The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

[Do you recognize the presence?]

"It’s a creature I’ve crossed paths with before."

[The prophecy is unclear, so please be cautious.]

"Don’t worry about me. Instead, tell me what you need help with."

[Dark clouds are about to descend on this place. The forces here can’t handle it.]

"So, you’re asking for my help?"

[The prophecy lacks certainty, but it may be connected to what you’re looking for.]

Even among the Awakened, she was uniquely exceptional. In the past, she had been guided to the hidden class of Celestial Maiden in Alf Online. Arbit, the Ancient Red Dragon of the Void, had taken her as his minister. The power of prophecy she possessed went far beyond mere prediction.

Even demigods struggled to foresee the future with certainty, yet she unknowingly touched the vast threads of fate itself.

He knew that if the one she was speaking about was truly Behemoth, it’d be worth investigating. Leaving it unchecked was never a good idea, no matter the reason.

* * *

"Ki... Kill me..."

The sight of Maga and Grape-Flavored Cat lying like corpses was enough to confirm that they wouldn’t be able to recover for a while. Both had developed severe PTSD from the endless tasks, to the point that even hearing the word “work” sent chills down their spines.

"Maybe I pushed them too hard?" Davey mused, though he was pretty satisfied with the results.

"Is this what you’d call a finished product? Master Davey, Rinne requests a detailed explanation,” she said while looking at the rather tacky looking device.

"Their crafting skills aren’t perfect. There’s no way they could’ve come up with something that does surgery itself.”

The device was a blend of computer-calculation systems, special metals, and mana stones.

"It’s just a surgical assistant.”

The object resembled a simple pair of glasses, except for the stem-like extensions protruding from its ends.

"Ordinary people can’t analyze or manipulate nerves with their normal vision alone. But with these..."

The moment they wore these glasses, their entire visual field would transform.

"The nervous system becomes visible, almost like having mechanical vision,” Davey explained. "This isn’t something that can be made through alchemy or smithing.” 𝐫ἁꞐốＢĚᶊ

This required a formal system built through precise rules.

"There’s a reason the chances of success each time were one in eight million."

Using these glasses that the two exhausted crafting slaves made, others could eventually perform artificial eye implant surgeries. Though it might take them longer, being able to do it at all was the key point.

"With this, I can guarantee that Heins Territory will be raking in money hand over fist," Davey said confidently as he put on the glasses himself.

His perspective shifted immediately as the visual enhancements took effect.

"I’ll have to turn off my superior vision to test if these make any noticeable difference for normal people… I wonder if it’ll work as intended.”

"Umm... What should I…?”

Si-Woo, lying on the bed, looked up at Davey with a nervous face.

"Am I really going to be okay?"

"It’ll just be a little sting," Davey replied.

For reference, when a doctor says that something will sting just a little, what they really mean is—

"Arghhh!"

—that it’s going to hurt like hell.

Si-Woo screamed, his body trembling violently. Davey calmly reached out to him.

"Oh, right. I forgot the anesthetic.”

"You... devil..." Si-Woo groaned before passing out.

"Master Davey, Rinne evaluates this excessive mistake lowly."

"I can’t anesthetize him right away. If the nerves shrink, it’ll be harder to locate them. I need to stabilize the surgical area first, then anesthetize," he explained, holding up a pair of black goggles.

Si-Woo’s eyes weren’t damaged—they were simply in a state of temporary suspension. Removing them outright to implant new ones would not only be unnecessary, but incredibly foolish.

So Davey instead designed a device as an alternative, somewhat like a set of goggles that bypassed the eyes and transmitted visual information directly to the brain through nerves connected at the temples.

He had simply made goggles that worked the same way as artificial eyes.

"You might feel a bit dizzy at first, but you’ll adapt quickly.”

Using only his basic surgical skills—which were well within the capabilities of a trained surgeon—Davey carefully implanted artificial nerves at his temples. The goggles transmitted visual data through these nerves and straight to the brain once functional.

Such a procedure was impossible to perform without having the ability to manipulate mana with incredible precision. However, he didn’t care about that—the real goal was to verify if the device could accurately track the neural pathways.

Davey adjusted the auxiliary glasses he wore, attaching their stem-like extensions to his patient's body. The glasses displayed and analyzed his internal neural activity like an electrical map.

He imagined that with this kind of setup, though this type of surgery may be difficult, Baron Gorneo would be able to manage artificial eye implants without much trouble.

As he carefully suppressed the use of divine power, he began to intricately connect the pieces one by one. As he worked, the visible electrode-like strands began to light up, intertwining and syncing with one another.

Rinne simply stared in awe while holding Si-Woo’s head as Davey worked with intense focus.

After about thirty minutes, Davey successfully secured the goggles firmly to his face. He made sure it was tight, since it would disrupt his vision again if it moved.

"Done," Davey announced.

"Master Davey, Rinne asks if the surgery was successful."

"Yeah. For now, it’s just a temporary measure. I got to go check on the thing I wanted to. Once his real eyes recover, I just need to safely remove the artificial nerves.”

He double-checked for any errors or missed nerves and connections, but the surgery had gone smoothly without any loose ends.

In essence, the procedure had just laid the groundwork for the artificial eye implant industry that would bring significant development to Heins Territory.

"One last thing," Davey murmured.

Reaching out toward the auxiliary glasses, he began gathering mana as if he were drawing in the air.

“Master Davey.”

Rinne looked up at Davey, who heaved a short sigh after finishing the surgery.

“Rinne requests enhancement modifications.”

“Enhancement modifications?” Davey frowned slightly at her request. Rinne nodded earnestly.

“Rinne’s power is significantly unstable. Rinne reports that the output of Sephirothization varies greatly.”

She explained how inconsistent her power was under Sephirothization. It seemed she found this lack of reliability unacceptable.

“Then how exactly do you want me to modify you?”

“Rinne requests modification to be much stronger. Rinne evaluates the strength to protect Lady Aeria highly,” she replied, grabbing his arm with her usual expressionless face.’

“You’re already as perfect as it gets. There’s really nothing more to modify.”

Her core—the God of Machines—was designed to grow and improve autonomously. While its growth had slowed significantly, he still knew that it’d bring greater benefits in the long run than any artificial modification could.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” Davey said, spinning her around to face away from him.

“This is really all I can do for now,” he added, gently placing his hands on her shoulders.

* * *

After finishing Si-Woo’s surgery, Davey departed for Japan before he even woke up from the anesthesia.

He hadn’t gone on an official visit, so the Japanese government wasn’t aware of his presence—not that it mattered to him. He had no intention of doing anything with the government; unless circumstances demanded it.

Upon arriving at the arranged meeting place, he found a familiar figure waiting. Kouna, a young Japanese Awakened, bowed her head deeply in greeting.

“I’ve been waiting for your arrival,” she said.

“I thought Arbit’s disappearance would’ve weakened your prophetic powers,” Davey remarked.

“I thought so too, but it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference,” she replied with an expressionless face. She was in her school uniform, suggesting that she had come straight from class.

“So, have you investigated those traces you mentioned?”

“There’s still time before the crisis in this country unfolds, but I was able to narrow down the location of the location of the flow where the issue you're seeking lies..”

“You’ve pinpointed its location?”

“Roughly. It’s somewhere in the southernmost part of Kyushu, on one of the islands. I feel an enormous presence there.”

“You’re certain?”

“About thirty percent sure.”

“So it’s worth a shot,” Davey muttered. He hadn’t expected to find it immediately, so this lead was as good a place to start as any.

He found himself in a secretive place and let out a low whistle. In response, a massive wave of fire materialized before him, coalescing into the form of a giant flaming bird.

“The Vermillion Bird…” Kouna whispered.

“You know it?”

“For some reason, I do.”

“It’s been a while, Fire Chicken,” Davey said with a grin, lightly tapping the bird’s neck. The phoenix squawked in delight and rubbed the tip of its beak against him.

“There, there,” Davey chuckled as the phoenix let out a short, high-pitched cry, clearly pleased to see him.

“May I?” Kouna asked. Despite flames arising from its body, she reached out toward the fiery feathers.

“No hostility,” Davey warned. The phoenix obediently lowered the intensity of its flames, allowing her to gently stroke its neck.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Wow…” Kouna murmured.

Despite being a prophet and/or minister, she was still a little girl. It could be seen in her delightful smile as she stroked Fire Chicken.

“This is quite amazing. A Vermillion Bird that only seems to exist in legends… The fact that you control one is incredible.”

“Well, their origin is tied to Earth, but I’m a bit of an unusual case.”

The phoenix let out a short trill as it watched Kouna with a fascinated expression. Then, without warning, it opened its beak wide and clamped down on her upper body.

“Hmph?!” Kouna gasped, flailing as the phoenix playfully swung her around.

“You’re acting like you’re a Black Tortoise, trying to bite everything in your sight,” Davey muttered.

Fire Chicken flapped its wings excitedly as it continued to tease Kouna.

After letting it play a while, Davey lightly tapped its side.

“Enough fooling around. Let her go.”

- Kiiik…

It dropped Kouna to the ground with a soft thud. She was covered in some unidentifiable liquid, likely saliva.

“So wet… So sticky…” she muttered, face on the verge of crying. She looked at Davey resentfully.

“Looks like Fire Chicken took a liking to you. It only messes with people it likes—those it doesn’t like, it pecks mercilessly.”

“…”

Fire Chicken, clearly delighted with itself, chirped loudly, fluttering its massive wings and poking Kouna with the tip of its beak.

“How long are you going to sulk? Let’s move,” Davey ordered. Reluctantly, Kouna glanced nervously at Fire Chicken before holding onto his hand. After the two were on its back—

“Hold on tight. Southward, Fire Chicken!”

- Kiiik!!!!

Boom!

“Wait, what?! No—Aaahhh!”

Along with the sound of air popping, Fire Chicken launched into the sky at a speed no living creature should’ve been capable of. Clinging tightly to Davey’s waist, Kouna trembled, overwhelmed by the sheer speed.

Though their starting point had been central Japan, they found themselves at the southernmost tip of Kyushu in no time.

“Did you get faster?”

- Kiiik!!

It seemed Fire Chicken had taken inspiration from Megalodria. While that psychotic neat-freak Yellow Dragon was the only one who could probably match the Mythical Beast King’s level of speed, Fire Chicken’s speed was still on a supreme level.

Fire Chicken began descending near the location Kouna had pinpointed through her prophecy.

“It’s somewhere here,” Kouna said.

“Let’s land on a nearby island and get started scouting the area. If it’s hiding, even I might have trouble finding it,” Davey muttered.

Behemoth, despite its size, had a sleek body with something like a stealth coating that reflected mana waves. The bigger issue was that he had to refrain from using divine power, as it would put a burden on Neltarid. Without divine power, tracking and detecting it would be no small feat. He was well aware that every bit of divine power used on Earth would burden Neltarid.

As they landed in a lush forest with tropical trees and other plants, Fire Chicken began chirping irritably, clearly displeased with the humidity of the air.

“Good work,” Davey said.

It rubbed its beak against him once more before vanishing into thin air.

Then Davey pulled out a talisman, tossing it out.

“Rainmaker, I choose you.”

With a flash of light, the Northern Divine Beast, Black Tortoise, materialized. The twin-headed serpent-turtle fixed its intense gaze on him. He quickly discerned that its breathing had grown noticeably labored.

“I’ll help you out later. For now, focus on the task at hand.”

- Grrrr…

The beast obeyed with a growl.

“Can you dive into the ocean and check out what’s going on?”

The Black Tortoise lumbered toward the ocean before submerging itself.

“Do you really think it can find what you’re looking for in such a vast ocean?” Kouna asked doubtfully.

“If Behemoth is nearby, there’ll be signs.”

Davey knew there had to be early signs.

Soon after, the sea erupted violently. Massive sharks somehow showed up in the area and leapt out of the water, hurtling toward them.

“What the—?!” Kouna cried, raising her hand instinctively to stop the incoming beasts. But the colossal sharks that were at least five meters long showed no signs of halting.

“Rainmaker, focus!” Davey shouted.

Shrrrk!!

From beneath the water, enormous tail-like appendages emerged, snaring the sharks mid-air and dragged them back into the depths.

“This is definitely the work of Behemoth. What the hell is it doing here?”

Behemoth’s power lies somewhere between evolution and reinforcement—its power was not quite taboo, but certainly rested on the border. It recreated the phenomenon described in the theory of human evolution, where humans are said to have gradually evolved from primates.

In other words, it forced sharks into an evolutionary leap, transforming them into something akin to megalodons. They were similar in size and could use momentum to soar out of the water like flying fish—this was the evolutionary potential that sharks possessed. Since Behemoth made evolutions within the bounds of permitted evolution, it wasn’t a taboo.

So in other words, no matter how much evolution occurred, it couldn’t exceed its inherent limits.

As Black Tortoise began to rampage, a massive amount of qi started to drain away. Despite its rather masochistic, perverted tendencies, it was still a Divine Beast that protected the North. Within water, its power was unparalleled, standing far above that of any other Divine Beast.

With a chilling coldness, spear-like shards of ice shot up from the depths of the sea, piercing high into the sky before sinking back down again.

“Looks like there are other animals besides sharks here that couldn’t handle the forced evolution,” Davey muttered in frustration.

“Behemoth, you fucking lunatic. You’re wrecking this ecosystem!”

‘How dare an invasive species like you mutate the native species.’

“But, there’s something strange. Since earlier… I keep—”

“Strange?”

“Yes… I keep hearing pained cries…”

Davey didn’t hear anything, but Kouna was in agony, covering her ears.

“Hm…”

As he began to think, a massive earthquake shook the island and an overwhelming presence began to manifest. He knew it had to be Behemoth—its hostility was palpable, directed straight at him.

Behemoth had always been Shane’s Divine Beast, not his, so its aggression was unsurprising.

“Without encroachment, this idiot will mindlessly rampage if I don’t control it…”

He knew it’d be difficult to find it amid all the chaos.

“I believe my prophecy is correct—it should be nearby. What’s your plan?” Kouna asked.

“Stand back,” Davey said, drawing Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon. He lightly spun them in his hands.

“I hope your country won’t panic if the ocean splits a bit.”

“What?!”

* * *

At the same time, back at Heins Territory, Perserque and Illyna prepared their weapons and cloaked themselves with face blindness spells before stepping out of the villa.

“Rinne, ready for escort duty.”

“Thanks, Rinne,” Illyna said, ruffling her hair.

“Let’s go, Perserque. We’ll handle the minor issues before Davey gets back.”

“Be careful, you two,” Aeria called after them.

“Don’t worry. Stay inside, just in case,” Perserque replied.

“Understood,” Aeria said with a nod.

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thoughts

Why bother Davey? Tommy Pickles and the rest of the Rugrats could have easily done the same thing.