The Military Chef of a Ruined World

[Do not blaspheme against Him......!]

[This is sacrilege.]

[Impossible. That cannot be......!]

The creatures rose to their feet alongside grotesque noises.

The animals lying atop the operating tables they had seen wandering nearby earlier.

There had simply been too many of them—

And after learning the monsters they fought on the way here had escaped from this place—

They had avoided touching the others out of fear that disturbing them might awaken every remaining beast.

But then—

[To claim that He lied.]

[Such absurd, impossible nonsense.......]

Some of them slowly rose from the operating tables—

Speaking in trembling voices.

And then—

[We will not forgive you......!]

KWA-AAAAANG!!!

At terrifying speed—

They charged toward the group.

“Young Heroine! Behind me!”

At the sight—

Miyang stepped forward with her shield raised and intercepted the attack.

Her shield blocked the incoming monster.

But—

[UNBELIEEEEVERRRRR!!!]

KUUUUUUNG!

“...Kgh!?”

The monster’s attack was so overwhelmingly powerful—

That the shockwave from the charge blew away every speck of dust filling the chamber.

'These are different from the ones outside......!'

Miyang could not help but panic.

The beasts they had encountered outside were certainly strong as well—

But that impact just now was incomparable to them.

'Not just their strength, either.'

The reason was not difficult to guess.

First—

'Their appearances too!'

Because the chamber had been dark—

They had not clearly seen every animal lying atop the operating tables.

Their objective had been destroying the Maxim of Rothar, so they had not exactly possessed the leisure to inspect them closely.

But now that she looked—

Some of the animals on those tables...

Could no longer even be called beasts or animals anymore.

[Un-Unbelievers!!!]

[Do not test our faith!!!]

Creatures with bear-like faces and crocodilian faces.

But their bodies belonged neither to bears nor wolves.

Grotesquely swollen flesh.

Muscles thick and dense like steel fibers.

Distorted appearances as though traces of countless lifeforms had been forcibly mashed together.

Watching them, Lee Sanga recalled the research described in the journal.

'Research into abnormal eaters......!'

How far did the concept of humanity extend?

Or more precisely—

What was the limit of the range capable of wielding the power of the [system]?

To determine that—

The researchers described in the journal fed humans monster flesh, gradually pushing them beyond the boundaries of humanity.

Truthfully—

There had already been something strange bothering her.

'It was certain horrific research had been conducted here.'

But for some reason—

No presence could currently be sensed anywhere, and all traces of human activity had vanished.

If so—

'Then where exactly did those researchers disappear to?'

People who hid themselves even from Church members sharing their faith.

There was no way they had later simply returned and rejoined the Church.

Yet if they were not here either—

Where had they gone?

The journal contained no answer to that question, leaving it unresolved.

But the answer turned out to be surprisingly simple.

'They never went anywhere.'

They had never disappeared at all.

'They stayed here.......'

Remaining here—

They continued their research.

And eventually, in the end—

'They even used themselves as research material......!'

The human test subjects they abducted.

The countless experiments they inflicted upon them—

They ultimately inflicted those same experiments upon themselves.

They transplanted their own brains into sturdier animals.

Afterward...

They devoured monsters and drew closer to becoming [abnormal eaters].

'Up to the very limit capable of receiving the [system]’s power!'

To fulfill the revelation granted to them by the system!

They were the very researchers who carried out the experiments themselves.

They would have understood better than anyone where the boundary of humanity lay.

And conversely—

That also meant they could deliberately create a state that remained as far removed from humanity as possible—

While still fully enjoying the power of the system.

Within this ruined world—

The human body was close to the weakest existence imaginable.

Meaning that moving further away from humanity—

KWA-AAAAAAAAAANG!!!

Meant moving further away from the weakest body—

...And closer toward the strongest.

'People chosen for secret research like this... probably weren’t weak even when they were awakened humans.'

And on top of that—

They still retained the system powers they possessed as awakened beings.

At minimum, they had likely all been awakened in their twenties or higher.

The overwhelming power of awakened beings—

Combined with bodies far beyond human limitations.

And Lee Sanga knew exactly one example of what such a result looked like.

'The Commander.......'

As far as she knew—

The strongest human alive.

And when monsters created through similar logic attacked—

“Ghk.......”

Even the beastkin—

As powerful as Miyang seemed—

Her body staggered.

***

“Senior Sister!”

As Miyang stumbled—

The other beastkin immediately rushed in to support her.

[Grrrrk!]

When struck by the beastkin attacks—

The creatures certainly felt pain, letting out agonized groans.

But—

[You think this level of pain!]

[Will make us fall for your lies!!!]

KWAAAAANG!!!

As one of the monsters swung its fist—

Numerous pieces of equipment storing the results of their research shattered apart.

Fwoosh.......

The resulting sparks scattered onto nearby papers.

And since the place had already sat abandoned for ages, buried beneath dust—

Those sparks quickly ignited flames, beginning to burn away the accumulated research.

The knowledge they devoted themselves entirely to gathering and building—

Vanished meaninglessly in the fire.

And yet—

[Th-The system is the one true god. Humanity’s savior.......]

[How dare you speak words doubting Him......!]

They—

Continued screaming incomprehensible nonsense.

Dodging desperately, Lee Sanga thought:

'We never said any of that......!?'

The monsters rampaged furiously over words neither she nor the beastkin had ever spoken.

And she thought she understood where those accusations truly originated from.

'......Themselves.'

Claims that the system had lied.

Accusations of blasphemy.

They were not fighting Lee Sanga or the beastkin—

But the doubts growing within themselves.

“Young Heroine!”

While blocking the monsters’ attacks—

The dog-eared man, Gyeonsul, shouted toward her.

“These things... will not be easy to handle.”

At his words, Lee Sanga thought as well.

The Legion had encountered two abnormal eaters in the past.

Of them—

The first, originally a lawless scavenger, became an abnormal eater after consuming human flesh.

Perhaps because it had preyed only upon weak humans—

Even the still-weak Legion and the Commander had somehow managed to kill it.

But—

'Ms. Lee Hyejin... they said even the Commander and the vampires struggled against her.'

The abnormal eater now allied with the Legion—

Lee Hyejin was different.

That battle had involved the Commander personally.

Even including vampire forces led by that queen—

Shin Youngjun himself suffered severe injuries before they barely managed to achieve victory.

An abnormal eater was fundamentally closer to a boss monster possessing overwhelming power.

And now—

On top of bodies stronger than humans to begin with—

These creatures also fully retained the power of awakened beings.

There were dozens of them.

Perhaps nearly a hundred.

'No matter how strong the instructors’ fellow disciples may be.'

Handling all of them was impossible.

No—

Even if it were possible, it would not matter.

“This is not our objective, is it not!”

“...Right.”

Their goal was destroying the [Maxim of Rothar].

Not defeating these monsters.

'We don’t have time to get dragged down here.'

Even now, the war between the Legion and the Church was probably raging aboveground.

Even if the Legion somehow succeeded in invading the Church’s inner sanctum—

As long as the Maxim of Rothar remained active, they could never succeed in reclaiming the Commander.

They had to destroy it as quickly as possible.

'...But we can’t exactly turn our backs on those things and run either.'

The moment they exposed their backs, their defense would collapse.

Biting her lip, Lee Sanga thought:

'It feels wasteful to use it here, but.......'

The methods she had prepared in advance.

Just as she debated whether she needed to use them—

—Kkiing.......

“...!?”

A tiny sound came from beside her.

Turning toward it—

—Kkiing...... ngh.......

Bound atop an operating table—

Was a single beast staring at her.

***

The first creature to let out a whining cry—

Was a small beast resembling a wolf.

Its skull and abdomen had been sliced open as it stared at her.

At first, the sight made Lee Sanga shudder.

But—

—Kkiing......!

A moment later—

She realized the creature was not merely looking at her.

There was intention within its gaze.

No—

It was not alone.

—Grrrk.......

—Ukkiik.......

—Kkiruk.......

Beasts forcing out sounds with every ounce of strength despite being unable to move—

As though pleading for something from her.

'...No way.'

At those gazes—

A small thought suddenly crossed Lee Sanga’s mind.

She could be mistaken.

There was a high possibility this was merely her misunderstanding.

But—

Acting on the possibility anyway, she approached the beasts.

Then—

[Highest-Grade Sewing Technique]

She pulled sewing materials from her pouch—

And infused mana into her hands.

Sarararak....

As her fingers moved rapidly—

Tiny needles and the threads connected to them began moving all at once.

Mana flowed from her hands.

Guided by that mana and Lee Sanga’s touch upon the threads—

The strands danced brilliantly as though alive.

Like soldiers obeying the commands of an exceptional commander.

And then—

Pushhk!

The needles serving as the soldiers’ spears pierced through the beasts’ opened abdomens and peeled-back skulls.

Then—

Sasasak.......

Following her hand movements—

The threads pulled shut the opened flesh, reconnected the separated skin—

And stitched the wounds together.

Though she lacked medical knowledge, she carefully sewed the injuries as though repairing torn fabric.

In the past, Lee Sanga had even been responsible for haircuts within her unit.

Because sewing skills could prove useful there as well.

Like this, awakened abilities did not activate solely within the direct field of the profession itself.

Often, they manifested in entirely different but related areas.

'To stitch together.'

Sewing with thread and needle—

Was one of the oldest and most representative forms of suturing in human history.

And as the threads closed their wounds—

Snip!

Her massive scissors swung down—

Severing the thick cables connected to their brains and abdomens.

Then—

Thud.

The beasts lying atop the operating tables—

Rose to their feet, just like the beasts they had fought outside.

Sway.......

Perhaps still not fully stable—

The creatures staggered dangerously.

But only briefly.

......Bow.

The animal that seemed to represent the others—

The wolf lowered its head toward her.

And then—

—Awooooooooooooooooo!!!

Though its throat had clearly gone dry from lacking even a drop of water for ages—

A powerful wolf’s howl echoed throughout the chamber.

Beasts that had surely starved for years.

And directly before them stood Lee Sanga herself as prey—

Yet—

Whoosh!

Ignoring her entirely, they lunged away.

And then—

Crunch!

“...!?”

“This beast......?”

The abnormal eaters battling the five beastkin—

The researchers of this laboratory—

Were the targets they attacked.