The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 726

It was only natural for one’s fist to hurt more when punching with something in their hand. Without hesitation, Davey began assaulting the figures using the cross in his hand.

“G-get—Aaaah!!”

Wham!!

His extremely fast punch crushed another figure’s head, leaving not a trace of it. The battlefield was engulfed in chaos before he knew it. Although the Rho Aias barrier magic that they had used to subdue him was impressive, it was meaningless if they couldn’t properly maintain it.

Davey quickly knocked out another figure. Like a flash of light, he then flew toward the others and started beating them to death one by one.

Pow!! Bang!!

“A-aaahh!! Don’t come any closer, you monster!”

Bang!

Davey hit the man trying to cast black magic in the chin, making his head disappear before he could even chant.

The headless body fell helplessly and disappeared. Only fifteen men remained.

“Next patient.”

Davey’s glare made them flinch and retreat. One of the people who made eye contact with him instinctively knew that he was next.

The trick up their sleeve was Rho Aias’s artifact. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t work on him.

“What?! How did that magic not work?!”

“I know that magic better than you, you idiots.”

Bang!!

With the cross on his palm, he swung his hand upward, slapping his target from below. The man’s head was blown away.

“Our attack has failed! Follow our plans for retreat!”

“Run! Ruuuun!”

They spread out in all directions, making it clear that they had a retreat plan prepared should things go south. However, if Davey had planned to let them run away, he wouldn’t have beaten them to death with his own hands.

Watching them run, he raised one foot. He then muttered, “Gnoass, I request the Colosseum.”

[Complying with the contractor’s request.]

Rumble, rumble!!!

The ground cracked and twisted. A wall rose from within it, blocking the enemies’ escape route.

“Huh? Our escape route…”

Trembling in fear, they looked back at Davey. He blew up the head of the first one to make eye contact with him.

Hiss…!!!

Right after, he arranged atmospheric mana to create a thick fog.

“Let’s see who’s next.”

‘Ready or not, here I come!’ Davey thought.

Bang!

Bang!!

Bang!!!

“Save me! Help—”

Bang!

The sound of heads exploding echoed through the mountains. By the time Davey had wiped the blood from his hands and cleared the fog, not a single enemy was left in the inescapable Colosseum.

“One of them ran away. Hmm… I’ll catch him later,” Davey said calmly.

He removed the walls surrounding them and passed by Hyun-Ah, who was sitting blankly. He then stretched out his hand to Kouna, who was lying on the floor clutching her stomach and coughing up blood.

“Take your hand off,” Davey said.

“Argh…”

“Off,” he repeated calmly.

When she followed his instruction, Davey placed his hand on her wound. Light flowed to the affected area, slowly healing it.

"I can’t replenish the blood you’ve already spilled. Just get more iron in you once you get back.”

"... It's not over yet."

"Your prophecies are none of my business. I'll handle things my way.”

He lightly flicked her on the forehead with his finger and headed toward his uncle—the monster that was in the gravest danger.

Davey had cut him in half using Red Ribbon, yet he was still alive. Even though turning into a monster had destroyed his ego, he still tried to protect Hyun-Ah. However, he wasn't moving properly now, almost as if he had lost too much strength fighting off the hooded figures.

"Can you… save my uncle for me?” Hyun-Ah asked, her voice trembling.

Davey remained silent as he thought about her question. He knew there was virtually no way to save him. The mutation had obliterated his uncle’s ego, and he had already physically changed so much that nothing could be done to bring him back to normal.

Davey figured that not even his ability as a demigod or his divine power would have much effect on him at the moment. All he could do was incinerate him using divine inflammation and cut off his immortality with Blue Ribbon.

"Wait… there is a way."

Davey suddenly remembered the elixir that he had obtained from the random box. He figured that bringing his uncle back would be more than possible with it, considering it could revive even the dead. However, this was the exact reason why he was worried about using it.

The real purpose of an elixir was to awaken the Absolute Gem, which in turn would allow him to deal with the Abyss. That would leave Davey with only two things left to take care of: the damn Malicious Spirits and the Illuminati, who wreaked havoc in another dimension. However, he couldn’t preserve the monster forever.

On the other hand, even if he did use the elixir on the monster, the possibility of his mind being intact afterward was extremely low.

"Hey..." Hyun-Ah softly called amid his silence.

"I advise against it," Kouna said in an attempt to dissuade Davey. She didn't know exactly what he had in mind, but she believed her intuition was right.

While pondering, Davey met the monster’s gaze, whose eyes seemed to be begging him to end his suffering.

Soon, Davey reached a decision.

"I did this for myself anyway, not to keep promises.”

‘This won’t change anything,’ Davey reminded himself.

Pop!!

He had been saving the elixir—which could turn an ordinary human into a master-level powerhouse—to accelerate the Absolute Gem’s awakening. Still, although he knew it was foolish, he poured every drop of it on the monster without hesitation. Although using it all up guaranteed significant results, he had no idea if they would be good or bad.

Hiss… Sizzle!!!

The monster soon began to change.

- Grr—gaaaaah!!!

Upon absorbing the elixir, the monster writhed in pain. Pus oozed out of him as his terrifying tentacles twisted and burst repeatedly. The cruel sight shocked Hyun-Ah.

"What have you done?!"

"Stay away. Just wait.”

Keeping his eyes on the suffering monster, Davey soon realized that this wasn’t something he should’ve contemplated in the first place. After about five minutes, his terrible screams subsided, and he began to change. Anticipation filled the air.

Crack…

The monster’s hard skin began to distort.

The elixir, which was known to revive the dead, was returning its subject to his original soul state.

His screams grew more irregular, and more cracks slithered across his hard skin. A thick-bearded Asian in an old suit then jumped out of it and fell to the ground. He looked quite tired.

Seeing the man almost made Davey reflexively shout, “You haven’t changed at all.”

"Uncle!!" Hyun-Ah shouted in surprise.

She broke free from Davey’s grasp and ran toward him. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she shook their uncle in an attempt to wake him up.

"Uncle! It's me, Hyun-Ah! Open your eyes! Please!"

However, he remained unconscious.

Davey remained quiet. For some reason, he couldn’t shake off the complicated emotions that he was feeling. He knew some would call him stupid for what he had done. He could still remember how happy Kain was upon learning that the elixir could awaken the Absolute Gem immediately.

However, things ended up like this instead. There was no way of telling if this was what the Illuminati had been hoping for, but Davey knew that even if he could turn back time, he would still make the same choice.

Slowly, he walked over to Hyun-Ah’s uncle. “How can you call yourself a med student when this is enough to make you panic? Move.”

Hyun-Ah bit her lower lip as she moved aside.

Davey checked the man’s pulse and condition. Pressing and checking various parts of his body for abnormalities. He also used mana waves to accurately examine his internal organs. Confident that his uncle had returned to normal, Davey raised his upper body to support him.

“Although he has physically reverted to his old self, only a miracle can bring his mind back.”

“That can’t be...”

“Even so, keep praying. You never know; a miracle might happen.”

“You’re a Saint, aren’t you? Don’t you have a way to tell?”

“If I had, I wouldn’t be a Saint—I’d be God.”

Demigods and gods were different. Moreover, even if his uncle regained consciousness, Davey figured he’d suffer from significant aftereffects.

Davey met Hyun-Ah’s eyes, which were filled with fear.

“Take him home,” he said. He then nodded at Kouna. “She’ll protect you.”

Afterward, he got up.

"What about you?" Kouna asked.

“The ones who caused this mess have to pay for what they’ve done.”

He prepared to track down the traces of the spirit mana that he had planted on the runner. Davey planned to chase him down no matter where he went.

Soon, he started his hunt.

***

“Haaa! Haaa!”

The man, who had been desperately running away, smiled. He survived somehow, which was more than enough for him.

“Holy shit. He wasn’t a Saint. He’s a crazy bastard.”

The man giggled, not knowing how to deal with the goosebumps appearing all over his body. While running, he kept thinking about Davey, whom the man thought hadn’t changed since he had first appeared. However, the man also knew that that didn’t make any sense.

Although the others had been too distracted by the strange turn of events to notice, he had sensed that something inside Davey had briefly awakened. He could tell that Davey had masked his usual self, concealing his madness so that no one would suspect that he had a monster within him—a monster so terrifying that even a psychopathic serial killer like him who had killed countless people would flinch.

Regardless, they had accomplished what the Malicious Spirits had asked them, which in turn would give the Illuminati high-quality test subjects and information. For him, though, the Illuminati's purpose was irrelevant. He was just satisfied that he could kill more people.

“That bitch’s blood was delicious.”

He thought about the small Japanese girl he had stabbed in the stomach, causing her to collapse. With an ecstatic expression, he recalled the way she looked up at him indifferently. The memory made his lips curve into a bright yet frightening smile that could make anyone tremble with fear.

“Let’s meet again next time.”

A barrage mage by profession, he was a serial killer and an Awakened who had joined the Illuminati. While thinking about going back to see the girl once he had gotten himself out of this situation, he suddenly felt someone look at him from behind.

“Hmm? Is someone coming after me?”

The man turned around but didn’t see anyone—it didn’t really matter, though. He was confident that even a strong and fast person would not be able to find him.

After reaching a certain point, he drew a transfer magic circle on the ground and activated it. He caught his breath and rubbed his hands.

“Alright. Time to head back.”

Little did he know that right next to him stood a young man—perhaps just a boy—nonchalantly staring in the same direction.