The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1196

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1196

Chapter 1196
Park Seung-Hyun knew that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. The present moment might be the one that changed his entire future.
Countless thoughts raced through his mind.
At first, he had come here simply out of concern for Evangeline. Yet there he was involving himself with Evangeline’s issue already pushed aside. Even he had to admit it was kind of ridiculous.
He let out a short sigh.
‘Alright. Just say it. Be brave.’
Looking at Davey, someone who seemed like he really might grant any request, Park Seung-Hyun, worked up the courage to speak.
“
Ummm.
Do you love Reina?”
Seeing him ask that with a blushing face, Yulis let out a whistle. “
Ah,
young love. Good times! That flutter when things are just beginning is the best part.”
“But is this considered even a situationship?” Seung-Hyun knew the two of them weren’t in that kind of relationship yet.
“Why not?” Yulis answered without hesitation. “Well, maybe if it were anyone else, but Reina’s a bit...”
“That’s not happening,” Davey replied firmly.
They’d just been playing cards and chatting like old friends, but this was something Seung-Hyun couldn’t accept quietly. He pushed back just as quickly. “Why not?! As far as I know, Reina doesn’t have anyone she’s seeing.”
“Do you know why that is?”
Davey sighed as he posed the question, and Seung-Hyun gave a slow nod. “I heard it from Eva. She has androphobia...”
“Yes. That’s part of it, but even that is something which can be healed over time. The real problem is...”
Davey stood and walked over to a cabinet, then pulled out a bottle of wine. “
Haaah.
I'd like to support you, truly. Here, have a drink.”
He poured the deep, fragrant wine into a glass and handed it to Seung-Hyun.
Technically speaking, Davey had no right to dictate who Reina should or shouldn’t see. Instead, he tried his best not to speak unilaterally, knowing that Seung-Hyun had feelings for her.
“Why...? Why is it not possible?”
Davey solemnly asked, “How long do you think Reina will live?”
The question instantly caught him off guard.
“Humans and Celestials are different. She was raised in a completely different world, as well. She’s not someone who can easily open her heart to another.”
In short, they had foundational differences which would likely prove difficult to overcome.
“Seung-Hyun. Let’s say you live another sixty years—a hundred years, if we’re generous. Then what about Reina, who’ll be left behind after you pass away?”
His face paled at the thought.
“Of course, the choice is hers. Yet from where I stand, I’d rather stop her.”
The weight in his voice made his stance clear. Seung-Hyun couldn’t say anything in response for a long time.
For someone like Reina, who was carrying such a heavy burden, a moment’s selfish affection wasn’t enough to reach her.
* * *
Without the slightest clue about what Park Seung-Hyun had done, Reina was busy dealing with a much more immediate headache.
“
Ugh!! Uuuugh!!
” Nightmare struggled to forcibly peel the rainbow slime off of her.
Both of them had a similar obsession with Reina. Physically, Nightmare was overwhelmingly more powerful. Yet whenever it was in front of her, it turned into a docile kitten, doing everything it could to restrain itself.
“
Haah.
Stop fighting.”
The moment she lay down on the wide, fluffy bed, both the rainbow slime and Nightmare moved in without hesitation, settling in on either side of her. It felt like two children fighting for a parent’s affection. She couldn’t help but admit how incredibly cute they were.
Reina turned her gaze toward the slime that was stretched out lazily to her right, claiming a prime spot with all the confidence in the world.
It had turned into Davey a while back, which had left her completely flustered. She still didn’t know how she was supposed to look Davey in the eye after that misunderstanding.
“I...”
Letting out a sigh, she rolled onto her side and tried to sort out her thoughts. Even with the misunderstanding, she still didn’t see Davey as a romantic partner.
To her, he was a benefactor she deeply appreciated, or perhaps just a family member. He reminded her of the older brothers she had lost long ago.
On the other hand, that person Park Seung-Hyun was different. He was both Evangeline’s savior and her streaming partner.
They’d first met by coincidence while she was working part-time, and his awkward reactions had been so cute that she frequently teased him just for fun.
His personality was good; he wasn’t rough around the edges; and more than anything, unlike her, it seemed he had different feelings toward her.
Even so, she couldn’t return those feelings.
The reason was simple—she was afraid.
Men who approached her romantically were still terrifying for her.
It seemed Davey was hoping she’d find stability and recover, yet for her, the present situation was the most peaceful she had ever felt. If possible, she wanted to stay like that forever.
Of course, romance between men and women was a natural part of any species’ instinct, and she didn’t plan on clinging to her past traumas forever.
She had even seen Davey’s friend Maximus and the Imperial Princess Morziana, sister of the Emperor Contas, have a situationship back when she was still active as the Hero of Light.
She was curious, sure, but getting close to someone still scared her. She didn’t want to overthink it.
Just then, she heard a rustling sound near her lower body.
Lifting her head slightly to the left, she found Nightmare scribbling on the surface of the sleeping rainbow slime with a magic marker it had somehow smuggled in.
“
Shhh.
” The moment their eyes met, it brought a finger to its lips before breaking into a mischievous giggle.
“
Pfft.
” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah... pretending not to know isn’t the right thing to do.”
Still, marching straight up to Seung-Hyun and telling him to drop his feelings didn’t feel right either.
“For now... maybe I’ll just be a little gentler.”
She stood from the bed, then took a step toward the dimensional portal that connected to Earth.
* * *
Seung-Hyun returned to Evangeline’s villa in Heins Territory, then teleported back home using the artifact he was given as a gift. Once he was back at his place, he collapsed face-down onto his bed in a daze.
He then muttered quietly to himself, “A different lifespan,
huh?
”
What started as simple curiosity had grown into something genuine. Ultimately, he had reached a point where there was nothing more he could do. He’d tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end, it didn’t even matter.
Davey had even asked the dejected Seung-Hyun if maybe he wanted to request something else instead. Still, the man wasn’t in any state to answer that properly. When he thought about how many nations had worked endlessly just to get a fraction of what he’d been offered, it was clear that Seung-Hyun wasn’t spineless.
“
Haah.
Damn it...”
Feeling completely suffocated, he suddenly jumped up and opened the fridge. His eyes scanned around, and after a moment, he grabbed a water bottle and drank it down in one go.
The cold sensation trickling down his throat cleared his head just enough to feel like he could breathe again.
“Right... I should have seen this coming.” Resigned and trying to accept reality, he shook his head. “Whatever. Let’s just focus on drawing.”
The art event was coming up soon. Evangeline had decided to participate as well, so he needed to focus on his own work.
“
Hmm?
What’s that?”
Then something caught his eye. Drawn by a strange feeling, he approached a dark corner of the room. Even when he looked around, he saw nothing.
“Must be my nerves acting up... there’s nothing here,” he muttered with a tired sigh, then turned to leave.
Suddenly, a wave of chilling cold wrapped around him.
“
Ugh.
What the hell...?” He shivered violently from the sudden goosebumps, quickly spinning around in fear.
Just when he began to doubt himself once more, a grotesque, wet sound echoed through the room.
Squelch!!!
* * *
“This should be the place...” Reina, having received no response from Seung-Hyun, decided to go find him herself, making her way to the address she had memorized.
“Wow!
This is a nice place.”
For someone his age, she knew it couldn’t have been easy getting a house so expensive. Then again, she reminded herself that he was actually a fairly high-profile streamer.
Ding-dong!
She pressed the doorbell at the entrance and waited for a reply.
If he wasn’t home, it would be a wasted trip, yet for some reason, something inside told her he was home.
When the house remained utterly silent, she wondered if it was just her imagination and slightly frowned. “Maybe... I really did come too suddenly without notice.”
She hadn’t even contacted him in advance, so complaining or being upset about getting no answer made her feel ridiculous.
After pressing the bell a few more times and still getting no response, she sighed and turned to leave.
Or rather, tried to.
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
A familiar, disgusting, and revolting smell hit her nostrils—one she knew all too well.
Wham!
Without a second thought, she vaulted over the wall and entered the property. She then dove lightly through an already-opened window.
‘This is technically trespassing, right?’
Though the thought crossed her mind, she couldn’t stop herself. The stench hitting her nose wasn’t something one would ever encounter in a normal situation.
Bursting into the room, Reina immediately froze. “Seung-Hyun!”
He lay collapsed on the floor, completely still, a pool of blood spreading beneath him.
Surrounding him were armored knights, calmly inspecting the area while completely ignoring his perilous state.
Sling!!!
The moment they noticed Reina, the knights drew their weapons and pointed them at her.
Their armor looked different from that of Tionis knights, in a way. The magical essence within the suits was rather considerably powerful for something worn by an ordinary soldier.
“Who are you people!?” Her eyes darted between the unconscious Seung-Hyun and the knights. She rapidly pieced the situation together.
There was no need to ask who had stabbed him. A chilling aura flickered behind her eyes.
Seung-Hyun was just an ordinary person. Even if he was a well-known streamer, there was no reason for armored knights to storm into his house and stab him.
She swiftly drew a golden energy sword from thin air and pointed it at them, knowing there was no time for pointless chatter if she wanted to save him. She charged straight at them.
One of the knights raised a thin rune-inscribed shield and stepped forward to block her. The smirk under his helmet made it clear how little he thought of her.
Boom!
Her sword was an energy sword, a weapon that condensed mana. While she could draw upon the celestial power unique to her kind, she was also accustomed to wielding mana directly. Thanks to her excellent skill with swords, her energy sword was absurdly sharp, unmatched by most.
“What—?!”
The knight had blocked her sword. To be precise, a parry disrupted the mana structure of the energy sword, interfering with her strike.
She had never seen gear like that before, realizing that it must have been what gave them such confidence.
The way the knights lunged at her with their spears was nothing like that of ordinary soldiers or knights. Their movements were much sharper.
Reina narrowly evaded a strike with a swift leap, her brows furrowing.
“Be careful. Looks like this world has its own version of enhanced soldiers.”
“
Ha!
How primitive. They’re still using mana in its raw form.”
They muttered to each other, clearly assuming she couldn’t understand them.
Reina said nothing. She simply reconstructed her energy sword using the same mana.
In response, the same knight who had blocked her before stepped forward again, shield raised.
Boom!!!
Their weapons clashed once more. However, this time the result was different.
Slash!!!
“
Guh!
W-What...” He collapsed, sliced clean in half along with his shield and armor, without ever understanding how he had died.
The remaining knights jumped back with their weapons raised, visibly shaken.
“I’ve gauged your level enough now.”
Slash!!!
It was already too late for them. Reina closed the gap with the nearest enemies and summoned another blade midair, driving it straight into her next target.
“
Gah!!
”
She pierced through the second knight’s kidney, lungs, and throat all at once.
The final knight, left alone among their fallen comrades, stumbled back with a horrified expression.
“
Aaaagh!!
” Screaming in fear, he swung his weapon at her wildly.
Whummm!!
A massive surge of mana rippled through the air, but she didn’t stop. Slipping past his strike, she swiftly decapitated him.
She had taken down all three knights in an instant.
“
Haa...
” She grimaced, knowing that she had gone overboard just because Seung-Hyun was down.
The disgusting, sneering smirk of the knight who had blocked her before had even triggered her trauma for a brief moment.
Still, she couldn’t stop there. While she had to check if there were more attackers, more importantly, she needed to move Seung-Hyun to safety.
‘He’s lost too much blood. Only one person can save him now.’
Even if she rushed him to a hospital, it wouldn’t be enough. He had already surpassed the limit of what she could heal, too.
Without hesitation, Reina lifted Seung-Hyun into her arms and departed swiftly.

.
!
Chapter 1196