The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1166

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1166

Chapter 1166
“This is an overreach of authority!” Captain Vista of the Atlas furiously shouted into a direct line connected to the U.S. Department of Defense.
He didn’t particularly harbor any resentment toward Prince Davey as a person, of course.
However, the area was clearly within U.S. territorial waters, and the massive island that had suddenly appeared within them belonged solely to the United States. That was why he had deployed the Atlas and planned to investigate the island.
Yet, despite the alliance, an outsider had suddenly shown up, flipped the entire island upside down, and even abducted a being from it.
- Captain, the woman we believe Prince Davey captured is not human. Also, her threat level has already been confirmed via satellite—if there had been a direct confrontation, we would’ve faced catastrophic consequences.
As he listened to the calm voice make excuses over the line, Captain Vista’s teeth clenched so hard they made a noise.
Both logically and realistically speaking, they were right. However, it still felt absurd that an outsider had barged into a classified operation, with the entire Atlas fleet having done nothing more than stand around and watch from afar.
He was left feeling like they were just that man’s support staff.
The Atlas fleet was currently the most powerful fleet in the United States. Yet there they were, reduced to being nothing more than doormats to welcome one outsider. It was utterly unacceptable for him!
“I understand, but this mission was ours!”
- Captain, it’s a direct order from the President. The Saint of Tionis has already agreed to cede all authority over the island, excluding his quarry, to the United States.
Securing the area safely without issue would be the best outcome possible.
“Goddamn it!”
- I understand your pride has been wounded, Captain, but you also need to value the lives of your soldiers just as much.
“We’re soldiers! We live and die by our orders! Never once was I told this was going to be some kind of disgraceful assignment! Do you think I’m going to stand for being excluded from a classified operation when I’m the captain of the Atlas?!”
- Those are your orders, and you are to stand by for further instructions. As soon as Prince Davey withdraws, we will resume the investigation of the island.
“Orders received.” He gripped the receiver so hard it nearly shattered. Once the call disconnected, he immediately hurled it aside.
Bang!
The phone slammed down, dangling and swaying on its cord. He let out a short sigh. “Hey, Smith. Give me a cigar.”
“Here it is, Captain. But if I may...”
“Just hand it over!” With a brief scowl, he took the cigar, lit it, inhaled deeply, and then exhaled with a sigh. “What’s the status of the target?”
“He’s currently in a one-on-one meeting with the target, but...”
“What does he need?”
“He said nothing in particular, though he did mention that we should brace for possible shocks, just in case.”
Vista gave a nod at the . “If he says he needs anything, just give it to him.”
“
Uhhh.
Captain? If I may, do you mind me asking why you’re not angry?”
Vista looked at the man. “Hey. Smith.”
“Apologies!”
“No, it’s fine. You can ask questions. Do I look like the one I’m mad at is the Saint of Tionis?”
“
Ah.
You’re not?”
“Those bastards at the Pentagon are the ones who pissed me off, not him. Hell, he’s the one who saved us.”
If Davey hadn’t appeared at the moment that illusion overwhelmed the fleet, he couldn’t even imagine what would’ve happened to them. They might’ve actually ended up firing on each other ceaselessly, leading to disaster during their very first deployment.
“So then...”
“We’ll use this opportunity to send a message to the higher-ups. That way, they won’t assign us garbage missions like this ever again.”
Just moments before, he had looked like he was about to explode in rage, yet his expression had become completely calm.
“Being a captain isn’t something just anyone can do,
hah.
”
“
Heh.
You’ve got potential, kid.”
Beep!
“Captain Vista! The Saint of Tionis has made a request!”
“A request? What kind of request?”
That woman was presumably the leader of the other side. No one could tell what she might do next, so they couldn’t let their guard down.
“Well... he asked for an American-style cheeseburger...”
“Are you serious...?”
“Yes, sir.”
“
Haaah.
Hey, go ask the mess hall if they’ve got any spare burgers lying around.”
“You mean the cheap supply burgers we got from the Koreans? He’s not going to like those, sir.”
“Come on, I’ve eaten them too. At the end of the day they’re still burgers, made for human consumption.”
The subordinate didn’t know what to say.
It was a shockingly humble request to make.
Boom!!
However, the outcome was totally different from what he’d expected.
* * *
Butterfly Empress Chandra finally woke up after her consciousness had fallen into darkness.
The human in front of her was holding a crimson sword to her throat and saying something, but his voice barely registered in her ears. The recent battle had been that much of a shock to her.
His gaze was firm, yet strangely hesitant. Cold, yet subtly conflicted. However, she knew he wasn’t showing her sympathy. Every instinct of hers was screaming that it was the opposite.
Unlike moments before when she had been raging in denial over her defeat, she was able to calmly recall what had happened before she’d lost consciousness.
Chandra’s form of combat usually relied on powders that caused paralysis, sleep, poison, and other abnormal conditions.
Even against those with high resistance, once the concentration built up thick enough, the powder mixed into the air became a force optimized for subduing enemies. It was especially effective when facing large numbers.
However, there were indeed foes against whom even that didn’t work. Like the one who had killed her in the past. Or like the human standing before her.
That was why she had fallen back on her most familiar and frequently used power, outside of her physical abilities, to take the human down. She had chosen none other than her trusty destructive beam.
It was a solar beam using the power of the sun. It created an enormous energy mass capable of melting anything it touched—an attack worthy of the name ‘destructive beam.’
Its power weakened at night, but that didn’t mean it became weak. Nonetheless, the human had absurdly shattered every one of those beams with a mere swing of his sword in broad daylight.
Once the memory resurfaced, Chandra felt sick to her stomach. She knew better than anyone that the destructive beam she created, the solar energy she had conjured, wasn’t something that could be physically broken or destroyed.
“Hey, can you hear me?” At last, the cold voice reached her ears. Her eyes widened slightly as if she had just been pulled up from underwater. She stared blankly at the figure before her.
He was the one who had pulled her from Butterfly Island, the place humans called Atlantis. She had worked tirelessly trying to identify the being before her.
“You... What are you, exactly?”
At first, she had assumed he was just an abnormally strong human. Eventually, it appeared that the assumption was only half-right. While he truly was strong, he wasn’t simply an unsettlingly strong human.
He gave off a far more dangerous presence than any human she had ever encountered.
“I can’t really see you being in a position to be asking questions, or am I wrong?”
“I won’t tell you anything,” she said cautiously, her tone slightly different from how she’d initially talked to him. “Just kill me. Isn’t that what you came here to do, anyway?”
“I’m not gonna kill you right now.”
Her expression twisted at his reply. “What? Are you trying to get something out of me...?”
“It’s not that.” He was smiling, but his expression was as cold as it could be. “You want me to kill you, but I don’t see why I should do you the kindness of granting your wish.”
Chandra felt her blood run cold at his smile.
“You say you hate humans and all, yet from where I stand, it looks like you’re desperate to die right this second.”
She trembled.
“Is being alive that unbearable?”
No response
“So it is.”
She couldn’t stand it. She didn’t know how that monstrous man could look so deep into her heart.
“
Hmph.
What kind of person wants to die?” she forcefully scoffed, pretending otherwise. Even so, her voice wavered faintly. “More importantly... What are you? Are you really human?”
“I’ll answer that later. For now, let’s just confirm one thing. After all, there’s no need to make this more complicated than it has to be—I don’t enjoy torturing what’s basically a half-dead corpse.”
She was rendered speechless by his words.
“Tell me everything I want to know, and I’ll do you the kindness of ending your life.”
Chandra’s head hung low. To her, life held no meaning. She had clearly already been killed in the past, and even remembered how a spear had pierced her heart. She didn’t know how she had come back to life, or even where she was.
“There was a cafe explosion in a human city not long ago.”
She was shocked that he knew the connection.
“Traces of butterflies were found there. Your power.”
At those words, her thoughts raced. A tall, mysterious man with a crow mask had contacted her. He had been the one who did it!
‘He said he was like me. He said he wanted to help me.’
Just like the man had said, she hated humans. Yet more than that, she had no will to live.
The reason she hadn’t ended her life herself was because of a promise. A promise with one loathsome human she had once loved.
- Let’s make a promise. Don’t ever try to die without my permission.
By giving that promise, she had entrusted her life to him. Then, about two years later, she had suffered a horrific fate—the human had betrayed her and brutally slaughtered those she had cared for, ultimately destroying her entire belief system.
She couldn’t kill herself, and no one else could manage to kill her either. She had no lingering affection for his vile race that repaid kindness with betrayal.
The appearance of the being who finally ended that festering cycle had been nothing short of a miracle. Thanks to them, she had finally been able to rest. Yet her eyes had eventually opened once again, and she still had to face humans. It was disgusting for her.
‘I won’t say a word.’
While she didn’t trust that man in the crow mask completely, she saw no reason to drag him down either. Especially not if it helped the humans she loathed.
“I don’t know anything. Satisfied?”
“Liar,” Davey calmly accused.
“I don’t know how you’re judging truth from lies, but I’m telling the truth.”
Davey let out a short sigh. “Right. So you kidnapped Evangeline and bombed the place where Super Ribbon and Reina were?”
“Yes, of cour—”
“Liar.”
At that moment, the sword Davey was holding emitted light and pulsated with its own energy. He was surprised, as Super Ribbon had never shown such clear will in a situation like that before.
She began to manifest herself, transforming from a greatsword glowing with bluish-red light into her human form.
Chandra’s eyes flew wide open. “You... You’re?!”
“Nice to see you again,” Super Ribbon smirked.
“What, you two know each other?”
“Yes. I was surprised, too.”
“Where’d you meet?”
Facing that question, Super Ribbon looked a little awkward. “At the cafe... she’s a regular.”
Davey then looked at Chandra like she was some kind of pathetic joke.
Flustered, she flailed and shouted, “W-What? What’s with that look?!”
“You say you hate humans, but you couldn’t give up coffee?”
She couldn’t find a word to say in response.
Even in her homeland of Paladia, coffee had been a staple among workers. It happened to be her favorite thing to drink.
Drawn by the scent, she’d used illusions on humans to take their money and buy coffee with it.
“So where’d you get the money from?”
“
Ummm.
she definitely paid...”
As Super Ribbon hesitated, Chandra’s face flushed red and she shouted in frustration, “I just got it from a human!!”
“So it wasn’t stolen?”
“I-I gave something in return!”
Davey gave a quiet nod.
“She used to come by often when the cafe wasn’t too busy. I never imagined that she would...”
As the off-topic conversation returned to the main point, Chandra clicked her tongue. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I was just scouting for a place to cause trouble—”
“
Pfft!
” Super Ribbon covered her mouth and giggled, making Chandra’s expression tighten even more. To see the cold, scornful beauty react with that much frustration was proof that the provocation had worked.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s just... you used to act so nervous whenever I was there as Red Ribbon or Blue Ribbon. I can’t believe you were planning to cause trouble that whole time.”
“That—!!”
“All right, all right. That’s enough. I already know she’s not the one behind it.”
Chandra frowned. “What the hell are you saying, human? I’m not lying—”
“Really? Then tell me what this is, then.” Davey opened his Pocket Plane and pulled out a plastic explosive.
“What is that?”
“What do you mean? It’s what blew up the cafe.”
‘That toy-looking thing caused that massive explosion?’
Truthfully, she didn’t know much about the man in the crow mask. He had simply given her a strange bracelet under the pretense of restoring her power, then she saw the cafe explode. She figured that it wouldn’t be strange for him to have used a human-made weapon.
“
Haah.
Fine. No point hiding it now. Yeah, I set it off with—”
Poof!
Suddenly, the plastic explosive vanished like an illusion.
“See? I told you. You’re a liar.”
Davey had played her, not once, but twice.
Scowling, she turned her gaze away.
“Father, if you know she’s not the culprit, then killing her is—”
“She seems to want to die.”
She turned her head back to them. “That’s right! I don’t want to live.”
Super Ribbon insisted, “But still!!”
“Look, sometimes staying alive is more painful than dying. While I hate humans, more than that, I hate being alive so much it’s driving me insane.”
It was only natural to ask the next question.
“Then why haven’t you ended your life?”
“I can’t. I made a promise, so I don’t have a choice.”
Davey gave a slow nod. He then called Super Ribbon who, despite the pained look on her face, transformed into her sword form and settled into his hand.
“Kidnapping someone’s daughter is enough to incur some wrath, but looking at someone who’s basically a walking corpse isn’t exactly pleasant either,” he said calmly.
Chandra closed her eyes.
Knock, knock.
“I brought the cheeseburger you requested,” said a soldier on the other side of the door.
Davey smirked and opened the door. A uniformed officer looked inside and made a sour face, seeing what he recognized to be a scene of 'enhanced' interrogation.
“Thanks, I was hungry. But
uh...
is this really an American-style cheeseburger?”
“
Ah!
Well... Yes, I believe so.”
Davey narrowed his eyes slightly at the response. Not that it really mattered, he supposed. “Thanks. You can all probably begin entering the island soon.”
“Understood. I’ll to the captain.”
After he left, Davey placed the cheeseburger on the table in front of her. He then untied the ropes binding her.
“What are you doing?”
“You want to die, right? At least have something tasty before you go,” he said bluntly.
She quietly stared at the cheeseburger. It was a strange-looking food.
Then, closing her eyes tightly, she forced herself to take a bite, only for her eyes to immediately shoot wide open. “This! Can I have a little more?”
Hearing the absurd request, Davey frowned. “That was the last one. Why would I have prepared more? Didn’t you say you wanted to die?”
“J-Just a little more before that.”
He was left speechless at her shamelessness.
* * *
“
Keheheh.
Just as I expected.”
A tall man wearing a crow mask stood alone on the rooftop of a high-rise under the night lights of the city. He spread his arms wide and chuckled leisurely—everything was going according to plan.
Seeing her memories from when she died, her hatred for humanity, and the grudge against the one who betrayed her, thus wanting death from it all, gave him immense pleasure.
“
Ahhhh.
What a beautiful tragedy.” Letting out a sinister laugh, he gazed into the empty air ahead. To others, it was just empty space, but his gaze behind the mask was clearly locked onto something.
“Yes, yes... Let it unfold just like this. The plan has been moved up a bit, but it doesn’t matter. Dying once won’t hurt you.” His chilling laughter echoed briefly.
Unlike him, Chandra remembered nothing—especially not the most important thing.
However, he was different. He remembered everything from their days in Paladia. He even knew why he had awakened on Earth.
“Humans really are dazzling.”
The brilliant nightscape made the city appear beautiful. Yet to him, the city reeked of contradictions.
It looked radiant and gorgeous, yet beneath it all, it was rotting and festering. Nothing thrilled him more than such depravity.
“Now then... go on and die! What’s the harm in dying? It’s just one more time.”
He had always intended to kill Chandra. Her death was merely a minor step in his greater plan..
Weakened as she was, her power had fallen far below his standards. Sure, the human variable who had overpowered her was surprisingly strong, but he hadn’t expected her to survive and awaken again.
He had poured all of his power into her so that when she was inevitably killed, she could revive using that power.
Despite being the conduit, the source of the power came from elsewhere, so he lost nothing in the exchange. Of course, after passing that power along, he had been in no shape to use any of his own for a while. Still, he was certain that the human would be the one to strike her down.
Once she faced death once again, it’d strengthen her, and her memories would slowly return. Once she finally realized she had been dancing in the palm of his hand all along... He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face.
The moment that human took her head would be the first step to kick off his grand plan.
“
Huh?
”
She then said something unexpected.
-
Um... can I try a little more of this?
The woman who had, until just a moment before, wished only for death was suddenly showing hesitation.
Panicking, the man in the crow mask shouted, “Hey!!!
She had to die there! If she didn’t, the power he had embedded in her would dissolve into nothing. Such a deviation from the plan was absolutely unacceptable.
The fact that she had been captured so easily certainly wasn’t ideal, but it was within the range of possibilities he’d considered. In fact, he had even used it to his advantage and planned further accordingly.
He believed the human would uncover something special on the island Chandra had stayed at. Once the human got hold of it, that’d open up even more flexible routes for his plan.
The unexpected military involvement had been a surprise, but he had never considered that some grunt soldier would be the one to discover it.
He totally didn’t expect her to build hesitation toward death because of a cheeseburger—a damned human snack!
‘Goddamned humans!’
Furious, he stomped on the rooftop, his rage exploding. “This can’t be happening... Damn you, you walking variable! This can’t be happening! She’s mine! Her fate should be decided only by me!!”
His fury was beyond comprehension. Since he had already given her the power to resurrect, believing she’d die soon after, he was left as powerless as a regular human. In fact, in his current state, he was even weaker than one.
Clunk!
“Hey! Who’s up here?!” Just then, the rooftop door slammed open and a security guard appeared, flashlight in hand.
“
Geh?!
” The man in the crow mask flinched in surprise and quickly turned his head.
No one was supposed to be there. He couldn’t believe that a human had noticed his presence.
Frantic, he tried to think fast on his feet. “
Uhhh.
I-I got lost.”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that? The building’s been closed for hours. What are you doing up here? You can’t camp out here! Come on, move!” The guard approached and grabbed his arm.
‘This damned human! I could tolerate Chandra, but a lowly bug-like creature dares have the nerve to lay a hand on me?’
Enraged, the man in the crow mask began to exude killing intent.
“Hey! What’s your problem? Get out! Out!” Despite his attempt at resistance, the guard simply dragged him out without hesitation.
“
Guh!!
” He rolled on the ground, grinding his teeth.
‘How dare a worthless commoner throw me out like a piece of trash?! Damn that variable! This is all because of that damn, unpredictable human!’

.
!
Chapter 1166