The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

“Ah…” Aeria groaned as she came back to her senses.

Her glowing purple eyes and shining turquoise hair had finally returned to normal. She was now back to her original meek and timid appearance, looking like a small animal.

“Have you finally come back to your senses?” Davey asked calmly.

Flinching, Aeria turned to look at Davey. “Prince… Prince Davey?”

“Do you remember what happened? The day before yesterday?” Davey asked indifferently as he checked Aeria’s pulse.

With a soft exclamation, Aeria had a complicated look on her face. She was flustered by Davey’s nonchalant attitude. “I’m…sorry… I told you that I wouldn’t show myself in front of you anymore but… Because of the wind, I collapsed and…”

The Imperial Princess appeared to have no memory from when her instincts had awakened.

Suddenly, Aeria began to sob loudly on her bed. Covering her face with her hands, she said in a tearful voice, “I’m sorry… I know, I shouldn’t cry but… It’s just… I guess I’m just too excited.”

Davey silently looked at Aeria, who continued speaking.

“When I first heard that I would be engaged to you, Prince Davey, I got so happy. Goodness, I was so happy. It felt like a pleasant surprise. I did not even think about how you would feel…”

Seeing the princess get all teary like that, Davey patted Aeria’s head.

“I just… I just wanted to grow a bit closer to you… I must have been too hasty,” Aeria said as she looked up at Davey. “I’m sorry.”

Davey stood quietly before saying, “Make sure to take the prescribed medicine.”

“Yes…”

“And…the engagement will proceed,” Davey said, making Aeria flinch. He then added, “However, we don’t know anything about each other.”

When Aeria looked up at him with big and shining eyes, Davey said, “So, let us get to know each other first and only make a decision once you have turned twenty.”

Davey did not know much about Aeria, and Aeria hardly knew him either.

“I have accepted the engagement, so you don’t have to be too afraid of approaching me. Still, I would like it if we started off as being friends.” Patting Aeria on the head as her gaze trembled, he then added, “I look forward to knowing you, Princess.”

Aeria burst into tears once again when she saw Davey’s smile.

That particular smile had no purpose or deeper meaning. There was no repulsion or disgust. After all, Davey had nothing to hide.

As he smiled, Davey thought that he could no longer deny the fact that he had gone a bit weak from seeing Aeria cry so pitifully.

***

The huge doors creaked open to reveal the office’s large interior before slamming shut again.

Since the meeting at the banquet hall had been canceled, there was no reason to insist on holding the meeting at that particular venue.

“Glory to the empire’s Two-headed Dragon,” Davey greeted pretentiously as he glanced at the people present inside the large office.

Emperor Deorte was sitting on his throne with Prince Alberth and Grand Duchess Kathryn standing right next to him. There was also a five-person party composed of a bright woman, a stern-faced man, a boy and a girl who both seemed a tad bit too young, and a white-haired woman with her face covered by a silver mask.

—Doesn’t her hair look whiter than before?

Perserque voiced her doubts as she looked at Warrior Reina’s hair.

Reina was the only woman in this world in which the Abyss’ Authority did not work on. However, when she had escaped from Davey back in the Boltis Kingdom, the being who had sent her over to this world had shown her life to Davey.

Davey then got to have a glimpse at the other side of the truth, a side that nobody else knew at all.

Ignoring everyone who was watching him silently, Davey looked directly at Emperor Deorte. One had to distinguish and separate their public and private matters especially if they wanted to build a relationship with one another.

“Let’s have an Olde match.”

Emperor Deorte frowned slightly and said, “Prince Davey.”

“Then, would you like me to tear down your palace?”

As Emperor Deorte fell silent, Prince Alberth and Grand Duchess Kathryn were both taken aback by the unexpected situation. Everyone else simply looked on in surprise.

“Alright. Let’s have one match. But this time, I won’t treat you like I have done before.”

Glancing at the Olde board that Prince Alberth was setting up, Davey said, “Well, it’s high time that I stop going easy on you.”

“Uhm…” Emperor Deorte hummed, feeling slightly flustered.

Davey was attacking in a completely different way. He was no longer using a similar method to their previous matches.

As the game of Olde progressed, everyone who was witnessing the match began to freak out.

“My goodness… His Majesty is…”

“I did not expect this. He’s helplessly being pushed back…”

Olde was a game of strategy. It was similar to chess, which was a popular game on Earth. Here, various strategies and tactics could be deployed and adopted depending on the situation presented in front of them.

From beginning to end, Emperor Deorte did not even have the chance to use any of his strategies. He noticed that he was at a great disadvantage and frowned. “I can’t even make a proper move.”

“You will lose in this next move.”

“How about giving me a chance?”

“That is the seventh time you’ve said those words.”

Although he had come to meet with the warrior party, Davey was completely ignoring them. Still, things were going his way.

[Hey, Essylt. Is that Prince Davey from the Heins Territory?]

[Doesn’t he look a bit too young? Isn’t he around Roina’s age?]

[Amazing… He’s not even the least bit intimidated in front of Emperor Deorte.]

[There are rumors about how amazing he is despite his young age. He’s also very famous in the Holy Empire as the only person to receive a stigmata in the continent, a Saint… Even the Saintess Candidate only had compliments when talking about him, right?]

The warrior party whispered amongst themselves. However, was there anyone in this office who could not hear what they were saying?

“Ha… This Emperor has lost. I lost. I have been completely wiped out.”

Emperor Deorte eventually had no choice but to admit his defeat. After all, Davey’s piece had even eaten his final monarch piece on the Olde board.

“Fine. This time, I will do what you want.”

Davey grinned.

Public matters should be public and private matters should be private. These two matters should not be discussed together.

“Let’s have a spar.”

Flinching, Emperor Deorte said warily, “Prince Davey…”

“Your Majesty can just personally give your orders. As for me, I will definitely make sure not to hold a book under any circumstances.”

“Are you telling me that you’re going to beat up this Emperor?”

At that question, the smile on Davey’s face disappeared. “I make clear distinctions between my private and public matters.”

“Then…”

“But I can’t take my anger out alone, can I…?”

“Pfft…”

Eventually, the tension was broken by the small boy who was observing the situation from afar. He could not help but burst into laughter.

Of course, Prince Alberth could not sit back and let that slide. He said fiercely, “How dare you laugh at the Emperor?”

“I’m… I’m sorry!”

Emperor Deorte raised his hand at the small boy, who bowed apologetically. He said, “It’s fine. This Emperor did not act according to my position. I have acted foolishly. Alright. Since everything’s been done, you can show me your prowess.”

“I am grateful for your understanding.”

“But before that,” Emperor Deorte stopped talking before turning his head.

Just then, the silent Reina slowly approached Davey. She bowed her head and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Prince Davey. My name is Reina.”

She sounded extremely polite, her demeanor completely different from when they had first met.

To put it simply, the entire warrior party did not recognize Davey at all. This was unsurprising, since there was nothing remotely similar between his disguise and his actual voice or appearance. There was no way for them to recognize him.

Most importantly, they were not skilled enough to recognize and detect the dark mana that was flowing in Davey’s body.

“Warrior Reina might be a commoner, but it’s thanks to her help that this Emperor was able to detect many disturbing movements in my empire. That is why I set up this meeting for you two to meet.”

“Then, are we going to consider this as a public matter?”

“This is a private matter.”

“Then, let’s leave it at that. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Warrior recognized by the Holy Empire.”

“Yes… That is a title that I’ve received. Although, my skills are lacking and undeserving of such a title.”

Davey felt a type of strangeness at Reina’s elegance, something that seemed to have permeated deep within her bones. He also noticed that the others hadn’t seemed to have noticed that for themselves.

“First of all, please forgive my rudeness,” Reina said bluntly as she raised her head to look up at Davey. “The Demon Lord’s resurrection is upon us. Because of that, the strongest and most dangerous among the Demon Lord’s confidants is about to make its appearance.”

Reina clenched her fists tightly as she forced herself to speak calmly. “Once he and the Demon Lord are resurrected…the entire continent would be devoured by the flames of war. Everything would be too late by then.”

Grand Duchess Kathryn smiled awkwardly at Reina’s confident remarks. “The Demon Lord and the Demon Lord’s closest confidant… That story is a bit too out of the blue.”

It was true that Reina’s words were a bit hard to believe especially for ordinary people. However, as a warrior, she had a lot of persuasive power. After all, warriors were saviors who only appeared and existed when there was a very strong adversary that the world needed to face. Simply put, her existence alone was proof that the Demon Lord was about to appear once more.

“The most dangerous out of them all…is the Immortal King.”

Only one existence popped up in Davey’s head when he heard those words. He murmured, “The First Lich, Nyx.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere of the entire office changed. Everyone looked at Davey with doubtful gazes.

Reina turned to look at Davey cautiously. She asked, “You…know about him?”

“…”

If it truly was Nyx, then a huge war was definitely a possibility. After all, his army could have hundreds of thousands of men. And aside from having the Breath of Death, he was also capable of commanding a great dragon that could create the Roar of Death. Once that dragon’s roar reached the ground, only fear, terror, and death would remain.

“His seal will be released soon. Once his seal is released, we would all be helpless. That’s why…we must kill him before his seal is completely released.”

Sounding slightly obnoxious and hateful, Davey asked Reina, “And how do you…intend to kill him?”

“We will go to the area where he’s sealed… And before his seal gets released, we will stop him there and prevent him from appearing in the world.”

Reina planned for them to kill Nyx before he awakened again.

“Listen here, Warrior.”

“What…is it?”

“Are you even aware of First Lich Nyx’s ability?”

“That… The Immortal King…is the ruler of all of the dead…”

“Really? The ruler of all of the dead… Is that it?” Davey asked calmly, “So, what do you want from me?”

“We need you to provide us with your power… We need the Holy Stone and your blessings on our items.”

Reina was unwilling to ask for help even though she was already on the brink of death. Noticing that, Davey found it all to be very hilarious.

“You’re just asking to get killed, then.”

“That would be up to us to decide. We have never lost.”

Davey nodded quietly, then said, “Right. Do whatever you want.”

He looked at the status window that suddenly appeared in front of him.

[The final salvation of the poor and the pitiful.]

[If you save them, the first seal of the sealed jewel will be released.]

[One special grade item in your Pocket Plane will be unsealed.]

Coincidentally, Davey was pretty interested in the entire situation. On top of that, he now had two rewards at stake. The fact that Goddess Freyja was willing to give such big rewards meant that Davey could not afford to overlook this particular situation.

This also meant that it truly was the time for the seal that Surtr and Ares had placed upon them to be released. Furthermore, the fact that Nyx’s awakening was going to happen a lot quicker than expected meant that the forces of the demons, vampires, and dark mages had not yet allied together.

If it was something that Davey could think of now, then…