The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1223

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1223

Chapter 1223
Isolated within the massive barrier, Reina had wrapped all the power of her wings around the veil surrounding Davey and herself.
The Black Disease forces, presumably aspects of Davey’s power, stood motionless beyond the barrier she had cast. If there was any silver lining, it was that they didn’t attack further, since the amount of time she could’ve held out against them would’ve been no more than a fleeting moment.
Rushing in recklessly was one thing, but there wasn’t enough time for her to get Davey out once she got there. So, with the resolve to sacrifice herself, she had wrapped a pure white, opaque barrier around them both. She didn’t understand why the enemies weren’t moving, but she could only chalk it up to sheer luck.
Still, she couldn’t help but feel bitter. If she’d had the Corona Destroyer, that massive anti-barrier weapon made from the remains of Malicious Spirits, Behemoth wouldn’t have needed to go through such pain. Since it was a barrier of divinity, even that wouldn’t have made it easy, but it would’ve been far more efficient regardless.
Her habit of returning everything she received except Longinus had come back to bite her.
“
Heek,
it’s cold.” Reina let out a faint groan as Davey began returning to his original form. While his divine form didn’t give her mind much strain and struggle due to its genderless state, his actual body, even though she was somewhat used to it, still placed strain on her.
She couldn’t help but tremble, hands weak. They looked like they were ready to let go at any moment, yet instead of giving up, she pulled from behind to bring Davey in tighter. “I don’t know what’s happening... but I’ll protect you. Even if everyone else says it’s impossible, I’ll protect you.”
That was perhaps her way of saying that no matter how much someone changed, their core remained the same.
- You’re saving everyone... But then, who’s going to save you?
Reina wasn’t familiar with those words Illyna had once said. Yet in the end, she was saying the same thing.
A single tear rolled down her cheek as she held Davey even tighter, her face etched with deep concern.
* * *
Living beings displayed superhuman strength when pushed to the brink.
Half a day passed since Davey had entered that unknown state, and Reina poured everything she had into protecting him.
The sky that had cleared after Behemoth shrunk became dark again as night fell. The chill seeping from Davey cast a strange, cold stillness over the air. Reina assumed his condition must’ve been his own doing.
It wasn’t long before his cold body began to grow warm. Reina gently laid him down on the ground and quietly looked down at his face. His features returned to normal as his divine state faded, and she began to see the familiar contours of his face. Though his face had some coldness to it, his expression was mostly soft. Reina silently brushed her hand across his cheek absentmindedly.
Inside the opaque barrier, invisible to the outside world, she stared at him for a long time. No one knew what she was thinking at that moment. However, Reina suddenly felt that she wanted to continue caressing him. Whether it was regret or something else, she did not know. As if possessed, she continued to gaze at his face.
If one were to ask her if he was the most handsome man alive, she’d answer ‘not exactly.’ After all, being attractive to someone was all relative to that person.
What she used to consider attractive had always been far removed from what Davey looked like. Yet, at some point, his face had become so familiar to her.
When she thought of men, he came to mind first.
When she thought of someone precious, he was the first.
When she thought of someone she owed or someone she felt guilty toward, it was always him.
Seemingly in a trance, she placed his head gently on her lap. She leaned forward slightly, brushing his hair back behind his ear with her left hand. Then, slowly, she lowered her face.
As their faces drew closer, her heart pounded wildly in her chest. Her cheeks flushed red, deepening in color.
‘I get it now... why I fell for this man. Why I married him.’
They came from entirely different worlds, yet that, at least, she now understood. She also understood why Illyna loved Davey so deeply, and why she never hesitated to show it.
However, that was Illyna. Not Reinam who didn’t know what she wanted.
Feeling strangely irritated, Reina slowly pulled her head back. She began to wonder if she was jealous of Illyna, like a child throwing a tantrum over lost parental affection, or bitter over knowing the man she loved belonged to someone else.
Either way, Reina felt something she had never experienced before. It was an emotion, so unpleasant.
Like a sulking child, she began poking his cheek. She then let out a quiet sigh. Davey had entrusted his life to her while dealing with the heart thingy. Yet there she was, indulging in such useless thoughts.
She couldn’t help but think how absurd that was. Then again, perhaps she might just understand her own feelings better if she simply kissed him. It wasn’t like anyone was watching, anyway.
Staring blankly at his peaceful face, she made up her mind. She trembled as she leaned in slowly. “This much... should be okay, right?”
However, her lips never reached his. Instead, she raised her head again and gently touched her own lips with her fingers. The change she had experienced was one she hadn’t felt in so long. It was one she wasn’t used to, and it left her confused.
Davey made her comfortable, so touching him didn’t bother her. Yet when it came to other men, her trauma always crept back, leaving her paralyzed.
Davey was the only exception. Even so, such direct contact should’ve made her nervous. However, this time, it didn’t.
Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might explode. Yet she felt no fear. No discomfort. She had no clue why she wasn’t feeling those same emotions.
She found it almost annoying how relaxed he looked with his eyes closed.
“Should I... try again?”
Normally, she wouldn’t even think of doing such a thing. She figured it was probably due to some impulse-fueled thought. She even tried to dismiss it as the misattribution of arousal. However, she couldn’t deny the strange craving to feel that same moment again.
Just as she lowered her head once more, hoping to recapture that fleeting emotion, he unconsciously gave a sudden murmur that made her jolt and snap her head up. Eyes wide like a child caught red-handed, she glanced around in panic.
She then let out a deep sigh of relief once she realized he was still unconscious.
* * *
When the colossal heart resonated with him, the voice that followed had invited Davey into a different space. He found himself in a vast library filled with towering gray stone walls. He wandered between countless books with no titles, eventually pulling one out almost absentmindedly.
It was a dry, dull book. It contained nothing but simple truths. It held nothing of interest to him, no excitement.
Davey glanced around the surrounding shelves and let out a faint, amused scoff. He then opened his Pocket Plane and reached in to pull out a single book.
It was one of those kinds of books—a red book.[1]
“At least this much is necessary to get the brain stimulated, don’t you think?” he murmured to himself, only to stop and turn his head. “Thanatos.”
His smile vanished instantly. “I’m sure I already made you into a moon.”
What stood before him was a small boy, wearing a single-lens monocle. The child looked up at him with a blank expression.
“I have no clue how you’re still alive.”
The boy simply stared back in silence for a moment before speaking, “So that’s what I became,
huh?
”
“What?”
“I am nothing more than a remnant left behind by Thanatos before she underwent her trial in this place. I have no power, aside from calling you here,” he answered calmly. He then snapped his fingers.
Immediately, the shelves shifted before a small round table with two chairs appeared. A teapot and teacups materialized out of nowhere, swiftly arranged.
“This is a dreamscape of my own making. Let’s at least share some tea.”
His demeanor was nothing like the Thanatos Davey knew.
“
Huh...
You’re really different. Are you even the real Thanatos?”
The boy nodded. “I am a remnant of Thanatos. Specifically, a remnant that still carries a purpose.”
“A remnant with a purpose?”
“A memory—one imbued with power.” Still calm, the boy turned to Davey, asking, “How did I die?”
“You opposed the Goddess, created the Abyss, and tried to destroy everything. Then you were annihilated.”
“As expected... The end of a foolish being who lost control.”
“You really are different. Are you
really sure
you're Thanatos?”
“I don’t know what kind of Thanatos you knew, but yes, I am her.”
Upon further thought, Davey found it did make sense. When the Goddess had first created Thanatos, her purpose was to govern the world during Her rest. Thanatos hadn’t been evil from the beginning.
Still, having a calm conversation with something that bore the name Thanatos felt strange in a way he hadn’t anticipated. He felt a mix of hostility, caution, and pity.
“So? Why did Thanatos separate you and drag me in here?”
Instead of answering right away, the remnant asked something else, “First, let me ask. Have you seen humans in this dimension?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“I see...” The boy smiled faintly. “I see... they’ve thrived.”
That bittersweet mutter sparked a realization in Davey. Something about the world felt off, more than it being designed for humans. It felt more like a dimension created for beings like him—beings with divinity.
Nonetheless, humans existed there. There was something off about the dimension.
“Don’t tell me... You’re the one who created the humans here?”
The boy said nothing. He neither confirmed nor denied it, but Davey could tell. “Why’d you do it?”
“I didn’t create them.”
“What?” Davey hadn’t expected that response.
“There are more important things to talk about, aren’t there?”
“
Oh!
The heart.”
“That heart triggers the essence of divinity. Right now, an immense power lies dormant within you.”
“Is that related to why I’m changing?”
The boy nodded, then walked over to the shelves and pulled out a book.
‘Wait a second... That’s the red book I just placed down.’
The boy opened it without a word, and all emotion vanished from his face.
Thump!
He slammed the book shut and tossed it aside, instead grabbing another. “Utterly indecent.”
“Better than those dusty old texts, don’t you think?”
“The very foundation of this dimension is different from ordinary dimensions. Its purpose is to awaken the essence of divinity in a being. It is meant to draw out and amplify everything buried within.”
In other words, the dimension amplified every possibility and facet of a being with divinity.
“So, what’s the point?”
“To cleanse every twisted distortion in this dimension. That’s why Goddess Freyja created this place—so a warped god wouldn’t be born.” He pointed at Davey and spoke with a calm voice, “But in your case, things aren’t looking good. You’ve gained too much power much too quickly.”
Normally, the goal of the realm was to strip away the ferocity, violence, and destructive instinct sleeping within a being. In other words, he was supposed to abandon the natural parts of any living being and then ascend as a complete divine being.
However, in his case, the problem was that he had gained too much power too quickly, and the side effects of that power were far too strong and abundant. The dimension naturally amplified that kind of unstable force.
“So if I just keep going like this, what happens?”
“The heart of the continent inherently possesses the power to purify divinity...”
“Purify,
huh?
Doesn’t sound entirely good, when you say it like that.”
“When my original self underwent purification, one of the three outer dimensions was nearly reduced to hell.”
White blood cells that absorbed deadly viruses died in the process. That outer dimension was no different.
“So my true self created a backup—me—as insurance, then stopped the purification process and left the dimension.”
‘Thanatos giving up her purpose for the sake of living beings? Maybe the old Thanatos truly could have made such a choice.’
“I was arrogant. I thought I could take control after purifying about half.”
Davey found himself rendered speechless.
“But you’re different. Compared to the negative energy I once held, yours is off the charts.”
Too much power from the outside, taken in too suddenly. From a transcendent point of view, Davey had barely any control over it.
“If you begin purification as you are now, this dimension will be wiped out in an instant—and the three linked dimensions along with it.”
Now that he thought about it, one of the dimensions Nacha had invaded had been described as mostly barren, which was also why the resistance there had been so weak. The people there probably felt hopeless, as they’d die either way. While they hadn’t resisted, it wasn’t out of acceptance. It was instead because resistance had seemed pointless.
However, the other dimension had been different.
“So if I start purification, I can’t guarantee the safety of any living beings caught in the process. That’s what you’re saying?”
“There is another way, the same as I once chose. You can abandon purification. But if you’re right, and I truly became an evil god afterward, then you wouldn’t end up any different.”
Davey was faced with a choice: either erase every living being across the three linked dimensions, including Nacha, to protect the living beings of his original world, or let go of the purification and risk becoming a corrupted god, all to save the innocent living beings there.
He could’ve blamed the Goddess for creating such an unstable dimension, but he didn’t. His being amplified may have been born of special circumstances, yet it was something that would’ve happened sooner or later regardless.
He assumed Goddess Freyja had hoped to buy him more time. However, he had suddenly chosen to come there, so he had already gone off course from her intent the moment he arrived.
If he lost control, that’d be the end. The sleeping Goddess wouldn’t be able to restrain him anymore. Then, everything would be lost.
‘Then maybe it’s better to kill every living being here now...’
“Didn’t that dimension already attack me, anyway?”
“That belief would give you a practical choice, but you were never the kind to justify yourself so easily.”
‘What a cruel binary.’
Seeing Davey muttering to himself, the remnant of Thanatos looked at him. The most absurd thing about all of it was the fact that Thanatos had run away just to avoid destroying the lives in this dimension.
However, maybe it wasn’t truly that strange. She wasn’t born an evil god, after all.
“The people in this dimension are the real problem, aren’t they? They shouldn’t have settled here in the first place...
Tch.
”
“Twisted again.”
“
Oops.
That one slipped out.”
Though it was just a casual grumble, it revealed which way the scales inside Davey were tilting.
A god could become a god of good or evil, depending on their will. He had acquired divinity, but had not yet become a true god. That meant his situation could end up far worse or far better.
For the first time, Davey felt pity for that damned being called Thanatos.
“So. You called me here because you had something to say about all this, didn’t you?”
The remnant of Thanatos looked at him. “There is one way. If you can’t purify... if you can’t control it... then accept it.”
Davey’s eyes narrowed. One question instinctively surfaced in his mind.
“What’s the chance I’ll stay as me?”
“Essentially none. Still, as a being with divinity, it is your duty to protect your creations.”
So that was the difference between a being born with complete divinity and a human who obtained divinity later on in life.
Davey gave his answer not as a god, but as a human. “I’ll sacrifice my gums instead of my teeth.”
“What?”
“I’ll proceed with the purification.” He made the decision to abandon the three outer dimensions, including this one.
“Wait! Are you saying you’ll kill every living being here?!” The memory of Thanatos showed an oddly strong attachment to the living beings of the dimension.
Davey gave a dry laugh at his outburst. “I’m the kind of guy who digs a tunnel if there’s no road. You think I’m gonna just lie down and be controlled?”
‘The heart’s already been corrupted by that damned demon for a long time. I’ll just use that to my advantage. That’s my speciality, anyway.’
He wasn’t going to let
anyone else decide his fate for him.
1. Red whatever is often associated with adult media in Korean culture. For example, “Red Tape” is often used to describe pornography or pornographic videos. ☜

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Chapter 1223