The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Thump!!! Thump!!!

Illyna felt her heart constrict, no matter how hard she banged on the transparent barrier that held her prisoner, she could not break it. Despite allowing her to move within a certain area, the barrier stood still and completely prevented her from approaching Davey.

There were times when she felt like it stopped her from moving a certain distance, and times when she felt like the ground beneath her feet had disappeared and the space was twisting in and on itself. However, the most upsetting thing about this barrier was the fact that no one outside of it could hear her cries.

Ridiculous, that was the only way she could describe the words she heard from them. Illyna felt like she would combust from anger, knowing that there was no way to refute those beings with her in this state.

Davey was now in an unfamiliar position called the Antagonist; despite being the Saint who followed God's will, he had willingly chosen to become the Demon Lord for the silver-haired girl from before, who was the previous Demon Lord. Because of that, Davey had incurred the wrath of God and was dragged into a divine punishment. He was currently in a very ridiculous and unreasonable situation.

Thump!!! Thump!!!

“…”

It wasn't long since Illyna had declared that she would protect him, someone no one was protecting, yet here she was. She couldn't even think of a way to break this space open on her own.

Well, it wasn't like she hadn't harbored thoughts about how amazing her existence was. She might not know about anything else, but she had the talent and passion for the sword. Even Davey, a monstrous existence, had admitted that she was a step ahead of him in terms of passion and talent.

Perhaps it was because Davey had admitted she was great, words that brought greater impact than the words tens of millions of people had told her, that she became keener on practicing the sword. Because for some reason, Illyna didn't want to disappoint the man's expectations.

“If I can just recall that level once again, then…”

If only she could, then she would use the sword manipulation level of swordsmanship once again. Illyna had always made it her goal to reach a level where she could move her sword by controlling it with her mind, since it was a high-level concept for Sword Masters. Also, the delight and ecstasy that she felt when she used the technique Splitting the Stars, with the help of Davey, was something that she wanted to feel again.

Baaaaang!!!

However, Illyna was fully aware that her current level of skills would make it nigh impossible for her to recreate such a situation. She was someone who had made huge efforts to become a Sword Master, making sure to remember all of the movements that Davey had done when he wielded his aura blade during their spar and using them as her inspiration. She also worked hard to learn all of the tricks and know-hows that Davey had taught her and made them her own.

Illyna closed her eyes and tried to recall the ecstasy that she felt for a split second back then. Even though she did not know if she could do it or not, she decided to do everything that she could to break out of this space. Seeing Davey fight all by his lonesome self when she was in the same area brought about a very unpleasant feeling in her.

But then, at that moment, the voice of the dokkaebi, who was talking about the Lust Karma, drifted to her ears. Those words made her stop in her tracks, her eyes nervously drifting to where Davey was, forgetting everything that she was doing.

Davey might not be an extremely handsome man, but he was good-looking enough to be seen as attractive. Techniques, popularity, knowledge, force, financial prowess, and even status—he had it all. His specs were so overpowered and bizarre that one would call it tragic if they looked at him closely and ridiculous if they looked at him from afar. Because he did not lack anything, rumors about him as the most sought-after and the best groom candidate in the continent have been circulating in the Pallan Empire.

‘How many noble ladies and ladies from royal families have he courted and made his lovers?’ Illyna thought.

However, the following words gave Illyna pause: innocent. He had not built up any Lust Karma. Unless one were a fool, there was no way they would be unable to understand those words.

"Goodness... His specs are so high, but he never had a lover?"

That did not mean Davey did not have any Lust Karma. The Davey that Illyna knew was the type of person to strongly ask someone to close their eyes for ten seconds, and that was not for holding hands and sleeping quietly. His attitude and expression truly reflected those words. There was no way he would leave his lover alone unless they were out of his reach...

‘If he hasn’t taken someone’s hand yet, then…’

Perhaps Davey was simply such an outstanding person that it made it difficult for others to approach him recklessly.

‘If I can do something for him here, then…’

"What, what am I even thinking?!" Illyna slapped herself on the cheeks, shocked at the thoughts that appeared in her head. She felt so ashamed to think about something so immature and shameless despite being in such a grave situation.

Illyna had vowed to herself during her closed-door training that she would become more mature so that she would no longer worry the people around her.

Illyna quickly shook her head, slapping herself on the cheeks again before grabbing the hilt of her sword. She'd rather try than regret not being able to do anything. She did not expect much since Caldeiras' ego was still slumbering. However, she grabbed her sword tightly, believing that she would be able to make it.

But just when she was about to pull up her energy and raise her momentum to strike down her sword and force the barrier to explode... Illyna failed. In the end, she could not swing her sword down.

A girl, who seemed to be of the same age as her and wearing an unusual garment that was completely different from the garments from Tionis Continent, appeared. The agitated and flustered look on Davey's face upon the appearance of the girl made Illyna stop in her tracks.

"Davey?"

Illyna doubted her eyes for a moment, wondering if her sight was playing tricks on her. After all, this was the first time that she had seen that shocked expression on Davey, as well as the cacophony of emotions that flashed on his face.

***

If anyone asked Davey what kind of life he lived in his previous life, he would say that it was not a very good life.

“How can you do something like that?”

“Ha… Ha, I’m going nuts.”

Davey had a hard time getting the words out of his mouth. How could he ever forget? He had always been plagued by a curse that never allowed him to forget. However, all of the memories of his past life had been forcibly sealed in the darkest recesses of his memories so he could not recall them.

They were his family, his family that he no longer would be able to see. He was only left with the memories of the faces of his older sister, his uncle, his younger sister, and even his parents.

“It’s something that you have to feel for yourself.”

The figure in front of him looked completely similar to his younger sister. However, her manner of speech and aura were completely different. Unlike his younger sister’s thick and lower-pitched voice, the judge in front of him had a clean, youthful, and energetic voice.

“Now, then. Tell me what you have done to this child.”

Davey slowly clenched his trembling hands into a fist. His trembling hands had turned white with how hard he was clenching them yet he still could not say anything.

He was very confident when facing the other judges, laughing at them and calling out their bullshit. However, he could not utter a single word in front of the Final Judge.

If he could, he would like to emphasize again that not being able to forget was a curse. Each and every single scathing remark that he inadvertently threw and each insincere response that he had given did not disappear from his memory at all.

“Shall we see it for ourselves?” The girl said, spreading her hands out without any hesitation and creating a large translucent spear in between them.

And through that large translucent sphere, Davey was able to see the faces of the people that he missed so much. The first thing that appeared in the sphere that was floating in the otherwise deathly silent amphitheater was a twenty-three square meter white room with a large bed smack in the middle of it. And on the bed was an ordinary-looking man, who was sleeping soundly as if he was already dead.

“You of all people should know who he is, no?”

Davey gritted his teeth at the question. There was no one in this world that would fail to recognize their own self. The man sleeping with around five to six intravenous solutions attached to his body inside this special hospital room was none other than him. And that was all.

***

The quiet room looked too bright and too white for anyone who saw it to immediately understand that it was a special hospital room. Everything inside the room was tagged with a blue sticker, whether an electronic device, a book, paintings, or even photographs.

At that moment, someone entered the silent room.

[Oppa, I’m here. Are you sleeping like a log again today? This guy, you are not a sloth!]

"Oh my God! A f*cking three-legged octopus came in by itself and began to talk—unbelievable! Aren't you busy in school? Why do you have the time to come here in your spare time?"

[Of course, I came here to check on my oppa.]

“That’s disgusting. Go away. Stick your Tibetan Fox-like face somewhere else.”

The girl in the illusion had the same face and outfit as the girl in front of him. She immediately frowned when checking the contents of the bottle of medicine placed on the side.

[Ha! Oppa, have you gone crazy? I obviously told you to take your medicine on time, no?!]

The stubborn girl glared at Davey's figure lying on the bed weakly and grumbled.

[We don't know when the doctors will perform surgery on you. Did you exercise? Since Uncle has been working hard to support your hospital bills, then Oppa should also do something! How long will you continue to lie like a salted fish on your bed?!]

Davey, probably twenty-one years old around that time, had lost the will to live after being subjected to painful treatments and the mental exhaustion of someone who did not know when they would get better. He was plagued by the guilt of forcing his uncle to work abroad to pay for his bills to cure his illness and burdened by the fact that his family desperately wanted him to undergo this treatment.

He grabbed his head and gritted his teeth upon seeing the image of his younger sister patting his back and massaging his body despite being angry at him for continuing to lie down in a daze like that.

“Why bother? I won’t do it. I will not.”

At that point, Davey had wanted to die; he wanted to die so that he would be free from his pain, and he would be able to let the others around him be free of that pain too.

[Are you nuts?! Do you want to see unnie collapse and cry again?! You must have gone really crazy.]

His younger sister grumbled angrily after hearing Davey’s calm murmurs, her annoyance seeping through the way she tapped on his back.

[What in the world is wrong with you these days?!]

"Did I want this to happen to me? Why do you have to let me build myself up to get treatment?"

[Wow. You’re really trash, you know?]

"You can't even fathom how f*cking sh*tty this is! I'm already delirious with all of the medications and needles that they put in my body every single day in the name of tests and examinations! The treatment is not even effective, yet I'm still enduring the pain! I'd rather die than go through something so painful again!"

[Didn’t you know that everything that they have been doing is for your sake, oppa?!]

"F*ck it! Do you think I'll buy that bullshit? Are you buying into that bullshit? If I'm going to die either way, then I'd rather die now! I can't do this anymore! How long am I supposed to live like this? Do you think that if you come in once and sympathize with me, everything will be over? I f*cking experience this shit 24/7! It's already been years! Do you want me to pretend that this is not painful and hard for me, even though everything is already hopeless? Huh? Tell me!"

[Oppa…]

Davey was that one person portrayed in the media, the one who was sick yet had the gall to get angry at their family that took care of them. Actually, he never expected that he would reach that point in life. However, the hysteria had started to encroach upon him as he grew older.

By the time he reached eighteen or nineteen, the medication he was taking slowly stopped working. Naturally, his situation worsened, and he became extremely sensitive. And because of several factors, his mental stress reached the limit. It was to the point that the thought that he should just die instead of getting treatment flashed in his head several dozens of times in the end.

[Oppa, you’re really so mean.]

In the end, the girl sobbed as she pleaded to him.

[Unnie, uncle, and even I, all have been working non-stop so that we can see you recover, oppa. It's been ten years since you got this sickness, oppa. However, everyone has been working hard for you. Yet, here you are grumbling and crying just because you feel pain? Then, what about unnie? What about unnie, who has been feeding and taking care of you, huh? Oppa? What in the world was unnie doing this for, then?!]

“That’s why I’m begging you! Please, leave me alone and live your own lives!”

Fierce and agitated conversations, this was the kind of thing that always happened between Davey and his younger sister, Hyun-Ah. They had always fought like this. At first, the two of them cared for and cherished each other just like how a brother and a sister would. However, as his situation grew worse, their conversations began to turn fierce.

"Go. Tell this to noona too. Don't come back again. Please, please leave me alone and live your own lives! Because of me, you can't even live your own lives, what the hell is this?! Even uncle! Why does uncle, who only met me once, have to pour so much money to pay for my hospital bills?!"

[Oppa…]

“I already know. I heard yesterday that there is no cure.”

The girl flinched. She looked like she had been caught with something that she should not be caught with.

[No… Oppa, please listen to me for a bit. That…]

“Quit it. Did you think that I wouldn't know if you didn't tell me? I heard that I only have a few months left to live. Just let me die... Please... Just let me die. If I die, then you wouldn't have to work hard like this anymore!”

Davey shouted at Hyun-Ah, tears flowing down his cheeks as he was overcome with emotion.

Back then, the only thing he could do was worry everyone about his condition. He had been weak, and even though he knew he should not do something like that, he still willingly crushed his family’s heart under the pretext of caring about them.

Unaware of the ways of the world after living inside the walls of the hospital room, Davey stopped his sisters from coming to the hospital using such a very stupid and hurtful method. However, that was not the main point here. The most painful thing for Davey was seeing his family not live their own lives because of someone like him that carried an incurable disease. But what did they say? Life was filled with blessings in disguise?

“Enough…” Davey mumbled and closed his eyes, his body curled up and trembling as he tried to block the sounds coming from the video on the translucent sphere in front of him. “I told you, that’s enough.”

This was a sore spot for Davey. At the same time, it was the most unforgettable and most pitiful moment of his life.

“Why? This is the life that you have chosen to live. You know full well what happens after this, no?!”

“I am warning you… Do not provoke me any further. Judge.”

The Final Judge, who had taken the form of Hyun-Ah, slowly loosened her hair after hearing Davey’s low and somber voice. The familiar black hair and the familiar scent of the shampoo fluttered in front of him. This was the image of his precious younger sister.

“What can you even do? The Great Will has placed a restriction upon you. Unlike the other judges, I know the truth.”

“…”

“Can you even stop me as you are now? That’s impossible. Humans are pitiful beings that will only realize the mistakes that they have made later on in life. Did you think you would be free of that?”

Davey waved his hand, a large amount of mana flying towards the judge. Even if he could not kill that damned judge, he would make sure that he shut that trap. However, faster than his attack, the goddess placed another restriction on him.

[Davey O’Rowane is prohibited from using force.]

There was a prohibition on killing and even using force. Two taboos had been placed upon him, effectively sealing all of his avenues for battle. It was a restriction that was completely incomparable to the restrictions he had received when he fought against World Tree Yggdrasil.

“…”

‘You are already fully aware of my temper, yet you brought me to this situation under the pretext of divine punishment. And you even dared to bring up some of my past life's memories, something that I treat like the dragon's reverse scale.’

Now, Davey knew exactly what Goddess Freyja wanted. She wanted to force Davey’s strengthening under the pretext of a divine punishment. It seemed like she was very afraid of the Abyss.

If that was what she truly wished for, then Davey would show her and let her experience what the green tree frog felt when it lost its mother[1].

Changes began to appear in the gears of Davey’s soul, deliberately misplaced since that very first spar and training. Slowly, they started to align and fit together.

The chains, created by the energy of the prohibitions weighing down on Davey’s body, gradually fell apart as they were swallowed by the black energy seeping out of his body.

The world was made with God and providence. So, if he could not achieve anything with the prohibitions and restrictions that God had placed upon him, then he had no choice but to willingly get away and shed his body, under the rules of providence, for a very, very short moment.

Thuuuuuuump!!!

White eyes that glinted sharply appeared in the dark.

1. A story about a green tree frog doing the opposite of everything that its mother said ☜