The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 772

Whirr! Fwoom…

The huge mana nuclear reactor that shook went out.

“Phew… I’ll start the inspection,” Tiara said.

Several elf wizards in charge of magic stepped forward. They were naturally citizens of Heins Territory that followed Davey. They had been originally sponsored to study elemental magic, but now they were abroad aboard Asgard, conducting internal equipment inspections and research.

As Tiara activated the magic circle and checked the device, she turned her head.

“Gramps, why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Egh. Tsk tsk… How can I sleep when you have your eyes wide open?”

"Hah! Stop with the nonsense and get some sleep, okay? Do you think I don’t know how many nights you’ve already stayed up?"

“Hmph. Do you think that’s something you should say to your grandpa who finally found interesting research materials and is burning with passion? Don't talk nonsense to me; you go get some rest," Edison chuckled.

“Aghhh!!”

As Edison, taken aback, jumped up and walked away, Tiara burst out laughing.

“Ahahahaha!! Just kidding!”

“Egh! You, you… tsk tsk…”

Edison clicked his tongue in disgust at his own gullibility.

“By the way, have you heard what Wise Teacher is doing?”

“Princess Perserque requested for us to not wake him up for the meantime since he had gone through a lot.”

Just as she said, it was difficult to measure Davey’s perceived time spent rescuing Perserque when so little time had actually passed on the outside.

He didn’t know the full truth, but he could understand to some extent since Davey—who was usually relaxed—couldn’t hide all of the exhaustion on his face.

As much as he embraced everyone, he took on many of the problems alone. Now that he had become a citizen of Heins Territory and Davey's vassal, he wished Davey would lean on him for certain things, but the man never did. Still, he knew it wasn’t because Davey didn’t trust them.

“He’s taking everything on himself because he thinks it’s dangerous.”

“Isn’t he like a hero from a storybook? He’s like a warrior who travels alone to find the Demon King’s Castle.”

“It may seem like a wonderful job, but it’s also a very lonely and difficult one. We just have to do what we can,” Edison said.

Tiara nodded at Edison’s wise answer.

“Gramps.”

“Eh?”

“How do you think it would’ve been… if the arranged marriage with Wise Teacher Davey continued and we really got married?”

Edison knew she was just saying what was on her mind. He knew that the person she, who had even received the embarrassing title of one of the six beauties on the continent, was interested in was none other than the one who often stood in front of her. He once again realized that there was something truly unique about her taste.

“Hmm?”

“How do you think it would’ve been?”

“Hmph. He’s a good person, capable of a lot of things. But the problem is that he takes on too many things. Anyone watching him from the side will probably worry themselves sick.”

“Right?”

“Well, anyway, wasn’t there a human being Wise Teacher was taking care of on Earth? Have you checked on them?”

“Along with the elves, we stacked up several barrier magics. If a problem occurs, we’ll be able to learn right away.”

“It seems there have been rumors of something strange being seen in the area recently,” Edison said worriedly.

Tiara tilted her head.

“Where did you hear that?”

“I have my ways.”

He smacked his lips and fiddled with a smartphone from Earth in his hand.

“Huh… It’s a pity that I’ll have to leave this behind when we go back…”

“I already told you that most of our memories are going to be erased. “

No matter how much technology they learned here, they would forget it when they returned. Conversely, even if humans on Earth learned about magic on Tionis and returned, they would not be able to remember it.

“See? Looks like there’s no problem,” Tired said as she manipulated a nearby artifact to check whether the barrier was working or not. But Edison squinted his eyes at her answer.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Can you turn on the video transmission device we prepared?”

“The transmission device? Sure, give me a second.”

The elf turned on the artifact.

“Gramps, I told you the barrier is safe.”

“I have a feeling.”

Something felt strange. Fortunately, his sense of crisis had come through at the right time.

"Oh my goodness… What's this?!" the elf sailor shouted in astonishment after seeing the mana wave hologram.

“Could you explain… what it is we’re looking at?”

“There’s a hole! It’s impossible for a barrier to be breached without any warning, unless a natural disaster occurred…”

The barrier detection device was fine, yet it was wide open as if someone had opened the door and entered. The elf who was talking and Tiara who was listening both turned pale.

Natural disasters.

They were quite used to this term. The only enemy left on Earth right now was the second-highest ranking Malicious Spirit, presumed to be the last one. The Atlantean who caused natural disasters, Kirsina, was still very much alive.

Considering that a being presumed to be Kirsina had appeared in Russia and brainwashed humans into attacking Perserque, this attack was something that they probably should’ve expected.

Moreover, if Kirsina had headed there, her objective was obvious—she was targeting Shin Hyun-Ah, the woman Davey was taking extra care of for whatever reason. It was a more than plausible choice for a Malicious Spirit desperate to destroy Davey.

Of course, she could have killed her in one swoop, but she instead did something else. This clearly meant…

“She must be wanting to lure in Wise Teacher…”

Edison, who had stopped Tiara from biting her nails, looked in her eyes.

“Grandfather, quickly, get Wise Teacher…”

“No. It might be a trap. Besides, Wise Teacher needs rest.”

“Who else can deal with the Malicious Spirit besides him?” she frowned.

He knew Megalodria, the enormous black dragon currently stationed at a military base in Korea and causing a fuss, was strong enough to subdue a normal Malicious Spirit. However, he figured it might be difficult for Megalodria to take down a high-level Malicious Spirit on his own. But at the same time, he didn’t want to wake Davey, who was sleeping soundly—even Tiara could tell how tired Davey was.

“...”

After a brief silence, she took a breath then slowly raised her head.

“Gramps.”

Whiiing! Thud!

At that moment, the marble wall powered by mana opened and a young man walked in.

“I think I just heard some bullshit news.”

“Gasp…”

“Can you explain what’s going on?”

Davey, who still looked tired, approached with a cold expression.

***

Kirsina, having lost interest in the bleeding and collapsed Illyna, slowly approached Oxygen Bear Soup, also known as Yun Ji-Ah.

Yun Ji-Ah wondered if Illyna was alright.

She knew Illyna was a Sword Master, but that wasn't something to be surprised about. To the Awakened, she was an extremely strong being. In the past, the Awakened couldn’t even land a proper hit in the large-scale raid against the Malicious Spirit Goumda.

However, a high-level Malicious Spirit was something not even a master-level being could handle.

At least it was a relief that her younger brother and her friends Hyun-Ah and Yu-Na were not here.

Ssss…!!

“Interesting.”

At that moment, Oxygen raised her head in surprise at the strange feeling that touched her body. Reflexively, she shrieked and tried to take off whatever was stuck to her.

It didn't take long to realize that the squishy yet lackluster texture was water. Kirsina was treating the forces of nature as if they were her own limbs. For Kirsina, using water to create traps was a piece of cake.

“My original target wasn’t you; I had more in mind, but I guess it won’t matter.”

She approached Ji-Ah carelessly, suddenly extending her arms to wrap around Ji-Ah's arms, legs, and neck, then plunged her arms into the swaying stream of water. She pulled out a sword made of water and aimed for her neck.

“Hmph?!” Ji-Ah gritted her teeth, struggling to escape the stream of water.

She remembered what she had said to Hydro periodically in Asgard. She had told him that there was still a surviving Malicious Spirit, so he had to be careful. In fact, that was the reason why Hyun-Ah’s house was their meeting place.

She had said that the war was not over yet, and dangerous things could still happen. She also said to please stay within the barrier when possible. Even so, she was drawn to the stench of battle—she knew she shouldn’t have forgotten what was said.

“Should I kill you… or not…?” Kirshina teased her. The intention was quite clear—she was hoping Ji-Ah would beg for her life.

“Gaaa… Gaaa… W-When… benefactor comes, you too...”

"Well. It won't be quick or easy for him to get here. Humans get tired, and all I have to do is kill you and run away before he comes,” she said calmly and waved her hand. Most of the water streams were then scattered, but the stream of water around Ji-Ah’s neck thickened and shook violently.

“Gaaa!! Ga… GAAA!”

Yun Ji-Ah, who was lifted up in the air as if she were being hanged, had tears welling up in her eyes. It was because of the fear of death and the terrible pain.

“Do you want to live?”

“Gaaa!!! GAAA!!!”

Her tears gradually became thicker. Yun Ji-Ah struggled desperately, suffering in pain.

“I know… you probably want to live. Staying alive is a natural desire of living things. But what about our race you people killed? It was the Atlanteans you killed, wasn’t it?”

“Nonsense…” Yun Ji-Ah muttered, even though she was in pain. “If you… didn't attack...”

Splosh!!

“Ughhh!!!!!!!!”

In an instant, a stream of water covered her mouth, and the needle of water in Kirsina's hand roughly tore into her thigh. She tried to scream from the terrible pain of her thigh bone being shattered, but the water prevented her from making any sound. All that she could let out was a groan.

As Yun Ji-Ah suffered and cried, Kirsina smiled faintly, seemingly happy. It was then.

“Ouch… That hurts.”

Then several white crescent-shaped sword slashes passed through the water stream and needles, cutting them all down. As a result, Yun Ji-Ah, who was being strangled, fell on the ground.

It was a sudden surprise attack.

Kirsina, shocked by the fact that there was no time to react, slowly turned her head. She had checked to make sure that no one else was here. But then she soon realized who was standing unharmed behind her.

Illyna de Pallan, the girl with golden hair and eyes who had first attacked her by surprise, slowly stood up. The astonishing beauty sighed briefly and opened her eyes.

“Phew… That was close.”

There was no sign of tension on her face as she calmly spoke.

Kirsina couldn’t help but find this strange. She knew she had given Illyna a fatal wound—in fact, she saw blood all over her body. She knew the injuries weren’t fake. It was hard to believe that someone in her condition had the power to intervene like she did just now.

But then she realized that none of this mattered. All she needed to do now was to destroy this place as much as possible before Davey came.

“I can’t be this weak myself when I said I would save Davey,” Illyna muttered calmly.

Then light gathered in her hand and a huge silver-colored sword formed, letting out an eerie feeling.

“If you really want to get up and be ripped to pieces again, I won’t stop you.”

Kirsina, having hurt her once before, took it easy and tried to create a stream of water again.

But…

"Uh?"

She couldn’t summon a stream of water. It was as if her skills had been sealed.

"Hey."

When Kirsina quickly raised her head after hearing Illyna, she saw blue wind swirling around her body as she twirled and flicked her sword with ease.

Kirsina could tell something was wrong. Illyna had been weak before, but now her presence had completely transformed.

The explosive mana she saw when Illyna activated her heavy sword in the past, the blue mana spreading throughout her body now, was completely different. But Kirsina had no clue how it was happening.

It was mysterious, as if suddenly created from nothing by Illyna alone. It had the beauty of God resting with his angels in Heaven. At the same time, it felt bottomless and hollow like a void.

Kirsina, looking at Illyna blankly, was shocked by her own strange behavior and tried to move quickly.

Illyna was currently making her—none other than a higher-level Malicious Spirit on a scale close to a disaster—fearful.

Kirsina knew she just had to live up to her name. She began to forcibly draw out her strength to tear apart Illyna who was approaching her.

[Longsword]

[Snowstorm]

The surrounding energy turned cold.

A pure white telekinetic sword formed around her. It was not in the shape of a traditional sword but rather a simple snowflake, yet its properties and power were undeniable. Kirsina stiffened reflexively and looked at Illyna.

The flowers of Alraune trembled. It was as if they thought it was spring and were in full bloom, but in reality it was winter. Kirsina's body instinctively felt fear.

‘I’m feeling fear? Me?! Don't be ridiculous! I can't suffer defeat from an insignificant human!!'

Humans were a weak species. This had never changed, from the past to the present. It had to be this way. It had to…

In response to Kirsina who was giving her all in her attack, Illyna quietly took a step forward.

Swoosh!!

She lightly flicked Galdeiras as she sped past Kirsina.

“Gaaa…”

It only took a moment for Kirsina's body to collapse.

“An eye for an eye,” Illyna muttered leisurely, unaware of whom she was becoming similar to, having cut Kirsina in half.