“...I did not expect this many to come.”
Ever since I gained [Trait – ‘Soul Cuisine Initiate’], I had become able to see spiritual bodies to some extent.
But that did not mean every spirit in existence was visible to my eyes at all times.
What I can see are only the ones that are active, nothing more.
Just because I got that ability.
My normal field of vision was not all that different from before, aside from the area around Han Iseo.
However...
Those souls were supposed to have flowed in after Doomsday in enormous numbers, just like the monsters.
In other words.
They had simply not been visible to my eyes.
Most likely, the number of ghosts that had flowed into Earth...
Would not fall far short if you compared it to the number of monsters currently covering the world.
And now.
...There are so many.
All of those countless souls.
Had started to come into view.
—Ahh... what a tempting offering.
—The offerings brought thus far were so meager they did not even stir my interest... but at last.
—Only now do you bring proper tribute...!
They had simply existed.
But because they had not been active, I had been unable to see them.
“...This is too many. Do they normally show up like this?”
“N-no way. Normally, at best, only one or two good-natured spirits approach, that’s all. This is also my first time seeing this many spirits gathered like this...”
Those staggering numbers of spirits.
Were clinging around the Offering Table.
“Th-this is bad.”
“Hm? Isn’t it a good thing if lots of spirits show up?”
“T-that’s also true, but... when there are this many spirits... I can’t control them.”
Apparently the number was too much for Han Iseo’s power alone.
I could see her face turning pale.
“If this goes wrong... they might just snatch the offerings and refuse to grant any request...”
“Huh? They can do that?”
“If the spirits are too powerful and too numerous... easily.”
The dishes Howard and I had made with everything we had.
Just judging from the power the Expedition was displaying.
Their value was beyond imagination.
—Hand it over... at once!
Like that.
There was already a rude one reaching out toward the Offering Table.
Even though Han Iseo had not yet been able to convey her request.
And when I saw that...
“Tsk!”
—!?
I swung the kitchen knife in my hand.
And drove them back.
—What do you think you are doing!
—How dare a paltry mortal...!
—To interfere with our precious meal...!
They did not even bother to hide their anger.
They bared their displeasure to the fullest.
I could feel the air around us shudder from it.
“I get that you’re excited for a delicious meal.”
I pointed my knife at them and spoke.
“But you lot haven’t paid yet.”
—How dare...!
“Step back. You haven’t proven you deserve to eat this yet.”
Han Iseo’s face went completely white.
“M-Mr. Youngjun!”
“Yes.”
“You m-must not provoke the mighty spirits like that!”
“...Oh, really?”
“Of course!”
Han Iseo was beside herself.
“T-the power of the spirits is immense.”
“Even so. You said if they don’t eat from this Offering Table, it’s hard for them to physically interfere, right?”
“T-that is true, if the ritual is not completed their ability to interfere with the living is limited... but they are still beings of tremendous power! If you provoke such beings carelessly...!”
Certainly.
Just as she said...
—You dare... a mere human...
—Do you truly think yourself our equal just because you can make contact with us?
—Tearing apart your soul would be the easiest thing in the world.
The spirits began to threaten me.
But...
“Easiest thing in the world, huh...”
Seeing that, I nodded and said.
“If it’s really that easy, go ahead and try.”
—...
Because.
Those spirits were only threatening me with their words.
“You’re not going to?”
—You...
They could not even...
Approach anywhere near me.
—You are no ordinary human.
—Inside... there is something, something there.
The spirits that had tried to threaten me.
Their forms began to waver uneasily.
—I must {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} see it.
—I must see what you are hiding inside...
Ssss.
They carefully approached my body.
And stuck their heads inside.
...This does feel a bit weird, I’ll give them that.
I did not feel anything touching me.
But watching their hazy forms stick their heads into my insides was not exactly pleasant.
—My word...
Still.
I had a reason for allowing them to approach.
—W-what is that!
—What in the world... what are you harboring inside your body...
—It is blue, and mighty. Vast... so very vast.
The countless spirits who had stuck their heads into my insides.
Began to murmur in voices filled with terror.
—...To think that something so vast that its end cannot be seen could exist. Is such a being truly possible?
—No, no. It is not that its end cannot be seen. It truly has no end...!
—It is literally infinite...
Hearing that.
I could more or less guess what they had seen inside me.
You... you were still there inside me.
It had now become part of my stats.
But.
Once upon a time it had wielded literally infinite power...
A being so endlessly great.
That there was no point even comparing it to these filthy little ghosts.
—Who are you...?
—How can you be harboring something like that...!
They had glimpsed a fragment of it.
—That is not power a mere human body can contain.
—What’s more... now that we finally notice it, this aura flowing from that body...
—Mm, it is so very faint, but... there is no mistaking it.
The spirits staggered back.
Then cried out in shock.
—Divine power, it is divine power...
—How can a divine spirit be wearing the body of a paltry mortal...!
Those that had been poking around inside me.
Hurriedly opened up distance from my body.
“M-Mr. Youngjun...? What on earth is...”
“...”
And then...
—We failed to recognize you because you had hidden your aura.
—Please forgive our insolence...!
All of them.
Began to bow their heads toward me.
*****
Just as I thought...
The first time those ghosts had become visible.
I had felt the spirit guarding Han Iseo’s side being afraid of me.
It was a bit of a gamble, but it paid off.
I wondered if the reason.
Might be my stats and the being inside them.
And that guess had hit the mark.
...Though seriously.
Those guys.
They said they failed to notice me because I was hiding my aura.
I never exactly tried to hide it, though?
[Divine Power: 15]
If anything, I had been trying to... flaunt it as much as possible.
But to them...
It must have been such a pathetically small amount that it felt like I was deliberately suppressing it, huh?
Honestly, it stung my pride a little, but...
Well, whatever!
“It’s not really the time to explain all that, so let’s skip it. Point is, this should keep them from acting up.”
“Y-you say ‘skip it’ like it’s nothing...”
“Time is of the essence right now. You need to keep going.”
“Ah, yes...!”
Han Iseo pulled herself together.
And resumed the ritual.
“I will offer these sacrifices. In return, I ask for the aid of the mighty spirits...!”
—...What is it that you desire?
“The Stray Specters lurking in that city! The power to punish them!”
—Ahh, you speak of those cold things that covet the bodies of the living.
At those words.
The gathered spirits glanced at me and said.
—Granting that request... may be a bit difficult.
“Huh? What do you mean by that!”
—The offerings you bring are certainly splendid, yet they are insufficient for us to grant that request.
Insufficient?
“Are you saying my cooking is lacking?”
—...!
I frowned.
The spirits hastily babbled, flustered.
—O-of course we are not saying that only because we greedily desire more offerings!
—It is simply that the spirits entrenched there are far too numerous.
—Especially... that Black Curtain. We cannot see the beings that dwell beyond it.
So even though we had done our best to prepare this Offering Table.
It was not enough to ask them to clean up every last Stray Specter gathered there.
—Mm, however... since this is a request from a divine spirit, we cannot simply ignore it.
—Then let us do this.
As they said that.
The spirits clustered together in one place and overlapped the Offering Table.
FSSSH...
The splendid dishes piled atop the Offering Table.
Turned to dust and vanished.
—We cannot personally erase those Stray Specters for you. But fortunately, we should be able to grant you the power to punish them.
—For it is the role of the living to cut down unclean souls.
Through those dishes.
The spirits became able to interfere with the material world.
—We shall share our power with your army.
—The power to cut down the wayward dead...
FWOOM!
They spread out toward the Expedition spread across the battlefield.
And then.
[The power of souls descends upon the battlefield!]
[All Awakeners belonging to the Faction – ‘Gyeonggi Province Survivors’ Association, Southwestern Expedition Force’ are temporarily granted a Trait!]
[Trait – Soul-Slaying]
[If the enemy you hit has another soul possessing it,]
[All damage dealt to that enemy inflicts even greater damage on the possessing soul.]
“Huh?”
“What’s this now.”
Every single Awakener of the Expedition fighting on the battlefield.
Found a faint gray aura settling onto their weapons.
*****
—GRAAAARK!
When one monster was cut down by the Expedition’s hands.
The ‘Frozen Soul, Belsnickel Lower Sentry’ thought.
To think the natives could exert such strength...!
The natives they had dismissed as weak were displaying unbelievable martial prowess and driving them back.
Anyone could see the tide of battle favored the Expedition.
And yet...
It is a pity these bodies we painstakingly gathered are being spent so wastefully.
What the Sentry was thinking.
Was merely that the bodies they had gathered were a shame to lose.
He felt no fear.
No sense of burden whatsoever.
It was only natural.
It will take time to find other bodies again.
To them.
A body was nothing more than something they could switch out whenever they pleased.
—I am sorry I could not endure longer, brother.
—Do not be sorry. Just hurry and find another body.
Even as the flesh of his comrade was being shredded by the enemy.
He merely traded words of encouragement with the soul leaving that body.
They cannot beat us anyway.
That was precisely.
Why they were so utterly sure of victory.
Even just counting the monsters gathered here, their numbers were overwhelming.
But in the end, even if all those monsters were killed, they only needed to secure new bodies.
Even now, his comrades who had lost their flesh were likely somewhere out there searching for usable bodies so they could return to the battlefield.
As they did in the past.
In the past.
Back in their homeland, which they had since left behind, they had conquered a world in exactly this manner.
Those who could strike their souls were extremely few.
While their brothers only ever increased with each passing day.
If I am fortunate... I may get to claim one of those natives’ bodies for myself.
Without the slightest fear of death.
The Frozen Soul, Belsnickel Lower Sentry stepped forward, thinking he might get a new body.
...At that moment.
“Huh?”
“What’s this now.”
Every single Awakener of the Expedition fighting on the battlefield.
Found a faint gray aura settling onto their weapons.
...
The Sentry also saw that light and felt a flicker of curiosity.
But he thought nothing of it.
No doubt it is some kind of buff the natives have spread.
The natives seemed to think the same.
“What do you mean ‘what’? It’s just another wide-area buff from the rear support, obviously!”
The native warrior.
Casually swung his weapon.
And when that weapon struck the body the [Frozen Soul, Belsnickel Lower Sentry] was occupying...
...Huh?
The Sentry.
For the first time since being reborn as a new soul.
It hurts... it hurts...!
Felt what it meant to suffer pain that tore at one’s soul.
And he realized.
My soul... got torn...!?
On this battlefield.
They might actually experience death.
*****
—GURRAAAARGH!?
“Wh-what the?”
“These things were charging in like they didn’t care if they died just a moment ago.”
As the gray aura spread across the battlefield.
The monsters’ movements began to change noticeably.
—Grrrk... kuh... khek...
The monsters who had been charging as if they had no fear of death at all.
Suddenly began to cry out in terrible pain whenever they were struck.
“...Are they scared?”
“T-that one’s even running away.”
As if they had only now remembered that they feared death.
They began trembling in terror.
So it worked.
I had been unable to have the spirits directly strike at the Belsnickels.
But by spreading spiritual power across the battlefield, the Expedition’s attacks had now become able to strike the Belsnickels’ true bodies—their souls.
And it’s not just that we can hit their true form now.
Up until now, the monsters had not cared in the slightest whether they lost their bodies.
But suddenly.
Losing their bodies had become directly tied to the death of their souls.
—S-spare me...!
—That blade cut into my soul...!
—It hurts, it hurts...!
The result.
Was this.
—Brothers, do not retreat!
—It hurts... it hurts...
—I do not want to die twice...
The souls overlaid on the monsters’ bodies.
Were visibly flustered.
“I don’t really get it but...”
“Who cares, it works in our favor! Keep pushing!”
“Let’s show them what our united strength can do!!!”
As the enemy fell into chaos.
The Expedition, which had already held the advantage, drove them back even more ferociously.
I watched that.
Then moved toward the Expedition fighting on the battlefield.
The battlefield where a massacre was underway despite the enemy’s overwhelming numbers.
“Kahahaha!! Ah? Mr. Youngjun, you’re here!”
CRUNCH.
In that battlefield.
Park Junggu, of course, was in the thick of it. When he saw me, he shouted.
“When you told me to trust you, I was half-doubting, but... I never imagined it would be to this extent! To think we’d become like this just from eating some food.”
“I told you, I had a method.”
The Expedition’s momentum was tremendous.
While I had been conducting the ritual with Han Iseo.
The Expedition had swept aside the monsters that had gathered to block them, and they were already right on the verge of entering the city near the enemy’s Gate.
“Really... it’s all thanks to you.”
“Sir?”
Maybe the sight of the battle was making something surge inside him.
Park Junggu spoke with a face full of exultation.
“Up until you came, we thought there was absolutely nothing we could do.”
“...?”
“We knew there was a problem with this cold. But we thought it was impossible for us to step forward to solve that problem.”
He recalled his past helplessness.
And gripped his weapon tight.
“When the Chair went missing, everyone was paralyzed with fear. There was no one who could take the lead and resolve the situation. Even if we somehow managed to persuade the others and set out to attack, we thought it would be even harder to make it all the way here. But... look!”
He looked down over the battlefield and shouted.
“Right now! We are standing here!”
“...”
“Hope, which we had not seen for so very long, is now in sight!”
He looked at me with shining eyes and cried out.
“All of this started after you appeared. The fact that we are standing here... is entirely thanks to your strength.”
Maybe the excitement of battle was adding to it.
He seemed unable to contain the rising euphoria as he spoke.
Thanks to my strength, huh.
But somehow...
“That’s not quite right.”
“...Hm?”
It was hard for me.
To agree with what he said.
Well.
I won’t claim I had no influence whatsoever.
The cooking was originally Howard’s ability.
He had just come to a stop, unable to take the next step forward.
But as a pure chef, his cooking would not lag far behind mine at the same level.
Even if I did help amplify the effects of his dishes.
In the end I had done nothing more than help.
The ritual is the same way. It was originally Han Iseo’s ability.
If Howard prepared the Offering Table.
And Han Iseo performed the ritual through that Offering Table.
Then even if the result came out a bit weaker than it was now.
They would ultimately have been able to draw out something similar.
As for this Expedition, this was strength they could have mustered if they had only gathered together.
Ever since the Chair vanished, they had lacked a proper focal point and could not band together.
This Expedition.
Was nothing more.
Than the strength the survivors of Gyeonggi had originally possessed, regardless of me.
“All I did... was guide you so you could properly exert the strength you already had, and add a bit of power on top.”
In other words.
“It’s not my strength. It’s yours.”
“...!”
The strength we were seeing now.
Was the power the Awakeners of Gyeonggi had originally possessed.
“The strength you could always have exerted... is only now being brought out properly.”
No, actually...
It was strength that humanity had always been capable of exerting.
“...Even so, it’s also true that this ‘bit of power’ you added has made us far stronger.”
“Well, I won’t go so far as to deny that. Though it’s actually a bit ambiguous.”
I looked past the monsters being massacred by the Expedition.
Toward the buildings of the city the Expedition was starting to enter.
“You’ve already lost a lot of the strength you were originally capable of, haven’t you.”
“...?”
“I think the power I added is just making up for that lost strength.”
Right.
The strength they were displaying now was certainly impressive.
But originally.
The potential the humans of Gyeonggi should have had was far beyond this.
“I doubt I’ve even completely made up for that.”
“What are you saying?”
“If it had only been lost, that would be one thing.”
On top of the strength they were showing now.
There was the strength they should have had from the beginning.
“That strength has now... crossed over into the enemy’s hands.”
“...!”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who could feel the presences between those buildings.
“...Kahahaha! They’re finally coming.”
“Enemies who might entertain us a little...!”
The faces of the Expedition’s Awakeners, who had been overwhelming the enemy with overflowing courage.
Now showed a faint tension.
And then.
From those buildings in the distance.
BABABABABABANG...!
Arrows and crossbow bolts.
Magic of ice, fire, lightning—brilliantly colored spells.
“Everyone, take cover!”
“Kh...!”
And a barrage of bullets and shells.
Came raining down toward the Expedition.
Seeing that, someone ground their teeth and shouted.
“...The Assault Team!”
The strength that had once belonged to humans.
Had begun to be exerted from within the enemy’s hands.
