The Military Chef of a Ruined World

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

The abnormal eaters inside that research sector.

Among them, the one possessing the largest body and the greatest power.

The very monster that had smashed through the floor and dropped her into this place.

Only after falling down here had she realized it.

The wall separating that isolated research sector from the area where the Church members operated was unimaginably thick and solid.

Yet this monster among monsters had destroyed it in a single blow.

Probably the strongest leader among all those abnormal eaters.

And—

The moment that overwhelming presence approached—

Srrrrk!!!

A chilling sensation crept up from behind her.

She could feel something trying to infiltrate her body.

‘......The Maxim.’

This place was filled with an energy that prevented those lacking faith in the system from using their awakened abilities.

Even so, the reason she had still been able to use her skills—

Was because she had erased her presence through the stealth garments.

Those who possessed faith and those who did not.

Since the energy distinguished between the two before applying its effects, avoiding that distinction had allowed her to escape its influence.

‘Not anymore.’

Now that she had discarded the stealth garments—

She could no longer remain free from that power.

Behind her, the cold energy sought to strip away her strength.

Ahead of her, overwhelming force surged forward to erase her existence.

But—

The instant the Maxim’s energy began invading her body—

And just before the monster’s attack could turn her into dust—

Swoosh.......

She reached her hand toward the approaching monster.

And thought:

‘......The path that rises to the heavens.’

She had never managed to climb that path to the very end.

But even simply walking it had allowed her to obtain certain things.

This was one of them.

[Skill – Forced Outfit Change]

[Forcibly equips the target with clothing.]

[If the target is not currently wearing clothing, the difficulty of resistance increases.]

At the same time—

Pik.......

The system window before Lee Sanga abruptly vanished.

And the strength she felt throughout her body rapidly faded away.

The clothing that had once felt weightless suddenly became heavy.

‘So it really happened.’

The instant she touched the Maxim’s energy—

Her abilities as an awakened being disappeared.

She had never been particularly suited for direct combat to begin with.

And now she had become nothing more than an ordinary civilian.

Meanwhile, the enemy approaching her—

Was an attack even the beastkin had failed to stop.

If that attack so much as grazed her, she would never survive.

But—

Srrrk.......

Just before the attack reached her—

Something appeared atop the gigantic body of the abnormal eater flying toward her.

The monster tried to shake it off—

But ignoring the creature’s resistance entirely, it settled onto the monster’s massive frame.

Yet—

That thing did not slow the monster down.

Quite the opposite.

KUUUUUUUUUUUNG!!!

The monster had already been charging forward with terrifying speed and force.

Now that speed and power increased to a level incomparable to before.

It became so overwhelmingly strong—

[......!?]

That even the monster itself—

Could no longer control its own strength.

Power amplified through outside interference beyond its own intentions.

Unable to withstand that overwhelming force—

The fist containing far too much power overshot its original target and extended even farther beyond.

Its original target...... slightly behind where Lee Sanga stood—

A vast chamber radiating sacred atmosphere.

The guards protecting that place rushed forward to stop the enormous body—

But—

KUUUUUUUUUUUUUNG!!!

Their small numbers could not stop the monster.

The holy relic created from the system’s own flesh—

[The Maxim]

Was torn apart by the believer’s hands.

***

Kuuuuung.......

As the gigantic monster charged with overwhelming force—

The surrounding area collapsed from the impact.

[Grk.......]

The monster slowly rose from the rubble.

And—

The believers—

Could only stare blankly at the creature.

“Th-The Maxim.......”

The monster barely managed to stand upright.

And stuck all over its bloated stomach—

“The Maxim was destroyed.......”

Were shattered fragments of the book.

“Ah.......”

The believers discovered the sight.

For a brief moment, hollow laughter escaped them.

Then—

“Kill it!!!”

Consumed by extreme fury—

They charged toward the abnormal eater that had destroyed the Maxim.

[What.......]

Meanwhile—

The abnormal eater itself did not even seem to understand what it had destroyed.

After all, they had completed their research and vanished long before the holy relic known as the Maxim had appeared.

The creature quickly rose to its feet—

Then once more tried to kill the woman who had insulted the system.

But—

“How dare you......!”

“Did you truly believe you could commit such a sin and walk away unharmed......?!”

The believers rushed toward it.

Once, it had stood among them.

Many familiar faces appeared among those charging at it in fury, weapons raised.

At first, it looked slightly shaken.

But—

[......They cannot be allowed to leave alive anyway.]

Those who had seen them.

Those who had witnessed the existence of that research sector.

If they were allowed to survive, an investigation into the facility might begin, and the results of their research could spread among ordinary believers.

That could never be permitted.

Therefore—

[If you yourselves wish for death first, then I shall respect that wish.]

Crunch!

Killing the believers blocking its path—

The abnormal eater began advancing toward Lee Sanga.

Meanwhile—

“Huff...... huff......!”

While the believers attacked the abnormal eater—

Lee Sanga quickly withdrew and ran toward the beastkin.

Her outfit had changed into a somewhat thinner and lighter military uniform.

A uniform specialized for increasing movement speed.

“Young Hero......!”

“You actually succeeded.”

The beastkin holding back the enemy stared at her in shock.

It had indeed been they who told her the Maxim needed to be destroyed—

But none of them had imagined she would succeed in such a manner.

“With this.......”

Still, regardless of the method—

“Our mission is complete.”

The objective had been achieved.

[Holy Relic - Maxim of Rothar has been destroyed!]

[Previously sealed functions are being restored.]

Words appeared before Lee Sanga’s eyes.

A clear system message.

The energy sealing awakened abilities had vanished.

“That is good news, but.”

The problem was—

“How are we supposed to get back now?”

“.......”

Expressions twisted into grimaces.

Even while speaking, the beastkin continued holding back the enemy forces.

‘There are too many enemies.’

The fact that the enemies were fighting each other allowed them to endure somehow for now—

But breaking through and escaping seemed nearly impossible.

With so many eyes already fixed on them—

Even if they put the stealth garments back on, they could no longer expect the same effectiveness as before.

“Now that the Maxim has been destroyed, awakened beings will be able to enter this place.”

In the end—

There was only one method left.

“Legion reinforcements will arrive soon.”

While they had been fighting—

War must also have been raging aboveground.

Ordinarily, no matter how powerful the Legion was, defeating the Church would have been difficult.

But—

‘Things are different now.’

Having walked that ‘path,’ she knew.

No matter that their Legion Commander supported the Church—

“The Legion that wins the surface war will enter this place.”

The battle aboveground.

The Church would not be able to stand against the Legion.

“We only need to hold out until then.”

“Hold out, huh.”

“Easy words to say......!”

Kaaang!

The formation woven by the five beastkin remained incomplete.

Miyang, who maintained the center, was so exhausted she could barely even participate in the conversation.

Their collapse could happen at any moment.

“Don’t worry.”

But—

Lee Sanga steadied her ragged breathing and spoke.

“Before, I had no choice but to stay hidden as much as possible to avoid being detected by the Maxim.”

“......?”

Her hand reached toward the five beastkin.

[Forced Outfit Change]

Then—

The clothing worn by the beastkin transformed.

“Now it’s different.”

As someone who had mainly created military uniforms, it felt slightly awkward for her—

Loose-fitting clothing designed for ease of movement.

“This is.......”

“It resembles our martial uniforms.”

The uniforms of martial artists.

***

And so—

Lee Sanga and the beastkin began fighting to survive until Legion reinforcements arrived.

‘So she has learned martial arts.’

When Lee Sanga first offered to help them—

The beastkin honestly had not trusted her words very much.

‘Judging by the calluses on her hands...... she probably trained in two or three martial arts simultaneously.’

‘However...... because she trained in multiple arts at once, the mastery of each individual style is lacking.’

They had known she practiced martial arts.

But her level had not appeared especially impressive.

Yet they had been mistaken.

The beastkin still did not fully understand the methods of awakened beings.

[Dieeeeeee!!!]

A gigantic abnormal eater swung its weapon.

Shin Jong frowned and gripped his staff.

There was no technique behind the attack whatsoever—only overwhelming raw power.

Every time they blocked one of those strikes, it felt as though their bones were rattling apart.

Then, at that exact moment—

[Forced Outfit Change]

“......!”

Shin Jong’s clothing changed slightly.

It remained martial attire—

But thicker and heavier.

Perhaps because of that—

Kuuung!

Even after blocking the tremendous attack—

The impact felt far lighter than before.

He immediately realized it.

‘This clothing!’

This outfit—

Had dispersed the shock.

And that was not all.

“Hup!”

Miyang swung her hammer toward the enemy.

Originally, she was a martial artist more specialized in defensive arts.

Her strikes were precise—

But compared to her fellow disciples, speed had always been her weakness.

Tak!

The abnormal eater pulled its body backward to avoid the strike.

Miyang thought her attack had missed and was about to settle for merely forcing the enemy back—

But then—

[Forced Outfit Change]

Miyang’s outfit changed.

Extremely thin and light clothing.

Perhaps because the outfit’s weight had decreased—

Fwoooooosh!

The hammer she herself had swung—

Suddenly accelerated to terrifying speed.

‘This speed......!?’

The hammer moved faster than she herself intended.

Her physical capabilities had abruptly changed.

Ordinarily, nobody could properly control such sudden speed.

That abnormal eater certainly could not.

......However—

‘This much is manageable!’

They were slightly different from ordinary people.

Even though her physical abilities had suddenly changed—

Miyang did not panic, instead twisting the attack trajectory to match the newfound speed.

KWAAAAAAANG!!!

[Grk......!]

The abnormal eater struck by her hammer flew far into the distance.

One enemy that would normally have dodged her strike and continued attacking had now been removed completely.

As the battle continued, the beastkin realized one thing.

‘If it had only been us, we would have collapsed long ago.’

They actually felt they had more stamina now than before.

Even while fighting enemies, their breathing was stabilizing as though they were resting.

‘Young Hero.’

‘Thanks to that person’s support.’

Even light attacks gained sufficient destructive force thanks to the changing outfits.

Heavy enemy attacks became easy to block as the clothing transformed accordingly.

And whenever dangerous but troublesome attacks appeared, she even supported them directly.

Lee Sanga’s individual combat ability was far weaker than theirs.

If they fought directly, the outcome would be decided instantly.

But—

Once she began supporting them, they felt their capabilities increase severalfold.

‘At this rate, we can endure.’

The battle remained brutal.

But perhaps—

They really could hold out until the Legion reinforcements arrived.

Then, shortly afterward—

A change finally began to spread across the battlefield.

***

Nobody knew how much time had passed.

Only that it had been quite a long while.

Perhaps because they had endured for so long—

They could finally sense a shift on the battlefield.

‘The enemy pressure.......’

‘It’s starting to decrease.’

A presence approaching from far away.

One by one, the presences of the countless abnormal eaters began disappearing.

Kuuung...... thud.......

The sound of gigantic bodies collapsing echoed through the battlefield.

It was not difficult to understand what was happening.

‘Someone is killing the abnormal eaters!’

Hope appeared on the exhausted faces of those still fighting.

‘Finally!’

The reinforcements they had been waiting for.

The Legion forces had arrived—

......Or so they thought.

Kuuung.......

The body of a gigantic monster collapsed.

And behind it appeared—

“The Legion.......”

Something rather different—

“......Commander.”

From what they had expected.