The Military Chef of a Ruined World

“In this area, I don’t sense anything particularly unusual.”

To destroy the Maxim.

Lee Sanga and the five beastkin risked everything to infiltrate the enemy’s headquarters—the Inner Sanctuary.

“Kehlock... there’s dust piled up everywhere....”

“Looks like nobody’s passed through here in quite some time.”

“Could this already be an abandoned sector?”

They had expected a battle with Order members the moment they entered.

But contrary to expectations, there was no sign of anyone nearby.

'Is it because this is the outermost district?'

When infiltrating from the outside, they had deliberately chosen the outer perimeter, assuming security there would be weaker.

But perhaps, from the Order’s perspective, the outskirts of the Inner Sanctuary simply were not very important.

Critical facilities were usually placed near the center, while less important ones were pushed outward.

“Well, works for us if things stay easy. Let’s move for now.”

“The scent of that energy is getting stronger from....”

“That direction.”

The beastkin began moving, sniffing the air.

Lee Sanga wondered whether “energy” really had a smell, but silently followed behind them anyway, trusting their confident steps.

“I can roughly tell the direction, buuut....”

After walking for a while, the woman with sheep horns, Miyang, frowned.

“Isn’t this place way too complicated...?”

“It certainly is.”

Through their senses, they could tell where the energy was growing stronger.

But the underground facility had been constructed like an enormous maze.

Even if they knew the destination, they had no idea how to actually reach it.

If they could simply charge straight ahead, things would be easier.

But if they did that, there was no telling what might collapse.

“Looks like we’ll have to suffer through it the hard way.”

In the end—

There was no choice except to move forward through repeated trial and error.

'Huge.'

And as she walked through the Inner Sanctuary, Lee Sanga found herself thinking that.

She had already thought so when hearing Jeong Sua’s report, but—

This place was simply enormous.

Considering the number and capabilities of the Order’s awakened individuals, it was understandable how construction on this scale had been possible.

But—

'Why build something this absurdly large?'

That was the strange part.

The Order already possessed considerable facilities above ground.

“Underground base” sounded impressive, but there was a reason such places were rare in reality.

The moment construction had to begin underground, efficiency dropped drastically.

Even modern underground structures were typically built only when surface space was insufficient, or when shelters were required.

If the goal was simply to create a base, building above ground was far easier and involved fewer complications.

'Even if this was intended as a shelter... there’s no reason for it to be this vast.'

Especially since the area they had entered looked abandoned.

And an abandoned place meant unused surplus space.

She couldn’t understand why anyone would invest manpower into building something like this.

Then again—

Maybe it hadn’t always been surplus space.

'It may be abandoned now, but maybe it wasn’t before.'

If it had truly been useless from the start, it would never have been built this thoroughly.

Even though no one was here now, traces remained showing people had once regularly moved through this place.

There was a high chance this had once been actively used, only to be discarded later for some unknown reason.

“Miss Lee. There’s a door over there.”

“...Ah, right.”

Lost in thought, Lee Sanga approached the door.

Then grabbed the handle.

'If this place used to be active but was later abandoned... then it probably wasn’t built as a shelter.'

And as she thought that—

'Then what reason would there be to build something this massive underground...?'

She opened the door with a creak—

'Unless they were hiding something that couldn’t be seen...?'

At that exact moment—

“Watch out!”

“...!”

KWAAAAANG!

Something burst out from beyond the doorway.

***

The instant the door opened, something shot outward at terrifying speed.

Its velocity and force were so immense that the surrounding air churned violently.

Pak!

Lee Sanga twisted her body with rapid reflexes and narrowly evaded the attack.

Sssshhk!

Something resembling a massive tentacle brushed past her shoulder.

It had only grazed her, yet the impact nearly tore her shoulder out of its socket.

But—

The attack failed to penetrate the equipment she wore.

She had avoided a fatal wound, though her dislocated shoulder throbbed violently.

Even so—

'Enemy.'

Ignoring her ruined right shoulder, Lee Sanga swung the giant scissors held in her left hand.

Though she now focused primarily on overseeing the production classes—

She had once led a survivor group through battle.

And her very first awakening had come through killing someone.

[Martial Arts]

[Soul-Severing Scissors B+]

Even while dedicating herself to production work, she had continued training martial arts like the Legion’s other fighters.

Always sharpening her instincts in preparation for whatever danger might someday arise.

Slash—!

Her scissors sliced into whatever lurked beyond the door.

The sensation reaching her fingertips was unmistakable.

A definite hit.

But instinctively, Lee Sanga realized something.

'It’s huge!'

Her scissors were already massive enough to sever a normal human’s neck in a single cut.

Yet the enemy inside was even larger than that.

Her attack had definitely cut flesh—

But relative to the creature’s body, it was probably little more than a shallow wound.

Hwooooooong...!

And then—

Just as the unidentified enemy prepared to continue attacking despite the minor injury—

“Get behind me!”

KWAAANG!

A shadow stepped in front of Lee Sanga.

The woman with sheep horns—Miyang.

Holding up her shield, she intercepted the enemy head-on.

Taking a step back under Miyang’s protection, Lee Sanga thought:

'I thought she was timid and cowardly.'

But the moment an enemy appeared—

Miyang had rushed forward without hesitation.

Contrary to Lee Sanga’s first impression, she was a warrior who always stood at the front lines in battle.

Jjeeeong!

A tremendous attack slammed into her shield.

But Miyang skillfully redirected the impact away.

Then—

[Martial Arts - Mountain-Shattering Ram Horn Hammer]

Her eyes sharpened as power surged into the enormous hammer in her other hand.

Miyang had always possessed monstrous physical strength, enough to supposedly shatter mountains themselves.

And now, strengthened even further by the Legion’s food and equipment—

Her gigantic hammer...

JJEEEEEOOOONG!

Smashed into the enemy’s body.

'The Commander fought people like this...!?'

Even standing behind her, Lee Sanga felt the vibration as something overwhelming.

The impact hurled the enemy backward violently.

“Miss Lee, are you alright!?”

“I’m fine. More importantly...!”

As she reset her dislocated shoulder, she stared at the enemy.

The force behind Miyang’s hammer had been absolutely monstrous.

Lee Sanga had been certain anything struck by that attack would die.

Yet—

Paaang!

“...!”

From within the darkness—

The same tentacle she had seen before lashed out again.

“Not happening!”

Paaang!

This time, the monkey-like man appeared and deflected the tentacle away.

And only then—

Did the enormous monster hidden within the shadows finally reveal itself.

Lee Sanga finished resetting her shoulder and looked at the creature.

Then—

“...Huh?”

After seeing its appearance—

She blankly let out a short sound.

—UOOOOOOO....

Four legs as thick as building pillars and a gigantic body.

Massive ears flapping heavily, along with an absurdly huge and elongated trunk.

Savage tusks protruding from both sides of its mouth.

Naturally, she had assumed it was some ferocious monster.

And in a sense, it was.

But—

It was also slightly different from what she had expected.

“That monster....”

“It looks strangely familiar.”

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who thought so.

The beastkin, still maintaining combat stances, frowned as they spoke.

“The imperial grand general.”

“It resembles General Sang.”

Those beastkin from the Heavenly Mountain Martial Hall—

Their appearances resembled humans mixed with the traits of Earth’s animals.

Which meant this “General Sang” they mentioned was probably similar.

Maybe that was why—

Even hearing only the name, Lee Sanga could roughly imagine what the figure looked like.

'...An elephant?'

Because no matter how she looked at it—

The creature attacking them resembled nothing less than a grotesquely swollen elephant.

***

—UOOOOOOOOOOONG!

The elephant charged toward her in a full-body tackle.

Lee Sanga couldn’t help but be startled.

Not because an awakened individual like her feared elephants—

But because—

'Fast...!?'

Its speed was far beyond that of any ordinary beast.

Pak!

She threw herself aside to evade the attack.

But the trunk followed after her.

Already incredibly long, it stretched even farther in grotesque fashion before whipping toward her like a massive lash.

Whips had been used as weapons since ancient times.

They might seem ordinary—

But even a normal human wielding a whip could produce speeds exceeding the sound barrier.

'Kuhk...!'

The pillar-like whip slammed directly into her body.

“Miss Lee!”

The beastkin rushed forward in alarm.

The strike possessed enough force to pulverize even a large boulder into dust.

Naturally, they feared for her safety after taking such a hit.

Yet—

Swwsh....

“...!”

Far from turning into dust—

Lee Sanga merely clicked her tongue lightly while placing a hand against her waist.

'Is it thanks to these clothes?'

'Even so... surviving an attack like that...'

Despite taking a direct hit from the gigantic whip-like trunk—

Her body showed no major injuries.

—UOOOOOOOOOOO!

After its attack failed, the monster rapidly twisted its body, trying to reposition itself.

But at that moment—

Pak!

Five figures lunged toward the creature simultaneously.

***

“Huff... huff....”

“Are you alright, Miss Lee?”

“Yeah... thanks to you.”

The gigantic monster collapsed to the ground.

As Lee Sanga caught her breath, Sarin approached and spoke to her.

The beastkin had not wasted the opening created when Lee Sanga absorbed the attack.

“It caught us off guard, but it was quite a powerful creature.”

“Hm. So they station monsters this strong even around the headquarters’ perimeter?”

The sudden attack had certainly been shocking.

But with the five beastkin present—

Its defeat had probably only been a matter of time from the beginning.

Thinking back, the monster had likely already been heavily wounded the moment Miyang’s hammer connected.

“Then let us continue.”

“There could be more ambushes, so from now on, Senior Sister Miyang should open the doors.”

“Huh? Me...?”

To the five beastkin, it seemed to have been nothing more than a somewhat strong monster.

After briefly examining the elephant’s corpse with curious expressions, they calmly resumed walking.

But—

Lee Sanga was different.

'....'

As she passed the monster’s body—

She stared at it.

She had known they might encounter monsters.

The escaped Legion members had already informed them that the Order controlled such creatures.

But—

'An elephant.'

That changed things.

At first, she wondered whether it was merely a monster imitating the appearance of a real animal.

Yet—

[Tailoring Material Identification]

[Asian Elephant Leather]

The skin—

Was unmistakably real elephant hide.

'Not a monster... an animal.'

And then she thought back.

The elephant had certainly been strong.

But beyond that—

She had sensed something strangely familiar from it.

'That feeling during the battle just now.'

Maybe she was imagining it.

But somehow—

'It felt like fighting an awakened individual....'

That kind of—

Familiar sensation.