Novel The Max Level Hero has Returned! - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

[The budget was slightly tighter and we could not do our usual process. However, the quality will pick up after 10 chapters of Community Unlock, since we will be bootstraping an extra editor.]

Episode 24

‘Please cooperate. Just let me borrow your strength. I’ll do the rest.’

-You…what the hell…

[Divine Sword Unity]

[Super Heavy Sword Thunder]

Crack!!

Enlightenment was such a convenient system. Muscle strength would build up in the body but becoming a pioneer of something and growing enlightened was engraved in my soul. This was a new change to me, who had already been through enlightenment once. It was only that the frozen Mana had now returned to its original state. Although the recovery had been slowed down considerably, it wasn’t a lack of enlightenment but rather the sudden release of a large amount of Mana, which caused a gap.

The heavy sword, Haris‘ swordsmanship, which could be regarded as the foundation of the technique I used, cleaved the air with enormous power. Even though Mana’s power wasn’t strong enough, the divine sword supplemented the insufficient power of Mana with enormous divine power. As the pure white flash passed through the air, the red smoke disappeared for an instant, leaving a terrible sword’s image instead.

“How long are you going to hide? Come out.”

There was no answer to my words. However, I felt that something was coming closer.

“I knew it was a vampire, but I never thought it was a high-ranking vampire.”

The black bats united together and broke apart but then slowly began to unite again in the torn air. They then formed the silhouette of a person as they united into a single mass.

“Do you remember me? Miss maid.”

The silhouette turned into a woman who opened her eyes with terrifyingly cold red pupils as she recovered her form.

* * *

One thing was certain, looking back at my memory, according to what I’ve heard about the vampire tribe, they were so prideful that their nose was tilted as high as the sky. They referred to themselves as nobles and acted like they had class inside them. Of course, they certainly had such great power. They were the only creatures who could use blood magic. Vampires instinctively had strong control over blood, similar to the dragon’s unique ability.

Blood polis was a power that granted vampires sanctuary.

“I thought there was someone secretly helping you when my men were attacked, but I guess it was just you.”

It was a high-handed tone. She looked down at me silently, looking unsurprised.

“As you know, I’m kind of awesome,” I responded to her in an attempt to hurt her pride.

“Why don’t you come down a little bit? My throat hurts because I keep looking up.”

“Huh, how dare you…”

“If you wear such a dress and float there, I can see your underwear. It’s black like your personality.” I said calmly, removing the smile on my face.

“So, come down right now.”

Crack!!

Then there came a streak of lightning, splitting the space where she was. Of course, the amount of mana I recovered was too small to reach the ability to tear the entire space apart, so what I tore down was a part of this red mist. However, it didn’t matter. The giant sword Calderas was a sword with an ego that possessed great divine power.

Sadly, to those infected by vampires or vampires themselves, they were vulnerable against divine power. As my repeated blows hit much harder than before, she frowned and slowly came down to the other side of the field.

“With such a catastrophe like this, Queen Liness would never have to cover up her actions even if I, Barris, and Whitney were killed. The relationship with the Voltiz Kingdom may get worse, but there is no way that the Voltiz Kingdom would wage war against the kingdom of Al Rown, given how targeted they are by the other nations.”

“…”

I smiled at her, who was staring at me as if her pride had been wounded.

“Can I assume that you showed up in front of me because you are confident enough to kill me, right? You rolled your head quite well, but what should I do? It’s closing time, fool.”

“You snobby…”

As she spoke coldly and opened her arms, drops of blood gathered in her hand. A red whip then materialized, and she relentlessly swung it at me.

Whip! Whip!!

The whip struck the ground, and my body, completely smashing the hardened floor, was treated with magic.

‘Ouch. You’re pissed off.’

It wasn’t the end yet. The part of my body where the whip touched turned red, and sharp thorns rushed in towards me.

Shiiiiing!!

Of course, I wasn’t going to keep getting hit, so when I lightly swung the sword, the thorns were scattered away.

“It’s different from what I expected, but you’re just a poor human being.”

“Aren’t you working for a human now?”

“Hold your stupid tongue!!”

The whip, which had been swung strongly, tore through the air again. She seemed quite angry, but that was to be expected. The most efficient way of attacking vampires was with a quick wit.

-Vampire Lord? He was strong; he was stupidly strong. First of all, he’s the strongest among the species. They are crazy from birth, and one of them becomes a lord after holding a succession ceremony. They don’t die easily without a high elf, the natural enemy of vampires.

-Then how did I get him? I made him mad enough to go crazy with my three-inch tongue and beat him up. Making any creature sufficiently mad simplifies their action. Vampires are particularly prideful, so if you tenaciously point out their birth or appearance to higher-ranking aristocrats, there are many greenhorns who burst out in anger.

This was what the noble had said, who was lying on a wooden podium because he was lazy. Come to think of it; it seemed that the Palan Empire was quite the believer in swordsmanship. I wondered what would happen if everyone found out who he was.

Whip!! Whip!!

The whip continued to lash out, causing a sonic boom as it persistently aimed at me. If someone got hit once precisely, it would be difficult to withstand even if you had a trained body. At that, a whip wasn’t a weapon that could easily be blocked. At this, a whip with bloody thorns came in again, as if cutting off my retreat.

There was a limit to avoiding it. However, if I retreated further, it could affect the humans who were lying on the floor.

“The only result left to you is death!” She shouted coldly, avoiding the sword I was wielding.

“Even if it has the power of a divine sword, that woman, who was said to have inherited the swordsmanship of the god of swords, eventually collapsed.”

At that arrogant tone, I swung my sword again, but the red blood drops covering her body blocked me.

“It’s a blood clot…”

-A Vampire Count or higher! Although they are relatively young, they are purebloods who can challenge the lord if only the lineage is concerned.

As I saw the blood veil, I quietly nodded my head at Calderas’s words.

‘I have to deal with it now.’

-Is it possible?

‘Why, you think it’s impossible?’

Despite the enormous force of the whip that was pushing me away, as if I were finished, I gently lifted my sword and twisted my body lightly. The red whip struck near me, missing by the width of a piece of paper. It wasn’t easy to learned how to, you would be able to counterattack as you wish.

Shari’s expression momentarily stiffened. And, without missing the short chance, I attacked the red thorns coming towards me, almost crumbling them.

There was only a very short chance. However, there was enough time for an attack. The predictable trajectory of the sword wasn’t efficient at all, but I applied stronger force to it. I aimed for both her and the huge jewels floating in the air that emitted this damn red smoke.

“You said she inherited swordsmanship from the god of swords? Do not be mistaken for only seeing a little girl who just scratched the surface.”

-This…this swordsmanship?!

The light cut that I swung tens or hundreds of thousands of times in the name of training. It was a little faded to match me, but it was the same technique of splitting the mountain that Princess Ileana used on Baltian.

[Super heavy sword splitting mountain]

However, the power was remarkably different from what she showed.

“What?!”

Her eyes became wide-open, and she reflexively created a blood clot…

However, it was far too late to block my attack.

Crack! Crack!

“What?!”

A flash of lightning, the condensation of the enormous power, created a huge pure white light, tearing the space through her body.

* * *

The aftermath of the huge blow was truly enormous. It was because the battlefield, which had maintained a certain shape even with her attack, collapsed as if it was smashed under the vibrations, even though it had been treated with magic. I was surprised to see that the floor was turned to powder by a single weapon because I thought it would be fine even if it were bombarded.

Hercules, a hero who called himself the King of Survival, said so.

-What? Isn’t it better to use whatever’s at hand? Danger comes unintentionally at any time! Do you think you will have good artifacts or objects all the time?

Haris, a lazy swordsman, and Dok Go-jun, a drunkard, had said so.

-This kid is still immature.

-Think simple! Listen, kid, which one would be strong? A strong guy with a strong sword…Oh! I’m drunk. What did I say…oh yeah. Or a guy who doesn’t know anything about swords holding a greatsword? Ugh…oh, how far did I say it?

Wizard Odin said so.

-If so, what is the use of learning magic? Just grab a great magic staff and wield it. By the way, this kid is trying to change the subject as he made fun of me being a midget?!

When did I do that? Lastly, the divine Hippocras pinched my cheek and smiled.

-Isn’t he asking the question because he got yelled at by the others? I can’t give you great advice because I’m not an expert in combat skills. However, don’t forget to return what you borrowed eventually. The difference between what you’ve built up and borrowing something that was already built up is big.

Even though the Corridor was where various humans gathered, everyone said the same thing in the end.

Don’t be dependent on items.

However…once you experienced the synergy that the item brought, you couldn’t just say that easily.

“Hey…it’s amazing; that’s why people seek rare items.”

-I don’t know what you’re talking about. Back in my days! Uh?!

“Hey, you snot.”

The divine sword, Calderas, sounded refreshed. It was a guy who had been kept loftily without an owner for thousands of years. It found the owner, but because the master’s skills were still imperfect, its body couldn’t be manifested and was maintained in the form of a brooch, so it seemed quite frustrated.

-By the way. What the hell are you? How did you get my power out? And how do you know about me? Your swordsmanship too! It was his technique, Mountain Split, that you showed me just now.

“It’s true.”

-Plus, it’s as if you’ve known me from before…

“Let’s just follow our contract. Do we need to dig up unnecessary facts from each other?”

-What is it…?