The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1038

The gray, bony monster ruthlessly squeezed Kouna’s skinny arm.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

The sheer force behind its grip was beyond comprehension.

One must keep in mind that Kouna was a physical-type Awakened that used Haitai’s power. Her enhanced body had long surpassed human limits—strong enough to withstand a semi-truck collision without a scratch.

Yet the monster was making her writhe in agony just by squeezing her arm.

Tears streamed down her face as she clenched her teeth. The monster leaned in, its hollow gaze looking her over as if studying her.

[Hor... ne.]

It broke parts of her body while showing nothing but twisted curiosity, like a newborn discovering the world for the first time.

"Kouna!!"

"It’s too late!! Run!!”

The Awakened had split into two groups.

On one side, determined to use this chance to escape and warn others about the monster’s threat.

The other, unwilling to leave her behind.

“Hmph!!”

Boom!!!

Someone on the ground suddenly got up and body slammed into the monster, breaking its hold on Kouna.

Both her arms could be seen hanging limp by her side, with one of her legs nearly mangled beyond repair.

'Why? Why isn’t Haitai’s power protecting me?'

Unbeknownst to her, Haitai’s power was indeed being channeled—it was simply that the brutal monster had neutralized it completely.

But the one who had taken a devastating blow before, Toho Yasunaro, was in an even more severe state than she was.

"Get her out of here! I’ll buy you guys some time!!”

Although he was missing one arm, his eyes burned with defiance.

"Come at me, bro. You’re not getting past me,” he taunted, despite knowing instinctively that he had no chances of winning against the monster.

It had always been in his nature to shy away from relying on external forces for help. He had always believed that a nation should handle its own problems.

If one became dependent on outsiders, he figured they’d never break free.

Despite his wavering consciousness and blurry vision, he tightened his grip on his weapon and redoubled his assault.

“Grru? Guaaa.”

Despite his desperate attacks, the monster was standing as if nothing had happened. It simply titled its head, staring at him with its empty eyes.

Its face then twisted grotesquely, like a child who had been hit and was about to throw a tantrum.

“Kiaaa!!!”

The monster stepped forward and charged toward Toro.

“Gaaah!!” Before he could even react, he went flying like a cannonball.

His body crashed into a tree with a hollow gasp, coughing up blood.

“No!!”

"Move!! You have to live!!”

Kouna reached out, her broken arm trembling. But before she could do anything, a pair of Awakened individuals hoisted her up and bolted for the exit.

"Her arms and legs are done for! We have to carry her!"

"Toho!! Hold on!!”

They had ultimately resolved to leave him behind and seek help.

Despite the monster looking like an easy opponent at first, knowing what it was capable of now, everyone figured there was no point in directly resisting anymore.

While they fled, the monster continued raining brutal punches on Toho as if blowing off steam. The sound of its maniacal pounding echoed through the battlefield.

Knowing there was no way to save him anymore, Kouna shut her eyes tight.

The surviving Awakened individuals focused on running for their lives.

Strangely enough, while other monsters did appear along their path of retreat, they never attacked.

After what felt like an eternity, the survivors finally collapsed, gasping for air.

"Haah. Haah. We need to rest..."

"Are you insane?! If that thing catches up to us, we’re all dead!!"

"But if we keep running like this, we’ll collapse before we can even see the exit!"

Tension crackled between them, though everyone internally knew they had to rest at least for a little bit.

Only ten Awakened individuals remained. Most of the lower-class individuals had been wiped out. And among the ones who had survived, some would never be able to fight again.

"We’re dead. We’re all dead!!”

"Shut up!! Don’t say shit like that!!”

"But then how the hell are we supposed to escape?! Even Toro is dead! Do you think we stand a chance?! Do you actually think we can make it alive? I don’t know why the other monsters aren’t attacking us but even if we run in full spring, it’ll at least take us three to four hours to escape from this damn place! Oh, and I’m sure that creature that just killed Toro will be just playing around during that time! I’m sure Toro will be able to hold that thing back for that long!!!”

The strongest Awakened individual, Toho Yasunaro, was supposedly going to hold the line.

But everyone knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on forever. Everyone knew he was already barely surviving, serving as little more than a meat shield.

When his screams echoed through the air, grim expressions fell over the entire group.

"Just... leave me behind,” Kouna muttered.

“What?”

"The power of the divine beast Haitai that Hwa-Yeon passed down to me... If I force it into overdrive, I can hold out for a little while." freēwēbηovel.c૦m

"Are you even hearing yourself right now?! Do you not see the state you’re in?! Your whole body’s wrecked!"

They had managed to heal her injuries and set her broken bones in place, but her body’s endurance and resilience were completely shot.

"Exactly! And now you want us to just leave you behind and run away?! We’re not leaving anyone else behind—especially a kid like you!"

Of course, not everyone felt the same way.

"No, she’s right! That’s our only option!" one of them asserted.

"Shut up! How the hell can you say that as a human being?!"

"Get real! We, Awakened individuals, are all in a life-or-death profession! There’s no such thing as too young or too old here!”

"That doesn’t make it right! You’re a defense-type Awakened, aren’t you?! Then, why don’t you stay behind instead?!"

"What did you just say? Are you done talking?”

Indifferent to the situation around them, they screamed at each other instead.

Their true human nature was boiling over.

Kouna, watching the chaos taking place with an exhausted expression, took a deep breath.

Then, she called out to Haitai.

‘Divine beast...’

[Absolutely not. You must make it out.]

'But there’s no other way. You can’t do anything about the monsters here either, can you?'

Haitai was a powerful divine beast, but as long as it was bound to Kouna, its power was severely limited.

She also knew this, which was why—just like Hwa-Yeon, the former possessor of the power of the Celestial Maiden—she had made her decision.

[Do not follow in her footsteps. She was one of the few who understood that Tionis was the real deal.]

Even as Haitai objected, Kouna forced herself to stand. Her legs trembled, but she staggered forward. "Everyone... move. It’s coming."

The others froze.

Her ability to glimpse into the future using Haitai’s power was severely limited, almost non-existent at that moment—and the only thing she could see ahead of them now was blood.

She wondered if it was a premonition of death.

Some reached out to stop her, but it was already too late.

She had already begun channeling Haitai power.

Even as it protested, Haitai still answered her call—as it always did.

A sacred, divine energy surged forth. White and blue light swirled around her body, and her eyes gleamed in a stunning mix of sky blue and white.

"Kouna, you..."

"Go. That thing is coming. Toho is... probably already dead.” She tossed away her old weapon and drew a massive longsword. "Go. Pass on my words to Prince Davey.”

‘He’ll come because of my words. I know he will.’

“Hatred for Horne. And the name... Daphne.”

Kouna had heard the name before—just once, by chance. She had overheard a conversation between Davey and Perserque. She knew he would come when he heard that name.

She steeled herself, focusing her energy into her blade. She then looked at where the immense presence was coming from.

But surprisingly enough, it wasn’t the gray monster.

"A monster army...?" one of the Awakened members muttered.

"No way..." another shakily said.

She knew she could lure the gray monster away by herself. It was predictable enough. Simple-minded enough.

But there was no way she could grab the attention and aggro of an entire horde of monsters.

Unfortunately, they were running maniacally towards the group. From four-legged beasts like wolves, to grotesque shapeless horrors and other things beyond comprehension.

Among them was a colossal giant—the same monster that had devastated a third of New Zealand in the past.

The Awakened individuals froze, forgetting to even run away.

"This is too much! How is this even considered a rift?”

“How can a person fight those...”

"Are we... just gonna die here?"

Sensing that death was near, their faces darkened. Some just stopped thinking, terrified, while others curled up and wailed in despair.

"I-I don’t wanna die... I don’t wanna die!"

"Aaaah. Mommy, please!” one of them wailed.

"This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening."

The waves of monsters swarming toward them were overwhelming. Each individual monstrosity was powerful in its own right.

And there were hundreds, maybe thousands of them, ready to take their lives.

Some Awakened accepted their fate, certain that there was no way out, and simply took up their weapons.

"Fuck it. If I’m going down, I’m taking at least one of these bastards with me."

"Yeah! If I’m dying anyway, I might as well kill a few before I go."

Their words and sentiment spread like wildfire.

One by one, the others also hardened their resolve.

"The more we take down, the less severe the damage will be when the rift finally breaks open. You all get that?!"

"Yeah!"

"Then let’s do this! Our bastard team leader may not have been my favorite guy, but at least we’ll avenge him!" Just when Kouna raised her sword, ready to strike first with Haitai’s power, she felt the ground shake from the monsters sprinting forward.

They were closing in, yet she couldn’t move.

Fear had swallowed her whole, locking her in place.

She shook her head and steeled herself to strike.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!!!

The monsters swerved and kept running...

Right past the Awakened.

Silence. Everyone stood frozen, dumbstruck.

The monsters were still charging ahead, completely ignoring them. They were like a stampede of crazed bulls, barreling toward something in the distance.

Kouna, with her keen hearing, caught their frantic whispers.

“Grk. I don’t wanna die! I’m getting the hell outta here!”

“Run! Run! Run!”

They had never even thought of attacking the Awakened in the first place.

"What in the world?”

"Did those things just... run away?"

"From what?"

Their numbers and strength were enough to wipe out entire nations in one clean sweep. And yet, that same force was running in terror.

The first thought that came to mind was if they were running from the gray monster.

But she quickly shook her head, as the direction the monsters were running from wasn’t where the gray-skinned monster had appeared.

"Shit. It followed us!!"

The grotesque creature was coming toward them, with its umbilical cord trailing behind it.

Despite its limping, it was quite fast.

Its soulless eyes were fixed on the survivors, as if ready to kill them all.

"Ugh. My body feels so heavy."

"Shit! What the hell is this pressure?"

Even just being near the thing was like being crushed under an invisible force.

Standing frozen in front of a predator, the Awakened were helpless and weak.

It was holding onto the half-dead, or maybe already lifeless, Toho in its hand.

[Horne... can’t move. Horne... kill.]

It kept muttering the same words. It continued to let out its presence, pressing down on everyone.

But then, it stopped and twisted its head sharply toward where the monster horde had just fled.

Boom!!!

At the same time, an overwhelming force—on a completely different level from what the gray monster had released—crashed down over the entire area, like a massive wave of gravity.

Precisely speaking, it wasn’t even worlds apart—the force was dimensions apart.

"You bastards think I’m out here playing tag with you or something?"

She saw a person walking toward them.

The survivors, who had accepted their fate, looked on in confusion.

Kouna widened her eyes the moment she recognized who the person was.

Without a second thought, she ran forward and threw herself into his arms.

Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce