Chapter 788: An Existence Comparable to a God

“Hold the area!”

“When is the fire support coming!?”

“Just a little longer, hold out just a little longer!”

That fortress in the sky.

Even while Bimana was falling toward the ground, a fierce battle was still raging on the ground.

A battle to maintain the formation ordered by the Legion Commander against the countless monsters swarming toward them.

However.

“Master.......”

Even that fierce battle.

In the end, an end was bound to come.

“I’m sorry.”

“We can’t, hold on any longer......!”

While the Legion members were waging war.

The beastkin who had been maintaining a formation to suppress that golden man.

FWAAAAASH!!!

Their bodies were violently flung away.

‘......!’

The moment the beastkin were flung away.

A massive light burst out once again from within.

The faces of the many people watching turned deathly pale.

‘Were we too late.’

While those beastkin held out, the Legion Commander had to succeed in whatever he was aiming to accomplish inside the fortress.

That was the key to this battle.

However.

Even those incredible beastkin had failed to buy enough time.

The Legion members stared blankly at the light pouring out.

They had already experienced what happened when that light poured out.

The formation into which the Legion had poured all its strength collapsed in an instant, and the fortress they had believed would never fall collapsed in an instant and began to plummet.

The Legion members had been unable to offer any resistance against it.

And so, this time as well, they could only stare helplessly at that light.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

“......What is that!?”

At the very moment that light spread in all directions and tried to occupy this entire area once again

A massive power erupted from the falling fortress

“Mana!?”

An enormous amount of mana so dense that it appeared blue

“Is that Bimana’s mana!?”

The mana that began from the fortress blocked the golden energy.

Thanks to that, the light could advance no farther and was forced to stop before the Legion members.

When the two energies collided, the impact alone ground away the fortress’s outer walls.

“No, it’s more than that!”

“Even Bimana’s underground mine couldn’t produce that much mana......!”

Those watching could only be astonished by the overwhelming mana.

To those who did not know of ‘Morzan’s’ existence, this mana that had suddenly appeared was likewise an unidentified power.

The one fortunate thing was.

“This mana.......”

“Is helping us.”

That this mana appeared hostile toward the golden energy.

“Lieutenant General Kim, what do we do!”

“We need to get even a little farther away from this light......!”

The golden light had already approached right before them.

Many Legion members questioned whether they should retreat as far as possible from that light while the mana was blocking it.

However.

“Hold your positions!”

The commander leading the Legion forces.

Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok shouted firmly at all the troops.

“Until the Legion Commander gives the order, we must never break the formation the Legion Commander instructed us to maintain!”

“......!”

They knew very well what would happen if that light touched them.

But even so.

Retreating from here was the one thing they could not do.

‘This formation was ordered by the Legion Commander.’

In that case.

Until that order was withdrawn, the Legion had to hold this position.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM......!

And so, while the Legion members held their positions.

The blue mana protecting the Legion members and the golden energy trying to spread in every direction violently collided.

But that lasted only for a moment.

CRUMBLE-

‘......It’s collapsing.’

Even though it was such enormous mana, was it still unable to overcome that golden energy?

The blue light, which had appeared to be fighting fiercely, gradually began to be consumed by the golden light.

“......Damn it! It’s coming!”

“It’s already too late to run.”

“......No matter what the result is. We follow the Legion Commander’s orders!”

And so.

While holding their formation.

“Urgh.......”

They could only watch as that terrifying golden light touched their bodies.

[You have consumed food.]

At that very moment.

‘......?’

A Legion member at the very front, who had squeezed their eyes shut before being touched by the golden light.

Heard a small ding in their ears.

The Legion member, who had been waiting for a powerful impact, opened the eyes they had tightly shut, puzzled by the fact that no pain came.

“......Huh?”

Then.

What appeared before their eyes was none other than.

FWAAAAASH......!

The golden light that was still greedily trying to approach.

And.

Pushing back that golden light.......

[The effect of Skill - Taste Bud Enhancement activates.]

[For you alone, effects obtained through cooking are greatly increased.]

‘From my body......?’

Bursting out from their own body.

Was an intense radiance of light.

***

=This is......!=

The being that had completely scattered even Morzan’s mana.

The giant of radiance took a step backward.

No, it had not stepped back of its own will.

FWAAAAASH......!!!

In the end, that giant was merely golden energy condensed into a physical form.

The giant had not moved its own feet.......

‘It was pushed back!’

The golden energy had been ‘pushed back’ by the power pouring from my body.

=That is impossible!=

I thought as I heard Avaritia shout in astonishment.

‘Well, that’s true.’

The beastkin formation that had been suppressing him had been broken.

From that moment onward, the light pouring from his body began covering this land again.

Every space beneath that light would move according to his domain and his laws.

Naturally, no matter how extraordinary I might be.

There was no way that simply raising my stats would allow me to push back the energy of an existence like that.

[Lv.69 Demigod War Chef]

The rank I possessed was that of a demigod.

The word demigod did sound impressive.

It probably really was impressive.

However.......

‘They appear more often in myths and legends than one might expect.’

Distant descendants of gods.

Or those who had gathered some power left behind by a god.

They possessed power that distinguished them from ordinary humans.

However...... most of them also met their deaths in ways that were absurdly simple.

They carried the blood of a god and therefore possessed the possibility of becoming one.

But in essence, they were only slightly superior to ordinary humans.

Existences infinitely closer to mortals than to gods.

On the other hand.

‘That bastard possesses a complete divinity.’

I could not misunderstand this.

His true body was still down there on the ground.

‘The reason I could deflect his attack earlier...... was because that was not his true body.’

The thing that pushed Morzan away and thrust its fist toward me was the energy he emitted given physical form.

That was why I had been able to resist it even slightly.

‘Even then, all I could do was deflect it for a moment.

Under normal circumstances, there should not have been any existence capable of confronting that power head-on and pushing it back.

However.

[Course Meal - Earth]

Right now.

The situation was a little different.

The dish I had created.

Course Meal - Earth possessed the power to strengthen the influence those who ate it held over this world.

And this power did not suddenly create influence that had never existed.

Rather, it was the opposite.

‘A dish that amplifies the influence over this land possessed by every awakened individual.’

Its effect did not take the form of increasing a fixed numerical value.

If I had to describe it, it was a percentage buff.

In other words.

‘The greater the influence that person originally possesses, the greater the power that gets amplified.’

If an awakened individual’s original influence over this world was 10, then my cooking would increase it to 20.

But if that influence became 100, then my cooking would increase it to 200.

And the standard for that original influence was precisely.

‘Their power as an awakened individual.’

And now.

[Awakened Individual : Shin Youngjun]

[Demigod War Chef lv.69]

[Strength : 478 - 690]

[Agility : 592 - 690]

[Mana : 536 - 690]

[Luck : 497 - 690]

That power as an awakened individual.

Was swelling without restraint.

Vitality overflowed throughout my body.

After resolving [Vital Energy Loss] and undergoing [Rebirth of the Flesh], my body had already been overflowing with strength, yet I had never imagined I could feel vitality even greater than that.

‘690...... So there was a limit to stats.’

The stat limit was probably 10 per level.

Thinking about it, when an awakened individual first awakened, the highest stat they usually possessed at level 1 was 10.

At that point.......

The highest stat attainable at level 1 was 10.

And now that my level was 69, that meant the limit was 690.

‘It is incredible power...... but.’

However.

As I looked at those stats, I thought.

‘I’m probably not the one benefiting from this effect the most.’

To begin with.

I had already accumulated stats through the effect of Taste Bud Enhancement, so my basic stats were high.

Even if I obtained stats reaching the maximum level limit, my original stats had already been close to that amount, so the change was not that large.

The greatest change was my Strength stat, which had increased by roughly one-fourth.

Of course, it was still an incredible change.......

‘Everything is relative, after all.’

Grin.

“Ah, ah.”

I smiled lightly as I looked at the soldiers beyond the collapsed walls.

“These stats...... used to be my unique advantage.”

Even though the situation was urgent, it was difficult to suppress my laughter.

After all.

The reason behind my overwhelming stats.

The secret that had allowed a noncombat class like me to fight alongside combat classes.

[Shared Skill]

[Taste Bud Enhancement]

Taste Bud Enhancement had now become.

Not something that belonged only to me, but something that belonged to every awakened individual.

[Awakened Individual : Private Lee Byungmin]

[Swordsman of Swiftness lv.34]

That was right.

Because I had acquired Taste Bud Enhancement early on, my stats were already high, so even the greatest change I received could only amount to an increase of roughly one-fourth.

However...... the soldiers were a different story.

[Strength 107 -> 340]

[Agility 85 -> 340]

[Mana 55 -> 340]

[Luck 33 -> 340]

‘Insane.’

The stats of the other soldiers had increased by at least three times.

It was not at all uncommon for some stats to increase by more than ten times, or even nearly twenty times.

If a skill was a formula, then stats were the numbers.

The more stats one inserted into a skill that produced ten times the power, the greater the resulting value became.

When the other soldiers possessed skills that produced ten times the power, while my own skills could produce at most only around three times the power, I had maintained the balance of power by pouring far more stats into them than the others.

“My unique advantage is gone now, isn’t it?”

But that was no longer the case.

The difference between the soldiers’ stats and mine would now lose its meaning.

***

Their combat skills had already been more efficient than mine.

And now, the soldiers had even obtained the stats that had once been absurdly lacking compared to mine.

Even if my stats were still nearly twice as high as theirs.

If they used roughly half my stats with skills that possessed three times my efficiency, they would be capable of displaying power I could not catch up to.

My unique advantage that the other soldiers did not possess.

The advantage of overwhelming stats had now disappeared.

It was true that mine were still the most overwhelming among them, but the difference was no longer enough to overturn the limitation of being a noncombat class.

However...... I chuckled as I thought.

‘That doesn’t mean I plan on letting them catch up easily.’

They had gained stats.

But I had also gained something else.

[Dragon’s Heart]

[Rebirth of the Flesh]

These two traits possessed the potential to create an even greater gap than the one the other awakened individuals had closed.

Even though they had caught up considerably in terms of stats.

I had no intention of losing easily to the other soldiers either.

And.......

‘That tremendous power they are obtaining ultimately originated from me.’

And.

My profession was chef.

I often forgot because I spent so much time rolling around on battlefields.

But production classes were originally professions that achieved growth somewhere other than the battlefield.

[Someone who was served your cooking has achieved tremendous growth!]

The unit members growing in every direction.

They were people who had grown by eating my cooking.

And that growth...... would return to me as experience, because I was a chef.

[Permanent Trait - Dragon’s Heart increases experience absorption efficiency.]

[Permanent Trait - Rebirth of the Flesh accepts immense experience without loss.]

[You acquire overwhelming experience!]

Even now.

Overwhelming amounts of experience were surging toward me from every direction.

[The experience required to level up has been fulfilled!]

[To level up, you must fulfill conditions sufficient to possess the rank you will advance to.]

And.

[Level-Up Conditions]

[Achieve accomplishments and titles befitting the rank you will advance to (1/1)]

[Refine a body sufficient to withstand the rank you will advance to (1/1)]

[Possess faith befitting the rank you will advance to (1/1)]

[Seize a destiny befitting the rank you will advance to (1/1)]

The amount of experience was so immense that.......

[The accomplishments, myths, body, faith, and destiny you have accumulated overwhelm the rank you will advance to.]

[A vessel greater than the sea contains the rank of myth.]

[The level-up conditions have been fulfilled.]

[Demigod War Chef Lv.69]

As a result of struggling to survive in this world.

I had been nothing more than a mortal who had succeeded in obtaining the possibility of becoming a god.

[Quasi-Divine War Chef Lv.70]

[Congratulations!]

[You have officially become an ‘existence comparable to a god’.]

It elevated me into an existence comparable to a god.