The Max Level Hero Strikes Back!

87.
Brother, Why Did You Come Out From There?

The Fire Divine Beast, the Vermillion Bird known as Fire Chicken, glared at the thundercloud that was showing off its presence.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Fire Chicken’s father had clearly said that the being that was going to appear would be a lugworm on the same Divine Beast level as itself.

But Fire Chicken was the spirit whose essence was that of blazing flames! Its title was not all for nothing! Fire Chicken was not weak enough to be scared by a flashy guy! It was someone who had survived its horrible and terrifying father!

—Kihyeeeeeee!

Fire Chicken roared loudly, releasing the flames that it had suppressed in its body and showing off its grand presence.
It was high time that it showed the arrogant rookie who was about to appear from the thundercloud the bitterness of life.

Not long after, an extremely gigantic Azure Dragon emerged from the dark thunderclouds.
The size of the new Divine Beast was larger than what Davey had initially thought.
It actually looked like tens, no, hundreds of meters in length.
Its body was entirely covered in tough and sturdy blue scales that no blade could possibly pierce through it.
The gigantic Azure Dragon also had sharp fangs, probably capable of breaking steel apart with a single bite.

In terms of appearance, the Azure Dragon was definitely much larger than the other Divine Beasts.

However, seeing the Azure Dragon’s arrogant and grand appearance, Fire Chicken roared loudly and shot up to the skies.
Like a firework being released, it grew bigger in size and completely covered itself with blazing flames.

‘How dare you try to pretend to be cool and majestic in front of me? How dare you appear so huge when I am here? How dare you do something like that when your senior is here?! You have a senior in front of you, show some respect!’

Anger and fury bubbled from deep within the Vermillion Bird, who had anger management issues.
As if to show off that it was not diagnosed with that for no reason, the Vermillion Bird flew up with a loud roar and unleashed its anger.
The first thing that it did was to slam its body against the arrogant Azure Dragon, Rumble.

It did not matter to Fire Chicken that they were both Divine Beasts.
All that mattered right now was that it had to show the flashy newcomer the bitterness of life and the harshness of the world.

—Roaaaaaaaar!!!

Of course, Rumble the Azure Dragon shrieked and staggered after being exposed to Fire Chicken’s ultra burning flames.
However, its reaction only drew more of the Vermillion Bird’s ire.

Fire Chicken raised its sharp claws and recklessly slashed and clawed at Rumble’s scales.

‘It’s me! I am the greater Divine Beast!’

Azure Dragon Rumble was flustered by Fire Chicken’s behavior of showing off its power and not overpowering the other.

Rumble might have just been born, but it could tell that it was a great Divine Beast too.
It was an existence that had the authority and power to control the wind and the storm.
Simply put, it was a very great existence.
But as soon as it gained sentience, it had heard its damn father give it the measly and petty name ‘Rumble’.

The Azure Dragon grew furious at this daring behavior.

—Roaaaaaar!!!

No other sound came out of its mouth.
The Azure Dragon released a roar to show just how fierce and vicious it was, then nonchalantly looked at the Vermillion Bird that was threatening it.
However, it was impossible for the newly born Azure Dragon to ignore the power that the Vermillion Bird was showing off.
After all, it was just starting to gather power.

Finally feeling a sense of crisis from the Vermillion Bird’s flames, Rumble twisted its body and pushed the Vermillion Bird away.
It opened its huge maw before a big shining bead appeared in the air.
It immediately bit down on the shining bead.

The huge shining bead was none other than the Cintamani Stone[1], the symbol of the Azure Dragon’s power.

Using the power stored in the Cintamani Stone, a surge of power burst out and gathered the storm clouds together.
Then, strong winds began to blow fiercely, threatening to blow away all of the Vermillion Bird’s flames.

‘Even if it can grow larger in size, a measly bird dared to go against me? Does it want to overwhelm me?’ 

This thought flashed in Rumble’s head, but it was soon smashed to pieces.
It could hear a calm voice ringing out in the area.

“My dear Fire Chicken, you like oil, right?”

Fire Chicken, who was releasing its flames as if showing off that it was the better Divine Beast, flinched at the voice.
It turned to look at the small human who was standing on the ground beneath them.

The small human was the father who had brought them to life.
However, even if that was the case, he was still just a mere human being.

Rumble wondered why Fire Chicken was suddenly so agitated.
Then, it suddenly saw an incomprehensible emotion flash in the Vermillion Bird’s eyes.

“…From what I heard, eels are good for one’s stamina… Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s a lugworm or an eel.
Every part of an Azure Dragon’s body is good for health.
Do it well.
Let’s eat it and take care of our physical strength and stamina.”

‘If that does not work, then I am left with no choice but to eat some chicken.’

For some reason, the human’s mumbling voice resonated clearly in the Azure Dragon’s ears…

After realizing that it was in a strange situation, Rumble tried to step down and carefully retreat.
This was completely unlike its personality, but…

—Kihyeeeeeeeeee!!!

The panicked Fire Chicken soared to the skies and started to turn around in a circle, burning everything in its wake.
Dozens of flaming rings appeared in the skies and quickly targeted Rumble.
This was all according to Fire Chicken’s will.

Rumble had no time to avoid the rapid attack.

Crack!!!

The flaming rings were like solid iron cords, shrinking swiftly and tying Rumble up.

‘Huh? This is not it? It’s already too late to try something like that.’

Rumble widened its eyes in shock when Fire Chicken soared to the skies and turned into a miniature sun.

Crackle!!!

For the first time in Rumble’s life… For the first time using its Divine Beast’s power, it was being completely overwhelmed by the other.
It fell to the ground helplessly.

In just an instant, the majestic Azure Dragon fell down and collapsed on the ground.

—Grrrrrrrrr…

Despite being placed in this ridiculous situation, Rumble was still able to twist its body and raise its head arrogantly.
That was when it saw a little girl taking out a huge cauldron and pouring some kind of mysterious liquid through a hose.
It also saw an expressionless elven girl who was chopping some mysterious vegetables with a black blade.

“Rinne highly values grilled eel.
Making soup is analyzed to be inefficient and poorly valued.”

[Elder Brain, Annabelle emphasizes that it’s an Azure Dragon and not an eel.
Annabelle evaluates you poorly.
Pfft.]

Annabelle giggled despite her expressionless face.

And for the first time, Rinne’s face showed a flash of emotion before returning to her usual expressionless face.
However, what she chose to say next clearly told everyone just how she was feeling inside.

“Rinne suggests having a match that will take off your rank.
Rinne will make sure to beat you up.”

Annabelle quickly ran away after seeing Rinne pick up a crowbar and try to attack her.

Rumble followed Annabelle with its eyes, seeing her run to hide behind a boy.
It recognized that the boy was none other than the father who had brought itself into the world.

Although the boy was Rumble’s parent, he was just a mere human.
And a human was a measly being who could hardly do anything.
Of course, it was fully aware that Divine Beasts like itself were beings born from a human’s desires.
There was no doubt in Rumble’s mind that the boy had excellent qi.
It’s just… Why did its father have to be a measly human being, right?

However, at that moment, Rumble felt a strange sense of fear encroach its body as it laid eyes upon the human.

“Hmm… What ’s the temperature at? Its meat is going to be tough, so it’s better to cook it at a higher temperature, right?”

Rumble could not figure out who its father was talking to.

Davey looked at Rumble with a bright grin on his face.
He asked, “What should we do, huh?”

Even an idiot would realize what Rumble’s father was talking about.
He was thinking of cooking Rumble up and turning him into soup.

“Rinne, once the water boils, make sure to get some wild beast meat to complement our eel,” Davey said calmly as he slowly approached to rub the top of the Azure Dragon’s nose.

However, Rumble had already collapsed on the ground.
Its muscles had turned stiff and it could no longer budge even if it wanted to.
This situation was similar to a prey stiffening up after having encountered an overwhelmingly strong predator.

Although the Azure Dragon was just born, was a Divine Beast like itself not able to even struggle against such a weak human? Was all the knowledge that it had gained upon birth wrong?

Rumble, pitiful as it may be, still struggled.
Unfortunately, no matter how much it struggled, the flaming rings around it did not budge.
It continued to be bound uncomfortably.

Fully understanding its situation now, Rumble was suddenly seized with great fear for the very first time.
It felt the fear of being eaten.

‘Please! Please let me go!’

—Kyaaaaaaaaaack!!!

In the end, Rumble screamed out in fear.
It tossed its arrogance aside and was asking Fire Chicken, a fellow Divine Beast, for help.
Although they had started to fight upon Rumble’s birth, they were both Divine Beasts.
Rumble thought that the Vermillion Bird would help.
However…

—Whineeee…

Rumble’s expectations were completely overturned after witnessing Fire Chicken’s next actions.

Fire Chicken, who breathed blazing flames and exerted tremendous power that could make even Rumble nervous, immediately extinguished the fire that covered its body and revealed its stomach.
Acting like a docile and cute puppy, it rubbed its beak against the human’s hands.

This was the perfect example of the weak bowing its head to the strong.

Not long after, Fire Chicken looked right at Rumble with a triumphant expression.
It appeared to be saying that Rumble should learn from its example.

“My dear Rumble, you have quite a fierce personality, huh?” Rumble’s father stroked the top of Rumble’s nose and petted it.

After that gentle scolding, Rumble watched as his father pulled out a bright red sword.
Upon seeing the sword, Rumble widened its eyes in surprise and dropped its jaw wide open.
Its gaze began to tremble, and everyone present could feel its fear.

‘Dangerous! That’s a really dangerous blade!’

Although Rumble had such thoughts, his father just swung the bright red sword nonchalantly.
It was as if the weapon was no big deal to him.

“Are those ears working? Can you hear me or not, huh?!”

Slash!!!

At the same time, Rumble’s pride and joy, his beard, was slightly cut off.
After realizing that its beard that was harder than metal had easily been cut off, Rumble widened its eyes even more.

“Oh my.
I’m sorry.
I accidentally cut your beard.
Well, it’s fine, it will just grow back.
This time, I’ll make sure not to make a mistake.
I will just threaten you, threaten,” Rumble’s father murmured with a soft smile.

By now, Rumble’s instincts were driving it mad.
Its instincts were telling the Azure Dragon that its father was very, very dangerous.

It did not take too long for Rumble to realize that it could not possibly fight against this one human.
Otherwise, that dreadful and horrifying sword would cut it down and decapitate its head!

Looking at how Rumble trembled with fear, Davey said, “Oh? Our dear Rumble is foaming at the mouth? For a Divine Beast, Rumble’s guts is too weak… Tch, tch.”

Rumble foamed at the mouth and passed out.

***

“Davey is bad at threatening.
Rinne recommends that you train harder.”

“They’re very precious.
If I scare them any more than that, they’ll become reserved and withdrawn,” Davey responded calmly as he looked at the unconscious Rumble.

Then, he pondered deeply.

‘From what I heard, eels are really good for one’s stamina… If it’s the Divine Beast Azure Dragon, then… We’ll get a lot of supplements since it’s huge in size.’

—My goodness! Are you really thinking of making it into a supplement for your stamina?

After hearing Perserque’s frightened shout, Davey nodded calmly and said, “A good thing is a good thing… Should we close one eye and slice off a bit of its body?”

After swinging Red Ribbon around, Davey could feel the unconscious Rumble flinch slightly.
This brought him great satisfaction.
Then, he wiped the smile off of his face and turned to look at Fire Chicken.
He said, “After this guy wakes up, head over there to meet the stone giant.
Unlike you guys, the stone giant absorbs the power of nature.
Share your power with him so that he wouldn’t collapse.”

Davey believed that Rumble was frightened enough to fully cooperate with him.

—Kihyeeeeeeeeck!

Fire Chicken, who knew that it would become a chicken dish if it dared to defy Davey, flapped its wings without any hesitation.

“Well then.
All three nations should have post negotiations since this matter has already been dealt with.”

The problems of the Hyeon Kingdom should be dealt with by the Hyeon Kingdom.
However, Davey still had to completely rip off an arm or a leg from the Ming Kingdom.
And the decision should be made by the child, the Son of Heaven, who was lying asleep in this place.

As for the Hyeon King, he had been watching the situation from beginning to end.
He had witnessed Davey’s show of force.
This time, he was not only witness to the results but also to the reality of the matter.

“Isn’t that right? Your Majesty, the King?” Davey smiled while taking out a crystal ball.
He could see the King looking back at him with a stiffened expression.

“Prince… Prince Davey…” The King sounded rather stunned from the other end of the crystal ball.

“I saved your Guardian Deity and even allowed your test to run smoothly to its end.
Since I cleared up the situation where it could be used as a pretext for war, I believe the compensations and rewards that I should receive should not be small.”

“But…”

“Of course, I have no intention of leaving your kingdom staggering.
After all, I do not wish to go to war with you over this.
I simply wish to foster harmony between our two kingdoms.”

In the first place, if Hyeon Kingdom genuinely cared about Tanya, the Rowane Kingdom, including Davey, would have wholeheartedly given their support to them.
But… Unfortunately, this was their situation.

“What…do you want?”

“I will tell you in detail during our negotiations.
But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to tell you about this now.
What I want is one third of this forest.
And…” Davey muttered as he looked in the direction where Tanya and Maria had disappeared to.
He added, “A hostage.”

After all, Davey’s younger sister did not have any friends back home.

1.
a wish-fulfilling bead, the source of a dragon’s power ☜