Chapter 761: Indigestion

{So you finally...... came.}

Inside the dark space.

Thousands of eyes looked at me.

I stared blankly up at the sky.

Even though I had fallen into this place through the gigantic hole in the mansion.

There, I could not see anything like the scenery of the mansion where I had originally been.

{Ahh, finally.}

{Ahh...... why.}

What occupied that place instead of the hole in the ceiling were eyes glaring down at me.

This entire dark space was filled with those long, slit pupils.

{You came to save me.}

{You did not go back?}

And before long, I was able to realize one fact.

Those countless pupils.

Those gazes were clearly Mirinae, and at the same time...... they were each different personalities.

'Beings inside Mirinae that weren’t properly digested.'

The countless personalities that had ended up split apart because of them.

A small portion of those voices looked at me and lamented.

{Ahh, why.}

{Why did you not go back......!}

On the other hand.

{Why, you ask? Isn’t it obvious?}

The majority of the voices among them looked at me as if mocking them and said.

{I can feel it.}

{The energy of the being outside.}

{I know what you want. You want me to devour that one for you, don’t you?}

Yes.

In the end, the first reason I had come here was because I wanted Mirinae’s help.

Mirinae’s reason had said it could not help me.

But.

{If you free me, then gladly!}

Its instinct was different.

Unlike reason, which wished to die here.

The instinct that wanted to survive, go outside, and devour more things.

It was appetite and the desire to survive, things that ought to exist in every living being.

{I, too, must recover from this wound and continue fighting.}

{And for that, I need food.}

{Child, your goal and mine are aligned.}

Those pupils turned sharply.

The pupils grew small and sharp, as if looking far outside.

{Not only that being. Everything outside that threatens you.}

{I will devour them all without leaving a single one behind.}

{So, quickly.}

Those pupils.

Turned toward me again.

{It will not be difficult for you.}

At that moment.

Gooooooo.......

'......!'

The shadow territory I had received from Ariella rippled.

And something sprang out from inside it.

{Grasp it.}

What soon came out of the shadow.

Was a single dagger...... no.

[Legatus’s Dagger.]

It was a kitchen knife.

***

Though it had now disappeared.

It was an object made from the flesh of the being that had once been this world’s god.

A holy relic with the power to interfere with the laws of this world.

Tap.

{Grasp it.}

As if that dagger had a will of its own, it was placed in my hand.

{And...... cut it.}

Only then.

Could I understand what they meant.

'......The chains.'

The land I was standing on.......

No, this being.

I could see countless faintly glowing chains that were binding that being.

'This is...... the world’s seal.'

The energy I could feel from there was all too familiar.

The power of the System flowing within me as well.

This was the form it took when manifested somewhere other than inside the body of an awakened person.

......However.

'It doesn’t look intact.'

They must originally have been chains numbering in the thousands.

But most of them seemed to have snapped off, unable to withstand a powerful force.

I could see fragments of chains scattered here and there, having lost their light.

And yet the reason the seal was being maintained was...... one thing.

Really, quite literally.

{Cut that chain.}

It was because of the chain before my eyes.

A chain so thick, solid, and gigantic it was like a pillar, incomparable to the others.

'Is it something like...... the core of the seal?'

The Conquest War proceeded, and the barrier opened.

Along with it, the world’s power that had been sealing many monsters also weakened.

But even so, the powerful monsters had not all begun running wild simultaneously.

This was probably the reason.

Even if the power of the seal weakened.

There still remained one final layer of sealing strong enough to be difficult to escape from.

That alone had remained and kept them sealed.

However.

“It seems this does not have much time left either.”

{Correct.}

And yet.

Mirinae was an existence far too enormous, even among those countless monsters.

Just as most of the chains had already shattered.

Craaaack.......

Even this final seal.

Looked so precarious I could see the metal being stretched long.

It would have been impossible for any other existence, but it was possible because this was an existence releasing power on Mirinae’s level.

If its reason had not been holding out even now, perhaps it would have broken long ago.

And.

{From the moment you came, the fate of that last chain was already half decided.}

The reason it had been holding out like that was because Mirinae’s reason and instinct were locked in opposition.

Originally, the odds of this seal breaking or being maintained would have been half and half.

But with my appearance, its survival instinct had begun running wild.

Now that the weight of its mind had tilted to one side.

Even if I turned back now, this seal would surely be destroyed before long.

If that was the case.

{It is a seal that will break someday even if you do not cut it.}

{So, quickly.}

Even if I cut this.

And even if Mirinae, having emerged after the seal broke, did more than simply accept my request for help.......

Perhaps there was no need to feel much guilt over it.

It was something that would have happened with half-and-half odds anyway.

And now, it was a certainty.

What I would be doing was no more than making it happen a little earlier.

“Mirinae has helped me a great deal until now.”

{Ahh, yes.}

That was why.

With a light heart, I tightened my grip on Legatus’s Dagger.

“So now, it is my turn to repay that favor.”

[Legatus’s Dagger] was a holy relic possessing the authority to intervene in the power of the System.

No matter how sturdy that seal looked.

With this dagger, I should be able to cut it apart.

{Ahh......!}

I could feel Mirinae’s instinct rejoicing.

It seemed to be smacking its lips as it thought of the freedom finally approaching and the beings it would taste from now on.

But as I looked at that sight.

'Seeing it rejoice that much.'

I smiled bitterly inwardly.

'I do feel a little bad.'

......But what can you do?

Having made my decision, I opened my mouth quietly.

“However.”

{......?}

“It’s not as if the Mirinae I spoke with was only one or two, right?”

The pupils that had been ecstatic with joy.

Those pupils twitched as if sensing something strange.

“Because of that, it’s a little ambiguous who exactly I should repay this favor to. Some asked me to free them, and some asked me to leave them alone.......”

{What...... are you saying? All of those Mirinaes are me.......}

“Ah, right. They are all Mirinae, and they all helped me, so it would be a little much to only listen to one side, wouldn’t it? So.”

The gigantic chain like a pillar.

I looked at the gaps between the links that made it up.

“The way I repay this favor....”

And.

Into the gap between those chains.

“I’ll decide that however I want.”

{......!!!!}

CRACK!!!

I stabbed [Legatus’s Dagger] into it.

***

{What......!}

Legatus’s Dagger held in my hand.

Mirinae seemed to have expected me to swing it.

But what I did was a little different from that.

CRACK!

I stabbed the dagger between the chains.

It was a gigantic chain, but the gaps between those woven links were not very wide.

Legatus’s Dagger slipped precisely into that narrow gap.

And while Mirinae was flustered, apparently unable to grasp the meaning of my action.

“Assistant Chef!”

BOOM!

I kicked off the ground and shouted.

Then.

[Commander-Exclusive Luxury Special Oven Crafted with the Full Strength of the Legion’s Artisans]

The first thing to spring out was a gigantic oven.

And.

That was not all.

[High-End Rotisserie Personally Designed by the Legion’s Artisans]

[Multipurpose Furnace, Masterpiece of a Legion Blacksmith’s Soul]

Ovens and furnaces, grills, cauldrons, steamers, fryers, refrigerators.......

Countless cooking tools were pulled out by the power of [Assistant Chef].

{What are you doing!}

The voices of the Mirinaes shouted in confusion.

At those voices.

[Dokgogusik]

[Black Iron Chinese Knife]

[Sound Kitchen Knife]

I grabbed the kitchen knives that emerged last.

Lightly tied back my messily flying hair, and answered.

“Repaying a favor.”

{......!?}

“But.”

Mirinae seemed to have wanted me to repay that favor by breaking that chain.

But how should I put it.......

'Repaying a favor that way...... isn’t really my style, you know?'

That was only natural.

I was a chef who made dishes, not a combat engineer who cut chains.

In the first place.

Miho, who had sent me here, had expected something special from me.

Something special other than simply releasing the seal or maintaining it.

In that case, I had thought about what that special thing only I could do might be.

“My job is chef.”

Well.

Wasn’t the answer already decided?

My job was chef.

So.

“I will repay you with cooking.”

{......!}

The method by which I would repay the favor.

Was also already decided.

[Cooking begins!]

Countless cooking tools.

Those tools began operating.

{What are you scheming......!}

“Your disciples...... Do you still think of them that way? Anyway. I heard a lot from our unit’s instructors. I also heard the detailed circumstances of exactly what happened from Woojin.”

In the end.

The reason the being that had once been the martial hall’s Master had transformed into the existence called Mirinae.

And ended up in a position where it had no choice but to be trapped in this seal and wait for death, was simple.

'It was the result of devouring too much...... in order to save its own world.'

Its motive had clearly been good will.

A dragon that remained on the earth despite possessing the qualification for ascension.

The reason was...... unlike others who had wished to rise to the heavens.

'Because he loved the land where he lived far too much.'

In that case.

The result of such good will should not be quietly waiting for death inside a seal.

Nor should it become a beast freed from the seal and running wild.

“Fortunately, I know exactly what Mirinae is going through.”

Luckily.

I was one of the very few people who could accurately define Mirinae’s condition.

It had happened because it ate too much.

And too quickly.

In other words.......

“Indigestion. An upset stomach.”

{......!}

“So.”

Water filled up, and fire blazed.

Countless cooking tools had begun preheating before operation.

However.

Not a single ingredient had yet gone inside them.

The reason was simple.

'The ingredients are already decided.'

I looked at Mirinae.......

No.

I looked at this dark void where I had settled, and reached out my hand.

Then I mobilized the mana inside my body and activated a skill.

[Soul Cooking]

CRAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!

The thousands, tens of thousands of eyes that had been watching me.

From them, an enormous number of figures were pulled out.

“This happened because you ate so much uncooked food in such a hurry, didn’t it? So.......”

Countless personalities, regardless of age or gender.

“I will help you digest.”

Into the ovens, furnaces, and cauldrons.

I forcibly shoved them.

***

The thousands of pupils that had been looking at me.

CRAAAAAAAAAAACK!

When I activated the skill toward those pupils.

Countless personalities bound to those pupils burst out.

{Wha...... t!}

Countless voices.

Every Mirinae, whether reason or instinct, screamed.

'Normally, handling an existence like Mirinae this way would be impossible.'

But.

Right now was different.

'Mirinae is sealed.'

In the past.

The same had been true when I had been able to grasp and move the soul of the king of Belsnickel.

Even if that seal had weakened considerably, it was still certain that Mirinae remained sealed.

Of course, most of that seal had already been released.

If Mirinae’s soul had been only one.

It would have been impossible for me to handle the single soul of an existence that immense.

However.

'Right now, there are way too many......!'

Mirinae’s personality was currently split into thousands, tens of thousands.

No matter how powerful Mirinae was.

It had weakened due to the seal, and on top of that, its soul had been broken into tens of thousands of pieces.

In that situation.

“Even I can......!”

I could pull out those souls.

“Somehow......!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

[Cooking ingredients have been added!]

[Unstable Dragon Soul]

[Unstable Dragon Soul]

[Unstable Dragon Soul]

And shove them into the cooking tools.

It meant I could somehow manage that much.

{How, dare......!}

As countless versions of itself were shoved into the cooking tools.

Perhaps realizing that something was going strangely wrong.

RUMBLEEEEEEEE!!!

The floor shook violently.

Even if I had pulled them out and shoved them into the cooking tools.

The connection between body and soul had not been severed.

Mirinae was bound by the chains of the seal.

It seemed to be trying to go wild directly and break free from that seal.

The final remaining gigantic chain of the seal.

Even that chain was in a weakened state.

With a thrashing this enormous, it might certainly have been able to break that chain.

But.

CRRRRRRRRRRRK......!

{The dagger......!}

Now, things were a little different.

The chains of the seal had become very loose.

[Legatus’s Dagger]

And wedged between them as if reinforcing them.

Was a single kitchen knife.