The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Goddess Freyja beckoned Davey as if trapping him. Bit by bit, as the force pulling him intensified, the power of Neltarid began to envelop and protect his spirit, offering resistance against the pull.

Was Neltarid trying to save him? But it seemed pointless now to figure out who was saving whom.

"Our younger brother," his older sister said to soothe him. The way she was smiling at him gently and how she was reassuringly patting his back gave Davey the impression that she knew and understood everything.

It did not matter if she would not recognize him after this dream. Even a brief moment with her like this was already very precious.

"To meet again like this fills me with joy, brother."

"I... I am also glad."

"How have you been?” she asked calmly.

Davey remained silent, responding only with a bittersweet smile. "I've regained everything. All of it."

He spoke to her calmly and quietly about the life he had lived, though not everything could be shared with her. And the entire time, it felt like a younger brother was catching up with a beloved sister after a long time apart.

"That's good to hear," Yeon-Hee said kindly, but her voice was starting to fade.

"Hyun-Su."

Her voice continued to wane and grow softer and softer with every millisecond that ticked by. Then, as she looked at him with a soft smile, she asked, "Are you happy now?"

Davey’s heart stuttered as soon as he heard the question.

"I'm very happy right now," said Yeon-Hee as the smile on her face brightened beautifully.

Davey watched her as though he was trying to engrave the image of her in his mind. But as he did so, he was fading further too.

"Our beloved younger brother, Hyun-Su. Even if you are far from us, make sure to eat well.”

"I will," Davey promised without missing a beat.

"Don't get sick,” Yeon-Hee added with a voice that had started to quiver.

"Yeah..."

It was hard for Davey to respond to her as he felt his voice cracking from his emotions.

"Don't worry about me or Hyun-Ah; just make sure you live happily."

As Yeon-Hee tenderly brushed a hand against Davey’s cheek, a tear finally dropped and slid down her face.

[Although you claimed to be without regrets, you were filled with them.]

[Despite saying you did not want to see them, there was not a single moment you forgot about them for over a thousand years.]

"Ah... Yes, I admit it. This is tough," Davey responded.

[May this fleeting encounter be a salvation.]

Neltarid had made many efforts to win his favor, and although Davey had approached these actions with distrust because Neltarid was not a god of the Tionis’ realm, the truth remained. Even if this was part of Neltarid's schemes, he could not help but set aside all other concerns and express his gratitude, just this once.

A light then completely engulfed Davey, and it was accompanied by a child’s voice.

As Davey got out of her dream, Yeon-Hee disappeared from his vision, and what he saw when he came back to reality was his dearly missed and beloved sister, still lying silently in the ICU.

As precious as their meeting was, she would not remember even a second of it. And Davey, who knew this perfectly well, silently left the room. But as soon as he stepped out, his breath got caught in his throat as he stumbled upon Hyun-Ah, who was running around as if looking for something.

She was startled to see him and yelled, “Hey!!” as she rushed toward him like she had every intention to hug him.

Whooosh!!

But she only ended up passing right through him.

"You'll fall over."

Following his words, she indeed fell to the ground, clutching her back in agony. "Where... Where have you been?!"

Davey frowned at her outcry, which sounded like she was about to cry out of frustration.

"Do you have any idea how scared I was when you disappeared?!"

"Whether I’m here or not, does it really matter?"

"Of course, it matters! How can I be at peace if you just suddenly vanish?" Hyun-Ah retorted as she slowly got up.

"The surgery... It was a success. It was as perfect as it could possibly be."

Because of this, Davey lost a kind of protection. But the opportunity for salvation provided by Neltarid was worth it.

Davey then asked, "So is there anything else you would like to say?"

"Well... Your body..."

“I have overexerted myself. So it’s time for me to go back.”

Goddess Freyja kept calling him back to Tionis, while Neltarid was delaying this. But whether he was ready or not, it was already as clear as crystal that it was time to return.

Davey hoped to close Hyun-Ah's Ghost Eye before he left. He could not, however, remove her ability to see spirits with the simple capabilities he currently had as a spirit. Investigating the Neltarid's cult had originally been the plan, but given how things turned out, it was no longer a priority.

"Hmm..."

"Anyway, thank you. If it weren't for you, my sister by now..."

"Consider it a debt repaid," he responded calmly as he reached out a hand to her.

At that moment, a chilling air enveloped him.

Woong!!! Woong!!!

And as if on cue, Hyun-Ah's smartphone began to ring violently.

"Hold on... I need to take this..."

She answered the call and pressed the phone against her ear, and whatever the caller said to her caused her eyes to grow impossibly wide.

"What?! What did you say?! No!"

After exclaiming loudly, she hastily ran away.

"Miss? Miss! Where are you going?!"

"No... Not the columbarium! The columbarium!!"

She hurriedly disappeared in panic, getting into a car that had seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Miss! What's happening?!"

The confused Dr. Han stumbled as he grabbed his smartphone. Without wasting a second, he called someone.

"Hey! What's going on?! What's happening that has the miss..."

The situation seemed urgent.

Using the minimal spiritual power he had, Davey managed to link with the smartphone and listen to the conversation.

[Disaster! It seems someone has staged a terror attack at the columbarium the miss is currently heading to.]

‘What?’

* * *

"No! No! No!!!"

Hyun-Ah, who was already driving at lightning speed, stepped on the accelerator even more, completely unaware that she was exceeding the speed limit. While she was not exactly the type to spend money on such a costly and fast car, she was now feeling grateful for its speed.

Vroom!!!

It was a long way from the hospital to the columbarium, but it wasn’t too long before she noticed the smoke and flames shooting up into the sky.

"No... No... No!!!"

With tears streaming down her face, she parked her car nearby, got out with an uncaring slam of the car’s door, and ran toward the burning columbarium.

"You can't go in!!" The firefighters, who had arrived, tried to stop Hyun-Ah as she attempted to rush into the ablaze columbarium.

"Let me go! Please!"

"It's dangerous! You can't go in!"

"No! My brother's in there! He's inside!"

Her desperate cries caused the firefighters to exchange worried glances.

"What are you talking about?! Nobody was inside there... Hey, wait!"

Ignoring the startled firefighter, she ran as quickly as she could, trying to head inside. Because she could no longer see nor think past the need to retrieve her brother’s urn from the unforgiving fire.

"No! I can't lose it like this again!"

An eerie chill passed by her, but she had no time to pay attention to it, let alone dwell on what it was.

"Stop her! Block her!"

The firefighters rushed to prevent her from blindly entering; however, they seemed to be moving in slow motion. In that brief moment, she felt an indescribable, chilling wind engulf her. She then locked eyes with something horrifying within the burning columbarium.

Thud…Thud…

The firefighters around her began to collapse one by one, and the area quickly quieted down, leaving only the crackling sound from the fire.

"Ah... Ahh..."

From the bright flames, a figure emerged, and Hyun-Ah only needed a second to recognize who it was.

It was the ruffian from Go Sung Company who had casually approached her as if by fate on the day that her friends, Han Yu-Na and Yun Ji-Ah, disappeared. Though Hyun-Ah yielded to him in many company matters, she never had any intention to get along with such a person.

After his brother's death, the uncle who had given her and Yeon-Hee so much care never allowed it. So, she had made her boundaries very clear to the man. This displeased him entirely. He was very dissatisfied that Hyun-Ah would not come around to his way of thinking, and he then just vanished. After that day, he took his final breath and met his death. And yet here he was—a black figure standing in front of her, with a pair of strange eyes that gleamed as he moved slowly forward to approach Hyun-Ah. Then he reached out a hand toward her.

[Sh, Shh... Shh…shh... Shin Hyun-Ah...]

The figure was reaching out its hand toward her, but she could not resist at all. In her immense fear, she could only shake like a leaf. Sure, she had seen blurry ghosts since her Ghost Eye had opened, but she had never seen anything as distinct as this entity, not even the Grim Reaper who saved her sister.

"Is... Is it you? You are here to..."

[Are you talking about this?]

His pronunciation was clear, and sounded almost mocking as he pulled out a small jar from his embrace. How could she ever forget what that jar was? It was her brother's urn that had a single photo of him attached to it. Thankfully, it remained unscathed from the firestorm.

"Give it back!!"

[Eh? Eh? Ehehehehe? Why... Why should I give this back?]

"Why? Obviously..."

[Th... Thi... This is now mine... Such pure and powerful bones... are mine.]

He laughed icily, seemingly having a fit. Following that, he once again extended his hand in her direction.

[Amazing... So amazing, I feel like I could do anything!]

People feared death because they had no idea what they would become or where they would go. But if death meant becoming something transcendent, it was clear how people would react.

Contorting his neck, he then went closer to Hyun-Ah, who had collapsed, as he said, "Right? Living in such arrogance, refusing me. Now, you can't even open your mouth in fear?"

And it was while he was speaking that something pitch black wrapped around her.

She felt a shiver of dread. She knew instinctively that he was not human but a ghost-like being, so she worried that she might be dragged into becoming something nonhuman by him.

BANG!!!!

At that moment, as he attempted to reach out to her, a force suddenly repelled him, instantly liberating Hyun-Ah, who had become stiff.

Automatically, she wiped her tears and fled. What was the use of a bodyguard against a ghost? So running away was her only option ever since her Ghost Eye had opened.

What came to her mind at that moment was... the man who always quibbled and complained. He even mocked her for her fashion sense for a blind date, saying no amount of makeup could change a squid into anything but a slightly prettier cephalopod. But now, he was the person she most wanted to see and rely on.

"Haah... Haah…"

Although she was unsure of the power of the Grim Reaper with red eyes, she still desperately hoped that he would not encounter that dangerous monster, since it seemed to be alarmingly dangerous.

[Where do you think you're going?!]

"Aaaaah!!!" Hyun-Ah screamed when a sudden chilling pain gripped her leg and caused her to fall to the ground.

She fearfully turned her head to look at the cause of her fall. It was then that she saw the black figure that had grabbed her leg, which had turned black as if it had become decayed.

"No... I don't want this..."

[Come... Become one with me.]

The madness in his voice made her cry, and she couldn’t help but slowly close her eyes as she braced herself for the incoming excruciating pain in her leg.

...

Yet there was no pain. She couldn’t feel any ache at all.

The voice of Go Jin-Seok then filled the air.

[Eh? Ehehehe, what's this? You've shown up? Yes, I've been waiting for you, you damned lowlife.]

As she heard the eerie voice speak, Hyun-Ah opened her eyes and saw a young man with black hair and red eyes standing before her. But he seemed too frail in comparison to Go Jin-Seok and the massive black smoke he was exuding.

‘Ah... No... He must escape...’

"Tough, I see. You survived. Normally, you would not withstand that.”

[Uh... Uhehehe. What are you gonna do? I heard… You can do nothing here, right? Apart from possession, you're powerless here, aren't you? Shall I drag you into my domain? Sorry, but your tricks won't work on me.]

The young man, Davey, remained silent at Go Jin-Seok's confident claim. He didn’t even say anything, even while the chilling black smoke began to envelop him.

[Die here... I'll tear you apart.]

"No... Please!" Hyun-Ah cried out desperately, fearing that Davey would be consumed by the black smoke. She wanted to save him. She must stop this...

[Scared, aren’t you? Pitiful, aren't you? Just watch. After I devour this girl, you're next.]

Having changed his mind, Go Jin-Seok turned toward Hyun-Ah. But before he could make another move, Davey's hand intercepted him.

[Eh? Ehehehe. What will you try? Do you even have the strength? Unaware of what would happen if you try to use your power…]

"Hey," Davey cut him off with a soft mutter.

At the same time, an incomparably darker and colder black smoke began to pour out of his body, shocking Go Jin-Seok, who didn’t expect it at all and made a big reaction.

[Wh-What?! You mean you don't care what happens to her?!]

Davey gripped Go Jin-Seok’s throat and took a step forward. "Eat this shit."

[What? Cough?!]

BOOM!!!

An unimaginable pressure overwhelmed everything as Davey unleashed his power. The ground quaked, accompanied by the sound of something breaking apart.

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