The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Novel

Chapter 494

The space twisted and cracked open as two women appeared inside a vast forest. One of the women had a remarkably beautiful countenance and appeared to be in her twenties, while the other had a cute look, with dark hair and round glasses.

"Most of the dimensions have closed. It's probably because Sleesia died, right?" the woman with dark hair, Skuld, inquired.

"That's right," the other woman replied bluntly.

Skuld gazed at her surroundings with wide-open eyes and placed her hands on one of the nearby trees in response to the short answer.

Crack, crack, crack...

Simultaneously, a black stream of power extended from her fingertips, causing the tree to twist and crack.

"But why is this place unaffected, then?" Skuld wondered.

"How should I know?" Urd responded calmly, watching Skuld absorb the black stream of power back into her body.

"Be careful, sister. Something doesn't feel right."

"Don't worry. I've already defeated that human once."

"That was then. Besides, Sleesia died not long after that. We can only assume that he is a human who possesses something that can make him extremely powerful in a very short amount of time. If that human truly killed Sleesia with his own power, then..."

Urd shook her head upon hearing the concern in Skuld's voice. "It's true that the human race is a race that could reach endless heights in terms of power. However, the process by which they grow is long and arduous."

Humans were a race without limits on their potential, but they were often constrained by time and their relatively short lifespans. It was quite ironic.

"How about asking the others for help?" Skuld suggested.

"If you do that, the influence those girls can wield will increase. If that happens, the only ones who will end up dying will be us. We have to figure this out ourselves," Urd said calmly, and then light began to gather in her open hands.

"It's this man."

"He looks disgusting."

"That man doesn't matter. What we need is the envoy of the God of Death. That's the man we need."

"The Reaper..."

"We have to be extra careful since we're in that human's territory. However, you don't have to worry," Urd said calmly as she allowed a black stream of power to burst out of her body, erasing the image of the man. "I have been making preparations. That man will die by my hands."

An eerie and terrifying intent to kill flashed and lingered in Urd's eyes as her dark hair briefly rose and fluttered, resembling dark flames in the wind.

***

Davey smacked his lips as he landed in a nearby forest after being expelled by Al. "The experiment will be perfectly complete once I try it on Reina and Verdandi."

"You're going to experiment with Reina and a Princess of the Abyss?"

"I wonder if it will work on them."

In Reina's case, she had received God's protection and blessings. As for Verdandi, she was one of the Princesses of the Abyss like Versha. Being a Princess of the Abyss meant she had the same robust hardware as them, tough like a gangster. So, Davey wanted to know if the curse would work on her.

However, among the Princesses of the Abyss Davey had met so far, he could confidently say that Versha was the least influential among them, even to the point of considering her the weakest.

"We'll experiment later," Davey said calmly as he turned around to go meet Milpieu.

Milpieu's expression turned stiff, and she immediately retreated upon seeing Davey. Then she said, "It's not interesting."

She spoke calmly, but her expression looked ugly.

"Were the effects too strong?"

"It doesn't feel enjoyable," Milpieu said as she threw a small ball of paper at Davey.

"A map?"

"There are only two places in the continent that lead to the Demon World, and I only know one of the two. It's a very dangerous place. But I know that the word danger means nothing to someone like you," Milpieu said as she immediately sent Davey away.

Well, this reaction was to be expected from the pink-haired woman. After all, she was the one who had the biggest reaction after receiving Versha's curse.

After receiving the paper from Milpieu and getting sent away, Davey immediately returned to his office. Even if there wasn't any trouble in his territory, he still had work to do, right?

"Attendant Bernile."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"What happened to that bastard?"

Bernile silently closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he opened his eyes and said, "He's the same as ever. Nothing has changed."

"Is that so?"

Davey was referring to the serial killer he had kept in the underground prison of the lord's castle, the psychopath from Earth, Grim and Reaper. Davey had used black magic on him and subjected him to extreme fear through an illusion that showed his greatest fear, but it seemed like the effects were not as great as he expected.

"Letting him suffer like that should be enough. I'm going to kill him soon, so make sure to keep an eye on him. We better be careful in case something happens."

Bernile nodded quietly in response to Davey's words.

“Attendant Bernile.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

"It seems like you think it's not good for me to punish him and let him suffer like that?" Davey inquired.

Bernile fell silent for a moment upon hearing Davey's words.

"No, that's..."

After a moment of hesitation, he looked at Davey and continued, "This old man is only concerned about whether this incident will bring karmic retribution to Your Highness' heart."

Davey grinned. "The karma that I have accumulated for taking the life of another has reached terrible levels already. What difference will it make if I take the life of another?"

It might have happened in another world, but discussing karma in front of someone who had killed hundreds of thousands of people was simply absurd.

After finishing the work he had with Attendant Bernile, Davey finally had the time to open the map that Milpieu had handed over to him. What appeared in front of him was a map of the entire world created using magic unique to vampires.

On the map, the Tionis Continent was displayed as a massive landmass. Right next to it was another vast landmass, the Land of Nature, Arrasis, which was no less impressive.

However, there was another significant landmass on Milpieu's map, one that seemed to have been recently added. It appeared as if it had been pulled into the map from a great distance.

"Is it this place? Then, the direction is..." A glint flashed in Davey's eyes as he murmured to himself. "We have to go through Tartaros' Subterranean Mountain Ranges, right next to the Sea Dragon's Maw, and..."

Tartaros' Subterranean Mountain Ranges was a well-known location, often referred to as Hell. It was a vast mountain range situated in the southwestern region of the continent, filled with numerous dangers, including rivers of lava and poisonous tunnels. Few who attempted to explore the area returned unscathed.

Of course, such hazards meant little to Davey. Rinne could easily navigate the area using her powers, emerging unscathed or even taking a bath in the rivers of magma. However, knowledge of the way was essential. The region was teeming with demonic beasts, and asking for directions was impossible since they were not communicative beings. Additionally, flying over the mountain range was nearly impossible.

"We should consult experts on polar regions when it comes to polar regions," Davey remarked as he nodded, then rubbed a ring in his hands and immediately activated a spatial transfer magic.

Boom!

He immediately headed to the Alpha Reinforcement’s headquarters.

***

"Who..."

"Davey?!"

The two girls and one boy who were busy watering the plants in the huge garden looked at Davey with wide-open eyes when they saw him appear so suddenly.

"What? Did you say Davey?!" One of the girls shouted upon hearing the boy's exclamation. She threw away the watering can in her hands and rushed to Davey for a hug. "It's been a long time, Davey!"

"It hasn't been that long since I last saw you."

"Please don't say that! You have no idea how boring this place is! Today's really a special day, huh? Illyna, Alyssa, and Davey all came to visit. This is obviously thanks to the grace of First Saintess Daphne!"

Lucia Shelman, the girl obsessed with Daphne, received disappointed and grim looks from her friends when they heard her enthusiastic exclamation. She was obviously one of the knights of Alpha Reinforcement. However, when it came to Daphne, she was a pure fanatic who would risk her life for the First Saintess. Whenever something happened, she always attributed it to Daphne and her grace.

"What are you saying? Illyna also came here?"

"Are you really Davey?"

"It's been a while, Heg."

The boy with the huge build laughed loudly when he heard Davey's reply. "What the hell has happened to you? Why do you look older?"

"I underwent complete metamorphosis."

"Crazy!" Heg freaked out. "What, what?! You... Did you just say complete metamorphosis? Then, then... you're already a Grand Swordmaster..."

"I only did it recently."

The apprentices of the 286th batch of the Alpha Reinforcements were all aware of how overpowered and ridiculous Davey was. No one questioned why that happened when he was already a Sword Master. They were all surprised when they heard that someone with a Sword Master-level of power underwent a complete metamorphosis and reached a higher level once again.

"Let's not stay here like this! Let's go inside! I'm sure everyone will be very happy to see you!"

Lucia Shelman nodded and followed right behind Heg. "That's right! Everyone will be very happy to see you!"

***

In a way, the 286th batch of apprentices could be considered a fairly famous group. Their greatest source of pride was the fact that most of them had passed the official knight test. Thanks to that, the members of the 286th batch of knight apprentices were assigned to important positions once they became official knights.

As for this gathering? It was very rare. In fact, they all believed that it would not happen unless it was by chance.

"Davey!!!"

"Woah!"

The twin sisters ran toward Davey and hugged him the moment they found him. Then, Davey saw Lincy, who was smiling beautifully at him, and the former paladin Fildyr. There was also Illyna, who was very surprised to see Davey appear here.

"Davey? Why are you here..."

"I have some business with them. So, why are you here?"

A bitter look flashed on Illyna’s face when she heard Davey's question.

"From what I can see, you fought with Sullivan again, didn't you?"

"...Shut up." Illyna pouted and turned her head away.

The two obviously cared about each other, but they never showed it openly. They even hid the fact that they cared about each other until the very end. In Illyna's case, this was probably because she was dissatisfied with her family ties. However, Davey could tell that Sullivan's extreme love for his younger sister had brought about this situation.

"It's because of Kain..."

"I thought so."

If Davey were in that position and his younger sister suddenly came back one day saying that she would take a small boy as his son, then he as the older brother would obviously have a heart attack. It was only natural. Of course, Davey could not bring Kain along; that's why he thought of leaving the kid in the empire.

"Davey, I heard that you have been providing supplies for our rear. Thanks to you, we have been comfortable these days."

"That's right. That's right."

In the first place, the main purpose of the Roaming Knights, who were living in the outside world, was to provide supplies for the knights. The scale was a bit big, but thanks to Davey's firm determination and support, it seemed like the living conditions of the knights had considerably improved.

"Thanks to that, we are able to eat meals with meat instead of those tasteless barley bread. This is all because of the grace of the First Saintess Daphne..."

"You look like someone who likes to eat meat."

"Yes?"

"Nothing."

Lucia Shelman felt happy as she placed her hands together and mumbled in prayer. And Davey? He saw the figure of someone overlap with her figure.

[Meat? This f*cking bastard has been eating alone? Hey! Bring it here! Bring it over! We should all eat together!]

On that subject, the priestess looked quite similar to the elf that loved life. The priest refrained from killing as much as possible but loved to eat meat and drink alcohol to the point that they could not even control their limbs.

A strange feeling suddenly washed over Davey.

'Davey.'

At that moment, Perserque spoke up with a frown on her face.

'What is it?'

'...No. This is probably because of my own emotions.'

Her expression looked a bit bland. Anyway, Davey left behind Perserque, who was looking at Lucia with a very complicated expression on her face.

That was when they asked him, “So? We haven’t heard the reason why you came here. From what we heard from Illyna, you’re very busy. Is something the matter?”

Davey nodded in answer to Heg’s question. “I’m heading toward Tartaros’ Subterranean Mountain Range located in the southwestern part of the continent. I’m here to get information about that place.”

The expressions of all of the apprentices and formal knights turned stiff when they heard Davey’s words.

“Where…did you say you were going?”

Davey noticed that there was something wrong with their expressions.

“The Tartaros’ Subterranean Mountain Range.”

“Davey… I’m asking this just in case… but did you come here after learning about everything?”

Davey looked at Illyna in confusion, wondering why she asked him such a question.

“That… We have lost contact with Last Wisp’s Knight Order’s Rodric. They are the ones guarding the vicinity of the Tartaros’ Subterranean Mountain Range,” Fildyr explained, the expressions of everyone present turning uglier by the second.

“You lost contact?”

“Yeah. And what’s in there is not a demonic beast or a demonic monster. They’re not even the vampires or demons that are making a huge fuss in the continent right now,” Fildyr continued to explain calmly. “It’s a human.”

“A human?”

“That’s right. This was what we have gathered from the regular reports that the scouting team had sent over before. The traces that have been left behind were definitely from a human. However, those traces did not resemble our simple magic or alchemy.”

“So, we are going to send an investigation team to investigate what happened…”

From what Davey understood, the people here were selected as the investigators and were now preparing to cross the continent and go to the Tartaros’ Subterranean Mountain Range.

***

Shwaa!!!

Thud!!!

Blood spurted out of the body that had been dyed red and fell to the ground.

"These knights, who are wearing this hard armor, seemed to not even understand why and how they died."

The black-haired little girl, her hands dripping red with blood, slowly entered the underground prison. With her round glasses on her face, she reached out her hand toward the countless magic barriers that surrounded the prison.

Vwooooong…

In the midst of this, countless characters and texts flickered rapidly through the air.

"Sister, this human's magic barrier is incredibly robust. It will take me some time to breach it," the girl muttered as a hologram materialized before her.

"It's possible we've been detected. Now that I've located him, I'll ensure he doesn't enter our territory. You, on the other hand, must continue your work, and remember, avoid touching anything that could compromise us, even by accident. Our survival depends on it—ensuring that the human is the only one you interact with."

"I understand, sister."

The young black-haired girl disconnected the call, wearing a perplexed expression.

"What in the world is this... How could a mere human construct such an intricate barrier?"

Furrows deepened on Skuld's brow as she scrutinized the enigmatic barrier with suspicion. A single misstep could be fatal for both of them.

They viewed Davey, a being who had uncovered the secrets of the Princesses of the Abyss, as a formidable adversary. Skuld, equivalent in power to Versha, couldn't afford to engage him recklessly.

"Please... please!" Skuld implored the hacking process, and with a burst of radiant light, she finally overcame the barrier.

"Yes! It's done. I refuse to believe that a mere human could thwart my efforts... Kyack!" Skuld's confident outburst gave way to a scream as the magic circle abruptly distorted and transformed into a blade that lacerated her hands.

"Curse this infernal magic circle!"

Despite her outrage, Skuld knew she couldn't act rashly here, as the risk of Davey's return and their demise was too great. After a considerable struggle, she managed to control her anger. Taking a deep breath, she examined her blood-soaked hand, sensing something peculiar had infiltrated her body.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Skuld murmured, finally discovering the man imprisoned in the innermost chamber.

This individual was possessed by an evil spirit. Skuld couldn't recall if his name was Reaper or Grim, but one thing was certain—he was a lunatic.

Skuld quietly approached the man, extended her foot, and pushed him away. Cold sweat began trickling down her spine. An overwhelming urge to depart the territory surged within her.

When asked which of the Princesses of the Abyss she feared the most, Skuld would readily name Sleesia. Her dread of Sleesia and her formidable powers also extended to this enigmatic human.

Skuld found herself pondering how beings like themselves, fused with myriad thoughts and powers, could be fearful of a single human. Yet, she couldn't escape the unalterable reality. Skuld held her life dear and, as such, exercised extreme caution.