The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 804

“There’s no evidence. There are circumstances that suggest guilt, but there’s no proof. There's nothing left to clear His Majesty’s name,” Marquis Peiltris muttered.

Davey looked around the room with his hands cuffed by mana restraints. He felt nothing, as he expected.

‘Even the memory of the land had been wiped clean. They didn’t use a higher spirit or powerful force; they dispersed it.’

The methods were different. Power that had been forcibly erased could be restored, but they had scattered the spirit’s memories instead.

‘Gnoum, do you really not remember anything?’ Davey asked.

Nature spirit Gnoum trembled, unable to answer. As Davey nodded, the higher level earth spirit next to him started radiating a powerful energy, making Gnoum shudder and nod frantically.

The memory wasn’t gone; there was simply no memory of that time at all. Davey knew this wasn’t something that could be achieved with simple magic. It had to be related to that strange smell.

“Your Highness, is there a reason we came here? If you can’t prove anything, your position will be in danger,” Marquis Peiltris said, following closely behind him.

There was no clear physical evidence that Davey had killed the victim, but there was enough circumstantial evidence.

“Marquis, I don’t think this incident was just a random crime.”

“Your Highness...”

“So, I’m going to get them so hard they won’t even have a chance to cover their tracks.”

The incident of women all over the continent disappearing, along with this incident—it was all the work of the same person. But he couldn’t figure out their goal.

Davey contemplated for a moment and decided to go back to the basics. He asked himself why the criminal would smear the young man’s blood on a longsword and then kill him with a dagger.

“They could’ve just used the longsword,” Davey muttered.

“Your Highness?”

“Perserque, what do you think?”

“I believe it’s because they knew they couldn't get the results they wanted with a longsword but only with a main-gauche-type dagger,” Perserque replied calmly.

The longsword was a red herring; the culprit had used a short dagger to kill the victim.

“Your Majesty, what do you mean...?” Marquis Peiltris asked.

“It means the dagger wielded some special power. The royal palace has plenty of tools that can detect unusual mana wavelengths and blood scents,” Perserque explained.

"Yes,” Marquis Peiltris answered.

“The way the scent of blood spread so quickly doesn’t make sense. It was like the scent had been suppressed, waiting to be released. Even the strange smell Davey detected and the fact that the spirit energy had been completely erased is all too strange.”

Thinking these through, the answer seemed clear.

“Then.. the answer to this whole incident lies in that weapon?” Marquis Peiltris asked.

At his question, Davey turned to Perserque.

“Davey.”

“...”

“I’ll find out things on my own as well... Don’t worry too much.”

“Take care of yourself, Perserque.”

As the two watched her leave, Marquis Peiltris looked at Davey with curiosity in his eyes.

“Your Highness?”

“We’ll catch them right now, and then you can ask them yourself,” he said calmly, kicking a rock on the ground.

Bang!!

The rock hit a large tree and created shockwaves. Then someone hiding behind it suddenly bolted.

“I-Isn’t that?!”

“Let’s catch them and find out.”

“Yes?! Yes!”

“Murderer bastards often return to the scene of their crime.”

Even if they weren’t the murderer, he knew they’d be a lead—he had no intention of letting them go. At his words, Marquis Peiltris surged forward, energy radiating from his body as he sped after the fleeing figure.

As Davey watched him go, he grabbed something from his Pocket Plane and followed.

‘Mana restraints? Even if they could seal things up to the 7th circle, did they really think this could stop me?’

***

Psss!!!

“Pant... Pant!”

The person running for their life glanced back in panic.

"You! Stop right there! You've got a lot of nerve, murdering someone in the palace and then showing up here again!"

The runner was quick, but fleeing from the Sword Master Marquis Peiltris was impossible.

Swoosh!! Bam!!

Marquis Peiltris closed the distance in an instant and kicked the runner, sending them tumbling to the ground. The man rolled several times, groaning in pain.

“Cough! Cough, cough!”

“Gotcha!” Marquis Peiltris said after subduing him and drawing his sword. But before he could act,

“Hmph?!”

The man on the ground pulled something from his pocket. It was a short, main-gauche-type dagger. He thrust it at him. Peiltris moved to deflect it, but,

Thud!!

A mysterious wave dispersed the aura around his sword.

Wham!!

But he hadn’t become a Sword Master just by goofing around. Just because the aura disappeared didn’t make his skills disappear as well. He instantly kicked the man, knocking the dagger from his hand, and once again aimed his sword at his throat.

“Who are you?! Reveal yourself!” he demanded. He then ripped off the mask off his face, and his eyes widened in shock.

“Vi-Viscount Betthorpe?! What?!”

Viscount Betthorpe was a normal noble from the capital who had sided with the King, just like Count Gulan. Davey had never had any direct dealings with him, so he couldn’t figure out why he was here.

Marquis Peiltris was stunned, but the Viscount only glared back with a wicked expression. Realizing something was off, he tightened his grip on him. But before he could react,

Psss...

A deadly force surrounded Peiltris, and daggers flew toward him from all sides. He quickly deflected them away, but the attacks kept coming. Men in black uniforms, clearly well-trained, emerged from the shadows and encircled Peiltris. They pushed forward, trying to take the Viscount to safety.

“How dare an assassin come here!”

“Kill him.”

"Alright then, have it your way! How dare you show up at His Majesty's palace so boldly and try to kill me?! I'll show you just how foolish that is!"

Enveloped in wrath, he flared up his Auror Blade with fierce intensity. The assassins that wielded aura themselves couldn’t match his skill.

It was just the way things were.

He then moved like a tiger, swiftly taking them down. The sudden clash created the sound of metal clanking and sprayed blood all over.

The assassins tried to overwhelm him by tag-teaming, but their efforts were futile. He kept moving like a tiger, and his sword was as sharp as one’s claws. As the dazzling sword energy filled the air, the assassins fell one by one. He made his way through them, killing them as if he was performing a sword dance.

He had subdued them in an instant.

He deflected the dagger aimed at him, struck the attacker’s wrist, snatched the blade out of the air, and threw it.

Squelsh!

The dagger sank deep into the leg of the fleeing Viscount.

“Gahhhh!” he screamed, stumbling in pain, his voice distorted and grotesque.

Marquis Peiltris, the kingdom's Sword Master, paused for a moment, taking a steady breath.

- Sullivan... The crown prince's voice... The voice calling himself Crown Prince Sullivan... Wait for the young man in the forest, and when he appears, stab him with the dagger you prepared... To hide the weapon... Disguise it with a longsword...

“A disguise? Any investigation would show the dagger was the real weapon,” Peiltris said.

“Unlike those assassins, the Viscount’s condition was unstable. Maybe things didn’t go exactly as planned by whoever was behind this,” Davey explained.

The weapon was supposed to be perfectly disguised as the longsword. Unfortunately for them, the Viscount's severely unstable state made him leave traces, and so the two had discovered them.

‘Crown Prince Sullivan...’ Davey thought.

Davey stared at the Viscount’s soul in silence.

“You must go and fight for your innocence! I will formally demand an explanation from Crown Prince Sullivan!” Marquis Peiltris declared.

“Ha, this is fun. They did something very entertaining,” Davey muttered coldly.

He realized it was a trap within a trap. Soon, Marquis Peiltris widened his eyes.

“Y-Your Highness, the Viscount might be implicated, but he was known for his noble and upright character!”

“That’s probably why he was chosen.”

Ssss...

At that moment, Davey gathered a strange energy in his hands. It was a power different from mana; it was the power that had created this entire situation. Though Davey hadn’t fully grasped its nature, he could feel its influence. He began to absorb and assimilate the unknown power that was within the Viscount's soul. As he gained control, he pulled it out completely.

- Grrr... GRRR!!! GAAA!!!

The soul let out a desperate scream. He had been exposed to power, but he had been exposed very unstably, creating a gap. Davey didn’t miss the opportunity, absorbing the power and causing the dark, twisted soul to gradually turn white.

Thud!!

The soul, now free from the unknown force, fell to the floor seemingly gasping for breath as it looked up at Davey.

- Ugh...

The soul, having been wailing in pain, seemed like all its energy had been drained.

“Viscount.”

- Nothing... I don’t remember... anything. I don’t remember anything!

The fact that Davey couldn't get him to answer even by the incantation of the Imperfection Death Lord meant he genuinely couldn't recall what happened. He knew he needed to try a different approach.

“Viscount, no one will harm you here. Take your time, and think slowly,” Davey whispered in a hypnotizing tone.

- A weird... singing sound... On my way to my daughter’s room... A strange smell... Then nothing... I can’t remember anything... How... How come I don’t remember anything?!”

As the Viscount obediently spoke, Marquis Peiltris made a troubled face.

“A singing voice? What in the...?” Marquis Peiltris wondered aloud.

“The smell I detected and the singing sound. The same person is behind both of them, Marquis.”

“Your Highness? How do you know...?”

“Reina, the Hero of Light, told me about it.”

Marquis Peiltris fell silent as he recognized the gravity of the situation.

“Viscount, are you angry?”

- ...

After a moment of silence, the spirit replied.

- My... Daughter... My daughter...

“I won’t know unless I check. Let me see.”

He then spread his mana toward the assassins bound by the silver threads, forcing them into a deep sleep. The assassins had resisted rest as if they didn’t need sleep, but gradually, under the continuous magic, they began to change before finally falling silent.

Crackle!

Davey rummaged through his Pocket Plane and pulled out a set of firecrackers from Heins Territory, shooting them into the sky. He quickly scribbled a note on a piece of paper.

- Cuff these guys with mana restraints and lock them up.

It was a simple, straightforward command.

“I will go myself—to your place.”

“Your Highness?! If you leave the palace now, it’ll be harder to prove your innocence!”

“I’ll leave that to you to deal with,” Davey replied calmly. He let out a sigh in reply.

“I... I will guide you. Then they won’t be able to bring up any objections during court.”

“Then, please.”

The Viscount's house was on the outskirts of the capital. Once Davey arrived after being guided by the soul's power, he felt a strange, eerie coldness.

Despite being viscounts, nobles from the capital had a lot of servants. Even so, Davey felt nothing from the house in front of him. It almost seemed like it had been abandoned.

“There isn’t a single servant here...” Davey noted, frowning at the unsettling scene. The soul then began to wander.

- Over there... It’s over there.

The Viscount's spirit led him toward his daughter’s room. His daughter's room had no traces of usage. It seemed like no one had been in it for years.

“Do you remember anything?” Davey asked gently.

The Viscount's spirit reached out, trying to touch his daughter’s small doll, but as a mere spirit, his hand passed right through it.

- Ahh... Ahhh... Ahhh!!

Realizing he could no longer interact with the world, his soul began to writhe in torment. Seeing him in pain, Davey gently reached out to steady him.

“Viscount. You’re dead.”

-... Your Highness... I don’t remember anything... My daughter... My daughter...

“Can you entrust your soul to me?”

-Your Highness...

“If you were unjustly killed and manipulated in the process...”

- ...

“I’ll search your memories and find the culprit. And I’ll make sure they pay for what they’ve done.”

The Viscount’s spirit looked at Davey, then back at his daughter’s doll. With red, tear-filled eyes, he finally nodded.

- Your Highness... Please... Please find my daughter. Please... I beg you!

Davey silently nodded and placed his hand on the Viscount’s spirit.

‘I’ll first go ahead and use dark magic that absorbs memories...’

- No... Don’t use that...

Davey felt like the devil mana was whispering to him and suggesting there was a better way. It spoke softly—almost seductively.

-You can do it... You can do it now. The method befitting a true Death Lord.

Davey gathered a different kind of devil mana in his hand—the power with absolute control that allowed no interference. He wasn’t supposed to be able to wield the Death Lord’s unique dark magic. Even so, ever since he had absorbed the power with the mysterious smell through Predatory Assimilation, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he finally could.

The Viscount’s memories began to seep into Davey’s mind through his fingertips. At the same time, he activated the video stone he had prepared to capture and record the memories.

The special ability the criminal left behind; it was a power that stimulated the five senses. It was now infused into his devil mana, and had created a gateway for him to step into the realm of an absolute Death Lord.

Davey didn’t fully understand the connection between the ability to manipulate the five senses and the power of the Death Lord, but somehow, the pieces seemed to align.

Whatever the connection, he could now wield her magic if he chose to—a significant breakthrough.

Davey began to feel that defeating Thanatos was becoming more and more possible.

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thought:

Fess up, where’s the girl?!