The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

A massive minotaur with bulging muscles walked forward, its entire body glowing with a deep navy hue amid radiant starlight.

“Stop! Stop! Don’t come any closer!”

At the end of its path laid a village of stone buildings, where tense orcs stood with weapons.

“This is the domain of Great Chief Tsu! State your affiliation!”

Of course, the minotaur wasn’t going to answer. It simply stood still, staring blankly at the orcs with its imposing presence. After a brief moment of silence, it resumed its steady march forward.

The figure was none other than the constellation Taurus.

A being incapable of verbal communication, yet one that radiated an overwhelming, suffocating aura. Its mere presence was enough to unnerve anyone who dared approach. For the orcs, who instinctively sensed the creature’s strength, it was nothing short of a disaster that appeared from out of the blue.

Eventually, one of the orc warriors couldn’t contain himself anymore, brandishing a massive axe and charging forward.

“Take this! Feel the might of my axe! Uwoooh!”

And then—

Boom!

It caught the orc’s arm in an instant. Then, it tilted its head slightly as if evaluating something before shaking its head in disapproval.

“This… This can’t be… It neutralized the Great Warrior’s attack in an instant…”

For orcs, strength was the ultimate measure of worth. The one who had charged in, Gore the Great Warrior, was one of the strongest in the tribe.

And yet, he had been utterly outmatched. The realization of their foe’s unmatched strength left the gathered orcs paralyzed, caught between fear, awe, and a suffocating tension.

It was then that a voice broke the silence.

“The Great Chief approaches!”

The orcs immediately erupted into cheers at the announcement.

“Oooh! Great Chief Tsu!”

“Tsu!!”

“Tsu!!!”

The orc pulled back his large hood and bellowed in a commanding voice as he looked at the onlookers cheering.

“What’s going on here?!”

“T-That is…”

Great Chief Tsu strode forward, his piercing gaze landing on the massive minotaur standing silently at the edge of the orc village. He then shifted his gaze to Gore, who was desperately struggling against the creature, which was holding his axe with ease.

“That thing is—!”

Great Chief Tsu widened his eyes, recognizing the being before him.

“Great Chief! Do you know what that thing is?!”

“Of course I do! How could I not?!”

With a tense expression, Tsu began approaching the scene. The gathered orcs stirred with excitement at the sight.

“As expected of Great Chief Tsu, the mighty warrior who can commune with spirits!”

“Make way for Chief!”

As Tsu hastily approached, Taurus acted as if it were encountering a sworn enemy. It abruptly yanked the axe, hurling both the weapon and Gore aside with incredible force.

Gore hadn’t been simply lost in power by a narrow margin—he had been no match in every aspect of strength from the beginning.

“The Great Chief is going to face that being!”

“May the chief be blessed by spirits!”

“Tsu!”

“Tsu!”

“Tsu!!”

Leaving the chanting orcs behind, Tsu advanced toward Taurus with a grim expression. The two stared each other down in silence, the tension palpable.

“Kuooo!!”

Tsu suddenly roared, taking off his upper garments. Taurus also reciprocated, as if accepting the challenge.

Neither wasted another moment.

“Hmph!!”

Taurus and Tsu struck dramatic muscular poses, flexing their rippling muscles.

“Hup!!”

Thud!

The orcs watched the bizarre scene unfold while breaking into a cold sweat.

Finally, as Tsu relaxed his biceps and stance, the strange contest came to an end.

Without a word, the two moved closer to one another. They then clasped their right hands in a crushing handshake, nodding to each other with respect.

“A guest has arrived!” Tsu roared, his voice echoing across the village.

“Wooo!!!”

The orcs erupted into cheers once more.

Chief Tsu patted Taurus on the shoulder and gestured toward the village.

“Come on in, brother. A strong warrior such as yourself is always welcome in our tribe!”

Taurus silently followed behind Tsu, stepping into the village.

This orc tribe, located in the eastern part of the Lyndis Empire, had no idea that the being they had just welcomed was a singular force capable of shaking the entire world.

Honestly, they didn’t seem like the type to care about that kind of thing at all, either.

* * *

"Hey, Dragon. Can you take a look at this?"

Elder Golgouda called out to the red dragon Rudelite[1], who happened to be passing him with an old magic book in his hands.

“You knew who I really was, too?” Rudelite asked, his expression one of disbelief—he couldn’t believe that even dwarves had known who he actually was.

“Hah, no, I didn’t know,” Golgoda chuckled.

“Then why aren’t you afraid?”

Dragons and dwarves shared a long, tangled history of intertwined fates. It was almost as if the dwarves had a fear of dragons woven into their very genetic makeup as a natural response to the vast power gap between their races.

Yet, Elder Golgoda appeared perfectly calm.

“Afraid? Hahaha! Of course I’m afraid.”

“Hmm?”

“But there’s no need for me to worry about encountering any trouble here. Have you forgotten where you are?”

Rudelite tilted his head in confusion.

“What? Oh… Right.”

“Considering all the work the Gracious Savior has done here, it’s no surprise anymore. Now, about this work here. What do you think?”

“The mana formation is slightly distorted. You’ll need to adjust it.”

“Hahaha, so that was the issue! Thank you for your help!”

With that, Golgoda strode off with his sword in hand, still laughing. Rudelite, watching him leave, let out a dry chuckle.

Somehow, he felt like the whole situation he’d ended up in wasn’t all that bad. In fact, he found himself wishing he could stay in the territory forever.

Although he had told Evangeline that he’d remain by her side, he knew deep down that there was only a small chance that fate would allow it.

With the conflict against the fallen dragons inching ever closer to another eruption, he knew the time was coming when he’d have to sacrifice his heart to hold back their onslaught.

But here, such thoughts seemed trivial—the peace was overwhelming, almost intoxicating. He could hardly imagine how nice it’d be for such a peace to last forever.

But fate truly had other plans. He detected two presences—familiar yet unfamiliar, both appearing at once.

“This is…”

His slit pupils narrowed sharply, and within an instant he’d vanished, leaping across space.

* * *

Two men, their faces hidden underneath the ordinary traveler’s robes, quietly entered the territory.

“Is this the place, Sapphire?”

“Yes, Father,” replied the younger of the two.

“A peculiar place,” mused the blue dragon elder Marin. “I’ve wandered through many human villages, but it’s rare to find one where so many powers and races can coexist like this without trouble.”

“The ruler of this land is a human who also happened to defeat me. Stirring up trouble here will only complicate things further,” Sapphire responded cautiously.

“Hm. But I will say, I had thought you’d keep his location to yourself.”

“That’s…”

“Does it have something to do with what you mentioned earlier?”

Sapphire didn’t answer, his silence speaking volumes.

“You said the human who defeated you resides here, and Rudel is also here in the middle of his game?”

“Yes.”

“I’m afraid I find that hard to believe,” Marin said, shaking his head. “I’ve heard that this place was already attacked by the fallen ones recently. Where they disappeared to, I do not know. But no matter how powerful a human may be, if an attack is launched against them by so many dragons, they are doomed to die.”

Marin didn’t even entertain the possibility that the human had taken down the dragons. While a human could be strong, elder-level dragons were also strong—even the mightiest of humans would stand no chance.

“Father. What if that human managed to take down all those dragons??”

“Hohoho! Nonsense. Such a thing is impossible.”

Marin responded with mocking laughter, but Sapphire couldn’t help but recall his own past encounter with Davey. It was indeed hard to believe without seeing him firsthand.

But the sudden disappearance of the fallen dragons, and Rudel not reacting either, was suspicious enough to hint at something more.

“For now, let us wait,” Marin said firmly. “We’ve already revealed our presence. If Rudel is here, he’ll sense us and show himself soon.”

With that, Marin strengthened his presence.

The heavy waves of power were something ordinary humans couldn’t detect. Their unique low- and high-frequency vibrations served as a method of communication.

Marin believed that if Rudel was nearby, he’d undoubtedly notice their presence and respond shortly.

Or so he thought.

Instead, an unexpected variable appeared.

“Ah… There you are.”

A group of knights clad in shining armor approached the two.

“How may I help you?” Marin asked in a firm tone.

He knew revealing their true identities to humans would benefit no one. Both maintaining their disguises as ordinary humans, they looked at the knights with confused faces.

[Father? They’re…]

[Stay still. In my long years of experience from my own dragon games, these are nothing more than routine patrolmen performing random checks.]

“Is there a problem?” Marin asked again.

“Forgive us, but are you travelers from outside the territory?” one knight inquired.

“Yes, indeed. I’m traveling with my son. What can we do for you?”

His demeanor was no longer that of a stern, commanding dragon elder. Instead, he exuded the presence of an ordinary elderly man who was spending time with his son.

"Nothing, sir. Welcome to Heins Territory.”

"Haha, thank you. This is a beautiful territory—I’m glad I came here. It seems the lord has an excellent sense of aesthetics.”

In fact, his words weren’t mere flattery. The scenery of the territory; the flowing waterways in the sky; and the enormous orb of water; all were very impressive. He couldn’t help but look forward to borrowing such techniques to decorate his own lair later.

"Ah, yes, I agree. His Majesty has remarkable talents—I doubt there’s another territory on the continent with a view like ours.”

Both Marin and Sapphire recognized the truth of his words.

They had expected the human world to have evolved greatly during their long dormancy, but judging by the territories they’d passed through on their way, most places hadn’t changed much at all. Heins Territory was undeniably an extraordinary exception.

"But, may I ask why you’ve stopped us?"

"Ah, yes, thank you for your cooperation. Could you please hold this for a moment?"

The knight handed them a small orb, and Marin exchanged a quick glance with Sapphire.

[Impressive, Father. You’ve adapted to the human world instantly.]

[You fool. This is the wisdom a father possesses. Whatever this check is for, it’s easy peasy lemon squeezy. Relax.]

The knight examined the orb as they held it. It glowed faintly, and he firmly nodded.

"That confirms it. Take them in."

‘What?’

Marin and Sapphire froze, utterly dumbfounded, as the surrounding knights suddenly began binding their wrists.

[Uh… Father?]

[What in the…?]

"I don’t sense anything myself," one knight explained, "but we’ve received multiple complaints about overwhelming high-frequency energy waves rippling across the entire territory. It’s been causing quite a disturbance. We’ve been tracking the source, and now we find you here at its epicenter. We can talk in further detail at the guard station.”

"Ah— Wait a moment! What is this nonsense?!" Marin protested, his voice tinged with disbelief.

"Sir, I ask that you not resist.”

And so, the two dragons—who had come to Heins Territory in search of Rudelite—found themselves captured before they could truly even begin their mission.

Instead of boldly seeking out Rudelite, they were dragged off to the territory’s holding cells.

"Father.”

"Be quiet. I can’t fathom how humans managed to detect dragon race waves and lodge complaints about it. It doesn’t make any sense."

Their lack of information was fairly obvious. They had no idea who—or what—was residing in that peculiar territory.

1. Previously Ludelite. ☜

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