by Road Warrior
Che…! Sophia who was watching this scene rose from her seat and approached Sungchul from behind.
“Um…”
“What is it?” asked Sungchul.
“Could I… help you?”
Sophia had made a once-in-a-lifetime decision before making her request, but Sungchul’s response was callous.
“I’ll decline.”
He refused it point-blank. I might as well starve before I leave any of the cooking to you.
However, Sophia was not one to give up easily. She feared Sungchul, but she stood her ground and asked once more, “I’ll help just a little bit, since we are eating as well.”
At this point, Sungchul tore off a portion of the meat he had been mincing and handed it to Sophia. “Prepare your portion yourself then.”
It was not her ideal resolution, but Sophia received the meat politely with both hands and celebrated in her mind.
Great. The time has come to show Brother my cooking skills!
Unfortunately, she didn’t notice it. She didn’t notice Elijah’s eyes twitch in fear.
Sophia discerned that the dish Sungchul was preparing was a form of a Hamburg steak. The preparation of the ingredients and most of the cooking had already passed through Sungchul’s hands, and she only had to mince the meat a bit further and grill it.
The mincing wasn’t difficult, but the problem was in the grilling. It was difficult to find appropriate cooking tools out here. It took Sophia considerable amount of creativity to prepare an adequate cooking utensil. She noticed a branch rolling on the ground.
It’ll be fine if I just stick this stick through the meat like a bone and grill the surface, right?
She looked over her shoulders at Sungchul who she considered her rival. He was still mincing the meat. It was almost a stupid level of persistence. Sophia reminded herself that the greatest spice was hunger and began to put her idea into action.
She washed a branch with an appropriate thickness and stuck the minced meat into its center, but the meat didn’t stick properly. Perhaps it had lost viscosity as a result of being minced, but even when it was rolled into a ball it would fall apart constantly. She had to borrow the power of magic in the end.
Sophia, who had studied the art of Cryomancy, conjured an air of frost from her hand and succeeded in freezing the meat solid onto the stick.
“…That woman. What is she doing?” Bertelgia who had been kicked out of Sungchul’s pocket was wandering the area, and she began to mutter to herself when she noticed Sophia’s antics. Sophia was grilling the frozen meat, as it was, by placing it onto the cooking station attached to the campfire, but it was doubtful if the frozen meat could cook properly.
For a moment, the completely frozen meat seemed to withstand the heat pretty well until it suddenly and rapidly burnt up, transforming into a black piece of coal that gave off a black smoke. A plume of black smoke rose from the fire.
Sophia vaguely recognized that there was something wrong, but didn’t take it seriously. She pulled out the black mass that was the source of the smoke from the fire, but the branch that had held the meat also suddenly caught fire. She quickly froze the meat, put out the fire, and served the frozen black mass to Elijah.
“Brother, you must have been starving? Eat up. It’s been a while since I've last showed off my skills.”
“…”
Elijah’s face looked relaxed, but his mind wasn’t. Please… help me. I really don’t want to eat… that thing!
His personality did not allow him to say words that might upset his sister and was in turn bringing him unspeakable suffering. His gaze passed over Sophia and landed on Sungchul. Sungchul was throwing a fist-sized rock with a flat surface into the fire, but as he was doing so, he took a peek over at Elijah and Sophia.
“What’s that? Is that edible?” Sungchul asked bluntly.
“Of course… it’s edible.” Sophia showed a bit of dissatisfaction, but Sungchul noticed that Elijah was backed into a corner, so he walked over towards them with a small sigh.
“Why don’t you try eating it? That thing that you’ve made.”
“What did you… say?”
“Just try it. That food you made yourself.”
She would have normally ignored it, but her current opponent was the legendary villain that held the ultimate authority over life and death known as the Enemy of the World.
Sophia turned her eyes towards the food that she had made. The burnt lump that could not be called food was in her hands.
“It’ll… be delicious?”
Sophia already realized her mistake. She already knew that the food she prepared herself was something that shouldn’t be eaten.
Sungchul quickly lifted the flat stone with the minced meat and carried it closer to the fire. The meat was stacked up like a mountain peak. Sungchul split that meat into three parts and split it equally between himself and the Breggas sibling. Sophia who watched him do so spoke coldly. “You surely don’t expect us to eat raw meat?”
Sophia may have thrown aside the dish she had prepared, but she still had an excuse left. I burned it because I lacked the proper cooking tools. Could you really do any better?
At her question, Sungchul’s sword made swift movements. On his blade was placed the small and flat rock that had been previously thrown into the fire. He placed the steaming rock in front of them, and using the dagger, he placed the minced meat lightly on the rock as if it were butter.
SIZZLE
The minced meat miraculously began to cook with a savory sound. The rock that had soaked the campfire’s heat acted like a frying pan. They had no sauce, and only minimal ingredients were used, but the moment that the grilled meat entered their mouths, an extraordinary flavor danced around their tongues.
“Mmm.” Sungchul, who was the first to enjoy the meat, closed his eyes and savored the flavor.
[The score of the dish is… 68 points!]
He would have been able to receive a much higher score if he had additional materials like sauces or spices, but even this was not a score that an ordinary cook could obtain.
“…!!” A quiet exclamation escaped from Elijah’s lips. The dish had tremendous flavor.
“!!” Sophia also felt shocked. It was the same meat, but the flavor is this different?!
She felt frustrated, but she couldn’t stop eating.
Sungchul watched the Breggas siblings voraciously devour their meal. He felt his dignity as a chef slowly being recharged. Even if it was a momentary solace.
A familiar scene entered in his mind. It was that of a girl dressed like a vagrant. This child had abruptly approached him and had brought up the name of the woman that he had long since forgotten. Sungchul was caught up in conflicting emotions as he watched the girl hungrily eat up the food that a servant brought up. This was in Sungchul’s glory days.
It was a time when Sungchul was spreading his name throughout the land as the Tenth Champion of the Continent and the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the newly formed Human Empire, bringing order on the continent that was becoming weakened by depravity.
But on the other hand, it was also the depressing period of time when he was feeling the insidious effects of internal power struggle that spread like an infection from within the empire. He had been quietly preparing to return to the original world along with his comrades, but the appearance of this child completely turned his life around.
“…”
Sungchul’s reverie was interrupted by rustling noises in the background.
“Come out.” A low, but heavy sound left his lips. The Breggas siblings that were completely occupied with eating looked surprised and began to search their surroundings. A dark figure revealed himself to Sungchul’s party through the fog within this heavy silence. They had seen this figure before. It was the human that was lingering around the tower of the devil worshippers doing heavy labor.
The man was wearing black clothes like an undertaker and had his pitiful face covered wi
th a bandana as he carefully walked over to Sungchul and spoke with a hideous voice. “Kekeke… Don’t misunderstand. I am no enemy. I simply came over with a proposition.”
“A proposition?” When Sungchul responded with disinterest, a grotesque smile formed around the man’s twisted lips underneath his bandana.
“Do you wish to kill the High Devils? If so, I might have some information to share.”
***
“Get lost,” Sungchul retorted coldly.
The humanoid creature was suppressed by Sungchul’s oppressive aura and backed off without another word. It seemed like the brief meeting with the creature might come to a close without any further development, but this was not the end of it.
“…”
Elijah had stopped eating his meal as he couldn’t take his eyes off the creature. Sungchul had noticed this, but he didn’t mention it.
–
The next day, Sungchul prepared to attack the final four towers. However, just as they were about to depart, Elijah appeared to be in intense pain. Sungchul had expected something like this, but he didn’t quite expect Elijah Breggas, the son of a famous figure, to go as far as forsaking his own dignity. Unfortunately, he made the wrong choice. Sungchul already knew what becoming a Devil truly meant and had seen the end result of such a transformation with his own two eyes, but he also knew that nothing would change even if he said something.
“…”
He could physically restrain him, but he wasn’t obligated to go that far for the boy. Sungchul chose to take the most indirect method for those reasons.
“I need an attendant to hold the book. I don’t want to flip through the pages tediously. If you need medication to numb the pain, I can give you some.”
When Sungchul said as such, Elijah turned towards Sophia without hesitation. “Sophia. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to go in my stead.”
“Brother!” Sophia was shaken, but she also understood the resolve in Elijah’s eyes and nodded weakly.
“Hand over all of the Tomes of the High Devils to the girl.” Sungchul silently moved forward.
Elijah obediently handed over every tome that he held to Sophia.
“Don’t be concerned for me,” Elijah reassured her as he handed the books over.
He said as such, but there was no way that she wouldn’t be worried about him. This may be the territory of the devil worshippers, but it was still within the Demon Realm where demons roamed freely. Sophia looked towards Elijah with eyes full of concern as she thought about what to say, but she didn't know what she should be saying in this situation. Soon, Sungchul’s stern voice could be heard from the front. “What’s taking so long?”
In the end, Sophia simply lowered her head and moved to follow Sungchul. She turned back as she walked behind Sungchul. However, Elijah was not looking at her. The place he was looking at was the tower where the humanoid creature worked as a laborer. Sophia continued to look towards Elijah until his figure disappeared from her sight, but Elijah did not look in her direction even once.
“…”
Her heart quivered, but she didn’t show weakness. Instead, she bit down on her lower lip and turned to look towards Sungchul’s back who had flung open the doors of a new tower as she thought, You knew that it was going to be like this.
It was only recently that Sophia was able to use the Breggas family name. Elijah and Sophia were from different mothers. In contrast to Elijah’s mother who was the esteemed daughter of an influential family, Sophia’s mother was a country bumpkin that lived on a farm scooping cow manure. To Sophia, who had lived with the scar of illegitimacy since birth, her childhood was pitiful. It was none other than Elijah who had brought the light of salvation to this little girl. To Sophia, Elijah was far more than simply her brother. She was prepared to give up anything for her brother, even her meager life.
“…Becoming a Devil…”
The man who was leading her down an unfamiliar hallway finally opened his mouth. Sophia, who had been temporarily preoccupied with her thoughts, snapped to attention and gazed towards the back of the man with the fluttering ragged coat.
“It’s essentially the same as throwing oneself away.”
“…?!” Sophia’s eyes grew wide. Why is this person saying such things?
Sungchul continued to speak, “The physique of a Devil is different than the physique of a man. If the human body is like the surface of a lake lightly stirring with the wind, then the body of a Devil is like a sea forever burning in the endless flames of compulsion.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Sophia politely tried to push back, but Sungchul did not stop talking.
“Inside the body of a Devil, the mind of a human won’t last even a year before turning to ash.”
“…”
She already knew that the man was never one to speak empty words, and she knew what it was he was trying to tell her. She quickly regained her cool before turning to Sungchul with frosty words. “If we don’t get stronger, we’ll die. Martin Breggas. You have no idea how cruel and twisted the man really is.”
“You probably won’t die. If you give up everything, that is.” Sungchul abruptly stopped walking and turned around. He pointed a finger towards himself.
“At least I’m still alive.”
“But you’re strong.” Sophia spoke in protest, but Sungchul only let out a bitter laugh.
“I wasn’t strong from the start. When I first became the Enemy of the World, there were ten people on the continent who were more powerful than me… no, over thirty including those that are not so well known.”
“…”
Sophia shut her mouth and didn’t speak any further. She knew the kind of manpower that was deployed to deal with Sungchul.
Fighting him required at minimum an Armada. Or perhaps the highest class of Assassins from the Assassin’s guild. It was completely on a different scale from the Breggas siblings, who could be taken care of by a few second-rate Assassins.
“If you throw away the Breggas name and live in seclusion, Martin Breggas will not pursue you any further.”
Sungchul said it. His words were all true. The reason why Martin was seeking to murder his own son and daughter was to allow for the child of the woman he loved to inherit everything.
“…It’s better to die than to live without a name like savages.” Sophia finally changed her words. Elijah likely felt the same as well.
“…”
Sungchul closed his mouth once again and proceeded to follow the tower’s stairs to the top. He did not utter another word while they climbed the stairs, but when he arrived before the High Devil on the top floor, he spoke.
“Here is a demon who was originally a human. You must have seen it several times already, but this should serve as a suitable example.”
What awaited Sungchul’s party at the top floor of the green tower was the figure of a giant devil with iron nails embedded all over his body causing blood and pus to pour from the innumerous wounds. Sophia almost fainted because of the devil’s ghoulish appearance and its even more disgusting stench, while Sungchul stood before it confidently and attempted another bargain. He appeared to be unfazed by anything.
As they descended the tower, Sophia recalled the words Sungchul had spoken to her over and over again in her mind. Brother is going to become a monster like that? That can’t happen. It can’t.
However, when she saw another High Devil residing in another tower, her mind lost the balance which had already begun to shake, and it began to develop more and more doubt. She searched for Elijah as soon as they exited the sixth tower after finishing all of its quests, but she could no longer see him hunched over beneath the blue tower. The creature that had been working below the tower was also nowhere to be found.
Could it be? Did brother already begin to act?
Sophia felt her mind growing restless and looked visibly anxious. Sungchul continued to press forward through the unnerving silen
ce. “We’re moving to the next tower.”
“Excuse me…” Sophia mustered up some courage.
Sungchul turned toward her.
“I cannot see Elijah anymore.”
Sungchul pointed to a location veiled by thick fog upon her words. Surprisingly, there was a shape of a human at the spot Sungchul had pointed to. It was Elijah. Sophia felt a single tear welling in her eye as she attempted to run toward that location.
“Where are you going?” Sungchul callously stopped her.
“I’m sorry, but I just want to check up on him,” said Sophia and immediately ran towards Elijah while Sungchul continued to look indifferently toward that place.
Bertelgia crawled out of his pocket and spoke some rather cold words. “Hm. Do I smell the familiar scent of tragedy? Is it perhaps your hobby to enjoy these kinds of situations?”
“Why do you think that?” asked Sungchul.
“If it was me, I might have stopped them physically or something. But, you always seem to just leave people to make their bad choices.”
“Choices have to be made on their own. The consequences of those choices are also on them as well. I do not have a reason, the right, or the obligation to convince them otherwise.”
Sophia ran over to Elijah in a sprint. Elijah was digging the ground, and she could see several piles of dirt all around.
“Brother,” Sophia called out to him.
“Oh, Sophia. You’ve come.” Elijah put down the shovel to warmly greet his sister. There were tiny beads of sweat on his brow, but he looked quite elated.
“Listen, Sophia. That monster from before made quite a suggestion.” He revealed a dark marble that he had dug from the ground to her.
“What is this?” asked Sophia.
It looked like a plain marble.
“It is a sealing orb capable of binding the power of a High Devil. This one is black since it’s already been used, but I was told that an unused one would be colorless. If I find that, then getting rid of a High Devil would be as easy as twisting the arms of a child.”