The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1001. No Title

Bang!!!

A gunshot rang out as the hostage-taker, cornered and desperate, blindly fired a single shot into the tense crowd.

Most of the people present were police officers, but there were also quite a few civilian spectators.

No one dared to move, as they knew a single misstep could easily escalate and turn into a massacre.

"Fweeet!!!"

A loud whistle echoed from afar.

At the same time, a man in a superhero-like costume made an incredible entrance, almost as if from a movie, free-falling from a nearby building at breakneck speed.

He tackled the hostage-taker to the ground and rescued the civilian in a matter of seconds.

"Wow... Assemble!"

Illyna’s eyes sparkled.

"Whoa. So those things in the movies aren’t all fiction after all!"

She was a huge fan of Hollywood action films—especially the ones with explosions, gunfire, and absolute destruction.

Watching the criminal get arrested in front of a cheering crowd, she couldn’t help but smile slightly. She looked at the stereotypical American superhero intently.

“Oh, look at you? If you stare any harder, your eyes are going to pop out."

"They’re fine. Hold on... Can I go get an autograph real quick?"

"No."

For some reason, Davey felt irrationally annoyed and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

It was strange—he was actually mad.

Illyna frowned at his sudden reaction, then her eyes widened in realization.

"Davey... Are you jealous?"

"Shut up. No cheeseburger for you."

"Wait, what?! That wasn’t part of the deal! Do you have any idea how badly I’ve been wanting to try an American cheeseburger?!"

Ignoring her loud protests, he held her hand and dragged her away, cutting through the crowd.

‘We’re on a date... and she’s busy staring at someone else?’

If this had happened before, he probably wouldn’t have cared.

But for some reason, at that moment, it was hard for him to contain his anger.

And just as he was lost in his thoughts—

"Skinny octopus?"

A familiar voice muttered near him.

"Huh? Squid?”

It was none other than Hyun-Ah.

* * *

The chances of running into someone familiar in the U.S., while on a trip for a diplomatic meeting with President Drumper and a bit of sightseeing, were close to none.

But the impossible was happening.

"Why are you here, Davey?"

"I should be the one asking you that. What are you doing here?"

"Obviously, I’m here for a meeting with the baseball team that Sacred Group sponsors."

He tilted his head at her response.

"Wait... You’re throwing the first pitch in the U.S., not Korea?"

"Huh? Didn’t I tell you, Sister? I explained it being the Major League!"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, you did. But that’s in the U.S.?"

She spoke with such obliviousness that Davey let out a long sigh.

"This is crazy. I didn’t expect to run into you here, of all places."

"I had no idea you were into baseball."

"Well, technically, it’s not me but Yeon-Hee...”

She sighed, muttering under her breath about how their sister was actually an obsessed baseball fan.

"So, you two are just here for sightseeing? You traveled all this way just for that? When did you even arrive?"

"A little while ago. Flew in from the sky."

Hyun-Ah clicked her tongue at his nonchalant response.

"Damn. The U.S. needs to redo their entire air defense system. The Pentagon would throw a fit if they knew."

‘Yeah, no shit.’

Since they had run into Hyun-Ah anyway, they ended up asking for help booking a luxury hotel.

"You should consider yourself lucky even to be allowed in. It’s that exclusive.”

"Yeah, yeah. You’re amazing."

As they entered the extravagant hotel, Illyna’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Whoa. I’ve seen this place in movies before!"

Seeing her so thrilled, Davey made a weird expression.

Noticing this, Hyun-Ah poked his side.

"Davey, what’s with the face? Did you two fight or something?"

"No. She did something wrong."

"Hmm? What did she do?”

"She saw that tights-wearing American hero and asked if she could get his autograph."

Hyun-Ah stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing.

"The hero in tights? Wait, do you mean Chris Marten? She wanted his autograph? Wanna go get one for her?”

“It’s not like you get to see a hero every day though, right?”

"Well... Hm. That slacker is part of the U.S.-based guild that Sacred Group sponsors. He’s an S-Class Awakened individual, and super famous here."

Davey suddenly got a renewed sense of how powerful Sacred Group really was.

"So, Davey, this means you’re fine with Illyna throwing the first pitch, right? I’ll handle all the details. She just needs to come and throw. You and Sister Illyna are famous worldwide, so the advertising revenue alone will be insane!"

"Shut it, you little squid."

"Wow, so even skinny octopuses can argue these days?”

She looked completely different from when he last saw her—cheerful and carefree.

It was only natural, considering the weight that had been on her heart was finally lifted.

"Do whatever you want."

Feeling annoyed for no reason, he turned away from her.

"Hey, Illyna! Since you’re sightseeing, wanna go on a date?"

"Sure!"

Illyna grinned at Davey, stuck out her tongue, and linked arms with Hyun-Ah.

"Alright! What do you want to do first?"

"Cheeseburger!"

Without a second thought, they immediately bonded and disappeared.

And just like that, Davey was abandoned in the hotel lobby. He sat down on a waiting room chair and let out a deep sigh.

Something in him was boiling over with irritation.

He wondered if it was because of the atmosphere around him. People who approached instinctively backed away, not recognizing him but sensing an overwhelming pressure radiating off him.

"What? Me, jealous? As if."

Of all people, his own wife—asking for some guy’s autograph just because she was a fan; he wondered who wouldn’t be pissed off if they were in his shoes.

And then, the way she pouted at him like she didn’t even understand why almost made him let it slide.

‘But no.’

"It’s not like I’m uglier than that guy, damn it."

‘Fine. Jealous? Sure, I’ll take that.’

Davey liked her. She was more precious to him than anyone.

But she needed to understand something—his jealousy was extremely petty.

At this point, he didn’t care about meeting with the U.S. President.

His mind was laser-focused on getting back at Illyna.

Meanwhile, she was too busy stuffing her face with cheeseburgers to even care.

"Ha... Hahahaha..."

He let out a hollow laugh.

If Perserque could see him acting like that, she would probably say something about a grown man acting all childish.

But there was one absolute truth he learned in the hall.

‘Men never outgrow their inner child.’

"If a man holds a grudge long enough, he’ll make eggs cook on asphalt in the dead of winter."

Davey muttered ominously to himself. But then he sensed someone flinch nearby.

Lifting his head, he spotted several men in black suits, their faces tense.

Two of the three were Awakened individuals, one of them even stronger than that tights-wearing wannabe hero from earlier.

"What?" he asked in irritation.

Beads of sweat trickled down their foreheads as they shook even more.

Y-You're... Prince Davey, correct?"

"And?"

"W-We were wondering if you would be willing to accompany us to the White House..."

"I'm not in the mood."

His response carried a lot of unspoken irritation.

They couldn’t possibly even argue.

Because at that moment, if anything set him off, it looked like he was ready to beat the life out of someone.

"But, Prince—"

"Hey. Awakened."

"Sir?"

"I haven’t agreed to anything regarding the meeting with President Drumper. Have you forgotten that?"

"W-Well..."

"Go back. I’ll let you know how I’m feeling later."

Davey had originally planned to meet them once they reached out, but he’d since changed his mind.

The meeting could wait.

In that moment, his top priority was whatever petty revenge he could possibly get on Illyna.

As he contemplated in fury, someone shouted in a nearby crowd.

"A rift! A monster rift just opened in the middle of the road!"

"Shit! Just by the color alone, it’s an A-class or higher! That makes it a high-risk rift!"

Screams echoed across the street.

Click.

Davey gritted and smiled coldly.

"Fucking hell."

He stood up, staring at the massive rift splitting open in the middle of the boulevard.

The nearby Awakened individuals were already scrambling to call for someone to bring their weapons—but before they could finish dialing, he shoved past them.

"Move,” Davey said in an icy tone.

Startled, they stumbled back as he walked straight into the center of the chaos.

Crack!!

He reached out and grabbed the rift that spanned tens of meters. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"Wait, what are you—?!"

Crack!!

"Ugh?!"

He ignored the panicked voices.

‘I was in the middle of some serious thinking, and now this shit?’

The power from his hand interfered with the rift.

In response, the rift let out what seemed like an agonized scream. Sensing its own demise, the rift began desperately vomiting out monsters as a distraction.

The first one was a small crimson troll—a monster smaller than a regular troll, but far more physically powerful.

It had half-emerged from the rift, ready to swing its massive club toward Davey.

But before it could attack, he’d already snatched its head.

"Get the fuck back in there."

The troll screeched as he shoved it back inside. It struggled, but any resistance was futile.

The rift continued its desperate fight to combat Davey. Although it was nothing more than a phenomenon without a will of its own, the way it thrashed about as if desperately trying to survive felt deeply eerie.

More strange and rare monsters clawed their way out, all screaming for survival.

One by one, he grabbed their skulls and forced them back inside.

The way they wailed—as if begging for their lives—only amused him.

"Yeah, scream louder, you bastards. I’m in the middle of an important crisis here, and you just had to interrupt me?"

Crack!!!

"What in the world...?”

"The rift is screaming as it forcefully expels monsters? That’s unheard of...!!"

Davey heard the horrified whispers of the onlookers.

No matter how fast Awakened individuals managed to come to the scene, they could not have responded in such a short span of time.

Once Davey was done ramping up, his eyes gleamed with fury.

He then grabbed the rift itself and twisted it.

Crack!!!

An enormous vortex roared from within, imploding and causing an intense air pressure.

It soon shrunk.

[Please save me.]

It hadn’t truly said this; Davey just felt like that was something it’d say in that moment if it could speak.

Its previous dominance had vanished. Now, it was desperately struggling just to survive.

Davey tightened his grip.

‘Not on my watch.’

The rift collapsed into a dot and vanished.

Weewooo!! Weeewooo!!

Blaring sirens echoed through the streets as the Special Emergency Awakened Unit finally arrived.

"We received a report of a special A-Rank rift appearing! Where is it?!"

Their voices were urgent, faces tense.

The crowd, still frozen in shock, stood still. It was some time before one person timidly raised their hand.

"That man over there..."

"That man?"

For a moment, the emergency team assumed Davey was the one who called them.

But before they could fully jump to that wrong conclusion, someone shattered their misunderstanding.

"Uh... He, uh... grabbed the rift and twisted it apart with his bare hands.”

“I beg your pardon?”

A heavy silence fell over the area.

It’s finally quiet. Goodness gracious! Everyone better stay silent, since I’m still thinking about my revenge.’