The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1051

“Don’t worry. Saintess Daphne isn’t planning on dying just yet.” With those words, Daphne turned and left, Davey letting out a short sigh as he watched her walk away.

Eavesdropping from behind a tree, Lucia Shelman, eyes wide open, was left reeling by the shocking revelation of Daphne’s true identity.

‘What?? What did I just hear?’

She clamped both hands over her mouth and crouched down, trembling uncontrollably. The truth was far too overwhelming for her to process. It was pure coincidence that she overheard the conversation between Davey and Daphne while hiding behind the tree. She had only gone to the nearby stream to quench her thirst. Then, by chance, she spotted Davey's back and decided to approach—only to hear something she never would have imagined.

After Daphne and Davey left, Lucia stood there, her hands trembling as she clenched them tightly, her lips barely moving.

‘No. No way...’

The confusion was completely understandable, of course. What she had just heard contradicted half of everything she believed. She couldn’t help but think that perhaps such moments were like what people meant when they said they’d wasted half of their lives.

Returning with a complicated mix of emotions, she confided the truth to the one person she trusted most—her only partner and dearest friend, Fildyr.

“Maybe you just dreamed it?” he suggested.

“Nonsense, it was absolutely real. My heart’s still pounding like crazy.”

“Come on, think about it. Isn’t it already weird that a saintess who died a thousand years ago is alive? And you’re telling me Davey didn’t notice you eavesdropping nearby?”

“What?” Lucia’s eyes widened at the question.

“You know Davey is like super strong, right? He can detect stealth-type Special Ones like it’s nothing. No matter how you try, there’s still no way he would fail to notice you standing that close.”

“I-I guess you’re right.”

“If you have the time to run around thinking up nonsense, you should do something more productive instead. They need a break too, so go wash your face or something. Oh, and—” He poked at her head with his finger. “Saintess Daphne is known for her radiant silver hair. You saw the hair color. It’s not even close!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Only then did she seem to grasp the situation. Her expression eased as she let out a breath, chalking it all up to a simple misunderstanding.

“The statue has popped up. Let’s move.”

They had finally gotten word that the statue had shown up, though it was sooner than expected. The two of them stood and followed after Davey and Illyna who had just entered the cave.

“I want us to quickly deal with this so we can rest properly. I want to re-read the Chronicles of Saintess Daphne.”

“Yeah. Let’s finish this and head back,” Davey muttered to himself. “Per’s probably starting to wonder what we’re up to by now.”

The group eventually arrived at a spot they’d confirmed to be completely empty mere hours before, now finding a massive humanoid statue standing there.

“We finally found the last beast lair conduit to deal with.”

They’d already confirmed that the lairs vanished when the other statues were destroyed. There was one last beast lair in the shadowy forest, not far from the remaining statue.

“Aren’t beast lairs supposed to endlessly spawn a bunch of monsters?”

“They are, but it looks like the spot where monsters come out has changed.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it, just be sure to keep your distance. It looks fine now, but if you get too close, you’ll get sucked right in. Once someone gets sucked in, they never come back out.”

Fildyr felt a shiver run down his spine as he stared at the black, whirlwind-like rift. “Don’t we need to investigate it more thoroughly first?”

“This thing is basically a powder keg with a mystery timer on it. Better to just destroy it while we can.”

While gathering more information on beast lairs was important, the knight order had decided to focus on eliminating them as the top priority. They couldn’t afford to take unnecessary risks, after all.

“But Davey, this is the only statue with a human face. All the others had animal heads—birds, tigers, cats, stuff like that. Why is this one different?”

“Hell if I know.” Davey placed his hand on the statue, eager to conclude the operation. Just as he began to channel his holy power, a crack suddenly appeared on the statue, and an anomaly began to unfold.

“What the—?!” Startled by the unknown shockwave, Fildyr quickly drew his shield and stepped in front of Lucia to protect her.

“What’s happening?!”

“It’s resisting.”

The statue's eyes gleamed, and four pairs of stone wings suddenly unfolded from its once-bareback.

“Kiaaa!!!” Letting out an ear-splitting screech, the statue began to move. It turned its gaze skyward and fired a beam of concentrated energy, dense with terrifying power.

Boom!! Boom!!!

The situation had quickly spiraled into a serious problem.

“I think something went wrong,” Illyna said cautiously.

Davey narrowed his eyes. “This much is still within expectations. From here on, the resistance is going to get worse. While I’m busy destroying that thing, you’ll all need to depend on yourselves to stay alive.”

Lucia gulped nervously at his words. Instead of his powerful protection, they had received a warning to take care of their own lives.

* * *

The statue was the conduit of the last beast lair. Davey had figured there was no way a fragment of the world like the beast lair would simply disappear without putting up any resistance.

In other words, once the statue was destroyed, the operating principles of heaven and earth would be forced to retreat from the situation, having failed to create a new Monster Queen. It had no will, but the system of rules operated on its own—there was no way it would just let itself quietly disappear from the world, thwarted.

It seemed the statue had chosen to divert his attention and stall for time, rather than directly block him. Still, he knew stepping back would only mean being dragged along even further, just as the system had designed.

“Hah...”

‘You really underestimated my power as the world’s harmonizer.’

Davey let out a cold scoff, drawing out more than double his previous flood of holy power. “Alright. Come at me, bro.”

When the incomparable holy power began to flow into the statue, it trembled violently and started to crack.

“Argh, damn it! What the heck is with this swarm?!”

“Eek! Don’t come any closer!”

The two trainees let out wild screams, faced with what seemed like an unending swarm of enemies determined to protect the statue. However, with every one of Illyna’s strikes, they were cut down in droves, leaving them barely any chance to pose a real threat.

Soon, the statue was covered in cracks and on the verge of collapse before flaring with light once more and unleashing a massive shockwave.

“Ugh?!”

Everyone aside from Davey was blown away by the blast. When they were flung back, they saw something new emerge from the shattered remains of the statue.

“What is that?”

It was something none of them had seen before, and yet they all instantly recognized what it was.

“Grrr.”

A woman, eyes glowing with a crimson light, stood before them. She looked human, but had blood-drenched, half-torn wings protruding from her back. Her body was covered with slashes and gaping wounds, some strange fluid, like blood, slowly trickling from the corners of her mouth.

Where her pale arms should’ve been, clusters of grotesque eyes festered, making the three feel nauseous. She looked like a human that had paused in the middle of becoming a monster.

“It’s the woman from the illusion,” Fildyr murmured.

It was the same figure they had seen when they first entered the Dark Forest with Daphne. She was none other than Persephone’s illusion. Of course, Davey was the only one who knew that it specifically depicted Persephone. Nonetheless, the others were visibly shaken at the sight. Unlike the illusions shown before, what stood before them in that moment was the real deal.

Persephone—whose soul had shattered and died—had somehow returned in such a form.

“Davey!!” Fildyr shouted, instinctively sensing danger.

“Fall back.”

The power she held was close to what Daphne had possessed at the time of her death. It was holy power, only twisted into a corrupted form, void of any love of god. The fact that her hatred had managed to take on such a monstrous shape, despite only a fragment of her soul remaining, was astounding.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you!” She let out a warped cry, her voice ringing with terrifying rage.

“Kyaaaa! Daphne!! I’ll kill you!!” Her shriek was filled with a hatred so intense that both Lucia and Fildyr were left speechless.

Illyna’s brow furrowed, looking at Davey. Her expression was implicitly asking what he was going to do about it.

“She’s sunk deeper into hatred than I expected. Looks like she’s beyond saving,” Davey muttered.

Soon, Persephone swung her hand.

Now nothing more than a corpse, what remained of her was just a fragment of her soul with no will of her own. The words she screamed were merely the echoes of a dead thought, remnants of her will lingering after death. Davey couldn’t help but think how extraordinary it was, knowing she’d endured thousands of years with just a fragment of her soul.

Unfortunately, the idea of that soul still retaining coherent consciousness defied all logic. Reincarnation was certainly off the table, which meant there was only one other option left.

“Looks like I’ll have to forgo reincarnation and just extinguish her here,” Davey muttered to himself as he raised his hand, slamming his fist into the air.

Boom!!

Crack!!!

An enormous barrier enveloped the group as a warp magic was simultaneously activated, Fildyr and Lucia vanishing on the spot. It was Davey’s doing, of course.

“Sorry, but plans have changed. Reincarnation is off the table for her.”

If any of the heroes who presided over reincarnation had seen this, they’d all unanimously reject the prospect of retrieval. Her hatred was just that deep. If her soul had been even remotely intact, purification might have been possible. But with nothing left besides a twisted remnant, there was a significant chance she would be destroyed in the process of cleansing.

“Who is that?”

“Persephone. She’s the Monster Queen from the beast lair, the one that Daphne’s been searching for.”

Illyna’s eyes widened in shock. “Didn’t the Monster Queen die? You said you confirmed the body and everything.”

“She did, and that’s still true. This is just a remnant of her soul, one tiny fragment of it. So it’s not really accurate to say she’s alive. An echo of a trace, more like.”

The thing in front of them was merely leftover scraps without any will.

“Daphne’s been looking all over for her. Honestly, I was hoping and planning to assess her state, give her a light purification, and loop her back into the cycle of reincarnation, no fuss no muss.”

Sure, the beast lair would put up some resistance, but that was something he could leave Daphne to handle herself.

Even if it was only a shattered soul remnant, repeating the cycle of reincarnation five or six times would eventually restore her soul to some degree. It wasn’t a bad deal for Davey either, but, unfortunately, it would take an absurd amount of time.

“But this just looks hopeless,” Illyna lamented.

“There’s no saving her. She can’t be purified, so she must be destroyed.” Davey drew both Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon before combining them in Super Ribbon, blade shimmering in blue-red hues.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you!!”

Though she had no will of her own, she moved with a singular obsession. She was no different from a zombie driven purely by hunger. All she displayed was overwhelming hatred toward Daphne.

Davey resolutely swung the blade down to finish her.

Clang!!!

But suddenly, Daphne appeared from out of nowhere and blocked his strike with a spear made of light, shielding the twisted remnant behind her. “Don’t.”

Davey’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t know where she had been, but she was defending that thing. It was just a leftover remnant, not even a full soul, driven solely by hatred. To begin with, the creature’s strength was overwhelming, but not enough to actually harm either Davey or Daphne.

“You can’t make her disappear!! You fucking dipshit bastard!!”

“Can’t you see what that is?! There are some things that can be allowed, and others that just can’t! If you let her soul reincarnate as it is, it’ll contaminate the entire cycle.”

He knew that it would only lead to a disaster.

“Daphne, I agreed to help because I thought her soul hadn’t been twisted beyond hope. You know that better than anyone, so why are you acting like this now?”

“I still can’t let it happen!!” She was being even more stubborn than usual. “She’s the one person I absolutely cannot let be destroyed!” freeweɓnøvel~com

Destruction was terrifying. Considering the price Davey had once paid for Flow Rejection—being erased from the cycle of reincarnation—there was no question Persephone was already suffering an unbearable punishment.

“Get out of the way.”

“Davey, whether my soul gets destroyed or not... that’s up to you, right?” she said, locking eyes with him.

Strictly speaking, it was Davey who had used the authority and power of Goddess Freyja to awaken the souls of fallen heroes. As such, he also held the power to erase them.

“Destroy me. Then, you can use it to restore her soul and purify it.”

Davey let out a cold chuckle at her words. “You’re not even making sense.”

“It’s possible! Persephone is a clone of me—created through the breaking of a taboo. Our souls are perfectly compatible.”

She was suggesting that Davey should destroy her, then graft her soul onto Persephone’s and purify it to place her back into the cycle of reincarnation.

“I can’t just let her go out like this!! After everything she’s suffered, how can you say she should just be erased?!” she desperately cried.

Davey closed his eyes. Even though its hatred was directed solely at Daphne, she was willing to sacrifice herself if it meant saving Persephone.

Davey opened his mouth to respond, but then something caught his attention. For just a moment, the monsterized Persephone, who had been mindlessly screaming for Daphne’s death, twitched. Its expression had subtly shifted for a moment.

‘Huh?’

And then, with a sudden burst of violence, she lunged at Daphne.

“Raaahhh! Daphne!! I’ll kill you!!!”

“Ugh?!”

The surprise attack landed, Persephone tackling Daphne and pinning her down before she could even put up a resistance.

“I’ll kill you! This is all your fault!! All because of you!!!”

“Persephone...”

“It hurts. It hurts so much! I can’t take it anymore... I just want it to end!!”

Daphne didn’t fight back. If she had been her usual self, she would’ve let loose a string of curses and kicked without a second thought. She certainly had the strength to do it, yet she didn’t.

Its claws slashed wildly at her, but her divine shield blocked the attacks.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Persephone. I’m sorry it took me so long to find you. But from now on, I’ll save you. I promise!”

That decided it.

“Davey, what’s going on?!”

Ignoring Illyna’s shouting, Davey began channeling the full power of Super Ribbon. Just as he raised his sword to strike—

“Persephone!! Please, snap out of it! It’s me, Daphne! Please, look at me!”

“I’ll kill you!! I’ll kill you, Daphne!!!”

When Davey had first seen the monster that Monster Queen Persephone had given birth to, it had screamed the same thing. Shouting that it’d kill Daphne, its mother’s sworn enemy.

No matter what hatred the soul’s remnant harbored, if things continued uninterrupted, he knew there’d be no saving Persephone.

“Please... Please, come back to your senses. I’m begging you.” But Daphne couldn’t give up. Her desperate pleas continued, and the more she begged, the tighter Persephone gripped her throat.

Her face was contorted with rage. She seemed consumed by hatred for Daphne, and Daphne, clearly shaken by the sight, couldn’t even react properly.

Whether Davey chose to strike or purify Persephone, her soul would be erased completely. With salvation off the table, he figured it might be better to let her rest, free of pain. That was what he thought as he raised his sword to end her.

But then, he noticed something strange again. Persephone, choking Daphone in a blind fury, met his gaze momentarily. Her target—her only purpose for existing—was right in front of her. And yet, she had looked away.

He knew it shouldn’t have been possible, as a soul remnant stripped of will would never be able to display such behavior. It was as if a machine, designed for one function, suddenly performed a different task on its own. Unless some form of will still remained, it was impossible.

But even that didn't make sense. If she had any will left, there was no reason for her to fall so deeply into hatred.

“Wait. There actually is one possible reason.” Davey made his decision. He raised Super Ribbon high, and without hesitation, brought it down on the fragmentary, manifest form of Persephone's soul.

Slash!!

With a sickening squelch, the body formed of her soul and power was split in two.

“No!!” Daphne’s eyes widened in shock before she reached out toward the scattering remains of Persephone’s soul.

Unfortunately, it was already breaking apart slowly.

“No. No. No!! Persephone!! I said no! Please!!” Her anguished screams echoed through the cave.

Illyna turned to Davey with a stunned face.

“Davey... Why would you do that?”

“I had two questions that didn’t sit right with me.”

Things that made no sense, one of them being the inscriptions on the statues. And the one who left them wasn’t Daphne, or anyone else. It was Persephone herself.

“I figured out the answer to one of my questions just now. And the other...”

Illyna still looked confused, but Davey turned toward Daphne. “Tell me the truth, Daphne.”

She glared at him, tears streaming down her face.

“The statue. Why did Persephone go so far as to fake her behavior? Just to stop you from destroying it?”

She glared at him intently. “You son of a bitch. What the hell does it matter now?! Do you feel better after erasing her like that, you fucking devil?!”

The horrifying possibility remained, that Persephone may have endured the pain of a torn soul for thousands of years while still holding on to her mind. That was the conclusion Davey came to.

Leaving behind a crying Daphne, he turned and began to walk away. He had no intention of sitting back and tolerating their little performance.

“Do your audition somewhere else, you damned lunatics.”

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