The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

He had already spent ten minutes blindly wandering through Perserque's deep world, yet just like her he was still trapped within an isolated portion of the Abyss—he still hadn't managed to reach her directly. All he could do was silently press on.

Davey could feel a disconnect between the passage of time on the inside relative to the outside.

Rinne waited silently on the outside, clutching the two swords in her arms.

In the suffocating silence, Davey's body twitched from the changes in its link with his soul, but he didn’t have any major issues.

Even so…

“His mental strength is fading fast. If it continues like this…” Verdandi muttered as she monitored Davey, biting her fingernails.

“Wait… This can’t be… Already?!” Verdandi cried at the sight of something shocking. At the same time, Davey went through a change.

“Rinne requests a quick situational analysis.”

“It’s Thanatos’ trap! Davey is being encroached by the Abyss! If this continues, even his resilient mind will turn crazy before we know it!”

Then, just as Verdandi feared, Davey's twitching body began to slowly move.

"We have to subdue and restrain him! Buy some time to keep him from going on a rampage!" Verdandi shouted.

Rinne hesitated, unsure if she should draw Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon, but she slowly put the swords down. She then closed her eyes, focused, and reopened them. The small wings on her back grew into three pairs of large wings as the ring above her head began to morph into a geometric pattern.

After awakening once, Rinne could transform into her Sephiroth form without difficulty. The God of Machines had improved that power of hers. However, she could only maintain her Sephiroth form for thirty minutes to an hour at most. Even so, Rinne recognized that she had to transform if she wanted to stop Davey.

Just as Davey had ordered her, she couldn't let him run wild.

Rinne watched Davey struggle to get up while pointing the Spear that Can Melt the Balance of the World at him. He rose silently, his appearance having dramatically changed. Black veins sprouted from his body, and the whites of his eyes had turned black. Slowly, he spread his hands and broke the standoff.

Sss…

As he spread them, black fog gathered around his hands and transformed into a sword.

Whoosh!!

As soon as the sword formed, he swung it in the air, the tremendous wind pressure blowing everything away. Held up and disturbed by the resistance and interference in Perserque’s deep world, Davey's body began to run wild. Rinne gritted her teeth as she endured the shock wave that sent chills through her body, gripping her spear tightly.

“Master Davey’s safety is top priority. Rinne, commencing suppression.”

Rinne then flashed toward Davey and attacked him with her spear.

Clank!!

Despite her powerful attack, Davey deflected her spear with his black sword and stretched out his hand.

Clamp!

He then grabbed her neck and slammed her to the ground.

Bang!!

The ground around them sank with a tremendous explosion.

“Gaaa…”

He looked down at Rinne, who was grimacing in pain, with the face of someone who had gone insane.

“I knew it was a space that even a damned demigod-level spirit body couldn’t survive, but I had hoped… Hang in there! You just have to last until he comes back!” Verdandi shouted.

Rinne nodded despite the shock coursing through her entire body.

He had instructed her to use Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon to kill him if something went wrong. Yet, Rinne couldn't bring herself to do it.

Truth was, she didn't want to.

“Rinne… capable enough… an excellent battle golem. Rinne will adopt a method of stopping Master Davey without getting him hurt.”

Even if it meant her heart stopping once again, she wanted to prove herself this time.

***

The mental pain that drove people crazy continued to pressure Davey. Everything he saw, smelled, and heard right now was a lie. The fear the Abyss created was endless when he couldn’t rely on his senses.

The only effective countermeasure was the Power of Taboo, but he knew that things would only get even worse if he used it in this situation, where Verdandi was struggling to keep him alive and sane. The Power of Taboo would break down any restrictions or controls on him with impunity, ignoring all possible benefits or ramifications.

One possible outcome would be his soul, currently exploring the Abyss, getting dragged back to his body.

Thanatos knew very well that Davey could not manifest the Power of Taboo, constantly tempting him and making him despair.

She used all sorts of methods on him. She made him feel like his senses had returned, causing him to search for Perserque again, only for him to realize it was a hallucination and that the hours of wandering he experienced were just thirty minutes of illusions. She also surrounded Davey with beings that he had even the slightest fear of.

To begin with, Thanatos was a being that could look into Davey’s thoughts and feelings. It seemed she didn’t have enough power to delve deep into his roots, but since she could see through basic deep consciousness, it didn't take long for her transcendental will to begin to crush Davey.

Davey had endured at first, but as time passed—thirty minutes, one hour, two hours, four hours—his mental strength began to deplete quickly from the constant pressure and fear. He couldn’t help but feel mentally exhausted and think negatively.

The mental burden the damned space imposed on him was so strong that he thought about running away and leaving Perserque behind dozens of times. It was so intense that simply keeping sane itself was an achievement.

Unlike before, when he could strongly react, as time passed his spiritual body became so worn out that he couldn’t even move easily.

[You’ve reached your limit.]

[Give up now.]

[You are trapped here. You were deceived and abandoned by them.]

[A thousand years here is not even one second there.]

[You cannot find the poor soul you are seeking for, even if you wander here for eons.]

The whispers continued to shake his mind, echoing directly into his head. Each whisper of Thanatos reached deep into his mind, trying to break it. Davey knew he could dismiss every single word Thanatos was saying as nonsense, but for some reason, her words still resonated and he couldn’t easily ignore them.

Furthermore, what was even more concerning was the fact that he knew things would get out of hand if he acknowledged any of the words she whispered to him.

The fundamental despair, frustration, fear, and confusion was something that Davey hadn't felt since his mentality had been strengthened in the Hall of Heroes until it reached the level of a demigod. As the negative thoughts continuously encroached on his mind, his movements became weaker and his soul shook even more severely.

As Davey gradually lost his motivation and gave in to fear, he broke down more and more—just as Thanatos intended. He knew if he continued like this, he would eventually be completely swallowed up. He could only hope for someone else to come and save him instead.

Davey reminded himself of the saying that if you want to gather honey, you must be willing to deal with the bee stings. But the problem was, if the bees took over and you couldn’t get the honey, you'd just be another person stung by bees.

He instinctively curled up his soul form to protect himself, pressing one hand against his wildly beating heart in an attempt to calm it down.

‘Come to your senses. If you collapse here…’

[Still resisting, are you? Even so, you can’t last forever.]]

‘No, I can still hold on,’ Davey thought as he gritted his teeth and raised his head. He knew he had to keep moving if he wanted to find Perserque. The longer he stayed in one place, the better it was for Thanatos.

He slowly moved again.

With each step, Davey still saw the hallucinations he had seen earlier, along with a feeling of anxiety as if he were about to fall off a bottomless cliff. But he wasn’t the type of person to be afraid of whether or not he might fall further into the Abyss.

Clomp… clomp…

Even as he slowly continued to walk, he felt his mental strength protection quickly depleting.

***

Long story short, Davey couldn't find Perserque—he had even lost track of how much time had passed since entering the Abyss. For all he knew, it could have been three days, thirty days, three years, or even three hundred years. The concept of time had become vague.

He had completely lost his senses, but the constant fear remained. Thanatos didn’t make direct contact; instead, she whispered darkly, making Davey hallucinate and creating the terrifying sense that something was always next to him watching.

As a spirit body on the level of a demigod, Davey could endure her acts for a while, but as this continued, he gradually became exhausted. Thanatos kept giving Davey new hallucinations, pain, fear, and confusion.

Whilst doing so, Thanatos constantly tried to tempt him.

[Are you afraid? If you are, hold my hand. Even though you are a delegate of Freyja, I value you very highly. Join me.]

[I can free you from this darkness with just one word. Give up and let go of everything…]

At the end of the terrible Abyss, he even hallucinated that his soul had changed into something grotesque. He forced himself to keep silent and not respond even when he instinctively wanted to yell at Thanatos to stop with her acts.

[I can tell that you are afraid, that you want out of here…]

As Davey endured her cajoling and pressure, it felt like several more months had passed. In the midst of all this, one thing kept his sanity holding on: the fact that Perserque was somewhere here, just waiting for him to save her.

It felt like several years had passed. His mind was twisted and broken. He was so exhausted that he couldn’t help but think he was probably already dead outside, and that he might never escape. He even considered the possibility that Verdandi could have betrayed him again. He was terribly tortured by his own imagination.

It wouldn't have been surprising for him to fall apart from the trauma, but he held on. He felt years continue to pass endlessly. Now, he didn't even have the energy left to think.

‘Wait. Who’s waiting for me again? Oh yeah. Perserque. I think her name was Perserque.’

The only thing he remembered about his purpose was the name Perserque. He couldn't remember her face, her appearance, or even her voice. He couldn't even remember why he was wandering around looking for her. He had already forgotten who he entrusted his physical body to.

He knew his condition was very severe when began forgetting things despite having a perfect memory.

‘Is… everything I think just delusions?’ Davey wondered.

He now felt like his mind was being twisted. He stopped in his tracks, feeling like he had been walking non-stop for decades. Even the determination he had engraved in the deepest part of his mind, the determination to overcome the miniscule probability of finding Perserque, was beginning to erode.

Time passed as he started to get confused about who he even was. He was completely broken and extremely weakened—he walked and fell down several times while keeping an empty expression.

[Come… Come surrender yourself to me. Be my delegate…]

He couldn't even resist her whispering anymore, just kept his blank expression.

"One…”

Now he had reached a point where he was simply responding to Thanatos and falling deeper into his fear. He had no clue just how much time had passed or why he was even here.

[Just a little more… Just… a little… more…]

Hearing the faint muttering, Davey knelt down and froze like a stone statue, absolutely still.

[There you go… Become one with….]

Hearing Thanatos’ whisper, he then tried to grab the hand reaching out from the total darkness. But then…

Clink…

Something fell from his pockets. Even though he was in the dark where he couldn't see anything, he somehow could see this item so clearly—it was a pendant containing a photo printed using a mana artifact. In the photo was a man smiling happily… being followed by a silver-haired girl with a tearful expression on her face as they leaped high into the air.

‘Her name was… What was it again?’ Davey thought.

[That doesn't matter. Now... hold my hand]

As Davey looked at the photo with an empty expression, he slowly reached out his arm. He was about to crush the pendant and break it, following the voice from the darkness. But in that brief moment, he heard a very small sound entering his deaf ear. It was a familiar chord, a very soft and attractive melody.

‘This music... I've heard it before…’

[Hmm? What is this?]

Davey then heard the voice sounding confused.

The blurred chords gradually became clearer, creating a ripple in Davey's dazed mind. As he listened, something clicked and he pulled out a small instrument from the Pocket Plane. Although he couldn't use it as a weapon, it was still useful as a musical instrument.

He stretched out his trembling hand. He gently stroked the strings of the small instrument with his fingers that were shaking as if suffering from nerve damage.

- Ahh...

Davey started plucking the strings, trying to harmonize with the chords in his ear. Besides the voice, he could now hear the instrument he was playing.

[This doesn’t make sense! How can you hear?!]

At the same time, his remaining mana began to move. As if by muscle memory, the strings followed the chords and played the same song.

‘This song. I recognize it.’

Given that he had arranged this song, there was no way he wouldn't recognize it. This was the song he had arranged for Perserque when she came to Earth—it was a gift from his heart.

[Grandpa’s Old Watch.]

The calm ordinary music resonated in the dark and deep Abyss, spreading like ripples across calm water. The song he played slowly filled the dark space, in sync with the chords coming from somewhere. Then an unusual event occurred in a distant place.

[What?! How can a mere creature manage to resonate with Transcendence’s Will?!]

The waves became stronger.

Hiss…!!!

The endless darkness that had been oppressing Davey went away in an instant. His mentally exhausted mind became clear and he began remembering things again.

[This can’t be! How dare a creature like you try to step into the realm of transcendence?!"

“I couldn’t care less about that,” Davey said.

He didn't care what he had been doing, or why he was hearing this voice. The important thing was that he could hear Perserque’s song.

He then slowly got up. The space had brightened for a moment but quickly became dark again. Even so, he still got up.

Without hesitation, he pulled and unleashed the Power of Taboo. It then destroyed all the protective magic that Verdandi had cast on him, as well as the power that allowed him to stay as a spirit outside his body.

He had just a split second. After that moment, he knew he’d be driven out of this space. He recognized that once he was kicked out, he could never come back the same way, but he couldn't care less.

He had already entered deep into Perserque’s mind from the moment he arrived—her soul wasn't far from his starting point. He had walked along an invisible path of longing, but he now realized there had been an entrance to her prison in front of him the whole time.

A huge stone gate, tens of meters high, stood before him. A bizarre snake drawing adorned it. As he looked at the door, he gathered strength in his hands.

‘You were here all along.’

“Open for me.”

Pow!

He hit the stone gate with a fist full of divine power.

Thud!

He struck again.

[Stop!! Stop!!]

"Open!”

Her whispers began to fade as he cried out. The stone gate began to crumble with a cracking sound.

"Open up! You son of a bitch!"

Crack!! Crack!!!

He kept punching, eventually destroying the door. Beyond the broken remains, he saw an unconscious girl with silver hair and horns tied up by black tentacles. She was a demon girl with a very beautiful appearance.

The lively girl who had played such beautiful music was nowhere to be seen—in front of him was a poor, unconscious being. Davey wondered if the harmony she sent was a miracle or a phenomenon created by her subconscious wandering around, always looking for him.

"Perserque."

Even after she lost consciousness, she reacted instinctively to the short piece of music he played, and now he had found her. He sensed her waves searching for him, and their mutual desire to find each other brought them together, allowing them to recognize where they were.

He dragged his staggering spirit body forward and began to cut off the tentacles that were holding her one by one. As he did, her sleeping soul briefly stirred. Without saying a word, her fluttering eyelids opened and looked at him, tears welling up.

“You fool… Why did you come all this way…”

“Who gave you the idea that you could just hand me divorce papers?”

“Ha… Haha…”

Perserque weakly laughed at his joke.

[Stop!! Why?! Why aren’t you going crazy?!]

Thanatos cried out, her voice completely different from before. She sounded almost like a complaining little child. Indifferent to her reaction, Davey picked up Perserque who had fainted again and slowly pulled her into his arms.

“There isn’t any game where a status effect lasts indefinitely, you son of a bitch.”

Of course, reality was not a game, so what he said was just nonsense.

But just before he broke down, taking one last gamble, Davey unleashed the power Odin had told him not to.

If the Abyss was so strong, Davey thought it could encroach on the twisted madness that had settled within him: the side effects of the Hall of Heroes training that had destroyed several monstrous heroes of the Hall of Heroes.

The madness that began to rage with divine power pushed the Abyss away very easily. Davey took advantage of this. Of course, it didn't take long before the madness was suppressed again by the fundamentals of the Abyss’s oppression, but it had been more than enough help for him.

Now that he thought about it, he was quite impressed with how the Abyss had broken through Freyja’s divine power and weakened him so easily.

At the same time, Davey lost the power to remain in the Abyss due to the Power of Taboo, and his consciousness was quickly sent off the edge of the Abyss. He took Perserque’s consciousness with him.

Whoosh!

The feeling of being sucked through a wormhole washed over his whole body. Davey felt sunlight shining on his eyes for the first time in a very long time.

Everything went crazy in the space he was just in. But Davey was different from Eclipse who went crazy before. Although she had failed, he didn't let go of his damned self-determination.

- I won't die.

He reflexively turned his head to check whether Perserque’s soul was properly returned to her body before he returned to his own.

[Those who look back will never be able to leave. You are with me…]

As the black fog enveloped him, Perserque’s eyes widened.

“Davey?!”

Davey was tied up in the fog and being dragged back into the Abyss. Horrified, Perserque tried to come toward him, but he grabbed her arm and pushed her away. He knew it was his fault that she had gone through this, so he had to take responsibility.

Just as he was about to let her go and turn around, an unexpected force intervened.

[Get out of here. Since I’m saving you, you better save my daughter.]

An unexpected being bounced Thanatos away and pushed Davey back out.

“Eclipse?!”

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