The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 835. Channel

“Hehe.”

The young men surrounding Davey, smirking ominously, couldn’t have been older than teenagers.

‘Have these kids lost their damn minds?’

Frankly, Davey didn’t care that they’d shattered the rift. Thanks to Blue Ribbon, the massive mana channel blueprint was already complete. All he had to do now was return to Tionis, install this ridiculously complex magic circle in a completely sealed space, connect it across all dimensions, and pour the vitality from Thanatos’s divinity into it. He could just recreate the rift and add the necessary vitality as needed.

Even so... Davey was an eye for an eye tooth for tooth kind of person, so simply walking away without retaliation wasn’t an option.

“Man... I’ve really mellowed out,” he muttered before turning to the group. “Let me ask you something—just for the record. What exactly do you think you're doing?”

“Shut up! We came knowing everything!” The boy at the front shouted, pointing his staff at Davey.

“Know everything?”

“Yeah! We know you’ve been manifesting that horrific rift that wrecked this land!”

Davey thought the boy’s misunderstanding was understandable. However, he had already discussed the necessity of his experiment with the Tower Master. He also was promised that the Tower Master would handle any attacks if they were to happen. As a result, despite some individuals being wary of him, there weren’t any that just barged in like these fellows.

‘Wait a second.’

“Aren’t you guys mages from the Sapphire Tower?”

The survivors here included mages from all over, but after everything that happened, most mages in this encampment now belonged to the Sapphire Tower under the Tower Master’s leadership. Yet the brooches on their robes weren’t sapphire—they were ruby red.

The boys exchanged glances, still maintaining their relaxed posture.

“Don’t take it personally. We’re just stepping in to protect the safety of the people here,” one of them said smugly.

“As expected of Lord Louis! You’re amazing!”

It seemed their confidence grew with each exchanged compliment. The one called Louis walked closer to Davey.

“We’ll let you off this time since you might’ve been out of your mind, but if we catch you doing something like this again, I’ll kill you on the spot. Got it?”

“Ruby?” Davey questioned.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m Louis Williams, a mage from the Ruby Tower.”

“The youngest dark mage genius!” one of his followers added.

Ignoring the unnecessary noise, Davey asked, “So, who sent you?”

“Sent me?” Louis scoffed.

“Yeah, I doubt you decided to do all this on your own. So who sent you?”

Louis sneered at his calm question. “It’s someone far above your level—someone you could never even dream of seeing.”

“I didn’t realize the Ruby Tower was still around. So, you’re saying that whoever sent you to do this is still there, am I correct?”

The arrogant youth’s face twisted with annoyance. “Watch your mouth. Keep testing my limits, and you’ll be dead before you know it.”

Davey sighed in response to his threat. Apparently, he mistook him as being afraid and backing down.

“Looks like the rumors were wrong. I should’ve known this would eventually happen when the Sapphire Tower started spreading lies to make themselves look good.”

“Hehe. No one can beat you, Lord Louis. You’ve even defeated a predator king!” one of them said.

“That’s right. You’re nothing like that fraud over there,” another added.

Rinne, observing the situation, narrowed her eyes at them.

“Master Davey.”

“It’s fine. I won’t be able to vent my anger if I don’t take care of them myself,” Davey said, stopping her before turning his attention back to Louis. “So, Louis, was it?”

Louis, still laughing with his buddies, stopped and turned toward him.

“You broke something that didn’t belong to you. You should fix it.”

“What? Do you have any idea who you’re talking to right now?”

“Fix it.”

His words made the whole group freeze. Even Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon, who had been playing around, looked at him in surprise.

“I’ve never seen such pieces of shit barge in and make a mess like this.”

“W-What did you just say?!”

“I said fix it, you bastard.”

Rumble!!

The ground began to shake and twist as Davey let out an enormous amount of mana as Louis, frozen with fear, couldn’t even breathe. He raised his hand, and black flames ignited at the tips of his fingers.

[9th Circle]

[Hellfire]

Crackle!!

As if having a mind of their own, the black flames shot forward and surrounded the group.

“Heek! W-What is this?!”

“B-Black fire?!”

“We’re going to play a little game.”

“A g-game?!”

“From now on, you have thirty minutes. You’re the only participant. If you can fully restore the mana channel you destroyed within that time, you win. But for every five minutes you don't succeed...”

Crackle...!!

“Aaaahhh!!!”

Following his words, one of the boys was completely engulfed in hellfire.

“Help me! I’m burning! I’m burning! Aaaahhh!!” he howled. He was writhing and rolling on the ground, but the flames stuck with him, burning him and only him. His hair sizzled, and his skin cooked, filling the air with a sickening stench.

“Game on,” Davey said, showing the group the watch on his wrist. “Exactly thirty minutes. What are you doing? You better get moving. Every five minutes, another one of you will die. That one was just an example.”

“You... You maniac! Dark Snake!”

Louis, enraged, quickly pointed his staff at Davey.

“Do you even know who you’re dealing with?!” he shouted furiously.

He unleashed a spell that looked like a black snake. His followers, emboldened by his move, cast their own spells in unison. For someone so young, he was quite skilled—fitting their exclamations claiming him to be a genius mage.

[Dispel]

Shatter!!

Of course, the problem was that they had chosen the wrong opponent. While the shattered mana channel wasn’t an issue, Davey wasn’t the type to let someone hit him and get away with it.

“What? My spell... It’s gone?!” Louis stammered.

“Ours too!” cried his followers.

It was clear from their expressions that they were baffled by what had happened.

“Damn it! Dark Snake!”

[Dispel]

Shatter!!

Once again, their magic crumbled to pieces. It wasn’t until that moment that Louis and his group started to realize that Davey was behind what was happening.

“Using dirty tricks, huh?” Louis sneered.

“Dirty tricks? Since when was Dispel a dirty trick?”

“D-Don’t be ridiculous! No one can cast Dispel that fast, and without so much as an incantation! Besides, Dispel—”

“Dispel works by analyzing the structure of a spell and using that to break it down. It usually takes a bit of time simply because most people struggle to do that quickly.”

“...”

“But what can I say? It’s not my fault your magic is so simple that dismantling it is stupid easy.”

As Davey spoke, a black mist began to rise and creep around him. Within the mist, an illusion of a massive eye stared directly at Louis and his companions.

“Ugh...!”

Louis turned pale as he was consumed by fear that took over his body.

“The mindset of ‘you're young, so I should go easy on you’ isn’t so bad—besides, you might not know any better.”

‘But you’re definitely old enough to know better, aren’t you?’

“What are you waiting for? Move. I always keep my word, and you don’t need to bother calling for backup. I’m planning on paying them a visit myself anyway.”

Louis, trembling, screamed in desperation. “Aaaargh! Death Explosion!”

He overexerted himself, eventually spurting out blood from his mouth as enormous blasts of black flames erupted from his staff.

His black flame burst magic was a powerful 5th Circle spell that was far more refined than Dark Snake.

“I-I’ll kill you!!”

When people are driven into panic, they lose the ability to think clearly. Louis was no different—he’d lost his rationality the moment Davey cast Hellfire.

“Davey, what... What is this?” Holygon asked in shock, his face pale. He wanted to stop Davey, but it was no use.

“Just watch,” he coldly replied. He then focused on the black flame burst coming his way.

[Chain Dispel]

Shatter!!!

A familiar sound of shattering rang out as Louis’s spell was torn apart instantly. He coughed out more blood from his mouth.

“I also shattered the circle linked to your magic. Dispel really is a terrifying spell, isn’t it?”

“Cough... cough... This... This is impossible...”

Realizing that the magic circle of his devil mana within his body had been destroyed, Louis trembled violently. Davey approached and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him up off the ground and looking down on him.

“By now, you should realize the rumors weren’t just lies. You’ve got twenty minutes left. Get moving.”

“Ha... Haaa... Heek!!!”

Terrified, Louis struggled to escape, but Davey didn't let it go. He tossed him into the open space where the mana channel had been.

“What are you doing? If you waste any more time, your followers are going to die.”

“P-Please save us, Lord Louis!”

“Louis, help us!”

His trembling followers screamed in desperation, which only made Louis grit his teeth.

Davey knew these guys probably belonged to some elite group that never faced any obstacles or adversity and had been treated well even after the world fell apart. He wanted to see how they’d handle real pressure.

Tears streaming down his face, Louis began to spread his mana into the air in an attempt to recreate the magic circle. Unfortunately, despite his talent as a mage the chances of a 5th Circle mage understanding and recreating a natural mana channel were virtually nonexistent.

Which was why Davey’s proposal of a “game” had every intention of killing all of them here.

“Davey,” Holygon called out.

“The title of Saint sure is a burden in situations like this.”

‘But that’s not my only title, is it?’

“Twenty three minutes.”

“I-I’ll do it! I’ll do it!” Louis, now sobbing uncontrollably, desperately tried to draw the magic circle.

However, Davey knew it’d be impossible for him. Louis didn’t even understand the method, let alone know how to reproduce it.

Davey then snapped his fingers without a word.

Crackle!!

Dozens of black flames flickered into existence—Hellfire, the same spell that had already turned one of them to ash appeared in front of them. Fear filled their faces.

“M-Monster...”

“I’ll be back when the time’s up. I keep my promises. Try your best to restore it.”

“What... What is that magic circle, anyway?!” Louis screamed in frustration.

“Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t understand what all the fuss is about,” Davey replied.

They froze at his words.

“So I’ll tell you. The magic circle you destroyed was this continent’s only hope for survival. You cut off their lifeline.”

Louis’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You think I’m lying? Sorry, but I’m not one for jokes.”

“I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”

“Forgive you? If forgiveness were so easily earned, why would prisons exist?” Davey said coldly.

Forgiveness was something you’re given when the person you wronged was willing to grant it.

“Aaaah... aaahhh... aaahhh!!”

There was no chance that a young mage could solve a problem that even the elders and Tower Masters couldn’t fix. There was no hope from the start.

Tears streaming down his face, Louis scratched at the ground, desperately trying to recreate the magic circle, but he couldn’t even get the formation outline correct. Watching him pitifully struggle with a cold gaze, Davey slowly began to walk away.

Someone had definitely put these fools up to this.

‘They must think I wouldn't retaliate after charitably saving them all. It’s a shame I’m such a nice guy.’

“Sometimes there’s a need to remind people of who they’re dealing with. Oh, and don’t even think about running while I’m gone,” Davey grinned. They turned even more pale in response.

Leaving them behind, he made his way to the Sapphire Tower.

Bang!

“Do you think that even makes any sense?!” The Tower Master of the Sapphire Tower shouted in fury, glaring at the middle-aged man with red hair sitting across from him who wore a cold expression.

“Then there’s no other choice. We’ll go to war.”

“He is merely staying at the Sapphire Tower! He’s not one of our mages to order around! What grounds does the Ruby Tower have for demanding we send him to you now?!”

“I’ve said it before: he’s conducting forbidden research. The Ruby Tower will be taking both him and the girl guarding him.”

“Absolutely not!”

“If you won’t listen to words of reason, we’ll resolve this with force. The next Tower Master has ordered it, so it must be executed. His word is law in this land.”

The red-haired man shrugged confidently.

“Louis should be bringing him in right about now...”

“He didn’t bring me in—I came here on my own. But go ahead, keep talking.”

The man flinched in surprise. Turning around, he saw Davey seated at the table, casually sipping tea.

“Hm? I’m sure I sent Louis after you. Where is he?”

“You’re the one who sent him?” Davey asked coldly.

“Mage Davey!” The Tower Master gasped.

Before the man could react, he moved in an instant, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off the ground.

“Gah...!”

The Ruby Tower mages around the room hurriedly immediately raised their staffs in response.

“Grr... Gah...!”

“Congratulations. Thanks to you, I’ve completely lost the desire to save this land.”