The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 724: Family Aspirations

The huge, instinctively shaped monster stood before Davey. He looked nothing like a human now. The black magical mutation had transformed him into something monstrous. Unlike the simple metamorphosis that Davey could perform, he seemed to have used the strongest drugs and dark magic.

The problem with this transformation was that it took some time to be completed. The creature before him had to have experienced every part of it firsthand.

“Hurry up and explain,” Davey demanded.

Hyun-Ah just sobbed, unable to speak. Looking at their surroundings, Davey noticed figures in black robes all around them. He thought about getting information from them but realized that they had been dead for a long time, and their souls were completely gone.

Davey grilled Hyun-Ah as he lost his rationality. “Stop crying and talk—“

“Watch out!” Kouna shouted with urgency.

Having evolved to a hidden class, she had gained control of the power of Haitai. Just as she had predicted using her foresight, the monster that had been letting strange cries moments before suddenly stretched out his huge hand toward Davey.

Thud!

The monster got him good. With no time to dodge, Davey was forced to defend himself with one arm. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep him from getting pushed back.

Thud!!

Davey skidded to a halt some distance away. It almost seemed like the monster was trying to flex his strength on Davey and showing what he was capable of.

Davey’s brows furrowed as he checked his arm. The attack didn’t wound him, but it did make him realize that the monster was a lot stronger than he had expected.

“...”

Even though he didn’t use the Destroyer's title or buff magic, Davey knew that the creature, despite being mutated by black magic, still shouldn’t be strong enough to push him this much.

He looked silently at the being that was once his uncle. He had expected they would meet someday, but not like this.

“This wasn’t the reunion I had in mind.”

- Kaaa!!!

The monster charged at him as he let out a terrifying roar. In response, Davey reached out for Red Ribbon but stopped at the last second. He knew better than to hesitate when he was facing an enemy.

Slash!!

Before he had the time to think, the monster had bombarded him with attacks. Unfortunately, now that his uncle had lost his rationality, there was no longer any way to save him. Davey knew that even if they somehow managed to return the mutated body to its original state, there was virtually no chance his destroyed character would come back.

The Illuminati was clearly behind this.

“There wouldn’t be any traces of Rho Aias’s black magic otherwise.”

Davey couldn’t even imagine what those bastards had done to the body of the hero who once protected their world. They were still very active even after destroying and absorbing the artifacts made from her body.

However, although he couldn’t figure out their purpose, he could tell that they had more than one objective in mind. Unlike the Illuminati of the Tionis continent, these guys were doing whatever the hell they wanted. It was as if they had nothing to lose.

"I'm sorry."

Davey didn’t contemplate for long. He didn't know why his uncle had become a monster, but since he already was one, there was only one thing left for him to do.

Considering he could no longer thank him properly, the least he could do was let him rest in peace and help his wandering soul, which was waiting for salvation, proceed with the cycle of reincarnation.

This was the only way he could repay him.

Sling…

Having made up his mind, Davey took a step forward. This was his chance to make things right before his uncle completely mutated. He counted to three with his eyes closed and aimed the tip of Red Ribbon’s blade at the ever-changing monster.

[Weighted Sword]

[Mountain Split]

He put overwhelming weight on the sword, then struck without hesitation. When Red Ribbon touched the head of the rampaging monster, time seemingly stopped for a split second.

Slash!

With a chilling sound, Davey followed the movement of his sword and lightly shook Red Ribbon. He then looked at the monster that had fallen silent.

A second later, the monster split in the center and collapsed. Although he was powerful, that was all he was. His strong physical abilities was rendered useless by his mutation, which left him defenseless.

Davey knew a smart monster would not have mutated in front of him. However, the one before him had no such judgment.

Despair filled Hyun-Ah as she watched the monster collapse. No matter how hideous he had become, he had still been her uncle.

Overwhelmed with complex and bitter emotions, Davey’s hand, which was holding Red Ribbon, trembled.

“What on earth happened?” he asked.

“Sob… Uncle… Uncle…”

Crying, Hyun-Ah ignored Davey. She instead slowly walked toward her uncle, who had been split in half. Normally, Davey would have stopped her, but not this time.

She reached for the monster and wailed.

"Uncle... Open your eyes... Uncle…”

Tears rolled down her face as she tapped the monster’s body in a panic.

“Uncle, open your eyes! You promised me! We were supposed to get away from here once this project was done… What are you doing here? You said you were just going to the church’s headquarters and that you’d be back! How did you end up like this?!”

Her desperate scream echoed through the mountains.

“Talk to me! Why... why did things have to turn out this way?”

“He’s already dead,” Davey said calmly.

“Uncle, this is all my fault, okay? Please open your eyes! Please!!” Hyun-Ah wailed.

Davey then went up to her and pulled her arm. Despite his efforts to stop her, she continued to cry and scream.

“My brother left me, and now you’re going to leave me too? It’s all my fault. Uncle! Please… I’ll do better, so please…”

“He’s already dead. One’s character is completely destroyed when transformed by black magic. Your uncle is gone.”

"No!!!"

She held onto the corpse and wailed harder. "No!! Don’t you dare tell me that my uncle’s dead! He told me that everything was going to be alright… Even the church said…”

She quickly covered her mouth.

Davey was now certain that the Neltarid Church was involved with the growth of the Sacred Group. Otherwise, their uncle's business wouldn't have suddenly become so prosperous.

“You knew something your uncle was acting strange,” he said, making her quiet down. ”“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Davey now wondered if she had known about her uncle's abnormality from the beginning or that she did know but decided to keep silent because she didn’t have enough information.

It didn’t matter too much to Davey anymore, though. Having already lost his patience, he yanked Hyun-Ah without the slightest hesitation.

Before he could make a better decision, he ended up yelling at her. “Why didn’t you tell me?!!!”

Her eyes widened as she looked at him. Surprised by his actions, Davey’s eyes widened too.

“Why are you angry?” Hyun-Ah asked.

“Huh?”

“I didn’t tell you because it’s family matters. I figured it wasn’t something I could or should tell others. Is there a reason why I should’ve told you?”

No matter how trustworthy someone was, there were certain things people couldn’t share with others. Although Davey was helping her out of kindness, that wasn’t enough reason for him to know everything about her.

Of course, none of that mattered right now. Davey didn’t know what to say. As she said, Davey was not Shin Hyun-Soo anymore. He was Davy O’Rowane, son of Krianes O’Rowane, the king of the Kingdom of Rowane, and the previous Queen Lennie Alishad.

He had forgotten that he was a different person now.

“I did ask you for help… I was so scared… I was so scared and didn't know what to do... I told you because I had no one else to trust but you,” she said as tears streamed down her face. "I’m sorry that I only asked for help when I needed it… I couldn’t even talk about my family situation..."

She lowered her head, wiping away her tears with her hands.

“Explain everything to me in detail,” Davey said.

“My uncle… They said he had an incurable disease so severe that he should’ve passed away not long after Hyun-Soo died.”

Davey couldn’t believe what Hyun-Ah was telling him. She explained that he was on the verge of dying every day until he made connections with the Neltarid Church by chance, which then saved him by giving him something. She added that she wasn’t aware of this until much later.

She continued, “I heard that he helped the church, and in return, they helped his business prosper. That was how he managed to remain alive and well.”

The church’s goal was to prepare for the coming calamity and support as many people as possible once Doomsday began. In return, her uncle managed to live on and have a successful business.

But the problem came after that. Her uncle, who was struggling to help countless people as they agreed, received an urgent call from them and headed to their headquarters. For some reason, he prioritized his visit more than the company and left Hyun-Ah to take care instead.

The problem escalated when her uncle, after visiting the church, suddenly called her to this remote place. Hyun-Ah, who was in the city trying to buy a gift for Davey, immediately left when she received the call. Davey now understood why her traces continued from the city center and how Hyun-Ah ended up here.

However, instead of finding her uncle, people in bizarre robes appeared and tried to kidnap her. There would have been no surprises if she was taken right away. However, her uncle, who cared deeply for her and Yeon-Hee, realized she was in danger and rushed over to save her.

In the process of saving Hyun-Ah, he was fatally injured. Afterward, he turned into a monster. Davey figured that the cause of his mutation was related to how he had managed to keep living.

Hyun-Ah spoke rather incoherently, but Davey understood what he needed to know.

The Neltarid Church had chosen her uncle to expand its influence and strengthen the people of Earth. He took his life and joined forces with the church and went through clinical trials with their medicines in order to provide for his precious niece. Unfortunately, things turned out this way instead.

“He said things weren’t like this at first and that he started to feel weird when the person who looked after him changed…”

Davey figured that they did in fact give him life-saving medicine with no side effects at first, but that probably only lasted until a spy infiltrated the church. The Illuminati was clearly behind this.

Even in Tionis, the Illuminati had been hiding in numerous countries and carrying out operations. It was shocking that hostile forces were hiding in the organization that currently served the most humans on Earth.

Davey couldn’t quite put the pieces together on why the Illuminati had made her uncle like this, but he was certain that he wasn’t going to feel better until he took out every single one of them.

“He… He came to save me…” Hyun-Ah said tearfully.

Davey noticed that there were some Awakened among the corpses of the black-robed figures.

While wondering about how they had come with her uncle, he also thought about the fact that Hyun-Ah hadn’t asked for his help from the beginning. She had already watched her uncle turn into a monster, panicked, and had lost all hope before seeking help.

Davey remained silent. He felt his mind was a tangled mess.

The boy, top-ranked Malicious Spirit, had mentioned that their preparations were complete. He figured that they had started their plans of avoiding head-on confrontations with him and instead distracting him to tire him out.

Whatever they had in mind, Davey wasn’t going to let them have things their way.

Squelch…

The monster that Davey had completely cut using Red Ribbon suddenly began to wriggle.

Rustle!!

Hyun-Ah’s eyes, which had been on Davey, widened.

Bang!!

Her uncle, whose body had been cut in half—no, the giant hand of the monster struck away the shadows of the black-robed figures that had been targeting Davey and Hyun-Ah.

- Goo…

He didn’t seem dead just yet. Davey was certain that he had killed him, yet the monster was moving again.

Hyun-Ah turned to the huge monster in surprise. "Uncle?"

The monster’s movements and cries had changed. Unlike when he was wildly and aimlessly attacking everyone, he was now more cautious, its cries now pitiful wails full of sadness.

"Shit! The surprise attack failed! Everyone get ready!! Get barriers up before the Saint of Tionis attacks!!”

The figures in black robes poured out from all directions, conjuring scarlet and black magic circles in the air. They were moving as if they had already planned for a situation like this.

Meanwhile, Davey noticed the pattern engraved on their robes. It was the symbol of the Illuminati.

Little did these damn bastards know that they weren't just about to play with fire. They were about to jump right into it.

- Woo…!!!

The mutated monster roared in sorrow as he saw enemies pop up.

“...”

Hyun-Ah seemed surprised that her dead uncle had come back to life. However, Davey couldn’t take his eyes off the monster for a different reason. If he had gone through the mutation process that Davey knew, his character should have been completely destroyed, making it impossible for him to distinguish between friend and foe.

Hence, watching the monster cry out warm, clear tears rendered Davey speechless.

“You’re already dead and have lost your character,” Davey muttered, his voice trembling, “yet you’re still trying to protect Hyun-Ah until the end…”

Davey then realized that it was only natural for the monster to be acting like this. He had wiped out the Illuminati who tried to kidnap Hyun-Ah, and when Davey had tried to grill Hyun-Ah, he attacked him as well. Even though his character had been destroyed, he was still protecting her.

At that moment, Davey felt like something snapped in his mind.