Chapter 834: How to Make an Impact (3)

My goal was to build my fame in this land.

And if I wanted to increase my fame...... I had to make as great an impact as possible on people who knew nothing about me.

So what would be necessary for that?

The most effective method would probably be to shatter something they believed they already understood as common sense.

And even that could not be done in some simple way.

For example...... suppose a volcano erupted and caused a massive disaster.

People would be shocked, but everyone knew that volcanoes could erupt.

Physically speaking, it was entirely possible.

Unless that disaster had directly swallowed them up, people would simply think that such a phenomenon was something that could reasonably happen.

On the other hand, something on a vastly smaller scale.

Suppose that back on Earth in the past, before supernatural abilities had become commonplace like they were now, someone managed to teleport a mere 1 meter.

One meter was a distance that could be confirmed with the naked eye, and its scale was nothing impressive.

Compared to a volcanic eruption, it would cause no physical damage at all.

But...... the world would be far more astonished by the latter than the former.

In other words.

‘People are deeply shocked when their common sense is destroyed.’

If I wanted to gain fame by giving people a powerful shock, that was the part I needed to target.

The things people regarded as common sense.

The areas they believed they understood so thoroughly that they were certain nothing beyond those limits could ever happen.

And in my view, the area people understood best of all was.

‘Themselves.’

People believed they knew themselves better than anyone else.

Their abilities, their potential, and even their limits.

Because they observed and reflected on themselves every single day, even if there were things they did not want to know, they would inevitably be forced to realize them anyway.

And now.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

That common sense.

Was, quite literally, being ‘shattered.’

***

‘That thing probably thought the light I was giving off was weaker.’

Well, I could not create the same kind of conditions as when I fought Avaritia.

Compared to back then, naturally the light would have been weaker.

But...... that was not the whole reason.

There was actually a much simpler one.

‘I just cooked a little less.’

When I fought Avaritia.

I had prepared food for everyone within the reach of my influence.

That had only been possible because Morzan’s mana was helping me.

But now, even without Morzan’s mana, I was more than capable of using [Five Loaves and Two Fish] on every Legion member here.

But I had not done that.

I had deliberately withheld the food from the Legion members and prepared it only for the Russian awakened.

The reason was simple.

‘Because that would make it more...... <unbelievable>.’

The Legion members were already well aware of the effects of my cooking.

And, how should I put it.......

They had gotten somewhat used to it.

Of course, even now, they would still be stunned and amazed by my cooking.

But if the potential contained within my cooking were 100.

The Legion members would probably only show about 90 worth of surprise.

The achievements I had accumulated and all the food I had fed them.

Those things had raised their expectations of me far too much.

When I created a new dish, other people would stare in disbelief, unable to believe its effects.

But the Legion members, while still surprised, would simply go, Of course Sergeant Shin can do something like this too~ and move on.

In other words.

‘It doesn’t help my fame.’

How should I put it.

It felt as though my reputation within the faction known as the Legion had already hit the maximum.

There was a reason I had gone overseas in the first place.

My current goal was to increase my fame.

And to do that, I needed to target people other than the Legion members.

That was also why I had cooked less.

‘I can’t be the one to defeat that thing.’

A stranger suddenly appears and eliminates the enemy that had been overwhelming them?

They would just think, So there was someone even stronger than that thing~.

‘The Legion members can’t help either.’

If they won with the Legion members’ assistance?

It was a powerful enemy, but the people helping them were powerful too.

They might simply think, So something like this is possible if everyone works together~.

Which was why.

‘They have to defeat it themselves.’

Themselves.

The people they believed they knew better than anyone else.

Those who had been absolutely certain they could never defeat that monster would smash apart a monster that had become vastly stronger than before.

And when they realized that the potential they had regarded as their absolute limit was nowhere near what they thought it was.

Their common sense would collapse, and the shock would come rushing in.

For that purpose.

While that thing was making its deal with the being outside, I had not eliminated it even though I could have.

Even after it received power from outside...... there probably would have been some way to eliminate it if I really tried, but I had not even bothered putting much thought into that.

I had simply judged that those awakened would never be able to defeat it while all of its power was concentrated in a single body...... so I divided it into thousands of pieces for them.......

And.

‘Good thing I happened to have the perfect ingredient.’

All I had done was prepare a dish that suited their tastes.

“Attack!”

“Don’t be afraid when it divides! The more it splits apart, the weaker each individual body becomes!”

The chill raging through their bodies.

[Supernatural Ability]

[Teachings of the Blizzard]

Just as the Legion had learned [Martial Arts].

They had learned techniques from another world.

‘Techniques for controlling cold.’

And once I had gained a rough understanding of those techniques.

There was one thing that immediately came to mind.

‘This feels a little familiar.’

As it happened, I had already encountered energy related to this kind of ‘cold’ before.

And although calling it spoils of war from that battle would be a little strange.

[Belsnickel’s Cold Soul]

I had obtained the source of that energy itself.

‘A divinity that drove an entire world to destruction.’

It was that being’s soul.

The chill pouring from that soul was so intense that, if it were brought outside, it seemed capable of turning the surrounding region into an eternal winter all by itself.

Because of that, the soul had passed through Ariella’s shadow and was now stored inside my own.

In the past, merely touching it for a moment had been enough to make me worry that I might die.

Naturally, even after obtaining it, I had been unable to use it properly and had simply kept it in storage.

‘But not anymore.’

I had already cooked another divinity before.

I had processed the karma contained within its soul and even divided the fate embedded within its Divine Name.

The situation might have been different if this one resisted.

But for some reason, this thing showed no interest whatsoever in its surroundings.

Even when I grabbed it and moved it into my shadow, it had not resisted in the slightest.

Thanks to that.

[Cooking complete!]

[Belsnickel’s Lonely Breath Infused with the Demi-God Chef’s Care]

The enormous amount of energy flowing from it.

Cooking that...... was not particularly difficult.

‘The cold that pale-skinned giant used was certainly powerful.......’

The chill wielded by the Russian awakened.

It was an excellent power, strong enough to allow those awakened to survive in this ruined land.

But I could tell.

‘It probably wasn’t meant for combat.’

That cold had not originally been created for battle.

Most likely, the enormous woman who had spread that energy...... no.

The woman’s homeland itself, the place that energy had originated from, was probably a world far removed from ominous things like war.

The same was true of the power emitted by the Russian awakened who had inherited those teachings.

At best, it could also be adapted for combat.

Watching them fight with it gave off a distinct sense of wrongness...... the discomfort of wearing clothes that did not fit.

‘Not anymore.’

The cold that woman had passed down was certainly powerful.

But in the end, it was still energy created by mere living beings, ordinary beings far removed from transcendence.

FWAAAAASH!!!

The force currently freezing that amorphous monster was a razor-sharp cold that seemed capable of chilling even the bones.

An evil god that had driven an entire world to destruction.

This was the power that evil god itself had emitted.

Something fundamentally on the same level as the golden radiance created by Avaritia’s breath.

“This cold...... what in the world......!”

Naturally.

Compared to the power they had originally wielded, this was beyond comparison in both quality and aggression.

CRRRRUNCH-!

As a result.

The Russian awakened were utterly destroying the monster that had driven them into a corner.

The thing that had once looked so confident had now been split into tens of millions of pieces and was being miserably torn apart.

-No.

When one piece became two, and two became four.

There had still been composure in its attitude.

It was a monster specialized in division to begin with, so that was only natural.

But.......

-This...... makes no sense.

Just as fusing into one body had consumed an enormous amount of energy.

Naturally, splitting apart like this consumed power as well.

Normally, this degree of division would never have been enough to place it in danger.......

-My soul...... is freezing......!

Its body was being shattered over and over by beings wielding the power of a divinity.

Naturally...... the essence that held all that power together.

Its soul could not possibly remain unharmed.

———————!!!

Its soul screamed.

It began shrieking in agony, crying that it did not want to disappear like this.

But.......

“Because of you......!”

“How many people......!”

It was far too late for it to beg for its life.

It had devoured far too much land and far too many lives.

And so.

I watched its body and soul freeze, shatter, and freeze again.

‘......Things might have been different if it had tried, even at the very end, to live together with others.’

Unfortunately.

Even up to this very moment, it had never wanted coexistence.

It had only wanted to devour everything and grow larger.

And so, in the end.

CRACK-!

The final fragment shattered.

And even the soul that had continued screaming until the very end froze solid.

Then broke apart.

***

“Haa...... haa.......”

“Huff......!”

And with that, the battle ended.

The exhausted awakened looked around.

They had won the battle entirely by themselves, without any intervention from the Legion members.

The astonishment and shock of that fact washed over them.

And at the same time.

“Ah.......”

Their gazes turned forward.

Only after the fierce battle ended were they finally able to calmly take in their surroundings.

Until now, the landscape had been packed full of that amorphous monster.

But now, after the battle, the monster was dead.

There were not nearly as many remains scattered around as there had once been, either.

Thanks to that.......

“Our homeland.”

“Like this.......”

The traces left behind by the monster as it swept through the land.

The remnants of the earth that had been gouged away appeared before their eyes.

Not only the cities and villages where they had once lived.

Even the land itself had been carved so deeply that its original shape could no longer be recognized.

All the way to the distant horizon, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but land that had been eaten away tens of meters deep.

They had won the battle.

They had finally eliminated the enemy that had threatened their lives until the very end.

Not through someone else’s hands.

But with their own.

However...... even so.

‘The land that has already been destroyed.......’

‘Can never come back.’

With those thoughts.

They stared at the scene with hollow eyes.

And.

‘......They probably think that land that has already been destroyed can never return.’

I smiled lightly and started walking.

“......Ah, you’re.......”

“Th-thank y.......”

They noticed me and tried to say something.

“Sorry, but excuse me for a moment.”

But I ignored them.

And walked toward the remains of the monster they had hunted.

“......?”

“What is he trying to.......”

I had already allowed them to personally defeat an enemy they had believed they could never overcome.

That alone had probably shocked them quite badly.

But.

‘It’s still a little lacking.’

The recipe I had designed did not end here.

There was still one final piece.

The finishing touch.

Leaving the people staring blankly at me behind, I looked at the amorphous remains scattered in every direction and stretched out my hand.

And.

[Beginning cooking.]

I began cooking.

The ingredient was none other than that monster, Nergalon.

The creature that had swallowed this land itself and used it to inflate its own power.

And...... put another way.

‘The power this thing possesses should be greater than the land it devoured.’

Back when I fought Avaritia.

I had cooked through the earth, sea, and air.

And then I had filled the empty space left behind with another dish.

At the time, I had barely been able to do it because I could use ‘Authority.’

[Cooking complete!]

[Nergalon Jelly Infused with the Demi-God Chef’s Care]

But how should I put it.......

Maybe that experience had become know-how.

I had become capable of using my skills and traits on my own, without the System’s assistance.

Thanks to successfully internalizing my abilities so completely.......

‘I can’t reproduce everything.’

But at least part of what I had done back then.

I could now reproduce without the help of Authority.

[Force-Feeding]

So...... well.

Something like this.

[Your cooking seeps into the devoured earth!]

“......Huh?”

The land that had been gouged away by that monster.

The enormous scarred expanse where not even a trace of its former shape remained ‘ate’ my cooking.

“Wh-what is this......!”

“What......!!!”

FWAAAAASH!!!

The land that had been nothing but wounds.

Began regenerating in an instant.