Gourmet Gaming-Chapter 1285

Chapter 1285

The Luvien Empire and the Beyond the Heavens Empire conducted joint military operations in the Land of the Raging Bulls, Ebeia. Ebeia was vast and home to countless high-level monsters, so both empires recruited elite-level individuals for their troops.

Although it was called cooperation under the guise of joint military activities, both empires were still at war—one of pride. The Luvien Empire had not only sent two dukes, but they also sent almost 85% of their Swords of the Gods in this venture. As for the Beyond the Heavens Empire, they sent many of their vassals and high rankers.

Thud, thud, thud!

“Moooooooo!”

“Moooooooo!”

The mobs living in Ebeia were primarily bulls. Regardless, they weren’t ordinary bulls. The most ordinary bull, the One-Horned Bull, in Ebeia was at around Level 760. The Two-Horned Bull was at Level 800, and the Three-Horned Bull, a quasi-boss mob, almost reached Level 840. The biggest problem, however, was that these bulls appeared in herds. Their numbers always almost reached ten thousand when they appeared.

Nonetheless, this was nothing to both empires. Each side’s strong men showed off their powers and unleashed them upon the charging bulls.

“Bentino’s Wall!” Valentino summoned a wall of shields that was as high and wide as the Great Wall and slowed down the bulls’ charge.

With the bulls’ charge delayed, the vassals of the Beyond the Heavens Empire and the Swords of the Gods of the Luvien Empire quickly jumped in and made their numbers dwindle swiftly as if they were in intense competition.

“As expected of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, you’re quite excellent. You might be comparable to our Swords of the Gods if you were better.”

“Hoho. Is that so? From what these old eyes can see, they’re all competent and on par with your Swords of the Gods, no?”

A small yet tension-filled war of nerves passed by between Duke Vakkaman and Ben. Although the two kept each other in check, they still recognized each other’s strengths.

‘The level of the Beyond the Heavens’ soldiers is much lower than ours. However, the level of their vassals is beyond imagination.’

Duke Vakkaman acknowledged that fact. It occurred to him that the damage their military forces would suffer if the Luvien Empire were the only one who went here to pioneer the Land of Ebeia would be tremendous. Now that they had the help of the vassals of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, the damage they suffered and would suffer from could be reduced to a minimum.

‘The Land of Ebeia is vast. Even if we divide it in half, we can still go around without clashing with the Beyond the Heavens Empire.’

Just when they were at the end of their attack in the Land of Ebeia, the mountain, which was said to be the pride of Ebeia, suddenly twitched and moved.

‘What? Am I seeing things now?’ Duke Vakkaman rubbed his eyes as he looked at the mountain, which had returned to calm after the sudden twitching.

Then, an explosion erupted. At the same time, a gigantic bull emerged in front of them. The bull was colossal, just like a mountain.

“MOOOOOOOO!!!”

[Ebeia’s Bull has descended!]

Everyone who saw Ebeia’s Bull could tell that the monster in front of them was a boss monster. The worst part? Its level was so high that they could not help but groan.

[Ebeia’s Bull. Level 1,001.]

With every step the gigantic bull took, the ground would shake, and the sky would cry.

Duke Vakkaman made eye contact with Ben.

“Except for our main force, all troops! Retreat!!!”

“Get out of here as fast as you can!!!”

They could tell that some of their soldiers would die just by a mere graze by the charging bull in front of them.

Asura Ascar and three of the Swords of the Gods immediately leaped forward to try and stop the galloping Ebeia’s Bull. Ascar swung her blood-red great sword at the bull, but it failed to pierce through its thick skin. The same was true for the three Swords of the Gods.

“...!”

The Swords of the Gods were flustered when they realized their attacks did not leave a nick on the bull. Seeing the situation, Duke Vakkaman, Duke Laghman, Ben, and Rundalk immediately blocked the bull's path.

“God’s Pinnacle Spear.”

“Supreme Sword.”

When Ben and Rundalk’s powerful attack landed upon the Ebeia’s Bull, it immediately stopped and began to retreat. However, the attacks were not yet over. A single arrow shot into the sky from Duke Laghman’s bow. This arrow split into hundreds of arrows that rained upon the retreating bull. Then, Duke Vakkaman swiftly closed in and cut through its thick, hard skin that even the Asura’s sword could not pierce through.

“MOOOOOOOO!!!” The Ebeia’s Bull screeched wildly.

Ebeia’s Bull was a powerful boss monster. The problem was most of the leading people of the current era were gathered here. If the number of high-rankers and NPCs were combined, then more than a hundred strong men were present in this place. This force alone could crush anything in Athenae. Adding on the fact that the Luvien Empire and the Beyond the Heavens Empire were the ones who had joined forces, their power and momentum were beyond imagination.

The Ebeia’s Bull felt heavy pressure coming from all sides. Ultimately, it fell on the ground with a loud thud. It was as if its hind legs had lost all of its strength. Seeing this, dozens of strong men leaped simultaneously and aimed for its neck.

But they could not reach Ebeia's Bull. A powerful voice rang out; its tremendous pressure prevented them from going further, “How dare you try to kill my precious Ebeia’s Bull?”

The loud and sonorous voice and the overwhelming pressure left goosebumps on their skin as they turned to look at the sky. They saw a man with short golden hair and dazzling armor stepping out of the ripped-up space.

[One of the Twelve Gods of Olympus, Ares, has descended!]

[Warning.]

[Warning.]

[Ares possesses the power to command all of Olympus’ troops.]

[Ares. Level 1,386.]

[God of War’s Light.]

[All those that the God of War’s Light had touched will be forced to their knees.]

[The God of War’s Light has touched you.]

[All of your stats will decrease by 15%.]

[Your resistance to abnormal statuses will decrease by 30%.]

[Your defensive power will decrease by 25%.]

They all held their breath in fear.

Most of the people present had never seen any of the Twelve Gods of Olympus. However, none of them knew the full extent of the power and force that the people hailed as the Twelve Gods of the Gaia Continent had.

But the players were different. Unlike the NPCs, they could see the extent of this power.

“His level is almost at Level 1,400...?”

“God of War Ares...”

Every player knew about the Greco-Roman mythology. And all of them knew that another name was behind Ares’ incredible name. That name was War Maniac.

The problem was they had unknowingly touched the War Maniac’s possession. That was why he had made an appearance here.

Ares, who had unleashed the God of War’s Light upon his descent, inflicted everyone with an abnormal status and neutralized all their attacks. He looked at them in interest, just like a kid who found a new toy.

“It seems like only the strongest men of the other continent have gathered here,” Ares spoke with a horrifying grin.

At that moment, everyone saw the glint of triumph appear on his face. No, to be exact, they had seen his desire to slaughter all of them here right from the moment the corners of his mouth twitched.

Everyone realized the situation.

“God of War Ares, we never knew that the bull belonged to you. Just this once, please grant us mercy...” Duke Vakkaman pleaded, but his words fell on deaf ears.

“Shut up.”

“...”

Only at this moment did they realize that Ares came here in the first place, hoping to kill all of them.

Just then, Ares said, “I want to kill every single one of you right now. However! I’m very curious about one thing. I wonder how much power the people from the other continent have?”

The space behind Ares split open, and countless people wearing golden armor constantly poured out.

“How about this? If you can endure this for a day, I will send all the people who survive back.”

The people present flinched when they heard his words.

“I’m not a fan of fighting. I try to avoid it as much as I can. Ah. Except this time. Let me slash you once. You can think of this as the price you must pay for daring to touch my precious bull.”

Swoosh–!

[Ares’ Sword.]

[Ares’ Sword will deal 40% damage and 40% decrease in STM to everyone recognized as his enemy!]

The sound of the sword being swung rang in everyone’s ears. At that moment, blood surged from the chests of Spear God Ben, Laghman, Vakkaman, Ascar, Genie, and all of the 1.4 million people present, regardless of who they were or their position.

***

Philip still could not believe it.

‘Three melon bingsu came out?’

Thanks to Minhyuk, he could meet the family he had once lost. The melon bingsu had a soft white glow.

“They’re here.”

It seemed like the one who cooked the melon was the only one who could see the people eating it.

“Does it taste good? I see, it’s very delicious. Huh?”

Philip smiled bitterly when he heard the words. However, he ended up turning away. Even though he had wanted to meet his family for so long, he felt more fear than excitement. Why? He feared they might blame him for being unable to protect them. And the truth was he failed to protect them. He could not even care about them while they were dying.

At that moment, the three white bones shone with a bright white light. Perhaps it was because the three members of Philip’s family had eaten all of the melon bingsu.

Even so, Philp, consumed by guilt, could not turn around. Then, he felt a familiar presence behind him. The fear in his heart grew more prominent as the familiar presence drew closer. At that moment, someone gently grabbed his big, callused hand.

When Philip turned to look at his hand, he saw his daughter looking up at him with a bright smile on his face.

“It’s Daddy!”

Then, someone held his other hand too. When he looked at his other hand, he saw his son.

“Wowwww! Daddy!”

Philip, who saw his children, could not say anything. He did not know how to start. Should he apologize first? Or should he tell them that he loved them? No. He did not even know if he deserved to say those words to them.

“Philip.”

Then, a voice rang behind Philip, leaving him trembling slightly. He believed his children treated him nicely because they did not know anything. His wife was different.

“Why won’t you look at me?” His wife asked him.

Philip said weakly, “Because, in the end, I failed to protect you and the children. I fought for your sake, but I ended up leaving you dying behind me.”

The results had proven to be disastrous.

His wife looked at Philip’s trembling shoulders and said, “That’s right. I saw it all.”

‘Did they truly resent me?’

“You fought against an irreversible fate to protect your children.”

His wife could not forget his back as he fought against the gods that the one who ordered the world's destruction sent. Philip did not back down even though the spear shattered his shoulder, the blades that ripped his body, and the arrows that pierced his chest.

“You did not do anything wrong.”

Still, Philip did not look back at her. His wife stared at him, and with a voice filled with mirth, she said, “Philip, thank you. Thank you for being my husband. Thank you for being the father of our children.”

When he heard it, Philip knew what they truly felt. Of course, he was thrilled and grateful that she was his wife and they were his children. Only then did Philip turn around and embrace his family.

With tears in his eyes, he said, “If we’re ever born again, please continue to be my wife, son, and daughter.”

His wife answered, “Of course.”

His daughter replied, “Of course, Daddy!”

His son said, “Huh? Daddy, you have always been our daddy, right?”

Philip, known as the Absolute Martial God and the Creator, was beaming even amid his punishment.

When it was time for them to return, Philip held his family tightly one last time. His expression was more relaxed as if he had finally finished an assignment that he had been unable to do for a very long time. Once the effects of the Melon that Soothes Regret ended, his family turned into light and disappeared under Philip’s gaze.

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Philip, who had finally seen his family off, approached Minhyuk with a happy smile. There was one problem: he could not figure out what to do for Minhyuk. Minhyuk had made the impossible possible.

“Boy, I want to give you whatever you want.”

When he heard his words, Minhyuk thought of something. Then, he grinned.

***

President Kang Taehoon was rushing toward the conference room. All of the team leaders had been called in, and almost all of them were waiting there.

Just in time, he ran into Team Leader Park, who was also going to the conference room.

“Are you saying three melon bingsu came out because of Double Drop?”

“Yes. Player Minhyuk might actually learn the Pillar Slaying Sword right now.”

“What the hell? Are we running some kind of lucky game here or what...?”

Why in the world would Double Drop trigger right at that very moment? Of course, they did not deny that Player Minhyuk was born with natural luck.

However, Team Leader Park’s concerns were focused elsewhere. He said, “Uhm, president... I had a conversation with Lee Minhwa. It’s about Player Minhyuk’s in-game family tree.”

President Kang Taehoon frowned after hearing Team Leader Park’s explanation about Minhyuk’s six-month cycle of adding a family member and the fact that he always added people who were much stronger than him to his family tree.

“So... right now, you’re telling me it’s time for the next cycle?”

“That’s right. And you also know that every member of the family tree always treated him with care and would give him anything he wanted. Perhaps Philip...”

“Team Leader Park, stop saying weird things.”

President Kang Taehoon knew that Team Leader Park was not the type of person who believed in speculations, so he could not understand why he was so worried about this.

“You’re trying to say that The Creator will be added to Minhyuk’s family tree? Even if he only adds stronger people to his family tree and the six months are up, that’s preposterous. What are you going on about? Are you trying to set up a flag? That’s impossible,” President Kang Taehoon said firmly as he opened the door to the conference room.

Common sense dictated that it was impossible.

[Hahahaha. Then, shall I call you my dear great grandnephew from this day on?]

[Yes, great-grandpa!]

“...?”

President Kang Taehoon was rendered speechless. When he looked back at Team Leader Park, his expression clearly screamed, ‘Told you so...’

And Philip, Minhyuk’s remarkable great-grandfather, said...

[Grreat grandnephew, what did you think when you saw the Spark of White Flames?]

[It’s so amazing! I was so jealous when I saw it, great grandpa!]

[How about the Descent of the Evil God?]

[I only heard about it and haven’t had the chance to see it yet. But since my great-grandpa is the one who made it, then it must be very impressive!]

[That’s right, that’s right.]

Minhyuk’s newly obtained great grandfather(?), Philip, gently patted his head.

[You don’t have to be jealous anymore.]

Minhyuk looked up at his great-grandpa in confusion. When Philip saw the puzzled look on his face, he smiled and said...

[Because I will now teach you a power beyond those two.]