The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

[Correct.]

After a short silence, a faint voice rang out.

Creak, creak, creak, creak!!!

The interior of the cave suddenly started to change. The once open road was now blocked off while the closed wall became a passageway.

—That… Just now…

“It’s a test of wisdom. There’s also one for courage, cooperation, and many other things.”

Then, this meant that…

—Unbelievable. You got it right without even listening to the question. What if you got the wrong answer?

Davey pointed at the ceiling in response to Perserque’s question.

—The ceiling?

“Well, to put it bluntly, that thing will collapse on us.”

Basically, it was set up so that the voice would explain the situation to the one who was taking the test while blocking off their path to retreat. This would effectively make the testee tense and nervous as the voice gave the problem that they needed to solve.

However, Davey had been through far too many attempts on this for him to hear each and every question. Davey descended the stairs and entered the darkness, leaving Water Spirit King Ellaim and Rinne, who were both sporting strange expressions on their faces, behind.

[Contractor.]

“Why?”

[You… You mentioned that you are acquainted with Yuriana, right?]

“That’s right.”

Ellaim looked like she could not understand the meaning behind Davey’s brief response.

[That’s impossible. Yuriana did not live on this continent. Moreover, she died over a thousand years ago.]

“That’s right. I did not meet a living person,” Davey said, wondering if Ellaim had understood his words differently.

Ellaim flinched before saying…

[By any chance… Did she say anything else?]

“Do you want to hear that woman’s last words?”

Ellaim then vehemently denied Davey’s implication.

[Who… Who said that?!]

“Get along well.”

[Yes?]

Ellaim, who was following behind Davey, quickly stopped in her tracks. She looked as if she had just seen her lover betraying her for another.

[That’s…all of it? Really?]

“That’s right.”

Ellaim said nothing after that, and Davey chose to ignore the soft whine that escaped her lips a moment later. As she continued walking behind him, she grumbled.

[A bad girl…until the very end…]

After that, they continued to walk further underground in silence. They paused only after coming to a fork in the road ahead of them.

—Uhmm… There's a fork in the road. Which one is the correct answer?

To answer Perserque’s question, yes. One of the two was the true path. And without any hesitation, Davey took out a luminescent artifact and handed it to Rinne. He said, “Rinne, take the left. I will take the right.”

—Davey?

“Is this an important command? Rinne wants to know. If this is an important command, Rinne will execute it without any complaints.”

“Never ever look back and turn around. Just keep on moving forward. You trust me, right?”

Rinne’s eyes flashed blue before she gave a brief answer, “Command accepted.”

She walked toward the left path with the luminescent artifact in hand. There was no hesitation in her steps despite Davey not warning her about the pitfalls and obstacles that she would encounter along the way.

Leaving Rinne to her own path, Davey walked along the right path confidently. Then, at that moment…

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!” Rinne’s desperate scream rang loudly.

—Th… This?!

Perserque looked at Davey in shock.

—Davey!!! It’s Rinne! That’s Rinne’s voice!

“Sir… Sir Davey!!! Save… Save me!!!”

With another desperate scream ringing in their ears, Perserque urgently pulled Davey’s arms.

—We have to go and save her!!!

“Leave it be.”

—What?

Perserque frowned at Davey in disbelief. When she looked at Davey, who was pointing behind them, she could see that a wall had already silently blocked the path behind them. It prevented them from turning back.

—What’s this…?

Hearing another cry, Davey patted the wall that stood between them and Rinne in silence. As the screams were already starting to irritate him, he muttered, “Let’s skip this part quickly.”

Heuuup!

Davey took a short break before punching the wall.

Rumbleeee!!!

At the same time, the wall that blocked the two paths started to collapse. Shockingly enough, an unexpected figure walked out from the other side.

“Sir Davey, you’re safe,” Rinne said as she ran swiftly and looked up at Davey. “Safety has been confirmed. Rinne has checked the link with Sir Davey.”

“Right.”

—What… What is this…?

Rinne had obviously taken the other path. Perserque and Davey had also heard her desperate screams in the middle of the path. So, why did Rinne come out from there once Davey broke the wall down?

The answer to that was simple.

“Surtr was a very shrewd and clever man. The barrier outside was nothing. However, if you try to break the mechanism recklessly, then this place would collapse.”

However, there should always be a warning. Originally, the warning would be heard after the person got the answer right. But since Davey had skipped the process and prevented it from saying anything useless, there was no way for them to hear about the warning separately. This test was a test of courage and cooperation. The key to this was how well they could work together in a situation where they might not be able to think straight.

“This is a very narrow-minded test.”

Normally, it would be hard to notice something like this. However, Davey had always felt it every time.

Rumbleeeeee… Bang!!!

Not long after, the wall where Davey and Rinne had met opened up to reveal the final passageway. As he walked in the darkness, Davey felt something lurking behind it.

There was no way that they could not see in the dark. After all, it was only natural that the darkness would not have any effect on them. For Davey and Perserque, who was a member of the demon race and someone familiar with dark mana, they were both very used to the darkness. As for the Water Spirit King and Rinne, someone who could detect heat, it was also useless.

“Sir Davey, new lifeform detected. Subjugating…”

“Leave it alone.”

Rinne tilted her head in confusion. “Rinne cannot understand. Rinne asks for an explanation.”

“That’s a lie,” Davey said as he passed by the monster and looked up at the ceiling. “What generation are you from?”

—Grrrrrrrr…

The moment Davey said those words, two yellow lights flashed on the dark ceiling above them. The yellow lights were none other than amber eyes.

—So it’s a Wyrm Alligator…

Wyrm Alligators were a part of the minority of gentle monsters that could live up to 500 years. Although it was known to be gentle, it was a species that could turn dangerously ferocious once its nest got robbed. However, this species was almost extinct on the continent. And the danger that it could pose once it was angry was greater than Davey expected.

—Grrrrrrrrrr…

Davey slowly reached his hand out to the growling Wyrm Alligator that approached. It fully considered him to be an enemy. Then, he released a huge amount of dark mana toward it.

[7th Circle]

[Soul Separator]

Thud!!!

With a loud and heavy sound, the Wyrm Alligator’s body twisted fiercely.

“You endured that? Let’s do that one more time.”

Thuuuuud!!!

No matter how much a Wyrm Alligator could endure 7th Circle dark magic, there was no way that its body could escape from being eroded by the Soul Separator magic that Davey had placed upon it.

In the end, Davey glanced at the Wyrm Alligator’s collapsed body. He passed right by before tapping the small altar that was hidden behind its nest and activated his mana. He said, “Tch. Hiding it until the very end.”

Vwooooong!!!

A bright light suddenly burst out as the empty floor beneath the altar twisted and turned to reveal a bigger altar. And the item lying on the altar was something that looked highly insignificant. However, it was enough. After all, Surtr had made this item and buried it here for the longest time just so it could kill one man and one man alone.

***

Since Davey had already retrieved the item from the dungeon hidden beneath the lake, there was no reason for that physical space to be maintained any longer. He decided to erase all of Surtr’s traces from here.

[Do you have no regrets?]

“Destroy everything.”

Upon Davey’s command, Ellaim just silently raised her hand and created a ripple in the lake that briefly shook the ground.

[I have destroyed the entrance to the dungeon. No one will be able to go in there anymore.]

“Right.”

[I’m going back. I can’t continue to remain here as a summons.]

“It seems like you’re worried about my spirit mana, huh?”

[Stop… Stop saying nonsense!!!]

When Davey realized that she was being considerate and revealed a smirk, Ellaim gave an angry shout before scattering into droplets of water.

After Ellaim disappeared, Davey saw Rinne carrying a bag filled with six Armored Trolls on her shoulder. He did not even know when she had brought a bag.

“Do you really want to eat that?”

“Rinne is very satisfied with this new taste data. It’s not bad for dried beef jerky. Rinne highly appreciates sampling this.”

Davey knew that Armored Troll would not taste good, but Rinne did not believe a word of what he said. So, he thought that it would be far more believable if he showed her how it tasted.

After cleaning up the dungeon, Davey immediately pressed his index finger and thumb together.

Warp magic was a very convenient magic. However, it could become a very dangerous magic if one did not know the exact location. Also, Davey was now going to a place that was not very suitable for using warp magic.

Fweeeeeeeeet!

After placing his index finger and thumb in his mouth and whistling sharply, the space in front of Davey twisted and turned. Soon, what greeted Davey were the two Divine Beasts who were stabilizing the Monstrous Rock Giant in the Hyeon Kingdom’s sacred forest.

—Kihyeeeeeeeeck!!!

The brat Fire Chicken roared loudly, revealing its majestic presence with a burst of a huge fiery pillar from beyond the crack in space.

“Come down.”

Of course, the punk hastily tried to manage its emotion.

—Kiiiiing…

Fire Chicken, who was screaming excitedly in the air, shot down like an arrow the moment it heard Davey’s voice. The moment it landed, it immediately pushed its beak into Davey’s open hand.

“…”

Perhaps Fire Chicken thought that what it did was not working well. It immediately got on its back and presented its belly to Davey.

Smiling at the Vermillion Bird’s silly behavior, Davey stroked its bare belly and said, “Want to fly as much as you want?”

—Kiiiing?

“It’s the time for you to get excited, Fire Chicken.”

Fire Chicken’s eyes began to glow at Davey’s words.

A bird had wings, so it should fly in the skies. It must have been very frustrating for Fire Chicken to be cooped up in one place.

Seeing the punk happily jump around while flapping its wings, Davey quickly grabbed Rinne by her armpits, hugged her, and kicked the ground.

“Sir Davey, Rinne feels unpleasant being treated like a child.” Rinne then struggled out of Davey’s hold as she charged toward Fire Chicken’s back.

—Kiyeeeeeck?!

Fire Chicken, who was squawking proudly, stumbled on its feet the moment Rinne landed on its back.

—Ah… Rinne’s weight is beyond extraordinary…

A golem was a golem, and Fire Chicken was unaware that the little silver-haired girl weighed more than 200 kilograms.

Seeing Fire Chicken try its hardest to exert its power and maintain its posture to protect its pride, Davey felt like he was looking at a very proud child.

He silently hugged Rinne from behind and climbed on Fire Chicken’s back.

The ragtag group of warriors foolishly believed that they could stop Nyx’s unsealing and destroy him completely. It might be possible if it was Reina. After all, it was true that she was extraordinary for her age. And if they had Grand Duchess Kathryn, someone who was hailed as the continent’s strongest warrior, by their side, then they would not experience any major difficulties.

But if Davey were to be honest, the First Lich Nyx was not an opponent that they could classify as a simple target of subjugation. However, it was not that hard for Davey per se, just a bit troublesome.

Reina, on the other hand, was far weaker than Kathryn in terms of abilities. So, why would it become possible if she was with them? It was because she could exert a far more powerful force in exchange for her life.

She was already dying. However, she would be burning the rest of her life until she was snuffed out by this last battle. She was thinking of burning all her life and sacrificing everything the moment a problem arose. If Reina truly became a warrior, then she might be able to prevent the danger. What she was trying to do was just a stopgap measure.

Davey did not approve of this plan.

Was it because he felt affection and care for Reina? Was it because he believed in true justice? No. It was Davey’s personal greed to let her do whatever she wanted to do. Also, there was not much profit on Davey’s end if she died just like that.

Nyx had to completely die in this situation, and Davey had to save the reckless warrior who wanted to die of her own will. He also wanted to flick her on the forehead after that.

So, for Davey to win both rewards, he had to do both things. Unlike the jewel which was made of an unknown material and had abilities that he knew nothing of, Davey placed far more importance on the unsealing of one of the transcendental rank items in his Pocket Plane.

Besides, if the Abyss was truly trying to intertwine with this world, then Davey needed to take this opportunity to get more information. On that note, it was necessary for Davey to drive away the damn bastard who was trying to attempt to bring the Abyss to this human-filled world.

“Let’s go. We don’t receive many deals that I’m strongly interested in that have such good rewards.”

“Rinne analyzes that Sir Davey is an expert at dealing the final blow.”

Davey did not deny it. He would let them work hard over there before dealing the final blow to eat up all of the rewards. This plan would ensure that everyone lived and survived, too. It was a win-win situation. He was just making good use of this fact of the matter.

Not long after, Fire Chicken flapped its wings open. At the same time, as if a signal had been fired, a burst of flame exploded and the surrounding forest suddenly turned into the once distant skies.

A sonic boom? It was not that difficult of a feat for a very determined Divine Beast.