The Military Chef of a Ruined World

A force that no one had believed could ever be controlled.

Simply controlling that force alone would already have been astonishing.

But now—

That force had gone beyond mere control and was responding as though actively cooperating with its master.

And then—

Shrrrrk!

The gigantic masses of flesh moved to intercept the attack.

The same flesh that had even blocked Corporal Seo Suhyeok’s gunfire.

No matter how threatening Corporal Jeon Gwangil’s fists were—

The power behind them should still have been inferior to Seo Suhyeok’s firepower-focused shots.

Ordinarily, those flesh masses should have been enough to stop his punches as well.

But—

Rip.

“......!”

For some reason—

The flesh was being torn apart absurdly easily by that crimson-black energy.

[Registil Dagger]

Even now, at the tips of the flesh masses hung freshly formed iron daggers still warm with living flesh.

A [Holy Relic] that granted immense resistance to physical force.

This flesh originally belonged to a being that had once been the master of this world.

The powers of awakened individuals were merely derivatives of that existence.

Against the authority declared by flesh closer to the source itself, resistance should have been impossible.

That same principle was why it had endured Corporal Seo Suhyeok’s sniper rounds.

And why the [Maxim] had forcibly stripped awakened individuals of their powers.

But—

FWOOOOSH!!!

That crimson-black energy was different.

The force was shredding the flesh even more efficiently than Corporal Jeon Gwangil’s own fists.

It was not simply because the power itself was greater.

“That is......”

And as he watched the sight—

The Pope was able to guess its true nature as well.

'It isn’t a power of this world.'

Its origin itself was fundamentally different.

Because it was a force that had descended from outside the world, it did not obediently follow the laws created {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} by this world’s former master.

Ordinarily, even the power born from that flesh would not have been pierced so easily.

But—

'......That makes sense.'

The Pope quickly understood why it had broken through.

The power contained within those [Holy Relics] was certainly tremendous.

But as a production-class awakened individual himself, he could tell.

'Crude craftsmanship.'

The power had been made far too carelessly.

Naturally, it collapsed without even being able to properly resist an external force that should originally have stood on equal footing.

BOOM!

The attack burst through the flesh defenses.

And then collided directly with the Pope’s blade.

CLANG! CLANG!

The impact was on an entirely different level from before.

And not only that.

The flow of the attacks, the trajectories, the timing, the predictions—

Everything had changed completely from just moments ago.

The Pope could tell why.

'Looks like he didn’t enjoy defeating me through strategy.'

In the end—

That energy changed drastically depending on Corporal Jeon Gwangil’s mental state.

In battles he himself disliked, the force would not respond no matter how much he desired it.

But not now.

The madness was unquestionably under control.

Yet even so, the Pope could tell.

'Are you really enjoying this that much?'

The giant within that crimson-black energy—

Was surely smiling with delight.

“......Ha.”

And yet—

The Pope’s reaction upon seeing that was neither confusion nor anger.

“As expected......!”

Grinning widely—

He swung his blade to meet the incoming fists.

He was not insane enough to enjoy battle the way that warrior did.

And yet the reason a smile formed at the corner of his lips was simple.

“That’s how it should be.”

A war he had believed he could never lose, even if it cost him a few sacrifices.

And yet in that war, the Legion members aboveground were crushing the Church while advancing forward.

And underground?

He had thought he himself had become fairly strong—

Yet he had suffered a miserable defeat against those five.

Even after borrowing the power of the [System] and resisting in such an unsightly manner, he still felt threatened by that single warrior.

The Legion members were far stronger than he had imagined.

Ordinarily, the situation should have disgusted him.

And yet......

Contradictory though it was, he felt that perhaps it was only natural for the Legion members to be this strong.

After all—

“Who do you think built the Legion......!”

The idea that the Legion would collapse simply because a single man betrayed it—

Such a thing could never happen.

Even if he himself abandoned his position and turned traitor—

The Legion he had created.

Of course it would become a force strong enough to even defeat him.

***

“......Urgh.”

“We can’t hold them back anymore......!”

Meanwhile—

The beastkin who had been blocking the believers trying to rescue the Pope.

Already injured from fighting the Pope earlier, they were finally being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

“Your Holiness! We’re coming! Please hold on just a little longer!!!”

“......Damn it!”

The Legion members who had been supporting Corporal Jeon Gwangil’s assault against the Pope—

Could not help turning their attention toward the believers.

BANG!

Corporal Seo Suhyeok’s bullets rained toward the one leading the believers—

The Cardinal.

But—

“Do not stand in my way!”

CLANG!

The Cardinal deflected the bullets with his sword and continued advancing.

The man who had originally reigned as the strongest figure within the Church.

Even for the Legion members in their current state, he was no easy opponent.

And behind him surged countless believers.

The other Church executives had fallen while attempting to subdue the Pope.

And the remaining executives were occupied commanding the battle aboveground.

Had that not been the case, they never would have been able to withstand the assault from the Cardinal and the other believers.

For now, the Legion members could barely hold them back through sheer strength—

But they too had already been heavily exhausted from battling the Pope.

'We can’t hold much longer......!'

Now that even the Legion members had turned to stop the believers—

......The battle between that warrior and the Pope had become the most important fight of all.

And—

The man fighting that battle.

'Hahaha!'

Corporal Jeon Gwangil laughed inwardly.

'Even after going this far, it’s still not enough!'

Slice—

The Pope’s dagger cut through the black energy.

At some point, the blade had become infused with holy power capable of even driving away that energy.

BOOM!

But the gigantic warrior refused to retreat.

His fists and the giant figure behind him continued relentlessly striking toward the Pope’s body.

He had used the method gained through that [Path] to bring madness under his control.

He had trained in the martial arts specially preserved within the Thousand Mountain Martial Hall.

He had sharpened himself through countless real battles.

And even so—

He still could not easily defeat that man.

'I’m lacking.'

The surroundings trembled.

The powers of two overwhelmingly strong awakened individuals collided, causing the walls of the deep sanctuary to collapse.

Violent winds roared through the sealed underground chamber.

Slice—

Part of the flesh was severed away.

And amidst that pain, he thought:

His control over madness was still lacking.

His martial arts training was laughably insufficient compared to the beastkin.

Even his combat experience likely fell short compared to that man.

'As expected of Sergeant Shin.'

It was exactly as he had anticipated.

There was no way their Commander could be defeated so easily.

'But.'

Still.

That did not mean he could simply stand there admiring him.

Defeat in this battle was unforgivable.

Not just for himself.

This was a battle that determined the survival of the entire Legion.

So—

'This time, I’ll win.'

The situation was urgent.

But Corporal Jeon Gwangil forced himself to remain as calm as possible.

Even while wrapped in madness, he pushed it away from his mind and thought clearly.

'Then how?'

He had already brought out every ounce of strength available to him.

And even so, defeating that man remained difficult.

No—perhaps it might still be possible......

But not in a short battle.

He thought desperately.

It wasn’t impossible.

In the past, the Commander had once told him that he himself was not perfect.

Rather, he had said that he needed the help of the Legion members, and that was why he had built the Legion.

'The moment he needed that help has finally arrived.'

For this very moment—

Corporal Jeon Gwangil had trained endlessly.

'Then...... there must absolutely be a method inside me capable of overcoming this moment.'

And the reason he could believe that so firmly was actually simple.

'Because we’re the soldiers Sergeant Shin personally raised for the moments he would need us.'

He was certain.

The current him undoubtedly possessed everything Sergeant Shin Youngjun needed.

Because the one who had shaped him that way was Sergeant Shin Youngjun himself.

Then where was he lacking?

Yes, there was no need to search outside himself.

The answer was surely already within him—

'......Ah.'

At that moment—

One sentence flashed through his mind.

—Gwangil. You know.

At the time......

No, even now, it still sounded absurdly random.

—You won’t understand what I mean right now...... but once you do, it’ll definitely help you someday.

But—

Those were Sergeant Shin Youngjun’s words.

Even if he had not understood the meaning behind the advice—

He had engraved the words deeply into his mind.

—......Use your left hand more.

“......Ah.”

As though possessed by something—

He shifted the balance of his body.

He was a warrior who fought with both hands.

Of course he already used his left hand normally.

But—

'The missing piece.'

He shifted his weight differently than usual.

A movement he had never attempted before.

The moment he stepped outside the familiar framework of his martial arts, his body became awkward and unstable, and the foundation of his martial arts threatened to collapse.

And yet—

Despite that danger, as though guided by something—

He tried using his left hand just a little more.

And then—

'It filled the gap.'

FWAAK!

His fist shot forward.

SHRRRRRK!!!

The flesh hurriedly surged forward to defend the Pope.

But the punch launched from that unstable posture—

Crack.......

For some reason—

Perfectly pierced through the thick wall of flesh.

***

'......Ah.'

For a fleeting instant—

The Pope stared at the fist breaking through the flesh and rushing toward him.

An attack that the current him could neither evade nor block.

Craaack.......

At that moment—

The flesh protecting him began to move.

The Pope instantly understood why.

'It can’t block it because there isn’t enough flesh.'

In that case—

If it simply replenished itself, perhaps it could block even this attack.

The amount of flesh bestowed upon him by the System had limits.

However—

Once one considered that the flesh originated from a being that had once ruled this world, the situation changed slightly.

“Your Holiness......!”

Countless awakened individuals...... humans.

Fragments of flesh mixed little by little into their bodies.

'It’s trying to feed.'

After awakening, through long years of battle—

Those tiny fragments of flesh had likely slowly grown larger within them.

SHRRRK......!

The flesh moved at tremendous speed.

If left alone—

The flesh would reach the believers before the fist ever arrived.

Compared to the value possessed by the Pope, the value of those believers was infinitely lower.

They were merely expendable tools that could be replenished over time.

And those believers themselves would gladly offer their bodies as sacrifices to the System they worshiped.

Once the flesh had fed—

It would likely be able to block even the fist of that gigantic unbeliever and eventually repel the invading army of unbelievers altogether.

But—

Grab!

'You can’t do that.'

At that moment—

A hand seized the flesh as it moved at terrifying speed.

'You must not betray their faith.......'

Delayed by that hand—

The flesh failed to swell in time.

And—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The giant’s fist—

Slammed directly into the Pope’s face.

***

Thud.

The Pope’s body collapsed to the ground.

“.......”

“.......”

And then—

Silence spread through everyone watching the scene.

The Pope had fallen.

Not once.

But twice.

And—

While everyone stared in stunned disbelief—

“Now!”

The Legion members did not miss that opening.