The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1194

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1194

Chapter 1194
Moderation was one of the people from Earth whom Evangeline had granted permission to enter the villa island containing her lair.
Using a special magic artifact to come visit her, he found an unexpected figure lying on one of the sunbeds placed along the beach.
“Reina?”
“
Hm?
What’s up? Eva’s not here right now.”
“What are you doing out here?”
She silently gazed out over the sea. “I’m from an inland region, so I never had many chances to see the ocean.”
“
Ah.
Sorry to hear that,” he replied.
“It’s fine. If I’d wanted to, I could’ve seen it at any time. Even when the world was being destroyed by demons, I often saw the sea for the sake of the war.”
What she meant was that she had never seen a beach so peaceful and bright.
To her, the sea had only ever meant blood, the stench of iron, and fire blazing on the waves.
“A peaceful, quiet beach like this? This is the only one I’ve seen.”
She’d been working part-time on Earth, but there was some time left until Mr. Jung opened his new store. She seemed to be enjoying the rare calm.
“
Ummm.
That girl you usually hang out with... Super Ribbon, was it?”
“She’s right around the corner, studying for exams.”
Moderation went quiet for a moment, sensing the awkward atmosphere. Then, trying to break the tension, he brought up Evangeline. “Anyway, about that rainbow-colored slime. It’s not dangerous, right? It’s just... with Evangeline receiving that much luck, it makes me a bit uneasy.”
“The rainbow slime?”
“Yes. I know meeting one brings good luck, but actually keeping one around like that is kind of...”
“He said there’s no issue.” With that, Reina stood up from her sunbed, her swimsuit on full display. “He’s a lot more capable than you might think.”
“
Oh.
Don’t worry, I know all too well how capable he is...”
“From what I could dig up, there’s nothing to worry about.” She shrugged. “It'll work out somehow. Hey, since you’re here, want to join us for a meal? We’re meeting up with Al Hajat, Chris, and Kouna for lunch.”
The meal would be attended by an American hero, a Middle Eastern prince, and a high-ranking Awakened individual from Japan.
Moderation felt a sudden pang of inferiority. “Would it be okay for me to join them?”
“What’s the problem? You’re Evangeline’s closest friend.”
He hesitated. “Well... Yeah, but...”
“If we’re just talking about status, I don’t really have a leg to stand on either. I’m just a guest here too.”
‘When did a hero become just a guest?’
Thinking bitterly, Moderation gave a quiet nod.
“
Huh?
Reina, what’s that?”
That was when Moderation pointed toward the sea. Reina pushed up her sunglasses and followed his gaze, only for her eyes to abruptly widen.
In the blink of an eye, she grabbed him and leaped away in a flash.
Boom!!
Something beyond their imagination had appeared.
“
Huh?!
”
What burst out of the sea was a massive seal, easily over ten meters long.
“
Arf! Arf! Arf!
”
Flopping up onto the sand, the creature stared down at a trembling Moderation. Without hesitation, it licked him all over with its massive tongue.
“
Aaaah!!
Reina, help me!!” he screamed in panic.
Reina, who had been momentarily still watching the scene, finally made another move. However, before she could do anything, the seal pounced on her next.
“
Kyaa!
What are you doing?!”
“
Arf! Arf! Arf!
”
Like an over-friendly dog, it began licking Reina enthusiastically and rubbed its huge head against her body.
“
Ahh!
That tickles!! Stop it!!”
Any sense of threat vanished instantly, its behavior clearly affectionate. Though it was unclear where it had come from, after rubbing against Reina for a while, it eventually pulled back and flopped down on the sand to stare at her silently.
“
Ummm.
Reina... are giant seals like this common in Tionis?”
“Not a chance. While the marine species of Tionis aren’t identical to Earth’s, they’re mostly similar—excluding monsters. Still, even among the monsters of Tionis, nothing like this exists.”
Basically, it was just a really, really big seal.
Still stunned by the absurd situation, Reina finally moved to grab the communication crystal next to her sunbed and it to Davey.
Boom!!
A massive noise roared from the ocean again.
Suddenly, enormous octopus tentacles shot out of the water, each easily dozens of meters long. They quickly constricted the seal and began dragging it back under.
“
Arf! Arf!
” The seal let out pitiful cries and desperately resisted being pulled in.
“
Uhhh.
What is even happening right now?”
“That looks like... a subspecies of a kraken. Even so, its size is way too big.”
Just like the seal, the tentacled creature was abnormally massive.
“Isn’t that dangerous? Why is that even here...?”
“Dangerous? Do you really think Evangeline would let something like that hurt her? Besides, subspecies of krakens aren’t destructive to the environment. In fact, they taste amazing.” She sighed, watching as the kraken dragged the seal into the sea.
“We’ll have to save it...” Moderation insisted.
“Yeah, I’ve been craving grilled octopus anyway.” After taking a breath, she stretched her hand toward the sky. Mana swirled around her finger, then condensed into shimmering golden blades of light floating in the air.
“
Whoa...
”
Still in her swimsuit and hair whipping in the sea breeze, Reina summoned golden weapons into the sky.
Moderation could only stare, speechless.
He found her beautiful, yet despite her beauty, he felt like there was something strangely distant about her.
[Telekinetic Blade]
The swordsmanship she’d learned from Davey was far too complex for the short time she'd been given to study it.
However, she was Illyna de Pallan. It was a known fact that Illyna’s talent with the sword was enough to make the Sword God Ares gasp in shock.
Sling.
Sensing the hostility in her movements, the giant octopus tentacles quickly tossed the seal aside and turned toward her.
As if the tentacles had eyes, they precisely flew at her with terrifying speed.
Boom!! Boom!!
The kraken resisted instinctively, feeling its survival was at stake.
Though the kraken subspecies was larger than a normal octopus, it was still no more than a colossal squid. In addition, those creatures played a helpful ecological role by preying on species that destabilized the environment.
Surprisingly, this particular one even seemed genuinely frightened.
“Something’s off...” Even as she said that, her priority remained neutralizing it.
Boom!!
A massive cluster of tentacles crashed down. Naturally, the larger the body, the stronger the force behind it.
Boom! Boom!
Reina evaded gracefully and swirled her hand lightly in the air.
Swish swish swish. Squelch!!
The blades of light hovering in the air followed the motion of her fingertips, stabbing the tentacles and pinning them to the ground.
A sorrowful and grotesque shriek rang out across the beach.
Even with their massive size, the parts of the tentacles exposed above the water couldn’t do anything after being impaled and immobilized. However, the kraken subspecies had anywhere from dozens to over a hundred limbs.
As its tentacles were being overwhelmed, it desperately threw everything it had at Reina in resistance.
Boom!! Swoosh!!
One of the huge tentacles burst out from beneath the sand and wrapped around her leg. She flinched, her face hardening as she prepared to cut it away.
The kraken, realizing that swords of light appeared every time she waved her arms, reacted first. It entangled both her arms in an instant and pinned them tightly.
Unfortunately for the kraken, it wasn’t strong enough to tear her limbs off. Despite her delicate appearance, her physical capabilities weren’t something any sea creature could hope to deal with.
“Reina!” Moderation shouted, his eyes widening as he saw her get lifted into the air with her arms and legs bound.
He quickly scanned his surroundings before snatching up the metal umbrella stand near the sunbed.
However, he never got the chance to act. Her previously calm expression darkened before he could do anything.
“Falling Petals. Sword Rain.”
Her quiet murmur triggered a horrifying sight. Suddenly appearing from seemingly nowhere, a thousand swords of light poured down like rain, bombarding the sea and beach.
Each blade energy was made of Aura, demonstrating the true power of the one known as the Hero of Light.
The rain of blades didn’t just stab through the tentacles that bound her—it shredded them completely. The blades slammed into the sand and the ocean alike, skewering everything in their path.
Along with the hidden limbs beneath the surface, the flailing tentacles bled as they dropped to the ground, twitching.
Overwhelmed by the sudden exertion of power, Reina landed on the ground, her face still dark as she staggered slightly.
“Reina! Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine. Just... remembered something unpleasant,” she murmured softly, grabbing one of the remaining floating swords.
It was an energy sword, less durable due to being split into a thousand copies, yet its strength was no different from any other typical sword wrapped with sword energy.
Boom!!
Realizing its limbs had all been neutralized, the kraken’s massive body finally emerged from beneath the waves.
“
Arf! Arf! Arf!
” The terrified seal scrambled away and fled back into the ocean.
“
Kiaaa!!!
” The kraken screamed at its foe.
Reina calmly lowered the energy sword in her hand, then firmly gripped the bottom of the hilt with her other hand. She first took a short breath, then closed her eyes.
The best swordsman in the world was likely Davey. Beneath him would perhaps be Illyna or the Princess of the Abyss Isildi.
Compared to them, Reina’s swordsmanship might seem lacking. Even so, that didn’t mean she had grown weak.
“Sorry... I know you’re in pain.” She slashed the sword upward in a wide, diagonal arc. A massive golden blade energy erupted like a cannon blast, cutting clean through part of the creature’s body.
Having spent the last of its strength, the kraken could no longer resist. It collapsed, exhaling a burst of black smoke as it lay sprawled out and motionless.
“What... in the...”
The once beautiful beach had become a wreck, devastated after a single swing of her sword.
That was when the air tore open and Davey appeared. “What is this? What happened here?”
“
Ah. Uhhh.
” Moderation didn’t know what to say
“What’s that now?”
Reina informed him, “It’s a subspecies of kraken. It suddenly attacked us.”
“
Hm?
Don’t tell me...” Davey walked toward the limp tentacles, deep in thought.
“You don’t think this has anything to do with the rainbow slime, do you?” Reina asked cautiously, knowing about both the supposed luck that rainbow slimes brought and his concerns about them.
However, his response was enough to make her freeze.
“That damned Gourmet Research Society. I gave them funding for their activities, and this is what they’re doing with it?!”
The culprits were the Gourmet Research Society.
Just then, the sound of people frantically fleeing echoed in the distance.
“I’ll give you three seconds. Get over here.”
The three figures that had been running suddenly froze in place. It only took a moment before they hesitantly stepped forward and stood in front of Davey.
Yuria avoided eye contact and whistled; Rinne was drooling while staring at the fallen kraken subspecies; and Marky just looked completely exhausted.
“What is that thing?”
Facing his fierce questioning, Yuria answered awkwardly, “
Ummm.
I don’t know what you mean...”
“You want to just tell me, or should I give you a memory you won’t ever forget?”
“
Ahaha.
So, apparently, the Pallan Empire’s auction had two Giant Fruit items available. Since kraken subspecies taste great but are hard to find, we figured we’d raise one with the fruit to make it tastier...”
Davey had no words.
“
Umm.
Gracious Savior, since we’ve already caught it, want to help us cook it up? You used to love eating it, remember? Even better, I’m pretty confident in my cooking...”
“Do whatever you want...” Davey let out a deep sigh.
Moderation, watching the whole exchange, wore a dumbfounded expression.
‘So the Gourmet Research Society is the one that caused this whole mess?’
He was still standing motionless in a daze when something approached him.
“
Woahhh!!!
”
Thud!!
A rainbow slime, gleaming with radiant colors, had slammed right into his stomach. It then immediately zipped over to Reina and stuck itself to her like glue.
“Wait, is that... a rainbow slime?!”
“What? Where did this one come from?”
The one that had already hatched was obviously with Evangeline. Since she was on Earth in her studio, there was no way that same slime could be there with them. That meant the one in front of them must have only just hatched from one of the other eggs in that pool.
“But why is a rainbow slime sticking to you this time?”
When the rainbow slime clinging to her waist began to move in a strange way, she grabbed it with one hand and lifted it up. “I don’t know, but
ugh.
The way this thing moves...”
The moment she finished, the slime wriggled out of her grip and slid onto her bosom, stretching itself out to cling to her like clothing.
“
Kyaah!
You little pervert, get off me!” she wailed.
The rainbow slime drooped and fell off, then sluggishly slithered back in dejection.
“What the hell is wrong with that thing?”
“No idea.”
That was when it happened—the dejected rainbow slime suddenly began to glow and transform into someone else.
That someone happened to be... Davey.
Again.
Seeing what it transformed into, her face flushed a deep, burning red. “T-This is just... I-I mean...!”
She stumbled over her words, yet Davey said nothing at all.
Meanwhile, in the distance, a black shape observed them silently. It bounced lightly, then quickly retreated back to the pond where the remaining eggs were.
It stared at the two now-missing eggs, then suddenly swallowed one of them, only to spit it back out just like the other before it.
As soon as it did, the egg began to tremble ever so slightly.

.
!
Chapter 1194