Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 178

Sir Andrei became the leader of Squad Two.

And was assigned to search the outskirts of Potsdam.

The man-eating claws of the Tartaros were plunging Potsdam into terror.

The villagers hid deep within, trying to avoid the monster’s gaze.

Sergeant Kevin, using his greatly increased strength, dashed across the territory like the wind.

And shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Hear ye, villagers! The Tartaros extermination operation is underway! If you are injured or need help, shout!”

Immediately, moans for rescue echoed from all directions.

“My house collapsed and I’m trapped! Please save me!”

“M-my leg! M-my leg!”

“Just wait a moment! I’ll save you right away!”

A dark shadow could be seen amidst the debris of the buildings that the Tartaros had destroyed.

Sergeant Kevin rushed towards it with incredible speed and grabbed the pillar pinning the man down.

“Sergeant! You’ll get crushed too! I’m fine. Please, just save my daughter trapped in the basement!”

Sergeant Kevin grinned.

“Don’t worry, I’ll save everyone I can! Haaaaah!”

As he exerted his strength, the pillar pressing down on the man began to move little by little.

It was a weight that even an Aura user would not be able to lift easily.

Unbelievable strength coming from the body of an ordinary soldier.

He grabbed the man pinned under the pillar by the scruff of his neck and pulled him out.

“I-I’m alive!”

“Then, next!”

Sergeant Kevin stomped his foot towards the ground.

Thump!

The wooden door shattered, revealing the child trapped in the basement.

“Thank you, Sergeant! Thank you so much!”

“…I am a soldier protecting Potsdam. I have only done what is natural.”

Sergeant Kevin had to leave the territory without even properly fighting the Tartaros.

They were formidable enemies that even knights who wielded Aura could not defeat.

It was an unavoidable choice made to protect Prince Friedrich.

Marquis Nicholas’s eyes streamed with tears as he ordered the retreat.

It was the same for Sergeant Kevin. Countless voices begging for help rang in his ears as he fled.

But he had to ignore them.

His heart was chipped away with each step.

What in the world did I take up the sword for!

He had thought so until yesterday.

“Oh, Annie! You’re alive!”

“Daddy!”

Sergeant Kevin’s eyes welled up as he watched the man hug his daughter, who had survived unharmed.

“…That’s right, I became a soldier of Potsdam for this moment.”

Everything was a miracle created by a single dish.

Sergeant Kevin turned around to save as many villagers as possible.

“…!”

And he made eye contact with a Tartaros lurking in the distance.

Grrrr…

The Tartaros, also noticing Sergeant Kevin, growled in a low voice.

Sergeant Kevin pulled out a flare from his pocket with lightning speed. He had received it to use if he encountered a Tartaros.

As he pulled the pin sticking out of the cylinder, red smoke billowed out.

At the same time, the Tartaros’s claws slashed past Sergeant Kevin’s waist.

Poong-!

With a sound like a bubble bursting, the meringue [a protective magical barrier] that had been covering his body disappeared.

If it hadn’t been there, it would have been such a strong blow that his upper and lower body would have been separated.

Sergeant Kevin, resigned to death, bit his lip and drew his sword.

He didn’t know how long he could last with a body that couldn’t handle Aura.

But by stalling for time, he could buy time for other soldiers to move.

“Come on, I’ll at least leave a scratch before I die!”

“…Well done, Sergeant Kevin.”

“A-Andrei, sir? When did you get here!”

Three Sword Knights had gathered around Sergeant Kevin before he knew it.

The moment the flare went off, they had kicked off the ground and rushed over.

The knights had also become stronger after eating the Sea Pie.

“Leave dealing with the monster to us Sword Knights and continue searching for survivors.”

“Understood!”

The three Sword Knights, having received the baton from Sergeant Kevin, drew their swords.

Then, Aura erupted from their bodies like an explosion.

“We’ll take care of it instead of Sergeant Kevin. It’ll be a little different from last time!”

Groooo-!

The Tartaros, sensing the danger to its life, roared and lunged.

The power emanating from its massive body was tremendous.

If they failed to block it properly, their bodies would be crushed.

“But, only if it hits!”

Andrei narrowly avoided the opponent’s attack and swung his sword.

Fwoosh!

Blood splattered.

The hide, which seemed impossible to scratch even with a hammer, split open, and red blood gushed out.

Andrei’s attack was just the beginning.

Following him, the two Sword Knights launched a series of attacks.

The three knights, who had always been like brothers, brought down the Tartaros with perfect teamwork.

Elizabeth, who was watching it from afar, exclaimed in admiration.

“Whew, I guess I can entrust them with a few?”

Around her were piled up the corpses of Tartaros, their bodies torn to shreds.

The small fries with no regenerative abilities were no match for Elizabeth.

Groooo-!

A Tartaros hiding its body flew towards Elizabeth’s neck.

“Slow! So slow it makes me yawn!”

Elizabeth drew her sword and slashed down.

It wasn’t a slash, but an attack closer to a bombing that blew away the Tartaros’s body.

“They struggled so much against these guys. The Grand Cross Knights have become very weak.”

It was a statement that Loengreen, the commander, would have felt wronged if he had heard it.

The scary thing about the Tartaros is its near-immortal regenerative power.

Depending on whether it has it or not, the Tartaros’s combat power makes a huge difference.

The reason Merlin targeted the elves to use as a substitute for immortal cells was also for that reason.

Elizabeth muttered as she looked at the Tartaros that had gathered, smelling the blood.

“Where’s the boss? It’s all small fries.”

@

Kainchel activated Sherbet towards the Tartaros, which had finished regenerating in an instant.

The Tartaros’s feet froze instantly after being hit head-on by Durendal’s [Kainchel’s sword] cold air.

“Feeling refreshed?”

“You use strange techniques. But don’t think you can stop me with this!”

“What, it can talk!?”

Perhaps because it was a boss with reason, fluent Common Tongue flowed from the lion’s mouth.

“Lord Merlin saved me, who was on the gallows, and gave me tremendous power. And he told me to do whatever I wanted. He is a god. And I am, God’s agent, Leo!”

Kainchel unleashed Onion Swordsmanship towards the self-proclaimed agent Leo.

The seven blades that had increased tore the opponent’s body apart.

“Kuaaaaak! …That hurts. But with this body given by God, such wounds are nothing!”

Leo’s body regenerated as if time had been reversed.

But the speed was definitely slower than before.

“Why isn’t the wound regenerating right away?”

“That’s because I’m eating your blood.”

“W-what!?”

Kainchel made blood-based dishes for the vampire Leman.

According to Leman, the fresher the blood, the tastier it is.

So, he made dishes with freshly drawn blood every time.

‘And I got a ridiculous cooking skill called Blood Drain.’

He was able to suck blood by inflicting wounds, just like cutting the neck of an animal to drain blood.

[Blood Drain (★★★) has been activated.]

[By absorbing the opponent’s blood, Aura has permanently increased by 1.]

“Let’s see. My Aura has already increased by 21? Then, shall we test how much Aura we can get from one Tartaros?”

Blood is life force. Taking it away means death.

Leo had to feel the fear of death for the first time since being modified into a chimera.

In the end, he called another boss.

“H-Harold! Help me! This guy is not someone I can handle alone!”

A tremendous voice that echoed throughout the territory.

Hearing it, Harold kicked off the roof and jumped down.

“What’s wrong, Leo!”

“Help me! We promised to kill people and live happily ever after!”

“Okay, leave it to me! We’re the strongest when we work together!”

Leo and Harold were murderers who were scheduled to be hanged on the same day.

If chimeras are synthesized using criminals as materials, bosses are created with a high probability.

Merlin aimed for that and smashed several prisons.

“I saw the two murderers’ warm friendship. As a reward, I’ll make you die on the same day, even if you were born on different days.”

“Damn it! Let’s rush him together, Leo!”

“Okay! Harold!”

Kainchel poured Aura into Durendal to the limit.

Then, tremendous cold air erupted like an explosion.

‘Since the number of enemies has increased to two, I have to make their movements as dull as possible.’

“Ugh! M-my legs are freezing!”

“Damn it! I should have worn clothes if I knew this would happen!”

Kainchel swung his glaze-coated sword at Leo and Harold, who were panicking.

‘I don’t have a skill like Elizabeth’s Light Wings that can annihilate the Tartaros in one shot. But…’

“Ugh! Why is this monster so strong?!”

“It’s okay, you can still regenerate!”

‘…That means I can extract even more Aura. Let’s see, it’s already gone up by 40, right?’

Kainchel recalled Antares, which was heavily guarded in the basement of the Deus Church.

Could he use Blood Drain to deal with a wielder of immortal cells who seemed impossible to kill?

Of course, to do so, he would have to endure the side effect of bloodlust.

Sometimes he would have an uncontrollable urge to eat blood dishes.

‘Come to think of it, it’s not that big of a penalty.’

After all, he had to make blood dishes for Leman every day. He could get rid of the bloodlust by sharing it with him.

“H-heok! Heuk!”

“Kueeeuk!”

How many times had they regenerated their bodies? Leo and Harold gasped for breath.

“Stop… Please save me…”

In the end, they knelt down in front of Kainchel and began to beg. But he had no intention of ending it with this.

“Onion Swordsmanship!”

“D-damn it! Why is a childish swordsmanship so strong!? Oh, what, Leo!”

Harold screamed as he watched Leo disappear into dust. Thus, Leo, a bandit who had killed nearly a hundred people and robbed them of their money, met his end.

The end of his companion, Harold, also came not long after.

Having defeated two bosses, Kainchel checked how much his Aura had increased.

“…What, it’s gone up by 250?”

The Tartaros with immortal cells had endured over a hundred fatal wounds and survived.

It was a terrifying level of regeneration.

Kainchel muttered quietly.

“Anyway, thank you for the meal.”

Burp-!

He seemed to have overeaten a bit, but what did it matter since his Aura had increased?

Akad Empire Secret #1