The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 992. The Wedding Project

“...”

“Heh... Looks like you’re not exactly his favorite.”

“Darian?”

Breaking out in a cold sweat, Davey awkwardly extended his hand again. This time, Darian peeked at him, let out another giggle, and promptly buried his head against Perserque’s shoulder once more.

“...”

“Pfft.”

Perserque flashed a victorious smile at Davey along with her teasing gaze, leaving him with a crushing sense of defeat.

Only a month apart, and somehow the balance of liking Daddy or Mommy more had tilted decisively in one direction.

“Ugh...”

“Alright, Darian. Say Mommy.”

“Ma, ma.”

Darian fiddled with the brooch pinned to the front of her dress, his tiny fingers moving curiously.

“It's sweet and all, but can you save the doting for later?” Isildi said, interrupting the three.

“Did anything happen while I was away?”

“Well... Yeah, something did.”

At that, Isildi’s expression darkened noticeably.

“What happened? And where’s Evangeline?”

“She’s in the workshop with Rudel. Something about making something interesting,” Isildi said with a shrug.

“But like I said, something happened. There was an intruder.”

“An intruder...?”

“A scorpion-like bastard.”

Davey could tell right away that she was talking about the constellation Scorpio.

‘So, another one of the constellations had made its move.’

“Did you take care of it?”

“No...”

Leaving Perserque behind as she cradled Darian, Davey followed Isildi.

They then went to the high spire of the lord’s castle. From there, Isildi gestured toward the window.

“Those filthy things took care of it.”

She covered her mouth, as if she couldn’t bear to look any longer, and turned away.

“I swear, I can smell their sweat from all the way up here.”

“...”

Davey peered down and saw three muscle-bound figures performing some kind of ritual near the peach tree in the castle’s rear garden.

They were surrounding a massive pile of meat and fruit.

“Are they forming a brotherhood pact or something?”

The pure-white, muscle-bound rabbit—Killer Rabbit.

The figure with deep indigo skin, as if the night sky had been embedded into its body, adorned with countless starlights—Taurus.

And lastly, the Great Orc Chief Tsu he had encountered before.

“I don’t know. They do say they’re forming some kind of brotherhood, but honestly, I don’t want to know or see it.”

Isildi waved her hand dismissively.

‘Yeah... I’m with you on that one. Best to pretend I never saw them.’

Davey then turned his head away and quietly descended the tower.

In the end, Loki’s little scheme never even reached Isildi’s purview—Taurus and Killer Rabbit had swiftly dealt with it before it could.

One might wonder why a constellation like Scorpio would be so weak, but on the flip side, Taurus was an odd case. It didn’t behave like a normal constellation, yet it was undeniably one of them.

A strange constellation indeed.

Constellations grew stronger the more followers they had. They then provided power to those they sponsored and received energy in return.

Yet Taurus had no followers—not a single one. It had never even established that fundamental power structure.

According to Sagittarius, who had a habit of rambling, Taurus had never once performed well enough to be acknowledged as a Central Star.

So then, the question was how he had crushed Scorpio’s neck.

Davey was curious, so he considered asking.

But he quickly shook his head.

For one, he wouldn’t even be able to understand what Taurus was saying. And besides, if he got too close to that guy now, he had a feeling he’d become exhausted.

“I’m heading back. Don’t ever let me see something like that again. Oh, by the way, that orc bastard asked Amy for something. Apparently, he wants a place to train his muscles.”

“And why should I care?”

“Taurus also asked on its behalf.”

‘The constellation Taurus... That damned bull.’

“Sigh. Fine. A promise is a promise. I’ll have one built.”

“Whatever. I’m done here, right?”

“Yeah. Good work.”

“Hmph. I’ll be heading back to the Central Plains soon, so you better open a gate for me when the time comes.”

For the past two years, Isildi had been suppressing her power as much as possible. She had only visited the Heavenly Central Plains once, to meet her younger martial brother and sister.

To be precise, Han Ja-Seong, from the bloodline of Dokgo Jun; and Cheon Ji-Hee, from the bloodline of Heavenrend Sect.

To Isildi, they were essentially the last remnants of her family.

During that one visit, she had reunited with them, the Heavenrend Sect, and a certain individual from her past.

Normally, it would’ve been impossible for someone like her to restrain their primal instincts, but she was an exception.

Unlike Verdandi or Skuld, who had once been human before becoming princesses of the Abyss, Isildi had been one from birth. And yet, she had nonetheless somehow managed to suppress her instincts.

Now that Thanatos had become the moon hanging in the sky, the instincts restraining her had nearly disappeared.

Perhaps the only reason Isildi still remained stable was because Thanatos was still existent in some form.

After their conversation, Isildi departed for the Divine Tree's Land, as she had no reason to stay any longer.

“Your Highness! Lady Illyna has returned!” Amy said in a cheerful voice, making Davey widen his eyes.

“What? She’s back? Already?”

“Yes! And she brought a man with her!”

Illyna didn’t need Davey to open a dimensional gate for her—she had the strength to tear through dimensions on her own.

A once-in-a-lifetime genius of the sword, indeed.

She had learned the ultimate form of the divine sword, the Continuum-Attacking Blade, from the Sword God Ares, and now used it to travel freely.

Of course, Davey knew full well that doing so wasn’t as easy as she made it seem.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.

“But she doesn’t seem to be in a good mood...”

“Where is she now?”

“She left the man with the royal guards and went to the young lady’s chambers.”

Hearing that, Davey frowned. He couldn’t help but wonder if something had gone wrong with whatever she had been doing.

To be frank, Earth was a dangerous place.

And so, Davey had wanted her to return quickly—whether things went well or not.

Now that she was back, he felt a strange sense of relief.

“Your Highness?”

“Hm? Oh... It’s nothing.”

Thinking that he should meet Illyna first, he started moving. Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, he turned back to look at Amy, who was quietly following behind.

Even after two years, he realized she hadn’t changed much.

Though she had been acting as his proxy lord, ever since he stopped leaving the territory as often, she had shifted into more of a personal secretary role.

Honestly, he wished she would find someone nice, get married, and settle down.

When Davey told her what he thought, her reaction was dramatic—as if she had just heard that the world would end tomorrow.

She gave him an absolute, emphatic no.

“Amy, you still don’t want to get married?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

She grinned brightly.

Davey could only sigh.

"You can't spend your whole life just cleaning up after me. Getting married doesn’t mean you won’t be able to work anymore, either."

Amy lowered her head as if deep in thought.

She then clapped her hands and grinned.

"Alright! I’ll think about it slowly!"

Yet, she didn’t sound like she was going to think about it at all.

"This won’t do. You need to meet people if you ever want to date or get married."

As Davey muttered to himself, her expression turned uneasy.

"Y-Your Highness?"

"You’ll have my answer in a few days, so just go. Also, I’m giving you three days off starting today—so take a proper rest."

"Y-Your Highness! I’m fine! Your Highness!"

Ignoring her panicked protests, Davey left her behind and made his way to Aeria’s room.

Inside, Aeria was half-lying on her bed with a depressed face.

No matter how much revenge she took, witnessing a newly made friend turn into a cold corpse before her very eyes were bound to weigh heavily on her.

Even though she had resolved to harden herself for the sake of those she cared about, to Davey, Aeria was still too naturally gentle at heart.

"Aeria. How are you feeling?"

As Davey entered the room, he saw Perserque holding Darian while Illyna sat at the table, resting her head on her arms with a sigh.

"Looks like you got here first."

"Maamaa!"

Suddenly, the two swords hanging from his waist resonated.

Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon, their signature dresses fluttering, immediately launched themselves at Illyna in a full-body tackle.

She caught the two girls effortlessly, smiling bitterly.

"Did you two have fun, Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon?”

"Yep! We had so much fun!"

"It was super exciting!"

The two chattered loudly, eager to share everything they had experienced.

Davey picked them up, laughing.

"Red Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, can you two watch over Darian for a bit?"

The two girls glanced at each other, immediately pouting their lips.

"Ugh... But we wanna stay with Mommy..."

"Just for a little while. Then, we can play as much as you want."

"Fine..."

Reluctantly, they climbed down from his arms and gently took Darian from Perserque.

Then, as if they were never disappointed—

"He’s our little brother, I'm holding him!"

"No, I’m holding him!"

They immediately started bickering over who got to hold Darian.

Davey remembered the saying that kids really did grow up fighting over the smallest things.

"I'm sorry...”

At last, Aeria spoke in a subdued voice.

"I caused trouble for everyone..."

She had been a fugitive, falsely accused of murder and forced into hiding.

That ordeal had awakened her instincts, driving her to take down the culprits herself.

To be frank, Davey had no clue yet if things had turned out well or not, as he hadn’t heard any updates.

"If I hadn’t acted recklessly..."

"It’s okay."

Sitting beside her, Davey gently pulled Aeria into his embrace.

"You’ll at least see her off when the time comes, right?"

"Sniff... hic... hic...”

At that, she finally broke down into tears.

Even though they hadn’t known each other long, they had become friends. And in a single day, her friend was gone.

Davey imagined the shock was unbearable.

"So. Did you get the bastard?"

"I dragged that bastard to the underground prison. Honestly, I almost killed that bastard on the spot."

Illyna’s face twisted in anger.

"But then I realized... I’m not the only one who’s furious."

At her words, Davey quietly closed his eyes.

"And besides, if we wanted Aeria’s name to be cleared, killing that girl right away would’ve made things complicated."

Although Aeria hadn’t been officially declared a fugitive, the situation was still far from ideal.

"So? Why did she do it?"

"Apparently, Congressman Park’s daughter was one of the kids who used to bully Seo-Na. After Aeria drove her away, the girl must’ve held a grudge. Later, she attacked Seo-Na for revenge..."

Then, in the heat of the moment—she killed her.

"When the father found out, he framed Aeria. He fabricated text messages, altered timestamps, and erased surveillance records. He had done it before, so it wasn’t difficult for him to pull off."

Davey let out a long sigh.

Even though South Korea was considered a safe country, a crime rate of zero was impossible.

"He’s already done it before?"

"The detective who helped me—the one Hyun-Ah introduced me to—his own son was murdered the same way. The exact same setup. His son’s friend was falsely accused, and in his grief, the detective became obsessed with catching him. But back then, Congressman Park was the one who did the killing."

"And the girl who murdered Seo-Na?"

Davey believed that punishment should be dealt to the one who committed the crime. That corrupt politician had certainly played his part, but that girl who actually killed Seo-Na... he wasn’t going to let her off easily either.

"She covered her tracks too well—there’s nothing solid enough to charge her with."

"So you just left her alone?"

"I figured it’d be better to expose what happened first."

Davey exhaled sharply.

Power warping the truth.

It surely was a disgusting reality.

"Was that what put you in a bad mood?"

"No. That’s not even the main issue."

Illyna clenched her jaw.

"I encountered a constellation while I was there. Some freak with a fish-head.”

"Pisces? I thought it was dead."

Davey clearly remembered that Pisces had faded away long ago.

"If I piece together what it said, it sounds like it can create duplicates as a form of spare lives. Fortunately, I managed to kill it before it escaped."

"Good job."

"Anyway, while I was dealing with that monster, I overheard something... The detective confronted the Congressman, and that bastard gave quite the speech.”

- The world runs on money and power. Whether it’s a natural disaster or any other situation, it’s all the same—something an ordinary person can’t control. To a regular girl from a normal household, this incident is no different from a natural disaster. People are wired to protect themselves. I just had the wealth and influence to do so. What’s so wrong with that?

After sharing what she had heard, Illyna paused for a moment before continuing.

"After hearing that, I realized that letting him die too easily would be a waste. I knocked Detective Oh out before he could kill the bastard himself, since he's suffered enough. No reason to drag him into this filth any deeper."

Davey nodded silently.

At that moment, he mentally postponed Amy’s matchmaking.

He realized this needed to come first.

"There are still some finishing touches left. I’ll do it. Don’t you worry about it.”

With that, Davey turned and headed for Earth.

* * *

Inside a dimly lit cell, a man sat slumped against the wall, his body covered in bruises from harsh beatings.

As Davey stood there silently, the man slowly lifted his head.

"You’re finally awake?"

"Who... are you?"

"You know where you are?"

The man glanced around at the stone walls enclosing him.

Then, realization dawned.

"No way..."

"Yeah, that ‘no way’ is exactly right. You asked what’s so wrong about crushing others with power, right?”

"..."

"Well, you weren’t exactly wrong. Judging by how long you’ve been getting away with it, you must’ve lived quite well under that system."

Davey gripped the iron bars of the cell—and crushed them effortlessly.

"Let’s flip the script for a moment."

The price for making his precious wife cry was going to be very, very steep.

Davey grabbed the man by the collar and ripped the surrounding space open.

The two warped away in an instant. He then threw the man on the floor at the feet of a very shocked individual.

"Y-You...?!"

"Been a while."

At his words, the man stared in horror.

"President Cho."

The Blue House, the official residence of South Korea’s President, always had reporters wandering around.

And now, their cameras had captured both Davey and Congressman Park being hurled onto the floor—they captured everything.

“Holy shit... What the hell?”

The Korean President, who had been in the middle of a diplomatic meeting, froze.

His eyes widened as he stared at Davey and Congressman Park.

Every moment between them was being captured and broadcast in real-time.