Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 749: The Life Elixir

Mandala was anxious. He had been cursed to die the moment he left this place. He knew this fact very well. That was why he was desperate. He was left with no choice but to kill all of the people that came to this prison.

‘I don’t want to die…!’

Of course, he carried resentment and hatred toward the gods. He even cursed them more than a hundred times in a day. In truth, Mandala had only done his best to make potions so that his weak wife could live a long and healthy life.

He never wanted any gold, silver or treasures. He did not even want to make potions to reap the lives of many on the battlefield. All he wanted was to make a potion that could save a life. However, Mandala’s talent had caught the attention and jealousy of the gods. And one day, he found himself suddenly trapped in this place.

‘I wonder what happened to my wife?’

Back then, his wife was heavily pregnant. Many had told Mandala that his wife might die giving birth. After all, there were many cases where those already with weak bodies grew even weaker after having children.

That was the reason why Mandala gave it his all and created a potion. It was called ‘Mandala’s Elixir’. However, even after he completed the potion, he was not able to give it to his wife. Because he had suddenly found himself trapped in this damn place.

Every day, he felt curious. ‘Did my wife live a long time with our child…?’

Mandala had always been more concerned about them than he was about himself. Of course, he was aware that they would not have been very happy, especially since he had suddenly disappeared from them. However, even though he had not been there, he wondered if his wife was able to give birth safely.

‘Did she live until her hair turned white?’

He was just curious about that. He wanted to get out of this place someday and find out what happened to them.

Clang—!

Mandala threw a potion.

Fwiiiiiiiish—

[The Great Spirit’s HP and MP have recovered to 50%!]

The HP that Minhyuk had painstakingly taken off recovered quickly. Fortunately, the skill restriction placed upon Knight Commander Don and the Swords of the Gods had been terminated.

“We can finally play an active role now…” Knight Commander Don muttered excitedly.

Just like what the 5th ranked Revor said, they were also wondering what would happen if Minhyuk, who had almost killed the Great Spirit, successfully finished the job himself.

Vwooooooooong—

Blue energy appeared and surrounded the bodies of Knight Commander Don and the Swords of the Gods. It was the power of divinity.

Baaaaaaaam—

Don shot forward and used his ability to cut down the Great Spirit.

Piiiiiiiiiiing—

The Great Spirit burst into a loud scream as its scales got torn apart from the attack. “Graaaaaaaaaaaa!”

‘As expected, they can deal a huge amount of damage.’

Slaaaaaaaash—

Minhyuk could not help but groan at the sight. Now that their skills were not restricted, they could get into proper positions and put pressure on the Great Spirit. Even though their attack power has been limited to 30% because of Mandala’s intervention, they were still able to exert that much power. Their strength truly made one speechless.

As he watched everything unfold, Mandala felt increasingly nervous. It was getting clearer and clearer by the minute that he would die, despite the fact that the Great Spirit was in a berserk state.

“…”

Mandala quickly pulled out another bottle of potion. He held the bottle tightly, his fingers gently caressing the bottle for a long time.

“Get out of this prison right now.”

“…Mandala, what in the world is wrong with you?!”

“We came here to save you.”

“Save me?” Mandala smiled bitterly, sadness apparent in his eyes as he continued, “I will die if I take even one step out of this prison.”

“…!”

“…!”

It seemed like it was not only Minhyuk, but even Knight Commander Don and the Swords of the Gods were unaware of this fact.

“The only way for me to get out of this place is to die and be revived. But do you think that’s even possible?”

Mandala did not want to attack them either. However, it was an inevitable choice if he wanted to live. After being stuck in this place for a long time, he had long forgotten how to communicate with people. Because of that, he had failed to inform them of this fact first to make them give up and just attacked them first. Mandala was a good person at heart. That was why he was staring at the potion in his hands for a very long time. He just wanted to live.

‘Potion of Despair.’

Why did he name this potion like so? Because it would bring despair and hopelessness to both the potion user and the enemy. The Potion of Despair would reduce one’s defense and HP, leaving only 1/5th remaining upon consumption. However, it could increase all attack power, attack speed and movement speed by 1.5x. The effect would last for ten minutes.

The potion was a double-edged sword. However, if the Great Spirit consumed it, then it would become almost twice as strong as it was originally. These people would not be able to fight against it at all.

Mandala actually did not have any intention of using the potion. He was just bringing it out to threaten them.

“Go, now. Anyway, you’ll just imprison me to make potions for you if you take me away from here!”

“…”

“…”

Don and the Swords of the Gods could not even deny his words. However, they were knights who had received the orders of their emperor. They had to carry out orders no matter what.

‘If we can't take Mandala away, then we have to at least take his legacies away.’

So, they did not back down.

“Eeeeek! I will really use this potion…!”

However, something unexpected happened. The Great Spirit, which had always been on the defensive, suddenly turned around and charged toward Mandala at the speed of light.

Gulp—

Crack—

It devoured the potion bottle that was in Mandala’s hands before he could even react. The colors immediately drained from Mandala’s face.

“Q, quick. Run! Run away!!!”

But it was already far too late. The potion had already flowed down the Great Spirit’s throat.

[The Great Spirit has consumed the Potion of Despair.]

[The Great Spirit’s HP and defense have been reduced. Only 1/5th of the original amount remains!]

[The Great Spirit’s attack speed, movement speed and all of its attacks have increased by 1.5x.]

[If you successfully kill the Great Spirit while the Potion of Despair is still in effect, you will gain double the EXP!]

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeeeck!” The Great Spirit released a loud shriek.

“B, bastard!!!” Mandala’s face turned ugly.

As it turned out, Mandala and the Great Spirit had not been in cahoots with each other. The Great Spirit’s purpose was to trap Mandala in this place, while Mandala only fed it his potions so he could survive.

Mandala hurriedly pulled out another bottle of potion.

‘Potion of Reset.’

This bottle could eliminate all of the effects of the other potions applied to the body of the opponent. The effects of this bottle would be triggered by drinking or just splashing the potion on the target’s body.

Craaaaack—

The Great Spirit moved swiftly and lunged at Mandala, the spears on the tip of its tail shooting forward and piercing through Mandala’s body.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab—!

“Urk…!”

Mandala, whose neck was stabbed by one of the spears, had a look of anguish as he waved his hand to Minhyuk and the Swords of the Gods. Squeezing the remaining strength in his body, he used his finger to take out more potions while saying, “Everyone… quick… run…”

“…”

Don, Minhyuk and the Swords of the Gods were shocked by his actions. Even though he was about to die, he still moved to take out more potions to ensure that they could escape safely.

“I’ll buy you enough time…”

Fwoooooosh—

The Great Spirit tugged the spears that pierced through Mandala’s body roughly. Blood spurted out from Mandala as he fell down on his knees, his body slowly collapsing on the ground.

“…Beinny,” Mandala uttered his wife’s name as his eyes slowly closed. Mandala already knew that his death was imminent. After all, even his heart had been pierced through.

.

“Damn it!!!”

Don and the Swords of the Gods released their sword lights and fired it indiscriminately at the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit’s current biggest weakness was its low defense and HP. The best course of action was to kill it before it could even attempt to attack.

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

Hundreds of sword lights exploded on the Great Spirit’s body. With its low HP and defense, they could tell that its body was taking on a lot of damage.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeeck!” The Great Spirit shrieked, charging at the Swords of the Gods with a speed that almost made it invisible to the naked eye. At the same time, its dragon-like tail turned into hundreds of spears that pressured the Swords of the Gods.

Slaaaaaaash—

“Keuhaaaaaaaack!”

Revor, who had been stabbed in several places by the spears, collapsed to the ground.

“Kghhhhhhhk!”

Beloch, who had been directly hit by the charging Great Spirit, felt all of his bones break.

“It, it became more powerful…?!”

“I, I don’t have any more mana…!”

They needed more power to push back and pressure the Great Spirit.

At that moment, Minhyuk was trying to finish the creation of his final skill. His mind was spinning fast as he recalled the force and might that Knight Commander Don and the Swords of the Gods had displayed earlier. He also thought about what he needed for the skill to be called a one-shot lethal skill.

A swordsmanship unfolded in Minhyuk’s head, and he continued to draw the shape of the final chapter.

Slaaaaaaaash—

“Keuaaaaaaack!”

The third in the rankings of the Swords of the Gods collapsed as both of his thighs got slashed and stabbed. Just like that, the Swords of the Gods were rendered helpless, unable to put up a fight any longer. Even Commander Don, who had the sturdiest and toughest body, was in a dire situation with spears stabbed through his body all over his.

“Kghhhhhk…”

Don slowly turned his head, blood spurting all over from his body. He could see the Swords of the Gods all over the place, bleeding and most likely on the brink of death. In fact, he was aware that he was also going to die soon. After all, he had already experienced dying once, he was all too familiar with the feeling now. Back then, Minhyuk had saved him with his only bottle of potion. Even if he died, he had to at least save his benefactor. He had to at least do that much.

“Your Majesty, this servant will stop that monster. Quick…” Don turned to look at Minhyuk. He had resolved himself to give it his all to help buy Minhyuk some time to escape.

However, Don could not utter a single word anymore after seeing Minhyuk. He felt his heart thump at the sight of Minhyuk, with his eyes closed and gesturing with his fingers in the air in front of him.

Bathump—

Don’s heart continued to thump wildly as he watched Minhyuk reopen his eyes.

[You have created the final skill of the XX’s Swordsmanship using the Six Monster God’s Skill Creation Book!]

[You have completed the creation of all of your skills.]

[Please choose a name for XX’s Swordsmanship.]

Vwoooooooooong—

Minhyuk’s hair fluttered from the fierce wind that appeared around him as he looked at the Great Spirit with a calm and quiet gaze. He was around twelve meters away from the Great Spirit.

Black energy fluttered into existence and wrapped around Minhyuk’s sword.

[You have chosen the name ‘Food God’s Swordsmanship’ as the name for XX’s Swordsmanship!]

Minhyuk uttered, “Food God’s Swordsmanship.”

Don blinked. He could swear that he just blinked once. However, the next thing he saw was Minhyuk, who was covered with black energy, already standing right in front of him. Minhyuk’s sword flashed for a brief moment before returning back to its sheath. In that instant, the body of the Great Spirit had already been cut down.

Clack—

“Final Chapter.”

“Grrrrrr…?” The Great Spirit’s throat rumbled in doubt.

“Sword of Carnage.”

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash—

At that moment, thirty-seven consecutive attacks tore apart the body of the Great Spirit in a split second, causing blood to spurt out of each and every single wound.

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash!

The Great Spirit’s body, which was slashed all over, fell flat on the ground.

Thuuuuuud—

At the same time, the notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[You have completed the Food God’s Swordsmanship.]

[Food God’s Swordsmanship is a ‘God-rank’ skill!]

[You have killed the Berserk Great Spirit!]

[The Berserk Great Spirit has consumed the Potion of Despair. EXP acquired has doubled!]

[Mandala’s Growth Potion is still in effect. You will obtain thirty times the amount of EXP acquired within the potion’s one hour duration!]

[The Great Spirit is a monster that does not drop any artifacts or gold. However, it gives more EXP than any other monster!]

[Failed to calculate the EXP!]

[Failed to calculate the EXP!]

[…EXP!]

[Successfully calculated the EXP!]

[You have gained 98,000,000,000 EXP!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[…leveled up!]

[…leveled up!]

[…leveled up!]

[…leveled…]

[Congratulations! You are the first player to reach Level 600!]