The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1116

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1116

Chapter 1116
Evangeline's hand trembled uncontrollably.
Even when she’d tried to drive her sword forward with force, Odin had caught it barehanded and held it firmly in place, rendering it immobile.
“O-Odin!” Aeria cried out in surprise.
Letting out a sigh, Odin snapped her fingers.
Fwoosh!!
Aeria’s body scattered like light and reappeared not far away.
It was a remarkably precise teleportation spell.
Odin silently stared at Evangeline with her single eye. The young girl was trembling, crimson tears streaming from one of her eyes.
“This really is... ironic.”
The moment she released the sword, Evangeline sprang back like a coiled spring, widening the distance between them.
Still trembling, Evangeline pointed the black divine dragon sword Twilight at Odin.
“Man, I haven’t sustained a wound in a long time,” Odin said calmly, her gaze fixed on Evangeline.
Boom!!!
Just then, a massive man landed nearby with the force of a bombing strike. Odin’s eyes gleamed.
“
Whoa?
Hey! What’s the Demon God doing he—
Gaaa!!
”
Boom!!
Odin instantly crossed the space between them and kicked the giant man with her tiny foot, sending him flying. Caught completely off guard by the sudden attack, the man crashed to the ground in shock.
“
Phew!
Good thing I showed up late...” Apollo muttered under his breath as he set down Illyna, his face pale.
Odin’s single eye flickered as she turned to Apollo, and he instinctively tried to flee. Unfortunately for him, before he could, Odin once again warped through space and grabbed him by his long hair, yanking down hard.
“
Aaaagh!!
That hurts, you crazy bitch!”
Odin coldly retorted, “I told you to pay attention and keep an eye on them.”
“
Aaaah!
I said it hurts, you fucking bitch!”
Odin coldly glared at Apollo, who screamed in pain, then kicked him repeatedly.
“If I’d come down even a little later, that child would’ve died. Do you realize how badly you nearly fucked up?” she scolded as she pointed at Evangeline.
Just before she could kill Aeria, Evangeline had turned her sword on her own vital point after mustering a shocking amount of mental fortitude.
Her mental fortitude truly surpassed those of others. Evangeline had been absorbing psychic and emotional energy even before she hatched from her egg, setting her apart from average living beings.
Odin clicked her tongue in disgust, “
Tch.
I’ve got nothing to say.”
Apollo had the gall to defend himself, shouting, “Hey, let's clear some things up! We did everything we coul—”
“You gonna say that in front of Davey too?”
Apollo clicked his tongue, then mimicked her words from earlier. “I’ve got nothing to say.”
He turned away with a frown, then Odin snapped her fingers.
Golden particles burst into the air and scattered across the room like dust. Chains of light formed and bound Evangeline’s arms and legs, stopping her in her tracks.
Thud!! Thud!!
Tears kept streaming from Evangeline’s eyes as she silently resisted.
“Evangeline...”
“Don’t come any closer to her. She already showed incredible self-control, but there won’t be a second time.”
That single sentence made Illyna stumble.
Acknowledging that someone had changed was pretty much accepting the fact that they had faced psychological death.
Illyna, who had been sobbing with her hand over her mouth, turned toward Aeria, who sat on the ground, dazed and empty-eyed. “Aeria, I...”
“I’m sorry, Sis. If I’d just been a little more perceptive, or hadn’t doubted you...”
The two of them had kept silent and acted in their own ways so that neither would begin to suspect the other.
If Aeria had actually changed and Illyna had confronted her, she might’ve gone berserk. Then, from Aeria’s perspective, Illyna’s changes were so subtle they could be brushed off as mood swings, so she hadn’t said anything either.
“It’s not your fault. I was the one who was too complacent.” Illyna comforted the sobbing Aeria, tears falling from her own eyes.
They had deliberately kept the truth from Davey, not wanting to burden him.
Thud!! Thud!!
Evangeline put up another bout of resistance. She pulled so hard against the light-forged chains that her arms were bruised a deep purple, but she didn’t stop.
Clang!!
A formless shockwave struck her hand, knocking Twilight to the floor.
“Think we can fix her?”
“Not right now, and maybe not even with Davey’s help. We have no clear solution.”
There was no known way to immediately reverse the transformation. Rho Aias had suggested there might be a way, but that was only a guess.
“Hey. Shouldn’t we at least put the kid to sleep for now?” Apollo grimaced as he looked at her wrists. “If we leave her like this, she’ll end up scarred for life.”
Odin flicked her fingers again, and Evangeline’s body flinched violently. The chains vanished, and she collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Whoa now, can’t have her falling over like that.” Astrea, the Hero of Spears, dashed over and caught her in her arms. “What did you do, Demon God?”
“I just put her to sleep. Should last about four days, for now. Any longer, and it could start hurting her.”
“That’s no good.” Astrea muttered bitterly.
“First, clean up the area. Also, Apollo.”
“What?”
Odin turned her back to him. “You did well handing over the brooch.”
Apollo clicked his tongue again and turned away. “
Hahhh.
This is why I didn’t want to come down. It always leaves a bad taste.”
No matter how shameless, depraved, or insufferable he acted, and regardless of how coldly Davey usually treated him, Apollo still owed Davey.
After all, thanks to Davey, Daphne had one less burden.
“Though I don’t know how you are with other things, when it comes to that woman Daphne, you always seem to get your act together.”
“Shut up.”
After their brief bickering, Odin approached Illyna with an impassive expression.
“Odin, what about Eva?”
“I’ve put her to sleep for now. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can do.”
Unfortunately, there was nothing more any of them could do.
“For now, let’s just hope Davey brings something back.”
Illina sobbed and nodded, still gently comforting Aeria. “Thank you, Odin.”
“Thank Davey instead. Also... tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her.” Her face reddened slightly as she turned and walked away.
* * *
Fortunately, there was no risk of the sleeping Evangeline going on a rampage. However, Astrea and Apollo took turns standing watch over her just in case.
It was a bit absurd that two heroes tasked with maintaining balance in the world were now taking shifts to protect a single girl. Even so, they did it without hesitation, still fulfilling their duties while taking on the extra burden.
The atmosphere in Heins Territory had turned completely somber, like a house in mourning.
Perserque gently brushed the sleeping Aeria’s cheek, saddened by the fact that Evangeline had changed.
“I’m sorry, Sister. If I had done things properly...”
“This isn’t your fault,” Perserque said softly, offering a bitter smile. “If anything, you both realized something I didn’t. I was the only one who didn’t see it.”
Illyna couldn’t say a word. The truth was, they knew no one blamed themselves more than Perserque did herself.
“I’m sorry, Sister.” Still, Perserque never let herself cry. If she broke down too, she knew the others would have no one left to lean on.
That didn’t mean her heart wasn’t being torn apart on the inside, of course. She powered on and held a strong sense of responsibility in her own way.
“Sister...” Seeing her like that, Illyna found herself at a loss for words.
“Is there truly no way to fix her?” Perserque, who had been quietly watching, asked Odin, who was seated off to the side with a long-stemmed pipe in her mouth.
She was toking on the herbal smoke Davey sometimes burned. Unlike typical tobacco, it was made from herbs known to calm the mind and body.
“I’m doing everything I can to find a way. I’ve also managed to prevent more victims for now.”
In other words, there was no solution yet.
Illyna let out a faint groan.
Evangeline wasn’t precious only to Perserque. She was a precious daughter to Illyna and Aeria as well. To see her suffer and be rendered mentally comatose, the shock was immeasurable.
“To put the situation simply... well, you’ve heard of the rules of the world, right?” Reina said as she looked up.
At that, several people turned their gaze to her. She had been silently standing nearby with her massive sword sheathed beside her.
“Yeah. That rigid, inflexible part of Goddess Freyja who pushed that little girl to the edge.”
Everyone here knew that Goddess Freyja was the core of the world and in essence, the world itself.
“The rules of the world maintain its operation strictly according to law and order. External variables are always completely rejected in order to preserve that order,” Odin explained.
“That’s right,” Reina answered, only to sigh afterward. “Those rules are changing right now. That’s why you’re all able to be here without issue.”
“Then... isn’t that a good thing?”
Odin shook her head. “Not necessarily. You’ve seen how many people have suddenly changed because of this shift in Tionis, right?”
Changes had been observed in the likes of Kathryn Carabella, the Grand Duchess of the Lyndis Empire; the royal guards of the Great Empire of Ming; and Evangeline. That wasn’t even the full list, with others yet to be revealed.
Realizing the hidden implications, several people let out bitter sighs.
“So far, this is the extent of the transformations. Thanks to my tracking and blocking of the waves, the number of victims hasn’t increased. However, I don’t know how long that stalemate will last. It could be a week... a month... or even tomorrow.”
The fact that even Odin was saying it was impossible, with such certainty even, made Perserque fall deep in thought. “Then what can we do?”
“The only chance now lies in whether Davey can absorb the full legacy of Goddess Freyja. Rho Aias says that it might be the key to completing that idiot’s authority. On the other hand, I don’t think that kind of power comes without a cost.”
Odin lifted her head and scanned the group with her single eye. “That’s why... we’ll try our own approach here.”
Despite her young appearance, she radiated an overwhelming presence that not even the Emperor of the Lyndis Empire could match.
“So... there actually is a way?”
“No, there’s no solution. Unfortunately, there’s no way to return already-transformed humans to normal. At least, not with the knowledge we currently have. Still, Evangeline isn’t human, is she?”
Perserque and Illyna’s eyes widened at her words.
“Then there’s a way?!”
“It’s actually quite fortunate. Evangeline is an ancient dragon, and not just any ancient dragon—she has the blood of both Eclipse and that muscle-bound brute Hercules running in her veins.”
It wasn’t just because she was an offspring of Eclipse, or simply that she was an ancient dragon.
“About Evangeline... I heard that child absorbed psychic and emotional energy even before she hatched.”
That meant a possibility, if she could grow.
“So, what do you think? Regardless of whether Davey succeeds or fails, this path is worth trying.”
“What exactly do we have to do?” Illyna asked quietly.
“When Evangeline was still in her egg, she absorbed psychic and emotional energy while accumulating her strength. Over the years, your care and affection have also shaped her personality.”
In other words, her mental fortitude had evolved significantly with each stage of growth.
“We’ll force her coming-of-age ceremony to happen early, thereby reconstructing her psyche. During that process, we’ll gather fragments of her past memories, reintegrate them, and cut away only the disjointed parts of her current psyche.”
It was a cruel procedure, one that sounded almost impossible.
“There’s no way something like that could possibly...”
“I can do it, though someone will need to assist me during the process,” Odin said firmly, bringing a chill to the room’s atmosphere. “The longer we wait, the lower our chances get. Even now, the odds are fifty-fifty. If we fail, we’ll be facing a mad ancient dragon—a full-fledged one—yet if we succeed, we can bring her back.”
Perserque shook her head. “That wouldn't be the same as bringing her back. She’d just become a puppet that listens well. It’d just be something that looks like the girl we knew.”
No matter how closely they’d watched over her, no one knew Evangeline better than herself.
“If you decide you want to save her that way, just let me know.” Odin knocked her long pipe against the ashtray and slowly stood up. “I don’t know about the rest of humanity... but I can definitely save Davey’s daughter.”
That one statement left Perserque embroiled in thought for a long while.
Evangeline had faced mental death. She was changing in real-time, her mind continuously breaking down.
There was only one way to save her.
“Evangeline is still just a child. Forcing a coming-of-age ceremony so early...”
“Sometimes, in order to gain something, you have to lose something too. If we leave her as she is, she’ll lose control completely and go on a rampage trying to kill everything in sight. Right now, she’s still resisting and suppressing herself. Unfortunately, that won’t last for long.”
“Why would she even want to kill everyone around her?!”
“Hate,” Odin answered plainly. “It’s flipped completely.”
Since Evangeline had loved everyone too much, that love had twisted into hatred. The entire situation had reversed.
Hearing the brutal truth from Odin, Illyna fell silent.
“You have three days to decide. Carefully consider whether you’ll lock that child away forever or force her back into a life as Evangeline—at the cost of piecing her memory back together and accepting that part of her will be lost.”
* * *
In the end, the others couldn’t come to a decision. The three full days they were given slipped by in what felt like three seconds.
“Have you decided?” Odin muttered as she handed dew drops, gathered from the early morning leaves, to Rinne.
Rinne sipped the glowing dew imbued with her power, eyes twinkling as she turned to follow Odin’s gaze.
From within the thick fog, Perserque slowly stepped forward.
“The decision is...” she began with difficulty.
Odin reminded her, “This is a natural disaster, and not just some petty storm or tsunami. This is on the scale of a world-shifting cataclysm.”
“Of course I don’t want to kill that child,” she murmured bitterly. “If she’s still alive... then there could be a chance that she can be saved someday.”
“Not likely... but she’ll live, at least,” Odin replied.
Tears fell from Perserque’s eyes as she said, “The coming-of-age ceremony. Tell me what materials are required.”

Chapter 1116