Chapter 742: Look at the Sky

The enormous world of the “other side” that had appeared in the sky.

An ideal land shining beautifully with golden light.

The gravity of that enormous world pulled at the souls of those who looked at it.

And merely seeing the light descending from it exerted enough influence to shake the soul.

[Shadow Curtain]

That was why Ariella covered that other side with her shadow.

If the scenery affected people merely by being seen, then covering it was the best option.

That was what she had thought, but.

Crackle......

'The light of that world...... is driving away my shadow.'

With her shadow, she could temporarily protect those below.

But she could not protect even herself.

The golden light descending from that other side shook her soul and gradually pushed away her shadow.

If those mighty monsters alone had been everything, she could have fought for far longer.

But what threatened her was a world.

That light was difficult even for her to withstand.

Pak......

The density of the shadow gradually thinned.

And holes began to open in it, one by one.

She thought that, unable to withstand that light, her shadow would end up being completely stripped away.

At that very moment.

FWAAAAASH!!!

“......!”

Contrary to what she had expected.

What drove away her shadow.

Was not the light in that sky.

“You held out well.”

A brilliant radiance rising from the ground.

That light pierced even the thick shadow and headed toward her, who had been fighting above it.

“This is your reward.”

[Force-Feeding]

“Enjoy it.”

[You have consumed the dish!]

Inside her mouth.

A dazzlingly rich taste spread, so abundant that it made her mind go hazy.

***

The golden light of the other side had been descending from the sky toward the ground.

Against that light.

BOOOOOM!!!

As if asking how it dared try to illuminate this place.

An even more brilliant light bloomed upward.

[Five Loaves and Two Fish]

[Force-Feeding]

The light emitted by a world.

Began to be pushed back by the gray-white radiance emitted by one human’s cooking.

Unlike the light that made the mind grow hazy.

The radiance from the ground instead brought a warm emotion.

And.

“Now!”

“......Yes!”

At the same time.

There was another light shining from within it.

[The “Demon Hunter’s” secret art activates!]

[Secret Art - Descent Suppression]

Kuuuuung!

Those who had been sitting on the ground, completing an enormous magic circle.

The hands of every hunter took the same beast-seal shape and overlapped as one.

Then.

Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack......

The humans sitting on the ground.

The land around them was roughly pressed down.

The nearby trees could not withstand that pressure and were flattened and compressed, and the ground went beyond being densely packed together—the earth collapsed, and the fault layers twisted.

[Descent Suppression]

[A hunter’s secret art designed to prevent something from “descending.”]

Yes, as if......

Something absurdly heavy had been descending from that sky.

And they were forcibly trying to push it away.

Craaaack......

Kuuuuuuuuung......

The earth, unable to withstand that tremendous weight, began collapsing.

As he watched that sight.

Choi Wonjun, his hands clasped together, thought with a bitter smile.

'This is absurd.'

He was certainly a powerful demon hunter.

The other hunters following him were also surely outstanding hunters.

However.

In the end, they too were nothing more than humans.

What was on that other side was one world.

Pushing it away.

There was no way that could have been possible with their original power.

In the first place, even trying to measure the possibility itself would not have sounded strange if someone called it foolish.

However.

Craack......

Not now.

The “other side” that had been approaching the ground.

That world, which had only been getting closer and closer.

'It’s moving farther away.'

Little by little.

It had begun to move farther away.

“......Truly, absurd.”

Yes.

Originally, even for them, this would have been impossible.

Strictly speaking.

[You have consumed the dish!]

[The effect of Common Trait - Absolute Palate activates.]

[The effect of the dish is amplified!]

“It’s cooking.”

If it had been the original him...... that is.

***

The world of the “other side” had been slowly approaching this world.

That world began to be pushed away little by little by the mighty force driving it back.

The distance it was pushed away was very short.

On the scale of worlds, it could only be called a truly slight distance.

However, because of that small difference.

[The world’s gravity is released!]

The distance between worlds, which had become close enough for them to pull at each other.

That gravity was released.

“Keheuk......! Cough.......”

“Wh-what just happened......!”

The gravity of the larger world had been pulling them in.

When that power disappeared.

The souls of the Legion members that had been drawn toward it returned to their original places.

“All Legion members!”

And.

Looking at them, the Legion Commander shouted.

“Look at the sky!”

“......!”

At those words.

The bodies of the Legion members flinched.

An anxiety that told them, for some reason, they must not look at the sky.

A deep trauma engraved into their souls without them even realizing it.

However.

“Do not be afraid.”

It might have been different if it were someone else.

But the one giving that order was none other than their Legion Commander.

And so.

Slowly.

They overcame even that trauma.

And without hesitation, they were able to raise their eyes to the sky.

And what was there.

'......!'

Were beings with ash-gray wings filling the sky.

Hundreds of millions of beings from the “other side.”

Abominations, each one containing power that was mighty beyond words.

“Do you see them?”

In the world after the apocalypse, there had been many invaders.

But most of them had been refugees from other worlds.

Beings who had wandered somewhere in the universe after their own worlds disappeared.

Beings who had merely been pulled in by the pressure of a world with a hole opened in it.

But they were different.

“They are enemies who have invaded our land!”

If they were nothing more than refugees.

Choosing to stand together with them was possible.

No, even those parasites that had opened a hole in this world.

If they had possessed the will to stand together with us, we could have stood together with them.

“Don’t you think these arrogant bastards have some nerve?”

But not those invaders.

The Legion Commander pointed his blade at them.

A mighty presence that could plant fear in the souls of many merely by being watched.

“Don’t tell me.”

But against enemies like that.

“You’re thinking of just letting them leave, are you?”

Their Legion Commander.

Grinned and said that.

'......Hup.'

When they first heard those words.

Some of the Legion members screamed inwardly.

They were beings that looked far too powerful to describe as “arrogant.”

Their numbers were overwhelmingly superior as well.

Normally, trembling in fear would have been the natural reaction.

'Have I gone insane?'

'For some reason.'

Even so, the reason they were horrified was simple.

'I’m not afraid.'

Against enemies they should originally have feared.

Only the emotion that they were laughable was blooming in their hearts.

And.

BOOOOOM!

The enemies descended from the sky and headed toward the ground.

Toward those weaker than themselves, and fewer than themselves.

Beings filled with the will to slaughter them mercilessly.

However.

Srrrk......

Toward them.

The light that had begun from the ground reached out.

'Arrogant bastards.'

And.

Looking at that light, I thought.

'You dare invade someone else’s territory?'

And.

My job was chef.

[Applied cooking effect - 1]

As for what someone like me could do for them.

Well...... there was only one thing.

[Course Meal Made with the Full Power of a Demigod-Class Chef]

I’ll show those foreigners.

The “spicy taste” of this world.

***

[Course List]

[Steamed Egg Custard]

[Kimchi Stew]

[Stir-Fried Pork]

[Seasoned Bean Sprouts]

Countless flavors spread through my mouth.

The “course” list of the dishes I had made brushed past before my eyes.

And.

Those dishes had one shared trait.

'Dishes made from the things of this land.'

Among the names of ingredients written there.

There was not a single thing from another world.

All of them were products born and grown in this land.

When it came to cooking, the quality of ingredients was more important than anything else.

And.

Ingredients that did not contain mana inevitably had weak effects.

That was why, at some point, I had stopped using ingredients other than monsters very often.

But not long ago.

During the battle against that Church, I realized something.

'The life of this world holds far more possibilities than I thought.'

Yes.

Crops and lives born and grown in this land.

Something far more precious than mana had seeped into them.

Over the time that had passed.

I had researched cooking related to that.

[Course Meal - Earth]

And the result.

Was this.

[Strengthens the world’s influence against another world.]

The effect of the completed dish was only a single line.

However.

That was enough.

-......!

The monsters had been approaching the ground for a massacre.

A great agitation arose in their souls.

Of course it did.

[The light of the earth invades beings of another world!]

The survivors, who were life of this land.

And Ariella and her kin, who had chosen to stand together with them.

The moment the light rising from the bodies of every Legion member invaded them.

[An extremely powerful “world penalty” is applied to the targets!]

[The air is alien. Breathing becomes difficult.]

[The gravity is alien. Movement becomes difficult.]

[The mana is alien. Physical maneuvering becomes difficult.]

A sense of foreignness, as if they had been thrown into a completely different world.

Filled their bodies.

[This is a hostile world.]

[Hostility, saying it will not forgive the wicked invaders, is directed at them.]

[The invaders’ souls shrink back.]

The influence of this world.

Had made their souls shrink back.

And.

Finally, one more message appeared before my eyes.

[Never forgive the arrogant invaders!]

The System, created by the gathered life of this land.

As I looked at that message that acted on behalf of our will.

“Never forgive the arrogant invaders!”

Thinking that it shouldn’t say what I was going to say before I did.

I spat out the exact same words.

“Loyalty, loyalty!”

“......Follow the Knight’s command!”

“Follow the System’s will—our will!”

My shout and the System’s message.

The Legion members shouted in response to them.

Fwaaaash......

In line with that momentum.

The light from the ground grew even more intense.

-......!

Perhaps they sensed something strange after seeing that mighty light.

Many among them swung their wings.

They tried to turn their backs, as if attempting to return to their own world.

However.

“It must have been easy coming here.”

Looking at them.

“But leaving won’t be.”

I clenched my fist tightly.

And “pulled” that hand toward this side.

[The world’s gravity activates!]

The world of the other side was moving farther away through the hunters’ power.

And the energy of this world had grown stronger through the power of cooking.

[The invaders’ souls are caught by the world’s gravity.]

The light of that side that had been invading us no longer reached.

And the light of this side wrapped around those invaders.

[The invaders’ souls twist out of alignment with their bodies!]

Because of that overwhelmingly powerful gravity.

A shock great enough to make their souls peel away from their bodies little by little.

Their souls were caught by this world.

They could no longer return as they pleased.

Rather.

BOOOOOM!

Unable to resist that powerful gravity.

They began falling toward the ground.

“For the glory of the bloodline!”

“For the victory of the Legion......!”

“Kieeeeeeeeeek!!!”

What happened afterward.

Was exactly the one-sided massacre they had expected.

Except.

[You have gained experience.]

[You have gained experience.]

[You have gained a large amount of experience.......]

The direction.

Had been completely reversed.