The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1026

The sorrow of a wraith that had accumulated resentment for thousands of years was immense.

And in the end, this too was one aspect of Woochi’s karma.

Normally, a spirit with such intense resentment wouldn’t even be able to exist. No matter how deep the sorrow, there were limits to how long a wraith could endure.

It was for that reason that modern ghosts existed yet sightings of Joseon Dynasty ghosts were rare in Korea.

However, beings like Perserque or Bi Yeon—souls that had been effectively sealed, skipping through time—were of course an exception.

The God of War of Buyeo. The one with no name.

"Merciful Goddess Fre— No, never mind. She’s probably asleep anyway. Rho Aias and Woochi—just take my offering and deliver it for me."

The power that connected him and the Saint Sanctuary, the power of divinity, resonated.

The authority they had been granted had approved his offering.

He then set the conditions.

"Let me make you sure you’re aware of something. If I manifest my authority to interfere with your role in the system, you’ll never be able to reincarnate again."

It was the same as the flow rejection curse he had been imposed with early on.

The orb of the wraith quivered, revealing its true form.

- I do not care.

"There’s a phrase that I think fits you perfectly at the moment: One has to endure, suffer, and wait patiently for the perfect revenge.”

The wraith nodded.

"In exchange for forfeiting your right to reincarnation, I grant you one thing—the authority to interfere with one soul. I will grant it through my authority.”

- I accept.

"From now on, your name will be Jeo-Seung[1]."

Following his declaration, its spirit began to transform.

The force close to the essence, akin to the level of the Death Lord, the authority of Goddess Freyja, and divinity—all converged to alter its spirit.

It was similar to when he had forcefully metamorphosed Perserque’s soul, though its purpose was different.

Unlike Reina, whose transformation had been filled with the love of the gods, this was something far colder.

- Jeo-Seung...

The spirit muttered its new name.

"Your mission is to guide the souls trapped in limbo on Earth and Tionis back into the cycle of reincarnation."

In essence, Davey had taken the absolute right of living beings—the right to reincarnation—and granted Jeo-Seung an authority akin to that of a grim reaper in exchange for permanently stripping the ability for it to be reborn.

Normally, not even divinity could make such a thing possible. But with the authority of Goddess Freyja, the authority divided into three, coming to a unanimous decision, it became feasible.

It was similar to what had been done for Reina, the Hero of Light.

"In that role, you are forbidden from acting with personal motives, except for one individual soul. From now on, you may not interfere with the world at large in any way—except against other wraiths. I ask you for the last time: Will you not have any regrets going through with this?”

- If I can find that bastard’s soul and tear it to shreds, that will be enough.

"Good. The deal is sealed."

‘Goddess Freyja, are you seeing this? This is what flexibility looks like, lady.’

Of course, since this concerned the souls of Earth, he still needed Neltarid’s approval.

Almost as if it had been waiting for this moment, Neltarid’s stigmata resonated, lending its support.

Even though it wasn’t on the level of the Primordial Gods, it had observed everything and had cast its vote in favor.

[Bearer of the stigmata of tranquility, I ask you this.]

The stigmata pulsed as the voice echoed within his mind.

[Do you understand why the Primordial Gods do not create such beings?]

"Because the Goddess swore never to take away a human’s right to reincarnation."

Gods were beyond human comprehension. And as a former human, Davey could only make assumptions at best.

After a brief silence, the divine voice faded.

"You now have the right to enter the River of Souls, where every spirit passes through. Go find him—the piece of shit you’ve been searching for."

The soul Jeo-Seung sought had long since perished, already having entered reincarnation.

For Davey, it would be almost impossible to track the soul down himself.

But for Jeo-Seung, who had spent its entire existence searching for that one soul, it’d definitely recognize them at first sight.

After accepting the contract, Jeo-Seung’s form shifted.

Its tattered, bloodstained garments gradually morphed into a sleek black suit.

Once the God of War of Buyeo, it now looked more like a corporate employee.

"Only you will recognize him. It’s up to you to make the final call."

While Davey spoke, a thread of pure white light emerged from within Jeo-Seung.

It was the orb that every soul had; the orb that contained the authority of reincarnation.

It was different from the Wraith Frost, but it contained a unique, pure power that would work similarly as a catalyst in its respective way.

Now fully transformed, the once-forgotten God of War of Buyeo—Jeo-Seung—bowed its head toward Davey.

- I have led many into hatred. I have harmed countless others. And yet, you still help me?

"You’re mistaken—you’re being punished. You threw away your chance at reincarnation for one petty revenge. You must be out of your mind.”

Jeo-Seung remained silent.

"You’ve hurt innocent people, and this punishment is to atone for it—either by repenting, or by making sure no one else ends up like you."

This was the opportunity for Davey to help redeem it, and for it to repay for the karma it had accumulated.

- I, the God of War of Buyeo, shall now act under the name of Jeo-Seung to carry out the will of the great beings and uphold the truth of the universe.

With a deep bow of gratitude, having said its piece, Jeo-Seung vanished.

Davey watched it disappear, murmuring under his breath.

"Hope you find peace, at least."

He looked at the origin of reincarnation—the power of true essence—in his hands. The radiant, warm energy was completely different from the Frost.

He sealed it away with great care.

[You really found a way.]

Shiverwock’s voice rang in his mind.

"I don’t know if this really even counts as a way."

It allowed Jeo-Seung to track down the soul of its archenemy—not the parallel version or some illusion, but the actual soul of its greatest enemy.

Of course, by now, that man wouldn’t remember his past life of evil.

Jeo-Seung would never again experience the greatest blessing of a living being—reincarnation.

Davey himself had been forcibly removed from the cycle of reincarnation due to the curse of flow rejection, but for someone to willingly throw that away probably wasn’t an easy choice.

"But will this orb even work as a medium?"

"It’s enough,” Woochi answered.

Davey couldn’t help but frown, as he hadn’t even noticed Woochi’s approach.

"Are you sure? Weren’t you planning to use the chilly power of the Wraith Frost to awaken the life essence orb?"

"The power of the Wraith Frost is of a similar type. No, actually, it’s just an imitation of this. Do you think spiritual energy is anything special? It’s just something that mimics zhen qi. Now get out—I’ll handle the rest from here."

Seeing him speak so seriously, Davey narrowed his eyes.

"You’re not skimming off the top, are you?"

"Do you think I’m like you?!” Woochi snapped, practically yelling.

Davey tilted his head, unconvinced.

"What exactly do you take me for?!"

"You’re my brother.”

"Shit, that sounds like an insult now."

Davey truly trusted him—that was exactly why he was worried that Woochi might actually try to pocket something for himself.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, Woochi waved his hand dismissively. His posture practically screamed that he didn’t have the energy to argue with Davey anymore.

"It’s done. The activation is stable enough. Now, go and have Perserque consume it."

* * *

The first Grim Reaper—the one who had lost its name.

Jeo-Seung had forsaken the origin of living beings—the right to reincarnation—and been reborn as a harbinger of death.

Grim Reaper. Harbinger of Death. Whatever one called it, its role remained the same: To guide lost souls—especially those who could not reincarnate—back into the cycle of reincarnation.

Even if the one it had longed to destroy no longer remembered it, that didn’t matter. It had thrown itself into the abyss for the sake of singular revenge.

If, within its activities as a new existence, it found that soul even once, it’d be enough.

It saw a countless number of souls flowing through the River of Souls.

For a human, simply witnessing that vast, shifting stream of spirits would be enough to shatter their mind.

Yet the Grim Reaper was not phased, because it was only searching for one soul out of the many.

There was no guarantee that the soul was there at that moment. It could take ages before it surfaced again.

But that didn’t matter.

Even if it spent an eternity wandering the river, and even if its very soul eroded and collapsed from the weathering of time itself, its purpose would never change.

Yet suddenly, among the countless drifting souls, one soul caught its eye.

It wasn’t too different from the others. However, it held more karma.

To anyone else, it might not have seemed any different from the others.

But Jeo-Seung knew that the soul was the one it had spent millennia pursuing.

Lowering its sunglasses, Jeo-Seung made a chilling smile.

[Found you.]

It couldn’t believe it had found it so easily. It began to think that the coincidence must have been arranged by the great being who had created it.

Not that the cause mattered.

Jeo-Seung couldn’t interfere with the world—it could only interfere with wraiths. Yet that one soul was the precious exception.

The reason it could interfere with that one soul was also because its archenemy’s karma was too deep.

It reached into the flow of spirits and yanked the soul from the river.

A blackened, murky form twisted in its grasp. As it emerged, it took the shape of a rough, sinister-looking man, his face contorted in confusion.

- Tch. What the hell?

He scowled, irritation clear in his voice.

Jeo-Seung figured it was likely the soul’s most recent incarnation—the form he had died in during his latest life.

[You’ve taken quite a few lives.]

- And who the hell are you?

The man shot back at it, irritated.

Jeo-Seung only smiled in response.

‘So this bastard’s soul itself never changed. Perfect. Thank you.’

Jeo-Seung grabbed the man’s head.

Boom!!

At the same time, it began implanting every memory the wraith had experienced back into him.

It knew that if these memories truly belonged to the soul, then it would naturally seep into his mind without resistance.

And it worked.

The soul Jeo-Seung was holding was the target of vengeance the wraith had searched for, ever since its death.

- K-Kuh?! What is this—?!

[Look at me.]

Jeo-Seung’s eyes glowed fiercely as it glared at the man.

The man’s eyes widened in shock as he let out a startled cry.

- Grrk! Kgh?!

[I said look at me!!]

Then, the man’s buried memories of a past life began to forcefully awaken from deep within.

Normally, even this was something impossible through the authority of a Grim Reaper.

But some unknown force was providing assistance, guiding the soul back to his true self.

- Y-You... weren’t you the God of War of Buyeo...?

Strangely enough, memories beyond the specific ones that had been implanted began resurfacing as well.

Jeo-Seung had only intended to share its own memories, yet the man ended up unlocking his original memories too.

[I’ve waited a long time for this.]

- W-What?! How did you even—?!

[I endured all this time for one reason—to rip you apart with my own hands.]

Eyes burning with the thrill of revenge, it crushed the man’s spirit beneath it. Then, slowly and methodically, it began to tear the soul apart.

[My revenge won’t be quick. So you’d better be ready.]

- W-Wait!! No! This—this doesn’t make any sense!

A tortured scream echoed across the River of Souls.

Watching all of that unfold, Woochi let out a short sigh.

“When you pull crap like this inside the River of Souls, I’m the one who’s stuck cleaning it up...” he said, casually tossing a key in his hand. “But I’ll let it slide this time. I have to admit, that was satisfying.”

There was something neither the wraith nor Davey knew—something that only Woochi seemed to know.

“In the end, at least the wraith was able to get what it wanted. It should be thanking me, really—there’s no way Davey would’ve gone through all that without my timely encouragement. Not with his shitty personality,” Woochi chuckled to himself.

“Well then. Once this revenge wraps up, maybe I’ll finally have the time to bring in some new recruits.”

Grumbling about how managing the River of Souls alone was no easy job, Woochi let out a chilling laugh.

“You’ve still got a long way to go, Davey, you little rascal.”

1. The raw is 저승. It’s the Korean for the underworld. The name was chosen in respect for its heritage. ☜