The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1217

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1217

Chapter 1217
There were many enemies ready to storm the room. On the other side, Davey had only one ally to fight with.
Flopping helplessly on the ground was the mermaid So-Ya, gasping that she’d dry up and die whenever anyone made eye contact with her.
In terms of combat strength, she was completely useless.
“Your Highness.” Davey looked at the princess, her face grim, and asked, “Do you know them?”
“The Imperial Guard’s greatest squad... the Phoenix Knights. I remember seeing their faces during a past inspection.”
Hearing her explanation, he turned his gaze back to the men. Their expressions carried three things: confusion that their identities had been exposed; confusion at Davey’s presence; and a brutal hostility.
“So it’s true... you really do intend to sell out the Empire!” The man at the front glared icily at Princess Myurin.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Are you denying it, Your Highness? That man is the same one who stormed into the Imperial Capital alone and assassinated His Majesty! He slaughtered imperial soldiers! He even aided the rebels in their escape, and now you’re consorting with him in secret?!”
“That’s right! Could it be... You’ve already joined hands with him, plotting to overthrow the throne?!”
She showed a bewildered expression at their accusations. Their actions, their words, and what they wanted were simple. They meant to use their legitimacy to pressure the princess. By shouting loudly enough, they hoped to draw more attention to the scene.
However, none of that mattered.
“
Wow,
they’re saying all that stuff about you. What will you do?”
The princess fixed her gaze on them in silence. She then collected herself and spoke coldly, “Then tell me. What is it you want?”
“Apprehend that man at once! The Empire cannot share the same sky with him.”
“And?” She questioned them further, calm and deliberate.
“We will take custody of you, Your Highness. If you beg for His Majesty’s forgiveness, surely he will—”
“Hey.” She took one step forward. “Lend me a sword.”
“Here.” Davey pulled a mithril sword from his Pocket Plane and handed it to her. Without hesitation, she yanked it free of its sheath.
Clang! Clatter!
The ivory sheath clattered noisily against the marble floor.
Davey gave a sigh. “That sheath was expensive, you know...”
Hearing his mutter, her face turned red. “I-I’ll pay for it later!”
“I was kidding.”
“You really are...” She sighed and strode forward. Fixing her eyes on the man at the front, she asked, “Was that all you had to say?”
“Your Highness?”
“The current emperor abandoned the Empire and fled. Therefore, the full authority of the Empire has been entrusted to me, Myurin Prasias Nacha. As the ruler—”
Even for someone her age, her voice rang with a startling strength.
“I cannot forgive those who follow traitors to the Empire!”
Slam!!
She drove the sword into the ground, throwing a handkerchief at their feet. “Come and face me.”
Though sorrow laced her tone, her resolve was unmistakable.
The men tensed, instantly drawing their weapons.
Seeing that, the princess immediately darted behind Davey’s back. “
Kyaah!
What are you doing? Aren’t you going to help me?!”
‘What in the world?’
However, since he still wanted to confirm something with them, he gently nudged her aside and stepped forward.
On the surface, they looked like ordinary humans, having simply been swayed by the emperor’s influence. Yet, he sensed something foreign inside their bodies.
Without so much as a word, Davey directly unleashed holy power on one of them.
“
Gaaa!!!
” The man’s body ballooned grotesquely and exploded on the spot.
Everyone froze in shock, their mouths hanging open.
“So, looks like exposure to ordinary holy magic makes both host and parasite burst together...” Muttering as if conducting an experiment, Davey noticed the confusion on their faces.
They quickly realized that he had inflicted the damage.
“Y-You demon!”
They cried out in terror, yet he simply smiled. “Let’s find out what your weaknesses are.”
Seeing his grin, Princess Myurin looked rattled to her bones.
As their shrieks of agony began filling the air, she squeezed her eyes shut, covered her ears, and trembled uncontrollably.
* * *
Unlike the other Executioners, Shardran, being the lowest-ranked, enjoyed relatively more freedom in his actions.
“This place... Isn’t this the old temple where the Divine Beast dwelled in the past?” Commander Alvo and the mage Ennis asked Shardran, who was leading them.
“That’s right! But it’s been sealed off for years, and no one comes here anymore.”
“There’s no emperor here.”
Hearing Reina’s confirmation, Shardran nodded. “Most likely not, but there should be an important clue somewhere. Before I go looking for the emperor, I need to confirm something here first.”
“Hey, Shardran,” Ennis asked, “What if the current emperor really is the original emperor, and not what you think? What will you do then?”
“I swore my loyalty to His Majesty. If it turns out this was just my delusion...” He let out a faint chuckle as he kept walking. “Then I’ll pay for it with my life.”
“
Tch.
Foolish...”
“We’re here.” Shardran pulled out the ring Princess Myurin had given him.
“What’s that?”
“A signet imbued with royal blood. I asked the princess for it before we left.”
“And what does that have to do with this place?”
“Several years ago, when His Majesty suddenly began showing strange symptoms, he repeatedly visited this temple where the Divine Beast had vanished.”
“This temple?”
Alvo and Ennis exchanged puzzled glances at the unexpected revelation.
Reina wasn’t especially interested, but the two of them clearly were.
“Yes. He came alone, without telling anyone.”
“But there’s nothing here...”
“So I did an investigation, and I found something interesting sleeping beneath this temple.” He walked toward the altar at the deepest part of the temple. “Once he had completely changed, His Majesty stopped coming here altogether.”
“
Hm?
”
“No. To be precise, he couldn’t even remember this place anymore. That was the first thing to really pique my suspicion.”
Everyone quietly watched his movements. Shardran placed the signet he had received from the princess atop the altar, then stepped back. The temple was dead silent, so he closed his eyes and waited.
“Hey. There’s nothing—” Just as Ennis was about to complain, the altar split apart with a loud crack, revealing a staircase leading down below.
“Shall we?”
Facing his smile, Ennis and Alvo stood stunned for a moment.
“There was something like this here? How did you even figure it out?”
“Years of digging. It wasn’t easy.” He then began descending the stairs.
“Doesn’t seem like you need me for this,” Reina commented.
“For this place, no, but there will be others we can’t get through on our own.”
“You people sure live life the difficult way.” As if she were one to talk...
She let out a dry laugh before following them at the rear. As they delved deeper inside, the strange yet familiar aura grew stronger.
“Are you picking something up?”
“Yes. I’ve been feeling something familiar for a while now,” Reina answered.
Alvo made a puzzled face.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, everyone’s eyes widened.
“These are...!”
“They’re all sacred objects.”
Hidden in the secret chamber beneath the temple were nothing but sacred objects, precious relics.
Swords, armor, helms, gauntlets, boots—all imbued with holy power. Accessories, artifacts, even chalices and candlesticks, all radiating holy energy.
Reina realized the aura she had sensed was from those relics, prompting a strange expression.
Davey wasn’t Goddess Freyja, but he did possess divinity. Since Reina was bound to him, she was essentially a messenger of divinity. It was only natural for the relics to feel familiar to her.
“I’d heard relics had been disappearing all across the continent, but...”
“All gathered here... but why?”
“They’re all weapons of opposition,” Reina spoke almost absentmindedly, drawing their stares.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just an observation. Relics have always been used against beings of evil. Well, chalices and candlesticks are different, but the holy energy within them is all about demon-subduing and protection.”
The Executioners exchanged looks.
“You seem to know quite a lot about our relics.”
“Well... I’m not human, after all.”
Calmly moving forward, Reina drew one of the grandly-adorned greatswords from its sheath.
Dazzling light instantly burst forth. A white radiance rippled along the blade like flowing streams.
The others stared in shock, having never seen a relic react like that.
“As I thought. These are all relics steeped in demonbane power. Some are fakes... but this sword is unquestionably real.”
Shardran let out a dry laugh. “Not human,
huh...?
”
“My goddess...”
Alvo and Ennis could only gape at her.
Reina, seemingly unaware of it herself, had three pairs of radiant wings unfurl from her back, scattering feathers of light.
Her whole body resonated with the sword, pouring out both holy power and a divinity unique to Celestials.
Even those unfamiliar with holy power could only think of her as divine. She was a beautiful messenger of the gods!
As everyone watched in a daze, the mage Ennis’s eyes twitched as she noticed an object in the hands of a statue she had brushed against.
“What’s this?” She pulled a thick book out from its clutches. “
Hmph?!
”
“Get back!!”
At that moment, a sudden killing intent swept the chamber.
Reina reacted first, snapping her head around. Commander Alvo sensed it too, yanking Ennis into his arms and leaping aside.
Boom!!
It all happened in an instant.
Ennis, not comprehending what had just occurred, looked down at the book in her hands and then back at the statue that had once held it.
The angel statue had clearly been facing forward, yet its crimson eyes suddenly gleamed, locked on to Ennis. Standing beside it, armored knight-statues in massive helms were already thrusting weapons forward. She couldn’t remember when they had even moved!
All of the statues in the chamber, every single one, were coming alive.
“Stay sharp! I can feel strong power coming from them,” Shardran warned.
The angel statue lifted its head and then slowly stood up.
Boom!! Boom!!!
One after another, the statues mounted on the walls freed themselves, landing heavily on the ground.
[This is where the spirits of the nation’s guardians rest. Intruders detected.]
“What?”
[I feel blood not of the royal line. It is the ultimate sin to trespass in this holy place. In the name of the Executioners who came before us...]
The statue that had been holding the book suddenly radiated immense force, and the three Executioners tensed up.
‘Former
Executioners?’
Ennis had never heard of such a thing, and clenched her teeth. However, Alvo’s reaction was different.
“
Oh,
I’ve heard of this! Executioners who swore to serve even in death placed their souls into relics, guarding the Empire for eternity...”
“That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard!” Ennis snapped.
“Those statues... they must hold the souls of our predecessors.”
Hearing those words, Shardran gave a nervous, crooked smile. Unfortunately, they had only brought the princess’s signet. Nobody there possessed royal blood.
He figured that such a drastic shift was the consequence.
“Wait!! Please! We are Executioners, acting under His Majesty’s command! We carry the princess’s signet as well!” Alvo shouted desperately, trying to ease the situation.
However, the statues did not falter.
[This is a sanctum where holy spirits sleep. Intruders will die.]
The statues all moved to strike.
“Spirits who should’ve gone to the afterlife, hiding out here,
huh?
” Reina said from the back.
All of the statues froze, heads snapping toward her.
“You knew that staying here meant risking your chances of reincarnating, right?”
She stepped forward, lowering her holy sword with a light tap. Behind her, one pair, two pairs, three pairs of radiant white wings unfurled, scattering feathers. The white currents flowing along her blade shone brighter and faster.
A couple of statues lunged at her, so fast that it was hard to believe they were simply stone.
Alvo, Ennis, and Shardran all gasped.
Slash!!
The statues that had rushed toward Reina were split clean in half, collapsing instantly. Shaking the residue off her blade, Reina looked toward the one that seemed to be the leader.
“Come to think of it, I don’t think Jeo-Seung manages this place... Would that be Woochi’s work, instead?” Muttering things the three accompanying her couldn’t understand, she shook her head. “Never mind. Not my business.”
[W-Wait!!]
Slash!!
Following one swipe of her blade, the statue’s head rolled from its shoulders. None of them even saw her swing. Her strike was just that fast.
The Executioners stood blankly as Reina gave a faint grimace, almost as if she disliked the fact that she had swung her blade. They silently watched her bend down and pick up the stone statue’s decapitated head.
“
Uhhh.
Commander Alvo?”
“What is it, Ennis?”
“Did you... see her move just now?”
At the question, Alvo tensed up. “Couldn’t see a thing.”
“Where the hell do these monsters keep popping up from...?”
First the concentration camp, then the wreckage before them. They couldn’t believe both were something one person could pull off. They doubted even Stobel Barsha could do something like that! The thought made them uneasy.
Reina, scowling at the sword as though displeased, suddenly turned to Ennis. “Read that book.”
Startled, she opened the thick book she held.
- The one who reads this must be of royal blood.
She wasn’t.
- And must have passed the trial.
Trial? She hadn’t.
Cold sweat ran down her back as she read aloud, “
This place will serve as my last safeguard before I turn into a monster. My body is being stolen by a demon, piece by piece. Every night, each time the owls cry I feel my will slipping further.
”
It read like a diary. Her face twisted darkly.
“
If someone is reading this, then I am no longer myself. By now, I will have been completely consumed by the demon.
”
She clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white.
The suspicion they’d all feared turned out to be real. Their emperor had been falling to demonic possession for years.
“Destroy my body, so that the Empire may survive.
”
The emperor had left words behind as if he had hoped a future hero would one day come.
“
The demon within me is immortal. To kill such a being, I have prepared many safeguards here.
”
He alone had arranged a myriad of failsafes. Ennis couldn’t fathom the agony he had endured, unable to tell anyone about what was happening to him. She bit back tears, remembering the emperor who had once offered her a warm hand.
“
Use the relics here to bind the demon’s flesh. Then, using the holy sword Aldurain, slay the demon and me together.
”
At that last line, every gaze turned to the sword Reina was holding.
It was a classical example of encroachment. Perhaps striking him with that sword would kill only the demon and save the emperor.
Ordinary weapons hadn’t worked on the emperor, after all. He’d revived no matter how many times he was cut down. Even using Davey’s power, killing him seemed impossible.
However, if the emperor’s words were true, then that sword was the only way.
Crack. Clank!!
“
Huh?
”
The holy sword Reina was holding abruptly broke apart.
The one weapon that could slay the demon had shattered into pieces. Silence filled the room.
Reina broke it by muttering with a twisted face, “That sword was such junk. How does it break just from cutting one statue?”
Her face flushed red as she turned away, like she was avoiding blame.
“
A-Ahhh...
The only way to save His Majesty...”
“No... No...”
The Executioners felt despair crushing down on them.
As they sank into its depths, Reina scratched her head with an awkward look. “So,
uh...
what now?”

.
!
Chapter 1217