The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 958

In front of the temple where the dragon lord slumbered lay a lush garden of flowers, which was quite uncharacteristic of a red dragon’s usual preferences.

Each flower was a rare specimen—the kind that required exceptional care just to bloom and keep from dying.

At the center of the flower bed laid a man sprawled out, unconscious. His name was Kais, a gold dragon elder and the older brother of Kaina, a gold dragon who had been captured by Taurus during an assault on a tribal orc village.

Despite his young age, Kais was one of the most prominent elders of the fallen ones.

“Ugh... Where... am I...?” he groaned as he slowly rose to his feet, clutching his throbbing head.

He had no clue how he had ended up in this place, trying to piece his memories together, but nothing came to him.

But he did remember one thing.

“A human! A human, in this place?!” he exclaimed, his voice filled with shock.

Kais attempted to leap to his feet, but his body didn’t follow through. He collapsed back to the ground.

“Ugh... Damn it...” he muttered under his breath, forcing himself to rise once again.

He couldn’t believe there was a human in the Dragon’s Nest. As he pondered the unthinkable, he couldn’t fathom who had knocked him unconscious.

“This... This isn’t the time for this. I need to report back immediately and inform everyone about the human.”

Kais stumbled toward where he sensed his kin’s presence. He then furrowed his brows.

“That human is incredibly lucky. I would’ve erased him on the spot, if only I hadn’t passed out...”

Despite his indignation, Kais didn’t even bother considering the possibility that the human had been the one to knock him out. He assumed some external factor had caused him to lose consciousness before he could take action on the human.

“This is Kais. Can anyone hear me?”

Activating a communication artifact, Kais directed his message toward the full-fledged dragons who were likely awaiting orders.

“I’ve found a human in this area. Capture the human immediately upon sight. This will be a good chance to corner those cowardly moderates.”

[Elder Kais? What do you mean by that...?]

“Don’t question me. Just follow my orders. Do you understand?”

[Y-Yes, sir... But what if the human resists?]

“What do you mean? It’s just a human. Crush them like you would a fly. But don’t erase all traces—if you turn him to dust, we won’t have any leverage to pressure the moderates.”

[Understood, Elder Kais.]

Kais remained oblivious to the fact that the human, Davey O’Rowane, had incapacitated him at a speed he couldn’t even dream of ever matching.

* * *

A human in the Dragon’s Nest.

The moderate faction dragons were taken aback, and the reformist faction was no different. Their collective astonishment was almost palpable as all eyes turned toward Davey.

"They may not know much else, but they sure are quick to sniff out whether someone’s one of their own or not,” muttered Davey.

It seemed no one had heard his remark. The dragons from the reformist faction approached him while shouting.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here? Bringing a human into this place?! Have the moderates finally lost their minds?"

"This is..."

Elder Opal and Elder Kaiser gritted their teeth in frustration. It was only natural as they too were still struggling to make sense of his existence.

The moderates were known for their strict adherence to rules, so it was only natural that they’d opposed the idea of bringing a human into the Dragon’s Nest. As they hesitated, Davey couldn’t help but notice them.

And so, he decided to stir the pot.

Crunch, crunch.

He casually stuffed more of the banquet food into his mouth. "This is pretty good. What’s the point of a feast if no one’s eating?"

A tense, eerie silence followed.

Of course, no one had gathered there simply to enjoy the food.

The two dragon factions had come together under a temporary truce for a ritual dedicated to the Primordial Dragon. Despite the truce, the reality was that the moderates and reformists were still at war. It was only natural for them to grind their teeth at each other, ready to fight at any given moment. They were one spark away from igniting into outright conflict.

"How dare... How dare a mere human..."

One of the dragons, the one who had previously clashed with Sapphire, began to release his aura. He let out a dragon’s distinct Fear and advanced toward Davey.

Towering over him, the dragon glared down and sneered. "The moderates have lost their minds, bringing a human here. And they dared to lecture us about tradition? Pieces of shit.”

"Watch your mouth! You have no right to judge us by your twisted standards!" Sapphire shouted.

The dragon laughed sardonically. "And what makes you think you can say that, Sapphire? If you don’t want to die, stay out of this.”

His cold words hung in the air as he shifted his focus back to Davey. "Not just one human, but two. And one of them isn’t even human or dragon—just a half-machine monstrosity."

Rinne, expressionless as ever, calmly picked at her ear with a finger as the dragon called her out. "Weak lizard. Rinne analyzes your intelligence level as extremely low.”

"What did you just say?"

The chilly atmosphere grew even colder.

"Stand down. That human is here as my guest," Elder Marin spoke up with authority.

"Guest or not, this is a sanctuary reserved for dragons. Even if we’re on different sides, I’ve always respected you, Elder Marin. But it seems you’ve gone senile."

"Silence, whelp!"

His anger manifested to apply crushing pressure on the rebellious dragon.

Davey had frozen the mana for a brief moment, but now, they had no limitations in wielding it again. None of them seemed to realize that their temporary inability had been caused by the power of a single individual.

“How pitiful. I can’t believe the cowardly moderates have turned to such measures. I’ll have no choice but to report this to our monarch,” one of the reformist dragons sneered.

“Do whatever you want. I have no interest in justifying anything to the likes of you,” Elder Marin retorted coldly.

With his answer, the peace feast seemed all but forgotten, as both sides appeared ready to clash at any moment.

“Stand down. If you come any closer, I won’t hold back,” Sapphire warned sharply.

He and Rudel stepped forward, placing themselves between Davey, Evangeline, and the advancing reformist dragons.

“Whatever we decide to do, we don’t need your permission before we act,” one of the fallen ones snapped.

“True. You don’t need permission; after all, although we share the same blood, we’re still enemies.”

Then, one of the reformist dragons strode forward and grabbed Davey by the collar. At the same time, mana surged from his entire body, pressing down on Davey with overwhelming force.

“But I will not tolerate a non-dragon setting foot in the Dragon’s Nest,” Felius snarled.

“If you wish to harm him, you’ll have to go through me first,” Sapphire declared icily.

The reformist dragons glared at him as the atmosphere grew even colder.

“Step back, Felius.”

“Try to stop me if you can.”

Boom!

With that, Felius and Sapphire clashed with their auras. The two dragons stared each other down, and it was clear that no amount of reasoning would be enough to stop them now.

Even though Davey had previously frozen the mana to prevent them from fighting in front of Evangeline, it seemed their pride wouldn’t allow them to back down.

“Fine,” Sapphire hissed. “If you want to fight, then come at me.”

“Hmph!” Felius scoffed.

“Unleashing your full power just to kill a human? You should be ashamed,” Sapphire mocked, hoping things wouldn’t escalate any further.

But his provocation only seemed to aggravate Felius further. “If you’re so eager to die before him, I don’t mind. The order doesn’t matter to me.”

Felius narrowed his eyes as he prepared to launch his next move.

Davey remembered hearing that the dragon race was notoriously combative.

Especially between the blue and red clans.

* * *

It seemed no one had anticipated the unfolding chaos.

As two full-fledged dragons from each side prepared to fight, the onlookers took on all sorts of faces.

On the moderate side, the dragons wore anxious, conflicted faces. Meanwhile, the reformists—most of whom were confident Felius would rip Sapphire apart—watched with a mix of amusement and scorn.

And they weren’t entirely wrong to assume so.

The amount of raw mana and the size of one's mana circle weren’t absolute indicators of combat prowess, but they couldn’t be overlooked either.

“Evangeline, who do you think will win?”

“Um... I’m not sure... They both seem really strong.”

Despite having a powerful lineage, the two were leagues beyond her current understanding. Davey wasn’t surprised by her answer.

Boom!

The two finally began their fight.

Though neither of them manifested their true forms, the power they displayed in their polymorphed forms—wielding weapons and unleashing barrages of magic—was formidable. Even in human form, they were still strong dragons at heart, far beyond what most high-ranking mages could ever hope to match.

Crash! Crash!

Sapphire unleashed waves of brilliant blue flames relentlessly on Felius, demonstrating a might worthy of his dragon lineage. His magic was on a completely different level from that of ordinary humans, pressing Felius with overwhelming force.

Yet, despite the barrage of powerful spells, Felius calmly deflected each attack while putting on a chilling smile.

“Rinne, who do you want to bet on?”

“Rinne determines to bet on the lizard named Felius.”

“Hey human!!”

Their blunt conversation drew immediate attention. A nearby female dragon approached Davey with her vertically slit pupils locked on him.

“It’s your fault that this whole situation has become a mess! What do you intend to do about it?” she demanded.

But Davey just shrugged nonchalantly. “What’s there to do? They’ll figure it out.”

Boom! Crash!

As the two continued to fight, Rudel approached quietly.

“Enough. He’s here as a guest of Elder Marin. Don’t put him in a more difficult spot than he already is.”

“What? Do you even understand what’s at stake? We’re already at a disadvantage, and now they’ll have the justification they need to strike us!”

“When have they ever cared about justification? Don’t worry, Elder Marin knows what he’s doing.”

A massive explosion reverberated through the area as the battle intensified.

Both dragons unleashed powerful spells toward each other. Despite the ferocity of their attacks, they carefully controlled the scope of their magic to avoid damage from spreading to the surroundings.

There was no doubt that both Sapphire and Felius were formidable dragons.

However...

“Urgh...!” Sapphire cried, letting out a pained gasp.

“Hahahaha! Did you really think I’d stay the same as the last time we fought? You’re no match for me now, Sapphire—I’ve been blessed by our monarch’s favor. How do you intend to overcome that?”

Unfortunately, Davey and Rinne had been correct. Though their power seemed evenly matched at first glance, Felius had been concealing an ace up his sleeve—something that tipped the balance entirely in his favor.

“No!”

“Sapphire...!”

The moderate dragons gasped in shock and horror. They had never anticipated that Sapphire would fall so easily.

"Keke... Hehehe. Pathetic. The weak should know their place and stay in the shadows. Those without strength have no right to speak!"

Thwack! Thud!

"Ugh... Gaaa..."

Sapphire, already on the ground, groaned in pain as Felius mercilessly kicked him repeatedly. Though he tried to resist, it was clear the overwhelming gap in their abilities left him unable to put up any meaningful resistance.

Then, as if Felius was done crushing Sapphire beneath his feet, he turned his attention to Davey. Extending his hand, he curled his finger.

“Well, I’ve won, haven’t I? That means I get to decide what happens to this human, right?”

Dragons fought by staking their own powers for superiority. Whether they were from the moderate faction or the reformist faction, they followed the traditions of their kind—leaving them no longer in a position to protect Davey.

“Your Highness, there’s no need to get involved in this meaningless fight. Let me escort you out,” Rudel suggested, stepping forward.

“No need,” Davey replied calmly, waving away the offer as he rose from his seat.

Amusingly enough, none of the moderate dragons moved to intervene. It was clear that most of the moderates didn’t like the idea of a human in their sacred domain either. It seemed they had decided that sacrificing their lives to protect Davey was meaningless.

“Stop this, Felius.”

“Huh? What’s that, you beaten bastard?” Felius sneered and kicked Sapphire again. Despite the pain, he gritted his teeth and clung to his leg.

“I can’t let this escalate any further... I’m not done yet.”

“Shut your mouth, loser. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself as a dragon?”

Davey let out a quiet sigh, shaking his head. “Rinne, go deal with him. Get rid of that thing.”

At his command, Rinne stood up and made her way to where Felius and Sapphire were.

“Hm? What’s this tiny-ass golem supposed to be? A guardian or something?”

“Think whatever you want, lizard.”

“What did you just call me?! You damned human!” Felius rebuked in fury, his entire body trembling with rage. But his anger quickly subsided into a chilling smirk.

“Hah. I get it. The human is so weak so it had to send a golem instead. That’s all a human can manage. But none of this matters—I beat Sapphire, and now your life is mine to take. Whatever this golem tries to do, it won’t change a thing.”

With that, he approached Rinne while grinning.

“Still, this little thing is amusing. A golem, but almost like a living being... I’ll kill you first, human, and take this one for myself as a prize.”

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Completely dismissing Rinne as a threat, Felius reached out toward her without a hint of caution.

But that overconfidence would prove to be his downfall.

Ssss.

Rinne fixed her gaze on Felius and materialized a golden spear in her hand. With a single fluid motion, she thrust it straight toward his forehead.

She had attacked in an instant. However, her spear didn’t reach him.

In the blink of an eye, Elder Marin appeared between them, intercepting her spear and blocking Felius from attacking further. He released a heavy Fear and forcefully ended their conflict.

His actions seemed resolute.

“He is my guest. Under the Elder Exception, this human is now an equal guest to the dragon race. If any harm comes to him, the truce will be nullified.”

Her declaration left the area in stunned silence.

As Elder Marin glared at the fallen elders, they leered back and eventually snorted in derision. “Elder Marin, you’ve gone senile! Fine. The Elder Exception, is it? We’ll honor that for now, considering the truce. Felius, that’s enough. We didn’t come here to fight today.”

Despite the elder’s command, Felius continued to glare at Rinne. A moment later, Davey raised his hand toward her.

“Come back, Rinne.”

Rinne turned away from Felius and walked back to Davey, as if nothing had happened.

Ignoring the heated stares from the dragons around them, Davey calmly left with Rinne and Evangeline.

The dragons could settle their internal squabbles however they pleased—it wasn’t his problem.

Still, Davey muttered to himself as they walked away.

“They really should’ve known when to stop.”

* * *

Once Davey’s group left, the reformist dragons also departed since there was no more entertainment for them.

The fact that Elder Marin had invoked the once-in-a-lifetime Elder Exception to declare a human as an equal guest left everyone reeling. Even if the reformists considered the act ludicrous, attacking a guest recognized as equal to a dragon would break the truce—something they couldn’t afford.

Of course, no dragon truly acknowledged Davey as an equal guest.

But all in all, the fallen ones had retreated.

The moderate dragons, on the other hand, were baffled. They couldn’t understand why Elder Marin had made such a drastic decision to bring a human to their sacred domain.

Among the moderates, the most visibly unsettled were Elder Opal and Elder Kaiser.

"Have you finally lost your mind?” Opal muttered.

“Sigh... I don’t know what to say to you, but the rules are the rules. I will respect your decision and leave for the time being. However, I suggest you don’t let him stay long. Send him away as soon as possible."

With that, Elder Opal left. Elder Kaiser followed shortly afterward.

As the tension eased, the remaining moderate dragons, still uneasy but less agitated, gradually dispersed.

Now, only the stiffened Sapphire and Felius, along with Elder Marin and a handful of other dragons, remained.

"What’s wrong with him?" one of the remaining dragons murmured, glancing at Felius.

Even though the human was long gone, Felius stood frozen, utterly silent. His usual arrogance as a red dragon, renowned for his pride, seemed to have disappeared. Instead, his face was pale, beads of sweat running down his hardened face.

The other dragons were baffled at the sight.

“Hey. The rest of your group left already. Stop making a scene and get out of here,” one dragon said, stepping forward to prod his shoulder.

Thud.

To everyone’s shock, Felius collapsed onto the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"What the—?"

The dragons exchanged bewildered glances. His behavior was inexplicable.

“No... No, it can’t be...”

Felius muttered for a while, trembling in fear.