Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 229

Even the arms attached to the Titan’s massive body stretched dozens of meters long.

Humans appeared as mere gnats before it.

The shockwaves from its casually swung arm kicked up a massive sandstorm.

If this weren’t a desolate desert, giant trees would be uprooted and buildings smashed, wouldn’t they?

Kaynzel ruled out Flambe and Tataki as viable attack options.

That level of firepower would be woefully inadequate to melt the body of a super-sized golem made entirely of sand.

He’d need to summon at least a fire spirit.

It was better to use Sherbet, which could freeze a wide area, to at least hinder its movements.

“Oh dear. It’s like being hit by a giant tsunami. I never thought I’d feel like I was on a ship caught in a storm in the desert.”

“If we get hit directly, even an Aura Blade will be crushed like a rotten tomato.”

Abdullah’s eyes widened, surprised by the response.

“To transmit your voice through the roar of the sandstorm from this distance… what kind of magic is that?”

Abdullah and Kaynzel were nearly 100 meters apart.

Yet, they were conversing as if they were right next to each other.

“Magic… let’s just say it’s something similar.”

Before the battle began, Kaynzel had attached small jellies to Abel and Abdullah’s bodies.

The jellies, once detached, would quickly disappear if they didn’t receive Aura [magical energy].

Until now, they had only been used to surprise or ambush enemies.

But he discovered that if he injected Aura in advance, they could last up to a day.

Eventually, he was able to use the jellies like a telepathy spell.

Kaynzel decided to call the jelly-based communication ‘Entree’.

It was a term for a light and refreshing dish that served as a bridge between the main courses.

‘It would be even better if I could use Mental Acceleration, but that would put too much strain on Bishop [likely a support character or ability].’

The coordination of the three was paramount to defeating the Titan.

Abdullah, realizing the significance of Entree, exclaimed.

“I must implore the Sultan not to antagonize Britannia under any circumstances. A legion that moves as one under the commander’s orders… the thought alone is terrifying.”

Abel, who was caressing the leaves beyond the ridge, joined the conversation.

“Amazing. If you could do this, you should have told me sooner. Then I wouldn’t have had to do that embarrassing sign language…”

“Why? I thought it was nice to reminisce about our time at the academy.”

“…Actually, I didn’t mind it either. Anyway, if you find the enemy’s core, send me a signal immediately. I will be sure to pierce through it.”

Abel took a slight breath and tightened her grip on the leaves. Surely, a literal whirlwind would be unleashed.

Abdullah was equally determined.

Byzantium, where the Sultan resided, wasn’t far from here.

At that size, it would arrive in less than half a day.

He had to prevent that at all costs.

The super-sized golem, Titan, was a truly challenging opponent.

A fist with the force of hundreds of tons would kill instantly if it even grazed them. Moreover, its regeneration ability, drawing from the nearby sand, bordered on immortality.

And now, another attack method had been added.

* * *

The Titan realized that repeatedly swinging its fists wouldn’t hit Kaynzel and Abdullah.

Its sand-filled eyes seemed to look at the ground, and then it suddenly knelt.

“It’s only reducing its attack range by doing that. How very odd.”

He didn’t know what it was trying to do, but it felt ominous. Kaynzel instinctively tried to activate Brilliant Road [likely a skill or ability].

But not a single ray of light appeared.

In that instant, he felt a chilling sensation down his spine.

“What? It’s telling me I shouldn’t be here?! Could it be…! Abdullah, get as far away from the Titan as possible right now! Something big is coming!”

Abdullah reflexively kicked off the ground and soared into the air. Perhaps because he had reduced his weight to near zero, his speed was incredible.

It seemed as if he had disappeared and reappeared dozens of meters away in an instant.

“Is this far enough?”

“Imagine a meteor falling on this spot and go even further!”

Terror dawned in Abdullah’s eyes. Only then did he realize the Titan’s aim.

The fist of a super-sized golem with tremendous mass and power was like a meteor.

If it struck the ground, it would surely release tremendous heat.

At the same time, the material composing the golem’s body would become a high-temperature gas, causing a massive explosion.

Literally a Meteor Punch.

Of course, because it was sand and not stone, the range of the shockwave was smaller compared to the ultimate magic ‘Meteor Fall.’

However, even with high flame resistance, being hit directly by heat exceeding a thousand degrees was dangerous.

Kaynzel crammed all the Aura in his body into his legs and waist.

And the moment his muscles, pushed beyond their limits, were about to rupture, he activated Double Booster.

Unlike Abdullah, who could move diagonally, Kaynzel had to run on the ground.

But realizing that it was impossible to outrun the blast, he decided to focus on defense.

Using Onion Swordsmanship [a defensive technique], he instantly created seven meringues and surrounded his body with them.

――――――――――――――――――――――――!

At the same time, a silent world where nothing could be heard enveloped Kaynzel.

The vaporized sand exploded, burning away the surrounding air.

The Meteor Punch created a crater dozens of meters in size.

In an instant, the rock buried deep underground melted and turned into magma.

A power that couldn’t even be compared to the 5th circle magic Explosion.

The aftermath reached Abdullah, who was quite far away.

He suffered severe burns that oozed fluid, and everything he was wearing was half-burned and tattered.

If he had been even a second slower in evading, he would have become a half-burned charcoal briquette.

It was a near miracle that he had survived.

Kaynzel, who was much closer to the epicenter than Abdullah, clicked his tongue as he watched the seven meringues burn away completely.

“If it’s this powerful with sand, I can’t imagine what it would be like with a golem made of stone. Are you alright, Abdullah?”

“…Thanks to you, I’m somehow alive. How did you know it was going to use such a devastating attack?”

“I got lucky.”

Abdullah’s body was already like a well-cooked medium-rare steak.

Without proper treatment, he would die from an infection.

Kaynzel looked at the location of the super-sized golem.

He needed to check if it had the strength to use a second Meteor Punch.

“Huh?!”

The super-sized golem had lost half of its body, centered around the right arm that had struck the ground.

It seemed to have been a nearly suicidal attack.

‘So that’s why it was capable of such absurd power.’

Swish, swish, swish-!

However, sand was gathering around the remaining lower body.

At that rate, wouldn’t it return to its original form in less than 10 minutes?

‘Wait a minute.’

A strange light flashed in Kaynzel’s eyes.

Something was shining between the broken parts of the super-sized golem’s body.

The power source to maintain the sand body, the core.

There were four in total.

‘Exactly, all but one are here. That means…’

Even with a reckless suicidal attack, the golem would instinctively try to protect the core with the letter E on it.

If that were destroyed, it wouldn’t be able to maintain its body, even with its near-immortal regeneration ability.

“The only part that retains its original form is its left leg. This is too obvious.”

“Huuu… I’m, I’m sorry, my body won’t listen…”

It seemed that Abdullah’s injuries were more serious than he thought.

Kaynzel reflexively licked his lips. In that case, he had no choice but to do it alone.

As he raised his hand, Fragarach [a magical sword] began to emit a brilliant light in response.

Even a single leg of the super-sized golem was about the size of a large mansion. Stabbing it with a single sword wouldn’t even cause a ripple.

However, Fragarach and Durendal [another magical sword].

If he could apply Onion Swordsmanship to both swords at the same time, he could unleash a tremendous attack with fourteen blades.

Moreover, half of them would move without him even touching them.

Kaynzel spoke the name of the technique, which was also a dish representing Britannia.

“Fish and Chips!”

Fish and potatoes.

Just as two ingredients representing the sea and the land were deep-fried to create a dish.

Durendal, the sword of ultimate destruction, and Fragarach, the sword that destroys evil.

The two completely different swords harmonized as one in Kaynzel’s hands.

Controlling a total of fourteen blades required tremendous concentration.

But perhaps because the image of Fish and Chips was so deeply ingrained in his mind.

Before he knew it, 14 blades were dancing before Kaynzel’s eyes.

At the same time, dozens of times more Aura disappeared than when using Onion Swordsmanship on a single sword. It seemed that the efficiency was a bit poor.

‘Still, this should give the super-sized golem a very painful blow!’

Kaynzel recalled the memory of having to prepare countless ingredients all night long and swung his sword.

Kukukukung-!

A roar that was hard to believe came from a sword echoed, and the Titan’s left leg exploded.

And something vaguely sparkling came into view.

That was the core with the letter E engraved on it.

The only weakness of the super-sized golem.

Kaynzel shouted to Abel, who had barely escaped the aftermath of the Meteor Punch.

“Shoot, Abel! The core is here!”

There was no response.

He had to pierce a core the size of a small potato from a place nearly 500m away.

It would surely require an unbelievable amount of concentration.

Whoooooooo…!

A light that had turned into a single whirlwind flew with tremendous force.

At that moment, the super-sized golem began to move.

It used the sand it had been using to regenerate its body to create a large wall.

It seemed to be a last-ditch effort to protect the core.

It was a touch-and-go situation where he couldn’t reach the core without penetrating the wall.

However, the arrow of wind that Abel shot shattered it in an instant.

Grooooo-!

The super-sized golem let out a tremendous roar and severed its own left leg.

It tried to avoid the arrow of wind by doing so.

However, what Abel shot was not an ordinary arrow.

As the super-sized golem moved, it changed its trajectory and pierced the core as if being sucked in.

It was a movement possible because it was an arrow made of wind spirits.

Crack-!

A sound like a glass bead breaking echoed clearly.

And the body of the super-sized golem, which had seemed like a mountain, slowly began to collapse.

Kaynzel muttered to himself without realizing it.

“Such power from this distance… you could literally destroy a fortress wall with a single arrow?”

Moreover, it can freely change its trajectory.

He seemed to know why the elves had hidden the fact that they could control spirits with the branches of the World Tree.

If that were known, the World Tree would have become a target for those seeking the power of the spirits.

‘Now that I think about it, the Aura that Nymue was using was actually the power of the spirits. I knew something was strange.’

By using the power of the wind spirit, it is possible to move as if the body was strengthened with Aura.

Moreover, if you sprinkle the ashes of the branches of the World Tree on a sword made of Mithril [a magical metal], it becomes a good home for the spirits to reside in.

It seemed that he had even learned the secret of the freely moving rose bouquets.

Kaynzel took a slow, deep breath.

In any case, they had defeated a monster that could have destroyed a nation.

The distance from Abel was so far that even her silhouette was blurry. But Kaynzel was sure she was smiling.

He remembered Abel’s face as she smiled while eating the lobster dish, which until recently had been treated as the worst ingredient because the proper cooking method was not known.

“Do you remember, Abel? I told you it would be delicious if we just had the right recipe, right?”

“…….”

It must have reached her ears. But for some reason, there was no answer.

* * *

Kaynzel frowned as he looked at Abdullah, whose body was oozing pus.

The camel they had ridden had long since been swept away by the sandstorm and disappeared somewhere.

It would take a full three days to walk to Byzantium.

“Kaynzel. If there are no camels, you can ride me.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Abel realized she had made a slip of the tongue and blushed, her long elven ears bright red.

It seemed that the conversation just now had caused a great stir in her heart.

“…I meant that I could carry you on my back. Don’t worry. I have enough stamina to do that.”

“No. There’s no need for that. I’m going to make a medicinal dish good for burns from now on, and if you eat that and rest a little, you’ll be able to move from the evening.”

“I didn’t know that cooking had such effects.”

“First, I’ll thinly slice some chilled potatoes and give them to you, so apply them to Abdullah’s body. That will prevent the skin from being damaged any further. But I have to see a man’s naked body, is that okay?”

“Don’t worry. I’m used to that much. In fact, I used to have one myself until recently.”

“Cough, cough.”

A cough escaped from Kaynzel’s embarrassed mouth.

He had been trying not to be conscious of it as much as possible, but now Abel looked like a beautiful girl to anyone.

This was because most of the human parts had disappeared in the process of recovering the damaged body using the waters of Mimir’s Well [a mythical well with restorative properties].

Abel said that she wanted him to treat her as a friend as always.

However, Kaynzel knew that it was half a lie.

“Anyway, I’m going to make a dish with plenty of tomatoes and meat. Tomatoes prevent skin damage, and meat promotes regeneration.”

And with familiar movements, he took out the portable kitchen that he always carried in his two-dimensional pouch [a magical item for storage].

But the most important thing for cooking was missing.