The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Amid the maddening screams, the pressure bearing down on the old knight steadily grew stronger. It wasn't long before his consciousness finally faded away.

“Imprison him. All troops, hear me now!” The Chief Apostle rode forward. “Advance under the Goddess's command.”

There were many nobles in the Rowane Kingdom. The family of Count Partus ran a mid-sized estate located in the northern region of the Rowane Kingdom.

While it wasn't right up against the border, it was a strategically important point; if their place was breached, it’d provide the enemies a clear path leading straight to the capital.

Furthermore, the land was fertile, and a large mine lay nearby, making the territory quite prosperous. Count Partus was a woman who was particularly devoted to her tenants. Despite being a woman, she had become the heir to the Partus family. She was a highly respected figure, renowned for the fact that she cared deeply for all the people in the territory.

Perhaps that was why. Despite being terrified by the advancing forces, the defending soldiers didn't back down.

One of them shouted, “Countess, please escape! We'll hold them off here.”

The armored middle-aged woman before him, her face streaked with the passage of time, stepped forward with a deep frown. “What are you talking about? I can't possibly do that to you all.”

The enemy’s advance wasn't particularly fast. At least, it was slow enough to give them some time to prepare.

Nonetheless, it didn’t seem it’d do any good. The territory had barely a thousand defenders, while the enemy force’s numbers were conservatively estimated at over fifty thousand.

The fact that Goddess Vesta was able to command such a vast army under her was absurd, but the structure of the young dimension Vesta ruled was so abnormal that it made such a thing possible.

Her decision to assault the dimension on the other side of the barrier was an act of recklessness, a plan with no option for backing out. It should've been utterly impossible from the start.

It was the result of an ignorant goddess who didn't know what consequences her actions would bring. Yet, in the Countess's eyes, those who had suddenly appeared seemed more terrifying than devils.

“I won't run,” the Countess declared. She called out, “Centurion.”

“Yes, Countess!”

“Hurry the evacuation procedures. You must escape while the soldiers and I hold them off. I've already sent a report to the royal court, but there's a limit to what they can do before our enemies arrive.”

The man was stunned, tears streaming down his face. “B-But, Countess...!”

“I failed to protect my tenants. I don't deserve to run. I shall sacrifice my life here as penance, bleed to protect everyone, and die a heroic death.”

He knew he should try to stop her, but her resolve was firm. Witnessing such a scene from their ruler, the soldiers burned with fighting spirit despite the overwhelming difference in numbers.

One of them shouted, “Follow the Countess!! Let's show those wicked bastards who've come to steal our home what we're made of!!! We will never bow to such monsters!”

Since the enemy refused all further communication, they had no idea who they even were. On top of that, no reports had come in about a foreign army entering the region, so whatever their identity was, they probably wouldn't live long enough to find out.

Even if they requested aid through the high-performance communication orb they’d received courtesy of Heins Territory, all the estates surrounding the Countess's land were people who were at odds with her.

Even if they agreed to help, they'd probably take their sweet time arriving with the reinforcements. Even if Marquis Peiltris, a Swordmaster, came to help, the distance was quite far, so it would take time for him to arrive.

Their only possibility for actual help was Heins Territory. Yet, the distance between Heins Territory and their place was still quite far. It wouldn’t make sense for the illustrious Grand Duke Davey to come to their aid.

Though, if King Baris ordered Heins Territory, they might receive help.

Booom!!!

“Countess! They're starting to advance!!!”

“Take up your bows!! Damn it... not having defensive siege equipment is a huge problem.” The Countess gritted her teeth in the despairing situation.

She didn't know how long they could hold out against the enemy’s advance. Nonetheless, she had to do her best.

Clank. Clank!!!

Embroiled in the tense atmosphere, the enemy army advanced slowly and fearlessly, giving the strong impression that they were daring them to shoot.

The Countess stood on the wall and shouted, “All troops!! Fire!!”

Following her shout, countless archers on the ramparts simultaneously began to shoot arrows.

Being relatively experienced in war due to the recent conflicts, she figured even the hardest armor wouldn’t be able to withstand her soldiers’ barrage of arrows.

“W-what?!” Her eyes widened with shock to the point they seemed about to pop out.

The arrows couldn't even reach the invaders. In fact, they disintegrated before they could even draw close.

At the same time, a dozen figures in special uniforms rushed forward from the army at tremendous speed. The Countess recognized them to be beings who were terrifyingly stronger than anything she'd felt from a Master-level.

She belatedly realized that the fight she'd become engaged in wasn't a siege—it was a blatant and merciless slaughter.

‘Where did they even come from...’

A sigh of futility escaped her. Yet, she couldn't stop. She picked up the magic bow in her hand and drew the bowstring.

It was a bow she had purchased long ago from the dwarves of Heins Territory for an incredibly hefty sum. Many had made fun of her at the time, saying that she had gotten scammed.

Those who'd sold the bow to her said magic was infused into it. Although, she didn't know if it would work.

Creeeeak.

With the bowstring pulled taut, she launched an arrow. The arrow, flying with a furious gust of wind, flew accurately toward the neck of one of the advancing figures.

“Foolish thing.”

Squelsh!!

What the arrow pierced wasn’t the ground or the target.

“W-why...”

It hit her instead. It was as if she had been toyed with the entire time, the enemy simply choosing to mock her.

The arrow had clearly flown toward the enemy, she’d personally made sure of it. Yet, for some reason, the arrow was sticking out of her body.

“Aaaah! Ugh.”

The soldiers around her were absolutely shocked by the bizarre turn of events.

“C-Countess!!!”

“Shoot! Shoot your arrows!!!”

Enraged by the fact that their lord and commander had been struck, the soldiers simultaneously drew their bows while some even started throwing rocks.

Yet, it was all pointless.

The weapons they fired were miserably shattered before the apostles' power and Goddess Vesta's blessing.

At the same time, dark clouds settled over the sky, and even mournful raindrops began to fall.

The soldiers stood their ground, trembling with fear. Some of the residents who’d chosen to stay and provide moral support for the sake of the soldiers clasped their hands and prayed.

Soon after, the soldiers, who'd been slowly advancing with clanking sounds, abruptly began to charge at the defenders.

“AHHHH!!!”

The battlefield shook with deafening battle cries and shrieks of overwhelming terror.

The ground itself trembled beneath their approach.

It wasn't a question of how long the local force would hold out. The question became how quickly they'd be slaughtered, as the invaders had known very well from the start.

The difference in preparation was simply that enormous.

Just then, the dark sky abruptly grew even darker.

Starting with Goddess Vesta, who was supposed to be controlling the weather in the sky, everyone's gaze turned upwards. Blank expressions soon appeared on all their faces.

Goddess Vesta wore a quizzical look on her face. “What... is that?”

What she saw was a massive ship floating in the sky. Her soldiers and knights flinched, seeing the ship that had suddenly appeared in the sky. How could such a construction even be possible? Where could it have possibly come from?

On the side of the conflict, the soldiers of the Countess’s estate slowly realized its identity.

One of them muttered, “H-Heins...”

Another finally regained his bearings and shouted, “It's reinforcements!! Reinforcements have arrived!!!”

Light began to gather in the muzzle of the airship floating in the sky, heralding the arrival of disaster for the army. Its cannons began to fire pillars of light toward the ground.

Boom! Boom!!!

The energy cannons imbued with immense power collided with the barrier of divine power Goddess Vesta had raised around her forces.

Her expression contorted sharply from the massive bombardment. She recognized that the firepower was considerable; too much to ignore.

“Alright. You're the ones who first invaded our land, but you've got some tricks up your sleeve, eh? Funny. Go ahead and try.” She waved her hand and cast even stronger protection on all her soldiers.

Her divine power screamed that it wouldn’t obey, and the lifespan of her dimension rapidly dwindled, but she didn't care.

Well, to be more precise, she wasn't even aware that such things were happening in the background.

She also didn’t know that the ship was merely a simple greeting when compared to the bulk of force descending upon her army.

The ship floating in the sky soon stopped firing.

“The bombardment stopped! Advance! Deliver the wrath of the One True God to... huh?”

The apostles leading the charge fell silent at what happened next.

A massive sphere of light dropped from the gigantic ship, creating a circular border as if to mark a territory.

Within that border, multiple figures began to appear, as if they were individually teleporting.

The first to appear was a man with bulging muscles. “Wow! I’ve definitely never experienced anything like this.”

He stomped forward after loudly clapping the knuckle dusters on his hands. Following his arrival, pillars of light made thumping sounds and summoned one figure after another.

“Fuck, this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen,” one of the newcomers scoffed. “This half-baked divinity’s gone completely loco.”

“Using such vulgar language isn't good, but attacking Goddess Freyja is indeed a bit of a problem.”

“Seriously, this is the first time I've seen anything like this in my life! It’d be less absurd even if a common soldier yelled at an emperor who's commanding an army.”

A purple-haired woman with fluttering robes dropped the head of her huge metal mace to the ground. There was even a woman in a wide-skirted dress, wearing a gentle smile but radiating a terrifying aura that was anything but gentle. Besides them, there was an elf with a bow and two men with swords.

Their numbers were overwhelmingly small compared to the fifty thousand. However, they were not to be taken lightly. Not at all.

They were beings who shouldn't have appeared in that place. Yet, the situation definitely wasn't a problem that everyone could just let slide.

“If Davey goes crazy here, we'll have a headache too.”

A young man, who had an old staff slung over his shoulder and held several talismans in his other hand, grinned. “Let’s be honest here, pal. You're just pissed off, aren't you?”

The man with the longsword chuckled. “Yeah, guilty as charged. I can't deny that.”

Vesta belatedly realized that the situation was strangely turning against her. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to her, what she was experiencing wasn't the end to what was coming her way.

She didn't know that those in front of her weren’t the only ones shocked and infuriated by her actions.

Off to the side and hiding in other spaces, there were more people ready to rush out at any moment and deliver justice.

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