The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
Chapter 1067

Chapter 1067

Davey couldn't fathom what inspired Freyja to make such a bizarre request. He could feel her silently watching from across the table, expressionless, as he focused on making the fried rice she had asked for.

[Egg.]

“I know, I know.”

He’d taken a moment to ponder whether it was really okay, ethically speaking, for her to eat animal products. After all, she was the Creator, the Mother of all living beings. But he shook his head.

The Goddess Freyja before him was far more human and far more down to earth than the Freyja he knew. In a way, it was like watching her take her first and last vacation.

Crack! Snap!

Davey cracked the egg and dropped it into the pan. She gave a small, satisfied nod before turning her gaze back to him. Of course, even under that intense stare, he couldn’t just stop what he was doing.

[Salt.]

“I’m getting to it.”

When Davey reached for the salt shaker nearby and went to sprinkle it in, she suddenly stood up. She walked over, gently rolled up his sleeve, and then returned to her seat with a thumbs-up.

He didn't know how to respond.

Her eyes clearly told him to keep going, though. Clicking his tongue lightly, Davey pinched some salt and sprinkled it in again.

She lowered her head deeply, then, after a few nods, she raised her head again.

“It’s done. Can’t guarantee the taste, though. I just made sure it was edible.” Davey was confident he could make food that was safe to eat, but making it taste good was another story.

She looked down at the fried rice he handed her, then slowly picked up the spoon. She brought it to her lips, tasting it slowly and deliberately.

The quiet moment stretched, oddly tense. It was just a simple meal, yet he felt it to be so nerve-wracking. He felt like a kid waiting for his parents to compliment him. It was a strange, inexplicable feeling.

Eventually, she scribbled a short message into her notebook and held it up.

[Good.]

He hadn’t served her a large portion, but it was still impressive that she ultimately ate every last bite without leaving a single grain behind.

After that meal, she continued to make all sorts of requests. For two whole days, she tormented Davey, indulging some mysterious whim of hers.

Still, Davey fulfilled every single one of her requests. It was in that manner that two days flew by in a flash, until only half a day remained of the three they’d agreed upon.

“Shouldn’t we get going soon?” It was already the fifth time he’d asked.

She had been peacefully sleeping with her head on his shoulder, but slowly opened her eyes and gave a small nod.

[Yes, our destination awaits.]

Davey already knew where she was referring to.

They had to stop Sword God Ares, who was on his way there.

That was the main objective.

Still confused, he had asked her why Ares had to be stopped.

[A twisted future caused by a variable.]

That was all she’d said. In other words, Ares was heading to Arbute because of Davey.

The thing was, they had only just met not long before. He wondered, was such a brief meeting truly sufficient to make the man go so far? However, knowing Ares, the possibility wasn’t something Davey could completely ignore.

* * *

“Alright. At least it won’t break.”

Davey clenched and unclenched his fist, the cat mask still covering his face. Then, he glanced back at the Goddess Freyja, who stood silently behind him wearing an identical mask.

“Do you really have to wear that too?”

Ares wasn’t going to see her anyway. She then scribbled in her notebook.

[Same item.]

“That’s not really an answer,” Davey sighed.

She turned her head away again, her behavior strangely reminiscent of Rinne’s. Still, since she didn’t say anything more, continuing the conversation felt pointless.

What mattered was that if they waited there long enough, Ares would eventually be passing through.

The mission was to stop him from crossing the plain.

[Only the sword. Don’t use swordsmanship.]

‘Now that’s a tough request.’

Telling him not to use swordsmanship meant no Demonic Sword, no Longsword—nothing that fell into the category of sword techniques.

He wondered if that was really necessary, but knowing he could still overpower Ares even without using swordsmanship, it didn’t make much of a difference.

Even the future Ares had to stay on guard to avoid losing to Davey, so the younger and less-experienced version stood no chance against him.

“So, how long are we going to be waiting here for?”

Freyja reached into the sack he had brought and pulled out a simple chess set.

“You want a match? Quite confident, eh? I’m pretty good at mind games, you know.”

It was one of the perks of having a good memory.

Instead of replying, she began placing the pieces on the board. Then, right in front of his eyes, she removed one bishop and one rook from her side.

“What the... What do you think you’re doing?” Davey smiled, irritated at her blatant show of disrespect.

“When you lose, I’m not giving you a rematch.”

In response, she calmly crossed her legs and slowly moved a single pawn.

About ten minutes later, Goddess Freeyja sat with her hands on her hips, chest puffed out, giving him a smug little tilt of the chin.

“This can’t be real... This seriously can’t be real,” Davey muttered to himself over and over again, collapsed in defeat before her.

The moves she demonstrated went way beyond simple mind games and strategies.

“This is cheating! There’s no way this is fair!”

[Here.]

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

It went beyond memorizing every possible move! Every single piece she’d moved felt like it had been placed with full knowledge of all possible futures, all of them ending in her victory.

It was Davey who had started feeling the pressure, not her. Even after she’d given him a handicap by removing two of her pieces, he still couldn’t manage to win.

Grandmaster? Chess AI? She was leagues beyond them all.

Things had gone so far that now he was just plain determined to see a change in her expression. It would be enough to make her lose, even just once.

“One more game,” he insisted.

She simply looked at him, but somehow that blank stare felt like it was mocking him.

Davey kept pestering her for a rematch, but in the end, she didn’t give him the chance. She just simply pointed somewhere off to the side. Davey turned his head in that direction and saw someone approaching in the far, far distance, riding alone on horseback.

“So this is a personal matter, huh?”

If Ares were planning on a real fight, Davey knew there would’ve been no way he’d come alone like that.

Clearly, his goal was simply to meet Davey. Even knowing that, Davey couldn’t understand why he would go so far for someone he’d only met for less than a day.

Shiiiing.

“Well then.” It wouldn’t change the outcome either way.

Davey casually swung the mithril sword he held in his hand a few times, then brought it down in a clean slash. It was a basic, textbook strike, completely devoid of any real technique. However, at the end of it, an Aura Blade was blasted out like a cannon round, flying straight toward the horse he was riding.

Slash!! Neigh!!!

It was just a light wound, but the startled horse let out a scream and stumbled. From a distance, Davey could see Ares panic and shout something.

He then looked once in Davey’s direction, where the Aura Blade had come from, before silently drawing his sword. He could sense that Davey didn’t even want to talk.

Davey gripped the mithril sword in one hand, lowering its tip toward the ground, and waited.

They stood off in silence for a moment, and then Ares, eyes cold and locked onto Davey, made his move.

Longsword. Mountain Split.

Davey instinctively recognized the move, and charged in fast.

The longsword was a weapon that prioritized pouring overwhelming weight into powerful downward strikes. As such, clashing with it head-on was usually suicidal.

‘I’ve already faced this sword of yours a million times in the future, old man!!’

The tendons in his arm bulged as he gripped his sword tightly. He met the strike head-on with a raw, unrefined swing—no true swordsmanship, just relying on sheer brute strength.

Boom!!

Ares looked surprised, clearly not expecting Davey to charge in so directly. Still, he trusted in his strength, and so pressed down further with renewed force. Unfortunately for him, things didn’t turn out the way he expected.

“What the hell?!”

His face twisted in disbelief for the first time.

Clang!!

Without hesitation, Davey deflected his blade to the side. “You’re not even using Caldeiras in a fight with me? You’re gonna regret that soon.”

Ares looked genuinely shocked, as if the thought that his own sword would have flaws never even crossed his mind.

“Watch your neck!!”

Swoosh!!

Davey’s blade sliced through the air with killing intent. Feeling the danger and hearing the warning, Ares hurriedly raised his sword to guard his neck.

‘That’s what you get for underestimating someone. It’s gonna cost you.’

“You fell for it!!”

Boom!!

The pommel of his sword shot forward like a fist, slamming squarely into Ares’s solar plexus.

Then, he gave Sword God Ares a taste of his own medicine, using the same exact feint he had often used when training Davey in swordsmanship.

‘What goes around comes around.’

“Guh. You dirty bastard!” Ares groaned.

‘Who do you think taught me to be like this?’ Davey learned it all from him, after all. ‘I still have plenty of time left till the agreed-upon three days. I might as well enjoy myself. Isn’t that right, Father-in-law?’

Ares’s temple twitched, a vein rising to the surface as he saw the smug, annoying grin that crept under Davey’s mask.

Still, Davey didn’t care. He glanced over to where Goddess Freyja was waiting in the distance, only to see her waving her arms lightly, holding what looked like cheerleader pom-poms, her expression completely blank.

* * *

“We have no choice but to act. Wasn’t this something we planned to do ourselves anyway, before he even showed up?”

“But still...”

“If we keep waiting for him, then with the remaining time being what it is, our leader will die. We can’t let that happen,” Vice Commander Balton explained.

The resistance members finally made resolute expressions.

They didn’t know all the details, but at the very least, they’d heard that someone strong enough to go toe-to-toe with a leader from the execution unit had agreed to help them.

Unfortunately, once the execution date was moved up, there was nothing they could do. In the end, they’d be forced to move without his help.

Nonetheless, there was still one piece of good news.

“Fortunately, they say there’s not much of a force guarding the execution grounds. We’ve confirmed that all the leaders of the execution units are active outside the country right now.”

It was still dangerous even without the leaders, but their absence meant a higher chance of success for the resistance.

“Alright. Let’s move.” Malton glanced at the red stone that Goddess Freyja, Davey’s supposed ‘superior,’ had given them. The ominous red glow flickering within it almost seemed to alarm them with a sign that they shouldn’t go. However, he simply brushed it off. They would save their leader and escape together, even if it meant putting their lives on the line.

Of course, they had no idea it was a trap.

At the same time, the chancellor stood overlooking the execution grounds, slowly stroking his mustache. “What are the chances of him showing up?”

“If he’s teamed up with the resistance, he’ll definitely show. He’s not the same toy he used to be, sir. With Silcy dead, we can’t take him lightly anymore.”

The chancellor’s expression twisted in irritation. “Nyx!! When is Nyx getting here?!”

“He’ll be here soon.”

The chancellor’s expression relaxed at the report. “Good. With the First Lich’s power, there’s nothing in this world to fear.”