The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1106

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1106

Chapter 1106
The stone tablet resonated with Davey’s authority of Predatory Assimilation. The sensation was different yet similar, foreign yet strangely familiar.
Belga acted as if all of the dormant energy inside him was about to burst out. Davey kept an eye on him, and it wasn't long before a golden circle of light appeared on the ground at his command.
The glowing image of a massive white-bearded whale, easily dozens of meters across, appeared and opened its mouth wide. It clamped down on Belga without hesitation, shaking him violently before hurling him into the sky.
“B-Belga!” Tsuna screamed at the sight.
Ignoring her screams, the Behemoth made of light wasted no time swallowing the falling Belga in one gulp. With that done, the wild surge of power vanished in an instant. In fact, it had disappeared so quickly it was almost absurd.
Davey was a Mythical Beast Summoner. As such, he carried the skillful genes of his mentor, Shane Scrift, within his body. That allowed him to form contracts with mythical beasts, including Behemoth, one of the three Mythical Beast Kings.
However, as for the Primordial Predator power that he believed Behemoth possessed, Davey didn’t understand it, nor did he know how to control it. Yet when he held the stone tablet, it resonated with his Predatory Assimilation, and Davey somehow felt like he might actually be able to use that ability as well.
Tsuna stared blankly at the massive white-bearded whale that had just swallowed Belga whole. She slowly reached out a trembling hand.
“Spit it out. Drop it.”
The whale simply spat something in response before it let out a short growl, as if expressing its dissatisfaction to Davey, and then disappeared.
He could tell that thing was definitely Behemoth. Even so, it didn’t feel quite the same as the complete version Goddess Freyja had summoned.
‘It feels... a bit more unstable.’
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The fact that he could even wield that power in the first place was something of a mystery.
Once it had finished its task and disappeared completely, Tsuna slowly approached the figure on the ground. Behemoth had spat out none other than Belga.
“H-He's alive!” She looked at Davey in surprise.
Belga’s body had clearly been twisted into a grayish mess, yet once Behemoth spit him out, he had reverted to the same shabby and scrawny boy Tsuna had first met.
“Belga! Belga!” Tsuna rushed over and grabbed his hand. “Can you hear me?!”
His face twisted slightly as he attempted to respond. “
Ugh.
”
He slowly opened his dazed eyes and looked at Tsuna. “
Ah!
”
He instinctively rubbed his stomach, as his hunger pangs had forced him to do so many times before.
“I’m... not that hungry anymore!”
Tears streamed down her face as she realized he was alive.
He meekly requested, “Got any jerky?”
Tsuna bonked him lightly on the head and shouted, “You’re thinking about food at a time like this?!”
“I’m hungry, though...”
“H-Hold on!” She quickly rummaged through her pocket and pulled out an emergency piece of jerky. The chancellor of a kingdom revealing that she always carried jerky around made for quite the sight.
“What just happened to you? What about that out-of-control power?”
“He got gobbled, girl. The totrias and the rampaging spiritual entities inside him were also devoured.”
In short, the Belga before them was finally completely alone and independent.
“There’s no way that’s possible...”
“I didn’t expect it to turn out like this either.” Davey shook his head as he looked at the stone tablet, which had emitted a blinding light only moments before. It since sat silent, as if nothing had happened. He made a mental note to investigate it properly one day.
‘Is it really okay to just leave that kid like this?’
After all, he had been the main cause of the entire incident. The hive mind of the totrias was Belga, after all, though Davey no longer sensed any connection between the Belga standing before him and those totrias. Even the violent pulses of power, having apparently been about to erupt at any moment, had completely vanished.
Whether this was the salvation that had been spoken of, or total annihilation, Davey didn’t know. He had already done what he could.
According to his original plan, Belga should’ve been eliminated along with those totrias. Even so, Davey found himself entertaining the idea of entrusting him to Tsuna, just this one time.
The hungry boy and the girl offering him food.
In Davey’s eyes, Belga was no longer a white blood cell sent to erase the avatar of Goddess Freyja.
* * *
The Vatan Kingdom sought to stop the war while simultaneously shifting all blame for the damages onto Alberta.
The damage Vatan had suffered from the totrias was beyond description. In truth, they had simply brought it upon themselves. Unfortunately, they had lost control of the situation and suffered devastating losses.
Perhaps that was why the crown prince of Vatan tried to pin the blame on Belga, using Tsuna’s relationship with him as leverage to demand reparations from Alberta.
Of course, they made no mention of the fact that Count Trink had attempted to assassinate Tsuna, or of the human modification experiments. They clearly intended to keep those facts out of the equation.
Facing such staunch and shameless opposition, Alberta would’ve normally been stuck shouldering all the blame. However, Tsuna was no longer the type to be so easily cornered. Exuding an authority that no ordinary teenage girl could possibly project, she relentlessly drove Vatan into a corner in the negotiations.
The ammunition she used to gun down their pride was the demonstrable fact that Vatan had been secretly conducting experiments in Alberta, enacting operations involving modified humans and monsters in the ancient ruins. A modified creature Vatan had been testing had escaped and devoured Belga, who had only attacked Vatan after that corrupting exposure.
She also mentioned the attempt on her life, an act that could’ve easily justified devolving into a full-scale war. The blood completely drained from the prince’s face when he realized they knew the truth.
Naturally, Vatan still tried to hold out by claiming there was no evidence. By that time, it was already too late, they were already so shaken that they were unable to conceal everything with their usual precision.
Tsuna successfully struck their weak spot in the negotiations. In the political clash that could’ve escalated into a continental war, it was Tsuna who emerged victorious.
Originally, there should’ve been third parties constantly interfering with her efforts and trying to provoke war. Tsuna had instead faked her death to identify and capture them all, so by the time they knew she was alive, they'd already been rounded up.
After Belga had been swallowed, the entire situation in Vatan changed. Their immediate priority had shifted to dealing with the swarms of totrias. After all, those were what posed the greatest obstacle to their provocation of war. With those totrias having been neutralized, the warmongering king of Vatan believed the aggressive approach to be the only path to minimize damage.
Still, the kingdom had ultimately decided to end the war, though it wasn’t because of the pressure or fear of condemnation from the International Federation. Instead, the king’s ambitions for war had been deflated due to the grief of losing his son.
The negotiations inevitably turned into a battle of who could extract more reparations while reducing their own price to pay.
The biggest problem Vatan faced was Tsuna’s exceptional skills as a merchant. Davey had no doubt that the prince of Vatan had felt completely drained down to his very soul by the end.
‘Well, it’s not like some nobody taught her. She better be this good.’
“What are you doing?” Illyna looked at Davey as he watched the Alberta soldiers and scholars investigating the remnants of the ancient ruins, the same site where Vatan had secretly conducted their experiments. “So no problems have risen because of you stepping in as an outsider?”
Davey reassured her, “I made sure I covered my tracks.”
Alberta was probably checking to see if there was anything else of value in those ruins, but Davey had already used Gnoass to completely bury all traces of his involvement.
No matter how hard they tried, they wouldn’t find anything.
“I heard from a little birdy that there some bigwig was behind all this chaos.”
“Yeah. Both Alberta and Vatan have been cleaned up, but there’s still someone pulling the strings.”
Marquis Alka.
There was no proof, but Davey suspected that he was the mastermind. He had asked Emperor Deorte of the Lyndis Empire about the matter, but the response he received was less than reassuring.
- Marquis Alka is one of the pillars supporting the Empire. We can’t reprimand him over such flimsy claims.
Had the response ended there, Davey would've been thoroughly annoyed and maybe even embarked on a warpath. Unexpectedly, what came after made him back off instead.
- However, Grand Duchess Kathryn has been watching him closely. When there’s any sign of treason, even a pillar must fall.
Davey already knew that being the emperor of the Lyndis Empire wasn’t a position just anyone could take. He was left confident that the competent emperor would personally handle the matter internally.
Davey suddenly saw someone approach. “What’s Reina doing here?”
“She came because she was concerned. She’s been keeping an eye on us.” Illyna gestured toward Reina who was alone in the distance, examining the ruins' remains where Tsuna had been standing before.
He figured Reina was likely worried that more totrias might pop out.
On the other hand, Verndadi and Isildi, who had come to help with the mess, instead slipped away and returned to the Divine Tree Forest as soon as things wrapped up.
Isildi kept repeating how badly she wanted to go back because of her clearly minor injuries, while Verdandi parroted on and on about not wanting to miss her son’s birthday.
Since there was no reason to hold them, Davey had let them go. Only Reina remained behind.
“Does she look happy to you?”
“Probably not.”
She had been dragged into a war against her will, suffering through it for a long time before her untimely death. She rose years later, working to stop Illyna from meeting the same tragic end. Unfortunately, she had to abandon herself and pawn her very soul in the process.
“Is that Tsuna and Belga?” Her expression clearly darkened after seeing the two of them.
9 h 33 min
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Davey wondered what Reina had seen in them. When he first brought her back, she had said it was enough just to see the continent at peace. Still, he had never believed her.
“
Mmm.
Mommy... are you sad?”
“No, Red Ribbon.” When Red Ribbon nuzzled into Illyna’s arms, she hugged her tightly and looked at Davey. “What do you think is making her suffer so much inside?”
She didn’t really know Reina’s story. Everyone else did, yet she was the exception. Perhaps that gap in information was why Reina seemed even more bitter to her.
“Beats me. Whatever it is, if she doesn’t say it herself, it’s not our place to pry.”
If Reina asked for help, Davey would give it without hesitation. If she chose to bear it silently? He’d just have to wait until she was ready to take it on.
Illyna clapped her hands. “You know what I think?”
“What do you think?”
“She probably doesn’t have someone she loves yet. She just keeps drifting with no place to call home. Even for a hero, that kind of life must be exhausting.”
Her comment, which felt like it came all the way from left field, made Davey stare at her, baffled.
Smiling mischievously, she looked at Davey. “Should I try helping her out?”
Without saying anything else, he used his lips to shut her mouth.
‘Enough with this nonsense of hers.’
“
Ah!
” Illyna turned bright red and glanced around, checking if anyone had seen. Then, without warning, she boldly grabbed his tie and kissed him.
“Wow! Mommy and Daddy are bumping lips!”
Of course, Red Ribbon was still in her arms, cheering excitedly and causing Illyna to flail in panic.
“R-Red Ribbon?!”
“Red Ribbon wants one too! Here! Here, bump lips with me!”
When she kept shouting and jumping up and down, Blue Ribbon, who had been quietly standing nearby, gently tapped her on the shoulder. The moment Red Ribbon turned her head, Blue Ribbon planted a kiss on her cheek.
“L-Lip bumping!” Startled, Red Ribbon stared blankly at Blue Ribbon, then turned to Illyna and whined, “Now do Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon both! Lip bumping!”
“
U-Um.
What?”
Blue Ribbon tapped her own lips and burst into giggles as Illyna panicked, unsure of what to do. In the end, Illyna gave them both a kiss on the cheek to calm them down.
“But hey... I’ve always wondered about something with Reina. You’re surprisingly considerate when it comes to her.”
Hearing her question, Davey fell silent. Even if she had become a different person over time, there was no way he could tell Illyna that Reina was actually her from the parallel world.
“What is she to you, exactly?”
Davey hesitated to respond, “That’s...”
“It doesn’t quite seem like you’re in love with her, but you clearly care too much for it to be nothing. Didn’t you even give her that forest in the Hyeon Empire to live in?”
“Well, technically, I still hold ownership. Though yes, I did say she could stay there.”
‘This girl is too perceptive for her own good.’
Illyna’s eyes narrowed, thinking there was something he was hiding from her.
“Now that I think about it, it’s all kind of odd. Why won’t you tell me anything about her?”
“You wouldn’t exactly feel great if you did know.”
“Why do you get to decide that? That’s for me to judge.”
Her sharp reply made him sigh, speechless.
She pressed him again. “Why won’t you tell me?”
Faced with her insistence, Davey gave her the one answer he could. “It’s nothing bad, like what you might be imagining. It’s just... if she wants help, I want to be there for her.”
Illyna stared at him in silence for a moment, then nodded. “Then make her happy. Honestly, she doesn’t feel like a stranger to me.”
Davey couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile.
‘How could she be a stranger? She’s you.
Still, just as Illyna said, Reina did indeed look incredibly burdened. It was as if she was carrying too much pain for any one person to bear.
‘I should probably have a talk with her soon.’
* * *
The negotiations were finalized, and their cold war thus came to its long-awaited end.
Tsuna benefited immensely, having used the situation to solidify her position in the Alberta Kingdom. The Vatan Kingdom, on the other hand, was forced to pay such heavy reparations that they wouldn't possibly dare stir up trouble for the following decades.
There had been quite a commotion over the assassination attempt on Tsuna during the negotiations, but that wasn’t something Davey needed to worry about.
One issue had been quietly swept under the rug, however. The high-ranking noble of Lyndis who had orchestrated the entire crisis got away scot-free.
The man was Marquis Alka, a major aristocrat who formed one of the key pillars of Lyndis, his influence extending far beyond the mere title of Marquis.
The House of Alka had spent generations profiting from selling wartime supplies. Unfortunately for them, with wars having sharply decreased in the most recent years, their opportunities for profit had dwindled. That made it difficult for Marquis Alka to maneuver the Lyndis Empire as he pleased, so he had instead turned his eyes elsewhere.
In his view, the conflict between Alberta and Vatan was the perfect opportunity. He’d made a high-risk move that could yield maximum gain.
He sat in a cold room within his manor. He muttered in a heavy voice, “You made sure all the traces were cleaned up quietly?”
The butler behind him bowed his head. “Yes. All loose ends were thoroughly dealt with, so there will be no further issues.”
“
Tch.
Everything was going so well. How did it end up getting twisted like this?”
He had wanted war. A massive, global war.
After all, even if a war broke out, there was little chance the Lyndis Empire would fall. The Three Empires would ultimately remain, while the smaller kingdoms rose and fell in a repeating cycle. He would even profit by selling arms in those troubled times, accruing great wealth and power.
His financial power had been weakened as of late, with the emperor pushing forward policies that embraced the beastfolk more openly.
“He’s the reason why that damned firefox is running wild...” he muttered bitterly.
The butler broke his train of thought, informing, “Marquis Alka, Your Excellency, Grand Duchess Kathryn is here to see you.”
“The Grand Duchess? Tell her I’m unwell and she should come another time.” The marquis waved it off with a hand.
The butler turned to carry out the order, but before he could even exit the room, the entry door slammed open with a loud crash.
Standing in the doorway was a woman with fiery hair, exuding a strong, commanding presence with a lively aura. She simply stood there, smiling broadly.
“What is the meaning of this, Your Grace? I don’t care if you are a Grand Duchess...”
“Save it, Marquis Alka. While I'm telling you nicely, come with me.”
Seeing her smile, Marquis Alka kept a calm face, though his eyebrows slightly twitched.
“What are you talking about? Where exactly are we going?”
“It’s nothing too complicated.” The smile disappeared from her face. “His Majesty has issued a command, ordering me to imprison our nation’s traitor.”
Her hair shimmered brightly in the light.
* * *
“
Ugh!
Seriously, Guardian! Where did you run off to this time?!”
[
Hm?
I was clearly asleep!]
“No, you weren't! You turned into light again and vanished before showing back up! Do you have any idea how tough I acted against that Megalodon in the deep sea, assured in the knowledge that I was relying on you? I almost got torn to shreds!”
[Who did that?! Bring them to me!!]
“They all ran away the moment they saw you, obviously. Seriously, if you'd just stayed from the start, this would've been so much easi—
huh?
”
So-Ya, the mermaid spinning around Behemoth's massive body, wiped away a nosebleed and tilted her head curiously. “Guardian, that weird marking... I think it's gotten bigger.”
[
Huh?
It itches! Scratch it for me! We're going back to the deep sea, and I’m going to swallow every last one of those bastards today!]
Behemoth was the same as ever.

Chapter 1106