The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 977

"Do you understand what this means?”

"Someone big was behind this, dumping the blame on Aeria and passing the case along. That person was even powerful enough to put pressure on a detective from the Violent Crimes Unit."

"Have you talked to the detective to figure out more?"

"I met him in person. He’s a tough guy, and an even more stubborn detective. Took some effort to convince him to stop shutting me out, since he kept telling me a civilian shouldn’t stick their nose into dangerous matters."

"That’s probably why he got suspended—digging too deep when he was told to back off."

A dedicated detective, uncompromising in his pursuit of criminals.

His kind were rare, but they existed.

"For now, the only solid facts we have are that there’s someone out there who can get a Violent Crimes detective suspended with a single word, and even has the ability to tamper with the messenger app on Aeria’s smartphone."

"And what about those guys?"

"The group that met Aeria—weren’t they the ones who started all of this? If we dig into them and figure out who’s backing them, we should be able to get some more answers."

Illyna frowned.

"That’s why we’re asking for your help," she said, looking straight at Davey.

"I’ll uncover the full story. You just find Aeria. Originally, Perserque didn’t want to burden you with this, but…"

She glanced at his hand.

"Perserque lost control of her mana when you took the staff from her."

Davey stiffened at her words.

"She says she’s fine, but she was in the middle of a large-scale scan when it happened. It must’ve put a heavy strain on her."

‘Timing really is a bitch…’

Perserque may qualify as an 8th Circle mage, but she and Davey were fundamentally different.

Even though she had gone through a forced metamorphosis, her status as an 8th Circle mage remained unchanged.

Unfortunately, her mastery was still insufficient to advance to the next level, unable to transcend perception and be above the norm.

If she was in the middle of casting a large-scale search spell spanning one to two cities, and Davey had suddenly recalled her staff—the spell’s medium—then she would’ve been forced to suppress the runaway magic with nothing but her own body.

A mage’s staff was essentially their support tool.

If such an important auxiliary device vanished mid-cast, the spell was bound to go haywire. One didn’t have to touch it directly to subdue it, but doing so would’ve made the unstable mana spread across the entire area and give out negative effects.

For instance, in the form of…

"Mana poisoning, maybe?"

"Yeah," Illyna confirmed, squeezing his hand tightly.

"That’s why you need to do this for us. Just find Aeria, and I’ll handle the rest."

She cupped his cheek and kissed him lightly before flashing a mischievous smile.

"One hour should be enough, right? If you manage to do it in thirty minutes, I’ll even wear that."

She pointed at a revealing slit-sided Chinese dress displayed on one side of the room.

Her face reddened as she averted her gaze.

"I mean… We haven’t had time alone for weeks, after all."

"Ten minutes. I’ll be back in ten."

As he looked at Perserque with widened eyes, she let out a long sigh and shook her head.

"Do as you wish. I have missed you as well. When this journey ends, I shall borrow your shoulder for a while."

* * *

Of course, Perserque meant that she would shrink herself and stay by his side.

Aeria had completely cut off all means of tracking her before she moved.

Her true nature was much wilder than her usual demeanor. Even so, finding her wasn’t a challenge for Davey.

"Let’s get started."

Checking the clock, he saw that three minutes had already passed since they had made their promise.

Davey raised his hand in the air. He knew there wasn’t enough time to search for a specific place when Aeria might’ve erased her traces.

That meant he had to use another method.

"Dodo, come out."

At his call, the wind began to swirl around him. A dense, concentrated gust gathered, forming into a tangible entity.

The Wing Spirit King, Sylphid, slowly revealed himself.

[It’s been a while since you summoned me.]

"Isn’t it better if I don’t have to call you and interrupt whatever you're doing?"

[I can’t argue with that. Unlike the other spirits, I don’t find the human world all that amusing.]

"I need to find Aeria. We’ll start with this city."

Busan, once abandoned due to a monster invasion, had regained its status as a major city after Seoul was reclaimed. It now functioned alongside Seoul in the capacity of a secondary capital.

If Perserque had last detected Aeria’s presence there, then she was definitely still somewhere in the city.

[You think finding one person is that easy?]

"For an ordinary person, no. But Aeria isn’t just anyone—you spirits adore her, don’t you?"

Aeria had reached the level of an intermediate elementalist without even trying.

If the talent of a juggler was hand-eye coordination and rhythm, then the talent of an elementalist was the ability to earn the love of spirits.

"On the other hand, the people in this city haven’t received much in the way of spirit blessings, have they?”

It was true.

They had only recently started making contact with spirits, so it wasn’t like they’d had the time to gain much favor.

[This will consume a lot of spirit mana.]

"Go ahead. Use as much as you need."

Normally, even an elementalist wouldn't be able to such a level of power.

Illyna might be able to deal with the ones chasing Aeria on her own, but Aeria herself? Davey needed to personally find and stop her.

He just hoped she hadn’t stained her hands with blood.

Whooosh!!!

A faint breeze wrapped around him.

[Commencing a precise search. Again, this level of precision will require an immense amount of energy.]

As an overwhelming surge of spirit mana began draining away, Davey reached into the air.

Slowly, he retrieved his divine bow Brunaak from his Pocket Plane and reshaped it into a longbow.

Thirty seconds later.

[Found her.]

His eyes activated Spirit Vision as he drew back the bowstring.

"I told you to be more careful."

[Divine Bow]

[Flash Shot]

Twang!

The arrow, infused with subtle spirit magic, went flying from the string.

The radiant projectile streaked through the air, covering several kilometers in an instant before plunging toward its target.

Boom!!!

After mere moments, a brilliant explosion of light engulfed the area before vanishing.

Pat…

Standing atop a skyscraper overlooking the city, Davey calmly took a step forward—

And dropped straight down over the edge.

Whooosh!!

The wind roared around him as he plummeted, the sheer force of air resistance rattling his ears.

"Kyaaa!!!”

Someone finally spotted him plummeting from the building, letting out a horrified cry.

But Davey never hit the ground.

"Let’s go."

At his command, the surrounding wind converged and formed into a massive emerald bird. He carried him into the air, leaving behind a dazzling trail of light before finally arriving.

"Urgh. Ugh."

The Awakened people targeting Aeria collapsed one by one, blood splattering in all directions.

Holding her wounded arm, Aeria panted heavily as she surveyed the fallen attackers with a grimace. She then saw their eyes suddenly widen.

"Who in the…?"

"You look like a mess."

Startled, she lifted her head.

And when her gaze landed on him—

"You."

Whoosh!

In that instant, Davey closed the distance between them and pulled Aeria into his arms.

Then, without hesitation, he leaned down and kissed her.

“Mmph?!”

Her eyes widened in shock, and she instinctively tried to step back. But just as she was about to resist, Davey sensed that her personality was about to change.

Without missing a beat, he infused a gentle stream of mana into her.

With that, Aeria went limp in his arms, unable to resist.

She probably had a lot she wanted to tell him. Davey wanted nothing more than to personally deal with the ones who had pushed her to this point.

But that wasn’t his job to do.

He’d leave that pleasure to Illyna—the one who was bound to be the angriest.

He looked over the scattered corpses.

None of them were familiar; the people who had attacked Aeria were complete strangers to him.

With so many Awakened beings running around, the world had already diverged from the Earth he once knew.

The incident had been a stark reminder that even Korea was no longer the safe, orderly nation it once was.

Still, for someone to mobilize so many people, it was clear that whoever was behind the ordeal wasn’t just some small-time player.

* * *

With Odin having sealed the dimensional gap with a barrier, Davey needed the help of at least three constellations if he wanted to travel to Atrellia and confront her directly.

Until then, there had been two constellations willing to cooperate with him—Taurus, whose whereabouts were unknown, and Leo.

But two weren’t enough.

Then, whether by coincidence or fate, another surviving constellation had sought him out.

One that, along with Leo, had managed to escape Odin’s suppression.

A constellation that had made direct contact with him on Earth—Sagittarius.

Davey found it standing atop a skyscraper in Busan, gazing down at the city below.

Walking up behind it, he asked, "Why are you in human form?"

"Hm? Weren’t you supposed to be in the middle of something?"

"I left that to Illyna. For now, let’s talk about you. Why are you here?"

If this guy had a body similar to Scorpio, there was a chance it could be a spy.

But Davey also didn’t have much of a choice at the moment—he had to push forward to get any results he could.

In terms of magical power, Odin was on a completely different level. The possibility of defeating her in a head-on fight was possible, but certainly not plausible.

Sagittarius quietly observed Davey before shifting its gaze back to the city.

"Our existence was defined by one thing—waging war during the Zodiac Awakening. The defeated constellations lose their light and fall into slumber. The victors become the next generation of the Zodiac."

"…"

"That is our purpose—the chains that bind us for eternity."

"So? Are you planning to take revenge now that I’ve killed two of you?"

"No. I actually don’t mind your methods. The mage that tried to suppress us, the one with divine authority, has put a massive magical barrier in place. No one can get through it—at least, not by normal means. But…"

It raised its hand, and faint energy gathered in its palm.

"With my help, it’s possible. Leo already met you, and I have been waiting here for you to arrive."

"That makes three constellations."

With three of them, they could finally unlock the gate.

And once the gate was open, all other obstructions would fall to the wayside.

"To be honest, it’s hard to trust you."

"Then let’s make a contract."

Sagittarius extended its hand into the air, forming a glowing sigil—

It was a constellation.

The true constellation Sagittarius. And at the same time, a translucent message box appeared in front of Davey.

[Constellation Sagittarius wishes to sponsor your faction. Will you accept? Y/N]

"Is this a game…?"

"I just made it easier for you to understand. I’ve already suffered a near-fatal injury, and I can’t maintain my form for much longer. This is the only way I can help you now."

Davey stared at the floating message.

"Will you accept?"

After a brief pause, he silently pressed [Y].

The moment he did, its body began to collapse. The form it had been barely holding together finally crumbled.

[First Sponsorship Acquired.]

Ding!

[The constellation Sagittarius has sponsored you with 100,000 Stardust.]

[It’s not easy to give this much. Do you have some kind of grateful reaction for me?]

"If you really want to die so bad, sure—go ahead and ask for one."

The stardust gathered and seeped into his body.

"So, where do I exchange these at?"

[Should be right in front of you.]

Davey glanced at the floating status window that had appeared before him. His expression shifted into one of genuine amusement.

"Now this… this is interesting."

* * *

While Sagittarius made contact with Davey and the two departed, Illyna remained behind, watching over Aeria.

Gazing at her drooping ears as she lay unconscious, Illyna clenched her teeth.

"She must’ve gone through so much…"

Aeria and her friend hadn’t known each other for long, but she had already become someone she deeply cared about.

Illyna knew that Aeria must’ve been devastated after witnessing her friend’s brutal murder. That explained why she had lost control and gone berserk.

"Even so, the way her inner self went wild… it felt way too exaggerated, don’t you think?"

"Perserque, I’ll take care of this. You should go help Davey."

At that, she gave a small nod.

"Since this hasn’t been made public, there’s no need to hold back: Go ahead and tear them apart."

If she were acting in an official capacity as Davey’s wife, there might’ve been political restrictions to consider. But since that wasn’t the case—

"Let's get started.”

Illyna gripped the scabbard of the divine sword Caldeiras and growled in fury.