The Military Chef of a Ruined World

[Rebirth of the Flesh]

[The evolution of living beings is certainly a great thing, but even among beings born through such evolution, cases where they possess perfect bodies from birth are extremely rare.]

[Those who trained themselves in order to become better beings would often encounter the limits of the bodies they were born with and fall into despair...... but among them, the exceedingly rare individuals called geniuses devised ways to break through even those bodily limits.]

[To discard the body one was born with and create a new fleshly form through training accumulated after birth.]

[It is an extremely difficult and arduous process, but those who accomplished it became capable of containing an even higher rank within their bodies.]

[The limits of the body’s potential disappear.]

[All inefficiencies within the body are improved.]

[All heterogeneous combinations within the body are perfectly fused.]

[Dragon’s Inner Core]

[It is the inner core of a dragon, an illusory species counted among the most powerful beings in the entire universe.]

[It is believed that no creature other than a dragon can possess one without a truly special method, but every individual who manifested a dragon’s inner core through such a special method went on to achieve great feats.]

[A separate energy organ, distinct from the existing ones, settles within the body.]

[The Dragon’s Inner Core displays the greatest efficiency in storing and releasing every kind of energy, including mana, vital energy, and more.......]

[The storage capacity for all kinds of energy increases absolutely.]

[The absorption efficiency for all kinds of energy increases absolutely.]

[The release efficiency for all kinds of energy increases absolutely.]

The dragon pearl Mirinae had given me.

With its original power, I overcame the penalty of [Vital Energy Loss].

With the effect gained by cooking it, I achieved [Rebirth of the Flesh].

And through the effect of consuming it with [Taste Bud Enhancement], I obtained [Dragon’s Inner Core].

“Haaah.......”

Only after using all of that enormous energy.

Was I finally able to regain my senses.

It had felt like an incredibly long time.

But in reality, it seemed only a few minutes had passed.

I could still see the battle taking place outside.

And.

As I looked at that scene, I felt an extremely unfamiliar sensation.

‘This is.’

The dining hall, half-melted by the intense heat.

The sight of the battle unfolding outside it.

Of course, that alone was a scene strange enough to feel unfamiliar.......

But that was not the reason.

‘I can feel it.’

A scene felt through my skin.

What was happening outside, or what was about to happen.

A strange sensation, as though my soul and skin were perceiving it rather than my eyes, ears, nose, and tongue.

‘My vision is strange.’

What I saw with my eyes was strange as well.

The dining hall wall had melted and opened into a hole.

But another scene overlapped with it.

Even though the wall had clearly melted.

In my vision, I could see the wall in an intact state.

Some walls were small and weak, while others were larger and more magnificent.

I could also see walls that had not melted like this one, but had instead been half-destroyed.

An illusion?

I wondered whether the lord outside had interfered with my brain again.......

But instinctively, I knew that was not the case.

I recalled what several beings I had met had once told me.

-To beings like us.

Not only Morzan.

-The past, present, and future are not especially important.

But Avaritia outside had also spoken those words.

‘This is not an illusion.’

Only then did I realize.

‘The past and the present.’

Until now, my level had referred to me as a ‘Demigod-Tier Chef.’

It sounded impressive to call me a demigod.

But the only part that could truly be called a remarkable change...... had been a single ‘authority.’

In a way, that was only natural.

Because in the past, due to [Vital Energy Loss], I had been unable to properly wield even half of my original abilities.

‘And the future.’

That was no longer the case.

I had no choice but to let out a hollow chuckle.

“Foresight.”

By obtaining power and a body befitting my rank.

It seemed...... I had gained quite a grand ability.

***

The grand duke I had met in China not long ago.

He had been able to foresee the future, albeit only faintly.

And he had even perceived beings beyond the barrier, outside the reach of his sight.

Thinking back on it now.

It seemed he had even been aware of the demon that would descend upon this place.

At the time, I had simply dismissed it with the thought that perhaps any sufficiently powerful being could do something like that~.

‘I can see it.’

Now that the loss of my vital energy had been resolved.

And I had obtained a body capable of containing an immense rank.

The scenes I had seen through the grand duke had begun to appear before me as well.

Inhale.

When I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath.

The distant wind and air flowed into my body.

‘Scenes from faraway places that I originally could not have seen.’

Among them, I held within my body the air carrying the scent of salty sea wind.

Then.

-Yamato!

The southern coast.

Memories that had crossed over from beyond it reached me.

-Stop doing something insane and come back! We have to retreat! We need to survive first if we want any chance of doing something later!

-No. This is the last remaining piece of dry land. If even this place is taken, there will be no future anyway.

-You......!

-You all go. I will...... defend this place somehow.

A world so dark that a gigantic tsunami had covered even the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° sky.

Within a world submerged beneath raging waves, people were fighting to protect the last remaining piece of land.

Creatures that had crawled up from the deep sea were charging at them.

-......Batar, are you still alive?

-Yeah.

-I cannot see anything, nothing at all....... You really are there, right? I am not hearing things, am I?

-Do not worry. Whenever you call, I will keep answering you.

This time, when I breathed in air from a grassland somewhere farther north.

There were people who had finally fallen after countless battles.

Severely wounded, they awaited the swiftly approaching death while calling each other’s names.

-Chairman. We have gathered all of the remaining awakened.

-......I see. I am sorry. It is as though I have asked you to die alongside a useless man like me.

-Please do not say that. Did we not do our best? We will surely be able to survive even here.

-If only those people...... those servants of the demon had not been there. If only the people they sacrificed had remained.......

And somewhere else.

There were also those who had assembled a final death squad to confront the approaching ruin.

-Chairman! We have finally succeeded in opening a route to the south.

-......General. Inform all of our compatriots. Tell them that from this moment onward, we will begin moving south in order to repay the grace we received.

There were also those leading a vast army.

Steeling their resolve and setting out on an expedition.

-We have made contact with those other races, the Alafs. They said they could protect us if we went to them.

-Will we be able to make it? Even the Captain ended up like that.

-The Captain became like that for our sake. If only to keep that sacrifice from becoming meaningless...... we have to do it.

There were also those preparing one final great escape in order to avoid the approaching death.

Countless people.

Some crying, others frowning.

And yet all of them continued living while resisting this ruin.

And.

After looking through those memories, I opened my eyes.

“......Senior, Senior!”

Swinging kitchen knives against the monsters surging toward them.

I could see the people desperately preventing them from entering the dining hall.

“We cannot...... hold them back...... any longer!”

And.

I opened my mouth while looking at Howard, who was shouting with great difficulty.

“......Haha.”

“Senior?”

What burst from my mouth was a brief laugh.

Howard looked at me with eyes that seemed to say, ‘Has this bastard gone insane?’

He was not even originally a combat-class awakened, yet he had been struggling to hold back monsters.

Of course.

I had no desire to laugh after seeing him like that either.

“Hahahaha......!”

But.

Even so, I could not hold back the laughter bursting out of me.

Because.

‘I did not expect much.’

This sensation I could still feel against my skin.

The people living and breathing somewhere far away.

I could feel those connected to me through the power called the [System].

“There are so many.”

This ruin was unbearably vicious.

“I did not even expect it.......”

People who had somehow survived in an environment filled with nothing but malice.

“There are this many!”

“So many? What are you talking about...... Urk!”

Their number was far greater than I had imagined.

So many people had fought against the ruin and survived until now that I almost felt grateful.

Because even I had not expected that so many people would still be alive.

However.......

‘I cannot properly see the future.’

Despite the faint foresight that had awakened within me.

I could not see their future at all.

The reason was obvious.

‘Because their futures have not yet been properly decided.’

Since those futures had not been decided, they could not be seen.

“An unstable future.”

Well.

Had I heard those words in the past, they probably would not have sounded especially pleasant.

Anxiety about the future, worry over whether things would work out going forward.......

Those were the kinds of thoughts those words would have brought to mind.

However.

“That is better.”

At the thought of those words, I instead rose to my feet with a light smile.

It might have been different in the past, but things were different now.

Unlike the past, when there had been little need to worry about starving to death.

This world was now a hopeless place where nothing but ruin awaited.

‘And yet that future cannot be seen?’

The hopeless future that had seemed absolutely unavoidable.

The absolute ruin I had believed was waiting for us.

‘Even that bleak and terrifying future.’

Now.

Was no longer a predetermined future......!

In that case.

What I had to do was already decided.

“I am asking what you have been talking about all this time......!”

An undecided future.

In that case.

It was the work of people to decide that future.

“You worked hard fighting a battle that did not suit you.”

And fortunately.

“Now...... come cook with me.”

At present.

I had one way to determine that future.

“What......?”

Howard and Doyun looked at me with eyes that said they did not understand.

Countless monsters charged toward the two of them.

I looked at them and lightly waved my hand.

Then.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

“......!”

The monsters that had been charging in, desperate to collapse this dining hall somehow.

Every one of them turned to powder and vanished in a single instant.

“......What is this?”

The two of them stared in shock.

However.

There was no time to give them a detailed explanation.

“Bimana!”

I shouted toward Bimana.

“Immediately shut down every function of the fortress except the dining hall.”

I grabbed the two of them by the backs of their necks and threw them inside the dining hall.

The dining hall had been half-destroyed by the enemy attacks and the intense heat.

But its functions still remained.

[Warning.]

[If the autonomous defense system is suspended, difficulties may arise in eliminating enemies inside the fortress.]

[If the propulsion system is shut down, there is a high probability that the fortress will enter free fall.]

[The fortress recommends that at least those two functions remain active.......]

“Shut up and turn everything off.”

[All fortress functions will be suspended except for the dining hall functions that assist the chef.]

RUMMMMMBLE.......

Every function of the fortress shut down.

Even the lights that had been on went dark without a single one remaining, and the buildings that had been repelling the enemies stopped moving.

The fortress began falling freely at tremendous speed.

“Senior......!?”

“Mister, what are you doing......!”

“Well, do not worry about it.”

Normally, I would have left those two functions active as well.

But the situation was a little different now.

“We are chefs.”

From now on, every ounce of this fortress’s power had to be invested solely in cooking.

To the point that every function of this fortress had to be used only for me.

“All we need to concern ourselves with is cooking.”

With those words.

Inside the dining hall that had melted beneath the tremendous heat.

I looked at the ingredients that had maintained their forms perfectly even within it.

[Heart of a Lesser Dragon]

[Holy Blood of a Forgotten Saint]

[Core of a Thousand-Year Glacier]

[Dewdrop of the World Stone]

[Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng]

[Brain Fluid of an Ancient Sage]

[Seed of a Netherworld Flower]

[Heart of a Lava Giant]

[Single Horn of a Heavenly Demon]

[Bone Powder of an Ancient Death God]

Each and every one of them rivaled the dragon pearl Mirinae had left behind.

The finest ingredients.