Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 148

At the end of the underground passage stood a structure of unknown purpose.

From within it, a shadow with gleaming red eyes lunged out.

It was a monster with a human body, a lion’s face, a snake’s tail, and goat’s legs – a Chimera.

Each time it moved, large footprints appeared on the stone ground.

‘That’s a Chimera?!’

The ultimate life form, created by combining the supposed advantages of various species.

The Chimera’s hand contorted, transforming into a large axe.

It swung, smashing the stone floor where Cainchel stood.

Koo-oong-!

The axe descended like lightning, a truly tremendous speed.

If I hadn’t prepared plenty of meringue [a foam made from whipped egg whites and sugar] beforehand, I wouldn’t have been able to block it properly.

“Kihihik! How is it! The power of the Chimera, forged with immortal cells! Behold the ultimate Chimera, Tartaros!”

The lion, snake, and goat that comprise Tartaros symbolize the Seven Deadly Sins.

‘Lucifer, Leviathan, and Asmodeus, huh? This is getting tricky.’

Cainchel activated Fallen Star and examined Tartaros’s body. He could feel tremendous hostility emanating from the creature’s various parts.

Cainchel and Tartaros moved almost simultaneously. Tartaros let out a rough breath and swung its axe-like arm.

Kwaang-!

The attack was blocked by the meringue that Cainchel had spread out in advance.

The meringue, a foam made of aura, could freely increase or decrease in size.

‘But that increases aura consumption tremendously.’

It was the same method as Hector’s ‘Aura Field,’ which created a wall of aura.

Instead of retreating, Cainchel approached Tartaros even closer.

He swung his sword, aiming for the monster’s thigh.

The meringue was destroyed instantly, but it created a slight opening to attack.

“Keuoooooo!”

A groan filled with pain escaped Tartaros’s mouth.

No matter how much it was a Chimera made by human hands, it bled when cut by a sword.

However, its skin was tougher than expected, and its muscles were solid.

‘This is almost dragon-level? What kind of monster did the Church of the Seven Deadly Sins create?’

Moreover, its regenerative power was tremendous, perhaps because it was made with immortal cells as a base.

Two arms burst out through Tartaros’s back.

They swung simultaneously, pressuring Cainchel like a storm.

‘This is a real monster!’

It felt like fighting a creature whose entire body was made of weapons.

“Onion Swordsmanship!”

The five blades that had multiplied began to slash Tartaros’s body.

However, Tartaros wasn’t just passively taking the hits.

Each time the arms that burst from its back moved, cracks appeared in the walls of the underground passage.

‘Let’s deal with it calmly. Sure, this guy is strong, but I’ve fought even stronger people, right?’

Cainchel persistently aimed for Tartaros’s legs.

Its legs were weak compared to its obese body. If he could break its balance, he could defeat it.

“Glaze!”

Cainchel’s strongest strike, compressing three types of aura into one sword.

It exploded, aiming for Tartaros’s leg.

Swish-!

This time, it wasn’t just a slight cut on the skin; he completely severed its left leg.

However, Tartaros’s regenerative power was beyond imagination.

Dark red flesh grew from the burst thigh, and it instantly returned to its original form.

‘This is even worse than Antares?’

It didn’t end there.

Gurgle······, gurgle······.

With an unpleasant sound, Tartaros’s legs became nearly twice as thick.

The frail lower body, which was its only weakness, had disappeared.

The more wounds it suffered, the more powerful it became.

@

‘At this rate, there’s no end. Should I use that after all?’

Cainchel bit his lip.

He never imagined that the Church of the Seven Deadly Sins would be researching such a Chimera in the basement of the castle.

Moreover, among the animals symbolizing the Seven Deadly Sins, there are those with wings.

How terrifying a monster would be born if that were added to Tartaros’s body?

“······They were making an absurd weapon.”

“Kihihik! Everything is for the resurrection of the Seven Deadly Sins! Now, tear that guy to shreds, Tartaros!”

Then, as if that were a signal flare, Tartaros’s body swelled up.

Its already large frame expanded nearly twice in size in an instant, and lion’s fur sprouted all over its body.

“Since you’re about to die anyway, I’ll tell you one very interesting fact. What you’re fighting is a failure! Originally, Tartaros is the strongest life form that can even fight a dragon!”

Cainchel smirked and said.

“So, in the end, it’s a failed mixed stew, huh?”

Vega, his face red with anger, shouted.

“A, a mixed stew? H, how dare you call the image of the great god a mixed stew?!”

But this confirmed one thing: Vega didn’t create Tartaros.

If he had, he would have sensed the threat to the creator faster than anything else.

‘Now’s the time!’

Koo-oong-!

When Cainchel snapped his fingers, the ceiling, which had been cracked by the fight with Tartaros, collapsed.

It fell on Vega as if it had been aimed.

“Cough, keok! W, why suddenly the ceiling······.”

Dark red blood spurted from Vega’s mouth as he was buried under the rubble.

Why would the ceiling, which had been fine until just now, suddenly collapse?

“Well, how could it be fine when we’re fighting so fiercely, blasting aura in such a narrow place?”

“Kuh, kukh······.”

The underground passage was already half collapsed due to the shockwaves emitted by Cainchel and Tartaros’s fight.

The only reason it looked relatively intact was because Cainchel had covered the entire passage with meringue.

And just now, he had removed the meringue only from the place where Vega was standing.

“Don’t tell me you thought I was fighting so fiercely in this narrow place without any backup? Why, if you want to get out of there, ask Tartaros to help you. Of course, if he can.”

“······.”

“Besides, you can’t even move a finger, so you can’t harm yourself to activate the magic seal. Checkmate.”

“B, but Tartaros is still left!”

“Is that so?”

Before he knew it, Cainchel was holding a potato in his left hand.

And when he activated Flambe, the potato began to roast in Cainchel’s hand.

“They say Meliot’s nose is blocked with lead [meaning he has a poor sense of smell], but I don’t think that’s the case with that guy?”

Cainchel had roasted a potato using the heat of the fire spirit before. The dish created at that time was 1-star.

It wasn’t cooked properly, so even chewing and swallowing it was a struggle.

In order to use it in a similar situation, Cainchel had practiced roasting potatoes using the flames of Flambe.

Now he was quite skilled and could make a 4-star dish without any tools.

Surely that was a Chimera made with humans as a base.

Then there would definitely be some reaction to the dish.

The potato in Cainchel’s hand began to cook golden brown, emitting a delicious smell.

The smell of roasting potatoes, familiar to anyone born and raised in Britannia.

It awakened the last bit of humanity remaining in Tartaros.

Tartaros, who had been destroying everything while entrusting himself to his animal instincts, stopped moving.

To think that a single potato could incapacitate a Chimera.

Vega, who was watching, muttered with foam in his mouth.

“N, not a holy sword or an ancient weapon, a potato? A poootatoooo?”

Cainchel lightly ignored Vega, who was buried under the rubble, and approached Tartaros.

“I don’t know who you are, but if you eat the dish I made, you might regain your sanity.”

“Woo, woo······, woo woo woo!”

Cainchel took out a simple brazier and pan from his dimensional pocket. He didn’t know when Tartaros would attack. He had to make a dish that he could make as quickly as possible.

‘Then it’s scrambled eggs!’

Vega wore a dumbfounded expression when Cainchel suddenly started cooking in the middle of the fight.

“Are you, by any chance, going to cook here?”

“Shut up and watch quietly before I shove stones into your mouth.”

“······.”

Cainchel cracked three large eggs into a bowl.

Then, he added some fresh cream and a little bit of gem salt, and finally, plenty of sugar.

Stirring these well completes the preparation for making scrambled eggs.

The basic trick was not much different from making meringue.

‘I need to whip it up as much as possible so that a lot of air gets in.’

When the pan is moderately heated, add plenty of butter.

The savory smell from the melted butter quickly spread through the underground passage.

And when all the butter seems to have melted, pour the egg mixture in as it is.

Chiiiik-!

Then, the eggs began to cook, making a pleasant sound.

‘From now on, it’s important to make scrambled eggs that melt softly in your mouth the moment you put them in.’

Cainchel continued to stir the eggs with a spatula.

Push it with a swoosh as if cutting a river so that the bottom of the pan is visible. This creates ripples in the eggs.

‘Good! Deep, dark, and fantastic! Then the uncooked eggs on top will come down and cook.’

After stirring for about 30 seconds, fluffy scrambled eggs are created.

‘With this, a very perfectly wonderful scrambled egg is complete!’

Cainchel put it on a plate and sprinkled plenty of pepper.

Then an amazing thing happened.

As if he had been waiting for the dish to be completed, Tartaros reached out his hand.

Cainchel smiled and handed him the plate.

“Here you go, sir.”

“······.”

The plate was too small for the Chimera, which boasted a height of over 2 meters.

However, Tartaros began to eat the scrambled eggs, using the tips of his claws like a fork.

Then Vega, who was buried under the rubble, widened his eyes.

“What are you eating that for! Kill him! Kill him!”

“······Woogeok, woogeok, chomp.”

“Damn it! It pisses me off even more because you’re eating it deliciously!”

When the scrambled eggs, which were only slightly cooked on the outside, were cut in half, hot steam rose.

The half-cooked scrambled eggs melted away the moment they were put in the mouth.

It was incredibly sweet with plenty of fresh cream.

The sweet and soft taste that filled his mouth.

It gave Tartaros, who had lost most of his sense of taste after turning into a Chimera, a sense of extreme happiness.

“······De,licious.”

Then Vega made a face as if he was about to faint.

It was like seeing Lucifer walking with a moonwalk [a dance move where the dancer appears to be gliding backwards].

“The Chimera used human language? Th, this is impossible. I, it’s······.”

Tartaros was embarrassed by the strangely high view and stood up.

And he realized that his body had changed.

“Wh, what ha,ppened to me······.”

Tartaros stuttered severely.

It seemed difficult to use human language due to the lion’s oral structure.

However, a human will could be felt in his eyes.

“······I, I am······. Keu, keuek, euaaaaaak!”

Tartaros suddenly screamed in pain, pulling out the arms that had sprouted on his back. He seemed panicked by his drastically changed body.

After screaming for a while, Tartaros groaned and looked at Cainchel.

And he put unbelievable words into his mouth.

“You are Cainchel······. Sir Cainchel······.”

Cainchel’s eyes widened. Tartaros, whom he had met for the first time today, had called his name.

A voice that was terribly cracked like phlegm.

However, it strangely and familiarly dug into his mind.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve come this far, but I can’t see the kidnapped chefs. That means······.’

A stream of cold sweat ran down Cainchel’s cheek.

Breaking Mountains and Dividing Rivers #3