The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

"Whoa! This tastes so strange!

"It's delicious! So sweet! This tastes different from meat!

"Let's try this one too!"

The children, full of excitement, started shoving whatever treats they could find into their mouths. After Davey opened the bags and unwrapped the chocolate for them, they became so absorbed in eating that most of them stopped worrying that he was human.

"Human. I… I'm Runia. What's your name?”

"Davey. Davey O'Rowane. And over there is Evangeline."

"Davey… and Evangeline," muttered the young gold dragon.

She then asked curiously, "Um, do humans live beyond those mountains?"

"That's right."

"That's right."

"Wow…"

The children were as pure and innocent as they could be. He figured Perserque, Illyna, or Aeria would’ve loved the moment. He then thought that if things went smoothly this time, maybe he could bring the three of them back one day.

Speaking of Perserque, he wondered what she was up to by now. She'd mentioned she'd contact him soon, but still hadn’t reached out to him yet.

The three of them had gone to Earth without him, and without any updates.

In the past, such a thing would've been impossible, but with thinner dimensional walls, temporarily opening a small two-way rift wasn't too difficult.

Of course, if someone misused it, that’d become a serious problem.

"Human! Human! Tell us more about humans!"

After they finished devouring all the snacks and chocolate drinks Davey had brought out, the children started clamoring for stories about humans.

"You little brats! Do you even realize what kind of situation we’re in? Get back home now!" Rudel shouted harshly, making the children flinch and glance around nervously.

"It's fine. Watching over the kids is good too, compared to wandering around aimlessly.”

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course—this is all just part of the experience. Besides, kids need proper attention, regardless of whether they're human or dragon."

Rudel flinched at Davey's words.

"Your Highness…”

“Hmm?”

“It’s nothing,” he murmured, then fell silent.

Davey sat the children down and began telling them all kinds of stories about different worlds. The children, though skeptical, listened with sparkling eyes.

Kids were kids, no matter what species they were. Even demons and vampires were innocent when young. It was just a matter of their lives and diets being different, after all.

Perhaps because of the snacks and the entertaining stories, the dragonlings started opening up to Davey more and more.

‘Yep… kids are easy to handle.’

As Davey smiled, Rudel looked at him with an expression of disbelief and exasperation.

“Hmm? What’s that over there?”

When Davey asked him while looking at the enormous temple deep within the city, Rudel’s expression stiffened.

“That is where our lord slumbers.”

Hearing this, Davey quietly began walking toward the temple. Rudel tried to stop him, but by the time he reacted, he was already standing before the temple where the dragon lord lay dormant.

“You cannot go any further.”

“It’s not just my imagination, is it?”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. Let’s go.”

He was told that the dragon lord hadn’t awakened yet. But from his perspective, it seemed like only half the truth was that she couldn’t awaken, and the other half was that she didn’t want to. But whatever the case, it didn’t concern him for now.

At that moment, Davey felt someone approaching.

“Well, well, well. So the rumors are true—the lord hasn’t awakened yet.”

Davey turned his head to see a blond man standing nearby. He noticed the man staring at him with a faint smile.

“To think I’d see a human here, of all places. How unusual.”

Davey silently met his gaze.

“Elder Kais…” Rudel muttered silently.

The dragonlings that had been lingering nearby bolted away, terrified by his smile. But Kais paid no mind to their fear. Instead, he glanced at Rudel and sneered mockingly.

“It’s been a while, Rudelite. But what’s this? A human in the Dragon’s Nest? Have the once-proud cowards fallen so low?”

“Silence. This is none of your concern.”

“None of my concern, you say? I may be here for negotiations, but if war ever breaks out, don’t forget—we will be the ones to claim this place. So having a human here isn’t very comforting.”

As he spoke, Kais casually reached out and placed his hand on Davey’s shoulder.

But then—

“Hey,” Davey said in a low voice.

“Hmm?”

“There’s a fly on you.”

Boom!!

In an instant, gold dragon Elder Kais collapsed, his eyes rolling back as he hit the ground.

“The hell is this thing,” Davey sneered.

“...”

Then Rudel looked at Davey.

“Did Your Highness just do that?”

“Did I?”

“My goodness… I didn’t even see what happened…” Rudel trailed off, clearly rattled.

Davey merely shrugged and walked past him.

“What are you planning to do about this…?”

“This guy just wandered over to the lord’s dwelling and fainted on his own. I have no idea what happened,” Davey said nonchalantly, making his way downtown—walking fast and faces passing—bound for the round table where he had first been.

Once he arrived, he was greeted by a large number of dragons standing on one side, while a small group of dragons from the moderate faction sat across from them.

“Popcorn. I need popcorn for this,” Davey muttered.

Reaching into his Pocket Plane, he pulled out a bucket of popcorn and a bottle of cola. He simply poured some for Evangeline, then began munching away. The dragons were too focused on debating to even realize his presence.

Crunch… crunch…

As Davey enjoyed his popcorn, he felt another hand reaching into his bucket. Turning his head, he saw Runia, the small girl dragon of the gold clan he had met earlier with Rinne.

“This looks tasty too,” Runia said, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the popcorn.

“Master Davey, eating popcorn alone is an act of selfish cowardice. Rinne evaluates such petty behavior lowly.”

She had returned from her scout.

Without a word, Davey glanced between the two of them before sighing and offering them some popcorn and cola.

“Fine. Here, you two can have some.”

Crunch, crunch.

As the two dug into their snacks, Davey leaned back and observed the scene ahead.

“So… those guys over there. They’re the fallen ones, right?”

“Affirmative. Rinne evaluates the smell of the fallen ones lowly.”

“Yeah, I figured. Just looking at them, it’s obvious they’ve done every kind of doping under the sun.”

At a glance, the power disparity was obvious. Without Rudel’s special role, the moderates wouldn’t stand a chance. Even the number of elders showed a clear disparity. Including Kais, the elder Davey had taken down earlier, the fallen ones had six elders on their side, while the moderates only had three.

To make matters worse, the number of full-fledged dragons also leaned heavily in favor of the fallen ones.

“Human, are the grandpas fighting?” Runia asked with a gloomy expression.

“Hm. Probably,” Davey replied simply.

“Why are they fighting? They could just get along…”

At her innocent question, Davey let out a small laugh.

“They’re probably fighting to try and make things right.”

“That’s so hard to understand…” Runia murmured, clearly confused by his words.

Davey then turned to Rinne. “So, Rinne, what brings them here?”

“Negotiation proposal. Rinnes reports they have come to suggest surrender,” Rinne responded calmly.

“For a surrender negotiation, they’re sitting pretty comfortably at the table.”

“Rinne analyzes that there appears to be additional objectives.”

Davey nodded in understanding. “Negotiations, huh? But during this season…”

“Season?”

Before he could give her an answer, his enhanced hearing picked up fragments of the conversation from the negotiation table.

“So, you’re proposing a temporary truce?”

“Yes. While relations are poor, both your side and ours are in a similar situation. A temporary truce is what we’re suggesting.”

“And you expect us to believe that’s your only goal? You duplicitous bastards!” Elder Opal bellowed, his anger palpable.

“Now, now, Elder Opal. No need to get so worked up,” a fallen elder waved their hand dismissively. “We both need to perform the offering to the Primordial Dragon. We’re simply proposing a truce for the duration of the banquet.”

“And how do you expect us to trust you?”

“Trust us?” sneered a fallen red dragon elder. “What are you going to do about it? Am I hearing that you want to escalate the conflict right here, right now?”

“...”

“We’re giving you an opportunity—consider it carefully. Seize this brief chance to hold onto your lives.”

Then Rudel muttered quietly, “The banquet requires significant preparation. Unfortunately, the fallen ones have moved much faster than expected, and their forces are overwhelmingly strong.”

Davey nodded. “Ah, so they’re basically power-tripping.”

“Unfortunately, yes. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but there’s no other choice for now,” Rudel replied, his tone heavy as he watched the three moderate elders deep in thought.

“They know it’s a trap, right?”

Even if they’re fools, Davey knew they weren’t that foolish.

“They know.”

“Now, make your choice… What will you do? Of course, even if war breaks out, we won’t step in ourselves.”

Hearing that provocation, Davey remained silent.

“Your Highness.”

“Hm?” he responded.

“Can you defeat them?”

“Who?”

“Those fallen ones.”

“What do you think?” Davey smirked.

At his question, Rudel fell silent for a moment before finally answering.

“You can.”

“That’s all that matters.”

Even at this point, Rudel didn’t ask for help.

In the end, the negotiations were settled.

The moderate dragons accepted the truce to buy time, while the fallen ones had achieved their goals under the guise of peace. Of course, agreeing to a temporary truce didn’t mean they wouldn’t ever launch an attack. Under the pretense of maintaining the ceasefire, only a portion of their forces entered the Dragon’s Nest.

Simply in terms of numbers, their forces had doubled. The moderate faction was no longer in the position to pick a fight. More dragons had gathered than before, and despite their reluctance, they proceeded with preparations for the banquet.

It took them only half a day.

During that time, Davey simply watched their silent power struggle from a distance and muttered to himself.

“They’re really putting on a show.”

Just then, he noticed some movement among the fallen ones.

“A truce between former enemies, followed by a banquet? What a joke,” said one of the fallen dragons. “Isn’t that right, Sapphire?”

“I have no intention of exchanging words with you. Get lost.”

Sapphire snapped coldly, but the dragon only smirked. Then, without warning, the dragon hurled a fireball at him.

Boom!

The sudden attack drew everyone’s attention.

“Be honest: you’re itching for a fight, aren’t you? Sitting here, pretending to enjoy this ridiculous banquet… What the hell is this?”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“What else? Since we’re all gathered here, why not compare our strength?”

As the dragon gathered mana, Sapphire made an ice-cold expression. Their mana crackled, ready to erupt into a full-blown fight at any moment.

Yet neither the moderates nor the radicals seemed inclined to stop them.

Several hostile elder dragons appeared eager to clash.

Fighting was their choice, but if left unchecked, the fallout would be immense.

And also—

“Hic… sniff…”

The pressure of their mana wasn’t just affecting them.

Runia, who had been following Davey around ever since tasting chocolate, was now trembling, overwhelmed by the oppressive energy.

“They really have no shame, fighting in front of a child.”

“Master Davey, Rinne requests permission to subdue them.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll handle it.”

Davey watched for a moment, then casually snapped his fingers.

Whuuum…

In an instant, the mana in the surroundings violently fluctuated.

“Huh…? What the—?!”

Both the radicals and moderates began panicking.

Davey had forcibly frozen all the surrounding mana—including the energy they were in the process of channeling—using divine power infused with divinity.

No matter how powerful they were, he knew they couldn’t surpass the authority of Freyja.

‘Fighting in front of children? Absolutely not.’

For a brief moment, silence filled the air.

“M-My mana… It froze?”

Their faces twisted in confusion, unable to comprehend who could be behind it.

“You okay now?”

Now free from the crushing mana, Runia looked visibly relieved. Davey quietly patted her head.

And then—

“Huh? A human? Why is there a human here?”

“What?”

All eyes turned to Davey.

‘Oh boy, here we go.’

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb's Thoughts

Silly dragons, tricks are for kids and fighting is for adults!

Also don't worry, this feast is basically just pre-gaming for the ritual. They aren't eating in honor of the Primordial Dragon.