Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 228

2. Crumbling Sandcastle

“A person inside a two-dimensional pocket?!

It was only natural that Abdullah was surprised.

It was like witnessing a chick hatching from a boiled egg—utterly impossible.

“Let’s handle that big guy first before we get to introductions.”

The sandstorm was actually a shockwave emanating from a giant golem.

Its estimated length was several tens of meters. Its weight was impossible to even estimate.

It was like an entire mountain range moving.

Even a dragon, known as the strongest creature, couldn’t exude that kind of pressure.

Kugugugung-!

The ground began to shake as if an earthquake had occurred.

The golem was clearly targeting Cainchel. This meant it was moving under Zoid’s command.

“Aren’t golems usually stone giants guarding dungeons or treasures? That thing looks like it could crush everything with a single wrong move.”

As if waiting for this, a large and magnificent tentacle emerged from Cainchel’s groin.

— He finally completed it.

‘Why is it coming out from there, Bishop?! Abel is giving me a weird look!’

— Hector’s residual thoughts still remain in my body. There’s a possibility of memory confusion if I’m not careful. I was simply resting away from my partner’s head to minimize that influence.

‘Oh, is that so? Anyway, what’s with that charismatic, super-sized golem?’

Whether it was due to mental acceleration activating upon appearance, there was a brief moment to talk.

Bishop began to explain as if it were nothing.

— Zoid the Stone Doll. An alchemist who could be considered a colleague of Astolfo.

‘So, an alchemist who makes dolls?’

— That’s right. Their shared ambition is to create the most perfect doll. However, the solutions they arrived at were completely different.

Astolfo believed that the most perfect dolls were those that could speak and act like humans.

That’s how the automatons Asura and Rakshasa were born.

However, Zoid’s idea was slightly different.

— What he wanted to create was the strongest doll, one that would never lose in a fight. In the end, he dedicated his life to creating a powerful doll. What your partner sees before him seems to be the result of that, the ‘Super-sized Golem Titan’.

‘……I guess a golem is a type of doll. But once it’s completed, shouldn’t that be the end of it?’

— The strongest is always a relative concept, isn’t it? Perhaps Zoid wants to prove that Titan is the strongest by having it fight other dolls. And your partner, being with Asura, probably looked like a very tempting prey.

‘Tch, so I have no choice but to fight.’

Titan was causing destruction close to a natural disaster just by moving.

It was this bad even in the desert. If it were a city or port, it would be too terrible to imagine.

If left unchecked, not only Britannia, where Astolfo was hiding, but the entire continent would be in danger.

‘But aside from the fact that such a massive thing is moving, can we even win? It seems impossible unless all seven virtues combine.’

— I’m also investigating Titan in my own way. Stall for as much time as possible. Hmm, it seems the duration of mental acceleration is running out. I must have overdone it recently; this is the limit. Good luck, partner.

Then, I felt the surrounding time return to normal.

Fortunately, Abdullah didn’t seem to have seen Bishop’s sudden appearance.

“If such a monster were to attack Byzantium [ancient Greek city, now Istanbul], it would suffer tremendous damage. We must stop it here. If it’s alright with you, may I take the initiative?”

The possibility of a normal strike working on a giant Titan, like a moving fortress, was slim.

However, Abdullah’s tone contained a strange certainty.

Before Cainchel could nod, Abdullah’s body soared into the air.

Not as a metaphor, but in the literal sense.

As if stepping on an invisible foothold, Abdullah instantly reached the vicinity of Titan’s head.

And from within his two-dimensional pocket, he pulled out a claymore [a large two-handed sword] larger than himself.

Despite having a blade, it looked more like a blunt weapon due to its size.

It was a distinctly different appearance from other Janissaries [elite Ottoman soldiers] who mainly used curved shamshirs [a type of Persian saber].

‘He uses a unique weapon? I wonder if there’s a story behind it?’

Abdullah held the greatsword, which would be difficult for an ordinary person to even lift, with one hand and shouted.

“I even got a taste of paradise’s dessert, so I’ll warm up properly from now on!”

No matter how large the claymore was, it was like a needle compared to Titan. It seemed difficult to inflict a fatal wound no matter how hard he stabbed with it.

Then, Abdullah, who had soared high into the sky, began to descend at an incredible speed, wielding the claymore.

“From now on, I shall use my aura blade, ‘The Sultan’s Will is Like the Heavens,’ to butcher the enemy before me!”

Abdullah’s sword struck Titan’s head with such force that it seemed to tear apart space itself.

Kugugugugung――!!!

With a single blow, about 30% of Titan’s massive body disappeared.

It was as powerful as watching a 9th circle ultimate magic, Meteor Strike.

The tremendous shockwave emanating from it was enough to reach Cainchel, who was quite far away.

If he hadn’t reflexively reinforced his body with aura, he would have been blown away.

In terms of destructive power alone, it was several times stronger than Light Wings or Blood Sword Explosion.

‘Sultan……. Since it’s too long, I’ll just call it Sultan Garlic? Anyway, I figured out Abdullah’s identity with that attack just now. I can’t believe an aura blade that manipulates gravity exists…….’

Abdullah’s aura blade, Sultan Garlic.

Its true nature was an absurd technique that used supergravity to freely manipulate the weight of objects.

If so, it explained how he soared into the air just now.

By reducing his own weight to near zero, he gained tremendous leaping power.

And during the charge, he maximized the gravity on the sword.

In retrospect, it was a simpler principle than I thought.

However, the recoil of the attack was as great as its power. As if to prove it, Abdullah was coughing up blood after landing on the ground.

It was literally a lance with all his might……. No, a claymore charge.

“Ku, cough……. Ah, no matter how large a golem is, it can’t withstand an attack of this magnitude…….”

Abdullah used his sword as a cane to try and stand up, but he froze in place.

He clearly felt the sensation of Titan’s massive body being shattered at his fingertips.

But the monster was absorbing the surrounding sand and returning to its original form.

“Su, surely not a golem made of sand?! I, it can’t be!”

Usually, golems of a certain size or larger are mostly made of steel or stone.

If amorphous materials like mud are used, maintaining the shape alone consumes a tremendous amount of mana.

But this super-giant golem was made of sand, which would be blown away by the wind.

Moreover, it was using the infinitely available sand in the Arabian Desert to repair its damaged body.

In the end, destruction using physical force was close to impossible.

‘How am I supposed to fight that monster?!’

Even Chaos, the ultimate chimera that Merlin created over countless eons, wasn’t this bad.

To stop Titan’s regeneration, the only option was to drag it out of the desert where there was no sand.

But if that happened, how many cities would be destroyed?

‘That’s why alchemists are……!’

— Did you call, partner?

‘Not you!’

Bishop wiggled his tentacle to create a mouth so that Abdullah and Abel could also hear his voice.

But the voice that came out of it was strangely gloomy. It seemed he was sulking at Cainchel.

“Hmph. I used several expensive magical tools to find out its weakness, but you’re saying strange things. Anyway, I’ve found a way to deal with Titan. The reason it can maintain such a large amorphous body seems to be due to a core containing dragon’s mana.”

“A dragon made that thing?”

“You’ll have to ask Zoid for the exact details. Anyway, there are a total of 5 cores supplying mana to Titan. The word Truth (Emeth) [in Hebrew, a Kabbalistic word often inscribed on golems] will be written on each of them, divided up. Destroy the part with the letter E. Then it will become Death (Meth) [changing the first letter removes the life force] and stop functioning.”

If you accidentally destroy a different core, it will only slightly reduce the output, and it will regenerate instantly like before.

“How big are the cores?”

“Hmm. About the size of a potato, I suppose.”

Cainchel swallowed hard without realizing it.

How was he supposed to find a potato-sized core hidden somewhere in that massive Titan’s body?

He had finally found a way to defeat Titan, but it was as difficult as finding a needle dropped on a beach.

At that moment, Abel, who had been lost in thought, spoke.

“Cainchel. I have a secret plan.”

“……You mean you have a way to find the cores?”

Abel nodded and explained it as simply as possible.

The moment Sultan Garlic struck, Titan moved its arm to cover something.

“It seems even that big guy has a self-preservation instinct. And it would have reflexively blocked that part when Abdullah’s attack hit.”

“You saw all that? In that urgent situation?”

“Thanks to the wind spirit, my field of vision has become quite wide. That much isn’t difficult.”

“As expected, Abel is amazing. I would never have found it on my own.”

“U, um…….”

Abel fidgeted with his fingers, seemingly embarrassed by Cainchel’s praise.

Abdullah, who learned that his attack had not been in vain, also nodded with a satisfied expression.

He took out a foul-smelling pill, chewed on it, and opened his mouth.

“If I push myself a little, I can use ‘The Sultan’s Will is Like the Heavens’ about two more times. I will work with Cainchel to find that guy’s weakness.”

No matter how I thought about it, the technique name was too long.

Cainchel was thinking of suggesting that they officially use the title Sultan Garlic after this was over.

Holding Durandal in both hands, he infused aura into Pragarakh, which was hanging on his waist.

Then, the unique skill Sword Dominion activated.

A technique that had even momentarily overwhelmed the Sword Demon Bassago. However, it wouldn’t exert even half of its original power against a golem made of inanimate matter.

That’s why Cainchel’s own abilities in handling the sword were crucial in this battle.

Cainchel recalled his stats, which had recently increased by one level.

Then, a semi-transparent status window appeared before his eyes.

[Cainchel Van Zistad – Lv99]

– Stamina (101), Agility (99), Strength (99), Dexterity (99), Intelligence (103), Magic Power (98), Divine Power (98)

– Aura (26,861/27,461)

His level and stats were already close to the human limit.

Moreover, he could temporarily increase his strength and speed by nearly double using Double Booster.

It was a powerful enemy that couldn’t be defeated with physical force, but to win, he only needed to expose its weakness.

He could definitely do that much.

“Alright, shall we begin?”

At Cainchel’s signal, Abdullah took a firm step forward.

* * *

“Sherbet-!”

Extreme cold froze one of Titan’s feet.

Perhaps because it was made of dry sand, it couldn’t completely bind its movements.

However, it was clearly slowed down. Cainchel used the jelly like a grappling hook to climb up Titan’s leg.

The plan was simple.

While Cainchel drew attention, Abdullah would use Sultan Garlic to expose Titan’s weakness.

Abel would be in charge of the final blow. He would fire an arrow made of wind spirits with a bow made of World Tree.

Its power was weaker than Sultan Garlic, but it could target the weakness much more accurately.

Cainchel looked at Abel, who was summoning wind spirits on the sand dune.

She raised her fist as if she was ready to unleash a storm at any moment.

‘That’s the sign language we made during the Yellow Knights era. I should do the same for her.’

Its meaning was very simple.

― Good luck, Captain.

Kwakwakwakwak-!

Seven Pragarakhs began to slash at Titan’s legs at an incredible speed.

The weakness they had to find was just one of the five cores.

Titan, annoyed by Cainchel’s barrage, reached out and swung at Cainchel.

A super-giant golem capable of destroying a castle with a single blow, two Sword Masters.

And a spirit archer using spirit arrows, something that had never existed before.

A new legend was about to begin in the middle of the desert.