The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Davey’s compatriots from the Hall of Heroes were everything to him. They were essentially the roots through which he’d learned about the world. Most of the power he possessed came from their teachings, and after spending nearly a thousand years with them, his attachment to them had developed beyond equals.

However, he couldn't make a sound judgment when faced with the situation he found himself in. Ever since reading the letter Willow left behind, he’d lost his cool and resorted to recklessly attempting any method for resurrection that seemed even remotely possible.

The heroes opposed him, of course. Alas, they couldn't break his stubborn resolve to forcefully interfere with the world's laws and take back the authority of time.

'Just wait a little longer, Willow. I won't let you just vanish like that.'

Boom!!!

A huge explosion ripped through the area.

“You little—” Daphne emerged from the resulting pile of dirt, snarling as she raised her hand high up. Pure white streaks of light began to rapidly gather over her fist, quickly forming a white source of oscillating light. “Youngest! Just because you grew up a little and became the head of the house, you think you can crawl over us, is that it?!”

Boom!!

In an instant, the ground was shattered, and her attack shot toward him in a flash of light. He spun Longinus rapidly and took a stance to thrust and parry it. However, he couldn’t drive his weapon forward. Arrows of light flew at him as if they had been waiting for that moment.

“Davey, no matter how much of a benefactor you are, if you hurt Daphne, I can’t stay on your side.” Bow Lord Apollo spoke in a heavy tone, his usual playful air gone.

“Then step aside,” Davey growled out.

“You must be out of your god damned mind! You know better than anyone how dangerous it is to jump back in time and change the past!” Daphne shouted in frustration.

Every action taken in the past inevitably changed the future. It was an act that should never be attempted unless one had the omniscience of a god.

Even Davey knew it was insane to even attempt. Yet his broken heart, frozen solid, kept him from making any rational judgment.

Davey had never felt this kind of crushing loss, overcome with gnawing self-loathing for failing to protect Willow. Even in the past, when he and Aeria had lost their child born from the Goddess’s blessing, he hadn’t felt the same way.

He felt a sense of powerlessness, positive that if he didn't do something, he would forever resent and hate himself for it.

Davey deftly avoided Daphne and her attacks. He soon gathered strength to repel her. Then, he tossed his weapon into the air, and just as he condensed a massive shockwave into his fist, Daphne pulled away from him without hesitation, putting distance between them.

'Ho, who said you could go? There’s no escaping from me.’

Davey pursued her and threw his punch, a look of pity washing over her face at the sight.

“You're blinded by rage...” As he rapidly closed the distance, an immense pressure rushed toward him from the side.

“Hmph?!”

‘When’d he come?’

Ylgr, the King of Martial Arts, had slightly crouched and rushed in at incredible speed and countered his punch. His punch whiffed to the side, and Ylgr’s strike, which moved with fluid precision, slammed straight toward his solar plexus.

Davey tried to twist his body to narrowly avoid it, but Ylgr didn't give him the chance. He pressed harder and faster.

If he tried to forcefully avoid Ylgr’s assault, the other heroes would instantly attack him. It quickly became clear that he had to sacrifice one of the two.

Ylgr was threatening, but forcing him out would likely end the fight. If that was the case, then he knew he had no choice but to endure the blow.

The King of Martial Arts Ylgr squarely landed a punch on Davey.

[Devil Ylgr’s Crowd Suppression]

[Fierce Abdominal Strike]

A moment of silence passed. It lasted for a couple of seconds max, then the aftermath tore through the ground in a straight line and split the earth. A massive opening, easily five meters wide, spread wider and wider as it tore across the land and carved its way past the horizon.

Ylgr struck with clear, deliberate intent to take him down.

“Gaaa!” Davey went flying like a cannonball, tumbling and slamming into the ground multiple times.

“Wow. That crazy bastard...”

It was a solid hit, sure to deal heavy damage. Yet Ylgr, who’d landed the attack, didn't look pleased.

“How bad is it?” someone asked him.

“From what my body is telling me, at least three places seem broken. Can you heal it?”

“Well, it looks like he also cast a curse to impede healing magic. It won't be easy.”

“It’s not just my arm, either. My entire body is screaming,” Ylgr groaned in pain.

Yuriana, the Spirit Queen and Ylgr's wife, generated enormous elemental mana and asked, “How did he get this strong?”

“His skill sharply increased just before he fought Thanatos, and plenty has happened since,” Ylgr replied, forcibly setting the broken bones in his slack arm.

Despite the considerable pain of his bones being snapped, his expression only showed annoyance. “Right now, his body is out-of-this-world strong. If Davey decided to fight to the death, he’d be able to wipe out a lot of us.”

“Damn that physical transformation.”

The counterattack Davey had cast as he was flung back was almost instinctive. He slowly got up and steadied his breathing. Unfortunately, the blow to his solar plexus had made it almost impossible to breathe, and the extreme pain made it hard for him to straighten up.

Yet, Davey wasn’t the kind of person who’d lose to anyone when it came to sheer tenacity.

Clank! Clank!

The opening Ylgr had created, forcing Davey to confront him, gave Odin a great opportunity. Golden and black chains materialized instantly, wrapping around Davey in layers as they pressed him down.

It was the combined work of Odin, the legend of Atrellia known as the God of Mages, and Death Lord Rho Aias, the erased Absolute of the Peslisa continent.

Both heroes were at the absolute top tier just based on sheer power alone, and their magic wasn’t something Davey could easily break.

“Go easy on him.”

“I know, so just shut up.” Odin snapped back irritably at Dokgo Jun, the Heavenly Destroyer, who had been silently watching while gulping down a drink.

‘Right. They'll try to subdue me without seriously hurting me.’

Contrary to their expectations, Davey didn’t back down when faced with so much resistance.

He simply couldn’t allow himself to.

“Hmph?!”

Crack! Crack!!

“Holy shit!” Odin swore, then slammed a hand down through the air.

Crack! Crack!!

A storm of cold air rushed in from all directions and froze Davey. He had already begun to break their restraints with sheer power.

Crack! Crack!!

It wasn't long before he successfully shattered their magic.

“I think you went too easy,” one of them complained.

“Well, restraint magic isn't my specialty.”

Just as Davey refrained from taking drastic measures to wipe them out, they’d tried to subdue him while risking only minimal injury.

After shattering his restraints, he began to gather a large amount of mana and mixed it with his divinity.

Odin and Rho Aias backed away, then simultaneously made the same motion, raising their respective mana.

The only way Davey could overcome the two was if he forced them into close combat.

As he pushed forward to put them within range, two black shadows shot in from beside Odin and Rho Aias at almost the same time.

“I’d rather not step in, but... Hic!!”

“Brother, it’d be great if you could distract him for a bit.”

“Will do.”

[Heavenly Destroyer Divine Art]

[Extreme Light Divine Slash]

[Longsword]

[Splitting the Mountains]

Clash!!

The two figures cleanly dispersed Davey’s power with what seemed like practiced synchronization. They were none other than Dokgo Jun and Ares.

Since they couldn't use their full power with the intent to destroy him completely, they too were holding back their strength, though their power was still immense nonetheless.

They utilized their greatest strengths to exploit his weaknesses.

Davey was well aware of how difficult it was to face two opponents at once. Even so, it was only one of his problems. Perhaps because he had lost his cool and was using his hands more violently, he began to make mistakes he wouldn't usually make.

Two masters of the sword who’d been fighting for thousands of years would never miss those openings.

As Davey lost focus on Dokgo Jun's dazzling sword dance, Ares spotted an opening and swung his heavy longsword in a decisive blow.

In a normal situation, such a heavy strike would’ve sliced an opponent’s body in half, but the divine power in Davey’s body forcefully boosted his defensive abilities to protect him, acting autonomously.

Boom!!

Still, he didn't just keep taking hits and flying around.

“You've improved a lot,” Ares muttered proudly. Davey had blocked the attack by spinning Longinus to deflect his sword and bracing it against the ground. “But you haven't forgotten what I said, have you? Even the greatest warrior can't beat numbers.”

The sky tore and split open, and black lightning bolts instantly poured down on him. As Ares said, one couldn't beat a mob when they were just on par with them in skill.

Davey intensely felt the truth of that statement.

* * *

Davey was still, at the end of the day, the youngest of the hall.

Yuriana had stayed out of the main fight for the most part, focused on healing wounds.

She looked at her husband, clutching his arm with a pained expression while it was healed.

It wasn't just that his arm was shattered. He’d also suffered considerable internal injuries. It was the price of fighting Davey while thinking only of his past self’s capabilities.

Since he was seriously injured by that sudden counterattack, Daphne and the Divine Physician Hypocria were currently treating him.

“Are you really okay?” one of them doubtfully asked him.

“It'll get better if I smear some spit on it,” he gruffly insisted.

Judging by his foolish comment, the situation didn't seem too bad.

“Stop giving me that look. Why do you look so miserable?”

“How am I supposed to relax my expression? Just look at Davey right now.”

“Right, he's running pretty wild.”

“That's not what I meant, you scoundrel.” Yuriana seemed annoyed at her husband for acting like a clown, so she glared at him and struck him across the back.

“Agh! Woman, are you crazy?!” he shouted.

“This might sting a little.”

Crack!!

“Aaaargh!!! This crazy quack is killing a patient!”

There were few people who would dare to say such a thing to Hypocria.

“It's the first time I've seen the spirits attached to Davey cry so bitterly.”

“The spirits are crying?”

“Simply put, there are spirits that have synchronized with his emotions. Yuriana can feel it so keenly to the point that it’s like their emotions are synchronized together,” Daphne explained.

Ylgr looked up at her, dropping his playful expression.

Yuriana's eyes were bloodshot, as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment. “It's so heartbreaking that the one thing I have to do is stop him, even when he's suffering and grieving so much...”

In the end, she quietly buried her face in her knees and sobbed.

Ylgr didn't know how to comfort Yuriana, so he just simply rolled his eyes.

Just then, he caught a glance of the expression on Davey’s face.

Ylgr hadn’t paid much attention until he checked on Yuriana's condition, but that guy’s face was pretty different from what he expected.

Davey was fighting like a fiend against the bombardment of Odin and Rho Aias; the subsequent checks from the Bow Lord Apollo; and finally, the frontal assault of Ares and Dokgo Jun.

However, there was no cheap feeling of simple-minded rage on his face. He was angry, but he also seemed the saddest among them.

“It feels like his soul is weeping.” Mute, who could hear and feel all elements, drove the point home, “All Davey’s feeling right now is profound sorrow, nothing more and nothing less.”

“Haaah.”

The child named Willow had vanished before his eyes. It was the aftereffect of prolonged exposure to and erosion by the power of the Abyss and Predatory Assimilation.

Despite her condition, Willow had endeavored in search of her father’s attention, hoping he’d recognize her.

Yet Davey, unaware, had recklessly drawn out the power of Super Ribbon and drove the child further into a corner.

“That child Willow clearly lacked experience in the world. She didn't seem to realize how the letter she left would impact Davey.”

That one letter had completely shattered his composure.

Mute thought it was a truly regrettable incident, to suffer so much even though there was no malice involved.

“His expression is showing anger, but there's no way you could miss that the one who’s crying the hardest right now is that fool.” Mute sighed and stood up. “Still, what's wrong is wrong. If I had known that Willow was inside Super Ribbon from the start, things wouldn't have escalated this far.”

“It's not anyone's fault to put blame on.”

“But I still have to take responsibility, so I guess I'll join the fight soon too.”

Having finally resolved herself, she lightly strummed the strings of her lyre. A faint sound echoed, and an emerald-green breeze mixed with beautiful melodies enveloped the surroundings.

Davey was already under intense pressure from many heroes, yet he’d refrained from using his worst-case measures.

If he chose to truly put his mind to it, he knew no one would survive.

The fact that the heroes who should’ve vanished were still alive was also due to his affection. After all, he didn’t want to lose them.

He caught his breath after dodging the bombardment from Rho Aias and Odin. Before long, the melodies that flowed from Mute's instrument gently wrapped around him as if comforting him, completely ensconcing him within.

“Ugh?!”

Surprised, he urgently tried to consume the power with Predatory Assimilation.

However.

“He never gets rid of that habit, even now.”

As Mute muttered to herself, he momentarily lost power.

Taking advantage of that opening, Ares rushed in and struck with a Continuum-Attacking Blade to pin him down.

Even with them holding back their power, it took more than six heroes to subdue him. Considering that all those individuals were formidable warriors who had once dominated an era, and that Davey was currently unable to make rational judgments, one could tell how incredibly his power had grown.

“You held back again. Did you not resist because you were afraid I might get hurt?” Mute asked him.

He could’ve countered her attack at any time, yet never did.

She approached Davey, who had flown away due to the shockwave of the Continuum-Attacking Blade.

He was slumped against a rock, catching his breath.

“Whew.”

While he carefully controlled his breathing, he glared when he saw her slowly walking toward him.

Once she reached him, she pulled him into her small embrace. “We fully understand and support you every step of the way, you moronic dumbo. Just calm yourself down for a bit.”

Davey, who had been continuously releasing his power, stopped after taking in her strange way of talking.

“Why are you keeping everything to yourself? What does it matter that you have so much to protect, or that you're a demigod? A person can always cry when they're sad.”

Hearing her soothing words, his raging momentum slowly began to subside.

Very faintly, he began to weep.

“Ahhh—”

Mute sang a beautiful melody so his weeping wouldn't be heard. She pulled his head into her small body’s embrace and covered him with her back, ensuring his tears couldn't be seen either.

Of course, covering him up like that didn't mean the others didn't notice what was going on. They too wore dark expressions, silently pretending not to see or hear.

They simply watched him in silence.

His deep sorrowful weeping lasted for a long time.

However, there was eventually one who also shattered that heavy atmosphere.

“Ta-da! I'm back!”

Hundreds of talismans tore through the air and dominated the space.

Sorcerer Woochi spun a long staff and made a grand entrance, theatrically stroking under his nose with his thumb like Bruce Lee.

“Davey! Your brother is here!”

Everyone turned to him at his shout.

“Was that not it?”

“Oh my gosh, that moron...”

“He has no tact, that's why he's like that...”

Woochi, who’d suddenly received a torrent of glares for his lack of tact, couldn't hide his awkward expression. “It seems I was a little too late.”

The other heroes sighed, looking at him with utter disdain.

After a long time had passed, Davey’s trembling subsided.

Having finally composed himself somewhat, Mute spoke quietly while still holding him with a calm face, “The Goddess is slowly collecting the vanished fragments of Willow. Reviving them will be impossible, but...”

She then whispered in a soothing voice, “I can briefly connect that child's consciousness so you can say everything you wanted to say.”

His eyes opened wide in shock.

“We're sorry, Davey. This is all we can do for you.”

Mute, who rarely showed changes in expression, and had never been particularly affectionate toward him in the past, also felt gratitude toward him. She worried about the Hall’s youngest.