The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1295

It all fit together too perfectly to be dismissed as a mere coincidence.

“Abel? What are you doing?” Evangeline asked with shock.

He wasn’t supposed to be familiar with this place. Yet, memories that felt almost preordained left him shaken.

He had once visited this place with Darian on an errand from the goddess Freyja.

At the time, he couldn’t understand why such a place even existed, or how they ended up there in the first place. Yet, if the goddess had used that errand as an excuse to reveal the place to Abel relatively ahead of time, then everything made sense.

It also explained why she had agreed to send him back through time.

‘The goddess from my timeline must’ve already known what would happen.

There had never been a time when the goddess failed to foresee the future.

From what Abel had heard, everything had played out just as she wanted, with two exceptions.

The first had been the destruction of the world. The second was something related to his father, Davey O’Rowane.

It felt like they were dancing in the palm of her hand. It was a frustrating thought, though when looked at another way, it was also incredibly reassuring.

“Ah, the goddess is with us,” Abel muttered confidently, only for Evangeline to kick him from behind.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?! Move it already!”

“S-sorry. Let’s go.”

Just by looking at the enemies guarding this place, they could tell that a significant portion of their forces had weakened. Still, that didn’t mean all of them had been weakened.

Evangeline had barely managed to track the ones that had been staying here, but the ones appearing now hadn’t been traceable at all.

Just by smashing all the statues, which seemed to be the main devices of the ritual, they had stirred up enough attention to provoke the enemy.

Getting surrounded and fighting in this place offered them no advantage. In that case, they just needed to draw the enemy out to more favorable ground.

However, the opponents weren’t pushovers either. One of the zenoen, who had instantly interfered with Abel’s magic, twisted its face into a vicious scowl. “Fucking rat!”

“Looks like what we did really pissed them off.”

At the very least, their reaction said enough.

Only two enemies had shown themselves before the duo so far, but it was obvious that four more were hiding nearby. That brought the known count to six.

However, Abel's instincts screamed that this wasn’t their full force.

With the warp already blocked, they had no choice but to move on to the next tactic.

“How many do you sense, Sis?”

“Six, bet it feels like there are more.”

“That’s what I thought too. If we fight head-on, we’ll walk right into their trap. You get what I’m saying, right?” Abel quietly whispered. He then raised his voice and addressed the zenoens with confidence, “What, hiding something fun in here?”

They were infuriated by the blatant disrespect. “You little—”

“Whatever you’re plotting doesn’t matter. What matters is how this place ends up. That’s what’s going to decide your future.”

At those words, two of the zenoen lunged toward him.

However, Evangeline moved even faster, stepping forward with a gleam in her vertically-slit pupils and swinging the divine dragon sword Twilight.

One of the zenoen, its arm pulsing with unknown power, tried to strike.

Boom!!

Yet Evangeline blocked it cleanly.

The other zenoen, however, rushed straight for Abel. Of course, she couldn’t stop both of them on her own.

“Abel!!” Evangeline shouted in panic. Abel, preparing a spell, was left wide open.

It was almost destined that he was about to take a fatal hit.

“Ugh. AHHH!!”

Maybe that was why. Evangeline suddenly unleashed an unprecedented strength, flinging away the zenoen pressing hard against her sword.

“W-What is this monster bitch?!” Clearly confident in its own strength, the zenoen was stunned that it’d been pushed back.

Evangeline kicked it away, took a deep breath, and lowered her stance slightly.

“Sis?” Abel was just as shocked by her sudden burst of power. His eyes widened at her unexpected move.

“Die, you rat bastard!!”

Even so, the other zenoen didn’t change course. Just as its claws were about to pierce his heart, the phenomenon appeared of space itself tearing open.

Ssss.

Evangeline abruptly arrived from afar with her eerie dragon eyes glowing.

“What the—?!”

She seized the zenoen’s head mid-attack and slammed it into the ground.

Crunch!!

That wasn’t all. Behind the wings on her back, the space split open once more. A massive dragon’s foreleg emerged, and she swept it through the empty space until she grabbed something, slamming it into the ground.

“This is?” Abel stared in shock. He hadn’t sensed that enemy at all.

“Huff. Huff.” Evangeline was left panting after the exertion.

“Evangeline! Are you okay?!”

“Hurry! This is too much, I can’t keep this up.”

Abel could tell that she had drawn on a power she hadn’t revealed until now.

The divine movements Evangeline had just displayed was nothing like anything she’d shown before. It felt like some special reaction that occurred naturally, like when a living being was pushed to the brink of death and unleashed otherworldly strength.

Not that it mattered. Abel smiled bitterly and completed the spell he’d been preparing.

“Sis! Let’s make a run for it!”

Without hesitation, he thrust his hand onto the ground and activated a magic circle.

[8th Circle Area Type]

[Prometheus Break]

The spell rose from the circle, resonating and colliding with itself. It then scattered into massive fragments before those parts struck each other again and again, multiplying in a process akin to nuclear fission.

Once the chaos hit its peak threshold, Abel grabbed Evangeline by the arm and activated a short-range teleport.

“Damn it!!” Realizing what was about to happen, some of the zenoens tried to stop it, but the spell had already been cast.

It was unbelievable how fast Abel had activated the spell, proving far too quick for them to react properly. He was only able to pull off such a maneuver after having prepared the spell in advance, even before they started destroying the place.

Boom!!

A massive explosion tore through the ritual hall, reducing it to ashes and blowing everything away.

* * *

The only existing ritual site had been completely destroyed. The remaining statues, which had exuded ominous presence, vanished without a trace in the blast. Several zenoen were caught in the explosion as well, ending up wounded.

They were naturally furious at the outcome. After all, the scheme they’d been working toward had just been shattered in an instant.

“Huff. Hah.”

The remaining zenoen began to close around the two siblings, increasing their numbers as if coordinated in advance. Their murderous intent was clear. They had no plans to let the pair escape alive, though their intentions wouldn’t be fulfilled.

“Huff. Huff.” In the quiet bamboo grove, Abel, having barely shaken off pursuit and hidden himself, panted heavily as he scanned his surroundings. He had a few injuries scattered across his body, but he was still in decent shape. “Evangeline, are you alright?”

“Don’t worry, I’m just a little tired.”

However, he could tell how worn out she actually was.

The zenoen that had lost their temper weren’t weak, by any means. Unlike the others they’d fought until then, these ones posed a real threat.

Just as Parthenon was capable of manipulating time, the zenoen they faced also possessed unique powers.

“We achieved our objective. Now we just need to get out of here fast. Got it?”

The warp spell had been blocked by some kind of special ability the enemy had. Still, if they could just make it far enough on foot to escape the effective range, that’d be enough.

“Just a little farther from here is the Ruthenium Mine. If we make it there, we can move on to the second phase of the plan.” Abel had planned things out both structurally and meticulously, so he felt confident. Even if Evangeline always treated him like a kid, right now she was the one who needed protecting more than anyone else. “The traps we set on the way in are all working perfectly, so let’s move.”

As soon as he shot up from his position to resume their escape, he instantly felt the presence of the zenoen approaching from afar.

At the same time, massive waves of mana began to pulse throughout the forest. The interference and barrier spells Abel had set up in advance were all activating at once.

“Sis!!! Let’s go!” Even though he had predicted the warp would be blocked, it didn’t make the situation any better.

Grabbing Evangeline, he sprinted through the forest at full speed.

* * *

Abel’s interference was relentless.

While the zenoen each possessed unique powers, they weren’t invincible. As such, they kept falling for his bizarre and unpredictable traps, unable to close the distance to their targets.

“Goddamn it!!”

“Fucking rats!!!”

It was already infuriating enough that their plan had been wrecked, and watching the two slip away over and over only pushed them further over the edge.

“How long are we going to keep playing this stupid game of tag?”

“If we lose them now, we’ve got no chance left. Do you not get that?!”

“Unless we use those bastards as sacrifices, there’s no other way I’ll ever vent this rage!!”

As their voices grew louder and their opinions split, one of the higher-leveled zenoen swallowed back its frustration. Now that the ritual site was destroyed, as they’d feared, the ritual had come to a massive halt. It reassured them, “Don’t lose your heads. Everything’s ready.”

“What?”

“The ritual failed. Even so... it wasn’t a total failure.”

It opened its hand, and multicolored energy began to swirl above its palm.

“There are still powers left behind by our long extinct kin. As long as we catch those two rats, everything can still be salvaged.”

Following the zenoen Tronte’s statement, the others gulped.

“So we just need to catch them?” one of them cautiously asked.

“That’s right. There’s still a chance.”

“But how? How the hell are we supposed to catch those two when they’re moving that fast?!”

Catching the two seemed impossible.

In response, Tronte let out a chilling laugh. “They’ve already activated my trap card.”

As it spoke, an enormous pink-hued barrier began to spread across the forest in the distance, covering it like a dome.

“Let’s go hunt.”

* * *

“AAARGH!!!” Evangeline screamed as unbearable pain tore through her body. The agony was a consequence of pushing herself far beyond normal to protect Abel. She was left barely functional.

On top of that, another problem arose. A massive barrier suddenly appeared before them, blocking their path.

Even Abel recognized it instantly. “The power of time... It’s that damned demon’s power!”

Time itself had been distorted, preventing them from moving forward. Normally, he would’ve been able to interfere with it, but the goddess had reclaimed his control over time as part of the world’s law.

He no longer had any means to manipulate it.

“Haah. Finally caught the little rats.”

Ten zenoen emerged, their leader sneering as Abel stood with his back to the wall, shielding Evangeline.

As he suspected, the ones they’d seen initially weren’t the enemy’s full force.

“What now? Still thinking about running?”

Fighting wasn’t an option. Abel had avoided injury thanks to Evangeline, but her overexertion had left her unable to fight. There was no way he could handle all of them on his own. Unlike the first six, the additional four radiated pressure so intense it made him sweat.

“The power of time? But that one’s dead...” he muttered.

One of the zenoen smirked at his muttering. “Replication. Sorry, but I can copy my kin’s powers. I duplicated Parthenon’s power long ago.”

Abel froze. He knew exactly how absurd it was to replicate someone’s power without limitation.

“And I can do this, too.” As the zenoen gestured, his head rang. His vision, hearing, smell, and touch twisted all at once.

“Urgh!”

“Interesting, isn’t it? That’s the power of Parthenon’s friend.”

Illusion powers!

With all five senses collapsing, Abel desperately drew on his mana to resist. However, he was barely managing to even stay conscious.

“In the end, even your pathetic escape isn’t possible without getting my permission first.” Tronte stepped forward and pressed his foot down on Abel’s chest, pinning him against the wall.

“Grrrk!!” Abel gasped for air.

“Our rage burns hotter than kalpa fire, and our sorrow runs colder than glacial frost. I have no personal grudge against you in particular, but don’t expect mercy from the creation of the goddess.”

Blood spilled from Abel’s lips.

Pressed under the weight that was about to crush him, he looked toward Evangeline’s anguished face. His preparations had been lacking. If he’d known it’d come to this, he should’ve accounted for greater variables and devised a different plan.

However, it was already too late for regrets.

Grinding his teeth, Abel glared up at Tronte. He reached behind his back with a trembling hand, and his palm brushed against the distorted wall of time.

His thoughts were short and clear.

‘Yeah. These bastards are already dead in my timeline. The terrible future I lived through won’t happen now, but if Evangeline gets seriously hurt here...’

Then anything could change.

He’d risked his life coming there in the first place.

Abel began interfering with the time barrier, the very force he’d once known so well. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

“What—?!”

He would accomplish what was necessary, even if it cost him his life.

As he forcibly interfered with the time barrier, his mana and body screamed in agony. The only reason he was able to hold on was because he had once wielded the authority of time itself.

He couldn’t interfere much, but if the barrier encased the area, then twisting the local time within it would buy them a few precious seconds.

With his life on the line, Abel controlled the flow of time to protect Evangeline. His body began tearing apart, shoots of blood splattering the ground.

“Stop him!!” Tronte shouted furiously, but Abel didn’t stop. The localized time warped, and the entire area became completely sealed off from the outside world.

A difference of only a few hours outside, while less than a second passed inside.

Realizing that Abel had interfered with time itself, Tronte howled in rage and began kicking and striking him without restraint. “You piece of shit!!”

“Ghhk!! Ghhhaak!!”

Evangeline screamed as she reached toward him, but the other zenoen forced her down, pinning her to the ground.

“Ghhk!! Ghhhaak!!”

The agonized screams continued for a long while. Even through through the torment, he still smiled bitterly.

They thought he had simply trapped them in a localized time distortion. However, the truth was something entirely different.

“Alright. If you want to die, I’ll let—” Just as Tronte raised his clawed hand to drive it through Abel’s heart, columns of multicolored light cascaded down from the sky, piercing across the continent.

Vast waves of divine power and vitality began flooding the earth.

“Hey. Zenoen asshole.”

“...”

“Do you know what I did when I twisted time?”

None of the others understood what Abel had done. It was, in the literal sense, a distortion.

“I warped the time difference between this place and the outside world. One second here equals several hours out there. You get what that means, right?”

“W-What?”

As he spoke, the zenoen surrounding Tronte began to scream in agony, their bodies convulsing and twisting. Their forms began mutating in the same demonic transformation that had once consumed Parthenon.

“Gaaah!! This can’t be happening!!”

“No... no! My body!!”

As they shrieked, Tronte, the only one not yet transformed, lunged to kill Abel in desperation. Instead, his arm was suddenly seized mid-swing.

“Causing quite a mess, aren’t you?”

Crack!!

A hideous sound split the air as his arm was snapped.

He stumbled back, eyes wide, only to see the figure who had appeared. It was a young man with black hair and crimson eyes.

“Had your fun? Time to settle the karma.” Davey O’Rowane had finally arrived. He was now able to interfere again due to their demonic transformation. “This is gonna cost you dearly.”