The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-504

Originally, there should have been just one box inside the black cupboard. However, there were a total of four classy and luxurious boxes lined up inside. Furthermore, each of those boxes contained elixirs that rivaled the Millennium Pill.

Illyna carefully reached for the small pill held inside the box that opened with a thud.

“Heok?! Goddess Freyja!” Illyna shouted in fear. “My god… What in the world is this?!”

“That’s a Millennium Pill. There’s only an extremely small chance that the dews pooled inside caves would be able to hold mana.”

“That…”

“Basically, the Millennium Pill is created by combining that dew with several 500-year-old spiritual plants. On top of that, the pill has already aged for hundreds of years.”

The price? It was, of course, priceless.

“Wow… So, these are the legendary pills that can only be seen and heard of in fairy tales…” Illyna's eyes sparkled.

Illyna might not have known about the vein opening that Davey had given her since she hadn't heard much about it. However, that wasn't the case for this elixir. She could instantly tell how good and valuable it was just by listening to Davey’s explanation.

“I have seen similar potions in the Imperial Palace too. However, the oldest I have seen had only been aged for a hundred years…”

“It’s usually impossible to maintain potions beyond a hundred years.”

There was an obvious and significant difference between a hundred and a thousand years. That's how priceless the value of this pill was.

“If you read novels and fairy tales, you'd often see characters eating thousand-year-old pills and elixirs like they were munching on snacks. It’s complete nonsense.”

The mere fact that obtaining all the materials and ingredients had a slim chance showcased how valuable these pills and elixirs were. And even after collecting those ingredients, there was still a gamble to create one. Moreover, in the case of successful creation, managing these pills and elixirs for more than a hundred years posed significant challenges.

To put it simply, those novels and fairy tales were complete nonsense.

“So… Are you really giving me this?”

“You don’t want it then?”

“N-No! That’s not it… It’s just… It’s too precious…”

"I wouldn't even feel any effects from that pill."

Either way, Davey had to decide whether to keep it or give it away. Even if he chose to give them to Baris or Winley, these pills wouldn't show much efficiency. Essentially, he was simply handing them to those in need. However, the crucial reason was that this pill couldn't be ingested alone.

"It can't be taken alone?"

"You need someone to guide the mana in your body. The issue is that you require someone at the 8th Circle or higher to perform such a task."

If someone recklessly consumed this pill, they'd end up crippled or, worse, in a semi-vegetative state.

"What if there's no one?"

"You'll become manic and berserk, destroying everything in your path."

In essence, the harm outweighed the benefits.

"So, it's impossible to consume..."

Finding someone at the 8th Circle wasn't an easy task. Illyna clicked her tongue in fear, turning away from the pills.

"Then..."

"Wait a moment. I'll try to minimize the damage as much as possible," Davey said calmly as he reached into his Pocket Plane, retrieving a vial of white ink dye and a high-quality brush made with seven colored feathers. He then knelt on the ground. "I'll draw a magic circle here..."

Davey's sudden silence and shift in gaze caught Illyna's attention, pulling her focus from the scent of the Millennium Pill.

"Davey? What's wrong…?"

[How dare you come to this place!!! I will send you to the depths of hell, you bastard!!!]

A terrifying voice suddenly resounded, enveloping them with an unknown yet potent force.

"Urk?!" Illyna groaned, hands instinctively covering her ears as the powerful voice reverberated around them, laden with a force that seemed capable of obliterating them. Words held immense power, but few wielded them to create such tangible momentum.

[You, you haven't made any preparations?! Then, get swept away by this black hole!]

Simultaneously, darkness materialized beneath their feet, swirling and engulfing the area. It resembled a swamp akin to a black hole in the universe, though distinct from the light-devouring black holes.

Unlike Davey, Illyna seemed unprepared for this sudden turn of events. They weren't given a moment to react before being sucked into the black hole.

***

Their surroundings underwent an instant transformation.

‘Black hole, huh… This scammer. It's not a black hole. It's merely magic that swiftly relocates the target using a prepared magic circle.’

To onlookers, it might appear as a black hole, but Davey discerned the devil's mana around him. After all, devil mana ultimately remained a form of mana.

Yet, what surprised Davey was the magic's purity, reaching the 7th Circle if not the 8th Circle.

‘The world is vast and teeming with countless lunatics.’

Having not encountered the subterranean mountain range's monsters, Davey hadn't expected to face such a deranged entity.

“Kyaaaack!” Illyna screamed, her face twisted in a frown as she was expelled from the rift in the empty space.

They found themselves in a dark, damp, prison-like area. Illyna promptly heightened her vision and summoned Caldeiras' light to brighten their surroundings upon realizing the lack of exits.

Meanwhile, Davey employed one of the basic magics utilized by devil and dark mages on his eyes—a spell enabling him to acclimate to darkness and see through it.

[This is hell. You haven't lived honestly. Your greed brought you here. Repent. God will show mercy if you do.]

Those words prompted Illyna to grit her teeth. “What?! Hell?! Don't mock me!!!”

Clutching Caldeiras tightly, she intensified the illumination, preparing for any potential threat.

"Enough."

“Kyaaaack!”

However, as Davey stealthily approached from behind and placed his hand on her shoulder, she immediately collapsed.

‘I haven't even used Sensory Amplification yet? Ah, I've erased my presence.’

“You, you scared me!!!”

“This is interesting.”

“What, what is interesting?!” Illyna cried out, surprise evident on her face.

“Sit. I will help you absorb the Millennium Pill.”

Davey didn't believe it would propel her to the Sword Saint level yet, but if it doubled her mana, he considered it an effective use of the pill.

“What are you talking about?! We don’t even know where our enemies are!!!”

[Fufufufufu! That’s right! Come, repent! This is hell. And if you don’t repent, then you will receive severe training and education…]

“I told you to sit. This is important, so stay put and don’t move a single muscle,” Davey interrupted the voice as he used the brush and the white ink dye from before.

Ordinarily, a brush wasn't made with bird feathers. However, these birds had feathers resembling animal hair, exceptionally soft and unique.

“What are you going on about?! The enemy is…”

Davey extended his hand toward Caldeiras, extinguishing the sword's light. Then, with a wave of his hands, dozens of light spheres flashed into existence, illuminating the area.

“There’s no such thing as an easy hell in this world.”

Initially, the space where they landed seemed empty. Yet, upon closer inspection, there were a few small bags filled with grain and some water bags in the corner—obviously provisions left for those sent here.

“See. How long will you lock us up here?”

[Living can also be a sort of repentance!]

“Ah, yes.”

‘What a funny bastard.’

He didn't need to follow the rhythm of such a humorous guy. So, all Davey did was throw the Megatron’s cube and draw the magic circle with his feather brush and white ink dye.

Magic circles originally lacked inherent power. However, by leveraging the concept of magic reactions and employing reagents like Moon Flower powder, quicksilver liquid, and various other components, one could extract a reaction from the magic circle.

Illyna, who had silently observed Davey working on setting up the magic circle, was startled when she noticed him looking at her.

“Sit in the center. Don’t think about anything else. Just focus on the mana in your body. I will handle the rest.”

“I feel sorry for you…”

“Just consider it a gift.”

Davey couldn't use it efficiently on himself, and it wouldn't be as effective on others either. The only other person Davey could consider using it on was probably Reina, the Warrior of Light. While the pills might be most effective on Reina, Davey still chose to use it on Illyna.

“…”

Illyna swallowed nervously as she stared at the pill resting gently in the box in her hand. Then, she closed her eyes, took the pill, and placed it in her mouth.

“Ah, just so you know,” Davey suddenly interjected, as if it had just occurred to him, despite teasing the girl in front of him. “That’s insanely spicy.”

It surpassed the ultra-violent spiciness of the skewers she'd eaten in the Heins Territory. Davey immediately held her hand from behind, their posture resembling a hug, and covered her mouth with his other hand when he saw her attempt to spit out the pill.

“Don’t spit it out! Do you know how expensive that is?!”

“Umph… Umphhh, umphhh!”

Illyna struggled against Davey’s grasp, tears streaming from her eyes as Davey compelled her to ingest the pill. It was excruciatingly spicy, almost to the point of pain. But the intensity was fleeting. Spiciness, after all, was another form of discomfort, and it didn't last long.

Davey, overpowering Illyna for some time, sensed that the girl in his arms had stopped struggling. She wasn't fighting the spiciness anymore but the mana that surged within her body. Although her body was still, her mind was deeply concentrated, causing her to break into a cold sweat.

[What the hell?! I told you to repent, yet you're committing impure acts in this place…?!]

“Be quiet and keep your mouth shut,” Davey dismissed the voice momentarily as he hovered one hand near Illyna’s shoulder and the other near her back. Then, he moved his hands as if extracting something.

Boooom!!!

A loud roar resounded in the area.

‘We need to expand her mana circle, not her blood vessels.’

A vast and overwhelming surge of mana spun and coursed from her heart through her blood vessels each time her body twitched. Davey had rendered her blood vessels soft and pliable. Yet, despite his efforts, the mana's flow still violently tore and expanded them, only to be instantly healed, returning them to their elastic and sturdy state.

The pain must have surpassed anyone's imagination, but Illyna merely clenched her jaw, not letting out a single scream. Slowly, the waste dragged from her bloodstream by the fierce mana swirling within her began to pour out.

As impurities were purged from her body, her bones began to harden. An intense stench emanated from her, but truthfully, Davey observed that the amount of waste extracted was relatively small. Perhaps it was the aftermath of undergoing such a metamorphosis?

“Ugh… Ughhhh!!!”

The violently fluctuating mana weighed Illyna down, forcing her into unconsciousness. Observing this, Davey promptly used his mana to suppress it. Though stubborn and unruly, once his mana started moving, it moved sharply and swiftly.

[Move calmly before tearing everything apart.]

Regardless of whether it was elemental or devil mana, the overwhelming temper of the mana in his body remained the same.

Davey's mana flowed out and subdued the unruly mana rampaging within Illyna, guiding it through her vessels before gathering it in her heart. Gradually, the mana in her body began to settle. The continuous purging of waste signaled that Illyna’s body was faring well.

Now, all that remained was to remain vigilant in case her mana became volatile and explosive, to protect her, monitor the surroundings until the process completed.

Perhaps it had been a while since he had exerted such effort? Davey couldn't help but sigh. Then, he frowned as he glanced at Illyna sitting silently in the center of the magic circle.

“Ah. She didn’t remove her clothes.”

Noticing her attire completely covered in waste and residue released by her body, Davey promptly opened his Pocket Plane. However, his frown deepened soon after.

“I don't have any women’s clothes stored here…”

‘What should I do?’