The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

"Ah... No way... Did her horns come out? No, no! Kiddo! You—"

Rudel stared at Rinne in disbelief.

"Rinne states that if you call Rinne a kid one more time, punishment will be inevitable. Rinne evaluates being underestimated due to her youthful appearance lowly.”

"You little—”

Boom!!

Before Rudel could finish, Rinne landed a missile dropkick on his head.

"Gah?!"

He crumpled to the ground, coughing harshly.

"What in the world—?"

"T-Ten thousand years?! That’s ridiculous! Then wouldn’t that make you an old gra—?"

Sling…

"Hmph?!”

She pointed a golden spear directly at him, radiating a chilling aura.

"Rinne states that her mental state is still youthful. Rinne evaluates referring to her as a grandma lowly.

‘What the heck does she want?’

Faced with her overwhelming strength, which was enough to send a polymorphed dragon flying, Rudel began to wonder what kind of absurd place this Heins Territory really was. But his fears didn’t end there.

"An unfamiliar research subject. Would you like to come along? I’ll give you candy."

"Milpieu, stop saying useless things and follow me."

"Yes, my lord."

"Don’t call me lord! Address me as Instructor!”

She was a Vampire Lord so powerful that even dragons couldn't mess with her; a high-level half-vampire that possessed a heart the dragon race couldn’t even understand.

As if that weren’t enough, the territory was crawling with Dark Elves—-a race known to be beyond rare to encounter.

Though they had come with Aina, their overwhelming presence made him question the true nature of this bizarre territory.

But the most shocking thing for him was none other than—

"Is this a storage room?"

Creaaak…

"Kyuu?"

Inside stood a figure with pure white skin, rippling white muscles, and a dumbbell in hand, oozing the stench of sweat as it worked out.

Screech... Thud.

"I saw nothing.”

The territory he had wandered into for his game was far from what he had ever imagined a human domain could be.

* * *

"Uh... What exactly is that rabbit...?” Rudelite asked cautiously, his entire body trembling.

He had seen various beings throughout his lifetime, from Vampire Lords to ancient beings, but the rabbit had instilled a real and visceral fear into him.

"Rabbit?"

"You know, the one in the storage room, lifting weights like a maniac..."

"Oh, you mean Killer Rabbit?”

Davey let out a chuckle.

Despite once being bested by the constellation Cancer, it hadn’t lost its essence. After regaining its strength in the land beyond the demon world mountain range of Tartaros, it had naturally found its way to this territory, settling down as it always did.

Thanks to its continued presence, the Heins Academy exams were able to continue as usual.

"And that's not all I've seen!" Rudelite exclaimed. "The academy students... Are you seriously telling me that once they reach a certain grade, they receive spirit blessings—directly from the Spirit World?! How is that even possible?"

"Talkative, aren't you?"

"No, we need to talk about this, so let’s get everything out in the open! Back then, I kept my mouth shut, worried that others might find out I’m a dragon and panic. But seriously, what’s going on in this territory?!”

For all things in the world, there were boundaries for how much one could accept while remaining sane. Even so, Heins Territory seemed to defy all norms.

"Ha. It’s hard to believe that someone of my experience can actually still be surprised.”

"Don’t overthink it, just roll with it. Oh, right, come with me. There’s work to be done."

With that, Davey led Rudelite down to the underground workshop. The moment Rudelite saw the vast space filled with weapons, his jaw dropped.

"What the hell... What is all this?"

Black crosses, massive hammers, bows, and even unrecognizable items like a branch adorned with bells or a hand fan—every one of them emanated an intense, almost suffocating aura.

Rudelite had thought that Twilight alone was enough to bring a massive impact to the world. And so, he had planned to retrieve it after she died; such actions were only natural for an arbiter.

But within the workshop before him laid not just one weapon like hers—there were several of a similar quality. He couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.

"Why are you so shocked? This isn’t even all of it," Davey said casually.

Then, as if to prove his point, Davey lifted Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, currently in their sword forms.

Rudelite slapped his forehead with his palm. "Oh, come on! These are even crazier... Are these demonic swords?!”

"They're similar, but they're not evil. If anything, they’re adorable swords."

Rudelite didn’t know what to say.

"Anyway, this is what you're going to do," he said, pulling back a massive cloth.

Underneath the fabric was part of a dragon's corpse—covered in black scales that gleamed ominously. It was none other than a fragment of the black dragon Karrella.

"You’re going to harvest this.”

"You want me to harvest my own kind?!"

"It tried to kill you. What’s the issue?"

"Fair point..."

If it had been a normal kin, he wouldn’t have agreed. However, beings like Karrella—who had abandoned their duties as dragons—were considered fallen. Rudelite clearly didn’t feel any need to treat them as equals.

"Fine... But what are you planning to do with a dragon’s corpse?"

"Haven’t thought about it too much. For now, I’ll probably use it to enhance Evangeline’s sword."

"You’re going to strengthen a weapon that’s already on par with divine swords?!"

"That's just the start. In my eyes, any weapon worth its crafting materials must be upgraded to at least +12, as a standard , " Davey said nonchalantly.

"I have no idea what that means."

"Then that's fine. Don’t waste time trying to figure it out—just get to dismantling. I only need the dragon heart for now.”

Rudelite wondered if a dragon heart would even have much effect on a masterpiece like Twilight, though Davey quickly answered his unspoken question.

"I’ll just keep it in storage for the time being. It’s such a unique material that I think I’ll be able to use the power of Time Spirit Altair to accelerate its refinement."

"Time Spirit? What the hell is even that…?"

"At the very least, it’d need to be the heart of an elder-level dragon to be deemed useful.”

Rudelite let out a sigh, not knowing how to respond. He simply began cutting into the dragon’s body without another word.

"By the way," Davey said suddenly, "what’s the deal with these ‘fallen’ dragons, anyway?"

Rudelite hesitated at the question, falling silent for a moment.

"It’s an embarrassment to our race. It’s not something worth sharing with outsiders."

Rudelite always spoke to Davey with respect, despite being much older. When asked why, he admitted that there were too many suspicious things about Davey for him to be treated as an ordinary human.

"Go on. I already remember your friend stopped by not too long ago, ranting about you dying; all that nonsense.”

"You... heard all that?!"

"Wouldn't it be stranger if I didn’t, considering how boisterous he was being?”

"I mean, even if your hearing is sharp..."

"Do you think I’d let you stick around Evangeline without being able to monitor her safety and keep an eye on you?”

Rudelite visibly trembled, chills running down his spine.

"Tch… It’s really nothing. A long time ago, there was a conflict among dragons—a civil war. It was a battle between the moderates, who believed in overseeing harmony through observation, and the radicals, who thought the best way to achieve peace was through forcefully subjugating any and all problematic beings."

"And you?"

"I was part of the moderates, but… things were complicated back then. Many dragons sided with the radicals, and we were gradually overpowered by their sheer strength."

Rudelite explained that the moderates, who’d lost the fight, had found a use for his sister Rubilite’s heart that had traces of the Primordial Dragon bloodline. They extracted it, using it to perform a ritual and ultimately forcing the radicals into slumber.

But the problem was that most of the moderates had also been forced asleep in the process.

"And now they’re waking back up, so the moderates are trying to repeat the ritual when the lord is asleep?”

"Yes."

"And the sacrificial lamb for this second grand ceremony is you?”

Davey wondered if it was something that the moderates should really be doing. Still, if they chose that path to minimize bloodshed even against the fallen dragons, he wasn’t in a position to judge their decisions.

"So that’s what’s going on."

"That’s why I may not be able to stay here for long."

"Because the ritual has to be performed?"

"That’s the promise I made.”

He then wondered why Rudelite had tried so hard to survive, if he was doomed anyways.

"Of course, it won’t necessarily happen right away. I’m guessing there’s still plenty of time."

"Got it."

Davey nodded with nonchalance and turned his head away.

Sleeping dragons suddenly waking up and causing chaos—he didn’t want to bother thinking about it. Besides, as someone who had retired from these kinds of affairs, Davey didn’t see much reason to be involved. Unless, of course, the situation became related to the Constellations. But the blue dragon had assured him that it wasn’t them, so it likely was an issue involving the constellations.

Still, the constellations had been quiet and inactive as of late, and a dragon civil war was none of his concern.

"At the very least, let me know before you leave."

"I will," Rudelite said softly, bowing his head.

Though he referred to Davey as a mere human, his attitude was far from dismissive. Whatever Evangeline had told him, it was enough for Rudelite to show Davey the same level of reverence.

* * *

The preparations for the ritual would’ve taken at least another ten years, under normal circumstances.

However, the fallen dragons were moving far more quickly than expected.

Their slumber ended sooner than their enemies had expected, so they began to seize the opportunity to slaughter the moderate dragons and their lord that had yet to awaken.

"How... How are they even...?"

The dragon elders sighed heavily, their voices tinged with despair.

“Something seems strange. Not only do they know that our lord hasn’t awakened, but they’re also aware of the details regarding the ritual."

The fallen dragons seemed fully certain of their lord’s absence, and had even discovered that Rudelite had been selected as the Ceremonial Priest.

Two full-fledged dragons had sustained severe injuries during a scout mission in order to obtain the knowledge of their surprisingly-informed enemies’ movements. Yet, on the other hand, the fallen dragons seemed to be gathering intelligence effortlessly.

When the blue dragon elder Marin suggested a possible cause, the other two elders—black dragon Opal and green Dragon Kaiser—grimaced.

"What you’re suggesting, Elder, is that we might have a traitor among us?"

"Given the circumstances, it’s a possibility we can’t afford to ignore. After all, there’s no reliable way to distinguish fallen dragons from the rest of us."

"That’s true," Opal muttered bitterly.

"As if the situation wasn’t already dire enough… Our forces are already stretched thin."

"I’ve also received reports that the fallen dragons have made a brief appearance.”

"An appearance? What do you mean?"

"Five full-fledged dragons were spotted—they appeared in a human kingdom, but then soon vanished without a trace."

"Is it possible that they’re hiding among humans?"

"We can’t rule it out.”

As Opal and Marin sighed deeply, Kaiser furrowed his brows.

"We don't have the time to keep fiddling around like this. They’ve already begun moving, and our lord has yet to awaken. We must prepare the ritual before it’s too late."

"But, Elder..."

"If we delay any further, we won’t be able to avoid complete annihilation at their hands. If that happens, not only will we fail to mediate the continent’s peace, but we won’t be able to do anything at all. Isn’t that exactly what those fallen bastards are after?" Kaiser said with determination.

Opal and Marin nodded grimly in response.

"In that case, the first step is to bring Rudelite to the dragons’ sanctuary. Now that we know the fallen dragons are targeting him, we can’t leave him unprotected any longer.”

"The problem is that we have no idea where he’s gone..."

"There’s no need to worry about that, Elder Marin. Doesn’t your son have a connection to Rudelite?"

"You mean Sapphire?"

Marin couldn’t help but stiffen at the mention of his son.

"Wouldn’t he know Rudelite’s whereabouts?"

"But he’s not here right now—"

"No need to worry about that. I’ve already summoned him," Kaiser said.

Snap!

With a snap of his fingers, the massive door creaked open, and Sapphire entered the chamber. His expression was a mix of reluctance and resignation.

"Greetings, Elders.”

"Welcome, child of the blue clan.”

"Yes, Elder."

"I’ll be direct: Can you answer truthfully, without deceit?"

"Yes.”

"Then you must swear it with a Dragontongue Oath,” Opal interjected, his tone stern.

Everyone froze at its suggestion.

"Elder Opal! What are you saying?!"

"The situation is far too dire for us to play games," Opal replied coldly, turning his gaze to Sapphire.

"Swear on it."

"..."

"Elder Opal!!"

"Enough! I am addressing Sapphire, not you, Elder Marin!”

"Do you even realize what you’re asking? A Dragontongue Oath is no trivial matter! One wrong word, and he’ll become a mad—”

Whuuum…

"I swear,” Sapphire said firmly, his expression hardening.

"Sapphire!"

"Good. Do you know where Rudelite is?"

Sapphire hesitated, his mouth opening and closing. After a bit, he spoke in a low voice.

"Before I answer, Elder Opal, I need your confirmation of a matter."

"Speak."

"Are the fallen dragons truly targeting Rudelite?"

"Yes, presumably."

"If he is brought here, will he be safe?"

“Yes. He will be under our protection."

After a long pause, Sapphire finally gave his answer.

"He’s on the eastern continent, in the Kingdom of Rowane, specifically within its Heins Territory.”

“Heins.”

"It’s that territory I mentioned before... the one where a human used a dragon’s breath," Sapphire replied, his voice trembling slightly as his fists clenched ever tighter.

"Sapphire..." Marin murmured worriedly, seeing the struggle on his son's face.

Suddenly, Marin heard Sapphire’s voice ring in his head.

[Father, do you remember that human I mentioned before? You should go meet him—if we manage to involve him, we might be able to win this fight without sacrificing Rudelite.]

Hearing this, his expression grew even more conflicted.

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thoughts

Bro this Opal dude is sus as FUCK.