The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1042

In the quiet, somber air of the memorial hall, the scent of burning incense lingered. Hearing the occasional sound of muffled sobs, Al Hajat stood still, his face clouded with a complex mix of emotions.

Davey O’Rowane was dead. To him, Davey—though still young—was someone he truly clicked with. He wasn’t someone obsessed with money, and there was something simple and refreshingly different about him. On top of that, his character had no major flaws. Davey felt like one of those alien friends one met in a movie—strange, and new, but somehow easy to connect with.

So, as he looked at the framed photo of Davey smiling brightly, his heart was anything but at ease.

“I hope we can be friends again in the next life,” he said as he placed a pure white flower on the altar, lit a stick of incense, and bowed his head.

Then, when he turned to leave, his gaze landed on Kouna. Tears streamed down her face, her small shoulders shaking. Al Hajat couldn’t help but feel a deep bitterness. He assumed Davey's death must’ve crushed her.

The idea that someone like Davey—someone they thought would never die—was actually gone was a shock beyond words. The news endlessly buzzed about Davey O’Rowane and the other Awakened individuals who had resolved the crisis within the rift. What the consequences were, or what the world needed to do next.

Now that Earth’s final ace up their sleeve, Davey, was gone, the world had no choice but to urgently come up with a way to raise the level of all Awakened individuals going forward.

“Let’s prepare a new project when we get back, Antonio.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Reach out to the Sacred Group. We’ll have to invest heavily in the Awakened individuals to raise their power across the board.”

“Understood. But do we really need to go through the Sacred Group for this?”

“From now on, without a hero to save us, we have to stand on our own and come together.”

His death was a tragedy, but there was no time to fall apart.

Now that they had seen firsthand how dangerous a rift could be, all they could do was prepare for what was to come.

Just when he was about to finally turn away from Davey’s smiling portrait, a quiet voice reached his ears. “I really wanted to tell him...”

The moment he heard it, Al Hajat felt something bitter surge up from inside. Davey hadn’t come to Earth often, but whenever he did, there were more than a few times when they casually shared a drink. Being around him made it easy to forget about all the messy, complicated things in his personal life and just laugh.

Now, that person was dead.

“Sigh...”

He had been holding it together just fine until then. But somehow, the small girl’s sobs shook him to his core.

While he stared at her with a conflicted expression, a few figures approached him.

“Ah, good to see you.”

“It’s been a while, Prince Al Hajat.”

The leaders of several nations had come to the memorial personally—a rare sight indeed. Even so, no one made a fuss about it. It may have felt surreal for the fallen Awakened individuals to receive such a massive turnout, but no one questioned it, given the circumstances.

“After all, we really did receive his help. At the very least, we should wish him peace on his journey.”

“Hmm. It’s hard to believe someone could leave us so suddenly like this.”

Even if some hadn’t known Davey personally, everyone there had once gained significant public support thanks to the way he'd helped their countries manage major crises.

Of course they were grateful.

“I’d like to build a statue in his honor. He may not have been of this world, but... to me, he was a precious friend.”

“I agree, and support the idea.”

Several nations voiced their approval. And since no one really had a reason to oppose, no objections were raised.

“In that case...”

“We can leave things here and start discussing a location for the statue—”

They began to coordinate their ideas with serious expressions.

“Hmph. I don’t really mind if you build a statue or whatever, but it’s kind of embarrassing, so let’s go ahead and not.”

“What the!?” Having been rudely interrupted, Al Hajat turned his head with an uncharacteristically irritated look. He wasn’t the only one throwing a sharp glare at the person who interrupted such a solemn moment.

“I mean, come on, everyone. It’s not like I was out here trying to save the world because of some hero complex or anything.”

“W-What?!”

Black hair and crimson eyes. Despite having a young-looking face, he had been the most dominant influence on Earth.

Davey O’Rowne stood before them casually, responding to their discussion of his funerary arrangements like it was no big deal. The people who had been staring blankly at the portrait, speechless, were now completely frozen.

“So yeah, let’s just skip that. I didn’t even have good intentions when I got into doing all this. I appreciate the thought, though,” he chuckled softly.

When he turned around, everyone in the memorial hall could do nothing but stare with wide eyes.

“Wuuuu. I really wanted to tell him...”

Davey, the very cause of all the confusion, strolled up to Kouna, who was sobbing in front of his own memorial photo and spoke like it was just any other day, “What did you want to say?”

She immediately snapped her head toward him in surprise.

“Don’t cry. What are you crying for?”

When Al Hajat saw him roughly patting her head, he finally snapped out of his daze.

Finally, one of the attendees who had come with him suddenly shouted in shock, “M-Mister Davey?!”

All eyes immediately turned in his direction. The man believed to be dead was now standing at his own memorial, chatting away like nothing had happened. It wasn’t every day that one could see such a spectacle.

But indifferent to what the attendees thought, Davey just let out some jokes and smiled, “Hm. Maybe I should’ve at least busted out of a coffin or something.”

* * *

After returning from the main headquarters of the Last Wisp, Davey learned that Earth had set up a memorial altar under the bizarre belief that he had died. The absurdity of it all led him to check out the situation from afar.

Admittedly, the misunderstanding was somewhat justified. The rift had closed before he came out, and as if to confirm his death, the lord skeletons had disappeared before the onlookers. He had just unsummoned them back then, but hadn’t expected things to spiral into a misunderstanding.

No, even if what he did brewed up some confusion, he hadn’t imagined it’d blow up to such a ridiculous extent.

Out of everything, the most surprising parts were Al Hajat’s immediate, decisive response and Kouna's crying. The way he saw it, they weren’t close enough for her to be crying over his death. Yet, unlike her usual expressionless self, she had genuinely mourned his death.

It left him with a strangely complicated feeling.

“A-Aaah.” Kouna couldn’t find any words for a while as she looked at him in shock.

The others, stunned to see someone they believed dead standing before them, looked equally shaken.

Even as the confusion turned the memorial upside down, Davey looked straight at Kouna, who still stared at him in disbelief.

“I thought you had something you wanted to say to me. What was it?”

“Ah. Umm. You’re alive?”

“What, you think this is a ghost standing in front of you?”

Hearing him make a classic joke, she rushed toward him, tapping his arms and shoulders as if trying to confirm he was real. Her head then sagged as she began trembling.

“I-I thought you were dead.”

“Well, I’m not. That’s all that matters.”

She teared up again, and then, flustered, she shoved him slightly and bolted away.

As Davey glanced around at the now speechless crowd, he chuckled bitterly. "I mean, I feel bad for the Awakened individuals who passed away, but can someone please take down that portrait of me? It’s weird looking at my own memorial photo when I’m very much alive."

Sato Wakizaka approached him, eyes wide with disbelief. “Ummm. How did you even survive?”

“Oh, Mr. Wakizaka. I saw you back in Korea, didn’t I?”

“Y-Yes. Good to see you.”

“How did I survive? Well, to start off, there was never any danger of me dying. So how could I die?”

“Then... if you never came out, how did the rift disappear?”

“After finishing, I went straight from the rift to Tionis.”

“T-Then the skeletons?”

“I figured they’d be just hanging around doing nothing after their job was done, so I unsummoned them. Is there a problem with that?”

The sheer absurdity of the truth left everyone speechless.

He picked up a single snow-white flower nearby and slowly walked over to remove his own memorial photo. He then took a brief moment of silence for the truly fallen individuals and placed the flower down.

“I’ll make sure to guide you on your path through reincarnation.”

Chances were, Woochi would show up the moment he heard about the need for soul guidance—Davey knew he’d sell his soul for even a brief escape from Bi Yeon.

Finally, people realized it had all been a misunderstanding. Thanks to the reporters, the relieving news spread like wildfire.

- No wonder that lass who guards the Saint of Tionis came all the way to our country looking for German sausages.

- The sworn sibling—the next leader of the Sacred Group—had also barely reacted.

- We totally jumped to conclusions.

- Of course we did. It's not like he’d ever die.

- Man, all those public figures showed up on the news crying and giving tributes, playing with our emotions. They should be held accountable! - This is a national embarrassment.

The online communities exploded, and the whole thing became a well-known joke across the world.

But Davey didn’t care in the slightest. After a brief chat with Al Hajat—who quietly said he was glad Davey was alive—he went looking for Kouna.

She had fled and was now standing alone, staring at the frozen surface of a nearby pond.

“These days, the waters are frozen solid. Can’t even throw yourself in if you wanted to.”

She turned around slowly before staring at him as if trying to reconfirm that he was really alive.

“You have something to say?”

“I knew you wouldn’t die, but it still felt strange.”

“For someone who knew that...”

“Please forget I said anything.” Her face turned bright red as she lowered her head.

It surely had been an embarrassing moment for her—she’d bawled her eyes out over someone who had stood perfectly healthy in front of her.

“I mean... I knew Mister wasn’t dead. But your expression was so serious that I got confused.”

“Geez, your titles are changing more than the weather. Can we stick to one?”

“Didn’t you say you were quitting as my custodian? And there’s still the issue with Kasato Yoshiki.”

“He disappeared without a trace.”

If the guy was alive, he’d definitely be trying to pull something. If he was dead, well, that was his fate. Davey had done everything he could.

After some hesitation, Kouna looked up at him. “Davey.”

“Ugh. Okay. So Davey it is.”

“It’s a hassle changing what I call you all the time. Anyway, I’m going home to talk to my grandfather.”

“About what?” he asked, curious.

“I’m going to tell him that I want to pave my own way.”

“So?”

“So... please don’t stop being my custodian.”

Hearing her firm request, Davey stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Alright. It’s your life—you should also take responsibility for it.”

“That’s why...” She looked him in the eye. “Please... take me to Tionis.”

Her solemn expression showed that she understood the weight of her decision. He could tell she had clearly given it a lot of thought.

Davey smiled gently and answered, “My ass.”

* * *

“There's no trace of Kasato Yoshiki?”

“I clearly returned him to the safe zone. If he ended up somewhere else after that, that’s on him.”

“That may be true, but within the Yoshiki Group, there are many rumors that you killed him. It’s not something we can just ignore.”

“Is that so? That’s understandable. Then, feel free to punish me according to Japanese law.”

The prime minister widened his eyes in shock. “That would make things incredibly complicated for you...”

“In that case, I’ll pursue the fact that he tried to kill me according to Tionis law.”

It didn’t take a genius to see which side had more to lose.

“I’ll relay the message...”

“For the time being, there’s no need to worry about any new rifts. Also, I’d advise you to abandon any ongoing monster-taming research. It’s just accelerating the instability of the rift variables.”

The prime minister’s eyes widened once again.

All the other rifts had been fine, yet the one in Japan alone had produced a dungeon belonging to the Monster Queen Persephone—and then, her offspring, spawn or whatever had emerged. Davey didn’t think that was a coincidence.

“Back in the day, I wiped out a secret organization that was dabbling in research teetering on the edge of taboo. Let me give you a warning: don’t mess with taboos. I might be willing to overlook a lot, but cross that line even slightly... and I’ll have no choice but to erase Japan myself.”

His icy tone made the prime minister shudder. He realized that his words weren’t empty threats.

“I’m not trying to invade your personal affairs, but everything you do is being watched at all times. In the old days, your country would have been struck down with divinity.”

Divine wrath, to be precise.

“By which I mean things like tsunamis and earthquakes.”

“Are you saying... something like that has happened before?”

“It was just an example. Anyway, deal with the Yoshiki situation yourselves. If any trace of him turns up, I’ll gladly help out.”

After wrapping up his brief coordination with the prime minister, Davey left the office and checked his Durian Talk.

Beep.

- Davey, I’m heading back to Korea first. Don’t forget to stop by and say hi to Uncle before you leave.

When he saw Hyun-Ah at the memorial, she’d seemed a little tired and hadn’t said much. Still, Davey could tell that she trusted him, as always.

He then thought of how feisty the cadet knights of Alpha Reinforcements were going to be.

“Rinne.”

“Awaiting orders,” she responded with a salute.

“Does Megatron still have any of the CS gas motion-sickness rounds?”

“Rinne reports that high-speed precision volley fire is available through custom tuning.”

“Prep about twenty boxes.”

‘Boy, do I really enjoy training kiddos.’

“Oh, and call the muscle bunny, the dokkaebi, and that damned Taurus freak, too.”

It was time to evaluate the junior knights that were meant to succeed him and the others.

Rinne gave a small nod before saying, “Master Davey, Rinne asks about the life essence orb.”

“That? It’s still being calibrated.”

Thanks to Woochi’s meddling, he knew he couldn’t just feed it straight to Perserque. The heroes of the hall weren’t exactly thrilled about the idea of transplanting it into Per, but Davey had no intention of stopping.

“I figured you’d still be here.”

Davey heard a voice and spotted an unexpected person waiting in front of his house.

“What is it?”

“My grandfather said he wishes to speak with you.”

“Tell that old man to come to me himself. What does he think I am, his subordinate?” Davey spoke coldly, ruffling Kouna’s hair as he passed by.

“I thought you’d say that, so I came ahead of time,” a frail voice called out, drawing Davey’s attention to an elderly man in formal attire accompanied by a few attendants, calmly watching him.

Davey silently stared at him.

“He says he has something to discuss.”

“Yes. If we could... speak somewhere privately?”

“No need to drag it out. Let’s end this right here.”

Davey didn’t harbor any goodwill toward him. Still, he hadn’t laid a hand on him for two reasons. One was Kouna’s status as a minor. The second was the fact that the old man was still her legal guardian, technically.

“You’re going to want to hear what I have to say,” the old man said with a mysterious gaze unique to him.

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