The Max Level Hero Strikes Back!

The Tionis Continent was extremely abundant in mana. Compared to the most basic world with a high density of mana, the Tionis Continent’s mana density was around ten times higher than the average level of density.

Because of that, almost all of the humans living in this world could live with and use mana to some extent. Of course, despite having a high abundance of mana, the reality of it all was completely different.

“What the… I’m feeling a bit stuffy…” Illyna complained.

Illyna feeling stuffy was not an unusual response. After all, she was used to living in a place with clear air. With all of the smoke polluting the air in the area, she was suffering, breathing in dirty air.

Then, Illyna’s expression changed. She furrowed her brows as a new invisible and odorless force began to dominate the area.

“Davey! What the hell are you doing?!” Illyna yelled, gripping her chest and gasping for breath.

Davey turned to the expressionless Rinne who stood next to him. “Rinne.”

Rinne tilted her head in confusion. Davey had given her a silent request, then ignored her silent question that came after.

Davey had given this order: “Go and get some oil, then put it in a large pot. We have to boil it well, so make sure that the pot is large enough. If you think that it’s a lot of work, then go and get help from others.”

“Rinne’s muscle strength is very high. Rinne believes that she is more than enough to fulfill Davey’s orders. Rinne values this highly. Rinne has assessed that there is no need to get help,” Rinne said.

Rinne flexed and spun her thin arms. It looked like she was displaying false bravado. But even if she looked frail, she had the power to swing and throw something that weighed hundreds of kilograms with just one hand. In the first place, Rinne was a living golem and was very powerful.

Rinne did not question Davey’s questionable orders and just looked at him as if asking for praise. Looking at her, Davey said, “That’s right. You’re valued highly.”

The brat was thirsty for praise and compliments even when they were in a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere. And Davey believed that Rinne was not asking for compliments just because she wanted to hear one.

—Rinne wants you to trust her completely.

‘There’s no one that I trust more than Rinne.’

—That’s not it.

Rinne blinked at Davey as if his compliment was satisfactory enough before disappearing quickly.

“This is daoist magic.”

“Daoist…magic?”

“Simply put, it’s a power that humans have created to protect their lives.”

If spirit magic existed for the elves, then daoist magic existed for humans. Was it a bit too much? Yes. That was why daoist magic had long disappeared from Tionis Continent’s vestiges of history. After all, gods existed in this world.

However, threats existed everywhere in a place that had scarce mana. And with no god to protect them, the humans had no choice but to copy and imitate the power of other races to survive.

Humans were naturally good at imitation. And the hero who had taught Davey daoist magic, as well as martial arts and swordsmanship, was the Heavenly Destroyer Dokgo Jun. He had lived in a world like that.

Unlike the world where Dokgo Jun had lived, the divine beasts lived in a world where monsters were very prevalent. In order to overcome the harsh reality of the human population’s extinction, humans had no choice but to turn to the records and ancient books left behind by their ancestors. Then, they created daoist magic.

In a sense, the four divine beasts were similar to artificial spirits. Perhaps Spirit King Gnoass would immediately recognize this fact the moment he saw them.

Crackle…

“U-Ugh?! It’s hot!!!” Illyna shouted. She took a few steps back from the sudden flare of heat in the room.

As if finally revealing its attributes and ego, the huge fireball released a tremendous burst of heat and created gigantic fiery flowers in the air. Although the bud had not yet fully bloomed, Davey could already feel that the summoning ritual itself was successful.

“Fireworks?”

“Hmm…”

When she asked about the sudden display of flames, Illyna grew more comfortable as Davey pulled her behind him to shield her from the tremendous heat. She could slowly raise the power in her own body.

“It’s done.”

“The power that only humans can have… I have never heard of something like that.”

“It exists somewhere very, very far from here.”

Illyna looked at Davey with big, round eyes after hearing his explanation.

“It’s in a place with no gods and mana. There, humans have a scarce supply of mana and the mana isn’t even good enough in quality.”

Those who could wield power there were extremely rare. After all, it would take decades of hard training to produce results compared to a mana-rich place where one only needed a few short years to be powerful.

“There’s a place like that?”

“Of course.”

“That’s impossible… There’s no place in the Tionis Continent that lacks mana. In fact, I believe the density of the mana in this land that we’re on is the only place where mana is low.”

Illyna’s doubts were natural and reasonable.

“It’s because that place is not in the Tionis Continent.”

“What bullshit are you talking about?” Illyna asked, sighing as if Davey were speaking nonsense. She asked, “So? Is that the thing humans have created to protect themselves? It just looks like a flower made out of flames though?”

Just then, the ball of flame began to change. The bud bloomed, spreading out bright red flames that looked like petals of an untouchable flower. It was a spectacle that shone and blazed.

“B… Beautiful.”

Soon, a gigantic flaming bird almost ten meters in size showed its prowess and roared loudly.

—Kihyeeeeeeeeeeek!

“Ah… My ears are ringing!”

Davey disregarded Illyna, who was watching the bird’s masterful display with a blank expression. He furrowed his brows.

Unleashing flames without any consideration for its consequences and roaring loudly to announce its existence… These were the habits of the vermillion bird. A quick comparison was enough for Davey to confirm the identity of the being that he had summoned.

And the vermillion bird was quite fearless even though it had just been born to the world.

***

—Kihyiiiiiiiiiiiik!

Illyna covered her ears. She frowned as a fierce headache washed over her.

The gigantic fiery bird continued its loud and deafening roars.

“Unbelievable,” Davey said.

Davey raised the qi[1] in his body and lifted his hand, with a talisman sandwiched between his index and middle finger. Anything caused by daoist magic should be cleaned up by daoist magic.

It was simple, really. All Davey needed to do was burn the talisman. The flame burned the scroll, its originally red color slowly changing into a pale green color.

Crackle, crackle!!!

[Third Grade Talisman.]

[Binding Seal.]

In the case of talismans, the lower the grade, the higher the power. In other words, a third grade talisman was quite powerful.

Even if the being in front of Davey had just been born, they were most definitely one of the four divine beasts. Since the beginning of time, divine beasts had a power that transcended what could be known as normal.

Burn!!!

Huge chains appeared and swayed around Davey as the talisman in his hands burned. Without any hesitation, he sent the chains flying toward the roaring vermillion bird.

The vermillion bird flew back from the impact. It was soon tied up by chains and pressed down to the ground.

—Kihyeeek!!!

“Davey, what are you doing?!!!” Illyna yelled in surprise once Davey tied down the being that he had just summoned.

Davey explained, “If I don’t set this guy straight from the very beginning, I won’t be able to correct its pyromaniac tendencies and attitude.”

“Py… Pyromaniac?”

“The vermillion bird has a very nasty personality and attitude.”

If the bastard grew up without Davey disciplining it, then its personality would continue to be skewed. By then, Davey would not be able to do anything.

Of course, no one of great strength would falter just from the swing of a whip. Besides, Davey did not really have to put up with something so troublesome and annoying.

—Kihyeeeeeeek!!!

The brat, who was struggling on the floor, roared at Davey. Flames started to gather in its mouth to send an attack in retaliation. This act was very in line with its nasty personality.

The human desire that had been used as the basis for creating the vermillion bird was obviously anger and fury. And since it was made from anger and fury, the vermillion bird had a very unique temper. It had anger management issues. The daoist should be capable of using their daoist magic to change this temper and help it manage its anger well.

“Noisy.”

—Kiiiiiiiiiiiiik!!!

The vermillion bird roared angrily as it fired a super hot Breath towards Davey, who had been waiting for its retaliation.

Davey already had a talisman burning in between his fingers.

[Third Grade Talisman.]

[Binding Seal.]

Boom!!!

The vermillion bird trembled when its fiery Breath disappeared in mere moments.

Even though it was a divine beast created through desire, the vermillion bird was a being that lived however it pleased. It was a clever beast, so it could easily tell that something had already gone wrong somewhere.

After sealing the vermillion bird’s Breath in an instant, Davey took two more talismans out and threw them in the air. He created a suffocating pressure that pressed down on the divine beast.

Thud!!!

—Bb…bbiiiiiiiiiiik!

The vermillion bird cried out desperately, as if it were dying. Its cry no longer sounded like its initial arrogant and loud roar. It could feel the intangible weight pressing down on its body from above.

“Well then, our dear Fire Chicken, you will get in trouble if you don’t listen to me.” Davey approached the vermillion bird and reached his hand out, manipulating the flames engulfing the divine beast.

The vermillion bird could only look at Davey incredulously. Well, it was only natural for an ancient divine beast like the vermillion bird to find this unbelievable. After all, a measly summoner was able to bind it, lynch it, and make it suffer like this.

The vermillion bird tried to stop Davey’s approach by summoning more flames on its body.

Davey simply ignored the futile resistance, slapping a talisman on the bird’s forehead. “Here’s a seal for you, brat.”

Slap!!!

—Kihyeeeeeeeek!

The brat was startled. Its protective flames were slowly dying down…before revealing its glossy red feathers.

—Kiiiiiiiing… Kihyeeeeeek!

The bird cried out, complaining that something like this treatment was outrageous. It was most definitely crying of injustice.

However, as a young divine beast that had just been born to the world, it was still incapable of holding a proper conversation with its summoner.

“Davey, Rinne fulfilled your request of getting a pot full of oil,” Rinne said.

She was dragging a huge cart with one hand, and had come just in time.

“Good job, Rinne.”

“Rinne finds the job very easy. Reports that she can take more missions. Rinne values this highly.”

“Alright. Just watch for now.”

“Davey’s assessment is very low.”

Davey made eye contact with the pouty vermillion bird that was inching away from him once again. He called out, “My dear Fire Chicken.”

—Kihyeeeeeeek!

The vermillion bird struggled fiercely, as if telling Davey not to call it by that name.

“I need your power,” Davey said. When the bird only roared without giving a proper answer, he continued, “l know that you get angry easily and are very proud. But if you continue not listening to me, then you’ll definitely be in trouble.”

Davey grinned and patted the vermillion bird on the head gently. The brat quivered and shook when Davey began to stroke its beak. One would think that Davey had dealt with young divine beasts once or twice with how well he was doing, but…

[Davey, remember this well. Divine beasts, as you know, have very nasty tempers. The black tortoise will snap at you randomly, the azure dragon will act violently, the white tiger has a nasty temper and is a haughty moron. But among them, the vermillion bird has the greatest anger management issues.]

Davey found it nice to have a good memory, because it was helpful in so many ways.

[So, the first thing that you need to learn is how to deal with a divine beast. One day, if you decide to summon a divine beast, remember that the key is knowing how to kill the divine beast’s qi and spirit. Look at that, I decided to let him go and he’s already going crazy, right?]

“Just like hyung?”

[This punk!!!]

The best option when taming the vermillion bird was to smash its pride and arrogance into pieces. The vermillion bird’s flames were eternal and covered its body from head to toe. Once it lost its fire, it would not be able to resist at all and would be at the complete mercy of its opponent.

“My dear Fire Chicken, if you don’t listen to me, then…” Davey stopped speaking abruptly. He sent mana towards the pot of oil that Rinne had dragged here and raised the temperature of the oil.

The oil began to boil, emitting a scalding heat.

“…I will snap your neck, pluck all of your feathers, and turn you into fried chicken.”

The vermillion bird did not know what fried chicken was, but Davey’s movements made it flinch.

“How about it? Shall we give you an oil bath? I’ll make sure to keep it extra hot so I can fry you well.”

—Kihyee… kihyeeeeeeck!

The bird struggled, willing Davey to stop spouting nonsense. However, the ball was already in Davey’s park.

“What? I don’t have any seasonings? Don’t worry. The taste would not affect me at all, I will make sure to cook you well.”

Davey had once been left to his own devices to the point where he would eat anything and everything. Of course, his standards regarding the taste and flavor of dishes had dropped to the lowest. In other words, he had just given up on getting a good flavor.

—So, that’s why you said that your ideal type is a woman that’s good at cooking.

Davey completely ignored Perserque.

—Kihyeeeeeeeck!!

The meaning of the vermillion bird’s shrieks was changing constantly, but Davey just completely ignored its cries. All Davey did was grab it by its wings and drag it toward the pot of boiling oil.

“You don’t want to listen to me? Well, there’s nothing I can do then. My dear Fire Chicken, I’m very sorry. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to turn you into a delicious dish. I’ll make sure to make you into a very spicy one too.”

Fire Chicken, the vermillion bird, struggled fiercely against Davey’s words. Its face turned blue as they got closer and closer to the pot of oil.

Bang!!!

Davey deliberately kicked the pot of boiling oil, making it look like an accident. The moment they got closer, a splash of boiling oil splattered right next to the struggling Fire Chicken.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Davey never imagined that a bird’s eyes could widen and become as round as Fire Chicken’s right now. However, he had accomplished what he wanted. Davey believed that the bird would now listen to him after doing all of this.

—Kkii… kiiihyeeeck?

“Oh my… Some oil spilled out from the pot, huh?”

1. 도력 literally translated as dao energy. Used qi in the meantime since qi is generally used in daoist techniques and daoist magic ☜