The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Evanov, who had risked his life exploring the ruined city for research material, observed the scene and muttered, “It’s all been erased too cleanly, hasn’t it? If you look at the surface, there’s not a single trace left beyond this point. It’s like it was perfectly carved out.”

When the ruins had vanished, he couldn’t help but feel a profound sense of loss. “But more than that, this is all really incredible. I never imagined you could completely annihilate an entire city! Davey, you’re truly amazing and astonishing. Are you even human?”

“Human? I... am, yes.”

Noticing his slight hesitation, Evanov’s head tilted, looking puzzled. “Anyway... I never knew your power was this great.”

He didn’t reproach Davey for destroying all the research data. After all, he had also seen the assimilation of memories the grotesque creature released. “I thought maybe there’d be some kind of trace left...”

His melancholic muttering wasn’t just because the research data was gone. In a fit of rage directed at the monster that mocked Willow, Davey had obliterated the entire area, and in the process, the innocent twin golems were also swept away.

Feeling a twinge of guilt, Davey was about to say something to him.

Before he could, Evanov suddenly slumped down, curled up, and began to despair. “My twin golems... my twin golems...”

It seemed he had developed a strong attachment to the golems, given they had protected him for a long time.

“Well... I’m sorry about that,” Davey said.

“It’s okay. If I’m this angry and sad, I can’t imagine how much worse it must be for you. Don’t worry about it. You gave the twin golems to protect me, anyways.” Despite his words, he still looked depressed. “But... what exactly did I witness earlier?”

Davey had promised he’d tell him, but the words wouldn’t come out easily. After a long period of contemplation, he muttered in a resigned tone, “The memory of a daughter who died without ever receiving her parents’ love.”

Evanov had already suspected as much. Once Davey himself confirmed it, the reality he had been contemplating became concrete.

“Was that child, Willow, actually your daughter? She looked too old, though.”

“No, she was. Willow is an ego I created with my own hands, not a normal human.”

“Ah! I apologize.” As a fellow alchemist, Evanov also felt an attachment to created beings, so he seemed quick to sympathize.

He’d already known about Evangeline, Darian, Abel, and Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon from the trades that were done between Davey and Yurgian. It was, of course, the first he had heard of Willow.

“Ummm. Davey... I know this is awkward to say, but you didn’t do it on purpose. You truly didn’t know,” Evanov consoled.

“But me not knowing doesn’t make the pain she endured just disappear.”

To rationalize it that way was no different than what his father, King Krianes O’Rowane, would do.

“Then, are you going to carry that burden for the rest of your life?”

“I have to,” he solemnly responded.

“Davey!” Evanov grabbed both of his arms and looked up at him. “Look me straight in the eyes and tell me, are you really going to carry that burden forever? Anyone with eyes could see you’re already slowly losing, despite only being like this for a short time. Especially for you, a person with Absolute Memory, whose memories are more vivid than anyone else’s, it must be torture.”

Davey met his gaze. “Evanov Ban.”

“Yes?”

“That’s the only atonement I can offer her.” That was the fatherly love and motherly love he believed in.

“Honestly, I want to tell you to erase your memory. I don’t know of any certain methods yet, but if there’s a possibility, I’ll work hard to find a way, no matter what.” Evanov didn’t want him to keep the memories he had just seen.

“I feel bad for her, but the living have to go on living!” he lamented.

It might sound cold, but Davey understood his perspective. Even now, Davey couldn’t control himself, and his emotions were leaking out so much that those around him were noticing.

“They say oblivion’s a blessing. In that sense, you carry a curse, Davey.”

His half-sister, Aeonitia, also possessed a power close to Absolute Memory, but he was distinctly different. As Evanov said, he remembered every memory in real-time, except those he sealed or erased for a specific reason. Naturally, the more vivid the memory, the harder it was for the corresponding emotion to fade.

“Just stop. Evanov, let’s quit talking about this. I never intended to show you this in the first place.”

“Haaah. I understand. But just in case you change your mind, let me know. I’ll use every means at my disposal to help you.”

Even as he forced himself to put away his gloomy expression, the uncomfortable feeling lingered, and his face wasn’t pleasant even as he left the ruined area.

The usual him would’ve searched for buried data or the remains of the twin golems.

Evanov knew it’d be foolish to search the empty ruins. So instead, he took out some wood from his bag, stuck them into the ground like grave markers, and carved an inscription.

It roughly said something along the lines of a memorial for the twin golems.

“I wish I had some flowers,” he muttered forlornly and turned away. “Let’s go. You said there’s one more thing you need to find. I know this area well, so I’ll guide you.”

Evanov Ban.

His meddling nature was more bothersome than Davey thought.

* * *

Mute’s instrument had been overloaded, so it needed some time before Davey could use it again. Once learning of this, Evanov suggested setting up a tent and camping out. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to do it in the middle of the wasteland.

He took out a makeshift tent from his bag and set it up. After placing a portable stove and a bed, he served hot tea to Perserque and Davey, then left the tent alone.

It was a pity he didn’t get the research data from the ruins. Since the expedition started with simple curiosity, he was more concerned about Davey, who was practically his savior.

He stepped away, thinking his presence might make the two uncomfortable, but once out he wasn’t sure what he should do.

The fact that the twin golems had been caught in the explosion also made him feel quite down.

Just then, something caught his eye. “Hmm? What’s that?”

He rubbed his eyes a few times, looking into the dark wasteland under the moonlight. He prided himself on his good eyesight, but there was no way he could clearly see the figure wearing a black robe approaching from beyond.

A sudden impulse of wariness made him hide one hand behind his back and hold his self-defense tool.

He spoke toward the figure slowly approaching, his guard up, “Stop. Who are you?”

It made no sense for a person in such attire to be traveling on the empty wasteland.

The most chilling part was the fact that nothing could be heard around the figure. It was as if all sound itself had vanished.

Evanov, with a rigid face, finally caught sight of the approaching robed figure.

The approaching figure was a woman! She was astonishingly divine and beautiful.

“Who are you? Are you an explorer?” Evanov deliberately raised his voice so that Davey could hear. Yet, for some reason, he and Perserque weren’t coming out of the nearby tent.

It was as if Evanov’s voice wasn’t reaching them.

Then, the woman in the black robe slowly extended her hand and showed him two small, core-like objects. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

“This is!”

She held them out as if urging him to take them.

What she offered was none other than the cores of the twin golems. They were essentially the nuclei of the twin golems that had protected Evanov and aided his exploration. It contained their artificial intelligence, as well as most of their memory.

In fact, if those were truly their cores, it would be possible to directly restore both of them.

“Where’d you get these...?”

She lightly waved a hand instead of answering.

At the same time, a clear, blue barrier enveloped the surroundings. The change was so distinct that even Evanov, who knew almost nothing about magic, could feel it.

The entire space shimmered and changed, as if it was under her influence.

[Child]

Evanov rubbed his eyes with his hand. If he wasn’t mistaken, she was talking to him by creating letters on a tablet.

He held the cores tightly in both hands and blankly asked, “Who... are you?”

However, he didn’t need to hear the answer to that question. When he first met her eyes, a primal intuition flashed through his mind.

Evanov slowly knelt down toward the woman, silently waiting for his answer.

It was the instinctive reverence of a creation toward its creator.

Evanov slowly and cautiously spoke up, “I dare to ask you something.”

His voice trembled. He struggled to find the words he wanted to say next. However, he forcibly suppressed those feelings and continued, “May I ask why you’ve inflicted such a painful ordeal on him?”

Evanov was smart. He was also tactful, so he knew the woman before him was the goddess Davey had spoken of. The one who orchestrated the whole affair.

That’s why he was curious.

“What exactly did he do wrong? No, that’d depend on the circumstances. I don’t think the child, Willow, would think like that, but from her perspective, Davey’s an incredibly terrible parent.”

However.

“Even so... this is too cruel, isn’t it? Those remnants, you called them? You know better than anyone how much Davey is suffering trying to restore them.”

Evanov had never seen him so fragile. They hadn't known each other long, but they still met occasionally and exchanged greetings. Yet, it was the first time he had seen Davey look this vulnerable.

Of course, Davey had made his own decision to dedicate himself to the task. If it came down to who was to blame, it was indeed his fault for not discovering Willow.

He’d had plenty of opportunities, yet he’d become complacent in reality and completely forgotten her existence.

That was why Evanov still asked questions, almost like a tantrum, even though he knew the truth.

Even though it wasn’t his own experience, the memory assimilation had filled him with overwhelming sorrow. He couldn’t even begin to fathom just how tormented and despairing the two must’ve been.

In response to his question, the Goddess slowly reached out a hand. She then placed it on his head before gently stroking.

As she did, blue light particles flowed from her fingertips and seeped into his body.

At the same time, his eyes widened. It was as if he had been told some kind of truth.

“Is that... true?!”

* * *

Evanov came back to a silent tent. The two were quiet, and he didn’t say anything either. The silence was suffocating, but he stayed silent, as if gathering his thoughts.

After about six hours had passed, Mute’s instrument was charged again, and Davey played it again.

Evanov looked at him, trying hard to hide his slightly complicated expression.

A certain truth he had heard from the Goddess was a little different from what he’d previously known. She had passed a key word about that problem to Evanov.

As the instrument did its job, Davey quickly pinpointed the next location and immediately took Perserque and Evanov with him. They arrived at tremendous speed and found the entity that had been assimilated with Willow’s remnant.

The speed of their tracking was incomparable to when they’d investigated the underground facility.

“My goodness! A remnant dwelling in a statue?”

The half-destroyed statue, shedding what looked like mysterious red, bloody tears, had no notable triggers on it. The red stains around the eyes instead looked as if it had cried on its own.

Davey stared at the statue without saying much. He then waved toward the two. “Both of you, step back.”

Perserque expressed her resolute will. “Out of the question.”

“Alright then. Evanov.”

“It’s alright. Unless it’s a special case like that monster, it seems to have no effect on me.”

Davey thought that was a relatively reasonable argument, so he took the crystal of the remnant from Perserque and absorbed the remnant inside the statue.

Since it wasn’t a living creature, the recovery itself wasn’t too difficult.

“Davey,” Evanov called out.

As Davey glimpsed into her memory, his face darkened.

Evanov bit his lip slightly. “Nevemind.”

He trailed off and gave an awkward smile. “Hey... Can I go with you to recover the remnants of Willow?”

Davey was surprised. “You?”

“Yes. I want to go all the way to the end.”

At his unexpected decision, Davey quietly observed him, then shook his head. “If you synchronize with all of her emotions, you won’t be able to handle it.”

“No, I’ll be fine. I want to shake off this uncomfortable feeling, and there’s also a kind of instinctive curiosity eating at me.”

Evanov gave a bitter smile.

’I have to go with him. For the moment he embraces her pain and earns a certain qualification.’

They were thoughts he couldn’t yet say to his mourning friend.

He called out, “Davey.”

“Huh?”

“There’s a saying in ancient texts that great power requires qualifications.”

Davey didn't understand. “What kind of crazy talk is that, all of a sudden?”

“I’m just saying.”

Davey could be called a powerful being, but he was not yet perfect. Certainly not perfect enough to inherit the authority the sleeping Goddess Freyja still held.

In some ways, Evanov felt that the goddess had a deep love for Davey.

To the point of inspiring jealousy.