Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 387: Hunting Black Dragon

The Supreme Divine Beast was an existence that held absolute power. He was the one that sealed Vormon when he wreaked chaos, havoc, and despair in the past. He had sacrificed himself in the past to bring peace to his friends, and was only able to come back to life with the help of the Dragon Monarch, the Great Mage Moldoron, and the Incarnation of Light.

The fragments of the Golden Crown had been scattered all over the world. These items had the power to awaken the power of the Supreme Divine Beast. Minhyuk had collected almost every fragment except for one. No matter what he did, he could not get a quest that was related to the final fragment of the Golden Crown. Instead of him, it was Ali, the owner of another divine beast, that received the quest and handed over the fragment to Minhyuk. That was right. Beanie had completed his final awakening.

[You have collected all of the fragments of the Golden Crown.]

[The Supreme Divine Beast Beanie has awakened.]

[Beanie has learned the Predator’s Authority.]

[Predator’s Authority has temporarily reached the MAX level.]

[Beanie’s HP, MP, Basic Attack and Defense have significantly increased.]

[The power of the Supreme Divine Beast will reach MAX level upon awakening. After that, everything will reset and he will have to get stronger.]

Minhyuk immediately understood what the notifications meant the moment he heard it. The Supreme Divine Beast would gain his strength back in the days for a moment of time. But after that, Beanie had to follow the step-by-step process and grow stronger, until he fully regained that power.

As for Beanie, no matter what kind of existence he was, he was still the mascot of the Athenae: Korean War. He had gained countless fans in the country thanks to his cuteness. And that very same Beanie had shown himself to the world.

[So, so adorable…]

[What a very cute and adorable being. Who’s that baby piggy with a golden crown?]

[It doesn’t matter. What I’m sure about is that I want to take a chomp out of that cute little piggy.]

[Thick paws, chubby face, a golden armor, and a cool black kitchen knife!]

[I don’t care if this kind of comment doesn’t fit with the desperate situation that we’re in, but he’s really cute and adorable. I feel like both my heart and my breath have been taken away.]

And just like that, the global community sites went wild.

[Kawaii-desu ne!!!]

[Wow. This baby piggy is extremely cute~]

[Kyaaaaaack! Mister Baby Piggy, please let me touch your soft and chubby belly, just once! Please!]

That was right. Beanie was now on a rise to global stardom. However, there was one thing that they had completely overlooked. Beanie, who had suddenly awakened, was not just cute. He was also the Supreme Divine Beast.

***

Ali once again fired out a skill from his fingertips as he faced Vormon.

“Diss.”

A golden spear flew towards Vormon. However, Vormon just twisted his body and moved out of the way of the golden spear’s trajectory. His fluid movement when avoiding the spear of light was beyond astonishing. Then, Vormon countered by shooting out dozens of magic spells towards Ali.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Ali started feeling flustered and nervous as he watched Vormon’s attacks slam into the golden shield that he had created.

‘I only have 10% of my MP left.’

Although he had temporarily reached the level closest to God, he was not a God after all. On top of that, Black Dragon Vormon was the strongest existence in this world, his HP was just too high. In comparison, just one Diss from Ali could easily kill any other boss-ranked mobs in one shot. That was how awful and terrifying their opponent was.

Continental Emperor Ellie’s sword began to close up and tighten the noose around Vormon.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump—

“Ugh!”

Ping—

Ellie did not evade the dozens of magic spells that came pouring down on her to cut down Vormon’s body. In the first place, the attack was almost impossible to get away from. Besides, even if she successfully avoided the magic attack, Vormon’s sword would be able to deal a much stronger damage.

Baaaaaaang—

With the imminent exhaustion of his MP, Ali was forced to reduce the amount and duration of the magic that he used over time. This was to stop himself from using it indiscriminately and instead, use his magic in a more efficient way.

However, Ali’s HP had already fallen below 20%. Then, Vormon’s magic suddenly slammed into Ali, who did not have enough MP to cast a shield anymore.

Seeing this, Vormon smirked viciously. He said, “It’s over, weak humans.”

Once Ali was killed, the results of this battle would eventually tilt towards Vormon’s victory. Vormon, however, admitted and acknowledged Ali’s strength. Although it was only for a moment, Ali still reached God’s level and pushed himself, the greatest dragon in this world, to the limits. Vormon sent a strong and powerful magic spell to finally end Ali’s life. At that moment, Ali felt something warm. This warmth spread slowly on his back. Ali was currently at his most desperate moment so he could not understand what just happened.

The source of warmth on Ali’s back was none other than Beanie, the Supreme Divine Beast. There was a gold current of energy seeping out of his tiny paws. This was the Predator’s Authority.

That was right, the Supreme Divine Beast was a predator, one that would eat anything and everything, creating miracles with his own power. At that moment, several colossal golden shields overlapped in front of Ali.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

These overlapping shields protected Ali from Vormon’s attacks.

“…!”

Ali was extremely shocked. The shields that appeared just now were not something that he created but strangely enough, they looked very similar to his own shield. Simply put, someone else created the shields and made it look like his own. Another shocking fact was that it had enough power to defend against Vormon’s magic and keep it at bay.

But then, something more surprising happened.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping—

More than five golden spears flew straight towards Vormon.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab—

“Keuaaaaaaaack!” Vormon was forced to scream in pain once again.

Ellie did not miss this opportunity. She quickly approached Vormon and struck him down with all her might.

Baaaaang—

Vormon started to fall on the ground. Seeing this, Ali finally had the leeway to turn his head and look at the source of warmth behind him. And there, standing behind him was a baby piggy just a tiny bit bigger than a fist, wearing a golden armor and holding a black kitchen knife.

“Bea… Beanie?”

Then…

Shwaaaaaa—

Beanie disappeared in a flash of black. What he used was Blink, a mage’s teleportation magic. Another flash of black and Beanie appeared once again, this time under the rapidly falling Vormon. Just when both Ellie and Ali felt the warm and comforting energy wrapped around them disappear, Beanie looked up at the falling Vormon as he brandished his kitchen knife.

Ellie looked at the scene in disbelief as she murmured, “Sword of Annihilation…?”

That was right. It was the Sword of Annihilation, Ellie’s most powerful skill. The skill that could easily slaughter thousands, or even tens of thousands, of enemies in a single go. The very same skill that she had learned and acquired after awakening to her powers as a Continental Emperor. This power had shown itself in front of them as thousands of long blades flew up, like raindrops falling in reverse, towards Vormon. Then, the blades stuck deeply in Vormon’s body.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab—

“Keuaaaaaaaack!”

[Your HP has fallen below 20%.]

A loud and miserable shriek was ripped out of Vormon’s mouth the moment the blades stuck deeply in his body. At the same time, the viewers and players from all over the world watched in shock as Beanie successfully landed an attack on Vormon, a figure that was several times more bigger and ferocious than the cute baby piggy.

“Supreme Divine Beast… you f*cking bastaaaaaaard…!” Vormon shouted, his eyes turning red in anger. This was the same being that had stopped him in the past when he tried to devour and let the entire continent be engulfed with chaos.

The very same Supreme Divine Beast stood in front of him to block his path once again.

If it was just the Supreme Divine Beast, Vormon was confident that he could clinch the victory. But right now, Continental Emperor Ellie and Golden Mage Ali were both present. Fear suddenly engulfed Vormon. He would die in the hands of these humans and a little pig? No, never. That should not happen. His own death could not be so humiliating. Then…

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack—

As Vormon was falling through the sky, his body suddenly shone brightly, like a diamond shining under the bright sun, as a solid black gemstone started to appear and cover his entire body. To be exact, the black gemstone contained Vormon. As his body turned to that state, Vormon transformed once again into his dragon form. Then, the black dragon that was covered in gemstone came to a stop in the skies.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—

Ellie sent a sword strike up, but it did not even leave a single scratch on the black gemstone.

[No way, did he seal himself?]

[Are you telling me that he sealed himself again?]

[I don’t think so.]

[Then, it’s not some sort of suicide bomb kind of thing, right?]

[No way…]

Sadly, one of the predictions was right. Vormon chose to explode himself. And this was the notifications that rang for all of the players present.

[Vormon will explode in two minutes.]

[Upon the explosion, all of the mana that has been stored in Vormon’s body will spread out and cause heavy damages.]

[Please restrain and stop Vormon within two minutes.]

Black Dragon Vormon chose to explode himself! It was clear to everyone present that this explosion would definitely blow up everyone here, perhaps even the entire Continent Cloud would disappear from this explosion.

[Vormon chose to explode himself? This is really ridiculous and absurd.]

[Then, what about their rewards for the hunt?! It wouldn’t be the case where they wouldn’t receive anything, right?!]

[We have never encountered a situation like this before. And it seems like Sword Emperor Ellie will die here too.]

[Of course, with the help of the Continent Cloud’s power, it wouldn’t be an absolute death.]

Each and every single one of the players and soldiers from the 4,000 remaining troops were of the same mind.

“How can we drive that bastard to a corner and restrain him by ourselves…?!”

“N… no… this can’t be happening…!”

“This game scenario is really f*cking trash. F*ck!”

The players immediately squeezed the last of their remaining strength to attack the colossal gem-stone covered Vormon.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump—

However, the gemstone remained in a pristine condition. This meant that the defense of the gemstone that surrounded Vormon’s body was beyond anyone’s imagination. The results were the same, even for both Ali and Ellie.

“Diss.”

Piiiiiiiing—

Ali’s Diss flew swiftly to attack the gemstone, but instead of dealing damage, the skill was reflected away.

“Ugh!”

Ali had escaped the reflected skill by a small margin. He turned to watch Ellie swing her sword. However, the gemstone was so tough that it did not do anything at all. She even used her skills, but to no avail. Even though she stabbed the gemstone with all her might, only her sword trembled and shook from the impact.

[Will everything end like this?]

[Ha… Vormon’s Hunt this time was extremely spectacular but everything still ended up being in vain.]

Yes. The people would never remember the great battle that took place here. They would only remember the ‘results’.

***

The same desperate and gloomy air hung over the heads of the entire Athenae executives as they sat in Athenae’s conference room.

“God f*cking damnit!” President Kang Taehoon spat out as he stood up from his seat and bit a cigarette in his mouth. Not long after, he took the cigarette out of his mouth and sighed deeply.

This time, they were able to tell the entire world that the players of South Korea were not weak. They were far stronger than what everyone had thought. And the world should have gone wild over this. Everyone that participated should also receive proper rewards for hunting Vormon. It had to be done. They had to be compensated and rewarded well for their efforts and sacrifices. Now, it seemed like it was going to be impossible.

But then, at that moment…

“Minhyuk…?”

Team Leader Park’s voice floated in Kang Taehoon’s ears as he turned to look at where he was looking. That was when he saw the scene on the TV screen.

Minhyuk was standing on Vormon’s right side, while Beanie stood on the left. The two of them cast the same power at the same time. And this power was none other than Sword of Absolute Death. Two of the same sword lights were fired at the same time. The sword lights successfully passed through the strong and tough gemstone and pierced through Vormon encased inside the gem.

[Kueaaaaaaaaaaack!]

“…?!”

President Kang Taehoon looked at the screen in laser focus. The information about the Sword of Absolute Death was displayed on the screen. The first attack would always have a 100% chance of success. This meant that the two sword lights successfully cut through Vormon at the same time! Then, hundreds of huge sword lights appeared and flew towards the gemstone.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

“As expected…” President Kang Taehoon said, his face crumpling in dismay. Just like he expected, there was no sword that could pierce through the black gemstone. But then…

[Ping, ping— Baaaaaaang!]

One of the sword lights passed through the gemstone and struck Vormon once again!

“Intangible Sword… It’s the absurd skill that can ignore the opponent’s defense…!” Team Leader Park Minggyu said, his hands tightly clenching into a fist.

‘Yes! Didn’t Minhyuk have that passive skill Intangible Sword? The skill that gives him a chance of ignoring his enemy’s defense?’

Hundreds of sword lights struck down on Vormon, whose gemstone encased body was being struck down by rampaging sword lights on both sides. And then… an explosion!

Baaaaaaaaang—

[Keuaaaaaack!]

There was only 13% left of Vormon’s HP.

“Just a bit more… just a bit more…”

President Kang Taehoon and the rest of the Athenae executives present watched, tense with cold sweat dripping down their backs.

Bang, bang, bang!

Minhyuk’s passive has been triggered as lightning fell down from the skies and struck down on Vormon.

9%! There was only 9% left of Vormon’s HP. The sword strikes kept on coming! And then, it became 7%. But that was the end. The two of them were no longer able to send any more sword strikes. There were only 50 seconds left before Vormon exploded.

[Keuhahahahahahahaha!]

Vormon’s malicious laughter rang loudly and dug into the ears of all of the people watching from all over the world. Despair crashed down on all of the people present in the conference room. They could see that Vormon was mocking them, despite his imminent death.

Just then, Minhyuk and Beanie cast another skill at the same time.

[Sword of Absolute Death.]