Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 1274

Chapter 1274

‘The Pillar Wars.’

Brod had heard about this from Nerva before it even started. At one point, Brod wondered if he was dying because he tried to defy his fate.

Although Brod could challenge the emperor’s path once again, he had chosen to give up for Minhyuk’s sake. Now, he wanted to tread this path once again. This time, he tried to accept his fate. And all of this was for Minhyuk’s sake. Perhaps what they wanted to do could be just returning things to their rightful place.

Rudin’s expression grew ugly. At this moment, he realized that Cardin had been released from the effects of the brainwashing. Nonetheless, the choice that Cardin made did not even make sense. He had utterly ignored the imperial law stating that only those who carried the emperor's blood could sit on the emperor’s throne.

“Bullshit! Do you think anyone can succeed and inherit the throne just because you appointed them as the next emperor?!”

The nobles who supported those who carried the emperor's blood made it possible for them to become emperors. These nobles created many factions in the empire, and none supported Brod.

At this moment, on the battlefield.

Duke Laghman looked up at the sky and said, “You said this position did not suit you.”

With a bitter smile on his face, he lowered his sword.

[Luvien Empire’s Duke Laghman strongly supports the appointment of Emperor Brod!]

Duke Vakkaman, who had been cutting down the soldiers of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, stopped in his tracks. Minhyuk had left him suffering from a great disgrace and humiliation. However, in the end, he was still a subordinate. Besides, Duke Vakkaman had always wished for the prosperity of the Great Luvien Empire. From the beginning, he had known that Emperor Cardin was not fit to lead the Luvien Empire.

[Luvien Empire’s Duke Vakkaman strongly supports the appointment of Emperor Brod!]

Sword of the Gods Commander Anden was the sword that protected Emperor Cardin. His decision, as the one leading the Sword of the Gods, also reflected the decision and choice of all of the Sword of the Gods. He looked at Emperor Cardin, who was holding the exhausted Nerva in his arms and looking at Brod, and said, “Lord Cardin.”

He called him by his name and not as the emperor.

“It’s fine now. You can take a rest now.”

[Luvien Empire’s Commander of the Knights Anden strongly supports the appointment of Emperor Brod!]

Rudin could not understand what was happening. Were they treating the position with the most power and influence in the empire as a toy and just handing it over to someone?! It was a very foolish choice.

[Riots and rebellions might occur throughout the Luvien Empire.]

That was right. It should be like this. Brod was the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Sword. It was utterly ridiculous for someone like that to become the emperor of the Luvien Empire. However...

[Warning! Those belonging to the factions who have expressed their strong support for Emperor Brod, should they dare to riot and rebel, they will receive punishment.]

‘No. This cannot be.’ Rudin shook his head.

[The God who Once Led All of the Armies looks at the Luvien Empire.]

The former Battle God, Belson, was looking at the Luvien Empire.

[The God who Once Led All of the Armies strongly supports the appointment of Emperor Brod.]

“...!”

[The God who Once Led All of the Armies says that the twisted fate has now unraveled and been corrected.]

[He says that from the beginning, Brod should have become the first emperor of the Luvien Empire.]

This was the truth. Everyone in the Luvien Empire had been made aware of this fact. They all knew that the only reason why Nerva had won the throne and became the emperor was because he used immoral and despicable methods to win against Brod and his knights.

Goosebumps rose all over Rudin’s skin when he saw Brod looking at him.

[The Fallen Wretched Emperor has finally found his rightful place. He has finally become the True Emperor.]

[Brod will now succeed the throne.]

Rudin finally realized that Brod, Nerva and the former Battle God planned all this. Every single move on the board was made by them and one other person.

Brod recalled the words that this person said.

[The skewed balance has to be corrected.]

There were far too many vacancies in the Pillars, the position that supported the balance of this world. In Chaos’ eyes, some people were worthy of becoming pillars immediately. That was why Chaos approached Brod.

Chaos was someone who knew a lot about this world.

‘The Fallen Wretched Emperor will obtain greater power once he becomes the True Emperor.’

Once that happened, then Brod could genuinely become a Pillar, or so Chaos said. In response, this was what Brod told Chaos back then.

–I’ll do whatever you want. However, I have one condition.

Chaos listened to Brod’s condition.

–I don’t want to become a Pillar right now. I can become a Pillar later anyway.

Indeed, it was just as he said. With time, Brod would naturally gain enough power and qualifications to become a Pillar. Chaos immediately understood the reason why Brod wanted to delay becoming a Pillar.

–There’s someone who wants to become a Pillar right away. Someone who needs it now more than me.

Once someone became a Pillar, they could obtain more extraordinary powers. Brod knew this. Anyway, he would gain this power one day. So, he chose to delay and not accept the position of the Pillar right now.

[You have become the Emperor of the Luvien Empire.]

[Your hidden power has been released.]

[All of your stats have increased by 17%.]

[Your Emperor’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship’s level has increased by +1.]

[You have obtained 57,403 CHA.]

[You have obtained an Immortal Body.]

[However, you will still die if you receive overwhelming physical damage.]

[All diseases and ailments eating away at your body will disappear.]

[All of the penalties that you have received will now disappear.]

He, who was once the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s Sword, now carried a new name. This new name had changed his stats and increased his power.

[Chaos has selected Brod as one of the Pillar Candidates. He is given the title of the Lord of the Masses.]

‘No way...’

Rudin’s pupils shook. He realized that once this man’s powers bloomed, he would have enough qualifications to become a Pillar. That was not all. Once this man climbed to the position of the Pillar, he would become even stronger. The power related to the Pillar’s position would further open up for him.

Somehow, Brod refused to take on the position of the Pillar immediately. Rudin immediately understood the reason.

Brod stood in front of Cardin and Nerva.

“You f*cking bastard. You finally became the True Emperor.” Nerva smiled genuinely. Behind Brod were Ben, Supreme Rundalk, Luo, and the Luvien Imperial Army.

Ben chortled, “Hoho. I’m afraid we have been completely deceived.”

No one knew the exact reason for Brod’s death. They had kept it completely under wraps. This was because if even one person knew, then there was a high chance that this information would leak to Immune, the best intelligence agency in Athenae.

Meanwhile, everyone present released a shaky breath. NPC Supreme was the name that Brod was given. And now, his power bloomed once again. Not only that, he had also overcome the disease that was eating away at his body.

“Emperor’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship.”

The rebel forces and the Immune assassins that had hidden themselves among the Luvien Imperial Army jumped up and filled the entire corridor to protect Rudin. Assassins also broke through the ceiling and fell from the sky above them. All in all, there were 230,000 enemy troops in the corridor and around 5,000 falling from the sky.

Before Brod could finish uttering the final chapter of his skill, Rudin had already opened his mouth and said, “Activate Slaughter!”

Slaughter was a power that all of the members of Immune had to learn. It was a skill that allowed them to release a powerful assassin’s energy and kill their enemies without making contact. It was an incredibly efficient skill when facing an opponent or a monster they could not defeat alone.

The energy of tens of thousands of assassins was released.

Ping!

The assassins’ energy shot toward Brod in the form of long needles. Even if he became an emperor, death would be his only ending in the face of such an attack. What was terrifying about Slaughter was that it had a 100% accuracy. Even if the members of Immune were much weaker than Brod, if their attacks landed accurately on his vital points, he would still be helpless.

In other words, Brod would die right after becoming an emperor. Just when the needles were about to make contact with him...

“Final Chapter. Animal Farm.”

THUD!

The air suddenly grew heavy.

When Brod became an emperor, his Emperor’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship’s level increased by one. It meant that it had become much more potent than before.

[All of the power around you will be cancelled and nullified!]

Swoosh!

The tens of thousands of needle-like energy burned and disappeared with the wind. Then, a vast wave of swordlight appeared and devoured the tens of thousands of enemies flooding the corridor.

BANG!!!

Blood spurted out from the members of Immune in the corridor. Even those falling from the sky were not exempted from the attack.

Immediately after that, an enormous shadow, resembling a gigantic pig, was cast over them and fell upon them.

Shwaaaaaaa!

Their bones almost turned into powder as the heavy weight crushed them.

Animal Farm had a total of three moves designed after three herbivorous animals. However, only two moves were used, and the rebel troops and the assassins of Immune were already wiped out.

Rudin was left in tatters and struggled desperately to hold on and fight back. At that moment, a force wrapped around his legs and dragged him back, leaving him in a panic.

Rudin felt like his ankles were tied by a rope and connected to a horse. He could not help but shriek in pain as he was dragged on the ground. Alas, he was in a stunned state and could not move a single muscle.

“Th-this... this is impossible...”

Fear devoured Rudin as he watched Brod approach him, after wiping out the entire rebel troops and Immune assassins with a single move.

Brod raised his sword and cut off the head of the already dying Rudin.

Thud!

Brod looked at the rolling head nonchalantly. He knew that things were not yet over. There was still somewhere that he needed to go to.

***

In just a blink, the day had turned into night.

Swoosh, swoosh swoosh, swoosh!

Boleyn began to move as darkness blanketed the entire space. He appeared all over the place, attacked Minhyuk, and put pressure on him.

At this moment, he felt utterly relieved. ‘Fortunately, this bastard will not become a Pillar.’

The Pillar of the Gourmands was a non-combat class and was related to the Pillar of Dexterity. However, the force that Minhyuk had displayed earlier was beyond terrifying. If he, the Battle God, became a Pillar then he would become someone that even Boleyn could not fight against.

Regardless, if Boleyn could stop Minhyuk from becoming the Pillar of the Gourmands and make sure that he could become the Pillar of Death, then Minhyuk would be nothing but an ant in front of him.

“Continuous Reckless Strike.”

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

His dagger moved a dozen times and stabbed Minhyuk all over his body.

Meanwhile, Master of Beasts Harvard took the form of a lion and leapt forward to bite Minhyuk. Paladins’ Pope Eris created a lightning bolt out of sacred, divine light and sent it flying straight toward his heart.

At that moment, the Battle God’s Guardian Spear, which was hovering around Minhyuk in an invisible state, released a burst of power.

[Exploding Lightning.]

[All of your enemies within a radius of forty meters will fall into a two second stunned state.]

Bang, bang, bang!

The seven Pillar Candidates’ pupils shook as their bodies stopped moving when the lightning fell and exploded.

“Transcendence!”

At that moment, a spear made of black energy appeared before Minhyuk. The spear then shot straight toward Boleyn’s heart.

“Annihilator’s Sword.”

Shwaaaaaa!

The sword made of light shot out and began annihilating the enemies. The power pierced through Verodun simultaneously as the rest of the candidates recovered from their stunned state.

“F*cking bastard!!!” Boleyn screamed as he recovered his HP. Thanks to his skill The Survivor, he recovered his HP, which had fallen below 10%, back to 70%. He did not dilly dally, so he immediately kicked the ground and dashed toward Minhyuk.

“Absolute Defense!” Minhyuk shouted as the invincible shield wrapped around his body.

At this moment, he already had an inkling of how things would end.

‘My HP is at 40%.’

Although he tried to deal with them while he was still in the state of Transcendence, it was extremely difficult.

At that moment, the power of Master of Beasts Harvard was activated.

“Kwiiiiiik!”

“Hihihihihing!”

“Mooooooo!”

“Waaaaaaang!”

Tens of thousands of pigs, cows, horses, lions, tigers, elephants and other beasts squeezed through the opening in space and ran rampant.

[Harvard’s Pig. Level 874.]

What kind of pig was that? Why would it have such a high level? Alas, Harvard was not yet done. His form immediately changed, a loud rumbling echoing deep within his lion form. His bones creaked and rumbled as he completed his transformation into a seven meter tall beast of prey.

[Beast Time.]

[During Beast Time, Harvard’s power will increase significantly.]

[The duration of Beast Time is five minutes.]

“It’s over, Food God.”

At that moment, the Absolute Defense that protected Minhyuk had ended. Minhyuk immediately held two swords and tried to charge forward and attack first. However, there were far too many strong enemies and it was easy for them to overwhelm him. Before he could move, Boleyn’s unstoppable and unavoidable dagger pierced his chest.

[Your HP has fallen below 7%.]

[Your body has suffered from an overwhelmingly high amount of damage in a very short period. You cannot move your body.]

Minhyuk was forced to kneel on one knee. He tried to raise his sword but it was to no avail.

‘It’s over.’

Unlike the other seven candidates, who were still energetic and had a lot of HP to spare, Minhyuk no longer had the strength to fight back.

‘Would it be easier if I just gave up?’

Anyway, he could no longer move. At that moment, the seven-meter-tall Harvard stepped forward and moved to strike the kneeling Minhyuk. The tens of thousands of animals that surrounded him also charged forward.

When he saw the charging animals, he could not help but recall someone’s figure. The memory brought a bitter smile to Minhyuk's face.

[Lord of the Masses Brod has joined the Pillar Wars and will participate in the battle.]

“Emperor’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship. First Chapter.”

[Morning’s Cry.]

In the darkness of the night, a bright light appeared and dyed everything in color.

The bright and colorful world greeted the exhausted Minhyuk. He saw the gigantic Harvard, who was trying to crush him with his huge hand, fall with blood dripping all over his body.

The animals, who were bravely charging toward Minhyuk, started to back down as if they did not dare look at or even approach this man, who was akin to the God of Livestock Farmers.

The darkness slowly disappeared as the morning began. As the rays of light shone brightly, blood spurted out of the bodies of all seven Pillar Candidates.

The man slowly turned back to the kneeling Minhyuk. He reached out a hand to him, who had already entertained the thought of giving up. Like always, he smiled at Minhyuk with the gentlest and warmest smile.

“Your Majesty.”

The voice that called out to Minhyuk was that he longed for and missed so much.

When Minhyuk grabbed his hand, Brod said, “It’s time for you to become a Pillar.”

Finally, the last piece of the puzzle was put in its rightful place.