The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
Chapter 1080

Chapter 1080

Ultimately, Davey couldn’t bring himself to blame Goddess Freyja for what her avatar had done.

He had trusted her—and he’d completely obliterated Arbute, after all.

“Davey. Don’t be so angry.”

“I’m not angry,” he corrected.

“You are angry. Do you think I wouldn’t notice?”

Though Perserque had been hurt in the surprise attack, her body had recovered completely thanks to his healing. When considering a sudden assault by spiritual entities, it wasn’t that their raw power was particularly strong, but that their uniqueness was inherently difficult to combat.

It was for that reason Illyna, Perserque, and even Killer Rabbit had sustained significant injuries.

“How’s Illyna?” Davey asked.

“She went off to train. Probably thinks she’s still not good enough.”

In terms of sheer power, there was hardly anyone on the continent who could beat her, but that didn’t mean such an incident wouldn't happen again. After all, they had retreated only because Davey had managed to capture one of them.

“So? What about that kid you caught?”

“Kid, my ass. That bastard’s sealed up, and it seems divine power works well on it.”

“Hmm. Then you can calm down. I’m fine.”

“I said I’m fine.”

“You say you're not mad, but you are. Tch. If not at Goddess Freyja, then are you mad at yourself? For being too complacent, maybe?”

He didn't have a response.

“Davey, we’re not some children who need to be overprotected.”

“Oh, then why oh why did you get hurt? Huh? You got hurt, didn’t you? Do you even realize how carefully you need to treat your body right now?”

“Tch. Your mouth is especially annoying when you get like this,” she said as she got up.

“Hey, where are you going?”

She gave a little tilt of her head and pointed somewhere. Peeking out slightly was a blue-haired woman—the avatar of Goddess Freyja—gazing at Davey.

He was speechless.

“Come find me when you're done talking with each other. It looks like Evangeline wants to sleep with you tonight.”

“Uh, got it.”

Once Perserque left, Davey quietly glared at Goddess Freyja. Even so, he knew the entire ordeal was all the result of choices he had made.

If anything, the fact that the future hadn’t changed much was probably thanks to her. The flow of events had been nearly perfect—so perfect that he couldn’t bring himself to blame her.

After staring her down for a while, he let out a deep sigh. “I won’t get mad at you, so just come on out.”

She still didn’t move, as if reading his combative mood.

“I said come out.”

Again, no response. She just kept glancing at him nervously. The sight made him irritated.

She was usually so shameless, yet now she was acting all cautious. It was driving him up the wall! Her motives for acting like that were the most suspicious part.

“If you don’t come out, I’m not talking to you anymore.”

Her eyes immediately widened with shock. Tears began welling up in them, making her resemble a wounded little animal.

Davey narrowed his eyes. “Oh, I’m not falling for that. No way.”

Her tears vanished in an instant as if they’d never existed. Expression once again blank, she cautiously stepped forward. As she approached, she reached one hand up to her head.

A moment later, a colorful party hat appeared atop her head. A noisy little bell jingled on it, and Davey felt his mind go blank for a second.

Pweet! Pweet!!

Not satisfied with just that, she pulled out a party blower.

“What are you even trying to do?” Davey couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

She quickly pulled out her tablet. Her doing so confirmed that her antics were definitely similar to Rinne’s. After all, Rinne used to pull that kind of weird stunt all the time.

[Are you mad?]

“It’s fine, I'm not. Even if I were, who could I blame? This was my choice from the beginning.”

She cheekily tooted the party blower again and tilted her head.

[Not mad?]

“Not mad. Really.”

[Don’t be mad.]

She was terrifyingly sharp.

Her quiet, penetrating stare made Davey let out another sigh. “To be honest... yeah, I’m mad.”

Hearing his confirmation, she conjured a red clown nose, stuck it on her own nose, and started bobbing her head.

“Pfft.” Watching that, Davey couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Can I ask something?”

She blinked at him..

“Your personality is way too similar to Rinne’s. Who’s the real one here?”

Not that the answer wasn’t obvious. Her appearance was shaped by the aftereffects of her descent into Rinne, so there was a high chance that her personality resembled Rinne’s as well.

She didn’t answer his question, but raised her tablet again.

[Feeling better now?]

“Yeah. I’m good now.”

To confirm once more, she reached out and touched his body. His clothes instantly began to glow and transform.

“Oh, come on, seriously!!”

[Say cheese!]

Seeing that Davey was about to furiously lunge at her, she gave a satisfied thumbs-up, snapped a photo of him, and vanished without a trace.

Once she was gone, Davey was left alone in the office, dressed in a giant tiger mascot costume.

Creak.

“Davey, Aeria’s waiti—huh? What the heck are you wearing?”

He panicked. “Uh. Uh?!”

“Eek! What is that?! Did you bring it from Earth?!” Completely unaware of Goddess Freyja’s antics, Illyna ran over with childlike excitement, rubbing her face against the mascot suit as she smiled brightly. Then, she shoved him over without hesitation.

“Wow, this thing is really...” Clutching her nose with one hand, her eyes glazed over.

“Hey. Hey, stop! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“It’s fine. I’m just gonna hold your hand, Davey!”

It took quite a bit of time to calm Illyna down.

* * *

“Name.”

Even when asked again, the spiritual entity said nothing. He had taken the form of a boy with a strong sense of pride, and it seemed he still couldn’t quite accept that he had been defeated and captured.

“Damn it, this is so humiliating!”

“Stop pretending to be human,” Davey said coldly.

In response, the boy went silent. The two of them were seated across from each other, with a large desk between them.

Behind Davey stood Illyna, gripping Caldeiras with a glare that said she was ready to cut him down at any moment.

“Wait outside.”

“No. I told you, I’m going to protect you.”

Illyna was nothing if not stubborn. Even if she wasn’t as strong as Davey, protecting her man was part of her beliefs.

Back when Davey protected the continent, there had been no one to protect him. She hadn’t forgotten her vow to stand by him, ensuring he’d never be left alone again.

The boy whistled mockingly at her answer, then Davey quietly picked up the fountain pen he’d been using to go through documents.

“Name.”

“Why? Why should I tell you my name?”

Davey didn’t even know if he had a name, but he figured it was worth checking as the difference between having one and not having one meant a lot.

“You’re not going to get anything out of me, you know. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be the Saint of Tionis? Is this how a saint behaves?”

“You murdered people from my territory! Why should I give a damn about the rights of scum like you? You’d better watch your mouth, buddy. I’m in a very bad mood right now. I’ll only ask three times.”

The boy sneered.

“Name.”

“Eat sh—”

Crack!!

“Gaaah!!”

Davey had instantly pulled him and stabbed the fountain pen deep into his collarbone. The boy’s face twisted in agony, fear, and shock.

“Gaa! Ahh. You insane bastard!”

“You spiritual entities may not take fatal damage, but I know all too well that you feel pain just fine. So you’d better behave. Name.”

“Grr. I’m not gonna—”

Crack!!

“Aaaargh!!!”

Another chilling scream rang through the room. The boy thrashed in pain, but neither Davey nor Illyna even flinched.

“Told you it wasn’t gonna be a pleasant sight...” Davey reminded her.

“I’m fine.”

‘So stubborn.’

Davey looked at the boy, now sobbing and shaking from the pain, and asked one last time, “This is your last chance. Name.”

“Uuugh.”

“Shame. Guess you're just the silent type.”

Seeing Davey raise his hand, the boy suddenly opened his eyes wide and screamed in desperation, “C-Callumgus!! It’s Callumgus!”

Davey closed his eyes for a moment. The fact that he had a name meant he had taken shape as a distinct will.

“Where are the rest of your kind?”

“That’s...”

Ssss.

“I-I’ll tell you!! I’ll talk!!” the boy cried out in terror, panicking.

Davey gave a satisfied smile as he pulled the pen free, meeting his eyes. Then, caressing his chin as the boy tried to read his expression, he put on a cold smile.

“Behave yourself.”

“W-What?!”

“They’re watching. I’ll be coming for them soon, so tell them to wait.”

With a final scream, the spiritual entity slowly began to dissipate.

* * *

The white blood cells had come into being due to the avatar of Goddess Freyja exceeding her authority and altering the past, changing the future. On top of that, in the Arbute Kingdom where divine purification had never occurred, the long-festering hatred and sorrow had given birth to the mutated white blood cells.

Thankfully, even though they carried the power of the laws, the mutations meant their numbers wouldn’t grow any further.

Davey gathered everyone who formed the core of the territory’s power into the conference hall. “Starting now, we’re going to wipe out those damned spiritual entities that attacked the territory!”

The room was filled with many people, like Yuria Helishana, leader of the Moon Forest; Elder Goulda, a dwarf of the Yellowstone Tribe and head of the Artisan Guild; and the dark elves of shadows brought in by Aina Helishana, who were in charge of the territory’s intelligence.

Also present were Illyna and Perserque, each holding a brooch. Then, one must not forget the dragons currently visiting with Rudel from the Dragon Mountain Range, Evangeline, the constellation Taurus, and Killer Rabbit who were all there. Lastly, there was Rinne, commanding the golem fleet.

Everyone was waiting for Davey to speak.

“We haven’t yet confirmed their location. Apologies,” reported one of the dark elves.

Davey shook his head. “No need. They’ll be back here.”

“Then... should we evacuate the territory’s citizens?”

“Royal Attendant Bernile, if we had to paralyze one area while suffering the least loss, where would it be?”

“The eastern plains sector. We’re currently growing crops there, but they can be maintained with minimal work.”

“Evacuate the citizens to the east,” Davey commanded.

“Pardon? But, Your Highness, we don’t know where the enemy might appear from. My suggestion would be to have everyone flee.”

“When you want to catch fish, the best way is to bait the hook.”

He knew those things had no real interest in human lives. They were only after Aria—in other words, the avatar of Goddess Freyja. With the avatar right in front of them, they wouldn’t care about anyone else.

After Davey spoke, he reached out into empty air.With a ripple in space, he dragged the blue-haired woman out by the scruff of her neck.

She emerged expressionlessly, and Davey spoke as he looked at her, “Here’s the bait. The plan is simple, since they’ll show up again soon.”

This was the conclusion Davey had reached after compiling the intel extracted from Callumgus. Even with a few variables, the main course of events shouldn’t change.

“Once the evacuation is done, we’ll use her as bait to lure them into the eastern sector. While I crush the source of the white blood cells, your job is to protect her.”

“Wise Teacher, what about us?” asked Goulda.

“Elder Goulda, the shadows, and the Moon Forest group should spread out through the other sectors. Guard them to prevent collateral damage.”

“Understood.”

“And the lizards...”

The dragons all flinched at his call. There were three of them in total.

“When those guys show up, manifest this magic circle exactly as drawn. It’ll isolate them in the eastern district.”

Rudel’s eyes widened as he looked at the complex circle sketched on the paper Davey handed out.

“A... containment magic circle?”

“You’re not going to tell me a dragon can’t manage to use this magic, are you?”

“Who said we can’t?! We’ll do it! Right now if you want!”

The dragons were already grinding their teeth after suffering damage from the spiritual entities.

“Those bastards attacked Lady Evangeline. We're not just going to sit back and let that slide,” one of the full-fledged dragons beside Rudel growled, slamming the table in anger.

Since Evangeline was royalty among dragons, it was no surprise they held her in such high regard.

Even while being held by the back of her neck, the avatar of Goddess Freyja extended a finger toward Davey. Light particles then gathered and began to transform his body. Within an instant, his height had shrank and he was suddenly reduced to the form of a child no older than seven. Everyone sprang from their seats in shock, but Goddess Freyja simply clapped her hands, nodding rapidly with approval.

While the others looked around in disbelief, puzzled by his calm reaction, Goddess Freyja only wore a satisfied grin.

“Forgive me, Your Highness, but... who is that woman, exactly?”

“She’s someone important. Don’t let her bother you.”

Royal Attendant Bernile wiped cold sweat from his brow and bowed.

Having grown all too used to her antics, Davey let go of her and slammed his hand on the table. “If someone slaps your left cheek, you don’t slap their right one back—you knock out all their damn teeth! Those bastards attacked Heins Territory and killed our people. It's time for us to show them who they’ve messed with, and exactly who they’ve provoked,” child Davey shouted boldly.

Evangeline, who had been quietly holding the divine dragon sword Twilight, raised her hand. Davey wondered if she had a question. He looked at her as she wore a serious expression.

“Daddy!”

“Huh?”

“Can I hug you just once?” she asked with a bright smile and sparkling eyes.

Goddess Freyja, acting like nothing had happened, then immediately restored Davey to his original form.

Then, just as she had the day before when she’d tried to cheer him up, she glanced around nervously and summoned a party cone hat on her head. Her awkward movements were like those of someone trying to soothe a child.

“I'm not mad anymore, so knock it off,” Davey said coldly as he stood up. “Any questions?”

Everyone answered in unison, “None, sir!”

Davey nodded. “Then cast the net. Time to start hunting those temperamental killer whales.”

“Urp?!”

A sudden gagging sound made everyone freeze. They turned toward the source of the sound, only to widen their eyes.

“L-Lady?!”

“S-Something’s not right. It’s too soon for this... urp!”

The war room, burning with resolve just moments before, was thrown into chaos by Perserque’s sudden gagging.

“W-Wait... is she... pregnant?!”

“Tch tch, silly pointy-ears. Human babies don’t make their mothers nauseous after just a few days.”

“Then that’s...?”