Chapter 808: Name Your Price

[The demons of Hell are watching you.]

Save Avaritia and send him back to the Demon Realm.

Although I had already been promised compensation in return.

[The demons’ gazes contain intense distrust.]

[If you fail to uphold your contract with the demons, you may have to pay a corresponding price!]

The problem was that the task would be far too difficult.

It was something even transcendents as extraordinary as them believed to be impossible.

My occupation was a chef.

If I wanted to challenge something like that...... there was only one answer.

‘There’s nothing but cooking.’

In the past.

I had already seen a demon in this world.

It had been a different individual from Avaritia.

But those demons had clearly been judged to belong to a single race called ‘demons.’

Which meant that, at that time.

[Trait - Ingredient Appraisal is activated.]

[Skill - Chef’s Eye is activated.]

The trait and skill I possessed.

They had already activated on a demon.

In other words.

[???-Rank Cooking Secret]

[Understanding of Demon Preparation Methods]

For a very long time already.

I had known how to cook this bastard.

Rustle.......

[Skill - Soul Cooking is activated!]

Old knowledge settled within my mind.

Following that knowledge, I moved my knife.

=What......!?=

Then.

BOOOOOM!!!

‘......Ngh.’

An enormous amount of resistance surged through my hand.

An impact so great that my wrist nearly bent backward and snapped.

It was only natural.

According to the preparation method that had appeared in my mind.

[For preparation, first sever the shackles of its karma, then.......]

What I was trying to cut was this bastard’s ‘karma.’

Great deeds, evil deeds, virtuous deeds.

The great accomplishments and stories of a life that one existence had accumulated while continuing to live through long ages.

When an awakened person raised their level, the System demanded achievements as the condition for that level-up.

Considering the reason this System had been created and what its purpose was.

Those very achievements were no different from the foundation required to achieve transcendence.

This was not an existence that had lived for only a year or two.

It was a being that had survived for a length of time rarely seen even in this universe.

There was no way cutting away the karma of such a bastard could be easy.

I could not handle the power of authority now that my divine power had been exhausted.

The Dagger of Legatus could not be used against an existence unrelated to the System either.

Bimana and the restaurant had been half-destroyed and could not be used.

Morzan’s fragment had also already exhausted its power and disappeared.

“This dish.......”

It was different from when I had drawn upon every kind of power to fight Avaritia.

The current me could not borrow any power at all.

In other words.

“So I have to accomplish it using only my cooking skill.”

It would never be easy.

No, beyond merely not being easy.

It was a difficulty so vicious that it almost felt a little too unreasonable.

“But, how should I put it.”

Even so.......

Sometimes, precisely because a path was known to be that difficult.

“This sounds fun......!”

A chef’s desire for a challenge.

Could also begin to burn.

***

SKRRRRRAPE......!

My blade cut into the bastard’s karma.

The long history the bastard had accumulated was being ‘prepared’ by my blade.

With sweat pouring from my entire body, I moved the knife with all my strength and thought.

‘Preparation is the process of making an ingredient edible.’

Cutting away or washing off the parts that could not be eaten.

Leaving behind only the clean portions that could be eaten.

‘The process of separating the edible parts from the inedible parts.’

And.

When looking at the ingredient known as Avaritia.

=Why.=

The part that needed to be prepared......

Was quite clear.

=What did we do wrong.......=

A part of this soul that existed in an especially black form.

The dark and gloomy voices that could be heard when I lightly touched that part.

‘The evil acts and evil karma accumulated by Avaritia.’

The countless achievements the bastard had accumulated as a demon.

Among them, the filthiest part.

The shackles of ‘evil karma.’

SKRRRRRAPE......!

The power contained in this karma was tremendous.

After all, it was the very history the bastard had accumulated as a demon.

This alone seemed far more massive than the karma of most divinities.

If I were to eat it.

It was an overwhelming amount, enough to make it feel as though I could eat until my stomach burst.

But.

“Something like this.”

With only the slightest touch of the knife.

A disgusting scent bloomed from within and filled my mouth.

Naturally.

“I can’t use it in my cooking......!”

There was no way I could cook and eat something like that.

SLASH——!!!

My blade cut away the karma of those evil acts.

[The evil karma has been prepared from Ingredient - Avaritia’s Soul!]

[Avaritia’s accumulated evil karma, the karma of ‘Greed,’ is excluded from the dish.]

If I had intended to cook something like this, I would not have gone out of my way to choose to save this bastard.

This bastard’s soul was itself a massive lump of karma.

If I had wanted to achieve transcendence, I could simply have eaten it whole as it was.

But what I wanted was not some half-baked transcendence like that.

Something even these bastards had given up overcoming and fallen into despair before.

Someday, I too would have to fight that something and defeat it.

‘I can’t make some half-assed dish and ruin my career......!’

Until then.

I intended to manage my body while eating only the best things possible.

Evil karma was junk food that might taste good for the moment but would ruin the body later.

It was not an ingredient suitable for a dish like this.

‘Next......!’

Leaving the severed lump of black light behind.

I held together my collapsing mind and moved the knife.

The next place my blade headed was a part with a form completely opposite to that dark and filthy section.

The largest part of this ingredient.

And the part corresponding to Avaritia’s most important essence.

[Gold]

The divine name the bastard had possessed from the moment of birth.

CRRRRACK!!!

Its size.

The hardness of its karma was at a level that could not even be compared to that evil karma.

It felt as though my soul itself was being worn away as I slowly pushed the blade forward.

But.

‘This is fun.’

Even while breaking out in cold sweat like that.

I grinned and swung the knife.

SLASH-!

The largest portion of the bastard’s soul.

Was cut away by my blade.

[The karma of birth has been prepared from Ingredient - Avaritia’s Soul!]

[The name Avaritia obtained upon birth, the karma of ‘Gold,’ is excluded from the dish.]

The bastard’s divine name.

Gold was unquestionably an excellent ingredient.

Having cooked even a fragment of its light before, I knew how extraordinary the power and nutrition contained within it...... and its taste were.

But.

‘This bastard was able to contain Greed because he was Gold.’

Something so precious that everyone coveted it.

Something that, for that reason, could become the symbol of greed.

A symbol of wealth and nobility.

It was the part that made up most of this soul.

It was even greater than the evil karma, [Greed], that I had cut away.

But.

‘We are soldiers.’

The place we would go was the battlefield.

A place overflowing with blood and death, where our fate was to crawl through mud while covered in dust.

On the path I would take from now on.......

‘I don’t need gold like this.’

Something this expensive did not suit us.

Greed and Gold.

Those two were useless parts to me.

And.

When preparing an ingredient, as for the portions removed because they had no use.

Sometimes they were simply thrown into the trash......

“So.”

In truth, there was one better way to deal with them.

“You can eat this crap yourself.”

=.......=

Cats, dogs, and the like.

Handing the prepared portions over to someone who could still enjoy eating them.

[‘The karma of birth, Gold’ and ‘the karma of evil acts, Greed’ return to ‘Ingredient - Avaritia’!]

Thanks to that.

Despite having been prepared by my hands.

[Lord of Gold and Greed, Avaritia]

The bastard’s divine name.

Still remained unchanged from before.

=The two names you discarded. Birth and evil karma...... were the greatest parts of me.=

“That’s probably true.”

=If you say you will discard most of the karma and power held within me, which make up the majority of my existence, without cooking them.=

Even though my knife had excitedly swept across the bastard’s soul.

Avaritia’s soul appeared not to have changed much in shape.

Since I had left behind the two largest portions without taking them as ingredients, that was only natural in a way.

=What part of me...... do you intend to use for this ‘cooking’?=

At those words.

“Who knows. It is a bit of a waste to discard the largest parts.”

Grin.......

“But the part with the highest yield isn’t necessarily the most delicious.”

=......?=

I answered with a light smile.

“In fact, it’s usually the opposite.”

Only two to three kilograms of tenderloin could be obtained from a single cow.

Pork jowl also yielded only around two hundred grams from a single pig.

The transparent skin of a pufferfish boasted an exquisite taste, but only a very small amount existed.

The fatty belly of a tuna likewise made up only an extremely small portion of that enormous tuna’s body.

“The smaller the amount, the more often it is tastier and more precious.”

The essence that had made up most of the bastard.

I discarded Gold and Greed.

Then the part I would take was...... only a portion even within that enormous bastard’s body.

An extremely low-yield part, but.......

‘A delicious part precisely because of that.’

CLANG!

“For example...... this!”

When I swung my knife toward that part.

At that moment.

=Our great father.=

Pleasant and warm memories began to rise within my mind.

A beautiful world filled with golden light and the lives that filled that world.

=We offer our glory to you.=

Something created by countless lives and great divinities.......

One of the most ‘delicious’ parts of this ingredient.

“Glory!”

CRRRRACK!!!

[The karma of ‘Glory’ has been obtained from Ingredient - Avaritia’s Soul!]

The light of Glory was cut away from the bastard’s soul.

Avaritia stared at the sight with his mouth hanging open.

=......!=

The cooking was not finished yet.

This was an ingredient this large and expensive.

No matter how much I selected only the precious parts, taking just one portion would not make the effort worthwhile.

Next.......

Glimmer.......

The moment the Lord of Gold was born.

The light that was born from that gold.

The name given only to the especially beautiful and great among countless lights.

“Radiance!”

CRRRRACK!!!

[The karma of ‘Radiance’ has been obtained from Ingredient - Avaritia’s Soul!]

And...... lastly.

Although the bastard had ultimately failed.

The value it had nevertheless pursued until the very end.

“Perfection!”

CRRRRACK!!!

[The karma of ‘Perfection’ has been obtained from Ingredient - Avaritia’s Soul!]

Glory, Radiance, Perfection.

The path engraved into the fate of Avaritia, the Lord of Gold.

“The smallest parts, and therefore the most delicious and precious.”

The journey of fate he had sought to follow.......

But had ultimately failed to complete.

“I’ll eat these.”

That fate and karma.

From now on, they belonged to me.

=This is.......=

And then.

The moment the preparation of the ingredient was complete.......

FWAAAAASH!!!

The soul that had been slowly rotting and fading away.

Avaritia’s soul began to shine.

=Don’t tell me......!=

And.

Looking at Avaritia’s soul, I spoke.

“The reason you began to disappear...... was because you strayed from the path engraved into your divine name.”

It was not enough that he had shouldered evil karma and become a demon.

Despite possessing such tremendous power...... he had been defeated by mere beings like us.

Because of that...... the divine name engraved upon him.

Its ‘Perfection’ had been damaged.

“Then.”

And from the moment I heard the reason, there was something I had thought.

If the reason was that clear.

Then the method to save this bastard, who was disappearing like that.

“Wouldn’t it be enough to separate that divine name from him?”

Might be simpler than expected.

=......!=

I discarded Gold and Greed.

I took Glory, Radiance, and Perfection.

Glory, Radiance, and Perfection were no longer the bastard’s fate or divine name.

[The disappearance of the ‘Lord of Gold and Greed’ is halted!]

The path he had strayed from.

But if that path itself ceased to exist.

[His path of fate, which had left its course, returns to its proper place.]

Then even the fact that he had strayed from the path.

Could only cease to exist......!

[The disappearance of the Lord of Gold and Greed is halted.]

=How could something like this......!=

The soul that had been scattering like powder and disappearing.

Avaritia’s disappearance stopped.

And at that moment.

[The demons of Hell are watching you.]

I felt an intense gaze from the sky.

Countless beings.

Existences of immeasurable power.

[The mighty transcendents watch your miracle in astonishment!]

They.

Were staring at me in astonishment.

“Now then.”

The task they had requested.

This ordered dish was finished with that.

And my occupation was a chef.

Since it was my occupation, this too was something I did in order to make a living.

“The price.......”

Now.

It was time to receive payment for the dish.

Naturally, that price.

“How much should I charge?”

Was not a fixed price, but the market price.

Whatever price I named would become the price.