The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 882

“...”

The men were at a loss for words.

"The Demon God... disappeared so easily."

“Even if it was only at B-class, this...”

They were in total shock.

"This changes everything!"

One middle-aged man snapped at a younger one who had remained silent.

"What are we going to do now? It’s no different from exposing ourselves without proper preparation!"

"It’s fine—it was bound to happen eventually."

"If that were the case, then shouldn’t we have been more cautious to begin with...?"

"More caution would’ve led to complete annihilation! Don’t forget, what we’re doing may be unforgivable in the eyes of some—however! If we succeed, we’ll secure unimaginable power and absolute safety, incomparable to anything from before.”

"Why does a person from another world keep causing chaos here on Earth...?"

"Because what we’re doing poses a significant threat to them," the younger man replied.

The middle-aged man clenched his teeth in response.

"Don’t use mana artifacts. He has some way of detecting mana. The only way to avoid his attention is to hide among other humans.”

"You’re sure that will work...?"

The man glanced toward the ruined cafe. The younger man checked a directive on his smartphone:

[Sufficient data on the B-class Demon God has been collected. The target is one of the exceptional Davey O’Rowane’s wives, and the only one without combat power. Return immediately.]

He turned to the middle-aged man afterward.

"But. Why hasn’t the Saint of Tionis shown himself yet?"

"No idea. He’s a meticulous one, no doubt. He might be planning to corner us all at once."

"..."

"So from now on, move more cautiously."

* * *

"Ah-choo! I feel like someone’s talking about me,” Davey said.

Rinne, who was sprawled out on the floor, tilted her head and asked, "Master Davey, Rinne evaluates your sickness as well-deserved.”

"If you think this is well-deserved, how about I come over there and give you your just desserts!”

It wouldn’t have been so strange if he’d done something to catch a cold, but his body was immune to ordinary illnesses.

Rinne squinted at him, then suddenly sat up.

"The match can’t be delayed because of you alone."

"My eyes... My eyes..." Si-Woo mumbled.

"Exactly. I told you that I’ll restore your vision, but there’s a condition."

At the mention of restoring his eyes, Si-Woo snapped up and looked around frantically.

"Really?!"

"Yes. I’ll temporarily fit you with an artificial eye. Your real eyes are fine, so no transplant surgery will be needed."

He stared at him in disbelief.

"Who... Who are you, exactly?"

"Don’t you recognize my voice?"

After a moment of silence, Si-Woo made a shocked face.

"Ah! You... You’re...!"

"Davey O’Rowane. The Saint of Tionis."

‘Saint of Tionis...!’

Si-Woo maintained his shocked face.

"The Saint of Tionis... No way..."

"I told you the answer. Now, do you want to go with it or not? The risks are minimal, but this is the first time I’ve performed this procedure, so I need your consent."

Si-Woo hesitated, his face full of uncertainty—he had to take into account that it was Davey’s first time doing such a surgery. He had the alternative to wait for two weeks so that his eyes could heal naturally, but doing so meant forfeiting the competition.

"Give me... some time to think."

"Take all the time you need,” Davey smiled in response.

This only unsettled Si-Woo further.

* * *

"Who am I... Where am I...?"

"I came with nothing, and I’m leaving with nothing...”

Maga and Grape-Flavored Cat, having reached their breaking points, were mumbling incoherently to themselves.

With a success rate of one in eight million, the task they faced required relentless effort. Even if they were to brute-force it, they needed to attempt the process up to eight million times.

Raising their skill levels might’ve made a difference, but leveling up at their stage was no paltry feat.

"Davey."

"Hm?"

Aeria approached, wearing an apron and carrying a tray of cookies. She pushed one into his mouth.

"Tasty."

"Hehe. But why did you lie?"

"Huh?"

"You made it sound like there was no other way to treat him."

Davey couldn’t help but admire how keen she was. He made a sly smile and responded.

"You're right, there is. I could’ve used Altair, the Time Spirit, to accelerate his personal timeline by two weeks. I could’ve tricked his brain with hypnosis or mental conditioning."

"Then why didn’t you...?"

"Nothing in this world is free."

"Unbelievable..."

"Wow... You’re ruthless.”

"Yeah... I suppose I am a bit ruthless, aren’t I?”

Davey himself knew it too.

"That’s why I’m not performing a transplant. What I’m planning is more like creating a pair of glasses with artificial eyes in mind—a device that bypasses the deceived optic nerves and transmits information directly to the brain through other optic pathways."

"And if it fails?"

"Well, he’d have a headache for a few days. I’ll take care of it if that happens.”

Eyes were undeniably one of the most precious human senses, and while his idea stemmed from ambition, it also carried the potential to restore sight to countless people if he was able to stabilize and standardize it.

"Plus, as long as the eyeballs themselves aren’t damaged, there’s no risk of deteriorating vision."

"Isn’t that... human modification? A taboo?"

"There’s a boundary to that taboo. What I’m doing isn’t altering human flesh—it’s no different from wearing glasses."

Those whose eyes were completely destroyed needed artificial implants, but for cases like this, there was no reason to harm the existing organs.

"Now, just hang in there."

"Ughhh... Just kill me..."

Han Yu-Na groaned as she worked without rest. She glanced at Davey, but he turned away. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"If we’re going to finish this within the deadline, I might need to push them harder. Per."

"Huh?"

"Should we give her an energy drink?”

"That stimulant that makes people scream for sleep? Just how far do you plan to torture those two?"

"Who knows?" Davey said with a chuckle.

Later, Davey met Kain and Frelia, Neltarid’s messengers currently monitoring Earth’s affairs.

"You said they violated a taboo. Exactly what taboo did they break?"

"Life’s evolution. They attempted to alter the fundamental nature of human beings."

"Idiots. They were practically begging for self-destruction."

The evolution of life spread across many different fields, but based on the data recovered by Seo-Yoon and Yoon-Seok from the rift, it was clear these people had completely lost their minds.

"And so, you should...”

"Why should I?"

"What?"

"Earth’s problems are yours to handle. I’m from Tionis."

Kain and Frelia exchanged uneasy glances.

"But if you don’t intervene, this dimension that’s finally beginning to find peace could fall into chaos again."

"And you're the one whose job it is to prevent that.”

In fact, the reason Davey hadn’t revealed himself was because he was in a different dimension. More specifically, it was because this was Neltarid’s domain. He knew expanding his power on Earth could cause more harm than good.

"But we cannot intervene so easily. Humanity must overcome this issue on its own."

"Is that Neltarid’s decision?"

"The God Neltarid ensures the power of the moon you created doesn’t negatively affect Earth."

"Because it split in half and was destroyed?"

Davey flicked her on the forehead.

"Blasphemous!" Frelia growled while trying to lunge at him.

But then Kain grabbed her and held her back.

"This is all we can tell you."

"You never stop scheming, do you?"

"You said it yourself before," Kain remarked. "Take down one villain, and another will rise to take their place.”

In fact, after the fall of the Malicious Spirits and the Illuminati, another force had emerged, looking to exploit Earth.

"We don’t know their goal, but they’re taking advantage of the moon you created, exploiting its power to evolve monsters.”

"How could humans have the power to evolve monsters?"

"They have a medium."

“A medium?"

"It’s this.”

Kain pulled out an object Davey recognized immediately—a stone glowing with pure white light, the same kind of stone that had been releasing the power used to evolve monsters.

"We discovered it by chance while investigating the rift. We also found traces of human activity nearby."

‘The power of evolution...’

"Does it ring any bells?" Kain asked.

"Not exactly, but I do know one creature with a similar power."

He had asked about this creature with Urd, who claimed there was no way to track its whereabouts. It was the only Mythical Beast King that had escaped her encroachment—in fact, it was the first one that Urd had encroached.

The condition for encroachment required paralyzing and brainwashing the target’s reasoning. But if the target lacked enough reason to be brainwashed in the first place...

Encroachment didn’t work.

Davey figured he should consider it to be one of the possibilities behind this.

Shane mentioned being able to feel that Behemoth was still alive somewhere, but since he hadn’t performed possession, he wasn’t in a position to seek it out himself.

Bzzz...

Just then, a notification popped up on his smartphone.

[This is Kouna. Saint Davey, I assumed you would have arrived by now, so I’m sending you this message via Durian Talk.]

She was a Japanese Awakened individual under the service of Arbit, who possessed the power of prophecy. She had sent him a message in awkward Korean.

[I have two things to say. Firstly, I believe dark entities are targeting those around you.]

Illyna had already been attacked once.

[And it seems the culprit is... closer to you than you might think.]

He narrowed his eyes at the message.

‘Someone close to me? If that’s true... could it really be Behemoth?’

[Secondly: please help me.]

He called her right away after seeing that final plea.

"It’s me. What do you mean?”

- As I thought, you’ve arrived on Earth.

"You wouldn’t have sent that message if you didn’t already know that. So, what do you mean by someone close to me?"

- I couldn’t clearly see whether it was human or not. But...

She tried her best to explain using her struggling Korean.

- It is undeniably something immense. It’s hiding its terrifying presence beneath the sea.

"You can’t be serious.”

The pieces now fit into place.

Behemoth was wreaking havoc.