The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1144

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1144

Chapter 1144
“I wonder if I’ve done something unnecessary, Davey.”
“No. Al Hajat, I can only thank you for everything,” Davey said with his legs crossed, slowly swirling a wine glass in one hand.
Al Hajat, watching him with a relaxed smile, returned the calm gesture.
“How’s your latest hobby going?”
“I’ve set up a professional esports team in Korea. All in all, I’ve found esports to be especially fascinating. Though it doesn’t involve intense physical activity, it’s a sport that pushes the brain to its limits. Still, I’ll admit that Korea’s perspective on it is a little unusual.”
Davey knew he was likely referring to growing negative sentiment regarding gaming in South Korea.
“It’s gotten better than before. Thanks to the now-defunct virtual reality game Alf Online, public opinion has already shifted a bit in a positive direction.”
It was no surprise, considering the game had helped not only Korea but the entire world survive catastrophe. It had been the impetus for the forced transformation of humanity.
“Even after everything that happened, people ultimately returned to their regular lives. Normally, things like esports wouldn’t have lasted long, but recovery came at an oddly fast pace,” Al Hajat said while chuckling softly. “In hard times, you have to smile. Art isn’t about rigid pride or outdated snobbery—it should make people feel something, bring them joy.”
That was the reason why he poured so much money into esports, various media ventures, and cultural industries.
“Of course, our country was able to acquire this much funding, thanks to your help.” He smiled contentedly before his eyes suddenly widened. “
Oh—
”
“What is it?”
“Evangeline just went live! Gotta watch. I’m her manager, after all, and I made her a promise to support her.”
Just like that, what was essentially an intercontinental diplomatic conversation came to a halt due to a livestream.
Once Davey casually stood up and looked toward the tablet, he saw Evangeline smiling through the screen.
He began, “Hey, Al Hajat...”
“No.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were going to ask to be her manager, weren’t you?”
“
Wow,
sharp as ever.” Davey clicked his tongue and backed off, at which Al Hajat chuckled.
“Absolutely not.”
“I might just open a rift, you know.”
Al Hajat didn’t back down. “My fingers are faster. I’ll you to Eva.”
‘Damn it.’
“
Oh,
right. Hey, Davey.”
“What,” he replied curtly.
Al Hajat tapped something, then the door opened as a man stepped in and handed over a box.
“What’s this?”
“A gift.”
Davey accepted the box and turned it over in his hands, examining it. “A gift?”
“Yes. Go ahead and open it.”
“Well, since you're giving it to me, I’ll gladly take it.”
When he opened the box, he found a small, cursed item inside. His expression immediately hardened.
“This isn’t a gift.”
“No, it isn’t. To be exact, it’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you about.”
Davey looked down at the peculiar skull inside the box. While it resembled the skull of an animal from the canidae family, like a dog or wolf, it was exceptionally smaller in scale. In fact, it was small enough to fit neatly in one hand.
“A mini imp skull... Looks like something a dark mage would use.”
Mini imps were classified as monsters. What set them apart from their fellow monsters was their latent power that could amplify the abilities of a dark mage. That notoriety earned them the nickname ‘small demons.’
“So? Why are you showing me this?”
“s say this cursed item came from Tionis.”
“Tionis?” Davey replied with narrowed eyes.
“Yes, Tionis. According to the seller, a gate suddenly opened on their farm before this thing popped out. Of course, the only other world I’m familiar with is Tionis, so it’s just speculation on my part.”
“The place you’re talking about. Where is it?”
With the barriers between dimensions weakening, small-scale anomalies had become more common. While it wasn’t weak to the point that humans or living beings could cross dimensions with ease, if the cursed item was truly from Tionis, it meant that dark mages still existed and practiced their dark arts there.
Not that dark mages were inherently evil, though. Specifically, groups like the Illuminati were the problem.
Winley’s husband Yulis had in fact made waves in the academic world a few weeks prior after publishing research on dark magic and proposing new magical theories.
“Your expression doesn’t look good.”
“I can’t help it, you know.”
On the surface, it just looked like a random artifact, while Davey felt certain there was more to it.
“This is a cursed item designed to contain a specific living being’s blood, using it to amplify dark magic in a destructive way. Normally, when a human dark mage uses it, human blood is what’s used to boost its power...”
“Does that mean it contains...?”
“It’s hard to say. Based on the circumstances, that does seem to be the case. Animal blood wouldn’t trigger the same effects, after all.” Davey stared at the small, cursed item that looked plain on the outside, but undoubtedly soaked with blood on the inside.
“I’ll show you the way. Antonio, prepare the helicopter.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“It must be nearby.”
“Yes. Conveniently for you, it was found right here in our territory.” Al Hajat rose from his seat, hands behind his back, and looked out the window. “I hope nothing serious comes of it.”
“Don’t worry. Earth is no longer as susceptible to outside influence as it used to be. Thanks to your item, I’ve found something interesting to do.”
After flying for quite a while on the helicopter Al Hajat had prepared, Davey arrived at a rural area where several farms were clustered together. From there, the surroundings became much clearer.
“The residents here have been temporarily relocated. I sent them on vacation just in case, since we can’t risk casualties.”
His judgment was on point. A mini imp’s skull was one thing—if something more dangerous had come through, it could’ve led to a disaster.
“This is the place.”
Following Antonio’s lead, Davey stepped into the farmhouse and approached a small crater in the ground.
Startled, Antonio moved to stop him, then hesitated halfway and let him go.
“There was definitely some dimensional distortion happening here.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“No. It has already dissipated, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“That’s a relief. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Davey gave a small nod. From Al Hajat’s perspective, such an anomaly would’ve been deeply concerning.
Davey, on the other hand, had only gone to confirm whether the cursed item truly came from Tionis or not.
“If it really did cross over dimensions, can you tell exactly where it came from?”
“Give me a moment.”
Davey glided down into the center of the crater and placed his hand on the ground. He closed his eyes for a moment before they slowly opened.
Shing!!
A soft blue glow wrapped his entire body. His hair grew long, and his build began to shrink.
With his smaller frame, slender body, and long hair, he now possessed a body that most would think of as somewhat feminine. The body itself was different from a human woman’s, however, being the powerful genderless form bestowed upon him.
Of course, part of the inspiration for the androgynous form came from Goddess Freyja’s personal preference. Yet more importantly, it was likely tied to the fact that, ten thousand years before, Davey had existed as a high priestess known as Freyja.
Not that he remembered that past life, or that it mattered any longer.
“Davey?” Al Hajat looked puzzled by the sudden transformation, but Davey remained calm and collected.
He lifted his hand from the ground, raising it high, then spread both hands apart as if pulling something open.
Whuuum!!
Boom!
An enormous surge of energy rippled outward all at once, forming waves of brilliant blue light.
Davey didn’t say a word. He simply observed the shifting patterns of light, adjusting them subtly with each motion.
After a while spent working his power, Davey returned to his original form.
Al Hajat quietly stepped into the crater and stood beside him. “Davey, are you alright?”
No response.
“Davey?”
“
Ah.
Yes, I’m fine. I just had a few things on my mind,” he answered calmly while looking down at the mini imp skull. “This definitely came from Tionis.”
“So it really did.”
The residual dimensional signature left there matched that of Tionis exactly.
“Was it easy to identify its origins?”
“Normally, it wouldn’t have been. Every world, no, every region really, has subtle differences.”
Even so, he recognized it right away.
The reason was simple, with the dimensional residue having come from a place far too familiar to him.
“It’s from my territory. Not just anywhere, but my Heins Territory. There’s no way I’d ever mistake it,” he muttered in a bitter tone.
Antonio’s eyes widened in shock, but Al Hajat motioned for him to remain silent. Davey felt a sense of unease creep up within him.
“Don’t worry about this. I’ll handle everything since this is Tionis business. I’ll make sure Earth doesn’t suffer any consequences.”
The nagging thought that it might be the remnants of the Illuminati repeatedly crept into his mind.
Al Hajat hesitated. “But... what if it’s something truly dangerous?”
“If this thing really holds human blood? In that case, there’s only one answer to this mess.” Davey then looked straight into his eyes with an ice-cold expression. “I find whoever’s responsible, and I kill them.”
Al Hajat gave a long sigh at his answer.
* * *
Somewhere within the shadowy backstreets of Heins Territory stood a gloomy, remote warehouse. The dim interior was lit by five grimy, half-melted candles, their light barely illuminating the room. Four figures sat cloaked in black robes around a table within, silently staring at one another.
“Then, I’ll begin the status .” One of them finally broke the silence in a voice that sounded deliberately altered.
“The first experiment was a failure. We conducted multiple clinical trials, but the findings were uniformly horrific. These... are the results,” they said while pulling something out from beneath their cloak.
It was a sealed box containing a lump of raw flesh. The others recoiled instinctively.
“Then what about the second experiment?” another asked quietly.
“The second showed some promise, but the toxicity proved too strong. Not only did the fat dissolve, but the muscle tissues were completely dissolved as well. However, we’ve calculated that the failure was due to not using a proper mini imp skull. As long as we use the right one, success is possible.”
“I see,” muttered one of the smaller robed figures, stroking their chin.
All their voices were distorted, making it impossible to identify them.
“If all projected simulations fail... then I can no longer take part in this cooperation.”
“Wait, you’re pulling out just like that?”
“Weren’t we only working together because our interests aligned? If there’s nothing to gain...”
As one participant grew skeptical, the ing figure hurriedly pulled something else from their cloak. It was a peculiar flower.
“This is a newly bred species, the only successful result so far.”
“That’s...”
“Yes. With just a bit more refinement, it could still fulfill your wish. It will neutralize the power of the cursed item that’s arriving soon. It is with this that we will succeed. We even had help from a lich.”
“
Oh-ho.
In that case...”
Suddenly, all four robed figures began to twitch and giggle under their hoods. Such a jovial mood felt decidedly out of place in that eerie atmosphere; the stench of the mysterious meat, bones, and strange plants filled the surrounding.
Clunk. Click!
Light abruptly filled the shadowed room.
“Well, look at you all fucking around again. You even turned the mana stone lanterns off! What were you folks up to?”
The four flinched and looked up to the person who spoke in a deep voice.
“Who are you all supposed to be? The children of darkness? Hey, Miss Yuria.
Hmm.
What are these weird glyphs all over the damn floor?”
He stomped on the magic circle with a huff.
“Aaaah!
No! That took me forever to draw!
”
The person who had been giving the threw off their robe in frustration, and bright blue hair spilled out over their shoulders.
“Elder Goulda, you’re really killing the vibe here!” Yuria Helishana scowled.
“Objection noted. Elder Goulda is extremely stiff. Stuck in his ways,” a small figure said as they tossed off their hood to reveal a glowing white halo floating above their head.
“
Tsk, tsk.
Is this a cabal of dark mages or the Gourmet Research Society established earlier this year? Do you have time to mess around like this? Last I checked, the territory’s finance s were still blank.”
Goulda clicked his tongue, looking at Yuria like she was pathetic.
Yuria grit her teeth and shoved a box toward him with a loud scrape, causing the completed flower inside to be violently shaken. “Look! This is what we’ve been working on in secret! It’s really useful!”
Just then, another figure took their robe off. “Hey, be careful with that! That’s an herbal remedy for my grandpa!”
The third figure was none other than Tiara, the granddaughter of the technical advisor Edison.
“His health’s been failing, and I need to feed him good stuff! If you ruin something we tried so hard to complete, how are you going to take responsibility?”
“
Oh.
Sorry about that.”
The final robed figure sighed and pulled off their hood. It was Jack, disguised as Aina Helishana.
“I can’t believe you’re killing the mood like this. We were just trying to make things more fun.”
“Mood, my ass!” Goulda snapped. “While you're all goofing around like this, the cursed item or whatever crap of the dark mage surfaced in Heins territory. The Wise Teacher is about to lose his mind tracking down the culprit, and this is what I find you all doing?”
Everyone froze.
“
Eh?
”
“What?!”
Yuria bit her fingernails nervously. “A dark magic item? Wait... is it a mini imp skull?!”
“How did you know?”
Her face went pale in an instant. “W-What do we do?!”
“I mean...Okay, sure, it’s a creepy cursed item, but Iro said it would help tenderize armored boar meat.”
If used by a dark mage, the cursed item would amplify their power. Yet to those not proficient in black magic, it was simply a bizarre artifact that interacted strangely with any living being sharing the same blood it was given.
“Rinne s she soaked it with an armored boar's blood.”
The mini imp skull’s strange interaction weakened the body of beings that had the same blood as it.
Since armored boar meat was famously tough and hard to eat, Yuria had collaborated with Iro, using it to develop a method to make it tender. By storing the meat near the skull, it would become significantly softer within a few days.
Using a magical amplification cursed item for food preparation was something no one would even think of under normal circumstances. However, Yuria and Iro both had their own unique brand of unhinged brilliance about them.
From the outside, the cursed item looked like it had been soaked in human blood. In truth, it was a fake cursed item that was only infused with the blood of a monster called an armored boar. Davey had just happened to find it by pure coincidence.
The issue was that, without a detailed investigation, it was nearly impossible to distinguish the difference between a fake and a genuine article.
“So what you’re saying is... Tiara’s dream of making an aphrodisiac is going up in smoke?”
“W-Wait, why would you even say that?! And it’s not an aphrodisiac!! I just wanted my grandpa to be a bit healthier, that’s all!”
“Of course, of course. I'm sure Tiara was purely concerned about her grandfather’s wellbeing. However, even though you two aren’t actually blood-related, the age gap between you is still a little—”
“
Ugh!
S-Shut up! Dwarves live a long time!” Flustered, Tiara shot up and pounded the table with both hands.
Elder Goulda shrugged as he looked over the chaos, then suddenly slapped the back of Jack, who was still disguised as Aina.
“I can’t believe this. The so-called Shadow Master, playing house with kids in some musty shed!”
Smack! Smack!
The harsh blows made Aina flinch. “I-It tasted good... And it’s not playing house! It was a structured—”
“Did you really have to wear those stinky robes to do it?
Hmm?
”
“Well... The main ingredient was technically a dark mage’s artifact, so we figured a little roleplay would help set the mood—”
“You imbecile! Use common sense with your roleplays. Especially now, when an actual cursed item has surfaced. Wait... what did you just say? You made that thing?”
“
Uh... mhm.
We were curious about the flavor of armored boar meat, so Rinne and I went out and collected blood straight from the source.”
“I see. What difference does that make?”
“It just helps tenderize the meat, that’s all...”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
As Aina muttered dryly, Rinne fixed her half-lidded eyes on her. She figured Aina was probably going along with whatever happened purely because she wanted to taste whatever her younger sibling was cooking.
Tiara and Yuria—an elf from the Moon Forest—probably joined because they also enjoyed indulging in such strange antics. For Rinne, what was important was that the food was good—nothing else mattered.
“I mean, we even went all-in with the vibe because the real dark mage item was supposed to arrive soon... So why did it end up in Gracious Savior’s hands instead?”
“That’s what’s odd. There’s no way the Wise Teacher wouldn’t notice the difference when holding it.”
“Exactly. He may have already figured out it’s not human blood, but monster blood instead.”
If that was the case, there was a chance that things wouldn’t spiral out of control after all.
“And what about Davey?”
“As soon as he arrived, he demanded the Shadow Master be summoned for an investigation. I came personally.”
“Well... since it’s the Gracious Savior, he probably noticed it was a bit off. If he knows the cursed item is different from what a dark mage would typically use, at least he won’t cause a stir.”
Or so they thought. It didn’t take long for their expressions to harden once they stepped out of the warehouse.
Soldiers were already sweeping through the territory in a desperate search.
“Rinne, burn the robes and all other traces left behind.”
“
Uh...
This is starting to feel serious.” Yuria Helishana’s face went pale as she looked around, clearly never having imagined their antics would snowball into such a mess.
* * *
Davey, having returned to Heins Territory, stood silently before the four cursed items arranged in front of him.
Starting from the left was the one he had received from Al Hajat, followed by three others he had discovered throughout the territory in his search.
Each one had been hidden well. The landowners where the items were found had shown nothing but genuine confusion when asked about them. They’d clearly had no idea that such items had ever been placed on their property.
In other words, someone had snuck into Heins Territory and surreptitiously planted them.
Davey infused one of the cursed items with mana to scan its interior. As he did, traces of mana genetics—mana pattern traits unique to human blood—began to seep out.
If he hadn’t discovered the first cursed item back on Earth, it could’ve led to unnecessary casualties. Thankfully, he’d found them in time. Alas, the culprit was yet to be identified.
He had hoped that maybe the blood wasn’t human after all. He carefully analyzed the other three artifacts.
Unfortunately, the results were the same for each—the blood was unmistakably human.
Davey’s eyes narrowed, staring at the mini imp skulls. What he didn’t know was that the fake cursed item Yuria had chosen for her absurd cooking experiment had, entirely coincidentally, allowed him to detect legitimate traces of dark magic hidden throughout the territory.
On the other hand, the members of the eccentric Gourmet Research Society had all frozen up.
A real search began before they could actually use their fake cursed item and enjoy that tender meat!

Chapter 1144