Chapter 371: Shadow of Death, the God of Cuisine Descends

Chapter 371: Chapter 371: Shadow of Death, the God of Cuisine Descends

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Blast Pigeons crashed one after another against the invisible Force Field surrounding "Cecilia."

They erupted into searing fireballs and chaotic bursts of Energy!

The Silenti’s Petrifying Light rained down upon the Force Field, making a SIZZLING sound!

The Swarm tore at it manically, trying to break through Cecilia’s unseen barrier!

The violent explosions and turbulent Energy fluctuations temporarily obscured everyone’s vision.

When the smoke and light began to clear,

Seraphina Sullivan saw that Lina’s figure had vanished.

Only a scorched patch of ground and a few scattered fragments remained.

Evidently, amidst the indiscriminate saturation attack and kamikaze bombing,

the Beloved, who had been temporarily empowered by the God of Assassination, had ultimately failed to withstand the assault and was obliterated without a trace.

’It’s working! My counterattack... it’s actually working!’

A faint glimmer of hope rose in Seraphina Sullivan’s heart.

It at least proved that this kind of multi-layered, no-holds-barred numerical assault

could interfere with the enemy, and even eliminate her accompanying Beloved!

However, no sooner had this glimmer of hope appeared than it was ruthlessly popped like a bubble.

The figure of "Cecilia" slowly emerged from the smoke and dust.

She was completely untouched, not a speck of dust on her.

The invisible Force Field around her hadn’t even rippled.

Her gaze fell upon Seraphina Sullivan, as cold as ice.

It was as if she were looking at a pesky, skittering insect.

"You... still refuse to give up," she said coolly.

The next second, Seraphina Sullivan discovered in horror that her body had suddenly gone rigid.

She was held fast by invisible shackles, unable to move even a single finger!

Even her thoughts began to slow to a crawl!

And all the combat units Seraphina Sullivan had summoned...

The Silenti, who had been attacking just a moment ago.

The few remaining Blast Pigeons circling and looking for an opening.

And the vast, dark army of the Swarm.

At that very moment, as Cecilia clenched her fist,

Instantly!

they all... exploded without warning!

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

It was as if an unseen giant hand had crushed them all in an instant!

The Silenti and the Blast Pigeons instantly vaporized into a bloody mist.

The army of the Swarm was reduced to pools of disgusting pulp!

There was no process, no resistance. It all happened in a single moment.

All her efforts had been turned into lifeless chunks of flesh and debris!

Seraphina: !!!

Her mind went cold.

Despair, like the deepest winter ice, instantly froze her to the core.

"Why don’t you use your Power of the Beloved?"

"Cecilia" slowly approached.

Her tone held a hint of curiosity, but it was mostly the taunting amusement of a cat playing with a mouse.

"That unpleasant scent on you... it must be the Power of the Beloved bestowed upon you by a Divine, yes?

Still hiding it at a time like this?

Or perhaps... you can’t use it at all?"

Bitterness filled Seraphina’s heart.

’As if I didn’t want to use it!’

The Power of the Beloved from the [God of Cuisine].

Magic Cuisine.

That power, which could twist the very essence of all things and transform them into "gourmet food," was one of her greatest trump cards.

She had imagined countless times turning the enemy before her into a "dish" ready to be carved up.

But now.

Faced with the chasm-like suppression from a higher level of existence, brought on by just a sliver of the "Fiend God’s" projected consciousness,

she felt as if her connection to the Power of the Food God’s Favored was blocked by a thick, impenetrable membrane!

She couldn’t summon it at all!

The feeling was like an ant trying to shake a mountain.

Like a lowly insect trying to comprehend the stars—utterly futile!

This was the first time since becoming a Player that Seraphina Sullivan had felt so completely and utterly powerless!

All her skills, all her preparations, all her trump cards...

...seemed so pale and laughable in the face of absolute Power and the chasm in their levels of existence.

’Resistance? Struggle?’

’It was just like before, nothing more than a slightly more amusing performance for her opponent.’

’Am I... really going to die here?’

The thought coiled around Seraphina’s heart like the coldest of vipers.

The shadow of death had never been so clear, so near.

’So... is this really how I’m going to die?’

Her consciousness began to blur amidst excruciating pain and suffocation.

A fierce unwillingness to accept this fate surged within Seraphina.

’My Space isn’t even full yet, and I have so many plans left unfinished... Are all my efforts going to serve as nothing but a trophy for this bastard Divine to show off its Power? This really fucking... sucks...’

Just as the last sliver of her consciousness was about to be devoured by darkness—

BOOM!!!

A brilliant pillar of light—so magnificent, Holy, and warm that it defied description, yet also carried a kind of "appetite" that made one’s very soul tremble—

descended abruptly, as if from the ends of the universe, from the very source of all rules, ignoring all barriers of Space and the domains of the Divine!

This pillar of light was not one of pure destruction.

It carried a supreme majesty, yet was bizarrely mingled with the illusions and aromas of countless delicacies.

There was the golden warmth of freshly baked bread.

The rich, full-bodied fragrance of a top-tier soup.

The crisp sweetness of fresh fruits and vegetables.

And the wild, charred aroma of a grilled steak...

Countless contradictory yet harmonious scents intertwined,

instantly filling the entire forcibly created "final arena"!

The pillar of light precisely enveloped the dying Seraphina Sullivan.

Gently, yet irresistibly, it peeled her away from the crushing suppression of the Divine Thought that had nearly pulverized her, and began to rapidly repair her shattered body and collapsing soul.

...

「In the endless void, within the private chessboard Space of the Divine.」

"This is bad! One of Them has discovered the game field we forcibly created and has descended directly through the barrier!"

The phantom of the [God of Assassination], the first to sense the anomaly, fluctuated violently, its voice laced with a rare urgency.

"Who is it? This Aura... it’s so ancient and chaotic..."

The phantom of the [God of Slaughter] also grew solemn, its bloody form churning.

The energy form of the [God of Viruses] rapidly extended countless sensory tendrils, attempting to analyze the source of the descending Power.

However, the moment they touched the very edge of it,

its phantom recoiled as if burned by a red-hot iron, letting out a scream of near-terror:

"Holy crap!!! It’s the most ancient, most insane, most unreasonable of the old gluttons—the [God of Cuisine]!!! Why is she here?! How is that possible?! Don’t tell me... one of her Beloved is here?!"

"We’ve gone too far! We’ve really screwed up this time!"

The [God of Viruses]’s voice was a different pitch now, filled with terror.

"Go! Now! Immediately! If we get targeted by that crazy old hag—no, that crazy God—the four of us combined won’t even be enough for a snack! She’s the kind of being who would genuinely treat other Divine as ingredients!"

Hearing this, the [God of Slaughter] and the [God of Assassination] didn’t hesitate for a second!

When it came to this ancient being, who was "infamous" in Divine circles—or rather, so feared that other gods trembled at the mere mention of her name—

they had no intention of fighting back whatsoever.

"Retreat!"

the [God of Slaughter] barked. The rules of slaughter that maintained this private Space were instantly withdrawn.

The entire chessboard Space began to shake violently and collapse.