The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1168

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1168

Chapter 1168
The dark ocean beneath the moonlit night sky was pitch black.
The only sources of light were Chandra’s wings; the scattered particles of light she spread around her; the illumination from the Atlas; and the flames from explosions.
Fighting amidst the icy, churning waves, the creatures Chandra summoned crumbled without even having the chance to fight back. They were overwhelmed by the combined power of the two Mythical Beast Kings alongside the additional four Divine Beasts that had joined the battle.
The Butterfly Empress Chandra wielded a power that brought illusions to life, allowing them to perform real, tangible attacks. It was unmistakably similar to Verdandi’s ability to impose fantasy onto reality. As such, there was practically no power better suited to subduing her without killing her than Verdandi’s.
Formless energies clashed at one another.
While Chandra screamed and fought desperately, Verdandi simply waved her hand with a calm, unbothered expression.
“If she loses control any further, not even what we came to save will survive.”
Rustle!!
With a sigh, Verdandi made a decision and floated a leather-bound book into the air. The book hovered above her palm, pages flipping rapidly as if searching for something on its own.
Once it finally stopped on a certain page, she reached in with her other hand, plucking something from the book and tossing it into the air.
[Sleep.]
Boom!!
At her command, reality got pulled into the fantasy. Exposed to a massive-scale illusion, Chandra tried fiercely to resist but eventually lost consciousness and collapsed.
Verdandi approached her limp body and quietly infused her own power into Chandra, then slowly floated down toward Davey while levitating the woman next to her.
Wearing a faintly irritated expression, she tossed Chandra to Davey. “She’s finally calmed down. Looks like there’s something embedded in her deep subconscious from a special contract.”
“Her deep subconscious?”
“Only the ones involved in the contract she signed would know what it is. Either way, I’ve suppressed her enough so that she won’t go berserk for a while. You can take care of the rest.”
“You mean this isn’t a fundamental fix?” Davey made a surprised face, realizing the root of the issue hadn’t been resolved.
“I firmly believe that nothing can be done unless we tamper with the very laws of the world.”
She hugged the leather-bound book tightly. “Her power is laughably weak compared to mine, but that’s only because she’s not at full strength. For some reason, she’s lost most of her power.”
“And if she were at full strength?”
Verdandi shrugged. “Who knows?”
Verdandi wasn’t born as a Princess of the Abyss, yet she had still worked hard to become the high-ranking princess who gained the power of the Abyss she was.
Knowing her identity, her statement was all the more shocking.
Whooom!! Boom!!
While Davey stood silently, the distant Fire Chicken landed swiftly next to him, carrying an unconscious marine by the mouth.
“
Hup!
”
Right behind it, Behemoth’s tentacles roughly lifted those who’d fallen into the water and dropped them onto the carrier’s runway, causing Captain Vista to groan. “This is a mentally exhausting night... Even though those things are allies, just looking at them makes my heart shrink.”
The Mythical Beast Kings looked terrifying by nature. No matter how good of allies they were, it was impossible not to be afraid of them.
“As promised, you can now take the island and deal with it however you see fit. Before that, I believe some of your men have been brainwashed.”
“
Ugh.
How can you be sure?”
“When Chandra attacked, I blocked everything she sent, yet explosions still occurred.”
At a glance, it might’ve looked like Davey had failed to block Chandra’s attack, leaving it to strike the escort ship. However, he had clearly blocked it completely. The explosion had instead originated from inside the escort ship.
“I see. That explains why no orders were effective at the beginning of the engagement.”
He remembered that the escort ship had opened fire despite the initial order to avoid conflict.
“I’m just telling you that something serious could happen from the inside if you aren’t careful in how you handle them. Nonetheless, you’ll probably find the anomaly pretty quickly.”
“That’s a relief to hear.”
Davey looked down at the unconscious Chandra with an annoyed expression. “Verdandi.”
“What now?”
“Help me with something again.”
* * *
When the Butterfly Empress Chandra finally woke from her deep, abyss-like sleep, the first thing she saw was a spinning mobile meant for children dangling right in front of her face.
It hung directly above her, playing a gentle tune. The mobile featured tiny elephants, lions, and various other animals swaying cutely.
It was a completely unfamiliar sight for someone like her.
Clutching her throbbing head, she tried to lift herself up and think about how she’d ended up in such a state, but nothing came to mind.
Instead, she felt something that deeply unsettled her.
Two pairs of eyes.
Startled, Chandra flinched as she saw two figures staring at her like they’d just discovered a new toy.
“You’re awake,” said an elf with a bright smile.
Elves were an incredibly rare race, even in her own homeland. They were the race of forests, and among those Chandra had once lost, many had been elves.
“You’re... an elf?”
“Yes! A high elf, no less.”
The playful tone didn’t match her at all.
Chandra let out a brief sigh of relief after scanning her with a wary expression. Even so, it wasn’t long before her face twisted in discomfort at the strange presence next to the elf.
She looked like a human child, particularly a girl with long, low twin-tails that hung down either side of her head. No matter how many times Chandra looked, she couldn’t bring herself to believe the girl was truly human. She had a good reason for her doubt—the girl had opened her own arm up like a mechanical device, and was fiddling with something inside.
She resembled a human, yet she clearly wasn’t one.
From Chandra’s perspective, the emotionless girl bore a striking resemblance to the epitome of human greed—a homunculus or golem.
Still, she had never seen a golem with such a level of absurd technology fused together, not in her entire life.
‘Well... I guess this is a world where lumps of metal roll around on their own.’
The elf offered her a small teacup. “Would you like a sip? It’s good for the body, and I promise it tastes great too.”
Sporting a cheerful and harmless smile, the elf offered her the tea. Chandra took it reluctantly.
She brought the cup to her lips and took a cautious sip. “Goodness...”
Her eyes went wide the moment the tea touched her tongue. As if afraid someone might snatch it away, she quickly gulped down the rest and then stared at the elf.
“Would you like some more?”
“Please. But... where am I? What is this bizarre room?”
The first thing she saw after waking up had been a mobile. That fact alone had left her feeling unsettled.
In response to her question, the elf smiled brightly. “This is the Gracious Savior’s villa. Don’t worry, no one here will hurt you.”
Chandra didn’t know how to respond. She had no idea who that ‘Gracious Savior’ could be. The last thing she remembered was a splitting headache. Everything else remained a blur.
“Butterfly Empress Chandra, Rinne states you had previously entered an extreme berserk state. Rinne states she had caused major damage.”
The emotionless little golem girl finally spoke. Chandra’s brow twitched. “Are you saying... I went berserk?”
“Subdued by Master Davey eventually. However, Rinne determines there to be uncertainty remaining. Rinne assesses protective custody and monitoring as necessary.”
The moment she heard his name, she immediately recognized it, and her wariness surged.
It seemed he had brought her there after she lost consciousness.
“Well, don’t take it too seriously. We're technically monitoring you, but we volunteered for the job.”
“Rinne evaluates the possibility of becoming a member of the Gourmet Research Society highly.” Rinne nodded with her expressionless face. Though she was clearly emotionless, for some reason, she still looked pleased.
“Why... did you let me live?”
“Well, we don’t know that either. Oh right, we haven’t even introduced ourselves, have we? Nice to meet you, I’m Yuria Helishana. I may be a bit lacking, but I serve as the President of the Gourmet Research Society.”
“Rinne. Bio-golem. Sephiroth. Rinnes s as the Vice President of the Gourmet Research Society.”
Looking at the bizarre combination of elf and golem standing in the strange, unfamiliar room, Chandra felt another headache coming on.
“Does your head hurt? That’s odd. I even bought and set up the mobile to create a relaxing atmosphere...”
“Rinne believes mobiles are only effective on Myuu. Rinne concludes Yuria’s intelligence to be lowly.”
At her remark, Yuria walked over to her with a bright smile. Then, still smiling cheerfully, she poured her tea directly into her arm, which she was still working on.
Caught completely off guard, Rinne screamed with her expressionless face. “
Aaarghhh!
”
“
Oops.
My hand slipped.”
“Rinne warns of revenge.”
Watching her collapse, trembling as if she’d been electrocuted, Yuria clapped her hands cheerfully. “Well then! Now that the interruption has been taken care of, how about we begin a proper interview?”
“I-Interview?”
“
Hm?
Wasn’t that what this was? I heard you wanted to join the Gourmet Research Society, no?”
‘What kind of nonsense is she talking about?’
Chandra stared blankly at Yuria, yet before she could say anything, Yuria had already grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along. Caught off guard, Chandra found herself dragged away.
Without a moment to protest, she was seated at a pre-arranged dining table.
“Here, try some of these first.”
Seated at the table in a daze, Chandra glanced around. The house was quiet and cozy.
Just as she was about to wonder what kind of place it was, her attention was drawn to the array of dishes laid out in front of her.
“These are the new creations of the Gourmet Research Society using Earth’s ingredients. Go ahead, give them a try.”
As she looked at Yuria smiling brightly across the table, Chandra slowly reached out and picked up a donut that was giving off a warm, buttery aroma.
She took a bite. Then her eyes went wide.
“How is it?”
“It’s... delicious!”
Yuria nodded enthusiastically at her shocked exclamation, clearly pleased. “I knew you were a foodie!”
“Foodie...? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you know good food when you eat it. So, how about it? Want to join our Gourmet Research Society? We only have four members right now, but once you join that’ll make five.”
Facing the sudden proposal, Chandra hesitated with a mouth full of donuts.
‘So if I join this Gourmet Research Society... I can research and eat more delicious food like this?’
She was about to nod when she suddenly paused. Her eyes narrowed before she slowly set the donut down. “Sorry, but I’ll have to refuse. I can’t coexist with humans. If I can’t destroy them all... then my only option is to die.”
“
Hm.
But is there even anyone besides the Gracious Savior who can kill you?”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Yuria was right, of course. She couldn’t kill herself, and had no way to force herself into death. That was exactly why she needed someone powerful enough to end her for good.
For someone like her, whose desire to die had long outweighed her thirst for vengeance, Davey had become the only real option to make that happen.
Of course, she hadn't told that to anyone in detail.
“But it doesn’t look like the Gracious Savior intends to let you go until he uses you to catch that crow mask or whatever it is.”
‘Damn that crow mask! Why did it have to show up and complicate everything?’
Unable to die just yet, she began to waver.
‘Maybe... if I just endure a little longer... it’ll be fine?’
She slightly shivered at what she'd just considered.
At that moment, Yuria carefully took out a wrapped goodie from a small box. It was a brown, mochi-like treat that released a scent Chandra’s nose recognized instantly.
Yuria held it in her hand and began to wave it back and forth. Chandra, without realizing it, shifted her eyes to follow the treat.
Her behavior looked exactly like that of Bluefin, the cat Perserque owned, twitching her head around like crazy whenever someone waved catnip.
“This is made with honey from Earth mixed with a special ingredient. I figured, since you have butterfly wings, you might like honey. Seems I was right.”
Yuria, having sensitive ears, could hear Chandra swallowing her saliva clearly.
“So, how ‘bout it? All you have to do is sign here, and it’s yours.”
“T-That...”
“Oh dear, if you’re not interested, then I suppose there’s nothing I can do. I just had a feeling we’d get along, so I wanted to share some tasty things with you as a fellow temporary member of the Gourmet Research Society.”
Just as she turned to approach the collapsed Rinne, Chandra suddenly shot up and grabbed Yuria by the hem of her shirt. “W-Wait a minute!”
She was the Butterfly Empress—if nothing else, honey held immense significance to her.
“I-If it’s just for a little while...”
“Wonderful! Welcome aboard!”
Seeing Yuria clapping her hands and beaming with joy, Chandra was overcome with deep shame.
‘What am I even doing right now?’
A wave of bitter regret surged in her chest.
“Here, a gift! I made it myself as the president, just for you. Now, go ahead and sign your name right here on this membership form.”
Staring at the paper Yuria handed her, Chandra blankly signed her name.
It was labeled as a membership application form.
As she gazed at the signed form, Yuria smiled. “
Hehe.
That was surprisingly easy.”
She giggled and picked up the paper. Then with a flutter, another sheet that had been hidden underneath slipped free and fell to the floor.
“W-What?!”
“There’s a saying on Earth, Chandra. ‘No takesies backsies, bro’.”
“Rinne s a saying that Master Davey always says, ‘Didn’t anyone teach you not to sign carelessly’?”
Rinne, who had supposedly been knocked out, stood up and walked over as if nothing had happened before casually joining the conversation. Chandra’s expression twisted in disbelief.
“Gracious Savior really struggles with things this easy,
huh?
”
The hidden document wasn’t just any piece of paper—it was a mana contract crafted using massive amounts of dark mana. Chandra had signed it without a clue.
The content of that contract was absurdly simple.
“Y-Youuuu!!!”

.
!
Chapter 1168