The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 850

"Ah... In the end, it doesn’t even matter..." Arbit said in a voice filled with resignation.

No matter what approach was taken, it seemed nothing was going to change. Davey was practically destined to fall, and lose it all.

The mental and physical strength beyond imagination, and the immense power at play—it all seemed perfect, yet the resistance from the Red Void, the seed of the new world, was far more formidable than expected.

Davey collapsed.

Arbit was in despair. He couldn’t help but think that miracles were just miracles and that even Davey, the second Lord of the Void, was going to fail as well.

If Davey failed, Arbit knew his homeland Tionis would also vanish. He felt bitter and sad, but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was watch Davey crumble into pieces.

But just when it seemed that all hope had faded, something unexpected occurred.

“This is...”

Arbit widened his eyes in surprise as he noticed the thing he tried to check through Kouna happened in front of him.

Hercules and Davey were complete opposites. While Hercules had immense stamina but was severely lacking control, Davey had it the other way around.

And now, the Davey who had been dying away was back on his feet after completely recovering.

"Kouna! Can you hear me?!" Arbit urgently called out to his minister, sending his thoughts.

It was a miracle. What had seemed impossible was now happening before his eyes.

“Listen to me carefully! Go to where the lord is! Relay my words to the girl who has the power to cut through time and space!”

* * *

Kouna, having received orders from Arbit, quickly headed to Tionis through the gap in the Red Void he had opened for her. Upon reaching the Heins Territory, she immediately noticed the saddened atmosphere.

But she knew there was no time to linger.

“Halt! You cannot enter this place without permission!” said one of the guards at the gate.

“I must go in! There’s someone I need to meet!” Kouna pleaded.

“No! We’re under orders to not allow anyone in at the moment!”

“I have to, before it’s too late! I know the only way to save Davey!” Kouna cried out desperately.

The guard hesitated, their eyes widening at the mention of Davey.

“What do you mean...?”

It was natural for them to react this way. Realizing they wouldn’t easily make way, Kouna manifested her power.

[Celestial Maiden Form.]

Gleam!!

Her clothes began to glow, transforming into a shimmering pink robe that resembled fluttering celestial maiden wings.

“What the...?”

[May you have happy dreams.]

With that, the guards collapsed, their expressions peaceful as they fell into a deep sleep. Using the power of the celestial maidens, Kouna quickly made her way past the remaining guards, entering the castle in search of the person who exerted the power that Arbit had mentioned.

“Who are you?!” a startled voice cried out.

A young girl with innocent eyes blocked her path, clearly surprised by the sudden intrusion.

“You seem to be an outsider. How did you—?”

“There’s no time to explain! I heard that someone here can cut through time and space! Hurry!” Kouna interrupted with urgency in her voice.

“What are you talking about...?”

“It’s the only way to save Lord Davey!”

At the mention of his name, Amy—the girl who had stopped her—opened her eyes wide in shock.

“Quick! Lead me to them!” Kouna urged.

* * *

Completely dominating the space was finally through.

Davey slowly extended his hand, signaling the end of the seemingly endless struggle. The Red Void, which had fought so fiercely to reject him, had finally given in. Everything within this space was now under his control.

Davey couldn’t help but laugh as he observed the immense vitality that remained, even after all the chaos. He then waved his hand.

There was no turning back now.

He began to disperse the Red Void from its very roots, letting the immense power that created the space flow to his target, the moon Thanatos, located in the domain of Goddess Freyja.

The vitality from the Red Void, far greater than that which the divinity of Thanatos possessed, splintered into hundreds of streams, escaping through the rifts he had created.

Davey now had full control of the power of taboo, something that was once out of his reach. Though he had not yet fully attained divinity, within this space he was no different from a primordial god.

He was an incomplete primordial god.

As he poured in divinity through the gap connecting the Red Void to Tionis, changes began to happen. The Tionis he saw, the world that appeared superficially intact but was weakened internally, began to be flooded with immense vitality. Its core was restored as if fresh life was being breathed into it, and the brittle dimensional rift began to stabilize once again.

All the vitality made its way out of the Red Void. At the end of it all, Davey silently stared at the remaining space. It was a place where no will existed, yet it held the potential to create one.

In the silence, the void itself seemed to whisper that it didn’t want to die.

Davey smiled bitterly. “You’ve had your rebellious vacation. It’s time to go back. How long did you plan on staying gone?”

The saying that there was no place like home wasn’t baseless.

“You’re not disappearing,” Davey continued. “You’re simply moving.”

‘To a world governed by a true, perfect primordial god, not a flawed one.’

“Be born there, on the right path. As the ruler of this place, I will bless your future."

At his words, the Red Void no longer resisted. As the vitality dissipated, Arbit slowly appeared before Davey.

“I’ve learned something during all of this, Arbit,” Davey said.

“Please speak, my lord,” Arbit replied respectfully.

“I won’t be able to leave here, will I?” Davey asked.

“My lord...”

No one knew what lay at the end of the Red Void, but both Arbit and Davey understood what was coming after he gained complete dominance.

The fact that once Davey had drained all the power from the Red Void, he would no longer be able to escape.

But giving up was no longer an option.

“I’ve done my best to avoid such a lonely result, but in the end, I couldn’t achieve what I wanted,” Davey sighed.

“Lord...”

“Get ready, Arbit. I will give you the eternal rest you’ve craved for so long,” Davey declared.

“Lord...”

“You’ve wanted to die for thirty thousand years.”

“...”

“How long have I been here?” Davey asked, but Arbit didn’t respond.

“I at least know that more time has passed than I initially thought. Hercules must’ve felt the same.”

“You conquered this place much faster than Hercules, my lord. The difference would be in the method.”

Davey had gone with a high risk, high reward method. It was something Hercules couldn’t do; it was a method that only worked because of Davey’s unique circumstances.

“It was an honor to serve you, even if for such a short time,” Arbit said, reverting to his original form as a massive red ancient dragon and bowing his head in respect.

“You’ve done well, Arbit. Now, it’s time for you to rest.”

“My lord, you said I was the last of the ancient dragons...” Arbit said in a small voice as he handed him a small egg.

"An egg?" Davey asked in confusion.

“This egg has been in hibernation for thirty thousand years.”

“Whose egg is it?”

“This is Eclipse’s egg...”

Davey couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Are you kidding me? You should’ve given me the egg immediately if things were going to be like this! I would’ve sent it out before things turned out this way.”

Arbit remained silent hearing his annoyance.

Once Davey waved his hand, his ancient dragon body slowly began to crumble into dust and disperse.

The last ancient dragon that had lived way past its life expectancy, an absolute predator of the era it lived in, was falling apart before his eyes.

As Davey watched Arbit crumble, he asked, “What about Kouna, your minister?”

“I’ve already sent her away,” Arbit responded weakly.

“I see...”

“Forgive me, my lord.”

Davey then spoke to him while holding the egg, which was about the size of a human upper body. “You could’ve given this egg to Kouna.”

“I hoped you’d be the godfather to that egg.”

‘Godfather, huh...’

“An ancient dragon’s ego is established the moment it’s born. The coming-of-age ceremony is nothing more than the awakening of power for dragons,” he explained as most of his body finally dispersed into the air.

“Doesn’t this seem unfair to you?” Arbit asked.

“Terribly unfair,” Davey admitted.

But he would never regret saving the world.

The world that even Hercules had given up, and what Rho Aias had declared impossible. He had managed to solve the collapse of the world—something even Goddess Freyja could do nothing about.

Davey knew without a doubt that he’d make the same choice again if he had to. Though next time, he’d search harder for a way to survive.

“Lord, please. Live a peaceful and happy life.”

“How the hell am I supposed to live a happy life when I’m trapped here? Sorry, but once death comes, there won’t be any reincarnation or anything like that.”

‘I’ll just disappear.’

Of course, he could technically cancel the curse flow rejection of Death Lord Rho Aias, but he wasn’t interested in doing so.

With that, Arbit finally crumbled into a handful of ashes. The last ancient dragon, the guardian of the Red Void who had been waiting for death for thirty thousand years, was no more.

With the vitality gone, the void had returned to its original state. Only Davey and the egg of Eclipse remained.

“I’m curious. How did Eclipse manage to lay you?” he asked, almost jokingly. Of course, the egg, still deep in hibernation, didn’t respond.

“No response, huh? Well, I suppose that’d be too much to ask for," he muttered with a dry laugh. “Fuck... I really should’ve made backup plans for the worst case scenario...”

Then again, who could’ve possibly predicted such a ridiculous result?

He knew he could come up with a way if he selfishly used some of the crucial vitality, but then Tionis would collapse all over again.

It seemed terribly unjust for him to have to sacrifice himself like this. He didn’t want to throw his life away so easily, but he really couldn’t see any possible way out.

Watching the world—alongside himself—slowly collapse, he set down the egg and closed his eyes.

As he looked up at the crumbling space, he thought back to everything that had led him here. Although he had selflessly set out to save people he cared about, there wasn’t a single one among them who could save him in return.

The irony struck him hard.

Had Illyna not talked about this, and warned him things would end badly if he kept being so selfless?

He hadn’t been driven by some grand cause to save the world. He had only ended up here as a result of destroying those who threatened the world he lived in.

Fate truly had a twisted sense of humor.

As the space continued to collapse, Davey, who held total dominance over the Red Void, began to fade as well.

“I... I have to get back...”

A profound sense of helplessness overtook him, and just as his consciousness began to blur, the space in front of him tore open.

Out of the opening stepped a girl with flowing honey-colored hair. She was coughing up blood, her pale face showing signs of internal injuries, yet she staggered toward Davey with determination.

He couldn’t believe who was in front of him. As he made a shocked face, she quietly hugged him.

“Didn’t I tell you? That when you save the world...”

‘And you’re not okay, that’s when...’

“I’ll save you...”

“Y-You must be out of your mind... What are you doing here...? This is practically suicidal, you know...?!”

She smiled as Davey scolded her.

“Do you remember giving me this?” she asked, pulling out something he had forgotten after all this time.

It was an ember that breathed life into dying embers.

[Lasting Ember]

“Are you serious?” he sighed.

“One life is a small price to pay for saving my husband.”

With that, the fatigue from endless hours wandering in this collapsing space finally caught up with him, and his mind slowly began to fade into darkness.

But before his consciousness fully drifted away, he heard Illyna say—

“Take that egg of yours with you too.”

She supported him out, and he was able to catch a glimpse of Tionis—bursting with incomparable vitality—before finally passing out.