The Military Chef of a Ruined World

—The Maxim... is over there.

A voice echoed in her ears.

Lee Sanga turned toward the beastkin concealing their presence alongside her.

The collapsed underground sector.

At the end of the corridor stood a massive door.

And beyond the open doorway—

‘A book.’

Floating in midair—

Was a gigantic book emitting a grotesque aura.

At the sight, Lee Sanga blankly parted her lips.

‘No wonder there were so many troops stationed here.’

The Church members battling the abnormal eaters.

Despite the absurd strength of those abnormal eaters, the battle remained possible because the Church members possessed overwhelming numbers and combat strength of their own.

Meanwhile, the Legion forces were invading aboveground.

Even considering the earthquake—

She had wondered why such a ridiculous concentration of forces existed in a place like this.

Now she finally understood.

‘To guard that.’

Those troops had gathered to protect the Maxim.

They had sensed the disturbance nearby and rushed over.

‘Though I expected it to be much deeper inside.’

It was true they had followed the Maxim’s energy in a straight line.

And they had traveled quite a considerable distance.

But even taking that into account—

Compared to the scale of this underground complex that Jeong Sua had described, their current location was still somewhat removed from the true center.

It was not difficult to guess the reason.

‘That thing removes the power of awakened beings within a certain radius to begin with.’

Which meant—

‘......It was probably intended for use against us.’

Considering its effect—

The most efficient way to use that object would be during battles against large groups of awakened beings.

The standoff between the Legion and the Church had lasted quite a long time.

Just as the Legion remained wary of the Church—

The Church had likely also believed the Legion might suddenly invade at any moment.

So they must have stationed it as close to the front lines as possible—

Near the outer perimeter in preparation for war against the Legion.

“Y-You monster bastards!”

“We cannot handle this alone. We need reinforcements—!”

“No! At minimum, some forces must remain near the Maxim. We must deal with this ourselves!”

“O system......!”

However—

Most of the forces meant to guard the Maxim were currently tied up fighting completely different enemies—

Those who shared the same faith as themselves.

‘......Right now.’

Though it had not been her intention—

The current situation actually benefited them.

Lee Sanga concealed her presence as much as possible while trying to approach the Maxim amid the chaos of battle.

......However—

At that exact moment—

[Those bastards.]

Crunch.

Another Church member’s body was crushed flat.

The largest abnormal eater slowly surveyed its surroundings.

[The intruders harboring blasphemous doubts toward the system are nowhere to be seen.]

Lee Sanga’s clothing concealed their presence as much as possible—

But it could not erase their appearance and presence completely.

Lee Sanga herself could suppress her presence far more effectively than others thanks to traits maximizing the clothing’s performance, but......

[......How dare they!!!]

The beastkin despised assassin methods.

Even they could not completely erase their presence.

***

KUUUUUUUNG!!!

“Ah, damn it.”

When infiltrating from the sparsely populated outer areas, the stealth garments Lee Sanga created had been more than sufficient.

But the martial artists of the Thousand Mountain Martial Hall believed warriors should always stand proudly—

And that concealing oneself was cowardly.

Even within this corridor packed with enormous numbers of people, perfectly hiding their presence was impossible.

“Everyone, move!”

Ignoring even the attacks striking its own body, the gigantic abnormal eater hurled itself toward them.

They had already experienced that level of power once before.

Judging it impossible to block directly, the martial artists instantly leapt away to evade the attack.

And naturally—

That violent movement exposed the presence they had concealed.

“Wh-What are those things now?”

The Church members muttered in confusion at the sight.

They had already been busy fighting abnormal eaters—the monsters they called devouring ghouls—

And now a completely new group had suddenly appeared.

And on top of that, their appearances differed from ordinary humans.

But—

“Those bastards.......”

“I’ve seen them before.”

Some of the Church members shouted upon recognizing them.

“The sinners who stood in His Holiness the Pope’s way when he sought to capture the Legion members!”

“They pretend to resemble humans, but......!”

With those cries—

The Church members charged forward.

“Monsters cooperating with the Legion!”

“Offer them as sacrifices to the system!”

Even if they resembled humans—

Even if they possessed enough intelligence for conversation and cooperation—

In the end, they were still nonhuman monsters.

From the Church’s perspective, they were equally filthy creatures unworthy of stepping inside this sacred domain.

“This won’t be easy to escape from.”

“......Should we have learned assassin methods too?”

Gyeonsul muttered quietly while Shin Jong scratched his head.

Sarin and Gyeyu frowned as well.

“Everyone!”

At that moment—

Miyang shouted.

“Thousand Mountain Twelve Formations, deploy!”

At her words—

The beastkin replied with startled expressions.

“Senior Sister! There are only five of us right now. No matter how powerful the formation is, at this number it won’t even display a tenth of its effectiveness—!”

“I’ll handle the missing positions somehow, so hurry!”

“If we deploy the formation, we won’t be able to move either.”

“I know that. But—”

Stepping forward with her shield raised, she shouted:

“There’s no other choice......!”

KWAAANG!!!

Her shield collided with something.

The charging Church members and abnormal eaters—

Their attacks had been deflected.

“Kuheok......!?”

[Strong monster......!]

Though the Church members and abnormal eaters were fighting one another—

The moment the beastkin revealed themselves—

They still regarded each other as enemies, yet began prioritizing attacks against the beastkin first.

From the Church members’ perspective, the beastkin were the beings who interfered with their Pope and ruined their great undertaking.

From the abnormal eaters’ perspective, they were witnesses who knew the secrets of the hidden research sector that could never be exposed.

There were more important targets to eliminate first.

No matter how powerful the beastkin were—

Their enemies were far from weak, and above all, the numerical difference was overwhelming.

Ordinarily, they should not have been able to hold out for long.

Yet—

Slide.......

Facing the incoming assaults—

The beastkin moved into position one by one and assumed defensive stances.

Then—

The prepared formation collided with the enemy forces.

[KWOOOOOOORK!!!]

“Kgh......!”

Though they clearly looked strained—

The beastkin were still holding back that overwhelming flood of enemies.

‘......!’

No matter how strong the beastkin were, the sight was unbelievable.

Lee Sanga quickly realized one thing.

‘That formation.’

The beastkin fighting while holding positions—

Continuously shifted their locations according to enemy movements.

Lee Sanga could not fully comprehend it with her own eyes—

But the formation itself was enabling them to withstand the enemy assault.

The problem was—

“Kgh!”

The woman standing at the center of the formation—

Miyang’s face was horribly twisted with strain.

‘......This formation wasn’t meant to be used with this few people.’

Originally, it must have required far more participants.

Miyang alone was filling most of the gaps.

It was only possible because she was an expert specializing in defense—

And at the same time, not even she could manage it easily.

—Young Hero!

At that moment—

Sarin the poison master’s voice echoed in Lee Sanga’s ears.

Likely some skill allowing her voice to reach only specific targets.

—We’ll somehow draw their attention. So.......

Her voice mixed exhaustion and urgency.

—Young Hero...... you must handle the destruction.

‘......!’

***

‘Me.......’

Lee Sanga had accompanied them because she felt she could not leave everything entirely to the beastkin.

Even so—

She originally believed she would not end up carrying a major role.

The beastkin were simply that powerful.

But now—

The five beastkin had been exposed.

Their presence had been discovered.

Lee Sanga’s had not.

Her concealment was so complete that even the [Maxim] still had not detected her existence.

Unless she suddenly attacked while opening the door like before—

Or revealed herself through conversation—

It was impossible for the enemies to detect her current presence.

In the end—

Nod.......

She alone could still move freely.

Lee Sanga gave a heavy nod.

Then—

Paaang!

She kicked off the ground at full speed.

‘I need to hurry.’

The beastkin were buying time using their strange formation—

But it had never been a perfect formation to begin with.

There was no telling how long they could hold out.

Kwaang.......

Crunch.

The corridor where beastkin, Church members, abnormal eaters, and beasts clashed violently—

She sprinted directly through the center of that battlefield.

Incoming attacks grazed past her skin.

The moment even one of those attacks struck her directly and sent her body flying—

Her presence would inevitably be exposed.

But that did not mean she had the luxury of moving carefully.

And so—

Running at a speed even she herself could barely control, surviving dozens of near-death moments within mere seconds—

‘Finally!’

She reached the chamber containing the Maxim.

The doors stood open because the guarding forces had departed to fight the monsters.

A handful of people still remained inside guarding the Maxim while nervously watching the battle outside—

But they were few in number.

‘They haven’t noticed my presence. I need to end this quickly......!’

Without hesitation, she stepped into the chamber and swung her scissors toward the book—

Trying to tear it apart.

However—

Tuuung.......

“......!”

The instant she tried to enter the chamber—

She felt something.

Tak.

Lee Sanga abruptly withdrew her scissors and halted her steps.

Just now—

Only for the briefest moment—

‘If I had entered like that...... I would have died.’

Stopping in place, she carefully examined what lay before her.

The book inside the room.

The energy radiating from the Maxim.

Duuuuuuung.......

An enormous mass of energy filled the entire chamber.

Its density was so overwhelming—

That simply stepping inside was difficult.

‘That energy itself acts like a barrier.’

Though it was intangible energy—

At that level of density, the situation changed completely.

Even if she swung her scissors, the density of that energy would inevitably weaken both their speed and power.

No—

That was not all.

‘The moment I step inside...... I won’t be able to hide myself anymore.’

Through the abilities of her stealth garments, she had concealed herself and remained outside the Maxim’s effect.

But the moment she entered that room—

She would no longer be able to hide herself.

The instant she became exposed to the Maxim, her powers as an awakened being would be stripped away.

Lee Sanga hesitated while calculating internally.

A pair of scissors swung by ordinary human Lee Sanga.

Could that possibly cut through that dense energy and the guards protecting the Maxim......?

‘I’m not the Commander or anything. There’s no way something ridiculous like that would work.’

Thinking about it calmly, the answer was obvious.

An object radiating such overwhelming power—

Destroying it was never going to be easy.

‘What do I do?’

The beastkin could have destroyed the Maxim without issue.

But not her.

More precisely, she did possess a possible method—

But it was one she could not use right now.

Just as she desperately searched for some solution—

[One is missing!]

A thunderous voice rang out behind her.

[Not those creatures smelling like beasts. One more!]

[That woman! We must kill that woman......!]

The abnormal eaters.

They had realized she was missing.

Of course, as long as she wore the stealth garments, it was impossible for them to find her.

But in that instant—

A single thought surfaced in her mind.

‘Could it work?’

An absurdly dangerous gamble.

Madness with far higher odds of failure than success.

But—

‘......This is the only option.’

And if that was the case—

‘Then whether it’s possible or not doesn’t matter.’

The answer was already decided.

‘If it won’t work, then I’ll force it to work.’

The abnormal eaters searching for her.

As established—

Unless she personally spoke aloud, it was impossible for them to detect her.

“Hey!”

Lee Sanga turned around—

And shouted toward the monsters.

“You cultist fanatic bastards!”

***

“......You cultist fanatic bastards!”

“......!”

The moment she shouted toward the abnormal eaters—

Everyone nearby turned toward her.

The problem was—

“J-Just now.”

“What did she just say—”

Contrary to her intentions—

Not only the abnormal eaters, but even the Church members fighting them turned their attention toward her.

‘Ah.’

Lee Sanga internally realized her mistake—

But it was already too late.

“I’m right here.”

Without hesitation, she shouted:

“The one who knows your god’s lies!”

[......!]

The abnormal eater staring at her twitched violently.

Watching that reaction—

Lee Sanga touched the small pouch hanging at her waist.

[Master’s Atelier]

A small pouch that looked completely ordinary.

Yet it was an item she had once obtained as a reward for completing an [Achievement].

Its effect was simple.

A small pouch wearable at the waist.

Capable of storing enormous quantities of clothing and tailoring materials.

[Skill]

[Illusion Wardrobe]

A faint trace of mana gathered in the hand touching the pouch.

[You can change outfits at a speed too fast to be seen.]

Then—

The dark stealth garments she wore vanished.

[Combat Uniform Crafted with a Master’s Utmost Devotion]

[A custom outfit created specifically for the awakened Lee Sanga.]

[When equipped, bonuses are granted to all actions.]

In place of the stealth garments—

Appeared an utterly ordinary military uniform.

After the world changed like this—

It was the outfit most familiar to her.

The one she had created most often.

The clothing she possessed the greatest confidence in.

“How dare she......!”

Meanwhile—

The enraged Church members began rushing toward her.

But that no longer mattered much.

KUUUUUUUUUNG!!!

Because behind the Church members—

A gigantic presence approached at a speed incomparable to theirs.

[You must never speak those words aloud!!!]