The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 861. Creations of the Moon

"Move!"

Crunch!

With a sickening sound, the massive hairy giant with dark skin brutally crushed one of the Awakened.

Boom!

[Come. Here.]

The monster's voice was as grotesque and unsettling as its appearance. It had the massive frame of an ogre, but its entire body was covered in thick fur, and where its head should’ve been was a huge, bizarre eyeball embedded in a mass of flesh.

It was none other than a Headless Giant, a Special A-class monster. It was the same creature that had once appeared here, guarding its eggs, though its form had changed somewhat.

"Gaaa... What is that...?"

Yoon-Seok collapsed as he spat up blood. It truly was a relentless, one-sided massacre.

[Grrr]

This was the first time they'd encountered a monster they could communicate with. It exuded a suffocating aura that weighed down on everyone nearby.

The origin of this nightmare was simple.

They’d poked the surging wave to investigate the monster's appearance, which happened to be the catalyst of all this. The wave should’ve been stable for at least a few more months, but their interference had triggered it, opening the gate and unleashing the monster.

As if something had gone horribly wrong, the monster was now rampaging, slaughtering the Awakened who had been on site. There was no way they stood a chance. Even a large team of high-ranking Awakened individuals had to prepare beforehand and perfectly coordinate in an all-out assault to have even the slightest chance at driving it back.

But here, they only had Seo-Yoon, a support type, and Yoon-Seok, a melee type Awakened. Everyone else was practically useless against the monster. In fact, Yoon-Seok had already suffered severe injuries going toe-to-toe with it.

The worst part was, the monster had started summoning its servants.

“Seo-Yoon!!”

The rampaging giant reached out, grabbing Seo-yoon as she frantically tried to flee.

“Aaaaah!”

Her bones cracked under the monster’s crushing grip. Her body had become more resilient as an Awakened, strong enough to withstand hits by speeding cars—still, she screamed and coughed up blood in the iron grip. Seeing this, Yoon-Seok’s face contorted in rage before he again raised his sword and charged toward the monster.

Wham!

The Headless Giant simply swatted Yoon-Seok away, sending him flying and turned its giant eye back toward Seo-Yoon.

Then—

Its pupil split open and tentacles lined with barbs shot out to wrap around her.

“N-No! Stop! Stop!!”

Seo-Yoon screamed, but she couldn’t even manage a struggle as her broken limbs prevented her from moving. One of the tentacles morphed into a sharp spear and stabbed into her abdomen before it then began injecting something strange. Her skin began to darken, spreading outward from the wound.

“Damn it! Is she getting infected?”

Yoon-Seok tried to force his injured body upright. In hindsight, they never should have interfered. Entering a restricted zone and kicking a hornet’s nest was bad enough, but acting on their own without backup had been utterly reckless. After all, the NSDIA had explicitly instructed them to only monitor, not engage.

'But there’s no time for regrets now. I have to save Seo-Yoon!'

It was too late to call for help. So even if it cost him his life here...

"Out of the way."

Boom!

Just as he struggled to his feet, a sudden impact knocked him aside before he could react. He felt like he was hit by a dump truck; he coughed up blood as he went flying.

"Don’t worry. Humans don’t die that easily.”

Through his blurry vision, Yoon-Seok saw a familiar figure approaching. It was the young man, the Chairman of Alfland. But now, a sinister dark-red aura rippled around him, enough to make anyone instinctively shudder in fear.

“I’ll deal with you guys later, after this is over,” Davey said.

Snap!

With that, the atmosphere around them began to fade to black.

* * *

When one made things worse by doing something unnecessary, it was called stirring the pot.

Crack! Crack!

Fissures spread in every direction, indicating that the mana flow was unstable, a far cry from anything natural.

“So, which world did you come from?”

Crunch! Twist!

Humming to himself, Davey twisted and snapped the heads of the monsters. It was a bizarre, unnerving sight.

- Grrr... Grrr...

From True Ogres to Blue Trolls—the ones with the best regenerative abilities among trolls—there were far more than he had anticipated. Unlike what he had in mind, it seemed there was indeed something hidden in this place, after all.

But still.

“Why couldn’t you leave the pot alone? All of this destruction is your just desserts for stirring it.”

Crack!!

- Grrr...

An ogre, shaking in his grip, looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes. Ever since Davey had absorbed vitality, he could see the will of the creatures he couldn’t normally communicate when he locked eyes with them.

He saw the fear of death and resentment toward the unjust in its eyes. It was unusual to see a monster possess such a clear, intense will. But it wasn't surprising, as every creature would fight with desperation when its life was on the line.

Crack!!

Davey tossed the ogre’s corpse aside. He then looked around to see the massive monster standing over the dead bodies of the ones it had taken out.

“Seo-Yoon!”

Yoon-Seok cried out in anguish, struggling to move. He was shouting toward Seo-Yoon, who was held captive by the monster and was infected by some strange fluid it was injecting. Davey could tell from a glance that it was a virus that spread quickly through her veins.

‘It seems like a mutant,’ Davey thought.

Some genetic mutation, perhaps.

"You're in the way. Move aside."

Boom!

With a swift kick, Davey sent Yoon-Seok flying. Feeling satisfied, he walked forward.

“Gah... W—What are you...?”

“I said I’d deal with you later.”

He clenched his fist and struck the air, creating a rift in the space around them. From the crack, a club made from carving a single block of wood appeared.

“This was what made those troublemakers that never listened behave.”

Sensing danger, the monster hurled Seo-Yoon aside, releasing her from its tentacles. Her skin had turned black around the infected areas, and she looked as though she was on the brink of death.

“W—Wait! It’s dangerous!” Seo-Yoon gasped, warning Davey as he stepped closer. He just ignored her.

Thud, thud.

The Headless Giant turned both of its massive eyes on him, charging with its hulking form.

Tap, tap.

Davey did the same, striding forward one step at a time. The gap between them was closed in an instant. He couldn’t help but notice how gruesome the monster looked.

Spat.

He adjusted his grip, getting ready to swing the club like a baseball player. Every movement of the monster was crystal clear to him. When it smashed its enormous fist into the ground, Davey sidestepped lightly, taking another step before smoothly slipping beneath its attacking arm.

- Grrr... Kill... Kill...

The Headless Giant roared, its voice seething with rage.

Davey could tell it had some form of ego and self-awareness. He knew the twisted, monstrous form it took on right now was just something he had caused.

"Was getting trounced once not enough? You should’ve stayed hidden; crawl back out? You think I’m some kind of joke?”

[Devil Ylgr’s Crowd Suppression]]

[One-Way Ticket to Heaven.]

Ching!!!

A dark crimson aura surged around the club, swiping through the air.

Boom!

A massive shockwave erupted, eventually dissipating into the colorless space around them. The monster froze in place, as if the whole world had stopped moving.

Thud!

The Headless Giant finally collapsed, its eyes widening in horror.

“Well, now.”

- GRRR!!!

It tried to scramble away, but Davey pinned its leg as he raised his club high. Fear flickered in its enormous eyes.

Whack!! Thud!!

The beatdown was relentless. The Headless Giant, which had started with so much confidence, was now twisting on the ground in agony, desperately struggling to survive. However, the more it squirmed, the more brutal the assault became.

The few survivors stared at the two in stunned silence.

* * *

Special A-class monster.

A monster that seemed grotesque, twisted, and dangerous at a glance.

This kind of monster required the coalition of Korea’s highest-level Awakened individuals. But this was the very reason why they were so feared and despair-inducing—there were too few agents from the NSDIA.

The arrival of the lone figure didn’t inspire much hope at first. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, the outcome defied all predictions.

“If you don’t know when to stay low, that’s on you. Got it?”

Thud! Thud!

Davey continued to relentlessly maul the monster, to the point that some couldn’t help but pity its wretched state. The monster that had ruthlessly slaughtered the agents soon fell silent, its beaten body going limp.

He looked down at it for a moment before he turned and approached Seo-Yoon who was on the ground. He reached into the air without a word, pulling out a syringe, scalpel, and something made of mana. He then began treating her wounds.

He tore her clothes around the infected area, stabbed the syringe, sliced away the dead flesh, and removed the tainted tissue. Finally, he sealed the area with a soft white light—a near-miraculous blend of surgical skills and healing abilities.

As the unbelievable magic-like process unfolded, the onlookers just looked at him in silence with widened eyes.

“T-Thank you for your help... but you... are you... the... Uhh?!”

Yoon-Seok, having regained some strength, approached to speak. But before he could finish, a flash of light cut through the air, and he went flying again. Meanwhile, Davey grabbed Seo-Yoon by the throat, making her groan in pain.

"Thank me? Are you all insane?”

His voice was cold as steel.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

The menacing chill in the air made Yoon-Seok, sprawled on the ground, feel a crushing pain that made his consciousness blur. He felt like his insides were being twisted by the overwhelming presence, incomparable to the Headless Giant’s power.

“If you hadn’t snuck in here, knocked out the staff that was putting up the barrier, or tampered with the wave, these creatures would never have appeared and gone on a rampage. Everyone here would still be alive.”

If the barrier had been completed, Davey could’ve stabilized the wave fluctuations and rerouted the coordinates to somewhere deep in the ocean.

Seo-Yoon trembled at his words, her body shaking uncontrollably.

“Do you still have something to say?”

“Who... Who are you, really?”

“What kind of answer are you looking for?”

“Are you... the Saint of Tionis?”

“How perceptive.”

After displaying all sorts of his powers, there was no point in hiding anymore. He dispelled his face blindness magic and his true form became visible. Black hair, red eyes—those who knew of him immediately recognized the figure standing before them.

“Why...?” Seo-yoon asked weakly.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were the Saint of Tionis from the start?”

He answered her question with a cold chuckle.

“What’s it matter to you?”

“...”

“Before anything, let’s correct a misunderstanding. Why should I have to tell that to you?”

Seo-Yoon fell silent, not knowing how to respond.

“Is it because you wanted to pass the buck of your mistake onto me, making all of this my fault?”

“That... That’s not...”

“Or did you assume my patience stretches as high as the heavens?”

Though his tone was calm, there was an unyielding chill to every word.