The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 945

[Reflections on Transformation Magic. Author: The Tough Guy of The Coolest Red Dragon in the World]

"What is this? Reflections on Transformation Magic? What's this doing here... Oh, interesting."

Davey read the magic book with curiosity.

"So, he’s a dragon after all, huh? Seems like he's picked up a thing or two."

Crack... snap.

"But what is all this he's written down? This is nonsense. What the hell is with his preferences? A spell to make boobs bigger?”

Rinne’s eyes gleamed sharply at the notion.

“And what’s this? A spell for pretty legs? This guy’s a complete pervert. If the owner of this lair wrote this, then there’s no doubt about it—he’s a full-blown degenerate. If I ever meet him, I’ll burn him to ashes on the spot.”

Crunch. Clench.

“By the way, does anyone else hear the sound of something breaking?”

“Hmm? Not really…” replied Evangeline, curiously looking around.

“Um… No, I don’t hear anything either.”

Rudelite let out an awkward chuckle, trying to brush it off.

‘Damn it! Hell! How the hell is he immediately finding everything?!’

It was only natural for a dragon’s lair to be protected by defensive magic. Being able to track it down from several kilometers away was beyond ridiculous. And yet, this human in front of him had done it so casually.

‘If this keeps up, he’s going to clean out my entire lair!’

Luckily he had suppressed his mana with all his might, keeping his polymorph magic from being exposed. But that really wasn’t the issue for him at that moment. At this rate, all his precious treasures were going to be stolen by that monster in human skin.

The real problem was that there was no one around to help, and he couldn’t think of a single excuse to stop him.

Then, suddenly, he noticed something—the human wasn’t carrying much storage equipment.

“This… It’s going to be hard to take everything at once. It looks like this lair is abandoned, so maybe we should just grab a few things and come back later…”

‘Yes! That’s it! The moment he leaves, I’ll return and reclaim all of it! Hold on, my precious ones! I’ll save all of you! Just wait a little longer!’

“I’ll just put them in my Pocket Plane. There’s plenty of room in there.”

‘I’m sorry, my babies!!!’

Biting back tears, Rudelite clenched his jaw.

‘Fine. The ones here can go. Let’s not cry over these. At least this human hasn’t discovered the hidden treasure vault yet…’

Clinging to the last shred of hope, he swallowed back his tears.

‘Should I just fight him? Not even a foreign dragon can suppress a local snake—though I’m a dragon, not a snake.’

But the real issue was…

‘The mana I sensed from him earlier—it was overwhelming. There’s no way someone with that much mana isn’t a capable fighter. Mana quantity doesn’t always equal combat strength, but still…’

When the amount of mana was that absurd, things were different. Rudelite was confident that if Davey really held that much mana, even a mere passing glance might be enough to crush a weaker opponent.

‘Please… please don’t find it…’

Rudelite had only been able to watch on as that devil of a human already looted every single treasure in sight, stuffing them into his Pocket Plane without hesitation. He could only cry inwardly as he saw his treasures get casually swept into that storage space.

‘I-It’s fine. As long as the hidden vault stays safe…’

“I think there’s something else here.”

“Huh? Oh, that’s… just a statue, I think?”

“We’ll find out soon enough. Looks like the dragon tried to hide it pretty well, I'll give him that.”

[Dispel]

Mana was stirred for a brief moment.

‘Dispel? Protective magic reinforced with dragontongue enchantments isn’t going to—’

Within an instant, the barrier completely shattered. As Davey reached for the statue, Rudelite’s face hardened.

And then, as the statue slowly began to move and the door creaked open, Davey stepped inside and made his move.

Watching it all happen, Rudelite’s pupils instinctively narrowed into slits, his eyes widening in shock.

* * *

“What the hell? There’s nothing here.”

The inside of the treasure vault was a complete mess.

“What the…”

“Looks like someone else got here first,” Davey frowned, mumbling under his breath.

“...’

Judging by Rudelite's reaction, the emptiness was news to him as well. He must have thought he was hiding it well, but everyone there could tell he was reacting like a blindsided homeowner dragon.

Evangeline wasn’t just any dragon—she was an ancient dragon, a being beyond ordinary dragons. She probably sensed something familiar in Rudelite.

Rinne, despite her expressionless face, was the ruler of the Sephiroth race. Even in her current bio-golem form, her awakened Sephiroth powers made it impossible to hide the truth from her.

Even half-vampire Milpieu had noticed.

‘Now that I think about it, that woman’s pretty interesting. She’s just a regular high-ranked vampire, and yet…’

Her level shouldn’t have been able to come close to a dragon’s. And yet, somehow, she had managed to see through Rudelite’s disguise.

“Damn it, there’s nothing left.”

“Judging by the traces, they didn’t take it too long ago. Also…”

“Yeah. No signs of destruction, which means it’s one of two things. It’s possible the lair’s owner already took everything…”

Or—

“Maybe someone else came in, liked what they saw, and took whatever was in here… The first option seems more likely,” Rudelite finished off.

“You think so?”

“Y-Yes? I mean, I was just calling it how I see it…”

Rudelite hurriedly changed the subject, but Davey didn’t bother calling him out on it.

Messing with him was just too much fun.

“I think it’s the latter.”

“The latter…?”

“Yeah. What kind of damned lizard would dare prevent me from taking my rightful loot?”

A chilling aura spread through the air.

“Evangeline.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s have dragon steak tonight.”

‘Stealing from me is an unforgivable crime. You damn cold mana dragon.’

Davey couldn’t have cared less about it if the things in there originally belonged to Rudelite. What mattered was that his stuff was his own, and Rudelite’s stuff was also his.

Whatever damned dragon had looted the lair before him must’ve thought it got away, but he could still see some traces left behind. Of course, tracking it down with just the residual mana in the vault wouldn’t be easy. Under normal circumstances, it’d be impossible.

But…

Davey quietly pulled out a mana stone, used it to absorb the faint remnants of the cold mana, and stood up.

“Daddy! Where are you going?”

“Let’s go see Grandma World Tree.”

After all, no matter how long they had been alive, no one outlived the World Tree Al.

* * *

“I swear, if you call me grandma one more time, I’ll crush that mouth of yours… But you’re too damn strong, so I’ll let it slide this once.”

A beautiful woman, sitting cross-legged on a tree branch, elegantly frowned.

“Well, if you say so.”

“...”

“Evangeline, say hello to grandma.”

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Evangeline shyly bowed her head at his words.

“H-Hello…”

“Ah, Evangeline. It’s been a while.”

“Do you know me?”

“Of course. You have no idea how much that idiot bragged about you when you were born.”

“Here, take a look at this.”

Davey handed over the mana stone. She narrowed her eyes as she examined it.

“It’s the mana of a blue dragon... Where did you get this?”

“I found it in a dragon’s lair. The bastard beat me to my precious treasure and took everything.”

The World Tree Al narrowed her eyes.

“And since when did all of that stuff belong to you?”

“The moment I stepped into the lair.”

“Hah. You raider. Well, to be honest, I do know this dragon.”

“That bastard.”

“...”

“Where is it?”

With the World Tree’s Eyes, finding a dragon’s lair should be easy.

But she shook her head.

“I can’t tell you. I made a promise to the dragons.”

“Oh, come on. What kind of promise?”

“You’re the weird one here when it comes to pledges. You should know that, for beings of certain levels, a promise carries significant weight.”

Hearing her refusal, Davey sighed.

“No other way?”

“Hmm… Maybe…”

Just as he was wondering whether he should force Rudelite to tell him everything—

“There is one other way you could find them.”

She smirked.

“If the dragon comes to you first.”

Boom!!

“World Tree!! Give me a damn branch!!!”

A short, blue-haired young man suddenly barged into the World Tree’s dimensional space.

“...”

Silence filled the air.

“That’s him. Well, that’s pretty convenient. I was just about to get annoyed after being woken up from my slumber just for this.”

As she spoke, Davey cracked his knuckles with a grin.

“Al, is there a place around here where I can let loose?”

“There just so happens to be a herd of monsters rampaging north of my sanctuary. You can go and clean them up. Since you’ve already taken most of the authority over the land, you should at least handle the issues that pop up there.”

Davey had taken away the authority as a way to keep themselves from getting entangled with various kingdoms, but at this point, it felt more like he was just a servant cleaning up after them.

“Can’t I just return the deed?”

“Not a chance.”

Al clearly had no intention of letting him off easy.

“Hm? What the hell? Why is there a human here? World Tree, seems you’re just letting any random—”

Smack!

From the moment the intruder sensed Davey’s presence and started questioning her, it took less than a second for Davey to grab him by the collar.

Zap!

At the same time, Davey let mana erupt from his body, enveloping both the blue-haired man and Evangeline as they vanished on the spot.

* * *

Crackle… Crackle!!!

The vast sky twisted and tore apart.

Zzzt!!

A massive magic circle unfolded, expanding rapidly before contracting again, bursting with light as it materialized three figures.

The place where Davey reappeared was the northern forest—where he had once fought against those of the Divine Tree’s Land.

Though it was called a forest, it was closer to a vast plain.

If they fought recklessly here, the terrain would be torn apart, creating quite the spectacle. Al had likely only sent him here because she was certain he would handle things cleanly.

Whoosh!! Boom!!

Still holding the blue-haired man as they descended, Davey casually swatted away the arm that suddenly reached toward him.

But the man didn’t stop his struggle. Twisting his body midair, he kicked Davey and propelled himself back into the air.

[Human. Do you have a death wish?]

His chilling voice rang out. It was quiet, but the power it carried was overwhelming.

“Do you want to die?”

[You dare speak to me like that, even knowing the greatness that stands before you?]

Floating midair, his eyes glowed an eerie blue as mana surged around him.

[You insignificant lower being! How dare you meet my gaze?! Know your place, you mere mortal!]

All these dragons had hibernated for so long that they had no idea how much the world had changed.

“Daddy.”

Evangeline, landing softly on the ground, tried to step forward. Davey reached out an arm to block her path.

“No. You’ll get hurt if you try it as you are now.”

Evangeline puffed up her cheeks in frustration. Even as an ancient dragon, she wasn’t ready to fight a dragon yet.

“Since getting punched without knowing why is unfair, I’ll explain it to you step by step. I tracked you down because you stole all my damn treasures, and I came to complain about it.”

[What?!]

“I don’t care who you are, and I don’t care how strong you are.”

Ignoring his stupefied reaction, Davey continued speaking.

“There’s gotta be some honor among thieves. How dare you take someone else’s loot?”

At those words, the dragon, still floating midair, summoned blue flames in both hands.

Davey prepared his spell, 8th Circle magic—Prometheus.

[You insignificant lower being! Just because you know the World Tree doesn’t mean you can act so arrogantly! Today, I’ll—]

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Enough of that.”

Cutting him off, Davey raised his hand toward the dragon.

[8th Circle]

[Prometheus]

Fwoosh!

Boom!!

Davey knew that the one who struck first always held the advantage. Without waiting for him to finish, he blasted the dragon with powerful magic.

The blue dragon was instantly engulfed in flames.

“A thief needs a whooping.”

“Master Davey, you are also a raider. Rinne determines that your level of self-justification is astonishing, concluding that you are the worst one here.”

Her blunt remark made Davey feel a pang of guilt—but he quickly brushed it off.

“Shut up.”

Casually rebuking her, Davey looked up as the smoke cleared.

A massive figure emerged—standing at around one hundred and fifty meters tall, it had a body stretching over three hundred meters.

Blue scales, icy horns, and thick, powerful limbs.

His vertically slitted reptilian pupils had the kind of presence that could make one tremble in fear.

[I've changed my mind. I will show you the vast difference between the crude imitation of magic and the true power of the possessor of magic. Consider yourself lucky. If not for your connection to the World Tree, I would’ve already killed you on the spot.]

Now that he had fully revealed himself to be a dragon, he saw no need to hide any longer. He opened his jaws wide, and a chilling energy began to gather within.

It was the dragon’s ultimate weapon, the symbol of destruction.

The dragon breath attack.

Dragon breath both was and wasn’t magic at the same time. It was dragontongue magic, the very foundation of magic itself.

As he gathered energy, Davey widened his mouth a little bit too.

“Oh? You too? I can do one of those.”

The ancient dragontongue he stole from Eclipse in the past began to stir. Right now, it was only the lowest tier of his powers—but that was just a matter of hierarchy. In terms of sheer force, it easily surpassed even the authority of the demon king.

It had taken him two whole years just to master it…

As Davey opened his mouth, a swirling black energy gathered within.

[What?!]

Without hesitation, Davey braced himself against the ground in preparation. He let out a massive black breath attack with devastating force, dozens of meters thick, from his mouth.

The overwhelming recoil sent shockwaves blasting outward, creating fierce blasts of wind. The ground beneath him warped and shook.

Breath attacks were exclusively a dragon’s weapon. They stemmed from dragontongue magic, so only dragons could use them.

But there were exceptions, of course; if someone else could wield dragontongue, or if someone had devoured the power of dragontongue from an ancient dragon, they could cast similar attacks.

The blue dragon frantically flapped his four massive wings at the sudden breath attack, twisting his body midair to dodge. Then, up on turning his head, his pupils dilated in shock.

Because the very sky itself was tearing apart.

[…]

The ice dragon, slowly and stiffly floating in the air, turned his head back toward Davey.

And then, he carefully asked—

[By any chance… are you the Black Dragon Elder?]

“Elder, my ass! Here comes another one!”

Davey gathered black energy at the corners of his mouth for another shot. The dragon widened his eyes once again.

[You’re… a human?! Impossible!! W-Warp!!]

He panicked and hurriedly attempted to cast teleportation magic. But before he could finish and escape, Davey stopped charging his attack and instead simply reached out.

“Where do you think you’re going? You’ve got debts to pay before you leave.”

He turned his head slightly.

“Rinne, get the cauldron ready. It’s been a while since we had a proper meal. I hear dragon meat is great for male performance.”

Lately, Illyna had been showing signs that she wanted a child. Maybe it was about time to give Darian a little sibling.

Davey couldn’t help but put on a sinister grin.