The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1312

Professor Bachtobel proudly shouted, “Well done! That was a truly dazzling performance—one I won’t have again in my lifetime.”

The words sounded unusually gentle and unexpected, given that he was notorious for being a cello master who never held back harsh criticism toward his students.

“Thank you for your hard work, Professor,” Super Ribbon said.

“Haha. Hard work? It felt like I returned to my passionate youth, quite refreshing. While you’re talented, lass, the Saint of Tionis and that person, Mute, were truly astonishing. What a final performance. I didn't ever get that feeling during practice.”

'Yes, you’re not wrong, Professor. Astonishing indeed... I can't believe she deceived my father like that.'

Davey hadn’t been the only one who noticed the emotion woven into Mute's performance. Super Ribbon had also felt a powerful premonition that Mute, her beloved teacher, would disappear after the performance.

Mute had a level of mastery that went beyond simply imbuing emotion into her performance. She could even communicate through it. It was a method of resonating with the soul, not just a matter of infusing mana. It made the experience of hearing the same music completely different depending on the performer.

Even Davey himself had no way of knowing the particulars of how she accomplished such a feat.

“My apologies, I've kept you too long,” Professor Bachtobel chuckled. “You must be tired, so go get some good rest. I'll head back to my room first.”

“Father said he's going to open a warp portal for each of us to go back home,” she informed him.

“Haha, well, all I'd return to is an empty house, so why rush back? Besides, can't you tell from everyone being holed up in their rooms? That final performance gave us some kind of new spark in our hearts. Everyone probably threw everything aside and shut themselves away to figure out what that spark really was.”

Unfortunately, Super Ribbon had a hard time understanding what Professor Bachtobel was trying to say.

Professor Bachtobel, who chuckled and shook hands with her, laughed heartily as he looked at Juliana and Si-Hyun sipping wine in the hallway nearby. “Besides, it's funny for an old man to be tactless and intrude when youngsters should be enjoying their moment.”

She disagreed. “Tactless? I don’t think that way.”

“It's fine, it's fine. Getting this old really wears a person out.” He nodded with satisfaction and returned to his room.

The place they were staying was a rather famous hotel in Korea. They hadn’t originally planned to take things this far, yet to their surprise, the hotel had been completely booked by someone, just for the people of the orchestra to enjoy.

Super Ribbon figured even a single night's stay in one of the most modest of rooms must cost a fortune. There was no need to wonder who sponsored such an extravagance. It had to be none other than Al Hajat, who also happened to be sipping wine with Davey in the distance.

Having been absorbed in her music and oblivious, she later heard he’d attended every performance, listening to her songs from first row seats. She was also told that when she sang an upbeat song in the middle, he cheered so loudly with glow sticks in both hands that everyone in his entourage was taken aback.

However, to be fair, nothing Al Hajat ever did with his money was ordinary. He was the same person who’d purchased and given someone an entire amusement park just as a present.

'The reason Father likes him wouldn’t be for something shallow like that, though.'

Super Ribbon found the way Al Hajat acted to be strongly devoid of any pretense. There was no one in the world without greed, and if that greed leaned toward a good direction, she figured there’d be nothing bad about it.

Strolling leisurely with her hands behind her back, traveling across the hotel’s sky bridge that offered a clear view of the surrounding scenery, she gasped in admiration. There were many pretty buildings on Earth, no doubt. Even so, the one she found herself staying in still felt exceptionally beautiful, perhaps because it was a luxury hotel.

“Eva would love this place... huh?” To her surprise, she suddenly saw Mute sitting atop a sculpture on an outside building, visible from the transparent hallway that overlooked the sky and the city.

She was sure Mute had been down below just a moment before. Noticing a subtle emotion in her indifferent expression, she almost tapped the sturdy glass, but stopped herself.

As Mute sat still and raised her fingertips, strange phenomena unfolded above her hand. Unlike magic or other abilities, she possessed a peculiar ability to change the world's phenomena through songs she created with her gestures, voice, and other elements.

Super Ribbon silently watched Mute for a long while. Then, she suddenly had a thought.

‘Was her performance merely acting, like she said? Or did she actually change her mind about disappearing afterwards?’

However, Super Ribbon shook off those complex thoughts and moved on. It was her chance to enjoy a brilliant night after the final performance ended successfully.

* * *

Super Ribbon had no idea how much influence she actually held in popular media. That’s why her oblivious self went to school as planned, despite it being less than two days after the performance.

While Super Ribbon left for school, having put everything down to return to her normal life, Evangeline started her stream unusually early.

“Hi everyone! Today's stream started a little early.” As expected, countless people tuned in within ten minutes of her starting the stream. “Everyone, do you know why I started the stream early today?”

[Uhhh...]

[How would we know that?]

Looking at the classic rowdy and chaotic chat, she grinned. “Super Ribbon left for school less than thirty minutes ago, you know?”

[??]

[Why does that matter?]

“I bet she'll be back in less than thirty minutes.” She chuckled, exaggerating her prediction, “She’ll rush in, completely pale, calling my name.”

She was sure of it! Most of the viewers who heard her explanation agreed.

[Wait, she went to school like usual during all this?]

[Can she handle that?]

[Didn't her popularity skyrocket?]

[Holy moly, but the number of her fan clubs overseas has already reached an astonishing level! Is she not scared?]

The sound of someone running echoed throughout the hallway. “E-Eva!!!”

Super Ribbon rushed in with a pale face, trembling.

Evangeline almost burst out laughing at the sight, but summoned superhuman patience to hold it in. “Ahem! Y-yes, Super Ribbon? What's going on? What made your face so pale?

“Well... I went to school...” Super Ribbon murmured.

Evangeline gave a victorious smirk. “Did they mob you as soon as you got there?”

“Huh?”

“Were there people asking for autographs and photos?”

“Huh? H-how did you know?”

“AHAHAHA!!!” Evangeline burst into laughter, finally confirming her prediction. She clutched her stomach and rolled around.

Super Ribbon was indignant. “W-why are you laughing?!”

“See, chat? I told you that would happen, didn't I?”

Super Ribbon wasn’t an idiot, but she had failed to recognize the extent of her influence.

The reason Super Ribbon was mistaken was simple—she was already a famous figure before. The title Saint of Tionis exerted such a massive influence that everyone on Earth was aware of it. Everyone also knew that she was his daughter.

Despite this, her life had not been particularly affected, which led her to think otherwise. Thus, she assumed things would continue relatively normally.

[Why wouldn't she know that? KEKW]

[She'd have crowds of people recognizing her right now even on the streets, not just school lmao]

“D-don't laugh! I'm being serious right now!” Super Ribbon shouted while blushing.

It was true that the experience of countless people gathering around you during daily life was not something one could easily get used to.

The problem lay elsewhere.

“Even people who aren't students,” she muttered with a pale face, trembling all over as she recalled the scene.

Her thinking had been reasonable, she was sure of it! She was already famous. Her presence had been known to other students even before she entered college.

Even so, her school life hadn't been greatly affected, apart from drawing a lot of attention in the beginning. She had grown a bit complacent, as a result.

However, this time was different from before.

“It was so... what should I call it...” In the end, Super Ribbon, overwhelmed by the shocking atmosphere and situation at school, ran away as soon as her class ended.

“Hey, Eva... My next class is in two hours, okay? Let me stay here for just two hours. I honestly don't think I can handle that wave of people...”

“Pffft!” Evangeline snickered. “Do you know why it's different now than before?”

“Huh?” Super Ribbon, huddled in the corner of the room, raised her head to look at Evangeline. The sight of her slightly curled up, looking up with a pale face full of confusion, looked surprisingly cute.

The chat obviously heated up at that, but Super Ribbon couldn’t have cared less.

“Everyone knows you're famous, but you’ve changed now. Your situation is different. You know that, right?”

“I’ve changed? My situation is different?”

“Yeah, duh! When you first enrolled, you were what Earth considers ordinary, not too different from others, right? If they had acted then like they are now, Dad would’ve snapped all their necks in a heartbeat.”

Evangeline made a gesture of snapping something in the air and clicked her tongue.

“But why now...” Super Ribbon still didn’t understand.

“It's partly because you've simply become more famous. You also recently sang a song that made you especially appealing.”

“Yeah.”

“You've become a public figure. Now, people have a legitimate reason to swarm you and ask for autographs, photos, you name it.”

There might be people who simply became her fans this time, but there were bound to be many others approaching her for different reasons.

“Also, you seem to be completely forgetting your current position. Do you see this right now?” Evangeline asked as she typed away. She brought up the hot music charts in the US.

“See here? First, second, fourth, seventh, and eighth place.”

Super Ribbon was speechless.

“These rankings keep changing all the time, then last night, your songs took all the spots from first to seventh.”

“Ah...”

“Do you get it now?”

The existence of Super Ribbon meant something special to the people of Earth.

“You might’ve thought it didn't matter just because you could perform with Dad, but now you've become the only one people have a legitimate reason to approach and talk to. Finally, you’re someone who isn't scary like Dad.”

Super Ribbon usually had a gentle-looking smile, making her seem approachable, unlike Davey. He looked difficult to approach even when he was smiling. The kind way she presented herself made people naturally think of talking or asking for an autograph.

“You certainly look easier to talk to. Of course, those people aren't in the wrong for doing it. If a star appears right in front of you, you’d want an autograph as well. This is your own fault for forgetting your social status.”

“You... you know a lot more than I thought.” She wondered how Evangeline learned all that, given how little time she'd spent on Earth.

Super Ribbon, both surprised and proud, complimented her, and Evangeline smiled softly. “I guess so. I feel like I've learned so much since I started streaming here.”

Her learning speed was truly astonishing.

“So, what do I do now?” Super Ribbon was desperate for a solution.

“What do you mean? It's not like you're going to do any additional activities anyway, right?”

“Probably not.”

Hearing the firmness in her answer, the chat stirred.

[No way! Seriously, no more performances?!]

[Really?!]

[She’s on a totally different level, sweeping the Billaboard charts and then coolly walking away...]

[But fr tho, no more?]

It was clear that many among them weren’t Evangeline's usual viewers.

“No wonder there were a lot more people than usual...” Evangeline squinted and shrugged. “I'm sorry to say this to those people, but this reminds me of something Dad told me. It fits perfectly for times like this.”

“What is it?”

“He told me that ‘time heals all wounds.’ You might not know it yet, but it’ll go away after a while.”

“Then how about class until then?”

“What can you do? You brought this on yourself.” She chuckled, teasing Super Ribbon. “I mean, are you truly a dumdum? Why wouldn't you know that? AHAHAHA!!”

She giggled and tapped the desk repeatedly. “Get a load of this, everyone! She’s usually sharp, but she's completely clueless about things like this. I wonder if she'll get scammed later.”

Evangeline flinched after saying that. “Abel, you were right...”

Evangeline had talked a lot with her youngest sibling, Abel, who had come from the future. When he talked about Super Ribbon, he’d emphasized the fact that she was like a child you couldn’t take your eyes off of.

- Whenever something happened to Super Ribbon, the ones who’d lose their minds first were you and Darian, actually. Didn't you know? Super Ribbon is... how should I put it... clueless about everything outside the norm.

Darian's affection for Super Ribbon was a bit excessive, to the extent that he once tore the sky open over a kingdom on the Eastern Continent for several days, creating an aurora because of her.

Thinking of that scene made Evangeline laugh even harder. In the end, as she roared with laughter, the viewers joined in, starting to tease Super Ribbon.

Like streamer, like viewers.

Super Ribbon felt something snap inside as she looked at the teasing chat on one side and her sister clutching her stomach on the other, roaring with laughter. “S-stop it...”

“AHAHAHAHA!!”

“Eva, stop...” she muttered.

“Kyahaha!! You're such an idiot.” Her continuous teasing and laughing were incredibly annoying.

Super Ribbon finally lost it and lowered her head. After a moment of silence, she swayed and slowly stood up. At the same time, an unusual current of power flowed around her.

Super Ribbon was the greatest twin sword, on par with Divine Swords. Upon resonating with her wielder, her power even exceeded that of the Divine Sword Caldeiras.

Yet, her personal combat strength was known to be negligible.

“S-Super Ribbon?”

However...

Swoosh.

They say the person who rarely becomes angry is always the scariest when they finally do.

Super Ribbon slowly raised one hand to her face with her head bowed. Before anyone noticed, she’d grasped a pure white mask in her hand.

“What is that? Why are you holding a dokkaebi mask? Huh? Huh?” Evangeline jumped up, startled.

However, Super Ribbon had already put on the very eerie-looking dokkaebi mask, as if to hide her expression.

Evangeline knew well it wasn't just to hide her expression.

Super Ribbon was a sword that could inflict a fatal wound even on a god. Evangeline was no exception.

The mask she wore was one she frequently put on when she synchronized with Davey as he used the Ghostly Sword. It was a mask with a design slightly different from the old masks commonly seen on Earth, one that felt more artistic than just unsettling.

The mask itself possessed the power to amplify and derive her strength, so it wasn't merely an aesthetic prop.

Her wearing the mask meant that...

“S-Super Ribbon, wait!!”

A sword made of blue and crimson qi formed in her hand.

Super Ribbon, who had almost no combat strength, reached her breaking point after Evangline and her viewers provoked her. To everyone’s surprise, she momentarily broke through her potential limits.