Chapter 796: Those Who Ate Their Fill

A dragon of black mist clad in golden scales.

That colossal dragon charged at the enemy while wrapped in gray-white radiance.

-ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!

The light of this law that we were emitting.

It was something that maximized the influence over this world that powerful awakened individuals originally possessed.

In other words.

The stronger the awakened individual serving as its main body, the stronger that light also became.

And now.

A being that had originally been powerful enough to destroy the Legion of the past.

As the potential of the [Maek] blossomed to a level close to its limit.......

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Light poured from that dragon’s body with enough force that even that radiant giant.

Even Avaritia could not ignore it.

{A mere beast......!}

The bodies of the giant and the dragon became entangled as they fought.

A battle dealing with laws in which physical force no longer held meaning.

However, the battle between those who dealt with pure laws looked more like the most primitive brawl imaginable than anything else.

BOOOOOM.......

-Grrrk......!

Naturally.

Judging solely by the power possessed by each individual being, even that dragon was no match for the giant.

The dragon’s body, cut by the enormous spear and greatsword, was sent flying backward.

However.......

“Now!”

Fortunately.

That dragon was not alone.

“All forces, commence bombardment!!!”

POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP—!!!

Behind the dragon stood the Legion.

Those who controlled this light through Mirinae’s formation.

“Cover the Legionnaire at the front!”

As their formation moved, the light also moved accordingly.

The Legion’s formation covered the dragon...... the Legionnaire at the front.

The enormous dragon.

Kkamangi directly confronted the enemy.

The Legion covered it while gnawing away at that golden light through bombardment.

And.

[The dish has been completed!]

CRRRRRRRRRRRRACK!!!

I was still cooking his light.

However...... as I did, I thought.

'Cooking has become harder.'

Because of my law, the identity of that light had been fixed as an ingredient.

However.

He was also a being that existed in the realm of dealing with laws.

'He imposed the law of being a difficult ingredient upon his own light.'

Even if an ingredient was still an ingredient.

Not every ingredient had the same cooking difficulty.

Inanimate objects could not adjust their own cooking difficulty, but he was different.

Even if he could not resist the zeroth law engraved upon this world, it was still possible for him to adjust his own light so that it became difficult to cook.

However, that was all.

[The dish has been completed!]

Even he could not defy the law that turned his light into my ingredient.

The power of a great divinity that I would not normally have been able to touch.

I continued cooking his soul.

[Gold, Atmosphere, and Clouds Infused with the Care of a Demigod-Class Chef]

I cooked Avaritia’s light together with this world’s atmosphere and the clouds in the sky.

The Legionnaires had already eaten my dish, [Land].

There might not have been anyone left to feed this dish to.

However.

[Force-Feeding]

That did not matter to me now.

The content of the zeroth law I had forced upon this world.

Besides the ability to designate whatever I wanted as an ingredient.......

[By the authority of the chef, you designate the desired target as a guest!]

There was also a law that allowed me to designate any being I wanted as a guest who would eat my cooking.

The guest I designated was...... the power we were currently handling.

[The Legion’s light has consumed your cooking!]

The light we were emitting.

After eating the dish I had made, it shone even more brilliantly.

[The land has consumed your cooking!]

The mountains, rivers, and sea that had disappeared while I made my dishes.

When that land ate Avaritia’s light.

The vanished space filled with beautiful golden light.

The System’s power originated from the fragments of an ancient god.

A considerable portion of those fragments had melted into all things in this world.

The land was no exception.

The stronger the power of this land became, the stronger the light we emitted also grew.

{......I have no choice but to acknowledge that it is a remarkable Authority.}

As he watched his own light slowly being cooked.

Avaritia glared at me with eyes full of wariness.

A right that was only possible because I was the owner of this world, granted only to the defending side.

He also undoubtedly possessed a powerful Authority, but as an invader who had even left his body behind, he was currently unable to wield his original Authority.

However.

{That is all it amounts to!}

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Avaritia did not remain still either.

Every time that enormous giant swung his spear and blade, our light also vanished at a tremendous rate.

Even though Kkamangi, who contained the greatest power, stood at the front and held as much light as possible while blocking those attacks, it was still this bad.

His light was still more intense, and when comparing the rate at which the light diminished, ours was disappearing far faster.

“......However.”

Even so.

I spoke with a grin.

“The gap has narrowed compared to before.”

{......!}

Until now, the difference had been so vast that it would have been rude even to compare the rates at which the two lights diminished.

Now...... even though we were still at a disadvantage.

We had reached a level where we could be compared to him to some extent.

{Even so......!}

“Then.”

He shouted as though finding it ridiculous.

I smiled as I looked at him.

{You still cannot defeat this lord!}

“We will win.”

Our opinions clashed.

However, my voice was filled with certainty.

Because.

FWAAAAASH.......

Even at this very moment, our light was growing stronger.

No matter how diligently he shaved it away.

Our light was steadily becoming brighter.

***

BOOM, CLANG......!

The fierce battle continued.

Every time Avaritia’s law swept across the world, mountains vanished and heaven and earth split apart.

Whenever that happened, I tore away Avaritia’s light and fed it to the vanished mountains and the shattered heaven and earth.

Amid a battle in which heaven and earth collapsed and regenerated again.

He shouted toward me.

{A remarkable Authority, a remarkable power. The fate you will walk in the future...... such mythical majesty befitting that great fate. However...... do you think this lord would not know?}

Avaritia was a divinity that had invaded and conquered countless worlds.

A being who stood at the summit even among the countless divinities belonging to the Demon Realm.

And.

'He must have already faced and defeated countless other Authorities.'

The worlds he invaded.

The owners of those worlds must also have possessed the rights of the defending side, just like me.

They must have wielded various and powerful Authorities as they faced the invader.

Even so, he had ultimately forced even those worlds into submission.

Considering the overwhelming majesty possessed by this Authority, it seemed impossible.......

{That right is by no means omnipotent.}

He mocked me as he spoke.

{Even if you, who are not even a complete divinity, borrow that authority and wield it, how long can you sustain it?}

“......Tch.”

Right.

In the first place, if this Authority had truly been omnipotent and free of all restrictions.

Not a single world among the defending side would ever have fallen.

However, countless worlds had already collapsed because of the Demon Realm.

Even the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts, Mirinae’s homeland, which had been so powerful, was no exception.

When Mirinae’s homeland collapsed.

In that final battle, the Jade Emperor, who had been the owner of that world, did not use the Authority.

To be precise...... it would be more accurate to say that he could not use it.

{Even now, I can see the insufficient power within you steadily diminishing.}

I obtained this Authority after resolving the matter with the Church.

Since I had already been able to use the Authority when I met Avaritia.

If I had wanted to, there would have been no problem with using the Authority immediately at that time.

However, I conserved the use of this power as much as possible.

Only after realizing that communication with him was impossible did I release this power.

The reason was simple.

'......This power requires a price.'

A price far greater than mere mana could ever compare to.

[The duration of the Authority has been extended.]

Those who walk the path toward becoming divinity.

The power created by gathering together the myths, faith, and achievements they had accumulated.

The power that made the impossible possible.

[1 divine power has been consumed.]

Divine power.

Avaritia, another divinity, must also have possessed immense divine power.

I had to force the zeroth law, which stood above all things, upon such a being.

It was only natural that such a miracle could not be established unless it was powered by something capable of making the impossible possible.

{Even now, I can feel the myths within you being consumed. The faith gathered by those who believe in you, your achievements, your history...... that energy continues to diminish rapidly even now.}

I was the exception.

There was a reason why this power could normally only be handled after one had become a complete divinity.

Unless one had accumulated divine power to that extent, it was a force that could not be endured in the first place.

{Then, how much remains? How much longer do you think you can maintain that paltry authority?}

I understood why the Jade Emperor, the owner of the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts, had been unable to use the Authority.

When they invaded a world, they probably fought with a prolonged battle in mind.

No matter how powerful a divinity might be.

A battle lasting long enough to force that divinity to consume all the divine power it had accumulated merely to maintain its Authority.

I was not even a complete divinity, but someone who had only barely reached its outskirts.

Compared to those true divinities, the amount of time I could maintain the Authority was inevitably far too short.

Even this much would have collapsed long ago if not for the faith I had obtained while resolving the matter with the Church.

“Certainly, there is not much left.”

However.

I smiled even at Avaritia’s words as I spoke.

“You are right. Soon, I will probably be unable to maintain this Authority and will have to release it. When that happens, I will no longer be able to cook your light like this.”

{You understand well. Then you must already have anticipated it. The fate of defeat bestowed upon you.}

“But you know.”

How should I put it.

He seemed to be mistaken about one thing.

“I am a military cook, a chef.”

{......?}

“The role of a military cook is not to stubbornly endure and fight alongside everyone until the battle ends.”

Without food, people cannot display their full strength.

That is why the strength of an army comes from its meals.

“It is to feed everyone well and cheer them on so they can fight properly.”

And.......

The one who fights is not the military cook.

“It does not matter if my Authority ends.”

Those who properly ate the food made by the military cook.

......That was the army’s role.

“When that happens.”

Even at this very moment.

The awakened individuals were digesting the ‘stat-increasing potion’.

Once they finished digesting it all, the Legionnaires’ light would grow tremendously stronger.

The [Authority] I had used was merely a means of buying time for the Legionnaires who had eaten my cooking to digest that food.

“Those who ate their fill of the dishes I made.”

And.

Once their digestion was complete.

“My customers will finish you.”

{......I wondered what you believed in when you refused the alliance. And yet, it was merely.}

Then.

He shouted as though unable to believe it.

{You merely believed in those mortals.}

“Yes.”

{Foolish!}

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

{No matter how much stronger your Legionnaires become!}

POP-POP-POP-POP-POP-POP......!

{They are still nothing more than mere mortals!}

CRRRRRRRRRRRRACK—!

{Nothing more than a swarm of ants that amounts to a mere handful!}

Under the attacks he unleashed.

The bodies of the Legionnaires forming the formation were violently swept away.

{Do you imagine that merely increasing the strength of those Legionnaires will allow them to reach the heavens!}

At those words.

I answered with a snort.

“You sure talk a lot.”

{......}

“If you are that certain, then let us watch.”

Grin.

“And see which side remains in the end.”

{If you wish to pay the price for your arrogance, do as you please.}

And so.

The fierce battle continued.

A war in which we destroyed one another’s light and forced our laws upon each other.

As time passed, our light continued to be destroyed.

However.

{......}

The longer the battle continued.

The longer this war dragged on.

My divine power was consumed at an increasingly rapid rate.

......However.

{......This is.}

He should have been relaxed while watching my divine power being consumed.

The invader who had been certain that.

The moment my Authority disappeared.

He would be able to defeat me.

{Strange.}

Avaritia.

His light slowly began trembling in a peculiar manner.

At the same time, there was a faint flavor I could taste on my tongue.

A slight sourness.

A deep and difficult aroma that was hard to describe.

'Doubt.'

And.......

A bitterness felt within that sourness.

'Fear.'

A faint fear that followed an incomprehensible doubt.

And as time continued to pass.

Eventually.

[All divine power has been consumed!]

[The duration of the Authority cannot be renewed.]

[The zeroth law forced upon the world is being removed.]

All my divine power was consumed.

No longer.

I had become unable to impose the zeroth law upon this world.

{......}

However.

The being looking at me.

The emotion contained in Avaritia’s gaze was.......

Neither the elation of victory nor the arrogance of looking down upon a fool.

{Imposs.}

What existed there.

{Impossible.}

Was merely.

A very, very pure...... emotion of astonishment.

{No matter that it was cooking, no matter how much the strength of those Legionnaires gathered here has increased.}

A divinity that had destroyed countless worlds.

That radiant giant spoke in a voice that could not comprehend what it was seeing.

{They cannot emit this much light.}

Of course.

A battle that had lasted long enough for my Authority to disappear.

The result that appeared at its end was.......

{There is no way it can contend with this lord’s light...... there cannot be!!!}

The Legion’s gray-white light and Avaritia’s golden darklight.

......The brightness of the two lights.

Had become completely equal.