The Military Chef of a Ruined World

‘That sensation just now.’

Corporal Jeon Gwangil looked down at his own hand as he thought.

The thing he had been lacking......

No, to be more precise—

There had been an imbalance within him that even he himself had never noticed.

Something he had failed to realize even while walking that Path.

Something he still had not understood despite experiencing countless real battles.

Perhaps something he might never have realized even after several more years had passed.

And yet—

—Use your left hand more.

That single sentence one man had once spoken to him—

Had filled the gap so absurdly easily.

His senses sharpened by the extreme battle.

He could not even remember how he had managed to do it.

But that movement had been perfect, without the slightest imbalance.

For a fleeting moment, he had succeeded in reaching a realm that should have required at least several more years of training.

And the truly shocking part was something else entirely.

‘How did Sergeant Shin.......’

Even he himself—

And even those beastkin—

Had failed to notice it.

Yet Sergeant Shin Youngjun had somehow seen it in advance and given him advice.

And—

Corporal Jeon Gwangil was not the only one watching that scene.

The wounded beastkin who had withdrawn from the battle were watching as well.

And the shock they felt was even greater than his own.

‘That strike just now.’

The mental strength required to control that savage energy.

The martial arts he had displayed before.

Certainly impressive—

But compared to them, still lacking.

But not that attack just now.

‘Like Master...... or Senior Brother.......’

A realm incomprehensible even to those who had spent their entire lives refining martial arts.

A level where the only thing they could vaguely say was that it was simply ‘far too extraordinary.’

‘Talent......?’

‘Did talent bloom in a moment of crisis? No, but.......’

And—

While so many people stared in confusion—

“Move!”

The Legion members did not miss that opening.

“Corporal Jeon......!”

“Well done.”

The Legion members hurried past Jeon Gwangil, patting his arm as they rushed forward.

“No......!”

Watching them—

The Cardinal charged forward to stop them.

But—

“What are you doing?!”

“......Pardon?”

“We must hurry and recover His Holiness! So why......!”

And yet—

Only the old man moved urgently.

Unlike the Cardinal—

The others had slowed their steps.

There was only one reason why.

Splaaat.......

The moment the Pope collapsed—

The gigantic flesh tendril that had fallen directly in front of the believers.

‘At the very end just now.’

The believers’ eyes remained fixed on that tendril.

‘Why toward us......?’

They too were outstanding awakened individuals.

Survivors who possessed senses incomparable to ordinary humans and had endured within this ruined world.

And because of that—

They had felt it.

‘Killing intent......?’

That flesh born from the System—

The very existence they worshiped—

Had tried to kill them.

And what should originally have succeeded—

Had somehow failed for reasons they could not understand.

***

“......I don’t know why you suddenly lost your nerve.”

“But at this level......”

“Cough, we can somehow manage on our own......!”

A small number of believers tried to charge again.

But even including the Cardinal, their numbers were extremely few.

The injured beastkin blocked their path.

“......Cough. Impressive.”

And meanwhile—

The Legion members finally reached the fallen Pope.

The Pope looked at them while touching his wound and spoke.

“I expected that you would have grown stronger while I was gone...... Cough. But I never imagined it would be to this extent.”

“......”

“No...... perhaps that isn’t it. Maybe there was some other reason involved. Well...... it doesn’t really matter anymore.”

He let out a hollow laugh.

“What are you all staring at? Hurry.......”

His head weakly tilted back against the wall.

“Do what you need to do.”

At those words—

The Legion members’ expressions darkened.

Because the meaning behind those words was obvious.

‘Kill me.’

That was what he meant.

“You say it so easily.”

“Khuhuhu...... well, what else can we do? There’s no other method.”

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as he spoke.

“You defeating me is certainly impressive. Enough to amaze me. But that’s all it is. What are you planning to do now?”

“......”

“These wounds won’t recover easily. Maybe you can somehow subdue me and drag me back to the Legion. But then what?”

The Pope smiled with a trembling body.

“As the former Legion Commander, I know better than anyone. There’s no existence within the Legion capable of interfering with my mind, is there?”

No—not just the Legion.

Even the holy relics directly created by the System—

Had done absolutely nothing against him at his prime.

Only after stripping away his awakened abilities had they finally been able to invade his mind.

“Even if you imprison me within the Legion...... my faith in the System remains absolute.”

Yes.

That was ultimately the problem.

Even if they had succeeded in defeating him like this—

This world was not some children’s fairy tale.

Winning a fight did not mean everything would end happily ever after.

“You may have won today, but there’s no guarantee the next time will end the same way. Even if you imprison me, there’s no telling when I might escape. One of the Legion members excessively loyal to me might even release me.”

Unless they removed the force that had twisted his mind—

And somehow restored him to what he had once been—

He would never return to being the Legion Commander of the past.

“Keeping me alive means storing a bomb inside the Legion that could explode at any moment. A powerful bomb capable of destroying the Legion itself.”

The force controlling his mind was the System itself.

No matter how great an enlightenment the Legion members had attained—

This was not a problem ordinary awakened individuals could solve.

“So there’s only one method left.”

Tap, tap.

The man touched his own neck.

There was no more certain method than removing him entirely.

That was what he was saying.

“......If possible, I wanted to live longer. But now that it’s come to this...... strangely enough, I almost feel relieved.”

“Commander.......”

“I struggled desperately just to survive another day...... but it wasn’t an easy life. How much longer could I endure like this? Even if I did endure, could the end truly be better than dying now......? I worried about that often.”

Words he could never speak aloud while carrying the title of Legion Commander.

Worries and fears he had always kept buried deep inside himself.

The Legion members could not even remember the last time they had heard weakness in his voice.

“But this much...... it’s not the best ending, but it’s acceptable enough. There was another ending I feared far more.......”

His eyes turned toward the Legion members.

The ones who had managed to defeat even him after he had mobilized that flesh.

“With you all here, I don’t think I need to worry about that anymore.”

With them—

Even after losing the Legion Commander, the Legion would somehow survive in this world.

If so, he no longer had any regrets.

“There’s a dagger embedded in my chest. Tear it out before you finish me. That way there won’t be any lingering problems.”

“......”

“What are you waiting for? Hurry. If those beastkin lines collapse, then this really will be the end—”

But then—

“You’re speaking from our perspective.”

Someone interrupted him while staring directly into his face.

“Even after abandoning us, why are you still speaking from our point of view?”

Jeong Sua.

The woman who had once been the Legion Commander’s most fervent follower interrupted him.

“......What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Didn’t you abandon the Legion and become the leader of the Church? Then shouldn’t you be thinking from the Church’s perspective instead of ours? For example, pretending to surrender here, allowing yourself to be captured, then searching for a chance to escape and rebuild the Church.”

“That’s.......”

“Even that would make more sense than warning us about the dagger in your chest. As the leader of an organization, it doesn’t seem like a very wise decision.”

At those words—

The Pope blankly stared at her face.

Then he let out a hollow laugh.

“......You’re right. Completely unqualified behavior for a Pope.”

“You truly are.”

“I may have suddenly gained faith...... but I’m still myself. Looks like I still haven’t shaken off the useless habit of thinking the way I used to. That habit is exactly why I ended up defeated like this...... Pathetic, isn’t it? I suppose anyone watching would find it frustrating.”

Her attitude toward him had completely changed from the past.

And yet the Pope calmly accepted her criticism of his incompetence.

Even so—

“‘The useless habit of thinking the way I used to.’”

“......?”

“For example.”

She leaned even closer toward him as she spoke.

“Risking the Pope’s defeat just to save ordinary believers...... is that the kind of thing you mean?”

“.......”

At those words—

The first to react was not the Pope she had been speaking to.

“......!”

Far away—

The believers who had been staring in confusion at the fallen flesh.

“Don’t tell me.”

The flesh that had somehow tried to kill them.

And the flesh that had suddenly paused right before reaching them.

Realizing what that meant—

They stared at their Pope with widened eyes.

“......You figured it out after all.”

“Probably only Squad Leader and I saw it properly. As you know...... we have good ‘eyes.’”

“Yeah. You’re right. That useless habit is exactly why I ended up like this. So what about it?”

Everything had happened within an instant.

The Pope was slightly surprised that she had noticed.

But at the same time, he could not understand why she was wasting time with this pointless conversation.

For a moment, he even wondered whether she was simply trying to torment the man who had betrayed the Legion.

But—

“......That’s a relief.”

Contrary to the Pope’s thoughts—

A smile formed on Jeong Sua’s lips despite the criticism she had been directing at him.

Drip......

And then—

At the same moment as that smile—

A tiny form appeared.

[Bangul]

A small droplet-like figure that gently rippled.

Its appearance was certainly similar to what the Pope remembered.

But—

[Holy Spirit of the Legion]

“......Huh?”

It had changed.

Just slightly.

***

Paaang.......

The spiritual entity rose into the air the moment it appeared.

And from it—

A strange milky-white light began to leak outward.

‘......Though it’s strange to say this now.’

Watching the scene—

The other Legion members thought:

‘Jeong Sua’s role in the battle against the Commander had been extremely small.’

At most, she had only used [Elemental Cooking] to block the Pope’s liquefied dishes from pouring down upon them.

Part of the reason was that, like Lee Sanga, she was not an awakened individual specialized for combat.

But that was not the biggest reason.

If that had been the only issue, she would never have been chosen for such a dangerous infiltration mission in the first place.

And yet the reason she had not contributed to the battle—

No, the reason she could not contribute—

Was simple.

‘Because she had to preserve her strength.’

An extremely dangerous operation deep within enemy territory.

Even though the number of people who could accompany the mission had been severely limited—

She had still been selected.

And furthermore, had even been excluded from combat.

There was only one reason for that.

“The thing I feared most was that you had already become someone different from the person I once knew. If you had truly changed that much...... then even I would no longer have been able to trust you.”

[Jeong Sua]

[Lv.33 Holy Spirit Medium of the Legion]

[There exist countless kinds of spiritual entities within this world.]

[Spirits born from nature, heroic spirits worshiped after death, cursed spirits born from resentment.......]

[And even holy spirits that descend when powerful faith is born.]

[A Holy Spirit Medium is a sacred intermediary who communes with great holy spirits and manifests their power upon this land.]

“But even after having faith forcibly injected into your mind, you are still our Legion Commander.”

[Holy Spirit]

[A sacred spiritual entity said to be born only through countless prayers.]

[Holy spirits capable of containing divine authority are sacred bridges connecting gods and believers, apostles who deliver the will of their god.]

[They convey that faith to their god and, in return, distribute blessings and divine authority to believers.]

[At the same time, they are also great guardians who protect the faith itself.]

“If that’s the case.”

[Bangul]

[Holy Spirit of the Legion]

[Faith - Legion Faith]

[Primary God - Legion Commander]

“Then we can still ‘believe’ in you.”

[A holy spirit forged from countless beliefs serves as the bridgehead of faith.]

Yes.

Reality was not a fairy tale.

Defeating the Legion Commander would not suddenly make him return to their side.

[A portion of the Primary God’s authority is transmitted to the first believers!]

And—

Restoring the Legion Commander’s mind after it had been corrupted by the System—

Was impossible for ordinary awakened individuals.

[Granted Authority - Divine Power]

But—

The Legion was still a military organization.

And in the military, giving up simply because something was impossible was unacceptable......

From the very beginning, the mission assigned to her had only ever been one thing.

[50 Divine Power makes the impossible possible.]