Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 730: The Sage’s Tower of Magic

He looked down at the curry rice and tonkatsu that was placed in front of him. He was sure that Minhyuk must have gone through and overcome unimaginable pain, hardships, and trials, while making this dish.

The still-steaming curry rice and tonkatsu set was complete with side dishes like savory and salty seaweed, chopped kimchi, pickled radish, tonkatsu sauce, and many more. The sight of these dishes alone brought a gush of warmth in Brod’s chest as he quickly blew on the steam.

“Hoo… Let’s try it.”

This was a dish that His Majesty had worked hard to make. Brod looked at the rice piled up on one side of the plate as he scooped a spoonful of the curry placed right next to it and mixed them together. Then, he scooped a mouthful and placed it in his mouth.

“Ho.”

The taste naturally brought out a breath of admiration from his mouth. This was the taste of curry that had been well-cooked and stewed for quite some time.

With a pleased smile on his face, Brod began to mix all of the curry and the rice in his plate. After mixing them together, he began to scoop one spoonful after another in his mouth.

Munch, munch, munch—

The small smile on his face grew deeper as he continued to eat. This time, he turned his attention to the crispy tonkatsu, cutting a piece and placing it in his mouth.

Crunch—

Brod was pleasantly surprised at the texture of the tonkatsu. Then, he added a piece of tonkatsu along with his curry rice. The thick and rich flavor of the curry complemented the tonkatsu perfectly.

‘His Majesty told me that the best way to eat curry rice is to eat it this way.’

Brod scooped a mouthful of curry rice and placed a piece of salty seaweed on top of it before putting everything in his mouth.

‘This is quite a strange, yet delicious, combination.’

Then, while admiring the taste lingering in his mouth, he dipped the tonkatsu in the tonkatsu sauce and ate everything just like that.

Scrape— scrape—

Not long after, the sound of a spoon scraping the bottom of the plate rang loudly. Brod felt like this was the most delicious dish he had ever eaten in his entire life. In fact, he felt that it was even more special, since His Majesty had put in a lot of hard work and effort in making this dish.

That was when the notifications rang in his ears.

[You have eaten Curry Rice and Tonkatsu.]

[The dish is Absolute God Grade.]

[Your Mercenary’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship’s level has increased by +3.]

[Your HP and MP has recovered to 100%.]

[All of your skill cooldown has been reset.]

[The sealed power of the Fallen Emperor has been awakened.]

[You will be able to summon the members of your knight order that has greeted death.]

[You will be able to summon the army that you once led.]

[The buff will last for a week.]

Brod could not help but be surprised.

‘Is this the power of His Majesty’s Create a Recipe skill…?’

Brod knew that the ‘Create a Recipe’ skill was a skill that would allow Minhyuk to create the recipe of a dish that the recipient wanted to eat the most. It also was a skill that could find out what power the opponent wanted the most at that moment, and increase it. What shocked him the most, was that it was an Absolute God-grade dish.

Brod moved after seeing Belovan send his Lethal Exploding Sword toward Minhyuk.

***

A long time ago, there were two suns that existed in the sky. One was Brod, stronger than anybody else and loved by the people in the Land of the Gods. And the other was Nerva, the clever genius that brought countless benefits to the land.

Each of them had a knight order under their command. Nerva named his knight order as the ‘Swords of the Gods’, while Brod named his own as the ‘Red Swords’. The Red Sword Knights had always been superior to the Swords of the Gods. Since they grew under the careful teaching and nurturing of the Absolute God’s Sword Brod, it was only natural that they became strong. However, most of them were killed when Nerva poisoned them, while those that survived scattered all over the world and lived in seclusion.

[The Fallen Wretched Emperor Brod has once again risen to the sky and became the sun!]

[Brod’s radiance as the sun has started to shine brighter and hotter than ever!]

[The souls of the members of Brod’s Red Sword Knights answer his call!]

Flash—!

Andeiro, who appeared with a flash of light, felt deeply moved as he pointed his staff at the neck of the God of Conflicts Belovan.

‘It’s an honor to be able to fight by your side once again.’

Flash—!

Andeiro slowly opened his closed eyes after the flash of light disappeared. There, he saw his comrades who died an unjust death, the honest knights that had only served one master, pointing their swords at Belovan’s neck.

One was holding his sword lightly while laughing at Belovan. There was also the female knight, Haley, holding her sword with both hands. Another one had even opted to position himself right behind Belovan, so he could attack him from the back.

Oh, how Andeiro missed each and every single one of them. These were the comrades that he cried, laughed and fought with! The people that served Brod alongside him!

These people, who were greater and stronger than any other Swords of the Gods of the present, declared loudly.

“Your Majesty! Please give us your orders!”

“Your Majesty! Please give us your orders!”

Brod’s body was wrapped in light as a crown that emitted a bright red light hovered above him before landing lightly on his head. Even his shabby sword had started to glow with a red light, as a red armor and red cape carrying the symbol of a black wolf appeared on Brod’s body.

Brod looked behind him, before turning back around to face Belovan.

Thud—! Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!

The space behind him was torn apart as hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Divine Army wearing red armor marched out.

“…”

Minhyuk’s breath was caught in his throat. He was left completely speechless after seeing the level of the knights that appeared in front of him.

[Red Sword Knight Haley. Level 732.]

[Red Sword Knight Rocan. Level 763.]

[Red Sword Knight Cardin. Level 746.]

[Red Sword Knight…]

The level of the knights easily surpassed the level of the Swords of the Gods. But the surprise did not end there.

[Soldier Akkan. Level 485.]

[Soldier Fergon. Level 445.]

[Centurion Jen. Level 501.]

[Mage Luanma. Level 453.]

“…”

Their strength was completely unbelievable. They were so strong that Nerva Sephiroth’s own army would be completely overshadowed if they were placed side by side.

Brod, their master, looked back at Minhyuk and gave a warm smile. Then, he looked forward, his expression twisting and turning ferocious as he spat coldly, “Destroy them.”

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

At that moment, the Red Sword Knights moved to attack Belovan. Meanwhile, Brod’s army released a rain of arrows and magic that devoured the Battle God’s Divine Army.

Of course, Brod could not be left behind. He charged forward and cut down one of the gods with his sword that was emitting a bright red light. His opponent was completely powerless in front of Brod.

Slaaaaash—!

“Keuaaaaaaaack!”

Brod did not stop after killing one god. He continued even further and ran toward the god that was right behind the first one.

“Mercenary’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship. Final Chapter,” Brod spat coldly as he leapt to the sky with his cold and sharp glare. “Wolf’s Death.”

More than a thousand bloody red sword lights shot out and devoured the god, tearing him apart completely as several explosions bloomed around him.

Immediately after that, Andeiro stabbed his staff on the ground. “Earth Quake.”

Rumbleeeeeee—

The ground split in half, forcing many of the soldiers of the divine army to fall into the gap.

Flash—

Andeiro leapt to the sky, his staff shining brightly above them.

“Meteor.”

Then, several gigantic Meteors fell on the ground.

Booooooooom—

The moment the Meteors made contact with the ground, they devoured and destroyed everything.

Helplessness. This was what Belovan, the gods, and the Divine Army felt as they were pushed back so easily. However, the fact that Belovan was strong could not be denied. He still stood firm even though he was dealing with twenty Red Sword Knights by himself.

Slaaash—

Belovan’s sword slashed toward Knight Haley’s flanks as he gritted his teeth. ‘Is this your true power?’

To be honest, Belovan once admired Brod. He had heard a story before he became a god, a story about a man that conquered the entire Land of the Gods with a single sword alone. Belovan grew up and chased after that man. After all this time, he had no doubt that he was stronger than Brod.

“Brooooooooood!!!” Belovan shouted, his eyes turning bloodshot. “Fight me!!!”

This was God of Conflicts Belovan’s dream.

Brod allowed the Red Sword Knights to step back and hunt the soldiers of the Divine Army instead.

“Haa… haa…”

Belovan was known to be an absolute being in terms of swordsmanship in the Land of the Gods. In fact, even the Absolute Gods feared his existence!

Belovan gripped his sword tightly as he charged at Brod the moment he saw the man approach him.

Minhyuk, who was watching the scene, thought, ‘Belovan will absolutely…’

Then, their swords clashed.

Clang— clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—

Dozens of sword strikes were released per second as Belovan tried to press Brod back with all his might. He aimed for the neck, the abdomen, his lower body, everywhere! Belovan attacked everywhere, yet Brod fended all of his attacks with just one hand.

Slash—

The counterattack came incredibly fast, with Brod slashing Belovan’s shoulder.

Spurt—

Then, he slashed his flanks.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab!

Brod’s sword went through Belovan’s body numerous times, and Minhyuk could not help but admire Brod.

‘Belovan will absolutely not win against Brod.’

The most conclusive evidence to this statement was because of Brod’s level.

[Brod. Level 891.]

“…”

Brod’s level made Minhyuk speechless. With Brod regaining his powers as the emperor, Belovan would not be able to hold a candle to him. In the end, Belovan was forced to his knees, his body completely covered in blood from Brod’s attacks.

‘I… I didn’t even succeed in landing a single attack…?’

Deeply frustrated, Belovan wondered what kind of position the human king had assigned to Brod for him to follow and trust him so much.

“What position do you have in Beyond the Heavens Kingdom…?”

“I’m the Commander-in-chief.”

“…”

That seemed only natural. What other position would he hold other than being a commander-in-chief? But, it was practically a waste for someone like him to not sit on a throne. Was Brod telling them that he was satisfied with just being a commander-in-chief?

Then, Brod said, “Well, that’s actually just my side job.”

“…?”

“If we’re talking about my main job, then I’m a livestock farmer. I raise cows, pigs, chickens and the like.”

“…?”

At that moment, Belovan had a horrifying thought, ‘I lost to a livestock farmer?’

“How can you blatantly tell lies like that…!” Belovan shouted, blood gurgling from his throat.

However, Brod just smiled and shook his head. When he looked around, he saw that the Divine Army was already being sorted out. Then, he turned to look back at Minhyuk and opened his mouth.

***

The other Absolute Gods kept their mouths shut as the Battle God watched Belovan collapse helplessly on the ground. Brod turned around and walked slowly toward Minhyuk. The Battle God felt an ache deep in his chest as he watched Brod.

Then, Brod, who was walking slowly, opened his mouth.

[I serve him not because I want to get something in return.]

Brod did not choose the Battle God, the greatest among all of the Absolute Gods. He spoke out, his voice echoing loudly in the area and striking deep within the hearts of those that heard it.

[I serve him because I feel happy, perhaps sometimes sad too, by his side.]

The situation was finally sorted and the notifications rang in the ears of the Battle God.

[You have lost the bet with Food God Minhyuk.]

[You can no longer force or exert any sort of influence on Brod.]

Brod carefully took out a handkerchief and tied Minhyuk’s hand, the hand that he used to grab Belovan’s sword earlier.

There were many reasons why the Battle God wanted to have Brod so badly. The first was because he felt that it was a pity that such a loyal and faithful man had turned his back on him. And the second was because Brod would become an ordinary human. Unlike when he was still the Absolute God’s Sword, he would only have a limited time left to live as a human.

‘You’ll only have a few years at most. Do you think that will be okay? Yet… yet you still chose to serve that human king?!!!’ The Battle God had asked him.

Brod just continued to carefully tie Minhyuk’s hands with the handkerchief. After doing that, he gently wrapped the boy’s hands in his and looked up at him with a warm and bright smile on his face.

[Your Majesty.]

Minhyuk looked at Brod, returning a smile of his own.

[This servant of yours will only serve you, Your Majesty.]