enough joking around. You need to neutralize the strain suffered from crossing dimensions, right?"

"Yeah. I’ll need to look for an apothecary in the nearest city. The herb I need only grows in Atrellia, so I couldn’t stock up beforehand."

He had already used the last batch of herbs Odin had given him for research.

‘Maybe I should’ve saved some.’

He could neutralize the strain himself, but that would take at least three days of rest to prepare himself.

With Perserque slung over his back, Davey leaped into the air.

Before long, he spotted a sizable city in the distance.

* * *

An hour after Davey departed, the Great Orc Chief Tsu and the constellation Taurus moved with confidence while drawing the attention of everyone around them.

"Brother, no matter how I think about it, our new brother feels like an illusion."

At those words, Taurus shook his head.

"You disagree? Are you saying that the powerful energy of their prime-grade muscles is unmistakably real and trackable?"

Tsu stroked his chin, watching as Taurus vigorously nodded in agreement.

"I see. If you say so, then it must be true. But then, why is it that I can’t sense any trace of it?"

Boom!!

A thunderous explosion suddenly echoed from beyond the territory’s walls, not far from where they stood.

"Let’s go!"

Tsu and Taurus quickly rushed toward the source of the commotion.

When they arrived, they saw a man frowning in frustration, repeatedly striking the magic barrier surrounding Heins Territory.

"I heard the magic barrier of Heins Territory was absurdly sturdy... and damn, they weren’t lying."

The brown-skinned man muttered as he launched another attack.

Before he could strike again, Tsu stepped forward.

"A promise is a promise, so I need to work. Stop this instant, invader.”

The brown-skinned man turned his head, irritation clear on his face.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"You don’t seem to be here for any good reason."

Hearing his calm yet firm words, the man let out a mocking chuckle.

"You think I’d be here for a good— Wait, hold up. Taurus? Don’t tell me you were the one helping the humans?"

At those words, Taurus clenched its fists, its biceps enlarging.

“...”

Seeing its reaction, the brown-skinned man scoffed, waving his hand dismissively.

“I don’t have time to deal with you two, so scram. I need to take a kid who’s hiding inside this place. If you two get in the way, I’ll just have to kill you.”

Clatter!

At his command, chains shot out in an instant, binding both Tsu and Taurus before they could react.

"Hmph! Strong as hell!"

Tsu gritted his teeth, trying to break free from the restraints. Taurus, too, flexed its massive muscles to strain the chains.

"Don’t think you can snap them as easily as last time. This time, it’s different."

The chains tightened as Constellation Scorpio put more power into them.

At that moment, a pair of crimson eyes in the distance flickered, watching the scene unfold.