The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

Chapter 771

Shouldn't she still be in Tionis right now? Since she didn’t originally come here with Davey, those who knew some specifics about Tionis’ situation couldn’t help but wonder about her presence.

Of course, Illyna wasn’t in a comfortable spot either. Thanks to the so-called ancestor who advised her, she had learned a new sword technique, and with it was able to manifest the authority of Caldeiras and insert it into the dimensional gap. But the problem was that, while it was good that she came here and rescued Davey once, she would need a bit of time to get back on her own.

However, she had no place to stay in the meantime.

"Thank you. You really saved me from a difficult situation.” Illyna bowed her head gracefully, displaying her elegance as she expressed her gratitude to the Yun siblings.

On this Earth, where there are more people than one can imagine, randomly meeting someone you know was not easy unless you were quite lucky.

“No, of course we’d help. I believe people should help each other when they can. But are you here… to buy contraceptives for yourself?”

“Ah… No! I didn’t buy them on purpose...!”

Contrary to what one might think from her icy eyes, Illyna had quite a bit of foolishness in her. Taken aback by Oxygen’s question, Illyna quickly threw the cardboard box into the air. And...

Sling…

The brooch in her hand flashed for a split second, and the cardboard box in stake, tore up and disappeared without a trace.

“Ha… ha….”

As Yun Ji-Ah saw her reddened face and her acting as if she didn’t know how to react, she thought she was cute.

“No… I-I just came to buy some drinks.”

“Alone? Where’s your entourage…?”

“I had something going on and came alone for some reason—I don’t even have an escort driver with me. Davey… Ahhh! Davey and I came to Earth separately too! For some reason, I have to keep the reason a secret!”

As soon as she mentioned Davey, her face turned red and she acted strangely once again.

Oxygen laughed.

“Even the royal family is still human.”

“I’m definitely human, hmph!”

Illyna glared at the two after screaming, then sighed.

“Would you like to drink together? I’m also in the mood for some,” Yun Ji-Ah asked with a bright smile. Illyna looked at her with a complicated expression, then nodded with the dignity and elegance of a princess.

To begin with, an elegant princess stopping by a convenience store alone to buy a bunch of soju and getting her ID checked was a loss of dignity, but no one bothered to point it out.

"Of course. You are more than welcome to.”

“Please treat us comfortably, Princess Illyna. Oh, right. On Earth, that kind of outfit stands out, so let’s get going. I happened to be stopping by a friend’s house.”

“A friend?”

“Yes. I’ve recently made some like-minded friends. You’ll have no trouble getting close to them as well.”

Illyna nodded quietly, appreciating the offer as she was just thinking about where she could stay while gathering her strength to return to Tionis.

***

Yun Ji-Ah took Illyna to a very luxurious mansion. According to her the place was a close friend's house, and by its luxuriousness, Illyna could tell that the friend’s family was quite wealthy. Of course, for her, every architectural style of Earth amazed her.

She opened the door as if she was familiar with the house. As they stepped in, the house felt warm as if someone had been there just a moment ago.

‘Didn’t she say that her friend lives alone? It’s quite spacious for one person,’ Illyna thought.

“What about your friends…?” Illyna asked.

“They'll be here soon. How about we get things prepared first. Yu-Na is someone you know, and the other one you’ll quickly be able to become friends with.”

“Oh, I almost forgot. Oxygen, I’m going to go buy what that girl wanted.”

“What? Did you forget something?”

“I never thought we would run into the princess,” Hydro said as he lightly jumped over the fence, making Ji-Ah sigh.

“Be careful. There are rumors about strange sightings on the streets at night recently.”

“Well, even though I look like this, I’m still an Awakened, so I won't get beat up,” Hydro replied. Illyna tilted her head as she looked around.

“Come in. Oh, take off your shoes first.”

“I’ve heard about that custom,” Illyna replied.

“Oh, I forgot. Fufu. Anyway, when did you come to Earth?”

“It hasn’t even been a day.”

“Oh my goodness. You just got here. Was coming to Earth from Tionis pretty easy?”

“Well, not…”

Ji-Ah shook her head as Illyna hesitated to give an answer.

“Well, it’s not a bad thing to have guests,” she said calmly. She guided Illyna to sit on the warm floor. Then she set down some snacks and poured red-colored soju into a paper cup.

She was now a royal family member sitting on the floor and simply drinking soju.

Illyna shared secrets with Davey. She had heard about his past life and many stories about life on Earth from him. She remembered this being a modest way of living—it didn’t feel too bad.

“It has a pretty strong smell.”

“Right? Since Awakened individuals have a hard time getting drunk, this was made for them. People really are amazing. They recognize what people need and provide them right away.”

Ji-Ah giggled and held out her cup. Illyna giggled and the two clinked their paper cups together. Without saying a word, they both drank.

“Ugh… That’s bitter.”

“...”

Illyna, who was looking at the drink with a calm face, made a strange expression.

When she drank with Davey, she often drank really strong liquor. Usually, beings of master level or higher could quickly get rid of their intoxication due to their mana. Thanks to this fact, he had confidently bragged about how much he could drink. From her memory, they drank things like Immortality Wine and Nirvana Wine. She couldn’t help but laugh, remembering drinking them and seeing him go, wondering how on earth they were made.

[Hmm. It has a clean taste, but it’s still too weak. Hey descendent, use your mana in the way I tell you. Then you will get drunk.]

Someone’s voice echoed in her head, but she did not answer.

“Is Davey… doing alright?”

“Well, to be honest, I think benefactor is like…”

Yun Ji-Ah, who was speechless for a moment, cautiously spoke again.

“He feels distant.”

“Distant?”

“Yes. Until recently, he used to joke around with us… But now, he’s traveling around the entire planet, solving every problem and dealing with almost all the Malicious Spirits.”

“I’ve heard about the Malicious Spirits… Are they very strong?”

“They say that once a high-ranking Malicious Spirit goes on a rampage, the extinction of humanity wouldn't be much of an issue. Of course, it seems like almost all of them are dead now.”

The man who moves the world—this was the term the news referred to him as a while ago.

It was a really cringe term. As Illyna and Yun Ji-Ah both knew Davey well, they knew how he would react to the term, curling up his fingers and toes, but they had no intention of denying the title.

“There is a country on Earth called Russia. In fact, it’s the strongest military nation. Even after the Awakened appeared, starting with President Kutin, they made a name for themselves as an Awakened powerhouse.”

Yun Ji-Ah quietly drank and muttered bitterly, “And a country that big is going crazy just because one person is upset.”

But the same went for China and the United States.

“Even though he is not from Earth, countless countries are reacting to his movements. To put it simply, they’re being wary of him.”

Illyna understood what Ji-Ah was saying as Tionis was no different. If only Tionis had been quiet and peaceful, such things would not have happened. However, Tionis had experienced tremendous events in a short period of time. Countless countries on the continent were not wary of the Kingdom of Rowane, but of the Heins Territory. This was enough to show the current situation in Tionis.

“Now that things have changed to this, it’s hitting home that he really is distant now,” Ji-Ah muttered bitterly.

"Furthermore…” Ji-Ah's expression darkened slightly.

“Recently, his expression on TV and the Internet seemed much more impatient compared to before. I’ve never seen him move around so quickly.”

Illyna knew exactly what she was talking about—she understood how important this period was for Davey.

She wondered if he had the time to meet and talk with his younger sister from his past life, or if he was too exhausted from fighting the Abyss. There was also a chance he was sad because Perserque had tried to sacrifice herself.

No matter how strong a person he was, Davey was alone. On the other hand, there were countless enemies, and they were constantly targeting him.

‘He must be tired,’ she figured.

She felt sad for some reason. She had intended to return to Tionis as soon as she regained her original strength. However, after listening to Ji-Ah, she felt that she needed to help and protect him from the shadows. Of course, if Davey found out that she was helping, he would say she was just messing around and use it as an excuse to torture her with an extra-hard massage of her muscles and bones.

The two talked about simple and personal things, far removed from politics, countries, or anything complicated. They talked about things that girls their age would talk about, losing track of how much time passed.

Illyna was having fun. Suddenly, something crossed her mind.

“To be frank, I’m a little jealous.”

Unlike Illyna, Yun Ji-Ah, who was drunk, looked at her with a flushed face.

"Oh yeah? Jealous?"

“Unlike when I’m in the imperial palace, there are no lies here.”

“Hmm… People here lie too.”

“But it’s not a world where lies are so commonplace.”

The life of the royal family was not always a happy one. As she said, the imperial palace was a place where lies were told as easily as breathing. Brothers and sisters fought over power, gnashed their teeth, and slandered each other over the royal family's money.

There were many royal family members in the Pallan Empire, but many of her brothers had died from both minor and major issues. There was a saying that the lives of commoners were easily taken by others, but in reality, the lives of the royal family were no different.

Ji-Ah, who had stayed silent with a complicated expression, raised her head.

"I… need to step out for a second,” Illyna said.

"I’ll wait here for you.”

Illyna got up from her seat and started walking. She felt conflicted and needed to get some air to relieve her frustration.

But then she sensed something and turned her head. As she walked into the garden, she felt an ominous presence. Forgetting that she had wanted some air, she jumped up and flew to the roof, quickly moving toward the source of the terrible sensation in the distance.

'This is dangerous. If the eerie energy I just felt is what I think it is…’

She knew something serious might occur. But she didn’t have to think for long—when she reached a barren area, something flew toward her as if it had been lying in wait.

Whoosh!!

Boom!

She reflexively gathered her energy, gritted her teeth, and launched herself. If she had been a little slower, she knew she would have been in big trouble.

'Wait, no… I still can’t draw my strength because of the aftermath of the dimension split…’

Despite how much her swordsmanship had changed through special seclusion training, she was still not complete.

[No! Descendant! Dodge!]

The urgent voice of the spirit body, which rarely intervened to ensure her privacy, echoed in her mind. She then raised her head in astonishment—she saw a black figure reaching out to her under the night sky.

Slash!!

Before she could react, sharp plant vines slashed her and instantly twisted her entire body.

“Ugh...”

The black figure silently looked down at Illyna, who had collapsed without being able to react properly. The figure was a woman with a slightly unique appearance, as if a plant had become a human. She resembled Alraune from the old books of Tionis, with green-colored skin and flowers sprouting from her hair.

"How… How dare you kill Katshi... Don’t think you can make it out alive.”

She murmured coldly, turning her head to glare at Illyna.

“I’m going to destroy everything you hold dear. What happened in Russia is only just the beginning.”

She exuded a black, eerie power that was completely different from before.

“With this power entrusted to me by God.”

With that, the plant stems tangled together like snakes in her hands, forming a sharp, needle-like sword.

“Princess Illyna!!”

At that moment, Ji-Ah appeared mysteriously, seemingly out of nowhere.

Clang!!

It was a thorough surprise attack. However, the woman wasn’t caught off guard even though she had been focusing on the bleeding Illyna on the ground. Without even looking, she struck down Yun Ji-Ah’s long sword with her sharp, needle-like weapon.

“How dare an insignificant creature of this cursed land that’s not even protected by God come at me.”

She scowled coldly and glared at Ji-Ah. Ji-Ah felt chills all over her body just from the gaze. She looked back and forth between the woman and Illyna, who was lying motionless, then made a shocked face.

In Alf Online, the existence of Malicious Spirits was already known through several user quests. The Alraune race; they were a Malicious Spirit that wielded needle-like long swords and commanded the power of nature. Unlike other Malicious Spirits, they were different beings and calamitous monsters, ranking second among the Malicious Spirits.

All Malicious Spirits ranked fifth or higher possessed enormous power. Once they descended, it didn’t take them long to reduce a country to ashes.

"Ma-Malicious Spirit Kirsina…”

Ji-Ah wasn’t part of a raid—she was alone. She couldn’t even load her game specs right. The dire problem was that this high-ranking Malicious Spirit named Kirsina was like encountering a level 200 raid-type boss monster when the Awakened individual was only at level 50.

She knew that even if she came prepared with a group, she could be overwhelmed in an instant, like when she fought Messes. Even worse, in front of her was the second-ranked Malicious Spirit.

She faced a monster, but she hadn't been able to contact Davey yet. She then remembered that there had been rumors of strange sightings nearby recently, so she figured Kirsina could be the one behind them.

Ji-Ah looked worriedly at Illyna, who had collapsed and wasn’t moving. She then put one hand behind her back, tapped her smartphone in a familiar way, and pressed the call button.

“Let her go,” she said nervously.

The difference in power was so great that if Kirsina decided to, she could turn Ji-Ah into a piece of meat within seconds. Feeling this immense disparity, Ji-Ah couldn’t help but think about that difference in their power, but she couldn't back down. Escaping from here would not be easy, and even if she did, she knew Illyna would then die for sure.

Ji-Ah held her smartphone tightly, hid it, and with a nervous face, spoke to the presumably only surviving Malicious Spirit in front of her.

"Step... back..."

As she uttered the words, she felt fear taking over her entire body.