The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

It was less a conversation and more a cautious exchange, each side sizing the other up.

Willow gulped, sensing the tension and ominous atmosphere.

Before long, the owner of the footsteps emerged from the violet expanse beyond, where there wasn't even a sun.

A young masked man soon came into view. He silently radiated an immense presence as he walked toward her, then slowly turned his head. Though his face was hidden behind the mask, there was no mistaking that his gaze had settled on Willow.

He still didn't say a word. However, Willow and Davey could both see that he was trembling slightly.

“Dad? I’m thinking I might be crazy, but...”

“Don’t worry. You’re not the only one.”

They'd been through similar experiences many times. Davey had experienced the androgynous and sexless transformations at Goddess Freyja’s hands, and he’d also seen a version that split from his own being and believed itself to be the true one.

Yet, this time was different.

They were completely the same being. Both real, neither fake.

“Thank goodness...” A bitter, modulated voice finally drifted out from behind the mask. He turned to Willow and commanded, “Go.”

“Wha—”

Power surged from his entire body, and he coldly spoke in the modulated voice, “Don't worry. Someone's waiting for you.”

At the same time, the same power flowed from Davey.

“You're not passing through here,” the man repeated.

“Says who?”

“Don't even think about doing something stupid like getting in her way. Do you think the children need your protection forever?”

Davey didn't really need to ask who the other person was.

“Dad? What should I do?”

“Go. It looks like it has pretty intricate plans.”

Willow cautiously looked around, then quickly took to the air.

Just as she was about to disappear past him, his words made her flinch.

- Thanks for being alive.

“Ugh. Seriously, what the heck's going on...”

She flew past him and vanished.

“Don't waste my strength. It won't work out for you.”

“Says who?” Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon appeared in Davey’s hands, but he immediately put them away and walked forward barehanded.

“Aren't you gonna use those?” the figure asked.

“I don't think I should use them—I have a pretty good idea of who you are.”

“If you say so.”

An all-too-familiar explosive mana flowed out from the masked man.

“Isn't Doomsday dangerous?” Davey asked, curious.

“Willow's not a little child that you need to worry about.”

Davey's expression subtly darkened at the masked man's words. Their fists instantly clashed. If they were normal people, it wouldn't have been strange for their fists to be shattered by the force, but neither side showed the slightest reaction.

Bzzt!! Boom!!

The two cast hundreds of spells in an instant, only to be dispelled immediately in turn.

They both knew each other's magic well, and they knew each other's fighting styles even better. There was no need to question who the opponent was.

The rules governing the place were a complete mess. While it could simply be a special space created by Goddess Freyja, Davey doubted the truth was that simple.

“You look lost in thought. Are you wondering why this place is like this?”

Boom!

Pushed back by a heavy shockwave, Davey drew an energy sword. “Is it because of Doomsday?”

“To be precise, Doomsday's influence is synergizing in this special space created by the goddess. Its power is related to the collapse of all laws, after all.” The figure then chuckled, advising, “You'll risk your life fighting me barehanded.”

“Why'd you make such a dangerous space? Are you stupid?”

“It benefits Doomsday, but this dimension is also the most suitable place to finish that bastard off.” The masked man took a short breath. “Still, considering the difference in years between us, the skill gap isn't that big. Guess you're pretty rusty.”

“Now that I’m your opponent, you really piss me off. You could at least share a little more info.”

Up until now, Davey had always been the one seeking people out, telling them the truth himself, and changing the course of events. Yet, this time, it was the exact opposite.

Davey cut with the pleasantries. “We both know more than enough about each other at this point, so just say what’s on your mind. What exactly are you planning?”

The masked man sighed and responded, “Someone's been waiting for Doomsday even longer than I have.”

Davey had no response.

“Even if it's for self-satisfaction, I've no right to stop it, so at the very least, I’m here to stop you from interfering.”

He gently touched his mask and cleared his throat before continuing, “Isn’t it a parent’s prerogative to trust their own children? I have no intention of letting you pass. Don't try to understand. You wouldn't understand right now, anyway. If you want to get through, you'll have to force your way past me.”

* * *

Leaving Davey behind, Willow looked at the chaotic mess of broken laws and wondered if it was what the past world's end had felt like.

Of course, what she was experiencing was likely nowhere near as intense as the absolute end brought by the Red Void and its vitality. Even so, simply standing there made her feel as though her mind was rapidly being worn away.

“This is awful.”

Willow walked forward gently. She could feel its presence not far away. She could tell that Doomsday, which was beginning to go berserk and unleash its power uncontrollably, was growing even stronger.

“There it is...” Willow stopped in a place already full of rotting old trees. Davey had warned her it was dangerous, but she had been given not much choice.

She couldn't do something idiotic like walking in alone and putting herself in danger.

“I have to think carefully.”

It wasn't that Davey wasn't coming—he couldn't come. Waiting for him to arrive might seem like the safest choice on paper, but it was actually the worst one.

“First things first, I've got to check out how this place is doing,” she murmured to herself.

That was when it happened.

Swoosh!!!

The silent forest began to shake before thick vines burst through the ground, rushing toward Willow all at once.

Her plan to hold her breath and wait for an opening was ruined.

Thwack!

Yet, despite the ambush, Willow calmly pulled out her musket and fired her divine power. The invisible bullet she fired hit the old tree's vine and destroyed everything in its range, as if tearing space apart.

As a goddess, her authority was to harmonize using suppression and rampancy, but she wasn’t just limited to that power alone.

“Seriously, there's still a ton of stuff I don't get!” She complained and quickly flew up, with the old tree's vines tearing through the ground and space to fiercely rush at her.

Thwack!

The attacks were fast, but they couldn't reach Willow. She taunted, “You think something like this can catch me?”

Dodging the vines with the dedicated ease of a flow state, she pulled the trigger on her musket.

With every one of her attacks, the surrounding area became akin to her territory, ripping apart the vines relentlessly. However, Doomsday also kept shooting vines without end, as if saying its power had no limit.

The sparse virgin ground that remained began to rot away and crumble under the conflict. The rocks and chunks of earth that flew into the air hung motionlessly, as though gravity no longer affected them.

“I’m not going to get anywhere at this rate.” It wasn't hard to recognize that she wasn't making progress.

Since she had been exposed already, the best move would be to clear the way as much as possible, pending Davey’s arrival. Instead of letting herself get angry that he still didn't trust her to protect herself against whoever he was fighting, she had to pave the way on her own.

Once she began moving deeper into the forest while still dodging and weaving, the speed and number of the vines increased accordingly.

“You think that I won't be able to find you, just because you're hiding?”

While moving in the forest, where the giant wolf was nowhere to be seen and the very laws of reality had fallen into disarray, she could clearly sense an exceptionally distorted space. The closer she got to that place, the fiercer the resistance became.

Whoosh!

Eventually, one of the vines finally managed to quickly wrap her ankle in an attempt to stop her advance. However, it stood no chance as she leveled the musket that was as nearly as tall as she was at it.

“Found you, you son of a bitch.”

Boom!!

Transmitting an enormous recoil to her, a circular shockwave spread out from the muzzle. The single shot, mixed with immense divine power, landed squarely on the bizarre colossal tree.

Crackkkle!

It forcibly rampaged and twisted the space there.

The space tore open, and a giant wolf was revealed, writhing in pain and screaming, “GRRRRAAAH!!!”

It was an enormous dire wolf made of intricately crafted wood, complete with a sharply defined snout. It had grown far larger than when Willow had first seen it. Yet, despite being large enough to cause destruction with every movement, it moved with incredible speed.

Once it finally revealed itself, it exuded a sinister aura that made even her, a goddess, feel fear.

“It’d be nice to have dad here, but I guess I'm the one who has to finish you off in the end, right?”

Willow was the only one who could reveal Doomsday’s concealed true self and inflict a fatal blow on it.

“Should I say Doomsday is overpowered? Or is it that Darian's potential is overpowered?” She realized just how ridiculous Darian's potential was. “Even so, I’m running a bit low on remaining power...”

Willow clicked her tongue in frustration. She then frowned slightly as she looked at the blood running down her arm, not even sure when she had been wounded.

“If I screw up, this is gonna get seriously dangerous.”

She had no intention of recklessly charging in and singlemindedly striving to accomplish her goal by any means, consequences be damned. After being thoroughly defeated inside Darian's inner world not long before, she knew better than to let her guard down.

Doomsday was a powerful entity that could threaten even a goddess like her. Therefore, she had to play her best hand—suppress its power as much as possible before her dad arrived.

While its power was dangerous, her power was just as threatening to it.

Willow lightly flipped the musket she held in both hands.

Click.

Then, as if ejecting a shell casing, an invisible ripple burst from the side of the gun, and a magic circle spread out.

[Suppression]

Since it had already been suppressed once, it was almost certainly going to be affected by her suppression as well.

“GRRRRAAAH!!!”

Having clearly recognized Willow to be an extremely dangerous opponent, Doomsday immediately hurled its massive body at her. It launched a reckless attack, trying to tear her apart with its sharp teeth and claws. Yet no matter what it did, Willow moved with such speed as if teleporting, almost mocking its inadequacy.

Thwack! Thud!

Doomsday couldn't seem to unleash its full power, failing to land a major blow on her.

As she kept firing Suppression rounds in between dodging or blocking its attacks, its movements visibly slowed down.

At that point, a subtle sense of ease began to creep into Willow's mind.

‘It doesn't have sentience yet. Maybe I can finish it off before Dad gets here.’

If it could think and adapt as well as a full human, it’d truly be the face of an apocalypse. Luckily, that wasn't the case.

Unlike Willow, who had gained some breathing room, Doomsday rampaged even more wildly. However, the wilder it got, the closer Willow was to achieving her goal.

“GRRRRAAAH!!!”

Unable to bear it any longer, it suddenly rushed at Willow.

She suddenly smiled, as if she'd been waiting for that exact moment, and jeered, “Idiot.”

Clack.

Willow shoved the muzzle of her gun into its lunging open maw.

She had judged its mouth to be both its most dangerous point, as well as its greatest weakness.

That was enough.

She pulled the trigger, and a giant shockwave mixed with divine power surged forward, completely devastating its maw.

“Aagh!”

She had poured nearly all of her available divine power into that single shot, pursuing a one-shot kill. Unable to control or withstand the recoil, she was sent tumbling across the ground.

She groaned, “Ouch! Ouchie...”

Despite the sharp pain, she slowly picked herself up. She watched the giant wolf slowly collapse as the vines that were flying at her scattered into dust.

She couldn’t help but grin. Even though she hadn't completely finished it off, she'd managed to suppress it to a level where it couldn't pose any threat to Davey.

It seemed to be rendered immobile, so she figured she could take the time to recover her strength.

Unfortunately for her, however, it wasn't over yet.

Kaboom!!!

Willow gave a sardonic grin at the sight of a giant foreleg bursting through the ground.

Surely that was all the struggle it had left in it.

She forced her sluggish body to move, jumping to the side to dodge the massive foreleg and moving behind to counter it. But that was her mistake.

Thud!!!

She had dodged the foreleg, yet the moment she entered the space where the foreleg had passed through, a ridiculous shock slammed her into the ground.

“Ugh!”

Tormented by the terrible pain, she staggered before slowly steadying herself and standing. One side of her vision was stained red due to a large cut on her forehead.

“What just...” She stood there in a daze, unable to grasp what had even happened.

Then she saw the wolf, which had been suppressed and weakened only moments before, looking down at her with a chilling smile.

“Ah.”

‘It didn’t lower its guard... I did.’

She tried to gather her power again and escape its range. Yet, the giant vines returned and unfolded before coiling like a sphere, wrapping around the space she was in.

The vines, hundreds of meters in diameter, imprisoned her like a cage and began to forcibly absorb her divine power.

“This is... Predatory Assimilation?! Aaaargh!” She let out a horrific scream and convulsed in midair. Doomsday was draining her divine power, just like how her father’s characteristic worked.

‘This is... seriously dangerous. I need to run away fast.’

Willow finally realized her own naive recklessness and forcibly summoned power to escape the cursed space.

Of course, Doomsday couldn't allow that. It blocked her escape route, intending to trap her for a long time and suck her power dry.

“Ugh! Grrr!!”

Her body curled up and trembled as if being electrocuted. What welled up in her heart was more anger than fear.

'If I let this go sideways, I won't be able to earn Dad's trust again.'

Self-loathing flooded her mind, though her consciousness slowly began to fade.

‘If I pass out here, I'll become a hindrance to Dad.’

She’d known Doomsday was strong, but hadn't expected it to be hiding so much power.

She was left with no choice but to bring out every bit of power she had, even the hidden aces. Though she wasn't a fan of grueling dogfights, if the other side wanted a fight to the death, she was more than willing to oblige.

At that moment, a thin metallic sound echoed, along with the noise of something being cut.

At the same time, the severe pain gnawing at Willow suddenly vanished. Confused, her head slowly raised, and she looked at Doomsday.

It recoiled and staggered back a couple of steps from her, letting out a low howl. Then, she heard two sets of footsteps approaching.

She turned with a blank look. There was a young beastfolk man tightly wrapped in a black robe, with his head barely visible, and a black-haired girl with small horns on her head.

She recognized the girl at a glance, as well as the young man.

Some things never changed.

When the masked figure first appeared, she'd wondered if something like this was going on. It’d certainly crossed her mind.

Yet, no matter how twisted space and time could be, it made no sense. She knew how much preparation it’d take to make it possible, so she thought it couldn't possibly be.

However, she couldn't pretend not to know anymore.

It wasn't just some mistake or twist of fate.

“Haah. Haha... Seriously? I thought there was no way,” she said with a stunned sigh. “Darian. Evangeline...”

At her words, the girl looked at Willow with teary eyes and called out, “Sis.”

Darian, on the other hand, stepped forward and glared at Doomsday. “There's no one in this world who's waited for you as much as I have.”

He quietly scowled and cracked his knuckles.

The aura flowing from Darian was truly violent. After all, the one who had waited the most for the existence of end to escape from Darian in this world wasn't Davey or Willow.

It was Darian himself, who had survived thanks to Willow's sacrifice and lived with a lifelong burden of guilt.

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