The Military Chef of a Ruined World

Slice—

When the Cardinal’s blade passed.

Something was severed at its tip.

Paaaaak.

A small sphere rising into the air.

And.

“You.......”

Lee Haein, seeing what it was.

Cried out in horror.

“What in the world have you done!!!”

It was only natural.

What had been cut off by that blade.

Thud.

Was a man’s head.

Not the head of any ordinary human.

But the head of the one who had been destined to become their leader.

Sergeant Shin Youngjun’s head.

Thump.......

Not long after that head fell to the ground.

The body, too, swayed slowly and collapsed to the floor.

“Ah, aah.......”

Lee Haein lost her words as she watched that sight.

'It is not a fake. Nor is it any kind of illusion.'

The system had granted her eyes that could glimpse information about an opponent.

A power she had always considered a blessing.

But to Lee Haein now, that blessing felt like a curse.

It could not be helped.

If only she did not have those eyes.

She might at least have been able to cling to the hope that the corpse lying there now was not the one they had been searching for.

So.

As she stood speechless, staring blankly at the corpse collapsed on the ground.

“Did you not say so yourself, Priest Lee Haein?”

The one who had cut off that head.

The Cardinal spoke, touching the blood that had splattered onto his face.

“If that man truly had been destined to lead us, then no matter what happened, he would eventually stand in that place.”

“Wh-what are you.......”

“Think about it. If the system had arranged for that man to be our leader...... then he could not possibly have died to a powerless sword stroke from this old man. Surely this Cardinal’s paltry swordsmanship could never defy the will of the system.”

He stretched out a hand.

And pointed toward the body collapsed on the floor, bleeding.

“But what was the result?”

Smack.

The Cardinal kicked the headless corpse.

“Puhah! To think he would become a corpse so emptily!”

“.......”

As the people stared blankly at the sight.

The Cardinal turned his head.

And shouted while looking at those believers.

“Has this not proven it perfectly!”

“......Proven, you say.”

“That man seemed to be loved by the system, but in truth, he was not! He was nothing more than a trial the system bestowed upon us to aid our growth! He was never destined to become our leader!”

Boom! went the sound.

As the old man struck his own body.

“I am the one!”

“.......”

“I alone! I am the only person qualified to spread the teachings of the system......!”

He shouted so.

His face flushed with excitement as he looked at the believers.

“.......”

“.......”

The other believers could not say a word.

They merely stared blankly at him.

“......Hm. Pardon me. It seems I grew somewhat excited.”

“.......”

“In any case, I believe all of you understand what I meant. Priest Lee Haein as well.......”

“.......”

“......Priest Lee Haein?”

But.

Something about the believers’ reactions was strange.

“......?”

At first.

The Cardinal thought they had merely been overwhelmed by the aura he had emitted.

That was why he suppressed his excitement and spoke calmly.

But.

“.......”

Soon.

The Cardinal noticed something odd.

Even after he withdrew his aura.

They still stood with horrified expressions, mouths hanging open.

'What......?'

And.

What they were looking at.

Was not the Cardinal himself.

“......Certainly.”

Just then.

Priest Lee Haein spoke, her mouth hanging open blankly.

“As Your Eminence said.”

Listening to those words.

The Cardinal realized that her gaze was slightly off from him.

Yes.

“If he is truly one born with the destiny to lead us.”

What those eyes were directed toward.

Was not the Cardinal.......

But behind him.

“There is no way he would fall to the sword of a mere Cardinal......!”

“......!”

The moment the Cardinal realized that fact.

His eyes widened, and he hurriedly turned his body around.

“Ho.......”

And.

The Cardinal, having turned around that way, had to doubt his own eyes.

Naturally.

Paaaaak!!!

The man whose head he had cut off.

......Sergeant Shin Youngjun.

“w......!?”

Was holding onto his dangling head.

And swinging his blade toward him.

***

“Ho.......”

Paaaaaaaak!!!

“w......!?”

The old man’s eyes widened until they looked ready to tear as he stared in shock.

Toward that old man, I swung my sword with all my strength.

But.

Kaaang!!!

The sound of that sword being deflected rang out.

And.

I looked at my hand trembling from the rebound and thought.

'So it still won’t work.'

I had meant to attack by aiming for the largest opening possible.

It was the optimal attack, taking advantage of the enemy’s carelessness.

......The problem was the opponent.

“Im, impossible...... impossible.”

“.......”

“I clearly, clearly cut off your head......!”

The old man stared at me with a horrified expression.

Even though he was that shaken.

The instant he noticed my approach, he reacted at a speed that was unbelievably tremendous and knocked away my attack.

'If it had been one of the other executive-level officers instead, that attack just now would have worked.'

Another officer of the Church whom I had defeated a short while ago.

A powerhouse on an entirely different level, incomparable even to Jang Woohyuk.

A skilled monster I could never bring down, no matter what methods I used in my current state.

Creak.......

When my attack was deflected.

I felt my neck shake from the impact.

Feeling that sensation of my brain literally being rattled, I thought.

'......I really cannot get used to this.'

When I defeated that officer named Jang Woohyuk or whatever.

After confirming that a guild message had arrived for him, I expected that they would begin a serious search.

And, exactly as I had expected.

After some time had passed.

They began searching for me in squads, not individually like before.

'Under normal circumstances, maybe. But with my body in this condition...... handling three or more enemies is impossible.'

Because of that.

All I could do was rely on the power of the [Environmental Assimilation] dish.

And search for the exit while hiding as secretly as possible.

I had hidden as hard as I could, in my own way.......

The problem was.

'To think I would run into them there, of all places.'

A group that included not only the Cardinal.

But two of that guild’s officers as well.

When I just happened to run into them.

There was only one option available to me.

......Press myself flat against the wall, hold my breath.

And pray that they would not notice [Environmental Assimilation].

But well.

The result of relying on such luck was, naturally.

'I thought I was going to die from the pain.'

A devastating defeat.

I had tried to resist, in my own way.

But as if all my efforts meant nothing, my head was cut clean off by his sword stroke.

Even so, the reason I was able to be alive right now was.

......One thing alone.

Kyaaaaaaaaaaak—

The dagger I could feel in my chest.

It was thanks to the curse hanging on that dagger.

'My abilities as an awakened being are gone...... but the power contained in items is not.'

[Blade of Sacrifice, Victimia] was also a kind of item.

Because the curse of Mountain engraved there was intact as well.

I had somehow been able to come back alive even with my head cut off, but.......

Kyaaaaaaaaaak!!!

At the scream I felt from the blade.

I could instinctively sense it.

'At most, one more time.'

I was now in a situation where.

I could no longer rely on such luck.

In any case.

Even in a state where my head had been cut off, I had managed to preserve my life.

And because that old man had kicked my body, I had somehow managed to reattach my head and body and attempt a surprise attack.

'It failed.'

I could not use one hand because I had to hold my head in place.

A sword strike made with only the remaining hand.

There was no way an attack like that would work against a powerhouse of his level.

“Kh......!”

Even though I was the one whose attack had been blocked.

For some reason, the Cardinal bit his lip, his face flushing bright red in frustration.

Paaaaak......!

Then he once again.

Swung his sword toward me.

'......Ah, damn it.'

Unfortunately.

There was no way for me to resist that blade right now.

Unlike the moment before, when I had somehow at least managed to knock it aside once.

My physical ability now, after barely reviving from death, was worse than that of a level 10 awakened being.

'Relying on [Victimia] to revive will only work one more time at most.'

So.

I could only stare at the blade flying toward me...... and at that exact moment.

Kaaang!!!

The blade had reached just above my forehead, as though it meant to split my skull in two this time.

......And that blade.

Was knocked away by something.

“......What is the meaning of this?”

At that.

The Cardinal looked to his side and spoke.

“Sir Cha Gyeonghwan.”

......A sword strike I could never have avoided.

The one who knocked that strike away was none other than.

“I apologize for my rudeness.”

One of the Church’s officers.

A man named Cha Gyeonghwan.

“However.”

No.

It was not only him.

Rustle.

All the other believers except the Cardinal.

They moved swiftly.

“Thanks to Your Eminence’s assistance, we succeeded in capturing the target.”

“.......”

“So please leave the rest to us.”

And blocked the space between me and the Cardinal.

***

“Krgh.......”

The Cardinal’s face flushed red, as if in frustration.

The sword in his hand was trembling uneasily.

The strongest of them all, standing at the summit of the Church.

If he decided to pretend he had gone mad and swung his blade, there was a high chance even the believers here would not be able to stop him.

Even so.

Among the believers present here.

Not a single one.

Was paying attention to that old man with such overwhelming strength.

There was only one being they cared about.

“......Brother Shin Youngjun.”

The man staggering there, weakened beyond measure.

That man.

To be honest.

When this chase had first begun.

The believers had harbored great anger toward that man.

The being who had blown away, in a single instant, every holy relic they had gathered with blood and sweat.

Not only Cha Gyeonghwan.

But every other believer as well had been ready to take revenge for that matter by any means necessary if they found him.

But.

“......Pardon us.”

“Forgive us for daring to touch your sacred body.”

Now.

Even as the believers laid hands on his body.

They were endlessly reverent and careful, as though touching something profoundly holy.

“.......”

Thud.

The man fell to his knees, unable to resist the strength of the believers holding him.

As they looked at Shin Youngjun, they thought.

'That sight just now.'

The power they felt from him was clearly lesser than the Shin Youngjun they had seen during the coronation.

The mere fact that he could not resist the strength of the believers holding him and had dropped to his knees.

Was enough to show that the Maxim was clearly in effect.

......He was definitely not in the state of an awakened being.

And yet.

'He rose from death.'

A sight unbelievable even if an awakened being had done it.

Someone who was not even an awakened being had shown them such a sight.

If there was any reason such a thing could be possible.

Only one thing came to their minds.

“Destiny.”

Their great god.

The being chosen by the system as the one who would lead them.

“O destined leader who will guide us.......”

The destiny appointed to him.

Even death could not break it.