The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

‘What the hell?! Who is this guy?! How… How can a human shoot out a dragon’s breath?!’

The blue dragon felt a chilling sensation run through his entire body. Being an ice dragon, having a cold body was normal, but this was different—this chill seeped into his very core.

He was feeling fear. Actual fear.

A dragon, the mightiest kind of creature in the world, was trembling before a mere human.

He wanted to believe he was mistaken, but...

[Uhm... How long do I need to stay like this?]

Facedown on the ground, there was no denying the truth anymore.

“Until I say you’re done.”

The blue dragon remained silent. He knew there was no way that what he had seen was simply some kind of delusion. What that human had just done was undeniably something only a dragon could do.

Dragontongue was a power exclusive to the dragon race. It wasn’t something other races could mimic.

With his head still pressed against the ground, he shot an uneasy glance at Davey, who was quietly staring down at him.

“What’s up? Why don’t you try acting up like you did earlier?”

[My apologiesss!!]

‘This monstrous human!’

The enormous blue dragon let out a pitiful wail, his tone so submissive it belied his noble heritage. But he had no other choice—there was no way to survive this situation otherwise.

Sure, the human in front of him had said he wouldn’t kill him, but that one statement somehow felt even scarier than death itself.

His own icy breath attack had been entirely consumed by the dark breath that Davey unleashed. Even his sturdy, ice-armored body had been shattered and splintered by a single punch from him.

The blue dragon had never thought a human could match, let alone surpass, his noble strength.

He prided himself on cherishing his life above all else, so he easily accepted that being submissive was the only way out from this disaster.

“Now, hand it over.”

[Pardon? W-What are you talking about…?]

“All the stuff you looted from the red dragon’s lair,” Davey replied, clicking his tongue.

[H-How do you know about that?!]

“You wanna get beat up, or you wanna just hand them over and save everyone the trouble?”

Seeing his cold smile, the blue dragon trembled uncontrollably.

It had only gone to Rudel’s lair—the red dragon it usually bickered with—to pull a little prank. While Rudelite had been away, the blue dragon had cleared the place out to mess with him.

But now, this strange human had appeared out of nowhere, demanding to take all of it. As a dragon, he believed there were limits to how much pride he could bow his head and swallow.

[I-I’ll give it all to you!]

“Good.”

The blue dragon opened his personal Pocket Plane and began to unload everything within: rare artifacts, glittering swords, finely crafted armor, and valuable treasures. It desperately hoped that Davey would simply leave him alone once he gave him everything.

If Rudel came back and caused a scene, well, he figured he could always redirect him to this human lunatic. If he could mess with both Rudel and the human in front of him, he believed it’d be a net positive.

For the moment, all he could think about was escaping from the terrifying human before reporting everything to the elders.

Putting on his most ingratiating smile, he bowed and scraped, practically begging for mercy.

“This is everything?”

[Y-Yes! That’s everything!!]

“There’s no more? If so, then I guess I’ll just slice you up and have some dragon sashimi. I hear dragon meat is an excellent tonic for men.”

Grrr!!

The blue dragon let out a shrill cry of terror. He could tell that the human was serious about turning him into sashimi—if this went on any longer, he wouldn’t even be able to put up a fight before being killed.

He had to figure out a way to change Davey’s mind.

‘Think! Think! What does he want?!’

As he racked his dragon brain for an answer, his eyes suddenly gleamed with a realization.

[W-Well... Dragon meat isn’t that great for men, honestly. But instead... if you use this…]

The blue dragon nervously pulled a small vial out from his Pocket Plane.

[This is something that works wonders for humans. It’s especially popular among male dragons—female dragons often gift it to their husbands because of its immediate effects.]

“Oh...?”

As Davey put on a sly smile, the blue dragon internally cheered. It would be a shame to give him such a rare item, but it wasn’t like he had any use for it.

After all, Rudelite had scoffed at him before, saying—

‘An aphrodisiac? Are you nuts? You’re holed up in your lair all day anyway; it’s like you’re a loot goblin collecting dungeon gear.’

Though insulting, he knew Rudel wasn’t wrong.

‘Handing this over is nothing compared to my life being spared!’

“Alright. If you’re willing to even give me this, I’ll let you off the hook this time.”

He celebrated inwardly again, thinking he was safe. But still, he needed to be absolutely sure.

[You… You’re really letting me go?!]

“What, would you rather I make you into dragon stew instead?”

[N-No!!]

“Then get lost.”

Having received mercy, he shot to his feet and hastily activated a warp spell. Fortunately, his frozen mana had finally begun to flow again.

He couldn’t believe that a mere human could freeze a dragon’s mana. He wondered if that meant the human had reached a level even dragons struggled to attain.

As these thoughts raced through his mind and he prepared to escape, Davey interrupted him.

“One more thing.”

[W-What is it?]

“Lately, there’s been a lot of monsters banding together, seemingly organized for a singular purpose. They’ve been causing a lot of chaos around the world.”

The blue dragon froze mid-step, hesitating.

[W-Well…]

“Are you dragons the ones behind it?”

If the dragons were involved, that could only mean one thing—they had allied themselves with the constellations.

The reasoning was simple: The monsters had attacked to wipe out the heretics, a goal which was served by working with the constellation Libra.

[Um… Dragons have the ability to manipulate the movement of monsters throughFear, sure, but...]

“So it’s the dragons?”

[Tch... I shouldn’t be telling you this, but… we dragons have been in hibernation lately due to some unfortunate events in the past. I only woke up about two weeks ago.]

“And?”

[It’s the same for the others. We’ve decided as a race to avoid external affairs, only occasionally playing our games. I have no idea what you’re referring to.]

His eyes darted about nervously. He wasn’t lying, too scared that if he lied to that devil in human form, he’d surely die.

[Whatever answer or mysterious hand behind the curtain you’re looking for, it’s probably not one of us.]

“Hm... Is there a constellation that can control monsters? I can think of one likely culprit...”

[So… Can I go now?]

“Yeah. Get outta here, before I change my mind.”

Though suspicious of how easily Davey had let him leave, he didn’t dwell on it. All he worried about was getting far away from the place.

And so, Davey watched the retreating dragon with a sly grin.

“Good. Go far, far away. While you’re at it, reconnect with your own species.”

* * *

When Rudelite heard about the clash with the blue dragon, his expression grew complicated.

There were only two living blue dragons: an elder dragon and Sapphire, the one who was his lifelong rival.

The blue dragon elder was immensely powerful—far too much for even that monstrous human to take on. That meant the only one who could've been beaten down like that was Sapphire.

‘Haha! Serves him right! That dirty thief.’

Mana capacity didn’t necessarily determine combat strength, but even so, the reality was as harsh as ever.

Still, knowing his rival—someone of the same generation as himself—was taken down so easily sent a chill down his spine. If Davey ever discovered that he was a dragon as well, he couldn’t imagine what would happen.

However, what puzzled him the most was why Davey had bothered letting Sapphire live.

He had acted as if he’d tear the wings and rip out the heart of a dragon the moment he laid eyes on one.

Yet he let Sapphire go.

From everything Rudelite had observed, Davey wasn’t someone who would do such a thing without a reason.

There must be something he was missing in all of it, some underlying reason.

What it could be, Rudelite had no way of knowing.

* * *

Sapphire, having narrowly escaped the monstrous human, felt cold sweat trickling down his entire body.

Whoosh!

As he flew into the massive crater of a volcano, he transformed from his draconic form to that of a human. He trudged forward, muttering in frustration.

“What the hell is with that monster… What is he?!”

He couldn’t understand how a mere human was powerful enough to instill fear into a Wyrm-class dragon like himself. And to make things worse, he still wasn’t able to track down Rudelite.

“I need to report this immediately.”

With that, Sapphire made his way to where the dragon elders were gathered.

There were only a few dragon elders left alive.

Three, to be precise—a blue dragon, a black dragon, and a green dragon.

“Elders,” Sapphire called out respectfully as he entered.

“Sapphire, is that you?”

“Yes. Has the lord awakened yet?”

“As you can see, no,” sighed Marin, both the blue dragon elder and Sapphire’s father. His long beard swayed as he let out another deep breath.

“By the way, I specifically instructed you to bring back Rudelite. Why have you returned alone?”

“Ah… About that…” Sapphire hesitated, his expression uneasy.

“Rudelite has gone missing. And… a human has appeared—a human capable of using dragon’s breath.”

The air around them instantly stilled. Marin’s face darkened.

“Is what you just said true?”

“Yes. I suggest we take action on the—”

“Action?” scoffed the black dragon elder. “That won’t be necessary. It must’ve been nothing more than a puny human’s imitation.”

“Elder,” Sapphire interjected cautiously. “The breath he used was a dark breath.”

“…”

The black dragon Elder flinched, his piercing gaze narrowing with fury at the interruption. For a moment, he looked as though he might tear Sapphire apart on the spot.

“Are you sure you aren’t mistaken?”

“Yes. Furthermore, the power of his breath… overwhelmed me completely. I don’t think we can afford to ignore his existence...”

Silence fell across the chamber once again.

Finally, the black dragon elder rose slowly to his feet.

“Where are you going, Elder?” Marin asked.

“I need to see for myself if this kid’s claim holds any truth.”

“Sit down. Now is not the time to concern ourselves with a mere human.”

“...”

“Sapphire, you are to once again seek out Rudelite. If that fool doesn’t accept the role of the Ceremonial Priest, this time we’ll truly lose. Furthermore, from what I’ve heard from the scouts, it would seem he’s aligned himself with a strange entity.”

“A strange entity?”

“Yes. Something… bordering on the divine. If they manage to descend upon this world and spread calamity, things will become far more complicated for us.”

Sapphire nodded silently upon hearing the information, but his body stiffened as another thought struck him.

“Father… are you saying Rudelite will be the one to serve as the Ceremonial Priest?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Of course, it is! The prestigious role of the Ceremonial Priest is just a facade! Wouldn’t that make Rudelite a sacrificial offering to awaken the power of the dragon god race?!”

“That is not for you to concern yourself with.”

“Father!!”

“Sapphire!” Marin snapped, his voice harsh. “This is an official meeting. Here, you will refer to me as Elder.”

He gritted his teeth, but held his tongue.

“As for that human, I’ll deal with him myself some time later.”

Sapphire believed that no matter how powerful the human could be, he still wouldn't be able to escape the grasp of a dragon elder.

And yet, an unsettling feeling lingered in the back of his mind. He wondered if that human had actually displayed his full strength or not.

‘No, now’s not the time to be worrying about him. Rudelite’s been chosen as the sacrifice—I first have to find and warn him.’

Sapphire bit his lip to hide his frustration.

The dragons had grown weak and fragmented, leaving them in such a precarious position.

It was infuriating.

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thoughts

Looks like the humans are WAY off if they think dragons are altogether extinct lol