The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 614

Chapter 614

Ping!!

The sound of a bowstring being released echoed throughout the area.

Clang!!!

A powerful arrow shot across the space. It collided with the sword of the Galaxy Sword Saint Yu Gil-Tae, neutralizing his strike. From a dark recess of the stone chamber, a body flew powerlessly through the air and crashed to the ground, sliding toward the sect leader and the Great Elders.

"This person is..."

"The soldier guarding the chamber. Hm..." the Great Elder reported, prompting the sect leader to lift his head.

The tense atmosphere that had slightly mellowed down because of the sudden interruption started to become ominously heavy all at once.

Boom!!!

"Ugh?!" While the Great Elders groaned in pain, the sect leader, who had instinctively enwrapped himself in the power of the being he now served, managed to withstand the force.

"Is this a fighting arena or what? If so, I was thinking of placing a bet on my disciple. Where should I put the money?" Davey jokingly said as he jingled a pouch of coins in his hand, making everyone speechless.

Amidst the overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere, Davey walked in with deliberate steps.

The first to react to his entrance was Kwak Hyo-Yeong. "Master Davey?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Eh?"

Slash!!

Kwak Hyo-Yeong saw the Ak Rim Sect disciples, who had tried to take her down, collapse powerlessly in a blink of an eye. It happened so fast that there was no time to react at all.

"Ah..."

On one side, Dang Yu-Rin and Ye Hyun-Hwa held their breath as they stared at Davey with eyes wide in astonishment. In an instant, he had slain all the enemies except the jiangshis and the Great Elders. He was even nonchalant as he sheathed his crimson sword.

The sect leader frowned upon seeing this. “Oh, you are the guy I heard about. How exactly did you find out about this place?”

“How else? I went on a walk on the trail, you trash.”

Bang!!!

An invisible force of blade energy that surged from Davey's sword was about to strike the sect leader, but the jiangshi of Hwa Ok-Ran suddenly intervened, deflecting the strike with a graceful swing of her icy white blade.

Cra-crack!!

A chilling sound of bones getting shattered was heard, a clear sign that the attack was not entirely blocked.

"You?! Did you come here alone?!" Ye Hyun-Hwa screamed. She looked horrified as she sat on the ground and covered herself with her tattered clothes as much as she could.

"Yeah, I came by myself. Who else would I bring?"

At Davey's reply, the sect leader and the Great Elders erupted in a loud fit of laughter.

"Ah... No! Run away! I understand that you are powerful, but the jiangshis here are the undead heroes! And they are Millennial Jiangshis, possessing stronger power than the power they had when they were still alive!"

Three of the Five Stars and the three heroes of Limitless had something in common: they were all powerful and highly revered individuals who had already passed away. And now that they had been revived as jiangshis, their powers had become far greater than before. But their animated corpse unquestionably remained soulless.

"Indeed, what the lady says is true. Even though they aren't themselves, as Millennial Jiangshis, their power can be said to surpass that of their former selves."

Galaxy Sword Saint Yu Gil-Tae. Crimson Dragon Scholar Hark Jun-Seong. Lastly, Ice Sword Goddess Hwa Ok-Ran. There was also Cheon Geum, the sect leader of the Heavenrend Sect, and two other great martial artists. Ye Hyun-Hwa had seen Davey’s strength, but her realization that the opponents were not ordinary drove her to despair.

"Run! With your power, you can escape! Gather more powerful allies! With the United Array and Mutual Destruction skills..." Ye Hyun-Hwa cried out urgently.

Then suddenly, one of the Five Stars vanished into dispersing speckles of light. He then reappeared behind Davey in a heartbeat and unfalteringly made a move as if to sever Davey’s throat with his blade. He was the Lightning Ghost White Deer, one of the members of the Five Stars. He was also the sect leader of the Lightning Ghost Sect, which was renowned for its exceptional swift movement. It was a great mystery how the sect leader and the sect members suddenly disappeared without a trace one day. The fact that he had become a jiangshi was unfortunate.

The White Deer was so fast that there was no time to even scream when he made his attack. Davey had just been looking silently at Ye Hyun-Hwa when finally, he turned his head.

‘Too late!!’ The sect leader thought with a look of smug triumph on his face.

However...

Slash!!!

To everyone's bewilderment, the Lightning Ghost White Deer was torn apart in midair.

"Huh?"

"What just happened...?"

All Davey did was turn his head slowly with no particular emotion on his face, but the jiangshi that swiftly attacked him had suddenly collapsed. A surreal scene just happened right before everybody’s eyes.

"What...?"

Looking down at the fallen Lightning Ghost White Deer, who once was regarded as one of the greatest in swift movement but now had fallen so meaninglessly, Davey commented, "So this person is supposed to be the White Deer? No, he used to be the White Deer."

Who exactly was Davey talking to? He was muttering to himself, looking down at a transparent jewel in his hand with a sinister smile. "This is how this thing should be used."

A chilling smile hung on his lips. He then yelled, "Han Ja-Seong!"

The young man Davey called had been blankly watching the turn of events, and the sudden yell of his name startled him back to focus. "Y-Yes!"

"From now on, you’ll be taking a test. Kill one of the jiangshis here. A weak one or a strong one, it doesn’t matter. Succeed, and I'll grant you the final unlock of your physique," Davey instructed firmly and took a step forward.

Shh...

As he smoothly approached and lifted Kwak Hyo-Yeong in his arms, he spoke again, "The time limit is until I’ve finished dealing with these guys."

Prompted by the sect leader, the jiangshi of Cheon Geum swung his longsword as if to lunge at Davey like a flash of lightning. But Han Ja-Seong instinctively moved, interfering with the attack. Where did such strength come from? Martial arts did not have a technique where one could suddenly become stronger by simply being enlightened. Nevertheless, Ja-Seong's abilities were already at an unbelievably advanced stage.

Ja-Seong, who once couldn’t shed the label of a third-rate martial artist until just a week ago, was now emitting a blade energy at the tip of his sword, almost transforming it into sword energy.

"Are you insane?! The opponent is the master of the esteemed Heavenrend Sect!"

"That's why he must overcome it."

Surprised by what Davey proclaimed, Kwak Hyo-Yeong flinched.

"Are you going to live the rest of your life haunted by the ghost of your master?"

Wearing a slight smile, Davey took another step forward. Simultaneously, the other two members of the Five Stars and the three martial artists began to encircle Davey.

"If you don't want to do it, feel free to stop."

"Asking me to walk a thorny path," Ja-Seong mumbled under his breath as he gazed down at his sword. "Can I... really win?"

"That's entirely up to you."

“...”

It was utterly reckless, but Han Ja-Seong nodded in acknowledgement.

"I understand."

Cling...

With a resolute expression, he raised his sword and pointed it at the jiangshi of his former master.

*

[Damage Rate 0.01% When the damage rate reaches 100%, the core of the ability will be destroyed.]

The explanation was surprisingly detailed. While others might not notice, Perserque was actually sitting on Davey’s shoulder. She was essentially always with him, though she remained unseen. So, what exactly was this damage rate? It had something to do with the jewel that the Goddess Freyja had given Davey. Having severed the power of Neltarid, she offered him three things.

First, a Magic Sword made of bone, his reward for the mission.

Second, this jewel with an incredible ability.

Lastly, the Lasting Ember, an extra life.

The Magic Sword had not yet been used, and the Lasting Ember would not be used until his death, so practically, the only item with an immediate effect was the transparent jewel. Other than that, the jewel was also a holy object given to him by Goddess Freyja in place of the Gem, which was what he had been looking for. So he had thought it would possess similar power to the Gem.

But even if it was quite similar to the Gem, it held a different power. It momentarily synchronized soul and flesh without side effects, and with that synchronization, it sustained damage. Just now, Davey’s action seemed unseen to others, but he destroyed the entire body of the Lightning Ghost White Deer.

If the White Deer’s movement was like a flash, then Davey would become the surroundings. The Moonlight Steps allowed Davey to outpace the White Deer. It was a rather harsh truth that an ordinary assassin could not kill a human of the Master class. To be able to assassinate a Master class, one had to be an expert martial artist of the equivalent level, or exhaust the Master class over time. And yet, once assassins encountered a snag in their task, they were expected to take their own lives to prevent themselves from being caught alive.

The fruits of their labor seldom matched their efforts. Because of this, the occupation of assassins was often scorned in the murim, and in Tionis as well. The Assassination King, Hermesia, was originally a common assassin. She was the one who further developed the unique skills of assassins and was an achiever with incredible power on her own. Could her techniques be used by assassins with a clear ceiling or a limited potential?

One concerning matter was the relationship with the Power of Taboo. The Power of Taboo Davey used was completely independent from all forms of power. So perks like the power buffs from the Gem might not be effective if the Power of Taboo was in effect.

Ping!!!

With a chilling metallic sound, Yu Gil-Tae's sword was thrusted at Davey. Named after the way it gleamed like a twinkling starlight, Yu Gil-Tae’s swordsmanship, the Shining Sword Technique, was something Davey already witnessed before.

"Hahahaha! I don't know what you're planning, but facing three martial artists who reached the Limitless, what can you possibly do to win?"

The power of the jiangshis definitely mirrored the power they had when they were alive. Davey had no way of knowing if they had grown stronger after their battle with the Heavenly Destroyer, but at the very least, he could tell they were on par with his former mentor back then. And there were three such beings, plus two more powerful martial artists, along with Great Elders imbued with Abyssal power. Indeed, had everything stayed the same, it would not come as a surprise if the world fell under the rule of the Ak Rim Sect just as they had plotted.

"Limitless..."

Davey moved subtly, narrowly evading the barrage of attacks that came at him relentlessly.

"They are invincible. And they are the absolute force that will crown my ambition! You may be strong, but coming here alone to face them is an incredibly foolish move."

[Damage Rate 0.5% When the damage rate reaches 100%, the core of the ability will be destroyed.]

Davey perfectly caught and held Yu Gil-Tae’s sharp sword. His hand was now against the formidable martial artist’s blade.

"What?!" Cries of astonishment from the sect leader and the Great Elders filled the air.

There was a limit to sheer skill, like catching a sword with bare hands. After all, it was the sword of Yu Gil-Tae and his incredible swordsmanship. And yet, a mere hand was able to block it? With his sword's trajectory forcibly stopped, Yu Gil-Tae’s jiangshi tried to break free, but it was as if the sword was stuck to Davey’s hand. Davey then extended his other hand and delivered a direct punch without any technique or strategy. With that punch, the jiangshi of Yu Gil-Tae collapsed. The body that was not even harmed by the force of a sword’s strike now writhed violently as it shattered.

"I’m not that impressed." Davey scoffed.

As the corpse of Yu Gil-Tae began to implode, Davey continued, "It’s a fake one. It’s not even a real jiangshi."

As Davey’s spirit and body synchronized, the absolute realm etched in his soul awakened once more. It was an awakening of power beyond his current reach. Davey then lunged straight at Yu Gil-Tae's supposedly impeccable defense, and just before touching him, Davey twisted his hand as if to lash at him.

Crack!!!!!

The rigid body that strongly withstood a sword’s blade energy contorted like a twisted pretzel. It was then destroyed completely, leaving everyone in silence. Because they just witnessed a young man destroy with so much ease a jiangshi with the power of a Limitless.

"Why do you think I came alone, sect leader?"