Chapter 694: System Cooking (1)

They had worshiped that leech...... the System.

And it had been revealed that the thing was nothing more than a fake that had done nothing but lie.

Because of that, the believers were suffering, thinking they had lost their faith.

‘Lee Sanga said treating them as criminals would be too much.’

But when I thought about it.

Whether they became prisoners or captives of the Legion or not.

In their current state, they were going to suffer anyway.

And that was.

‘Not exactly...... an ending I like......!’

I thought as I raised my knife.

I drove my brain hard, trying to think of a way to draw out a better ending.

There were plenty of hints.

‘Their faith wasn’t completely wrong.’

The System was an existence that had impersonated the system.

They had worshiped the System while believing it was the system.

And when I thought about the root of that system...... if I looked at it while excluding only the intervention of that existence called the System, their faith possessed more legitimacy than any religion in this world.

It was also true that the system was not a divine being.

Even so, it remained a power that helped humanity.

In that case.

‘If I adjust their faith...... just a little.’

Correct the parts that were wrong.

And guide those parts in the proper direction.

‘Replace their faith with a new faith.’

Without denying their faith.

They might be able to blend naturally with us.

It would not be easy.

Calling it an adjustment was one thing.

In the end, it was an act of trying to replace their faith with something else.

Even if the contents of that faith changed only slightly, they would surely regard it as different from their own.

Even so, if I wanted to make this method succeed...... there was only one answer.

‘I have no choice but to show them something powerful enough to shatter their existing belief.’

SLASH!

I brought down the dagger in my hand with force.

[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]

[Chef’s Eye]

The place that kitchen knife was aimed at was—

[Leech Wearing Skin]

[You have acquired the heroic-grade cooking secret, ‘Understanding of the Leech Wearing Skin Preparation Method’!]

The god they had worshiped.

The corpse of the System.

***

FWAAAAASH!!!

“......!”

An enormous light filled the underground temple.

Not only the Legion members who had been handling the aftermath of the battle.

But also the Church believers who had collapsed in despair.

And even...... the believers outside, watching this place through Sergeant Lee Minjae’s vision, all turned their eyes toward a single point.

“Behold!”

At the center of that light stood a man.

A man holding an enormous dagger, stabbing it into a black figure.

That overwhelming light originated from that man himself.

“This is the existence that deceived you all!”

Slice, slice.

The black monster was carved apart.

‘......Ah.’

‘Lord...... System.’

The believers stared blankly at the scene with parted lips.

Even if its falsehood had been revealed, it was still the being they had worshiped.

As they watched such an existence being cut apart and sank into complicated emotions—

“The sinner who stole the power of the being you worshiped and impersonated its name!”

That man spoke those words.

‘......?’

At those words.

Confusion appeared across many believers’ faces.

And understandably so.

“The being we worshiped......?”

Because that person.

Was referring to the System he was carving apart and the being they worshiped as though they were separate existences.

“I, on behalf of us all!”

[Elemental Cooking - Fire]

“With this flame, I shall punish the crimes of the creature that deceived us.”

A massive flame erupted from the man’s hand.

And burned the System’s body.

Fwoosh.......

The leech’s flesh burning within the intense flames.

No...... more precisely.

‘Cooking at the proper temperature’ flesh.

“With this knife!”

Slice— slice—

He brutally carved apart the body.

“I shall punish the crimes of the creature that deceived our power.”

No, more precisely.

He cut it into bite-sized pieces according to each section.

And so.

Under the purification of flame and blade.......

[The dish has been completed!]

[The finest supreme delicacy containing the soul of a heroic-grade chef, Former Leech Steak]

The existence that once sought to become the god of this world.

Had transformed into a tiny lump of meat.

And.

“Finally!”

Swoosh.......

“By eradicating it forever...... I shall punish the crime [N O V E L I G H T] of impersonating our ancestors.”

That lump of meat disappeared.

No, more precisely.

[Force-Feeding]

Into the man’s body.

The System’s flesh melted smoothly into him.

[Skill]

[Absolute Taste (Enhanced)]

The flesh of that leech melted into his body.

And at the same time, a violent storm of flavor swept across the man’s tongue.

At the center of that storm, the man thought:

‘Focus.’

Naturally.

He was not doing this simply because he wanted to eat that leech.

[Please select a trait.]

What he wanted was.

The supernatural abilities that System possessed.

[Stealth]

[Sensory Paralysis]

[Blood Drain]

The intense taste spreading across his tongue.

He dismantled and analyzed that taste through absolute taste.

Saltiness, sweetness, sourness, bitterness.

Umami, astringency, slight nuttiness, oiliness.......

He excluded every single one of those tastes.

‘Find it......!’

What he needed to find was only one thing hidden among them.

He wandered through countless flavors searching for that single taste.

And then.......

[Erosion Manipulation]

He.

Succeeded in sensing the taste he had been searching for.

[You erode the parasitized target and obtain authority to manipulate its power.]

[As time passes, you may obtain authority over more and more portions.......]

But.

Even this was not enough.

It was certainly a powerful ability and authority.

But.

‘I need to go one step further here.’

He focused on his tongue.

And poured power into it.

The power that needed to be poured in had already been decided.

[50 divine power makes the impossible possible!]

He dug into a place so deep that even the skill ‘Absolute Taste’ could not find it.

With the help of the ‘power that makes the impossible possible’.......

[You have secured the mutation trait of Erosion Manipulation!]

[System Manipulation]

[The power that the ‘Leech Wearing Skin’ eroded and manipulated at the very end of its life.]

[Fragments of a fallen god, ——— ———, ———, which once held great potential.]

[You obtain authority to interfere with the massive system originating from those fragments.]

CRRRRZZZZT—

The obscured name crackled.

The existence that thing had clung to until just before death.

He reached the power that interfered with that flesh.

“......The existence that deceived you has now received all punishment and has been annihilated!”

Feeling that taste, he turned his body.

And before him after turning stood the altar.

The small lump of flesh resting upon it and.......

A mass of divine power so enormous it was difficult even to approach.

The creator of this tiny world.

“Now that power.”

Toward that mass.

The man fearlessly stretched out his hand.

“Has come to return to its rightful descendants!”

And then.

FWAAAAAAASH!!!

An enormous power exploded from that flesh.

An aura like a storm.

Feeling as though his entire body were being crushed beneath that energy, the man thought:

‘That leech was nothing more than a fraud unqualified to wield this power.’

One who was never originally qualified to obtain this power.

That creature had merely endured through endless years, sucking on that single piece of flesh until it acquired authority.

But he was different.

The existence the owner of that flesh had originally intended to inherit its power.

Even if, just as the System had said, he appeared far too late for that existence to have ever predicted his appearance.

Even so...... the unmistakable rightful heir of this world.

That power flowed into the man without any resistance whatsoever.

A truly transcendent power.

Something on a completely different level from the scraps of power that System had wielded.

***

And.

Within that wave.

‘......If I accept this power without resistance.’

I instinctively realized it in that instant.

This was a power no different from the root of that system.

In other words, it was also no different from the source of awakened powers.

My current level was 49.

But if I accepted that power.......

‘Breaking through the blocked wall of level 50 would be ridiculously easy.’

And not only that.

It would not stop there either.

‘59...... 60.......’

No, perhaps.

I might even break through the wall of level 69.

And reach a realm worthy of being called level 70 in a single leap.

‘They say humans in the level 40 range are called heroes.’

Then what about an existence that surpassed the wall of level 70?

At the very least.

One thing was certain: it would no longer remain within the realm of humanity.

A gigantic crystallization of power.

Besides me, nobody else could obtain authority over this flesh to such a degree anyway.

Even if I did not consume it, no one else would be capable of doing so.

An intense temptation filled my mind.

But.

I swallowed the saliva gathering in my mouth and muttered:

“It definitely does look delicious, though.......”

If I simply accepted this power as it was.

I would surely obtain a power comparable to that System.

Even so.

“Delicious things......!”

The man lightly smiled as he shouted.

This was not something prepared for him.

But something prepared for the children of this world.

What the man did was not take that flesh.

But rather—

[Legatus Dagger]

“You enjoy them more when you share them together......!”

He raised a single dagger high into the air.

***

[Legatus Dagger]

[A relic imbued with sacred energy, a holy relic.]

The holy relic that System had bestowed upon him.

Even after the System disappeared, the meaning engraved into that dagger remained: the highest-ranking proxy.

The one who wielded this dagger was delegated sacred authority.

And could handle the System’s power......

Well.

Even calling it the System’s power was nothing special.

‘It lets me handle this flesh.’

CRUNCH!

He stabbed the knife into the gigantic flesh.

FWAAAAAAASH!!!

The tiny fragment of flesh rapidly expanded to an enormous size.

But unlike the form the System had handled, it was not grotesque.

Flutter.......

His class was chef.

Under the chef’s hands, the flesh was sliced so transparently thin that one could see through to the other side.

And those thinly spread slices filled the temple like a beautiful aurora.

He continued spreading the flesh thinner and thinner.

The reason was simple.

What he wanted was not the outer portion of that flesh.

‘What lies beyond it.’

[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]

The innermost part.

The true essence at the deepest core of that flesh.......

No.

It was not only inside that flesh.

Every awakened being that survived in this world.

Every human.

Every animal, plant, and stretch of earth contained it.

Ordinarily, even he would not have been able to see it.

[The finest supreme delicacy containing the soul of a heroic-grade chef, Former Leech Steak]

[Legatus Dagger]

[Divine Power: 50]

But with preparations on this level.

He could definitely see it.

[Fragments scattered across the earth by a great ancient god.]

[Those who inherited those fragments survived the destruction that covered the world, gave birth to children, passed down generations, and filled the land with their vitality.]

Enduring the pain that felt as though his eyes would burst apart by gritting his teeth.

I finally succeeded in gazing upon it.

[Once, this power was merely fragments of an ancient god.]

[However, after the descendants who consumed that flesh prospered, built civilizations, and accumulated their own spirituality.]

[That power swelled even greater than before, eventually gaining a clear will and form.]

Yes.

The power flowing through his own body as well.......

And the power supporting every living being upon this land.

[The gathered wills of countless lives acquired an influence akin to that of a god.]

[And by spreading that influence throughout the universe, it began operating as a massive system seeking to maintain the world and overcome destruction.]

Right now.

The translucent window proudly explaining itself before my eyes!

[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]

[System]

I engraved into my eyes.

The true essence of the ‘system.’

“You helped us a lot all this time, so sorry for doing this to you!”

And.

My class was chef.

[Chef’s Eye]

A truly skilled chef.

Can make absolutely anything into ingredients......!

[???-grade Cooking Secret]

[You have acquired ‘Understanding of the System Preparation Method’!]

“I’ll cook you all over again however I want......!”

Toward the system window floating before my eyes.

I drove the [Legatus Dagger] into it.

[Cooking has begun!]

Now then.

The beginning of the greatest dish ever to be recorded in humanity’s mythology.