The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1224

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1224

Chapter 1224
A dimension not designed to sustain life, instead having been created for the specific purpose of containing and purifying immense power. The twisted dimension existed solely for divinity. It was never meant to host living beings.
Yet, for some unknown reason, all manner of life, including humans, had emerged there long ago. Thanatos had discovered the presence of humans there during the process of purifying herself in the past. That was over ten thousand years ago, even by Tionis standards.
It was a truly ancient world. In other words, living beings had existed in the place for more than ten thousand years. It was about the same amount of time since Thanatos went berserk and waged war against Goddess Freyja.
It was almost ridiculous. She was the evil god who once cursed everything, who turned her blade against the Creator and threw the world into endless chaos. The same terrifying being who harbored boundless rage against humanity was apparently the same god that had willingly given up her own purification, effectively drinking poison just to protect the very lives she once sought to destroy, including humans.
It was still hard for Davey to believe. He couldn’t tell whether Goddess Freyja was the one at fault, or Thanatos was the fool for blindly trusting in her own self-control, knowing full well how things would end for her.
“Are you trying to say... there’s a way?” A flicker of desire appeared in the eyes of what remained of Thanatos as she looked toward Davey. “Are you saying there’s a way to solve your problem without killing the humans?”
Twisting words just to suit oneself was never a good habit.
“What if I simply gave up on the humans here?” Davey asked.
“I don’t have the power to stop you.”
After all, all the remnant consciousness could really manage to do was drag his will into the library for a short time.
“Don’t be scared, there is a way. Still, it’s a bit strange.”
“Strange?”
It wasn’t something the gods intended, and the very existence of humans in the world still raised questions. After all, the Primordial Goddess of Mercy and Compassion, Freyja, wouldn’t have placed humans in a dimension that was destined for ruin.
“Can you tell me the details of that plan?” Not hearing a response from Davey, he continued, “If there really is a way to save them, I’ll repay you however I can.”
Coming from an evil god who once preached and pursued the extinction of all life, including humans, the words felt completely foreign.
“Purification is a must. I won’t leave behind even a seed of unrest.”
However, if that happened, every human living in the dimension would die.
“Maybe a dimensional transfer? Don’t tell me... You’re planning to move all of the living beings in this world?”
“So what if I am?”
“Foolish! Not only is that realistically impossible, even if it were, the future awaiting the transferred living beings wouldn’t be bright. Don’t tell me you’re not just talking about sentient beings, are you? Animals, insects, even common microbes... All of them are cogs in the wheel of the world.”
He was right. It wasn’t just about moving humans. Migrating every living being on the continent would be incredibly difficult without remaking the entire world itself from scratch.
“Unless... You’re actually planning to remake the world itself... Don’t—.” He stopped mid-sentence.
Indifferent to his shock, Davey continued, “Listen carefully, because I’m only going to say this once. There are a lot of dimensions out there that your main body has destroyed. For example, the Lux Continent. Some dimensions have been so thoroughly shattered that every single living being was wiped out, and they can’t even be restored.”
Some worlds had become hellscapes where not even a single blade of grass could grow, due to how many lives the Princesses of the Abyss had annihilated.
“If left alone, they’ll never recover.”
He said nothing, as if shocked by the fact that his main body had wiped out entire worlds.
“What you’re suggesting we do is realistically impossible. If the dimension’s already shattered, its core must be extremely weak. So how do you plan to weaken the heart of this world?”
“Didn’t I already tell you? A demon on this land already polluted the heart over a long period of time.”
“Rubbish. A mere creature can’t corrupt a heart enough to break it.”
He wasn’t wrong. A single demon alone couldn’t possibly destroy a world. Even the Princesses of the Abyss, who exterminated all life and slowly withered worlds to death, never dared to touch the heart of a dimension itself.
“This dimension... it hasn’t served its purpose in far too long.”
The remnant didn’t know what to say.
“A dimension created for divine purification, specifically activated to purify your main body... That’s what this place is. It opened its eyes, but if it can’t fulfill its role it’ll just collapse on its own.”
The weakened heart, corrupted over a long period, had already begun slowly breaking apart.
“It’s simple, really. By swapping out two collapsing dimensions, both worlds can continue to exist.”
The dimension created for divine purification would stabilize through the process and fall dormant, waiting until the next god was born and ready for their trial.
On the other hand, the heart of a shattered dimension—one where all life had been wiped out and not even a single blade of grass remained—could begin to breathe again by accepting a surge of vitality.
“Either way, it’s worth testing.”
“Even if their power is weak, transferring the hearts of two dimensions isn’t possible unless Goddess Freyja herself intervenes.”
“Besides the goddess, there’s one other existence that can make it happen.”
The rules of the world! The absolute law mirrored the hidden side of Goddess Freyja.
“If I just inject the trigger, the switch will happen on its own.”
In other words, Davey didn’t even need to interfere directly. He just had to supply the trigger to pull.
“The rules of the world?! You bastard! Do you even realize how absurd that sounds?! The rules of the world don’t allow any interference—!”
“As the Primordial Predator, I have some authority to interfere with the rules.”
All he had to do was replace two hearts. Including the dimension they were in, the outer dimension would receive the intact heart of a stable continent. Meanwhile, Davey could begin purification in the destroyed dimension and reset it to prevent further collapse.
“It’s a win-win for both sides.”
The remnant of Thanatos closed his eyes to consider the proposal. “Even if what you say is theoretically possible, and that one-in-a-million chance works out...”
“It’s not a one-in-a-million—theoretically, it’s one hundred percent possible.”
“For that to happen, you’d need the authority of multiple goddesses as well...”
“The current goddess is asleep, so most of her authorities are being managed by me and others.”
It showed why creating connections mattered.
“
Haah.
Fine. If it’s truly possible, there’s no better solution I could think of. However, even if transferring the hearts is theoretically possible, the time taken to do so is still a problem.” Swapping the hearts wouldn’t be something that could be done in a snap of the fingers. “There’s no telling how long it’ll take.”
“Just one week. It’s time to wrap things up.”
“After such a short span, we don’t know how many humans in this dimension could die. We also can’t predict which part of the dimension will collapse first.”
“That’s possible to fix, too,” Davey answered calmly as he stood up.
Perhaps the reason Goddess Freyja slapped him was to force him to recognize the twisting boundaries. That thought crossed his mind, but he quickly shook his head. He realized there was no way to truly know what she was thinking.
Regarding the reason she had already marked a candidate for Saintess in this land...
“It must be for what’s about to happen.”
It was a blow to his pride, but it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he had been played by Goddess Freyja the entire time.
Still, even if he had danced on her palm, as long as the Primordial Goddess had arranged it for his sake, he’d accept it without hesitation. He acknowledged that it was the duty of someone who bore her stigmata.
“It looks good on paper, but it’s not a simple task. If anything goes wrong, you could be wiped out before the purification even begins...”
“I don’t commit myself to losing fights.”
That answer seemed to be enough for the remnant of Thanatos. “I’ll use all the power I have left to delay the purification process.”
“You still have that kind of power remaining?”
The remnant of Thanatos let out a faint laugh. “The main body left me behind to aid the next being with divinity that was bound to come later on. If what you say is true, then disappearing is a cheap price to pay.” At the same time, the entire library shook and began to crumble. “I don’t know your full plan, but make sure you succeed.”
The last conversation between Davey and the remnant, suddenly cracking and falling apart, was almost too brief.
* * *
Swapping the heart of a world was, in simple terms, like replacing the internal components of two massive computer towers with entirely different designs. However, unlike unscrewing a few bolts and tightening some circuits, there were far too many points of interference and possible failure.
The biggest variable facing them was the invisible energy, having been formed within the purification dimension to prevent its energy from flowing into another world. Whether or not that energy could be controlled was the important question.
“
Ugh.
” When Davey slowly opened his eyes, he saw something he hadn’t expected. “Reina?”
“
Kyah!!
” Shrieking, Reina pushed him away and stumbled back, her face bright red.
He calmly asked, “What were you doing?”
“N-Nothing! Your body was so cold, I was just sharing some warmth!”
That was what she said, but even a fool could tell how close her face had been to his.
‘I’m not touching that right now.’
Davey pretended not to notice and stretched his aching joints.
At the same time, the resonance between him and the heart began again as the purification process stopped. The negative energy that had been expelled began to seep back into him.
The dizziness returned, but he knew he had to hold it for now.
“
Ah!
The outside entities...?”
“They’ve been reined back in. But more importantly, any issues?” she nervously asked.
“Not really, aside from Behemoth being seriously injured.”
Davey turned and looked toward the massive white-bearded whale lying far away, then pulled out a card and absorbed the lazy Behemoth.
He didn’t even need any explanation—he could already guess that those two had done something reckless to break the barrier.
The heart, which should have been protecting Davey by keeping the negative energy from encroaching on him in Reina’s place, was already twisted and broken, with almost no power left to do its job. Cracks ran across its surface, and mysterious black light leaked from the fragments that had already broken off.
The remnant of Thanatos had used some unknown power and momentarily frozen the purification process that had been proceeding on its own, which had been a major help. The cost of it was the destruction of his existence, but if that was what he wanted, Davey had no reason to stop him.
The heart had already reached its limit, even without his intervention.
“Reina.”
“Y-Yes?! I-If this is about earlier, I’m sorry! If you keep it a secret, I’ll—” She abruptly covered her mouth with both hands mid-sentence.
“What are you talking about?”
“N-Nothing!” she shouted, flustered. “S-So, did it work? The thing you were trying to do?”
“We bought some time, at least. I’ll explain the details later.”
“Then...”
“I’m going to swap the hearts. I’ll switch the one that’s withered and dying in the dimension destroyed by the Princess of the Abyss, exchanged with the one here that collapsed and crumbled because it couldn’t withstand demonic corruption after staying awake too long.”
When Reina heard his plan, she immediately pointed out the most fundamental problem. “That’s not something you can pull off with just the Primordial Predator authority.”
He didn’t know how to respond.
“Besides, there’s no way a corrupted heart could be purified properly without issue.”
While she wasn’t wrong, Davey had already factored those issues in.
“I won’t be using the Primordial Predator to do the swap. Instead, I’m going to deceive it, like how one would treat a virus.”
“Then the heart...?”
“Reina.” Davey smiled gently and looked at her. “That’s why I need your power. The power that belongs to me.”
In terms of sheer force, there were plenty stronger than her. Still, the only one who truly belonged to Davey was Reina.
She turned her eyes away. Her cheeks looked faintly red, flushed as if she had a fever.
* * *
You couldn’t just yank out a heart and switch it willy-nilly. Replacing a heart took time, no matter what. Even as someone with divinity, Davey couldn’t just extract and install a heart of the world on a whim. In fact, no such precedent likely existed.
Yet, he chose to do it anyway, despite all the unknown variables.
As he prepared to interfere with the rules of the world, Goddess Freyja appeared beside him. Davey didn’t even notice her arrival.
[Is it for the humans?]
She no longer held her full power, but her omniscient gaze remained sharp as ever.
“Didn’t you say we wouldn’t see each other again?”
[If something goes wrong, you might never return to who you were.]
“So what?”
[Why not give up now? The humans in the outer dimension were never meant to exist. Is it worth risking your own transformation and corruption to save them?]
Her words were uncharacteristically cold for a supposed merciful goddess. Even so, they carried a hint of pleading.
“This isn’t about weighing one life against another. I’m keeping what’s mine and getting what I want in return.”
[Even so... they’re not yours to take care of.]
“Wasn’t this all caused by my interference in the first place?”
Davey could take action to prevent a future disaster for himself, though that action would kill countless people. It was clear which path would be more beneficial to him, yet Davey didn’t go for it.
“I don’t want to be the kind of parent my kids would be ashamed of.”
‘Hah. I really did change.’
The corner of the goddess’s mouth twitched. She then stepped closer, placing her forehead against his.
At the same time, a clear, melodic voice echoed through his mind.
[Once, I worried so much about you. But in the end, you always find the right path.]
As if reassured, her quiet voice triggered the powers within Davey to activate.
[It would’ve been nice if you became a complete god.]
“What, trying to tempt me like a professor luring a grad student?”
If he became a complete god, he’d never get the chance to see his youngest child be born.
From his perspective, the role of a so-called complete god wasn’t much different from a grad student getting exploited for their labor.
[Don’t forget the choice you’re making, or what you’re thinking right now.]
The goddess seemed satisfied, like she’d confirmed something that had long worried her.
At the same time, the stigmata on his back flared hot.
[My beloved child, Davey.]
Once, she had called him Freyja, and it was his soul from a past life that had received her affection. But this time, it was different. She was blessing him, Davey, as he was.
There was no noticeable change in power, but a strange peace settled over him. He figured it was probably the fullest extent of the miracle she could grant him.
Davey transformed his body and activated his power.
Having yet to go through the purification, the corrupted, black energy still rampaged within him. Even so, he simply ignored it and began to interfere. He fooled the rules of the world into believing the hearts of the two dimensions had been mismatched from the start.
He didn’t know if it’d work. Fortunately, the rules began to shift as if they had been tricked. Only then did Davey realize that even while asleep, Goddess Freyja had done something to make it possible. For someone who supposedly had no power, it was impressive that she had created such a shift. It left Davey faintly surprised.
After falling for his interference, the rules of the world began slowly swapping the two hearts, as if downloading and redistributing data. A massive wave of energy started flowing into the entire world. The outer dimension and the shattered one began to converge, changing little by little.
The heart exchange accelerated, with the purification-focused dimension once again taking form. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve taken a long time to complete. Yet, unexpectedly, the transformation proceeded far faster and more stably than either Davey or the remnant of Thanatos had predicted.
As that unexpected rapid progress continued, the goddess spoke again.
[That girl. She’s probably imbued her own values in you without realizing. Her nobility; her selflessness; her purity; and even her virtue.]
‘That girl? What is she talking about?’
Davey’s brow furrowed in confusion, but the goddess said nothing more.
He focused all his attention on maintaining the rules of the world as they bent, making sure nothing went out of sync. He figured chaos must’ve broken loose in the outer dimension, with the heart suddenly being extracted. Yet since Reina was there, drawing entirely from his power, at least the worst could be avoided.
Whummm. Whummm.
He had estimated it would take about four days. Eventually, he lost track of how much time had passed since the heart exchange began. Days flew by.
As Davey kept concentrating, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind, pulling him from his trance.
[Oh god, save your poor lambs—]
‘Who’s siphoning my divine power without permission?’
He could tell it wasn’t Reina. Someone was tapping into his power, and that wasn’t something he could overlook.
[In the name of the Saintess Shuneria Recken, who bears your stigmata, I earnestly beseech you—]
‘Shuneria? Wasn’t she one of the goddess’s Saintess candidates?’
Suppressing his confusion, Davey forced himself to focus again on the task at hand. That was when he noticed the goddess silently watching him from nearby.
He supposed there was no reason she shouldn’t be there. It was the Saint Sanctuary, after all. However, something about her gaze made him uneasy.
She boldly lifted a tablet in one hand.
[You should also try looking after that disobedient Saintess of yours.]
With that, she gave a thumbs-up.
Davey felt anger surging up to his head.
He suddenly knew exactly who the girl she had referred to was. First the angel who served him, and now the Saintess?
Freyja was, without a doubt, a petty little goddess.

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Chapter 1224