The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 833. His identity

The oppressive air in the surroundings seemed to freeze everyone in silence.

“Cough... Cough...”

The woman, half of her body mangled, desperately tried to crawl away from Davey.

“Looks like predators get devoured by prey these days.”

Boom!

One of the predator kings lunged at Davey as he mocked them. He casually swung Red Ribbon, slicing his sword and nearly cutting his body, but at that moment his form turned into mist, making Red Ribbon pass through him.

His weapon, which had also turned to mist, quickly regained its shape and came at Davey again.

Slash!!

The air split open and he grinned, but just before his weapon struck Davey’s body, his body once again dissolved like mist and reappeared a short distance away.

“Ha... That was close.”

In the brief moment of distraction, his group managed to retrieve the woman Davey had nearly struck.

“I wish she'd just die already, but a promise is a promise,” one of the Fallen Ones said with a bored tone. He reached out to the half-dead woman, and her body began to restore itself.

“I’ll kill you... I’ll tear you apart!” she screamed, her skin turning a dark shade of purple as she glared with eyes of pure hatred. She charged forward, relentlessly lashing her tendrils out in a barrage of attacks.

Davey easily dodged her blows, and as she got within striking distance, he raised Red Ribbon again. She grinned when she blocked his swing.

“My body’s tougher than anyone else’s, you know? Your slashes are quite sharp, but your sword is still a little toy that won’t do a thing to me!” she sneered, wrapping her tendrils around his waist.

"Mage!" Holygon, still on the ground, shouted out. But Davey didn’t move.

“I’ll rip you apart and swallow you whole—”

Squelsh!

“Hrmph?”

Her voice lost every trace of confidence; she froze, eyes wide with confusion.

Slash!!

Once again, he sliced through her body with Red Ribbon.

"Gaaa... cough... What... What in the world...?”

As she collapsed to the ground, Davey grabbed her head and tossed it aside before turning his gaze to the rest of the group.

“If I let you live, you'll just keep getting in the way,” Davey muttered to himself, gauging how much longer he’d let them live. Their expressions darkened at the apparent provocation.

“How dare you...”

The Fallen Ones tried to overwhelm Davey with their energy. In response, he unleashed the power he had been holding back.

Thud!!

Davey unleashed the power imbued with his divinity.

[Absolute Dragontongue]

[Stop.]

At his single word, everything around him came to a standstill. Aside from their breathing and eye movements, the enemies became completely immobilized. Davey slowly walked toward the Fallen One who had avoided his strike earlier by turning into mist.

“Looks like you can’t run anymore?”

"Grr... Why won't my body move?!"

Even in the face of certain death, they clung to their pride and wouldn’t acknowledge their predicament.

“Hmph, I don’t know how you’re stopping me, but even if you immobilize me, you won’t be able to kill me with that sword.”

In response to his provocation, Davey lightly swung Red Ribbon at him once again, but his body transformed into mist just as before, letting the blade pass through harmlessly.

“Hm, interesting. So vitality can alter the body like this, huh?” Davey nodded and then raised his other sword, Blue Ribbon.

“No matter how sharp your swordsmanship is, you can’t cut through my body!”

Slash!!

“Huh?”

This time, Blue Ribbon slashed through his mist form while leaving a brilliant blue trail.

“Mist or not, I can still see the vitality holding you together—and it’d be stupid for me to keep you alive.”

In the blink of an eye, Davey had killed two of the Kings of the Fallen Ones. The others, realizing how dire the situation had become, tried to retreat. Alas, they were still frozen in place by his Absolute Dragontongue.

“You want to get away?”

“...”

Their faces were twisted with fear as Davey slowly approached them. He saw their hardened faces as they screamed and thrashed, trying to break free from the overwhelming pressure. Even though they were considered strong by their continent’s standards, they had chosen the wrong opponent.

“Grrraaahhh!!!”

Suddenly, one of the kings slowly broke free of the Absolute Dragontongue, struggling as he forced himself to move.

“Oh...”

With bloodshot eyes, he reached out toward Davey while overcoming the oppressive force.

‘Impressive. He’s using extreme pain magic to force his body to move?’

And that wasn’t all.

Along with using devil mana to get himself moving, that King of the Fallen Ones lashed out with devil mana to retaliate.

“Die!”

Black energy poured from his fingertips, surging toward Davey. His twisted form of devil magic encroached him.

But it was all too obvious what he was trying to do. He was performing a technique that controlled devil mana in its most basic form to drain the target's vitality and twist their body.

Honestly, Davey thought the king had done the best he could given the circumstances.

“I’ll drain all the vitality from your body and blow you apart!”

The mana inside Davey began to stir as if it was suddenly trying to reverse. The attack was coming into effect fairly fast, giving Davey the impression that he was quite skilled.

However—

[Back off.]

Devil mana followed strict hierarchies.

“What?!”

Trying to use ordinary devil mana to affect the mana of a Death Lord was a mistake from the start. As soon as he tried to control Davey with his mana, the connection between them flipped.

“Hmph?!”

The King of the Fallen Ones staggered, his bloodshot eyes filled with terror as he collapsed, looking up at Davey. It seemed like he realized what he was dealing with now; what exactly the mana of the Death Lord was, and how overwhelming it could be.

He trembled, his face full of disbelief.

“You... Who... What are you?! What the hell are you?!!”

He screamed in panic, trying to crawl away from Davey.

“S-Stay back! Don’t come any closer!”

Consumed by fear, his will to fight crumbled. He repeatedly took steps back, attempting to flee.

“Ga!! Gaaa!!!”

But Davey quickly seized his vitality and twisted his body, causing him to collapse in agony.

‘Another one down.’

As Davey crushed the vitality of that King of the Fallen Ones, the others, now knowing how to resist his pressure, escaped through it with their willpower while severely injuring themselves.

“Capture him! We’ll find a way to kill him afterward!” they screamed.

Zing!!

They then formed a pentagram barrier around Davey in an instant.

Thud! Thud!

Davey tapped the barrier lightly, only to find it surprisingly sturdy.

“These walls can’t be broken, not even by crashing a mountain on them! There’s no way you can come—”

Crack...

“Out already?”

“D-Damn it...!!”

Davey smiled as he tore apart the barrier with his bare hands.

[Dispel]

Shatter!

Davey had analyzed the intricate structure of the barrier in an instant then reversed it, shattering the spell completely.

Unfortunately for them, there was no escaping from a true predator. They trembled, bodies shaking with fear. They couldn’t even think about running away anymore.

“W-What... What are you?” they shouted with indignance at the vast difference in power. It was at that moment they came to realize that the overwhelming pressure they felt was no mere illusion. The continent’s once-apex predators were left in shock.

And as Davey looked at the Fallen Ones unable to flee or escape their fate, he smiled faintly.

“What? Is this any different from what you do?”

“What?”

“You’re predators, right? You devoured the weak all along. So what’s the problem now?”

“Jesus once said: the strong devour the weak.”

Crack.

Davey lightly stomped the ground, and a massive shockwave rippled out, completely taking over the area.

* * *

Squad leader Holygon couldn’t comprehend the scene unfolding before his eyes.

The Fallen Ones—they were the predators of this continent, enemies of humanity—or mutants, to be precise.

While mutants only experienced simple physical enhancements, the Fallen Ones obtained immense power from the moment of their transformation. Typically, to take down a Fallen One required a large coordinated force, surprise attacks, or traps. But even then, these tactics only worked on ordinary Fallen Ones, not on the kings.

According to Sapphire Tower’s manual, the only options were to either die a glorious death after letting others know of their location, or run away if one encountered a King of the Fallen Ones.

The Fallen Ones were neither controllable nor tight-knit, which allowed Sapphire Tower to survive under the Tower Master's protection. Still, they were extremely dangerous.

And there were eight of these kings. All of them had appeared and were cooperating.

It was a situation where death was practically guaranteed, facing the most vicious and feared beings on the continent.

Yet—

“Stop fighting back,” Davey said, grabbing one of the kings by the back of the neck and slamming him into a magic circle. He was like their greatest fears given form.

Holygon had no clue who this man was.

“Hold still! I’m just going to drain some divinity, and then I’ll let you go.”

“Mmpph!! Mmmph!!”

The king writhed pathetically, silenced by a Mute spell. Holygon couldn’t believe such a helpless being was one of the Kings of the Fallen Ones.

“M-Mage...” his voice trembled as he struggled to comprehend the reality before him.

“Who... Who are you really...?”

At first, he had thought Davey was just a healer under the protection of that powerful girl named Rinne.

But he had been wrong. Completely wrong.

Davey was so powerful that he didn’t even need Rinne to protect him in this dangerous place.

He was a force of his own, and he didn’t even need any escorts to begin with.

As Holygon asked his question, Davey adjusted the floating mana circles in the air and responded casually.

“Oh. Do you happen to need these guys?”

Holygon immediately shook his head. Seeing a king reduced to this state, he felt more pity than fear.

“Haha. Perfect. It works!! You just saved the world, buddy ol’ pal!”

As Davey laughed heartily at the king who was beaten senseless, Holygon gave up trying to understand.