The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1103

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1103

Chapter 1103
The youngest prince didn’t rise from the collapsed wreckage.
Whether it was because of the unlucky words Davey had jokingly thrown out earlier, or that the prince had finally reached the limit of what he could endure against Reina, was unclear. Either way, he remained silent.
Totrias themselves were considered dangerous at their core, but the one that devoured the youngest prince’s body hadn’t been a totrias. It was instead the product of one of the researchers who had gone mad from researching totrias.
“Damn it!”
Maximus, who had been buried under the rubble, spat out curses and coughed as he slowly pulled himself up.
“If Vatan decides to go all in and sue for damages, I’m gonna need a lawyer” he jokingly muttered as he pulled on the arm of Iro, who was buried in the debris. “Let me just yank you out.”
Crack!!
“
Aaaagh!
My arm! My arm’s dislocated!!” Iro screamed. Her arm, hidden under the wide sleeve of her robe, was grotesquely bent to the side, though the bone hadn’t pierced through the skin.
“You’re all bones, so how does your arm even get dislocated? Does that even hurt, or are you just being a baby?”
“It’s because I’m all bones that it got dislocated!!! Just wait until I’m outta here, then I'm gonna beat you with the Rod of Restoration until you regret everything!”
“Alright, alright, calm down! I’ll fix it, just wait a second!”
“It hurts! It hurts! My arm, my arm!!”
As Iro continued to scream in pain, Verdandi sighed and snapped her fingers. The leather-bound book she was holding shimmered briefly before Iro’s entire body was wrapped in light. She emerged from the wreckage, trembling as she looked at her hand that was suddenly covered in smooth, pale flesh. Her dislocated body also seemed to have returned to its original state.
“
Ah!
It’s been so long since I’ve seen my own skin.”
“I just slightly blurred the line between illusion and reality. It restored your body, but the appearance won’t last. Unfortunately, you’ll go back to how you were by the end of the week.”
Maximus muttered from the side, “Seriously, why don’t you just go around in human form like before instead of sticking to being a skeleton...”
“Living beings should follow the natural order, Mr. Maximus.”
“A lich is literally a being that defies that natural order—
Gaaak!
”
Iro kicked him in the shin, leaving him holding it with tears of pain in his eyes.
“That wavelength controlling the royals seems to be gone,” Verdandi said as she glanced around. “That unsettling spread of totrias’s wavelengths from just a moment ago has disappeared.”
“You can sense things like that?” Reina asked.
“Did you forget who I am?”
Reina stayed silent at her response. She hadn’t told anyone else, but she already knew about Verdandi’s identity after Davey had filled her in.
“Hey Reina, this really isn’t the time to just stand around! The Vatan forces are probably marching toward Alberta as we speak!”
“You’re right. Let’s move.”
Verdandi gave the pile of rubble one last glance, then turned away and followed Reina toward the royal palace of Vatan.
Once everyone had left, something else slowly rose from the debris. The figure staggered as it emerged, silently reaching into the wreckage. As his hand moved, purple centipede-like creatures slithered up his arm and disappeared into his skin.
“Tsuna’s... enemy.”
He had devoured every last trace of the totrias’ accumulated genes within the debris. With a vacant expression, Belga mumbled the same words again before vanishing from the spot. Where he had stood laid remnants of the totrias’ unique power and spiritual entities remained, coexisting in eerie stillness.
* * *
When Reina’s retinue arrived at the royal palace, it was already in complete chaos.
Of course, the ones who had been directly influenced and controlled were mostly the high-ranking nobles and royalty. The knights who had been following orders still tried to block their path, but there was no second clash.
Thud. Thud.
As if their powerful auras meant nothing at all, the knights dropped like flies with just a flick of Verdandi’s hand.
“You...”
“I didn’t kill them, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just forced them to wander through a brief hallucination. We’re not here to waste time, are we?”
“You’re right.”
Clang!!!
When they entered the audience chamber in search of the king, they saw a man clutching his head with one hand and groaning.
“You are... the Hero. Yes, Hero Reina, aren’t you?”
“Don’t you remember me, Your Majesty?”
The King of Vatan grimaced. His expression suggested he was hardly grasping onto a memory that was just out of reach, making Verdandi sigh with pity.
Crack!!
A burst of light exploded in the air, and the dazed expressions of both the envoys and the king quickly turned to confusion.
“W-What have I done?”
“Y-Your Majesty! Please... kill me!”
Seeing them regain their memories, Reina turned to Verdandi with a look that demanded an explanation.
“I simply used my power to awaken the memories deep inside them.”
She did so because she knew that even if they had been controlled, their brains would still store their memories.
“Normally... not even Davey could do that, right?”
He usually extracted memories from the soul, not the brain.
“He actually can, but he chooses not to since it’s not as efficient as soul-searching. For me, however, this method is easier,” Verdandi explained calmly as she stepped forward.
“King of Vatan, I’ll be blunt. Recall the soldiers you sent to your country’s border with Alberta.”
“And who... are you, exactly?”
“How dare you?! Such insolence in addressing His Majesty, who rules over all the humans in Vatan!”
She coldly spat, “I’m not human. I come from the Divine Tree’s Forest, so don’t even try to force your human customs on me.”
Murmurs spread throughout the chamber. Normally, even the non-human races from the Divine Tree’s Forest showed proper respect to a king.
“No matter what race you are—”
“It’s thanks to your people getting played so thoroughly that I had to come all the way from the Divine Tree’s Forest. Honestly, I’d love to just tear this place down right now and get it over with!”
“That’s enough, Verdandi.”
She clicked her tongue in frustration, clearly feeling too impatient and agitated to entertain the misguided nobles. Reina glanced over, wondering what Verdandi could possibly be so anxious about, but Verdandi simply turned her gaze away.
“Your Majesty, I’m sure you understand the situation your country is in.”
“The one who... who brainwashed me.”
“He has been killed. Unfortunately, in the process of doing so, the youngest prince...”
The King of Vatan’s expression twisted. “That child...?”
“Please, issue the command to withdraw the army immediately.”
“But this whole situation only started because of Alberta!”
“Hey.” Verdandi, who had kept silent, suddenly frowned. “This whole situation is
your
fault! Alberta is the victim here. If you’re still thinking of pushing forward with war, I won’t stop you. However, if war breaks out now despite you knowing the truth, and leads to more damage, I can’t be held responsible for what I do.”
Dark shadowy energy began to ripple around her. When the mysterious energy started to press down on the room, Reina once again stepped in to stop her. “That’s enough! What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?!”
She admitted, “It’s my son’s birthday.”
Reina didn’t know what to say.
“I promised to be back in two days, but I won’t make it if we keep dragging this out.”
She had once taken in the king of a nation as a child and raised him by herself. Reina quietly chuckled to herself, surprised at how emotionally vulnerable Verdandi could be.
“Your Majesty, now is not the time to be fighting Alberta. The enemy we’re facing is far beyond the level of a mere monster. Please, make the right decision.”
The envoys wore conflicted expressions, but didn’t voice any opposition. They had cried out for war while under mind control, rendered indifferent to the survival of the nation.
While the one who had possessed the youngest prince had only been interested in research, those who had pushed for war had intended to use the chaos to spark a massive conflict, regardless of if Vatan fell in the process.
“If this warmongering continues, Your Majesty will be acting exactly as the one who brainwashed you intended.”
“Enough!!” he shouted sharply, locking eyes with Reina. “The youngest... my son’s body, where is it?”
“At the old royal palace.”
One of the nobles pleaded, “Your Majesty, this is a matter of utmost importance!! Please, reconsider—”
He suddenly muttered to himself like he was in a confessional, “I never hated you...”
He bowed his head and covered his face with one hand, the trembling in his hand revealing a mix of emotions.
A brief silence followed.
“Envoys, prepare to receive orders.” His twisted expression and voice carried a seething rage. “Recall the troops immediately! As for those monstrous bastards who killed my son...”
“Your Majesty! Even if we recall the troops now, Alberta won’t just let this go—”
“Are you saying... you refuse to follow your king’s command?” The king raised his head, and they could see his bloodshot eyes practically blazing with fury. “Alberta may never be a nation I can become friendly with. Yet even so, I will never forgive the monsters who mocked me and killed my youngest son.”
The king turned to Reina. “Hero, will you help me?”
“I will.”
“B-But, Your Majesty... Alberta surely has those still seeking to provoke war.”
However, the nobles' voices tinged with worry failed to break his resolve.
* * *
In truth, while Vatan had been entirely corrupted by a deranged researcher, Alberta was riddled with internal enemies as well. Contrary to those raucous nobles’ concerns, however, someone within Alberta had already begun to move, driven by fury.
Clang!!!
“P-Please... spare me! Please!!”
As several knights restrained the nobles, Tsuna coldly questioned, “When you were out there warmongering, did you ever stop to consider or give mercy to all the lives that would be lost in the process?”
“What should we do, Chancellor?” one of the knights asked.
“Bind them all. By His Majesty’s command, they will all be executed.”
“N-No... No!! Chancellor! Please, Chancellor!!!”
No one had expected the dead Tsuna to make a miraculous return. Those who had joyfully called for war with Vatan, believing she was dead, had been left in utter shock at her appearance.
The king, having heard the truth from Tsuna, dispatched troops to block Vatan’s advance before then ordering a full-scale purge to root out all those who had orchestrated the situation.
Although Alberta’s king did not necessarily trust Tsuna’s claims completely, they both opposed the war, meaning their intentions were nonetheless aligned.
“Y-You... Chancellor!”
“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Marquis Barogo?”
“No...”
“Consider yourself lucky. If it were up to me, I’d never forgive the man who killed my father. Unfortunately, this damned country still needs you. That is the only reason I’m letting you live.”
When she passed over him with a chilling tone, he shuddered. He could tell she had changed. There was no trace of mercy as she walked by, as if she were holding back some enormous, seething rage.
A massive purge was already underway in the Alberta Kingdom, and Vatan’s military movements had been instantly halted, making for an unprecedented phenomenon.
Both nations had been on the brink of war, where any misstep could’ve ignited a full-scale conflict. However, almost simultaneously, the two nations began to propose negotiations and come together without raising any suspicions.
They had come together to negotiate and stop the war from happening. Chancellor Tsuna represented Alberta while accompanied by Rinne and Illyna for her protection, while Vatan’s crown prince, Reina, and Verdandi shared a room with them.
Though Rinne and Illyna weren’t technically affiliated with Alberta, their roles as her personal guard gave Vatan no reason to object to their presence.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Tsuna de Murgent, Chancellor of Alberta,” the girl said, lowering her head with a cool, composed gaze.
The prince flinched slightly and returned the bow.
They were all painfully aware that a war would erupt instantly if the negotiations failed.
Verdandi, who had been silently watching the room, turned to question Illyna, “Where’s Davey?”
“Seems like he’s dealing with that hive and the overbrain.”
Everyone turned toward her, hoping she would elaborate, but Illyna offered no further explanation.
“Chancellor Tsuna, we believe this unfortunate incident stemmed from a misunderstanding between our nations.”
“What Vatan did on Alberta’s soil was no misunderstanding. Nevertheless, I agree that war must be avoided.”
The prince couldn’t help but wonder how a girl in her mid-to-late teens managed to radiate such intense pressure. She carried herself like someone who had come back from the dead, utterly unyielding.
“At present, our Vatan Kingdom had already deployed its soldiers due to the influence of a twisted being. I know it’s absurd to say this now, when we’ve already crossed Alberta’s borders, but...”
“It’s not too late. Withdraw them now.”
He didn’t know how to respond to that.
“You and I must bring this to an end, nullifying any declarations of war and thereby completing the peace negotiations.” Her words carried implications that reached far beyond the present, causing the prince to scowl.
A ceasefire was one thing, but if they officially ended the war? Vatan would take a massive political hit. He had been planning to quietly pull back or draw things to a stalemate to save face.
Instead, Tsuna had taken the lead.
“However, Chancellor Tsuna, this matter—”
“Will you stop the war or not? The longer you stall, the worse it gets for Vatan.”
The prince clenched his teeth. “Very well. Let’s begin the negotiations.”
Boom!!
A sudden explosion thundered outside the room, followed by a rising commotion.
Illyna turned her head toward the noise. “We’ll go check it out. You just focus on wrapping things up here.”
“I’m counting on you, Princess.”
Giving a silent nod, Illyna gripped the brooch in her hand. At the same time on Vatan’s side, Reina drew her sword in one hand, lowering it at an angle as she walked toward Illyna.
Ssss.
Zzzzing!!
The brooch radiated light and rapidly transformed into Caldeiras.
“Caldeiras...” Reina murmured to herself, but Illyna kept her eyes fixed straight ahead.
She saw a massive creature, devouring both countries’ soldiers indiscriminately.
“Totrias.”
As Illyna muttered, Reina spoke up. “Who’s taking the lead, Princess?”
“There’s no taking the lead here.”
The two exchanged no more words. They simply moved in sync, mirroring each other’s stances.
Reina was slightly taller than Illyna, but their presences somehow felt eerily similar.
The monstrous beast opened its dozens of gaping mouths and let out a roar.
“
Vataaan!!!
”
Following its unsettling howl, the creature began to move again. Illyna and Reina simultaneously stepped forward with their right feet, launching themselves forward like lightning.
“I’m honestly jealous of you, Princess.”
“What exactly is there for you to be jealous of?”
“Your happiness. Your future.”
“Isn’t that something you could find too, if you really wanted?” Illyna asked with a touch of irritation.
Reina shook her head. “Not anymore.”
The overwhelming sorrow and bitterness in her response left Illyna speechless. Davey had never told her much about the kind of person Reina truly was.
With that, the two of them once again fell into a familiar silence. Then, in perfect unison, they took matching stances and began to violently unleash their mana.

Chapter 1103