The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

He was able to reach the secret archive beneath the Jade Tower that Yust had mentioned, getting the route after beating him up.

Yust had claimed that he found humans in the archive while hunting for food. The library itself contained an unimaginable collection of magic books. Since the books he sought were hidden in a secret archive, Davery assumed they likely held the core vision and ideals of the Jade Tower.

“Ugh… gaaa…” Yust groaned in pain.

Davey gave him no attention and used telekinesis to pull out an old, dusty book.

[A Study and In-Depth Analysis of Devil Mana]

Davey sighed. "Hmm..."

Having a perfect memory meant every page he glanced at affected him somehow and was imprinted in his mind, whether he wanted it to or not. There were hundreds of books in the library, but none of them contained the research he sought.

Still, it wasn’t all in vain. Among the documents was a memoir offering insights into the strange phenomena spreading across the continent of Peslisa. It also mentioned topics related to his original goal: mutations, monsters and…

“The Fallen Ones…”

The Red Void energy that appeared on the continent had mixed with devil mana, causing significant changes and dividing people into three distinct types.

The first were the mutants—humans who retained their reason but underwent unique transformations, such as gaining wings and halos like Rinne.

The second were the mysterious beings. This was the term for the monsters Davey had seen when he first arrived. They were tall black-bodied beings with red eyes, between two and three meters in height. The beings Yust had summoned to attack Davey had been among them. Despite possessing human souls, they no longer had the reason of a human being.

Lastly, there were the Fallen Ones. These beings, like Yust, were genetically mutated humans driven by an insatiable need to devour other humans and mutants.

Of course, Davey wasn’t particularly surprised by the state of the continent of Peslisa. After all, he had some understanding of how things had deteriorated. He was more curious about something else: both the Fallen Ones, like Yust, and the mysterious beings he had encountered all possessed an unusually vast amount of vitality.

"They possess too much vitality for ordinary living beings.”

Davey then pondered what the connection could be between this transformation and the amplification of vitality.

"There’s nothing more here we can use,” he concluded.

But he knew there was one more place to stop by to check.

His next stop was the Sapphire Magic Tower, known for its research on the three types of mutations.

"Do you know where the Sapphire Magic Tower is?" Davey asked as he turned his gaze toward Yust frozen in fear.

"It\'s… to the west! There’s a tower… in the west..." Yust muttered.

Before Yust could finish, a sudden cry echoed in the distance.

"Fire!!!"

A massive surge of dark magic erupted toward Davey, shaking the ground. While Rinne reflexively cast a protective barrier, Yust and Davey were both caught in the assault, the blast powerful enough to tear apart the Jade Magic Tower.

Boom! Boom!!

The bombardment continued relentlessly, showing the attackers’ intention to leave no chance for survival.

“Stop fire!” someone shouted.

With that, the magic ceased.

“Did we get them?” they muttered nervously.

But as their voice echoed out, Davey just waved his hand, clearing the smoke. Rinne, who had cast her barrier, stood protectively in front of Davey.

“Mutant?!” one of the attackers gasped upon seeing her display of power.

“That’s not a very nice thing to call someone,” Davey muttered.

"Even a dead person would likely rise from the grave before ever tolerating being called such a thing."

“Y-You’re…”

The attackers were dressed in black robes, clearly different from the Fallen Ones like Yust or the mysterious beings. Davey recognized them as mutants.

‘Ah, so those guys are mutants, humans who evolved differently and haven\'t turned into mysterious beings that are going against the Fallen Ones like Yust.’

“Oh my god, he survived that?” one of them said, clearly in disbelief.

Davey quietly patted Rinne’s head, while Yust, who had been caught in the earlier blast, had vanished. The magic they had unleashed had the power of a 4th Circle to 5th Circle magic.

Soon, the robed figures gathered around, pointing their staffs at him and Rinne.

“Don’t move. One wrong move and I’ll blast a magic bullet through you, damned Fallen One,” one of the robed figures threatened.

The robed figures checked on Yust’s remains, then restrained both Davey and Rinne.

"Squad leader, this one… looks like a mutant, just like us,” one of the figures said.

“We’ll figure that out later. For now, it’s clear he’s a Fallen One,” the leader responded.

As Davey listened to the two talk, he took a closer look at them. They were clearly human, though they had some distinct non-human features. With Yust having the appearance of a human, it made sense for them to suspect Davey to be a Fallen One as well.

“That guy told me there were no survivors,” Davey said.

“Shut up!” one of the figures snapped.

One of the men stepped forward and grabbed Davey by the collar, glaring into his eyes with seething hatred.

“You damn Fallen One! Do you know how many people have died because of your kind?!”

“How would I know?” Davey replied calmly.

The man only got more furious at his response.

"Gauche! Stop! We need to pursue this man and take the girl as well. We’ll still have plenty of time to execute him after confirming him to be a Fallen One.”

"So, where exactly did you all come from?" Davey asked.

“You don’t need to know,” the middle-aged man, who seemed to be the leader, answered quietly.

“Judging by those sapphire brooches, I’m assuming you\'re from the Sapphire Magic Tower?”

The squad leader’s eyes widened in shock. Davey had noticed the embroidered blue gems hidden beneath their robes.

“You…” the leader muttered, glaring at Davey with a gaze filled with both suspicion and intent to kill.

Sensing the threat, Rinne twisted her restraints, snapping them easily, and stepped in front of Davey. She immediately wielded a crowbar, ready to defend him.

“Rinne, it’s alright,” Davey reassured her.

"Survivors of the Sapphire Magic Tower? Or maybe not... it doesn’t seem right to call anyone a survivor in this place since everyone seems to have changed,” Davey remarked.

‘Are there even any humans left on this earth to begin with?’

“Who are you, really?” the leader asked with narrowed eyes.

“I’m just a traveler. You know, I happen to have some business with the Sapphire Magic Tower.”

“What?”

“Perhaps you could guide me there?" Davey said with a grin.

The squad leader and his men exchanged glances.

Davey figured that if they had any information regarding the mutants, it could save him a lot of time. The continent of Peslisa was different from the others—there was almost no land lacking in vitality, and he figured this had to do with all the transformations and mutations that had happened here. He knew it’d be useless to consult Arbit on this matter, since he was just the gatekeeper and wasn’t fully aware of everything that happened within the void.

"Cut the nonsense, Fallen One! Don’t listen to him, Squad Leader! He’s dangerous! Let’s deal with him here and get going!” said one of the soldiers in a startled voice.

The squad leader, however, was still studying Davey carefully.

“A traveler? There is no way for a carefree existence like that to exist anymore. Besides, if you’re not a Fallen One, that makes you a human… but there aren’t any humans left.”

At his words, Davey sighed and shook the restraints in his hands.

“If I was a Fallen One, you’d all be dead by now. Isn’t that obvious?” he said while gesturing toward Rinne.

The squad leader’s face twisted further in frustration.

“My Rinne is a bit aggressive, so make up your mind fast. I don’t have much time to waste here,” Davey said.

Davey was well aware that there were only three years remaining. While it might sound like a long time, he really understood that it wasn’t. If he couldn’t find the answers he sought here, he\'d have to take a more drastic approach—he would ‘take care’ of all of those who were in his way and find the answers himself. Now that he knew there were survivors, he at least wanted to help them if he could.

“I’m offering a fair deal. You may have not noticed, but I am quite skillful with my magic.”

"Hmph! Magic, you say? What kind of magic can someone without a trace of mana even cast?" one of the soldiers scoffed.

"Squad Leader, are you really going to trust this guy? You can\'t be serious!

After a long pause, the squad leader finally spoke.

“We’re taking him with us.”

* * *

“Wear this,” the squad leader said. “Viruses in the air periodically attack the human body, causing mutations. A mutation grants tremendous power, but slowly strips you of your humanity.”

“How long has this been happening?” Davey asked.

“How could you not know that?” the man frowned at the question.

“Oh? Suddenly acting more familiar, are we?” he retorted.

“It’s been a little less than ten years...”

Ten years. In such a short time, a virus had spread to the point where it had transformed all life on the continent.

Once Davey and Rinne donned their black robes, the squad leader led them to a rather unusual airship. They soon took off toward their destination.

As they flew, Davey learned they had raided the Jade Magic Tower to retrieve the academic magic books stored there. Fortunately for them, Davey had already disabled the tower’s magical defenses, making their entrance easy.

"Identify yourself.”

“This is Holygon, Squad Leader of the 7th Ranger Magic Unit. We’ve accomplished our missions and secured two prisoners.”

After a long flight, they arrived at a small village spread out around a massive tower. Davey had seen a surrounding city before arriving at the tower, but it seemed the same as the first place he had arrived at.

“It looks like there are quite a lot of people,” Davey remarked.

“Yes, since most of the remaining survivors, excluding the Fallen Ones and mysterious beings, are gathered here,” Holygon replied.

There seemed to be about two thousand people. The people appeared mostly human, but as the book had mentioned on people who turned to mutants, they all had unique traits that set them apart—small wings, tails, horns, or other odd mutations.

None of it seemed particularly noteworthy at first glance, but the sheer abundance of vitality among them caught his attention. It was almost as if they were in a state of supersaturation of vitality. But considering how large the continent of Peslisa was, a population of two thousand people was practically equivalent to extinction. The fact that there were survivors at all was surprising.

“This way. We have a system in place to screen for Fallen Ones.”

“Interesting. May I ask what criteria you use to determine the Fallen Ones?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

Davey then studied the recognition device.

‘Going off of the formation of the magic circle…’

"It seems to detect the distribution of vitality…" he muttered.

Some were taken aback by his analysis, but Davey didn’t care. After all, there was no way he’d be determined to be a Fallen One.

Beep!

"Normal… what?" the operator stammered, staring at the readout.

“What’s going on?” Holygon asked, frowning.

“Both of them… They show normal levels of vitality…”

“Is that weird?”

“They have normal levels!! They have the vitality of humans, unlike us!!” the operator cried, eyes wide with disbelief.

Holygon’s expression darkened with shock.

“That’s…”

“Maybe… Maybe these two hold the secret to restoring us to our original forms!” the operator exclaimed excitedly. “Where did you find them?”

“I found them at the Jade Magic Tower. They were with a Fallen One,” Holygon replied.

“With a Fallen One…”

The wizards exchanged looks, then bustled around anxiously while swaying their tails.

“Follow me,” Holygon said.

As they walked, Holygon glanced at Davey. “I know you’re not a Fallen One, now. But why were you with one in the first place?”

“What if the one you killed wasn’t a Fallen One, but a human like me?” Davey said calmly.

“There are no other humans like you in this world. We’ve searched for years, and the only things that have a human appearance are the Fallen Ones.”

Normally, except for Rinne, Davey should’ve been designated and confirmed as a Fallen One as well. But the device had detected him as a human.

“What exactly do you want to know?” Holygon asked while glancing at him.

“I heard this place was researching mutants, mysterious beings, and the Fallen Ones.”

“Why are you interested in that research?”

“It’s important to me. So, can you share the research with me?”

“Let’s make a deal. If you share your secret, I’ll introduce you to the head wizard who’s been conducting that research.”

"Fine," Davey agreed easily. "But first, I need some answers."

"This is our survival zone. If you don’t cooperate—"

“If you don’t want to help, I’ll find out for myself. I’ve come here to save time, but if that’s not an option then I’ll just study the Fallen Ones and mysterious beings on my own.”

Davey did see that this place had the equipment to conduct research, but traveling across dimensions to find somewhere else to do it was no problem for him.

Holygon spoke up after a long pause. “Fine.”

“Holygon, wait a minute.”

At that moment, a voice in the crowd called out, “Elder.”

"Is it him? The only human without excessive vitality?”

“Yes.”

“Hm… I can’t sense any mana…”

Davey could tell he was a wizard of the 6th Circle. A 6th Circle wizard was incredibly rare to find in Tionis, but as expected from a continent similar to Atrellia, the Continent of Magic, this place seemed to have expertly skilled wizards as well.

“Nice to meet you! I am Schweitz. I came running over after hearing about you. What’s your name?”

“Davey O’Rowane. This is Rinne, my escort.”

“An escort, huh?” Schweitz mused. “You must be someone important. Perhaps the child of a noble?”

“Something like that.”

Schweitz nodded in satisfaction. “Interesting. He’s a complete human.”

Schweitz pointed at the horns protruding from his head. “I’ve been researching how to revert to our original forms, humans, for a long time, but progress has been slow. I’d be happy to share what you want to know if you help me with my research.”

“But Elder Schweitz, we don’t know if he’s safe yet—”

“I trust my intuition. He’s clearly not a Fallen One. There’s something… different, something sacred about him,” Schweitz insisted, nodding his head with confidence.

“Now then, what’s your answer?”

“Sounds good to me. I hope I can get some useful information outta this.”

Davey walked deeper into the tower with Schweitz. Inside, dozens of professional wizards bustled about. Judging by their robes, he identified most of them to be magicians dealing with dark magic.

“Elder Schweitz! Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

“Oh, Tan. Sorry about that. What’s the issue?” Schweitz asked.

“The conference is underway! Everyone’s waiting! Where were you?”

“I completely forgot. I’m sorry but could we push things back a bit? Wait, nevermind—I want you to help me.”

As they entered a large room filled with wizards, the attention immediately turned to Davey and Schweitz.

"A Fallen One?!” a shocked voice rang out.

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook\'s Thoughts

Editorb’s Thought:

If my parents named me Holygon, I don’t think I’d ever survive geometry class without imploding in anger and shame. There’s no way the kids would miss the opportunity to call me “Ho-lygon” with “all sides being a ho.” Pic related is hypothetical me, Holygon Ding Dong, every day after school: