The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Davey felt a deep sense of betrayal toward Hercules.

Bang!!

After returning from Iro’s hideout, he quietly picked up a bottle of wine to chug. He was about to open it, but then roughly put it back down. The thought of breaking his promise to quit drinking gnawed at his conscience, but the urge to escape reality was strong nonetheless. He knew he had to keep his promise, no matter how rough it was for him at the moment.

Just as he was about to store the bottle away, he paused.

‘What's the point of keeping promises if everything seems doomed anyway? Should I drink or not?’

As he contemplated, a voice interrupted him.

“I heard you quit drinking. You still couldn’t keep yourself from drinking and breaking your sobriety? We call people like you alcoholics.”

Davey turned to see Kathryn sitting with her legs crossed, twirling a wine glass with a smile on her face.

“Grand Duchess Kathryn. If you haven’t noticed, we are in the middle of a trilateral meeting.”

Despite her playful tone, Davey knew it was her unique way of negotiating.

"Alright. Then let’s discuss what we’re going to do with that damned bastard.”

The Kingdom of Rowane and the Lyndis Empire were the ones who could claim full authority over him. At least, that would normally be the case. Unfortunately, according to the Duke’s journal, there were instances of him kidnapping all classes of people across many locations, regardless of whether they were commoners, slaves, or nobles. As such, the Pallan Empire had some stake as well.

“First of all, the highest priorities go to the Kingdom of Rowane and us, the Lyndis Empire. Pallan Empire, please let us handle the situation this time.”

“We will not back down easily. He was the man preparing for a royal wedding with Illyna. Even though the engagement is broken now, we can’t just back out.”

“Are you saying you want the Lyndis Empire to compensate you in some way?”

"If need be."

Davey could tell that he was clearly angry simply due to the fact that the Duke had tried to do something to Illyna. He could tell he was pulling out all the stops to try and get his revenge.

The issue wasn’t just about the Duke himself. Although human experiments were inhumane, they contained absolute data that could never be obtained ordinarily. And so, the empires couldn’t sleep on the experimental results he left behind. It was only reasonable, really.

“I don’t think our anger will be alleviated until we do a posthumous execution and hang his body to show to the public.”

“My thoughts as well. Not only did he try to target the princess, but he had tarnished His Majesty’s reputation by doing such actions despite being born with royal blood.”

Davey watched Grand Duchess Kathryn and Sullivan argue.

“If I may ask you two.”

"Yes?" they both replied.

After calmly getting the two’s attention, he lowered his gaze and slowly rested his chin on his thumbs. He then asked, “This is just a ‘what-if,’ but how would you feel if I told you that this world is going to disappear within three years?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Like getting hit by a meteorite?”

Davey couldn’t help but laugh at the question.

‘A meteorite… It won’t be a meteorite—the god of disaster will open their eyes.’

To be precise, it would mean resetting the world, but he wondered if all intelligent life—including humans—would really regard it as balance when a god wiped all of them out.

“Please, just forget what I said.”

Sullivan frowned at his words. He had a strange feeling about Davey’s question.

“Crown Prince.”

"Yes."

“This incident. I ask the Pallan Empire to keep their hands out of it.”

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sullivan frowned in response.

“I meant it literally.”

“Are you requesting that as a personal favor?”

“It’s a part of it, but it’s not something I would recommend.”

“It’s difficult to understand what you mean,” Sullivan said, struggling to grasp what Davey meant.

“The Empire will already be in trouble because of Illyna’s broken engagement, so it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to become even more entangled with the Pallan Empire,” Davey explained.

Sullivan chuckled. “Then let’s do it this way.”

“Please,” Davey replied.

“This event ruined the marriage talks with Illyna. Please conduct a national wedding ceremony with her becoming your wife.”

It seemed he was determined to obtain the results of the duke's experiment for the sake of the empire. Why else would he bring up the matter Davey hadn’t complied with instead of any other matter?

Even so…

“Let’s do that. Then we’ll deal with the issue of national marriage with the Pallan Empire later. Has the Lyndis Empire changed any of their opinions in the meantime?”

“Pardon?”

The two looked at Davey with surprised faces.

“Prince… Prince Davey? What did you just…?” Prince Sullivan looked at him with a rare expression of surprise.

“Let’s do it—national marriage. I was going to bring it up anyway.”

“Prince Davey…?” Grand Duchess Kathryn said quietly.

“Grand Duchess, I’m sorry, but the research results he created were based not on biological experiments but on his special powers. It would be a good idea to consider what problems retaining that information might cause in the future before asking for them.”

“Are you saying they weren’t just standard biological experiment data?”

“Yes. In return, we’ll hand over the personal information of those who were sacrificed by him as soon as we find them. Will that do?”

“It’d be meaningless if there isn’t anything beneficial from them… However, since he is from the royal family of the Empire...”

Crown Prince Sullivan and Grand Duchess Kathryn looked at Davey as if they couldn’t understand Davey’s change of mind.

* * *

On account of its prohibitively vast territory, the Heins Territory had never been fully developed. Although most of it was wasteland that was known to be unusable, it was actually a place that could be developed if one put their mind to it.

“Hmm...”

The huge earthen giant in front glared at him. He raised his fist as if it was preparing to attack at any moment. Then, as if he was nervous, he stared at Davey for a while and stretched out his fist.

Bang!!!

With a huge explosion, the entirety of the ruins where Davey was standing was distorted. At the same time, the ground shook and distorted as it began to wriggle and change its shape as if it were alive.

“More on the left.”

It was none other than the earth giant, the Earth Spirit King Gnoass. His gigantic spirit energy shook the earth and caused the ground with huge piles of stones to rise into the sky.

“Dodo. Stack them carefully.”

[O-Of course.]

In a voice full of fear, the Wind Spirit King, Sylphid—also known as Dodo—gathered the dirt into one place. Then, streams of water from unknown sources carved a waterway over Gnoass’s groundwork.

When the combined powers of the three Spirit Kings were used to lay the foundation of a city, the concept of build time became almost irrelevant.

Of course, they weren’t constructing complex urban infrastructure. Instead, they were creating a massive magic circle formed by water channels. Although it hadn’t been activated yet, it was a form of ancient magic that relied on large geographical features.

“Come on out. Shandra Minea.”

Soon, Davey stood on top of an oval-shaped space resembling a huge Colosseum in the center of the magic circle, throwing a card on the ground of the opposite side. The card instantly expanded dramatically and emitted light, summoning a huge earth dragon in front of him.

Grrr...

The creature let out a low cry, its vast presence dissipating. It was one of the three Mythical Beast Kings—the Groundburst Dragon. It was a monstrous being; it had the ability to control minds and create clones, while still possessing immense defensive power.

Of course, Shandra Minea was not weak—it was just that the beings Davey had encountered so far were too powerful for him to face. In fact, Shandra Minea alone had the power to turn the entire continent into a wasteland.

[Human.]

Shandra Minea glared down on Davey. He hadn’t aligned his relationship with Shandra Minea like he did with Megalodria, so the process he was about to go through was absolutely necessary.

“Shandra Minea.”

[Speak. Insignificant human.]

Davey was used to his arrogant tone. In the first place, among the ignorant three dragons, there was a reason Megalodria was the king among them.

It was because the other two… were just overly simple-minded dragons. They were the perfect example of the lesser of two evils. Although they weren’t evil, the two made Megalodria seem so much better in comparison. He looked up at the huge black dragon floating in the sky, just in case he was wrong about his stance.

‘I wasn’t wrong,’ he thought.

"It's nothing, really. I just wanted us to stay close since we made a vow under a contract. The current situation isn't the best, and I was hoping you’d listen to me as well.”

After Davey firmly explained his position, Shandra Minea snorted and fumed out strong and short flames.

[Hah! Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now? Human, you are mistaken.]

"Alright then. Tell me. What am I mistaken about?”

Shandra Minea locked eyes with him.

[I didn't become a contractor because I wanted to. My contractor is none other than Shane.]

"And?"

Davey hoped there was an important reason, as he didn’t have the time to waste at a place like this.

[Also, I don’t follow orders from those weaker than me!]

Davey frowned at Shandra Minea’s firm cry and looked up at him. Shandra Minea then pointed his toe to his head and swirled it to pantomime that Davey was out of his mind. But this was no surprise to Davey.

“But I know you’ll listen better than Behemoth…”

Bang!!

Before Davey finished his sentence, his giant foot struck the ground, causing an immediate earthquake.

[Human. Don't cross the line. Do you think you have the right to bring up Behemoth?]

"It’s all good. You said you wouldn’t listen to anyone unless they were stronger than you, right?”

[Grrr...]

“Then you wouldn’t have anything to say if I beat you to the brink of death here and then hit you again and kill you, right?”

[Hmph! A little bastard like you won’t even fill me up as I’m regaining all my strength. Then how about it? Would you like to be my meal?]

His huge head came closer to Davey and looked down at him disdainfully. Davey, who was silent, nodded.

"Okay. Let's do it. It’s time for dinner, so come get your meal.”

[Hmph! Cheeky human being.]

He glared at Davey indifferently.

“Gnoass.”

At Davey's call, Gnoass’s huge body broke apart and seeped into him.

In an instant, his Predatory Assimilation consumed the spirit mana. It dismantled and analyzed its structure. It then swirled quickly and mixed with elemental mana, soon causing a vast amount of natural energy to seep into his body as well.

Davey could feel the tremendous power coursing through him. The feeling of his power being amplified tremendously every time he consumed power was surprisingly addictive.

“A meal… Hmm. Meals are good. Alright. Let’s take this opportunity to really have a meal.”

Shandra Minea let out battle energy.

[You arrogant human bastard!]

Soon, lavalike red power began to gather in his mouth. Davey fixed his gaze on him and took steps forward as he completely incorporated Gnoass into his body.

[I’ll chew your limbs as my meal…]

"Alright. Order’s up.”

‘I’m going to make you choke, you bastard.’

[Spirit Synchronization]

[Spirit King Fusion]

[Gigantism]

Rumble, rumble!

The earth trembled as a massive force erupted. The synchronization between the spirit and contractor's powers was underway. In Davey's case, where he could synchronize with other powers then use them, it wasn’t just spirit mana and spirit power that he could wield—it was something more.

[Graviton]

[Combination Magic]

[Reinforce Spirit Road]

His magic’s usable range also increased significantly.

[What?!]

As soon as Shandra Minea widened his eyes in shock, Davey took on a massive human form and stretched out his hands. Shandra Minea unleashed an intense, scorching breath to counterattack, but the transparent barrier that instantly appeared in front of Davey completely absorbed the fiery blast.

The reason Davey had limited himself in using barrier magic was because of his Predatory Assimilation characteristic. If he consumed powers and kept them within, they would spread into madness in an empty stomach without modification, but throwing them away was a different story.

Crack!!

Davey wrapped his arms around Shandra Minea’s neck. His thin, transparent, and incredibly sturdy energy shield resisted his attacks, but...

“Don’t resist, bitch.”

[W-Wait a minute?!]

Shandra Minea was taken aback, struggling with all his might to get away. However, Davey being a giant human that was hundreds of meters tall, he pressed down on Shandra Minea’s back with his knee and strangled his neck with both hands.

Shandra Minea struggled, not knowing how to react to Davey’s grim gaze, but that only lasted for a moment.

[Mega… Megalodria! Help me!]

Shandra Minea asked for help, but the response was different from what he expected.

[You sure know how to dig yourself a grave. Now you need to know how to bury yourself.]

Grrk!!

[Gaaa!!]

Davey couldn’t help but eerily laugh as he watched Shandra Minea scream in surprise at the unimaginable power gap.

[You… You crazy bastard!! Stop! The scales on my neck are getting twisted!]

“I don’t follow orders from those weaker than me!”

As Davey responded back in a solemn tone, Shandra Minea made an astonished face.

[Stop…!! Let’s negotiate! I demand a negotiation!]

“No negotiating!”

Near instantly, Davey twisted his body and wrapped his arms and legs around him. He had performed an armbar on him. Shandra Minea’s body was huge, but Davey’s massive form was bigger after synchronizing with the Spirit King.

“This is called an armbar, you bastard!”

[GAAA!!!]

Shandra Minea screamed desperately.

Davey felt sorry for him, but he really needed the dragon’s power in order to deal with Thanatos. Regardless of whether it was through the Absolute Gem or his awakening into a god beforehand, he needed the power of Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, and Super Ribbon to fight Thanatos.

The dwarf’s furnace that had a natural flame that reached three thousand degrees was not enough. The two completed children couldn’t even be crafted at normal temperatures.

Davey knew there was no way that weapons which could easily withstand the White Nova—which burned at tens of thousands of degrees—would react and begin melting at just three thousand degrees of heat.

Shandra Minea, who wielded pure, natural flames, could harness the power of the Spirit King Ifrit and all of his Lavatein to further strengthen Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon.

"Hey. This flame is still lukewarm. Warm it up a little more. That way you’ll actually be of some use.”

[This... This crazy guy!]

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thought:

Earth Spirit King Gnoass when he meets Dirt Spirit Queen Gyesboobs: