The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-264

92. The Main Protagonists of the Rumors and the Imperial Family Summons.

Aside from the auction house, the rest of the building’s underground structure was quite concealed. Clearly, the organizers weren’t fools. Anyone would struggle to find out about this space. Davey could not even check whatever was in here since he had only entered the underground space through a simple device.

Bang!!! Bang!!

However, the loud explosions ringing in Davey’s ears was a clear testament to the fact that someone was already going wild in here.

“How… How can this be…? How did they discover this place…?”

Hearing the monocled man’s embarrassed murmur, Davey stood still and quietly asked, “The slaves?”

“Ah… Excuse me. I have shown you something shameful. I will show you where they are right away. Perhaps our men will have already dealt with the intruders by that time. This is that kind of place, after all.”

The monocled man’s meaning was clear. Even if they were doing illegal things, they were not stupid enough to set up a weak defense. And even if they were under attack, their credibility and their clients’ trust in them preceded everything.

Upon regaining his composure, the monocled man quickly guided Davey to where the slaves were. He moved swiftly along a hidden passage while mumbling nervously, “This is a passage that we originally do not show our customers, but… This is an urgent situation, so I have no choice but to guide you through this path. We’re here.”

It did not take too long for the monocled man to guide Davey to what seemed to be an old underground prison. There were many members of other races being locked up here, but the man ignored them all to lead Davey to the largest cell.

“What about the rest of these guys?”

“Ah. They are still undergoing our process to have them under control. We’re supposed to put them up for auction two months later, but… Ah. This is it,” the monocled man murmured shortly as he opened the iron bars.

There, Davey saw several women with blank expressions on their faces huddled together. He could see young girls and women who had gone beyond adulthood. The one thing all these women had in common was the fact that Davey had won them in the bidding process at the auction house.

“It seems like the elf just came here recently?”

“Hahaha. The elf is sort of a special case. If we hold on to her for a long time and get caught, then it would not be easy to take care of the consequences.”

“The consequences?”

“Yes. I actually…think you should know it too. Actually, this elf slave was brought here from the Heins Territory. And as you know, there’s quite a dangerous figure living in Rowane Kingdom’s Heins Territory. What I’m trying to tell you is that it isn’t easy to take anyone from there and if you get caught then...”

Davey nodded. “That’s right. If you get caught, then he won’t let you go.”

“Right? On top of that, Prince Davey O’Rowane, the Lord of the Heins Territory, also received the title of Saint from the Holy Empire…” The monocled man trailed off as he looked back at Davey with a stiff face.

Noticing that something was strange, the man then asked, “How did you know that the elf slave came in just recently…?”

“Answer my question first.”

“…”

“Why did you take them even though you knew that you would be slaughtered?”

When the man’s eyes widened at his short yet blunt question, Davey said, “At this point, you should already know who is the one capable of spending so much money just to purchase slaves, right?”

“No… No way!!!” The monocled man shouted as his eyes grew wide in shock.

Boom!!!

Before he could even react, the monocled man’s right leg exploded and spurted out blood. As if he had been struck by a bomb, his wound was spurting blood like a fountain.

“Kyaaaaaaaack!!!”

Some of the women who still had their wits about them screamed at the terrible scene in front of them.

“Keuwaaaaaaack!!!”

Davey quietly took off his mask after stepping on the screaming monocled man, who had collapsed from the overwhelming pain.

The monocled man looked up at Davey in disbelief. “H… How did you…? Here…?”

“There’s something that you’ve gotten wrong. So, I’m going to let you know.”

That was just how people lived. No matter how good or kind they were, they would eventually show gaps in their thoughts. Even if they lived kindly, they would eventually reach their limit and cross a line that they should never cross. And once that line was crossed, there would be no turning back.

This black market right here was the source of darkness that birthed the circumstances that had these people crossing the line. This was a fact of their situation, but…

“If we’re talking about a normal scenario, then no one would be able to find anything as long as they have been brought here. After all, the continent is very vast. We would eventually hit a threshold after searching very hard and very long.”

In Davey’s previous life, they had struggled to find people who had gone missing or had been trafficked, even though they had very advanced means of communication. However, it was not the same here.

“A human being will only take two kinds of actions upon being placed in such a situation. One, accept reality and repair their own barns and homes, making sure that it is stronger and sturdier to prevent something similar from happening again.”

The second action would be applicable to those who could not accept reality. These people would continue to invest their time and money to recover what they had lost.

Either way, both courses of action would not give the answer that Davey wanted so he had chosen neither of the two.

“Reality is reality. Of course, I have to make sure that the bastards who dared to reach their hands out and touch me and my people experience the bitterness of life. Only then will my anger simmer down,” Davey said as he pulled out two thin daggers from his Pocket Plane to stab the monocled man.

“Aaaaaaaaaack!” The monocled man let out another bloodcurdling scream. The pain was so overwhelming that he could not even speak or form words to express himself.

“You will suffer this terrible pain for around half an hour before dying. You should know that the lives of the people that you have taken are quite expensive.”

“Urk… Urk!”

Davey walked forward slowly, ignoring the desperate struggle of the monocled man whose eyes had turned bloodshot from the pain.

Most of the women who had been held captive only had blank expressions on their faces. Davey could see that only two girls still had their sanity intact, and they were none other than two of the three girls who had been kidnapped from the Heins Territory.

“You’ve suffered terribly…”

“Sniffle…”

“Sob… sob…”

The two girls, who had seen Davey’s face clearly, approached him. Their eyes grew wide in surprise upon realizing the identity of the person in front of them.

Davey silently hugged the two girls and patted them on the back while saying, “You must have been scared, right? Don’t worry, I came here to find you.”

The girls burst into tears the moment they saw the silent smile on Davey’s face. They burrowed deeper into his arms to feel the comfort that he was offering.

“Waaaaaaaah! It was so scary! We were so scared!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

The two girls had never held a conversation with Davey before. However, being young, it did not matter to them just what Davey’s relationship to them was. What was important to them was the fact that their seigneur had personally come here to save them, the ones who had been taken away from their homes.

Although it was slightly coldhearted, Davey told them that they had to go back now.

He was aware that the two girls, whose minds had never been suppressed, must have felt immense fear. After all, they were witnesses to everything that had happened here. So, Davey had no choice but to silently pat their backs until they calmed down.

Davey wondered if they weren’t that far from where the surprise attack was taking place. The loud explosions rang non-stop as he continued to calm the two girls down.

“Sob… Your Highness… Sister Mary… There’s something wrong with Sister Mary…” The blue-haired girl, who finally calmed down, pointed at the elven girl. “That… When the scary people put on that weird necklace… She became like that…”

“Mind Suppression…” Davey mumbled quietly as he pondered on what he should do. Then, he patted the girls slowly on the head before continuing, “Let’s go back to our territory first. I’ll figure it out and take care of it once we’re back.”

“Re… Really?!”

“That’s right. I told you that I’ll protect you, remember?” Davey said, smiling gently as if he was soothing his children.

Only then did the two girls show relieved smiles on their faces.

“Well, then… Shall we go?”

Davey did not care whether the group that had staged a surprise attack was a group of warriors or just someone who had come here to make a mess. All he needed to do was to take away all of the people who had been taken captive here.

He had originally planned to slaughter and make the humans in this black market disappear from existence. But with how things were going, it seemed like there were others who were willing to take care of them, so he decided to just leave them alone. What was more important to Davey was the safety of the girls and women who had been held captive here and turned into slaves. Punishing the organizers was a secondary concern to him.

Vwoong!!!

After the two girls left his arms, Davey reached his hand out into the empty space and…

[8th Circle]

[Warp]

Davey cast the ultra-high level space magic, Warp. It was the space magic that had the least after-effects.

The moment the magic was cast, a deep blue crack appeared in front of him along with a transparent and thin barrier. He then said, “Now, you can go inside, right?”

When the girls trembled, Davey patted their heads to calm them down and said, “You don’t have to worry. You will be home the moment you get past that crack.”

After that, the girls nodded their heads firmly and stood up from where they were.

“I’ll release the rest of them, so you girls go ahead first.”

“Yes, sir!” The two girls answered loudly with fierce determination on their faces.

They wrapped the blanket that Davey had taken out of his Pocket Plane around themselves before stepping through the crack.

“Then…let’s send the rest one after the other.”

All of the slaves here were under the Mind Suppression spell. There was no way that they would listen to Davey’s words, because they would only listen to their owners…

“Let’s try to suppress this side then.”

[6th Circle Dark Magic]

[Voice of Specter]

The dark mana in Davey’s body circulated fiercely, turning into black smoke that escaped through his pores and entered the bodies of everyone present in this underground prison.

Swoosh…

Then, Davey pulled out Red Ribbon to slash at the iron bars that trapped all of the women inside. He planned to save them all, so he wasn’t going to leave just yet.

Placing the mask back on his face, Davey then gave orders to all of the slaves who were staring at him with blank expressions through the neatly cut iron bars. He ordered, “Line up quickly and cross that gate one after the other. Move.”

No one answered Davey. However, as if they had been possessed, everyone slowly started to move and approach the spatial crack.

—Didn’t you want to reveal your identity and burn all of them down?

“That’s not a very good option with our current situation. Let’s leave the aggro to those guys over there and just help the people who have been taken captive first.”

Perserque smiled softly as if Davey’s words made her feel better.

Just at that moment…

“Stop right there!”

Baaang!!!

Someone, a woman, suddenly jumped down from the collapsing ceiling and stopped Davey. And the moment the armored woman pointed her sword at Davey, a beastfolk garbed in black clothing attacked Davey without any hesitation. A sharp dagger whizzed through the air and aimed for Davey’s neck.

Considering that there was no killing intent, Davey could tell that the man was just trying to subdue him and stop him from moving. The man had no plans to kill him.

“Where are you going to take these women?! Stop that right away!” The woman shouted coldly.

The beastfolk dug his dagger deeper into Davey’s neck. “Don’t try to play tricks with me! I can’t guarantee your life if you move here.”

“Vendique! Stop that! No reckless killings!”

“Shouldn’t you already realize the reality of this situation? Do you think the situation that we’re in right now is still a joke, huh? Roina?”

The woman holding a sword frowned at the beastfolk’s harsh and cold rebuttal. She looked embarrassed and flustered. “B-But…!”

“Stay out of this. I’m the one who is most suited to dealing with guys like this in our party,” the man shouted at the woman.

Then, he whispered right into Davey’s ear, “Move a single finger and I will kill you. So, don’t move.”

Davey frowned. “Let me ask you this, what in the world are you doing?”

Just as the man was about to answer Davey’s question, the sword-wielding woman named Roina screamed impatiently at Davey, “All of the people here have been taken against their will! Where the hell are you taking them?!”

“And why should I tell you that?”

The woman gritted her teeth. “You bastard!!! You must be the one who bought all of the slaves at the auction house, no?! I can see that terrible dark mana spreading all over your body… You’re a dark mage!”

Davey sighed before he slowly circulated the energy in his body. He was preparing himself to break the arm of the male beastfolk who was pushing his dagger into his neck.

The male beastfolk completely believed that he had overpowered Davey. Even the woman, who was keeping everything in check, seemed to believe that they were the superior party. Unfortunately, they were very wrong.

“You must be the ones who attacked this place, huh? To be honest, you have brought so much inconvenience to me.”

“What?”

“Because of you, I have lost track of so many people.”

Crack!!!

“Ugh?!”

The male beastfolk stiffened once Davey snatched his arm and held it tightly.

“It’s good that you’re doing good deeds. However, you should be aware of the fact that your good deeds are sometimes just a nuisance.”

“Roina! Dodge!!!” The male beastfolk cried out hurriedly.

Davey lightly stomped his foot as a black current of energy shot toward the armored woman. He did not intend to kill her. However, he found her too annoying, so he was going to make her sleep.

Of course, they did not consider that the black current of energy that Davey sent out was a simple suppression.

“Kyaaack!” The woman screamed as she threw herself on the floor and rolled away from the black air current.

When the woman finally stood back up, Davey slammed his elbow against the male beastfolk’s abdomen.

“Urk?!”

Davey kicked the male beastfolk, cracking a few of his ribs. He said, “Stop being so nosy and back off while I’m still in a good mood. You are making a mistake here.”

“Stop joking around! You think I don’t know what you will do to those poor people?! You evil dark mage?!”

The woman’s incessant cries were starting to irk Davey, who responded by flicking Red Ribbon lightly. He had no plans of killing her, but he could still scare her easily.

Although there was a considerable distance between Davey and the woman, he could still cover all of it in one go. With a single step forward, he was already in front of Roina and ready to subdue her.

Roina’s eyes grew wide when she saw Davey move as if he was folding the space between them. She had never considered the fact that Davey would be this fast.

At that point, Davey had to wonder if they truly were a mercenary party. If they truly were one, then why was it so easy to break through their vanguard? Davey gathered his dark mana on his left fist while cutting down the woman’s sword with Red Ribbon.

“Kyack!” Roina collapsed when she saw that Davey was ready to punch her.

Swoosh… vwoooong!!!

At that moment, a black and white flame poured down from the sky. It was targeting Davey.

“Reina!” The flustered Roina shouted in relief from the ground.

In that brief moment, this person had come between them to defend Roina against Davey’s attack. Davey could tell that Reina was quite skilled. He also knew that people with such skills were hard to come by.

Davey looked up at the person who had attacked him with furrowed brows. The one who had disrupted him was another woman, whose face was covered with a thick iron mask. Still, he could tell from her posture that she was rather aloof and dignified. She also looked and felt more mature with silvery white hair.

For some odd reason, Reina felt familiar to Davey even though she had different features, hair color, and figure.

—Illyna?

Perserque mumbled in shock. She definitely shared similar thoughts with Davey regarding the woman named Reina.

Reina felt so similar to Illyna de Pallan that Davey had to wonder if this was how Illyna would look once she got older.

Davey quickly shook away such thoughts. He knew Illyna, who could not wield flames that were black and white. This was the very thing that made Reina and Illyna very different.

“Stop. You are not his match,” the woman said in a low voice.

The air became cold as the atmosphere got tense.

‘See, that’s not even close.’

Besides, Illyna did not have a reason to be here. After all, she was the one who had willingly entered the Pallan Empire’s secret training hall for her closed-door training.