The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 763. In a Way, it’s Only Natural (2)

“‘Mercy...?’”

Rinne, looking at Davey, stared up at him in shock.

“Master Davey, Rinne is detecting a sharp spike in your killing intent.”

“It’s nothing.”

Verdandi was a problem, sure, but there was something else he wanted to find out about first.

“What about Kain?”

“Major injuries. Rinne determines he will need extended medical treatment. Rinne rates his condition as poor.”

This was not surprising, considering a Princess of the Abyss had ambushed him with all her strength.

The Valkyries were a race meant to fight against the Abyss, but precisely speaking, they were on the verge of collapse—it was hard to expect them to be a proper force.

Unless they went to the Holy Empire of Valchas, ??the headquarters of the Religious Order of Freyja, he figured direct communication would be difficult. The power of the dimensional key was currently linked to Kain, which was how they had periodically moved. Hence, if he didn’t wake up they were practically blocked from dimensional travel for the time being.

“...”

“Master Davey?”

“Let’s go to the storage room under the bridge.”

Davey had no choice but to suppress his rising anger and change his original plan once again.

***

Verdandi was restrained with a rope made of mana suppression material. For anyone who knew how to use mana to some extent and was an expert level or higher, such restraint was meaningless. Moreover, for a creature of the Abyss that could laugh off even the sacred capture item of the Holy Empire, this binding was literally just symbolic—it reflected the futility of trying to effectively restrain this traitor.

However, the reason they didn’t take further measures was simple.

“You’re here.”

It was because she showed not even the slightest intention of resistance. Verdandi looked up at Davey with empty eyes, a departure from her normal behavior.

When he first met her, she was full of mysticism. After that, he thought she was someone he could have a conversation about the Abyss with. He had even felt some sympathy for her other side, the side where she generously showed maternal love toward a human.

Now, her haggard appearance showed no trace of her original vitality. She looked exhausted, full of regrets and worries. The witch, once called one of the six beauties of the continent, now exuded a different charm due to her worn-out appearance. As Davey approached her, he gripped Red Ribbon firmly.

"Dad?"

“Red Ribbon, close your eyes.”

Crackle, crackle!!

Red Ribbon let out light and transformed into the form of a red sword.

Splosh!!

“...”

Verdandi gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound. Even though the power that protected her was torn apart, she didn’t even raise her head.

“Don’t give me excuses.”

Shing!

He pulled out Red Ribbon and aimed it at her neck.

“I can just tell the previous King Greid of the Divine Tree’s Land that you died heroically while fighting the enemy.”

For the first time, she flinched.

“Even in the end, you’re still considerate of others.”

There was a subtle change in her demeanor.

“Nonsense. I don't care why you do what you did—because of you, I missed the Abyss and lost my only chance to win the war. And finally..."

He stabbed the tip of Red Ribbon into the floor, grabbed her collar, and lifted her up. Face half-covered by her hair, she looked straight at him with empty eyes.

“Perserque is only in her current state because of your actions.”

According to Rinne’s report, Perserque was currently in an extremely unstable state. She sensed the mana of all beings that came close and tried to destroy all that approached. The problem was that her strength wasn't something that could be ignored or overlooked. Not only could she suppress Katshi with her authority, she was always a strong fighter at her core. Yet, now she was like an incarnation of destruction who had lost her senses.

“Just kill me... I have nothing more to say.”

“Did you think I would feel too bad to kill you if you said that?”

Davey picked Red Ribbon back up and started to gather strength for a swing.

Blink!

"No!!!"

A small girl wearing a white coat and horn-rimmed glasses appeared in front of Davey with a scream, pushing him away from Verdandi. Davey didn’t suffer any damage from her pushing, but it was still enough to create a very brief gap between him and Verdandi.

“S-Skuld! No!” Verdandi called out, face contorting in surprise. But Skuld, the youngest of the three Princesses, did not stop.

“You know how hard it was to finally track you down? I’m not going to lose my sister like this!” she shouted bitterly and hugged Verdandi, their bodies turning into light and disappearing.

"Ha... You dare try to run away?” Davey muttered as the two tried to escape. He sheathed Red Ribbon and forcefully stamped his foot, spreading mana and creating a spatial warping magic circle.

There was no need to think about where they had run away to—they had left a trail in their desperate haste.

He couldn't help but think how, if Verdandi hadn’t interfered with their plan, Perserque wouldn't be the person she was now, Rinne wouldn't have been injured the way she was, and Odin probably wouldn't have had to reincarnate.

Suppressing his boiling anger, Davey jumped through space toward the place they fled.

***

Skuld, desperately supporting the apathetic Verdandi, quickly ran. “Let’s get out of here, Verdandi. Do you know how long Urd and I searched for you? Now that we’ve finally found you, I can’t just let you die!”

"Stop... Just stop, Skuld. Please," Verdandi pleaded.

“Why do you want to die?! You said you finally escaped! You said you finally got your memories back! I know you’ve been searching your whole life for this—now you’re going to give up?!”

Skuld, who was struggling to support her as they moved, was in terrible condition. Urd had already fallen after protecting her once, but Skuld herself had not fully recovered from the aftermath.

"Please... Please stop..."

Of course, Skuld's futile attempt at escape did not last long.

“Aaaah!!!”

Davey instantly appeared in front and kicked her.

“Just you wait. I’ll get to you later.”

Verdandi fell helplessly to the ground after losing Skuld's support, her hair slowly cascading down.

“Are you done escaping?”

“Don’t harm Skuld... She’s just a victim, she didn’t do anything wrong...”

“Oh, so Perserque was the offender then?”

Verdandi flinched at his words, then lowered her head in resignation.

"No, you’re right... It's my fault for putting her in that state and making all your plans go to waste. But... Skuld did nothing wrong.”

Shing...

At her words, Davey pulled out Red Ribbon again and aimed for her neck.

He then spoke coldly, “In my eyes, every bastard of the Abyss is the same.”

Slash!!

Red, hot blood splattered out with a visceral sound.

***

“Why on Earth did that person betray us?”

Tiara, an alchemist girl who managed the overall system as the captain of Asgard, made a complicated expression. She didn’t understand the current situation—considering the pitifully few pieces of information she had been given, she couldn’t possibly surmise the complex political motivations and implications involved.

In the past, there were talks of an arranged marriage between her and a prince named Davey O’Rowane. Of course, the arranged marriage was broken off due to various factors, but since they were once the subject of an arranged marriage, she still had some affection toward him. Seeing him in his current situation made her feel very sad and bitter about how it had come to this.

Although she was an enemy, Verdandi was a very considerate and kind-hearted woman—Davey had even received a lot of help from her. But now, Davey was trying to kill Verdandi, and no one could convince him otherwise. After all, it was understandable; who in the world could possibly forgive someone for putting their wife in such a state? That was why no one on Asgard could try to change his mind.

But then.

Beep, beep!

An alarm mana stone rang, shrilly crying out in signal as Tiara raised her head in surprise.

“That’s Per’s...?!”

After she spun the stone, the screen displayed where Perserque was located. She had sent several floating scout golems that were gathering dust in Asgard's storage room to monitor her. Her eyes were filled with astonishment as she saw the hologram displayed beyond the wooden wall.

"W-What the hell?!"

She saw a large number of soldiers, who appeared to be Russian troops, solemnly sending attacks toward Perserque who was occupying a single area of the Siberian plains.

“This... This!!”

The country on Earth called Russia was clearly very friendly to Davey. Reason told him they’d never do such a thing to someone even tangentially related to him, let alone his wife.

"Tiara!"

Edison, technical advisor and Tiara's grandfather, heard the sound and came in with surprise all over his face.

“Gramps!! Hurry to the Wise Teacher!"

“Okay!"

They knew that if something went wrong here, there could be major ramifications. In fact, Davey was extremely angry right now—given how extreme tensions already were, this addition would only be adding further fuel to a blazing inferno.

***

“Ugh... Ugh...”

Even though Davey had pierced Red Ribbon deep into her body, Skuld did not retreat.

"Never... No...”

Since Red Ribbon didn’t have the authority to end the life of non-physical beings, it only injured Skuld. Even so, her wounds were very serious.

“Skuld!!!” Verdandi shouted in shock with an exhausted face.

"Ah... No... Never... No..."

As soon as Davey pulled out Red Ribbon, Skuld collapsed to the ground. She then crawled and desperately held on to Davey's legs in an attempt to block him from Verdandi. Although she used to be a dangerous enemy, she couldn’t even be considered an opponent anymore.

"Never... I can't let you kill... I...”

She desperately shouted just as Davey was about to kick her away.

“You don’t even know why! Why Verdandi did what she did!”

“Stop, Skuld!!”

“Verdandi! You told me Eclipse was our mother!! That she became like that because she sacrificed herself and jumped into the Abyss to save the world!! You said you couldn’t let our poor mother get dragged down into that hell again!”

Davey stopped at Skuld’s cries.

“If you’re going to kill my sister, kill me first!! I have nothing to fear in this world where Urd’s life hangs by a thread! Kill me first! Damn human!! Kill me first!”

Davey was silent for a moment, in deep thought as he looked at Skuld clinging to him and crying. Soon, he pulled out Blue Ribbon with his other hand. Just as he lifted it...

Krrish!!!

- Wise Teacher! We're in big trouble! The Russian army is attacking the Siberian plains where Princess Perserque is!"