Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 596: Minhyuk’s Connections

Elven Forest.

A new king had been crowned among the elves after the previous elven king Gorn stepped down and passed his mantle to Argon. Once he had received the crown, Argon thought that they could not continue living like this. If the elves continued to live a secluded life, cut off from all communications and interactions with other races, they would not be able to receive help if their elven forest were to experience danger again. That was mainly the reason why he was now enjoying a cup of tea together with the Dragon King.

Behind each king stood a hundred thousand of their troops. They were the troops that went to help Minhyuk before and fought together. And now, the creatures of the deep sea and the elves were meeting and socializing frequently.

“This tea tastes divine. What’s this tea called?”

Argon’s lips curled a bit as he answered the Dragon King’s question, who was taking another sip of the tea, “Cow dung tea.”

“Why did you name the tea cow dung tea?”

“Because it’s made by drying cow dung and turning it into tea.”

“…”

The Dragon King could not help but place down his cup swiftly. He already knew that the elves loved nature.

.

The two were also visited by the Mythical Bird that Cries Sadly For You. The two kings did not delay after hearing the bird’s sad and mournful cry.

“Gather all of the high elves.”

“Kiari, Jevis. Gather the troops.”

The kings of two races began to call for their troops.

The high elves were outstanding elves that were on the Named NPC level. The number of high elves under Argon’s command were at a hundred. The creatures of the sea had about the same number as them. Especially the werebeasts, Kiari and Jevis, they were beings at the level of an Absolute NPC. Then, what about Argon and the Dragon King? The two were beings that had strength close to an Absolute Supreme NPC.

There were eight beings in the continent that could be hailed as the Absolute Supreme NPCs. ‘Force’ was not the only thing that was considered when determining who was on that level. Those beings should also have a huge influence and impact on the vast Athenae worldview in the future to come. Those were the Absolute Supreme NPCs.

And now, the troops of the two races stood under a united front and began their march toward the Stars’ Path.

***

With the birth of the Stars’ Path, every kingdom and empire from all over the world were on high alert. Now that everyone could move easily to other continents, staging a war between continents was no longer impossible.

Sword Emperor Ellie, the empress of Eivelis Empire, had received a huge tip from Minhyuk, ‘A man named Nerva Sephiroth will forcefully take the entire continent under his rule and command everyone through fear.’

Ellie took Minhyuk’s tip to heart and had already started preparing and nurturing her army so that they could become stronger. Right now, she was sitting on her throne while cradling her sword in her arms. Of course, the Mythical Bird that Cries Sadly For You also visited her.

Seeing the bird, Ellie slowly rose from her throne. An immense pressure bore down on the surroundings with every step that she took. Finally, she opened the doors and walked out of the ramparts. There, she saw millions of troops lined up in a neat order.

“Depart for battle.”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Eivelis Empire had begun their march to war.

***

Orodith Kingdom was one of the kingdoms located in Asgan Continent. Among the several kingdoms established in the Asgan Continent, the kingdom’s influence and position was very small. In this kingdom existed a noble with an infamous nickname: Bed Wetter. This man was none other than Marquis Arna, the man that felt the majesty of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom and peed himself, twice.

Marquis Arna sought an audience with his king, Eren, and asked him, “Your Majesty! We have to send our troops to war!!!”

King Eren was in trouble. The reason why Marquis Arna was being like this was because he had heard rumors that the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s King was on the verge of death. After hearing this, without even wearing any shoes, Marquis Arna immediately ran out to meet with the king.

Marquis Arna was the one that had personally experienced the might and majesty of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. That was why he was fully aware of the importance of forging a friendly relationship with Beyond the Heavens.

“Beyond the Heavens Kingdom is enjoying rapid growth thanks to the various specialties that they are offering. If our Orodith Kingdom starts to interact with them and forge a friendly relationship, our kingdom can also develop rapidly!!!”

King Eren pondered deeply before slowly nodding, “That must certainly be the case, Marquis Arna. Especially since you ended up peeing whenever you went there.”

Screech!

“…”

“You’re the one with the firmest will and toughest heart in our kingdom yet you’ve faced humiliation and defeat twice in that place.”

Screech!

“…”

“And now that you’ve realized a lot of things, you understand how important it is to make friends with the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.”

Screech!

“…”

“Very well, we’ll send our troops there.”

“Th, thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!!!!”

Marquis Arna, who was bowing his head in gratitude, felt heartbroken deep inside, ‘There’s no way I’ll wet my pants today!’

***

Richard was currently contemplating. Around 20,000 of the remaining 70,000 troops were annihilated in the hands of Leona, the God of Snakes Elizabeth’s child.

“Until when do I have to wait?”

“It’s only been fifteen minutes.”

“…”

Richard’s face turned ugly after hearing Minhyuk’s words. Even a second felt like an hour. And he was even made aware of the direness of their situation after hearing Minhyuk, who was inside his Let’s Have a Meal barrier, say that only fifteen minutes had passed. This was because 20,000 of their troops had been massacred in just that short amount of time.

“F*ck.”

Then…

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—

Baaaaaang!

One of the vipers hanging on Leona’s head moved, stretching through thousands of meters of land to bite at Richard’s neck. Richard saw thousands of players being pierced through by this single attack and disappearing into flashes of gray as he struggled against it.

‘When will the reinforcements come?!’

Richard heard from Cali that the reinforcements were already on their way here. Then, another of Leona’s special skills was cast. Tens of thousands of eyes once again appeared in all directions!

Crack, crack, crack, crack—

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack—

The players began to harden and turn to stones. As for the players that did not turn to stones, vipers stretched out and pierced through their bodies. They were helpless. Then, an ominous sound rang in Richard’s ears. He could not see anything since he closed his eyes tightly to avoid looking at Leona’s eyes.

“Hiiiiiiiiiiisss—“

It was the sound of a snake hissing. Richard knew that the viper was fast approaching, ready to pierce through his heart. However, he could not avoid it even with his eyes wide open.

‘Damn!’

At that moment…

Splaaaaaaaash—

The viper’s blood splashed on his face. Then…

“Sword’s Judgment.”

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

Six sword lights flew and struck Leona’s body.

“Ugh!” Leona groaned as the tens of thousands of eyes disappeared.

Richard smiled pleasantly. When he opened his eyes, Verr, a being close to becoming a Sword Master and an Absolute Supreme NPC, was there. There were also several Named NPCs standing right next to him along with a large army that was almost 200,000 in number. Their eyes were showing a fierce and vicious glint through the gaps of their helmets.

“Sir Verr…!”

“I hope I wasn’t too late.”

Richard was deeply moved. At this moment, he felt as if he did not live his life in vain. The troops that came looked very formidable. However, the most important ones were the Named NPCs and Verr.

The whole world must be watching them now. They would see how a single player was able to gather nearly 200,000 NPC troops, more than ten Named NPCs and a being closest to becoming an Absolute Supreme NPC. What was more, the NPCs of the Maserrati Guild have not yet arrived. They had around five Named NPCs under their command.

The entire world was shocked.

[Amazing. A player has actually gathered those NPCs even though they aren’t NPCs associated with their guild.]

[It seems like the soldiers came from different nations based on the patterns on their armor. There are even some that are wearing ordinary and plain clothes. It seems like those ones do not belong to any nation or empire.]

[The most important one there is Verr. He is a strong NPC, and almost everyone in the world knows of his name. Given that he came running after the Maserrati Guild asked for help, we can already see the influence that the guild has.]

[The fact that a player could win the hearts of NPCs… This is something that’s worthy of our admiration.]

Then…

“We’re late.”

“Sorry.”

Another five people, carrying incredible momentum, appeared. They were none other than the pillars of the Maserrati Guild, the five Named NPCs under their command.

“Ha, hahaha!”

Richard laughed loudly at the sight of his comrades, his eyes automatically turning to where Minhyuk was, ‘Are you seeing this, Food God? This is my strength, my power!’

Richard was not an arrogant man by nature. He was someone that dreamt of becoming a king that was partial toward the weak and strong against the strong. But today, he was very proud after gaining an upper hand over the Beyond the Heavens’ King.

‘I will be the one and true king!’

He would win all of the NPCs' hearts in every continent, make friends with them, and become their emperor!

Leona pulled out the six sword lights that were stuck in her body. Richard seemed to have forgotten his fear for a moment. But he should not have. Even if he had close to twenty Named NPCs behind him, the woman in front of him could not be underestimated. After all, she was Elizabeth’s child.

***

Leona looked at the people in front of her in interest. She could feel a strong force emanating from those that were standing in the vanguard.

‘Are they the ones that the humans called legends?’

This was a world where humans could become legends and even be gods. Leona’s gaze drifted toward Minhyuk, who was inside a transparent barrier.

‘He’s the one I have to keep my eye on the most.’

Leona did not know what the man was preparing but she knew that it was dangerous. In the end, Leona made her decision.

“Do you know my mother’s name?” She stood in front of the 200,000 troops that blocked her path and asked. Of course, the 200,000 troops were stationed very far, and only the almost 20 Named NPCs were standing directly in front of her. “It’s Elizabeth. Do you know what god she is?”

“…”

Everyone silently prepared for whatever attack was coming their way, wary of every single muscle. And Leona? She giggled at them.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk, who was cooking inside the barrier, looked up with an ugly expression on his face.

“Wait, don’t tell me…!”

Minhyuk had cut off the vipers acting as Leona’s hair that allowed her to command the Snake Soldiers. Everyone believed that it was the one that gave her the power to summon the soldiers. In fact, her hair had not regenerated even now. But it seemed like it was nothing but a shell, a disguise.

“My mother is the God of Snakes,” Leona said as she gracefully raised her slender arms. Then…

Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble—

The surroundings began to shake as Leona received Elizabeth’s power to take over the system and rule over all of the snakes.

“We have to stop her,” Verr said, his feet trying to move as fast as he could. However…

Baaaaaaaaaang—

Booooooooooooooom—

Thuuuuuuuuuuud—

A tornado formed as something huge rose from the ground. Whatever it was surrounded Leona and blocked Verr and the Named NPCs' way to approach her.

“Snake…?”

“They’re all snakes, right?”

That was right. They were all poisonous snakes clustered together rising to a height of forty meters and a width of ten meters. Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of them appeared and spun fiercely like a tornado. Then, Leona gracefully pointed her arms down toward the ground.

Baaaaaaaaaaaang—

Thuuuuuuuuuuuud—

Baaaaaaaaaaaam—

The millions of snakes that made up the surging tornado dived down and occupied the ground.

“Step back!!!”

“Move!!! Quick!!!”

“Hiiiiiiik!”

“A, aaaaaaaack!”

“Hisssssssss—“

“Hissssssss—“

The snakes fell down on the heads of the players and NPCs, leaving them in a mess. A total of 1.2 million snakes fell down and slithered on the ground beneath their feet.

At the same time, Verr murmured, “The true power of the God of Snakes is not her force. Her true power was the fact that she is the mother of snakes…”

Verr’s face was ugly as he mumbled those words. His breathing turned rough and haggard the moment he saw the shocking display in front of him. A 1.2 million strong army with the head of a dragon and the scales of the snake appeared in front of them. Considering that a Snake Soldier could easily deal with at least one decent ranker the other day, it could be said that their current situation was truly a terrible one.

“Do you know this great one’s name?” Leona asked arrogantly as the 1.2 million Snake Soldiers lined up behind her.

Richard shook his head, ‘I shouldn’t have called them here…’

He could tell that everyone here would die. Even the Named NPCs that came here for his sake would die. He and the other players might be able to come back to life, but that was not the case for the NPCs.

Richard immediately made a decision, “Sir Verr, please run away!!! We, we will stop them!!! Players, please help me buy them some time! We have to stop them!!!”

Richard cried desperately to protect the NPCs. Hearing his cry, Leona grinned viciously and said, “This great one is Elizabeth’s child, the one that will become the God of Origin, Leona.”

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—

The 1.2 million strong troops began to move, a bloody energy surging all over the place and surrounding Leona. Everyone fell in despair. They knew that this army would kill everyone.

Richard felt extremely frustrated, the players were crying in despair and even Verr could not hide his embarrassment. But then…

“Do you know this great one’s name?”

…they heard an unfamiliar voice ring. The voice that faded away into nothingness sounded so beautiful and charming.

Not long after, a tremendous amount of black demonic energy fell from somewhere and devoured the bloody energy that surged and surrounded Leona’s body. Then, the space right in front of Leona split apart, an explosion of demonic energy accompanying it.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaang—

[Caution!]

[Danger!]

[Caution!]

[Danger!]

[Caution!]

[Danger…]

[A great presence that can encompass the world is descending!]

A woman wearing red leather armor with a red whip hanging on her waist walked out of the space. The moment the woman raised her arm, a huge amount of demonic energy appeared and turned into the form of a hand that grabbed Leona’s neck.

Grab!

“Keuhaaaaaaaaack!”

Leona shrieked, her expression clearly showing how flustered she was. At the same time, tens of thousands of demons and demonic beasts appeared behind the woman.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeck!”

“Keuaaaaaaaaack!”

“Graaaaaaaaaaa!”

The lips of the black beauty curled beautifully as she said, “This great one is Great Demon Gremory.”

“…!”

“…!”