The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1213

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1213

Chapter 1213
Baking in the heavy silence, Shuneria slowly stepped forward.
The deafening blasts from just moments before had vanished in what felt like an instant.
She wondered if Reina had regained control. She didn’t know why the girl had gone on a rampage, but there was one thing she kept in mind.
‘Those people must’ve had their own reasons.’
From what Shuneria could see through her gifted eyes, Reina looked like a radiant white angel. No, something even beyond that. To then see such a pure being corrupted by something black was nothing short of tragic.
“
Ummm.
” However, at that moment, something bothered her more than Reina.
Boom!!
It was the man following closely behind, guarding her.
The lowest-ranked Executioner. His name was Shardran. He was the one Davey had subdued, the original owner of the mask Shuneria now wore. She had become operation partners with a mana-enhanced warrior who just took down a guard with his bare hands.
“What is going on?”
Shuneria looked at Shardran with a conflicted expression.
“Why... are you helping me?”
“Didn’t you say saving your siblings was more urgent than that?”
She didn’t know what to say in response.
He didn’t look like he was planning to backstab her or lead her into a trap. In all honesty, she couldn’t even think of a reason why he would.
Besides, if he wanted to, he could overpower her on the spot.
Davey had given her a guardian stone, but she didn’t even know what it actually did. Without understanding anything, she had pushed her way deep underground on a free pass.
After a while, she finally came upon a massive, aged door.
“This is it...”
“Step aside. If you just open it as is, your hand will burn off.” With those words, Shardran quietly wrapped his hand in mana and twisted the doorknob.
Crack!!!
Some kind of protective magic seemed to be in place, but it didn’t last long before breaking under his grip. His mana control was beyond imagination, even staggering.
With a reinforced hand, he ripped the door clean off and tossed it aside, then pointed into the room. There sat two children, a boy and a girl, on the floor with their arms tied behind their backs.
“Shunaitz! Shunia!” The sight of her precious siblings made Shuneria forget all caution. She rushed forward without hesitation.
She embraced them, tears running down her cheeks as she pulled their limp bodies into her arms.
“
Ah! Aaah,
” she wept aloud in a trembling voice. “I’m sorry... I’m so sorry... Your big sister is sorry...”
Ever since her parents were executed, her desire for revenge against the emperor had never wavered. Seeing her siblings bound and locked away in such a cold, cruel place, she couldn’t help but blame her own choices.
Maybe if she had just given in to the Empire and let others call her a traitor, at least her siblings wouldn’t have ended up like that.
Perhaps it was her warmth, or maybe her voice that had reached them. The two siblings slowly began to lift their heads.
“Sis...?”
The one who responded first was her younger brother, Shunaitz.
“Yes! It’s me! Your big sister’s here now!”
“Sis?
Ngh.
”
Compared to his younger sister, Shunaitz bore far more visible bruises. She assumed he had likely taken the beatings in her place.
Thankfully, Shunia seemed physically unharmed, though it appeared she had fainted from emotional trauma.
“It’s okay. It’s all okay now. I’m here. I came to save you.”
“How...
Huh?!
” His expression then twisted in fear once his eyes landed on Shardran.
“A-An Executioner!”
“Long time no see, kid.”
Shuneria’s eyes narrowed as she watched her brother tremble. “What happened?”
“Well, no point hiding it—I’m the one who brought these two here.”
She was speechless.
‘What in the world is he trying to pull?’
Shuneria stepped back protectively in front of her siblings, glaring at him with narrowed eyes.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. If I hadn’t brought them personally, they’d be dead.”
“How do you expect me to believe that? You’re an Executioner.”
“Come on, I also have my own situation. You think I’d take that kind of gamble without a reason?”
She then figured there was no use arguing, as it seemed he wasn’t going to say more. While it wasn’t like she had zero complaints, what mattered most at that moment was getting everyone out while Reina tore the facility apart.
“Alright, then. Shall we go?”
“Wait!” Shuneria called out to him.
“What now?”
“What about the others...?”
“Is this really the time for that?”
“Even so...”
The people still imprisoned there would be left behind, waiting for death, with no idea if or when help would come.
“That’s not right.”
Hearing her words, Shardran’s eyes narrowed. “How about you worry about yourself first?
Eh?
”
“None of them are real criminals! They were all brought here unfairly!”
“So? What are you trying to say?”
“I’ll trust you. Please get my siblings to safety.”
“And you?”
“There’s a central control room that manages all the cell gates in this facility. I’m going to open them all.”
Hearing her firm declaration, Shardran sighed. “Are you stupid? Have you lost your mind?”
“I know how stupid it sounds! But there are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people imprisoned here! What, should we just leave them all to die?!”
Shardran let out another deep sigh. “You take these two and get out.”
“What?”
“I know this place better than you do, so just take your siblings and go. Most of the guards are either gone or unconscious already. You’ll get out without further trouble.”
“But—!”
“Go, before I change my mind.” He waved her off while sighing again.
Shuneria stared at him with a complicated expression. “Why are you doing this? You’re...”
“An Executioner who serves His Majesty, is that what you were gonna say?”
“Yeah...” She again couldn’t help but wonder why a servant of the emperor would help someone like her.
“I’ll explain later. It’s kind of a long story.”
As he turned to walk away, Shuneria called out once more, “W-Wait!”
“What now?”
“Take... Take this with you.”
She held out the guardian stone Davey had given her.
“Come back alive. You still have to explain everything once you’re back.”
“Feels like a losing deal... but alright.” He took the stone, tucked it into his coat, and disappeared into the shadows.
Shuneria quickly undid her siblings’ restraints and lifted them to their feet.
“Sis—how did you...?”
“No time to explain! Just follow me!”
Explosions from Reina’s rampage echoed through the underground facility.
* * *
As Executioner Shardran passed by the guards lying on the ground, they groaned through gritted teeth in bitterness, “
Grrr.
T-Traitor...”
He said nothing in response to them.
‘Looking back now, that Shuneria Recken truly is quite the cunning girl.’
“So she was testing my resolve with this...?”
Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. His decision remained unchanged.
“More importantly... With all that chaos going on outside, you folks were just hiding in here, waiting to see how things turned out in case you could make a run for it? Even if this place wasn’t under attack, you'd all be eligible for immediate execution,” Shardran coldly snapped at the fallen men, shaking the blood off of his hands. He then slowly stepped forward and placed his hand on the magic control panel, drawing up mana.
If it had been Alvo, the muscle-headed Commander of the Executioners, he might not have managed to manipulate the control panel. Yet even as the lowest-ranking member, Shardran was skilled in mana. That level of control wasn’t difficult for him.
The metal bars visible through the many crystal spheres began moving all at once. The prisoners, who had been watching everything from their cells in despair, visibly flinched in surprise.
He activated the audio output system and calmly told them, “Take the chance while you have it! If you're going to escape, now’s your only chance.”
Nothing more needed to be said.
“What are you doing?!”
“What do you think? It's about time someone corrected this madness.” Shardran smiled coldly.
Shuneria had already shaken off him—the most dangerous variable in her eyes—and gotten away. He found her to be both clever and terrifying. Even if he’d truly intended to betray them from the beginning, the outcome left him with very few remaining options.
He let out a hollow laugh.
She’d even entrusted him with a protection stone. However, there was no way an Executioner would seriously put his faith in some talisman with no detectable mana.
“There’s no one here who can beat me, anyways.”
The one meant to guard the facility was the number one ranked Executioner, Stobel Barsha, but he was away leading a conquest on the emperor’s orders.
That meant no one there had the power to stop him.
“Alright, guess I’ll start making my esca—”
Crack!! Boom!!
Suddenly, an eerie sound ripped through the air, the kind that sent signals through every nerve in his body.
Instinctively, Shardran threw himself aside. Even so, the sword energy left a deep gash in his side.
“
Argh.
” His face twisted in pain from the surprise attack. “Can’t be that lucky,
huh?
”
Clutching his bleeding side, he stumbled back, eventually collapsing near the control panel.
“You dare betray His Majesty, Shardran?”
“
Haaah.
Come on, man. How is this betrayal?”
His attacker sneered coldly.
There was nowhere to run. With only one exit, breaking through another wall would take time. Even if he could, he wouldn’t make it even three steps before Stobel Barsha, the monster standing before him, cut him down.
‘I can’t die yet...’
He hadn’t even accomplished anything yet. It couldn’t end in such a way.
‘Is this what people mean when they say you shouldn’t go chasing waterfalls? To please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to? Jesus.’
He regretted his choice for a second, but soon shook off the thought. His actions had saved countless lives that would’ve ended if he stood by.
‘Yeah. This was always the right thing to do.’
He let out a powerless smile. He could resist, but the outcome was effectively already decided. He could run, but he’d inevitably be caught. Still, he figured he might as well buy them some time.
Stobel Barsha, standing before him, was the Empire’s strongest weapon. Despite his appearance being that of a middle-aged man with a kind face, with strands of gray in his hair, his combat power was overwhelmingly unmatched even among the Executioners.
There were even rumors that he might not be human at all.
“His Majesty does not forgive traitors. Speak, Shardran. Why did you do this?” His tone suggested he found it a shame to kill his subordinate.
Shardran cleared his mind and finally spoke, “Why don’t you shave off that ridiculous mustache first?”
Stobel was left speechless.
“What I’m doing right now is true loyalty.”
Stobel wordlessly raised his sword. “No matter what decision His Majesty makes, our duty is to follow it. Anyone who defies that loses the right to call themselves an Executioner.”
With no one left to save him, Stobel brought the sword down toward Shardran.
Shardran shut his eyes with a hollow smile, waiting for the sharp, clean pain that would follow.
However, the impact never came. Instead, something in his coat pocket burned fiercely.
Crack!!
Startled by the sound, his eyes flew open. His jaw then dropped to the ground.
Someone had blocked Stobel’s sword. It was a tiny boy with hair the same color as the ocean.
The boy had blocked the blade with his... forehead.
“
Oww!
That hurts...”
He couldn’t believe how a human—a child, no less—took a blow from that monster’s sword head-on. He knew even titanium couldn’t hold up against something like that.
Thud!!
Then came another sound. The two turned around, only to see something flopping around.
“A fish? No... a mermaid?”
A mermaid lay sprawled out, gasping for water. “
Gyaaah!
Guardian! There’s no water here!!”
“You idiot! I told you not to follow me!”
“How could I not follow you when you said you were going out in place of Killer Rabbit?! Besides, Guardian! Water! I’m going to dry up and die!!”
“Bullshit! You were sunbathing on that damned sand beach just yesterday!”
“
Kyaa!
My pretty scales are getting scratched!”
They were creatures from Earth: Tyrant of the Undersea and primordial predator Behemoth, and the immortal mermaid So-Ya, clinging to him as always.
“What... did that girl give me...?” Staring blankly at the bizarre scene, Shardran realized the guardian stone that had just flared to life had been the summoning medium.
‘Seriously, what the hell did she hand me?’
Clack!!
Just then, Stobel twisted his blade to strike the boy again, and the blue-haired boy’s eyes flashed. His arm then suddenly grew massive.
In what felt like an instant, he had already grabbed Stobel’s leg and swung him like a rag doll, demonstrating a strength no one could imagine coming from a boy his size.
“You arrogant brat! You’ve got a death wish!!”
Thud!! Thud!! Thud!!!
With a massive arm several meters long, the boy slammed Stobel over and over into the ground.
A boy with a monstrous arm battering the top Executioner, and a mermaid flailing like fresh fish on a cutting board.
Shardran, who didn’t know Behemoth’s true form, couldn’t believe what was unfolding in front of him.

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Chapter 1213