The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

94. Surtr’s Legacy

Everything had a cause and an effect. For example, b should only occur if there was a. There was no situation where b would occur without a. If that happened, it would be a blatant disregard of the rules of the world.

As far as Davey knew, only one thing completely ignored this rule, and that would be the power of the other side of the coin. As long as the laws and rules that they followed differ, they could never interfere with each other. However, they could still create fatal changes to each other. To put it simply, the two sides were at odds with each other.

Warrior Reina, the owner of the Divine Sword, had asked Davey for supplies and protective equipment with the blessings of the Saint. She had also asked Grand Duchess Kathryn for her personal help.

Of course, just because Grand Duchess Kathryn looked free did not mean that she could easily go and help them. However, Lyndis Empire’s Emperor Deorte El Lyndis had graciously allowed Kathryn’s dispatch. This silent agreement could be inferred from Kathryn’s brief appearance in their party’s meeting.

“How about you quit now?”

“I respectfully refuse that offer, Your Majesty,” Davey said calmly as he pulled out a variety of weapons from his Pocket Plane.

“Greatsword, bastard… You have plenty of spare weapons there. Are you really thinking of fighting a life-and-death battle with this Emperor?” Emperor Deorte asked with a stiff expression on his face.

Davey spun the wooden club in his hand before saying, “This is so you don’t go around biting the people around you, Your Majesty.”

“Ugh… There’s nothing I can say to that. But why are we in a bare field? There’s nothing here at all,” Emperor Deorte said calmly as he slowly raised the sword in his hands.

The emperor was holding onto a precious sword, one that was completely different from the wooden club that Davey had placed on the ground in front of him.

And when he finally took off the cumbersome clothes that covered his body, he revealed a huge and magnificent physique that had been carefully sculpted for a long time. His body looked so tough and strong that it was a bit hard to look at.

Emperor Deorte’s magnificence had been hidden away by his title as emperor and his old age. However, it was an undeniable fact that he was a strong fighter and warrior. After all, he was the man known to have the same level of swordsmanship as Grand Duchess Kathryn.

In fact, it was possible that Emperor Deorte had reached a more profound level of swordsmanship than Grand Duchess Kathryn. Perhaps the eyes of an ordinary man could not discern the true difference between their skills.

“I don’t think you will be able to finish what you started all at once.”

Once Emperor Deorte raised his greatsword, he released an overwhelming sword aura from his weapon of choice. No ordinary person could easily wield this greatsword, be it with both hands or just one.

At the same time, Davey lifted his toes and kicked up the wooden club that had been on the ground in front of him.

The impact of the kick was so strong that the wooden club bounced back to Davey, almost threatening to hit him. However, Davey stepped forward without any hesitation and snatched the club up swiftly.

Alongside an enormous shockwave, a loud and powerful sound swept across the entire field.

Emperor Deorte’s expression turned ugly. He felt the impact traveling up his arms after he had instinctively defended against the attack, which had seemingly been covered by sword aura.

Davey was only using a simple wooden club, but he managed to produce such amazing results due to his force and abilities. He could strike and swing the wooden club at a speed that no one else could match.

The attack was simply a batting technique that Dokgo Jun, Davey’s swordsmanship teacher, had shown Davey when beating him up in battle. Although it was just a simple batting technique, it was true that it could be considered as a useful and efficient way of attacking.

No matter how much Davey wrapped his wooden club with his Aura Blade, there was no way that it would have the same durability as a true and proper sword. However, the wooden club that should have been broken or disintegrated by now was still pressuring Emperor Deorte.

As Emperor Deorte’s expression turned ugly, a wooden sword in the shape of a longsword that had been stuck on the ground some distance away flew toward Davey’s hand. It seemingly had a mind of its own.

“Ugh!”

The heavy destructive power of the wooden club that Davey wielded was already hard to deal with. The worst part? Another weapon had joined the fight.

Emperor Deorte immediately tried to get away from Davey, instinctively feeling that danger was coming his way. As the pressure pressing down on him only grew stronger, he quickly killed the mana that was flowing through his greatsword and created a barrier to protect himself. He had created a very solid barrier that could block any kind of magic at the 6th Circle.

Of course, that barrier was nothing to Davey.

“This?!”

When a flash of red energy appeared from Davey’s longsword, large cracks began appearing on Emperor Deorte’s steel-like defensive barrier.

Emperor Deorte, trying to escape from Davey, suddenly stopped in his tracks. He was completely stunned by the cracks appearing on his otherwise solid defense.

Just then, a huge current of energy appeared and surrounded the wooden club that was in Davey’s left hand.

[Brutal Attack]

[Battering Ram]

The moment the wooden club slammed down, a huge shockwave immediately spread all across the bare field. The impact eventually broke Emperor Deorte’s defensive shield apart and blew him away.

“Keheook!” Emperor Deorte gasped as his eyes grew wide from shock. After rolling a dozen meters away from Davey, he hurriedly stood up and grumbled, “Urk… That was very heavy…”

Emperor Deorte then released his momentum. He was greatly shocked, since he never expected Davey’s attack to be so rough and heavy.

“After experiencing it personally… I can tell that you’re truly a monster.”

Emperor Deorte was the only one who could recognize the huge gap between their powers. Although he could not pinpoint the exact level of Davey’s power, after personally experiencing the difference in their powers, Emperor Deorte was fully convinced that there were several walls of enlightenment that separated him and Davey.

Davey threw away the longsword, grabbed a greatsword with both hands, and jumped toward Emperor Deorte.

“Good!!! Come at me!!! Show this Emperor his own limits!!!”

There was a high chance that Emperor Deorte would be seriously injured. However, his desire to win had clouded over his general sensibility.

Since the emperor had decided to draw out all of his power, Davey answered in kind and amplified the power that he was using without any hesitation.

After that, it was a constant charge. Davey used his light weapons to quickly attack and push Emperor Deorte back. At the same time, he used his heavy weapons to strike down and deal fatal blows.

Surprisingly enough, Emperor Deorte could still raise his weapon and defend his open abdomen after his form had collapsed. Unfortunately for him, that much would not stop Davey from dealing a blow.

[Devil Ylgr’s Crowd Suppression]

[Heavy Blow to the Abdomen]

The thin shield that Emperor Deorte had created around his body was eventually smashed away by Davey’s heavy and rough blow to his abdomen. The blow was so strong that he was once again sent flying back.

“Kghkk… Urk…”

At this point, Emperor Deorte’s instincts were telling him that there was a huge difference between his combat experience and his opponent’s own.

“Hoo… hoo…” Emperor Deorte could barely catch his breath. He began to grumble and complain, “This Emperor has been running around on the battlefield for forty years…”

He had accumulated plenty of experience through his long records of battle, so he found it ridiculous that he could not even fight back.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I am Rowane Kingdom’s First Prince, Davey O’Rowane, Your Majesty.”

“Hoho…” Emperor Deorte chuckled before coughing up a mouthful of blood.

He collapsed, no longer capable of fighting. He had used up an excessive amount of mana. His pride had also taken a hit, alongside the accumulation of trauma and shock that he had received from Davey and his blows. Although his physical injuries looked almost fatal, the expression on Emperor Deorte’s face was that of relief.

“I never expected that I would feel such helplessness at this old age of mine…” Emperor Deorte smiled as if he had received enlightenment.

Davey, with his expressionless face, approached Emperor Deorte’s collapsed form and cast a recovery magic on him.

Emperor Deorte silently moved his arm after feeling a sense of lightness wash over him. He could feel the high-ranking recovery magic Highness Heal engulfing him. He murmured, “You even have the Saint’s power… Amazing. What is your secret?”

“Try exerting yourself until you feel like dying,” Davey answered calmly.

Emperor Deorte laughed helplessly. “I see… So, the answer is effort… Well, this Emperor has lost. In the first place, I agreed only because I wanted to see through you. I never expected that I would win.”

“It’s not over yet, Your Majesty,” Davey said calmly, his hand reaching out and calling for Emperor Deorte’s sword in his hands. Then, he smiled viciously as he handed the sword to the emperor. “We have to do it again. I’m telling you, we haven’t even started yet.”

Emperor Deorte’s face turned a shade whiter at Davey’s terrifying smile. He was sure that it was not just a bad feeling.

***

The Lyndis Empire’s Imperial Palace Garden was a small yet luxurious place in which the climate could be freely controlled with magic. The weather outside was definitely cold, but it certainly felt warm here.

“Ah…” Warrior Reina, who had been quietly sitting alone in the garden and watching the small birds fluttering around, exclaimed in surprise. She was shocked by Davey’s sudden appearance.

“What are you doing here?” Davey asked calmly, a sense of familiarity seeping into his tone of voice.

Reina, however, only showed a slight change in her expression at Davey’s words.

“Nothing. I was just…” Reina mumbled cautiously, her words trailing off at the end. “I was just looking at the birds.”

She covered her face with her silver mask and fell silent once again.

“It’s a very ordinary scene, though?”

“The place where I came from…has no small birds like these,” Reina mumbled bitterly before asking Davey, “Why aren’t you asking me about my mask?”

“Do you want me to?”

“…No.”

“Then, that’s that. It’s not like I won’t be able to recognize you with or without the mask on.”

To Davey, a face was a face. He usually remembered a person through their own unique aura and energy. With this method, Davey would not have difficulty telling apart even twins who had the same fingerprints.

“…” Davey remained silent, watching the blood flowing from beneath Reina’s mask.

Reina then carefully asked, “I’m quite unsightly, no? This is what a warrior is like, the hero who needs to stop the Demon Lord’s resurrection.”

“There’s no cure.”

“I know. It was my choice,” Reina answered quietly.

“However, you will still be able to live a bit longer if you quit right now.”

Reina shook her head and said, “All I want is for this world to remain the same…”

Her voice carried deep resentment and sadness, but she was expressing it so subtly. Nobody would be able to feel it if they were not looking at her properly.

“You should quit now.”

“You are dissuading me again.”

Davey nodded. “The First Lich Nyx’s power is not about having control over all of the dead.”

Reina held her tongue for a moment, then said, “I know…that he’s an existence with the power of immortality.”

It was not simply a matter of surviving with a life vessel. The moment Nyx was killed, he would just move to another host. The problem was that most of his power was attached to his soul, and this was all thanks to his special constitution. This meant that his strength would not disappear even if he transferred and changed bodies.

“That’s not it. If, by any chance, the unsealing is a lie… There’s a high chance that you going there will be the trigger for him to be released.”

Reina fell silent before looking at Davey. She muttered despondently, “Prince Davey, I have no other choice but to go there.”

“For revenge?”

“Because I have to protect someone who’s living here.”

Davey believed that he knew who that person was.

“I’m glad that we did not meet.”

Although surprised by Davey’s statement, Reina remained silent. She had nothing else to say as she watched Davey leaving the garden.

—Where are you going?

“I have to take Rinne to someplace for a while.”

After observing Reina’s reaction, Davey was sure of something. First Lich Nyx’s seal was definitely going to be released. If that was the case, then should he seal him up again? Or perhaps he should beat him up and kill him? The choice that Davey made was simple.

It had been impossible for Davey to do it back then. However, it seemed like it was now the time for him to take out the thing that Surtr had hidden and prepared in case that bastard awakened someday.