Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 682: Divine Will

Minhyuk hated these people, but he still decided to make the warmest meal for them. He was not doing this for them. He was doing it for Obren.

‘I know that these people have not had a proper and filling meal for a long time now.’

Because of that, Minhyuk decided to make a home-cooked meal for them. It was perfect for someone with a hungry stomach on a cold and freezing day.

Those who were often busy with their studies or work, would often hear their stomachs grumbling and complaining from hunger after not being able to eat properly the whole day. During times like that, the food that they missed the most were not the food bought outside, but the warm meals that their mothers made for them before.

Minhyuk decided that the main dish would be spicy stir-fried pork. He would use the trailer’s specialty to create bulk dishes of spicy stir-fried pork for these people.

Sizzleeee—

The spicy stir-fried pork was best cooked inside a large iron pot and on the blazing flames of the Eternal Flame. Minhyuk also prepared some soybean paste stew on the side while he was cooking the stir-fried pork. He quickly made the broth by dissolving some soybean paste and added some sliced zucchini and onions.

Boil, boil, boil—

Then, he added some sliced tofu and enoki mushrooms and let it boil some more. After that, he added some chopped green onions to finish the dish.

With the soybean paste stew finished, Minhyuk moved to the large iron pot once again and began to stir the pork.

Sizzleeeee—

Crackle, crackle—

The heat emitted by the Eternal Flames caused sweat to drip down and cover Minhyuk’s body.

Elon, Brahma Religion’s most powerful paladin and the one that was said to be the second in command right next to Kronad, reflected on the words that Minhyuk told them.

‘Go to hell…?’

Of course. They were all prepared to do just that. Everything was their fault. It was only right that they paid the price for the sin that they had committed. However, he felt anger surge in his head when he recalled the impudent tone in Minhyuk’s voice.

Sizzleeee—

“Ugh!”

The anger boiling in Elon’s heart quickly melted away as he watched Minhyuk groan while cooking. To this man, they were nothing more than trash that wanted to wipe out mankind to become gods. However, he still gave it his all for his friend Obren.

Seeing Minhyuk work hard like that made Elon, whose feelings had turned dull after being trapped in this place for thousands of years, feel alive once again.

‘Why did we do that…?’

It was too late. All they could do was look back at what they did in regret.

By then, Minhyuk was already ladling some soybean paste stew in earthenware pots and scooping some piping hot, spicy stir-fried pork onto a plate. When he was cooking the spicy stir-fried pork, Minhyuk deliberately added the vegetables later to maintain its crispiness and freshness. Of course, he also placed some piping hot rice cooked in an iron pot, and transferred it on the plate.

One by one, they received the dishes that Minhyuk made for them. All of them looked down at the meal that was spread out on the table in front of them. They wondered if they could truly fight against Obren just by eating one meal. At the same time, they had another thought.

‘Do we deserve to eat this meal?’

That was what they thought. They felt a lot and thought a lot when they were watching Minhyuk. While they were hesitating to eat the meal, Minhyuk, who had finished setting up his own table and was already preparing to eat, spoke dryly, “Are you telling me that popes, paladins and priests won’t eat that meal because you don’t eat meat?”

That was not true. They have lived in this place for such a long time, perhaps for an eternity. How could they afford to be picky with food?

“It’s fine. You can eat this one meal before you go to hell.”

“…!”

“…!”

They all grabbed their spoons one after the other after hearing those words. Minhyuk only said those words because they had to fight. After all, Minhyuk believed that no one would be able to fight on full power with an empty stomach. However, the people around him interpreted his words differently.

“Sob, sob, sob, sob!”

“Sob, sob, sob, sob!”

The saintesses, paladins, and popes began to cry as they ate their meal. Meanwhile, Elon watched Minhyuk eat before eating his meal. The first thing that he tasted was the piping hot rice. The spoonful of glistening rice that entered his mouth tasted sweet and soft. Next, he tried the rice with some spicy stir-fried pork.

Munch, munch, munch—

Elon’s eyes flashed open. He was actually the first among all of the people that were detained here inside the Papal Wall to taste meat. However, even if they ate meat, the popes, paladins and saints did not know how to cook. In other words, the meat dishes, as well as the other food that they had tasted before this was the worst of the worst. Although the meat in front of them left a burning and stinging sensation in their mouths, the stir-fried meat tasted surprisingly good.

Next, he ate a spoonful of the white rice in his mouth before sipping some of the soybean paste stew. The savory flavor of the soup made from fermented soybean paste spread instantly in Elon’s mouth. Then, following Minhyuk, Elon also scooped a huge spoonful of zucchini and tofu. He dumped the zucchini and tofu in his bowl of rice, mixed everything together before scooping a mouthful and putting it in his mouth.

“This flavor…!” Elon shouted, unable to hide the admiration that he felt for the dish.

This time, he grabbed a lettuce leaf. He spread the leaf on top of his palm, scooping half a spoon of rice on top of it along with some sliced garlic dipped in ssamjang and some kimchi. Then, he closed the lettuce into a wrap before placing it in his mouth. A cacophony of flavors burst out in his mouth the moment he chewed the wrap.

A warmth blossomed in Elon’s heart as he finished his meal. He thought, ‘I’m very thankful that the last meal that I will ever eat was a very delicious one.’

They would all go to hell soon. There, they would not be able to eat anything and only suffer from terrible pain. As a drop of tear fell from the corner of Elon’s eyes, a series of notifications rang in his ears.

[You have eaten Spicy Stir-fried Pork.]

[Legendary Grade.]

[Your Holy Power will increase by 21%!]

[Your Physical and Magical Attack will increase by 10%!]

[Your Physical and Magical Defense will increase by 14%!]

[All of your skills and abilities related to Holy Power will increase by 20%!]

[The buff will last for four days.]

All of the people that ate the meal were shocked to their core when they heard the notifications.

‘His power is far more amazing than the Food God of the past that we knew.’

A god’s throne was something that was passed on and inherited. There was a high chance that the Food God that they knew was a Food God of a very distant past. With the flow of time, the Food Gods that succeeded him must have developed their skills and created their own, forging a path of their own, and growing even further. That was why Minhyuk’s power far exceeded their expectations.

“Let’s assemble,” Kronad said. He also ate the spicy stir-fried pork, found it to be an extremely satisfying meal, and had received an increase in holy power.

The popes, priests, saints and paladins all gathered at his words.

“It’s time for us to go to hell,” Kronad said bitterly, all of his comrades nodding grimly in agreement. Then, a bright light burst out as he placed his palms together.

[Pope Kronad has started the Prayer of Sacrifice!]

Then, the rest of the people also placed their palms together in a prayer, a bright light also bursting out of their palms. The light that burst out of their bodies began to gather in a circle in the middle of their gathering. It slowly floated above them as it grew bigger and bigger.

“Ugh!!!” Pope Kronad groaned.

As the holy power that burst out of their body gathered in the light above them, a warning rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[A tremendous amount of holy power, an amount that even the gods fear, is being gathered.]

[You might die if the gathered holy power explodes.]

[You are in front of an extremely powerful holy power.]

[Witnessing an extremely powerful holy power has increased your holiness.]

[You have gained 100 Holy Power.]

Flaaaaaaaash—

Then, the space where the huge light gathered slowly opened to reveal a sword with a blade surrounded by golden sword energy.

[The Sacred Papal Sword has made an appearance!]

[The Sacred Papal Sword is a great sword with a rank higher than that of any god-rank sword!]

[Gazing upon the Sacred Papal Sword alone will purify your heart and thoughts!]

[You have gained 100 Holy Power.]

Golden Sword God along with the name ‘Kronad’ were the words engraved on the blade of the sword. This showed that Kronad was the only owner of the Sacred Papal Sword.

Finally, Kronad stepped forward and slowly grabbed the hilt of the Sacred Papal Sword.

[A considerable amount of holy power has been destroyed to summon the Sacred Papal Sword.]

[Your power to destroy evil has weakened a bit after a part of your holy power has been sacrificed to summon the Sacred Papal Sword.]

Baaaaaaaaaaaaang—

Then, at that moment, the holy power around Kronad exploded, forcing a groan out of his mouth, “Uuuuuugh!”

Kronad’s hands and arms started to burn even though he was just holding the sword.

Sizzleeee—

The Sacred Papal Sword would only remain in this world for thirty minutes. So, Kronad immediately ordered, “Quickly, Obren…!”

The priests hurriedly prayed after hearing Kronad’s words.

Riiiiiip—

After a moment, the space in front of them was ripped apart, as a young and furious Obren, the Obren from the past, appeared.

[Berserk Evil God Obren of the Past. Level 764.]

Kronad turned vigilant as he saw the Evil God slowly open his eyes. Just when he was about to attack Obren, Obren did something unexpected.

[Berserk Evil God Obren of the Past reacts to his own consciousness sealed inside the Puzzling Seasoning Jar!]

[Berserk Evil God Obren of the Past uses the Book of Absorption!]

[Obren has absorbed some of his power sealed in the Seasoning Jar with the Book of Absorption!]

Everything happened in an instant. The book that said ‘Book of Absorption’ floated in the air and forced the seasoning jar in Minhyuk’s possession to float in the air above them. Then, a black string of energy flew out of the Puzzling Seasoning Jar. The black energy was then absorbed by the Berserk Evil God Obren of the Past.

[Berserk Evil God Obren of the Past has grown stronger!]

[Berserk Evil God Obren of the Past. Level 863.]

“…”

Minhyuk was left speechless. Even Great Demon Verus, Demigod Asura, or the Corrupted God did not reach that level. What could they do against someone at that level?

[Evil God Obren has released his wrath!]

[Evil God Obren has been waiting for this moment. He has prepared a lot to kill Kronad!]

“…!”

The furious Obren of the past had been waiting for this very moment. He immediately released the Evil God’s Books that he had prepared in advance.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab—

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—

Powerful explosions engulfed Kronad as hundreds of swords and spears flew toward his body. The impact of the attack sent the now bloody Kronad flying back.

Clang—

At the same time, the Sacred Papal Sword in his hand fell on the ground.

“Uurrrrrk…” Pope Kronad coughed up a mouthful of blood, a groan escaping his mouth as his body got stuck to a wall.

“It’s, it’s not going to work…”

“Im, impossible…”

“Lord, Lord Kronad!!!

“Get, get the sacred sword!!! Retrieve the sword!”

The paladins hurriedly ran forward to retrieve the sacred sword. However, when one of the paladins touched the sword…

[Only those that have been acknowledged by the Sacred Papal Sword can wield it!]

[The Sacred Papal Sword punishes the undeserving!]

Baaaaaaaaaaaang—

A powerful force burst out of the Sacred Papal Sword, engulfing dozens of priests, paladins, popes and saints. All of them disappeared without a trace.

[Six popes, fourteen paladins, eighteen priests, and two saintesses have lost all of their holy power and died!]

[They will fall in hell and live a life worse than this life, walking a never-ending hellish path!]

“A, aaaaaaaaack!”

“Keuaaaaaaack!”

“Evil, Evil God…!!!”

Screams rang loudly all over the place.

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

Minhyuk had also lost his consciousness for a moment when faced with Obren’s constant bombardment of attacks. Even though the attacks only grazed him, he received tremendous damage.

“Keuaaaaaaaaack!”

Popes disappeared one after another right in front of Minhyuk. Fortunately, Minhyuk was able to open his eyes and come back to his senses.

Then, he heard Pope Kronad’s voice in his ears.

‘The Sacred Papal Sword can only be wielded by those that have received the recognition of God Athenae.’

‘This sword requires an extremely high amount of holy power to be wielded. To be honest, even if I am a human, I have higher holy power than most gods.’

‘If someone with low holy power dared to use it, this sword would mete out punishment on its own.’

‘Is there another being that can wield this sword? I don’t think such a being exists in this world.’

Someone that received the recognition of God Athenae and someone with an extremely high amount of holy power. Those were the requirements of the Sacred Papal Sword.

Step—

Minhyuk stepped forward. He took out ‘Pandora’s Helmet’ from his inventory and put it on his head.

[Pandora’s Helmet doubles your Holy Power! Your Holy Power has increased greatly!]

With another step, he took out ‘Pope Kronad’s Faded Bell’ and held it in his left hand.

[You have equipped Pope Kronad’s Faded Bell!]

[Your Holy Power has increased by 10%!]

This time, he took off his red armor, the ‘Slaughterer’s Armor’, and swapped it with the white priestly robe, ‘Pope Kronad’s Faded Priestly Robes’.

[You have equipped Pope Kronad’s Faded Priestly Robes!]

[Your Holy Power has increased by 15%!]

Minhyuk untied the necklace hanging on his neck, replacing it with ‘Pope Kronad’s Faded Necklace’, as he took another step towards the Sacred Papal Sword.

[You have equipped Pope Kronad’s Faded Necklace!]

[Your Holy Power has increased by 10%!]

[You have equipped Pope Kronad’s Faded Set!]

[With the set effect, your total Holy Power will increase by 60%!!!]

[Your Holy Power has temporarily exceeded 20,000!!!]

Finally, Minhyuk reached the place where the Sacred Papal Sword fell down. Then, he bent down and grabbed the hilt of the sword.

Graaaaab—

[You have grabbed the Sacred Papal Sword!]

[The Sacred Papal Sword is checking your qualifications!]

Sizzleeeee—

Minhyuk’s right hand, which held the Sacred Papal Sword, began to burn.

Baaaaaaaang—

Just like when Kronad held the sword in his hand earlier, a powerful wave of holy power burst out from the sword and swept the area around Minhyuk.

[The Sacred Papal Sword has acknowledged you!!!]

The aftermath of the sudden burst of holy power made Minhyuk’s hair flutter. He looked at Obren and called out, “Obren.”

Minhyuk’s gaze was sharp as he continued to look at Obren.

“Let’s go home.”