Chapter 729: Normal and Abnormal

“I think your level is just right for finding that out.”

When I said that.

BOOM!

An attack came flying immediately.

An attack that rushed in without leaving any room for conversation.

I threw myself away from that attack and thought.

'Well, if anything, I like that it’s simple.'

Those things only intend to kill me.

They do not say anything about making a deal like someone °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° else does.

There is no information I might be able to get from them.

And this is not a situation where there are hostages I need to worry about.

In other words.

“I was feeling pretty stifled anyway.”

Compared to everything that had happened over the past few days.

[You consume a dish.]

[You consume a dish.]

[You consume a dish.]

[You consume a dish.]

Doing things this way.

Feels refreshing for me too.

BOOOOOM!

The first to attack was a massive monster, the [Corpse of the Ferocious Ogar].

Its body must have been huge to begin with, but its muscles had been strengthened to an abnormal degree.

And just as it looked.

CRUMBLE......

When I dodged its fist.

The ground touched by that fist collapsed in an instant.

A crater dozens of meters in diameter appeared in the ground, as if a massive meteorite had crashed there.

'If that grazes me, there won’t even be bones left to gather.'

And.

When I dodged that attack.

-GWOOOOOOORGH!

The other zombies nearby began charging in.

If it had only been those five, that might have been one thing.

But there were countless other zombies here helping them.

It would be difficult to deal with every single one of them individually, so.

[Five Loaves and Two Fish]

I immediately began responding.

A moment ago, I had not been able to use it because there were other humans around, but now it was different.

FWAAAAASH!!!

I threw the dish filled with the mana of [Five Loaves and Two Fish] into the sky.

Then.

That dish split into an enormous number of pieces and filled the sky over the city.

***

Sssrk......

Though it had fallen now.

This city had once been the capital of a nation.

Across the entirety of that massive city.

An enormous shadow was cast.

-That is.

Things that filled the sky and blocked even the light descending toward the ground.

They were none other than.

Dishes, copied in enormous numbers.

And.

The objects that had created that shadow...... the countless dishes covering the sky.

[Elemental Cooking - Water]

Became a tremendous amount of rainwater and poured down.

Rainwater in an enormous quantity, enough to soak the entire city and leave the ground shallowly submerged.

[Force-Feeding]

When that rainwater seeped into them.

Their movements began to slow noticeably.

-This is.

-......The host’s physical abilities have weakened.

The dish I had just copied was a debuff dish.

Everyone touched even slightly by that rainwater was exposed to the tremendous debuff effect of the dish I had made.

The only exception was me.

Only I, who would not have any additional effects applied unless I had already consumed a dish and activated [Absolute Taste], was free from this debuff.

However, if there was one disappointing point.

'......Even [Special Sauce]’s power doesn’t work on them.'

I had planted the emotion of “madness” in that dish.

A very dangerous emotion that made them unable to distinguish enemy from ally and forced them to attack one another.

But there was no sign of that madness from those things.

'The dish didn’t reach the main body.'

[Force-Feeding] only activates in the end when that dish touches the skin.

The main body hidden inside the host.

The debuff had definitely entered the host’s physical abilities, but the power of my dish had not reached the subject controlling those corpses.

-One who wields grotesque power.

Casting a massive shadow over the sky.

And scattering rain down from it.

Sssrk......

After seeing me like that, the atmosphere around those things changed subtly.

However, there was no sign of panic there at all.

They simply recognized me as a strong enemy and corrected their posture.

Their attitude was almost mechanical.

That was, how should I put it.

'This was the image I originally had of evolved zombies.'

In the end, they were insects.

Even if they evolved and gained reason, I had thought they would look something like that.

That was why, when I came to this city, I had been flustered because the zombies in this city were different from what I expected.

Now I understood.

'Those things are the normal ones.'

And.

The zombies in this city.

'These ones were the abnormal ones.'

It was only by coincidence.

That I had met the abnormal zombies first.

[Corpse of Raior the Red Beast]

Perhaps because it had seen me evade that Ogar’s attack.

A zombie charged at me.

The Ogar’s attack had been powerful but slow, while this beast’s attack was incredibly fast.

However.

[Martial Art - Form]

CLANG!

My kitchen knife deflected its claw.

It was certainly fast, but the power contained within it was weak.

An attack weakened even further by the effect of my debuff dish.

In that case, as long as I predicted its path through martial arts, I could evade it as much as needed.

-The power that made rain fall.

-Not only speed.

-Strength too.

Once the physical attacks of the two monsters failed.

While those two attacked me, one more thing moved.

[Corpse of the Red Sea Lamia]

A monster whose lower body looked like a snake.

It opened its mouth toward me.

“Please stop.”

Korean I heard out of nowhere.

A voice beautiful enough to be called lovely.

And.

Please stop.

That beautiful voice became sound waves.

And covered my body.

[You have been exposed to a powerful command word!]

“......!?”

Once I was exposed to that voice.

My steps began to slow rapidly.

And into the opening created by that slowed movement.

[Corpse of the Splitting Devourer]

A monster shaped like a massive slime spread out widely.

And lunged at me with its enormous body.

Inside the slime, a bizarre acidic liquid that looked dangerous at a glance was gleaming.

'They really do every damn thing.'

However.

[Assistant Chef]

PAK!

Kitchen knives sprang up from beneath my feet.

I stepped on top of those kitchen knives.

The kitchen knives that copied my physical abilities moved me at tremendous speed.

The slime’s attack cut through empty air.

-Just now.

And.

The minds of countless zombies who had seen my movement revealed the same meaning at once.

-Even after hearing the command word of stillness.

-He moved.

That beautiful voice I heard had clearly told me to “please stop.”

But after hearing that voice, my actions only slowed slightly.

I was still able to move.

If even moving had been impossible, it would have been difficult to escape in time.

And what this meant was clear.

-Exalted rank.

-Not an ordinary human.

Abilities like that ultimately had their effects determined by which side’s rank was higher.

It meant that my rank was vastly higher than that lamia’s.

***

-Exalted rank.

-More than speed, strength...... that rank is higher.

-If so.

Once they realized my rank was higher than they had imagined.

Their minds resonated, and before long.

-It must be reduced.

[Corpse of the Soul-Devouring Ghoul]

A translucent ghost with its entire body covered by something like a cloak rushed toward me.

The thing, which looked like a will-o’-the-wisp wrapped in a cloak, approached right in front of me.

Sssrk......

From inside it, dozens of hands made of bone shot out.

And lifted the cloak covering its face.

The face of a rotting corpse inside it stared at me.

[You have gazed into the Devouring Ghoul’s eyes!]

[You have been designated as the Soul-Devouring Ghoul’s next prey.]

[The rank of your soul temporarily decreases.]

[Spiritual decay caused by a powerful curse begins.]

The moment I met that gaze, I felt an anomaly in my soul.

As soon as they realized my rank was high.

They immediately deployed a method to lower the rank of that soul.

[Resistance to command words has weakened!]

“......Aha, so that’s how it works.”

Leaving the message floating before my eyes behind.

I looked at them.

The [Corpse of the Ferocious Ogar], which possessed powerful attack power.

The red beast, which possessed the speed that Ogar lacked.

The Red Sea Lamia, which possessed a command word that restricted enemy movement.

The Splitting Devourer, which could envelop a slowed opponent over a wide area.

The Devouring Ghoul, which forcibly lowered the rank of an opponent whose rank made that command word ineffective.

That was...... how should I put it.

'A combination extremely efficient for dealing with one strong enemy.'

I could be certain.

Zombies were said to evolve.

But those five were not individuals created simply because they happened to undergo many evolutions by chance.

'They intentionally strengthened specific individuals.'

In order to deal with a single strong enemy.

They were likely the result of carefully selecting and strengthening several individuals.

Even Ariella had said that, after sensing the prince’s presence, he was an opponent she could not afford to be careless with.

I had wondered how they had managed to keep such an opponent pinned down.

Those things were certainly incredibly strong individually as well.

But the cause was that combination, thoroughly designed to attack a single opponent.

I was beginning to get a rough idea of how those zombies’ structure worked.

“Blood.......”

At that moment.

The lamia that had opened its mouth toward me earlier opened its mouth again.

Right now, my rank had been lowered because of that Devouring Ghoul.

If I took a direct hit, it was obvious it would have a major effect.

In that case.

“This is my first time trying it in real combat.”

Toward that thing.......

No, to be exact.

I stretched my hand toward the space between that thing and me.

[Elemental Cooking]

And activated the skill.

Not once, but several times.

[Nitrogen]

[Oxygen]

[Argon]

[Carbon]

[Neon]

[Helium]

[Carbon Dioxide]

[Water Vapor]

Between that lamia and me.

The countless elements existing in the atmosphere there.

I “cooked” that massive quantity of elements all at once.

[A large quantity of elemental dishes has been completed at once!]

[The conditions for a course meal have been met.]

And.

There was only one result produced by combining the elements I had cooked.

[Course Meal - Air]

The air in the atmosphere transformed into my dish in an instant.

And.

I added one very minor process to the dish that had been completed like that.

'Compress it as much as possible.'

PAK.

As if crumpling something, I clasped both hands together and crushed down.

Then.

PAAAAAAK......!

The air in the atmosphere spread across a wide area.

That air was compressed in an instant to a nanoscale size.

“Spit out.......”

The thing was trying to continue the command word aimed at me.

However.

“S.......”

Even though its mouth continued moving.

Those words were never completed.

“......?”

Even though it was continuing to try to say something.

The same sound waves as before did not come out of its mouth.

Of course they did not.

The medium that would carry that sound.

[Air Dish]

The air.

No longer existed between that thing and me.

And in the place where that air disappeared.

PAAAAAAAAK!

That place.

Became a sudden vacuum.

The surrounding air would rush in instantly to fill the wide space that had become a vacuum.

-......!!!

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

And because of that.

A massive explosion and suction force occurred.

-Krk......

The tremendous pressure change created by the air in one space being compressed in an instant.

Perhaps because the lamia was struck by that, rotten blood flowed from its mouth.

This was a method I had researched because I wondered if there was any way for me, someone without wide-area skills, to substitute for that role at least somewhat.

It was something that could inflict major damage on those in the surrounding area.

'Kh......!'

The problem was that this power did not distinguish enemy from ally.

That was also why I had not been able to use this method when the hostages were there.

And.

The effect of this technique did not end there.

PAAAAAAK!!!

The space that had become a vacuum in an instant.

Because of the pressure trying to fill that space.

Both my body and the lamia’s body were pulled toward the center of the vacuum space.

-......!

That thing, too, was a zombie with considerable strength even aside from its command word.

Even though it had been wounded by the vacuum explosion just now, the moment it realized its body was being pulled, it swiftly protected its own vital point.

'There was one thing I realized while fighting zombies near that barrier.'

However.

I thought as I watched that.

'Through evolution, zombies sometimes become stronger than they were in life...... but at the same time, they gain one weakness they never had while alive.'

The most important vital point.

In other words...... the main body of those things, located inside them.

The parasite itself.

That main body was the most fatal weakness.

So that lamia, too.

That place emitting the alien light visible through [Combat Power Meter]...... it tried to protect only its own main body.

If so.

'Its defense of the other places it should be protecting can’t help but weaken.'

STAB!

My kitchen knife thrust in with the same momentum as I was being pulled in by the vacuum.

That knife of mine stabbed into its neck.

Then.

-This one is foolish.

The mind of the lamia stabbed by the knife sent its will toward its kin.

-The neck. A vital point from life, not a threat.

Just as that thing’s will said.

The neck was normally a place where even a graze would be fatal, but.

For those things, which were corpses in the first place, it would not be a very important weakness.

If it was those zombies, they would probably be able to keep moving even with their necks half-cut and dangling.

“Sorry.”

However.

“It’s not the neck.”

What I had aimed for was.

Not the neck...... but another organ inside it.

“S...... sh...... shhk......?”

The lamia tried to immediately release its next command word toward me.

However.

No voice came out of its throat anymore.

Of course it did not.

[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]

[Lamia’s Vocal Cords]

“With this...... that’s one down for now.”

The vocal cords needed to release command words.

Had already been ripped out by my kitchen knife.