Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 157: The Great Mage Arfield

Kiari knew that even if it was Jevis, the outcome would still remain the same. However, Jevis did not have her Rabbit's Liver with her right now. If she had kept it, she would definitely die. Kiari believed that it would be better for them to find another way to cure the Dragon King.

“I need to have an audience with the Dragon King.”

“In this state?”

Jevis nodded. She had been away too long and the Dragon King might be furious with her disappearance.

“Let’s go together,” Kiari said, holding Jevis’ hands and smiling softly at her.

‘No matter how much the Dragon King has changed, I believe...’

Kiari wholeheartedly believed that the Dragon King would pardon Jevis for her disappearance once he knew that Jevis risked her life and fought bravely against the Clam Golem to find a cure for him. Kiari and Jevis both walked towards the place where the Dragon King was currently resting. Once they had arrived in front of the room, Kiari and Jevis took a deep breath as they looked at the large doors.

Just when Kiari was about to knock on the door…

Creaaaaaaak!

…the door, accompanied by a loud and eerie sound, slowly opened by itself to reveal the figure of the Dragon King. Jevis looked like she was about to cry at the sight of the Dragon King but she still fought hard to hold it in.

‘H…his face...’

The Dragon King had grown thinner in her absence. There was even a black light that was covering his face. There was only one reason why the body that Great Mage Arfield had taken over degraded faster than everybody else. It was because the Dragon King was still greatly resisting inside his body. He was so powerful that even the Great Mage Arfield needed to use a lot of strength just to keep him at bay.

“Greetings to Your Majesty.”

Kiari and Jevis bowed in greeting. Kiari wanted to speak about the Rabbit's Liver disappearing but...

“Dragon King...”

…the Dragon King’s hand moved as a jet of water formed and aimed toward Jevis.

‘N…No...!’

Kiari’s hands quickly moved as a water barrier formed in front of Jevis, immediately blocking and protecting Jevis’ body. However, the jet of water that the Dragon King had fired was filled with tremendous power.

Bang!

The barrier that Kiari created was no match for such a powerful attack. The barrier cracked and the jet of water slammed onto Jevis’ back.

“Arghhh...!” Jevis shrieked in pain.

“Je…Jevis...!” Kiari called out as she quickly approached her.

“Get out of the way, Kiari.”

“D…Dragon King... W…what’s... what’s the matter with you?!”

“...Didn’t you hear before? Only Jevis’ Rabbit's Liver can save me. It might also be the answer to me going back to what I used to be.”

The Great Mage Arfield was unaware of what had happened. He was entirely unaware of the fact that Jevis had already lost her Rabbit's Liver. When he saw Jevis coming inside the room, the only thought that passed through his mind was to remove the Rabbit's Liver from her body.

Kiari’s body trembled. She said, “Je…Jevis doesn’t have a Rabbit's Liver anymore. That’s why, please...!”

“The Rabbit's Liver is gone?” The Dragon King asked, slowly raising his 2.5-meters tall body while rubbing his chin in confusion.

Kiari took that time to hastily explain the events that had transpired.

“For the Dragon King, Jevis...! Jevis fought hard against the predator!” Kiari shouted lowly. Her voice sounded like it was a plea. A desperate plea for the Dragon King to spare Jevis, as well as for him to return back to normal.

However, the Dragon King only smiled coldly at the two of them. He said, “Jevis, Kiari. Stop spouting lies.”

“What do you mean that we’re lying? She laid her life and braved the dangers for Dragon King...”

“Kiari. It’s alright. I’m fine,” Jevis said, standing up with her bleeding back. She keenly felt the danger that they were in as she reiterated, “I’m really fine...”

Jevis still smiled softly at the Dragon King even though he treated her cruelly. Kiari looked at her with clenched fists. She felt frustrated with how helpless they were in this situation.

At that moment…

Shwaaaa━

Shwaaaa━

Shwaaaa━

…Small vortexes of water appeared beside the Dragon King. The vortexes of water slowly combined until they formed into a large spear. The large water spear was spinning strongly and ferociously.

“Get out of the way, Kiari,” the Dragon King said as a large water spear rushed towards Jevis.

Shwaaaaaaak!

Kiari looked at the Dragon King and Jevis helplessly. She could not decide on what to do. Should she heed the words of the Dragon King, or should she ignore it and save her youngest sibling?

‘I hate it. Even if it’s the Dragon King who told me so, I still hate it! It can’t be a choice between him and Jevis.’

“I hate it...!”

Puwaaa!

A jet of water suddenly burst out in front of Kiari. As soon as Kiari grabbed that jet of water, it immediately solidified into a sword. It was the Sea Guardian’s Sword, the sword that Sea God Roves had bestowed upon Kiari, the Dragon King’s eldest child. It was an item that was legendary, no, perhaps it was something that was even greater than that. This sword was the strongest sword in the entirety of the Dragon King’s Sea.

Shwaaa!

A sturdier and larger barrier stood in front of them when Kiari swung her sword strongly. Not long after, the spear collided with the barrier. The area shook strongly as sparks appeared from the collision.

Bang!

“Kiari! How dare you defy my orders!”

“You cannot harm... Jevis!” Kiari said, grabbing her sword tightly as she glared fiercely at the Dragon King. However, she did not move anymore.

The Sea Guardian’s Sword was a sword that was made to protect the Dragon King. It could never be used to attack him. No matter how dire the situation was, Kiari could not bear to attack the Dragon King.

‘How can I lay my hands on the Dragon King...’

The furious Dragon King slowly trudged down one step at a time.

“Don’t you remember?! Jevis is the one who cared and followed your orders the most...!”

“Do you not realize that I have to quickly recover my health to regain peace inside the Dragon King’s Palace, Kiari? Peace will only come at the sacrifice of one.”

“That’s impossible! Dragon King, you have cha...?Ugh!”

The Dragon King stood in front of Kiari and grabbed her neck.

‘These girls are so easy to deal with.’?Great Mage Arfield thought as he chuckled to himself. Although they had defended against his attacks, they could not bear to launch an attack against the body that he currently had.

“Urk, Dragon King! Please wake up! The peace in the Dragon Palace does not require Jevis’ death...”

“No. What I’m trying to take is yours and Jevis’ lives.”

Arfield had thought that it was high time that he killed Kiari. It was just good timing that the two of them delivered themselves to him. As soon as he decided, his hands started to tighten.

Then…

Twitch!

…extreme dizziness suddenly hit his body.

‘Urk... ?I’ve been in this body for too long...!’

Kiari saw something when the Dragon King staggered back.

‘Just now... what was that?!’

She was the person nearest to the Dragon King, so she saw it clearly. There was an unidentifiable smoke that rose from the body of the Dragon King, before it was immediately swallowed back inside.

Arfield believed that he did not have much time left.

Shwaaaaak!

A black sword immediately shot out from his hands as it aimed straight toward Kiari.

Puhaa!

“Ugh!” Kiari screamed in pain as the sword stabbed straight through her abdomen. As she was bowled over in pain, another sword strike flew out, but this time, it aimed right at her chest. Kiari quickly swung her sword.

Shwaa!

Her sword aimed straight at Arfield’s neck.

Clang!

A black shield immediately popped out to block her attack and defended the side of Arfield’s neck. However, even if he was attacked straight at his neck and was not in a good position, he was still able to launch a quick counterattack. Eventually, Arfield waved her off and threw her far away.

Roll!

“Kyaaak!” Kiari shrieked as she quickly righted herself. Once she stood back up, she glared fiercely at Arfield.

“I think I’ve been caught.”

“...Arfield!”

The black shield that popped out to defend the vulnerable neck of the Dragon King was something that she had seen before. It was the shield that made the Dragon King struggle during his battle against Arfield.

Arfield realized that his identity had now been compromised. So, he let go of the mana that he had hidden before.

Shwaaaaa!

The black mana burst out and swirled above them as Great Mage Arfield slowly stretched his hand out and pointed at them.

“Die.”

Shwaaaaaaaak━

From the black mana that erupted from Arfield’s body, a sphere of black flame started to form, its size large enough to engulf Kiari’s whole body. Its target was none other than Kiari. The powerful flames immediately headed straight towards her.

Shwaaaaaa!

Kiari hastily stabbed the Sea Guardian's Sword into the ground.

Brr, brr, brr, brr!

The ground shook strongly as a powerful wave about four meters high sprung up.

Baaaaaang!

A powerful shockwave resulted from the collision of the powerful flame and the high waves. For a moment, the two opposing powers seemed like they were in a deadlock. However, Kiari was sporting a severe injury on her abdomen.

“Keughhh!”

A gap suddenly appeared from the waves. The black flame immediately took advantage of the gap as it whizzed past through and engulfed Kiari’s body.

“Kyaaaaaaak!” Kiari shrieked in pain as she collapsed on the floor.

Taking advantage of this moment, Great Mage Arfield unleashed the power inside his body. Black smoke-like forces erupted from his body as it scattered and entered the bodies of the creatures all throughout the palace. The remaining souls that he had housed in his body immediately replaced the souls of the creatures through soul exchange. As a result, the palace was drowned in screams. The spirits had engulfed everyone in the palace.

‘I have to hurry.’

Great Mage Arfield quickly approached Jevis to retrieve the Rabbit's Liver. Jevis looked at him incredulously. It seemed like she could hardly believe what was happening in front of her.

‘H…he’s not the Dragon King....’

Jevis felt her blood boil in anger. She fought against the predator for him, she did everything for him, but it turned out that she was deceived.

Right at that moment…

Creaaaaaaak━

Baaaang!

…the large door opened with a bang. An unknown man walked through the door with a baby pig on his shoulder. As soon as he saw the situation inside, he quickly threw his sword at Arfield. Arfield easily twisted his body to the side. The sword flew past Arfield and embedded itself into the wall. Arfield glared fiercely at the man that sent a crude attack toward him.

“You bastard...”

Just as he was about to say something, he saw the man stretch his hand forward. However, nothing happened. No. It was just not happening in front of him.

Puhaaaa!

The sword that was clearly embedded in the wall suddenly whizzed past through him. Great Mage Arfield trembled for a brief moment from the powerful shock that came with the tearing pain on his back.

“Aaack...!”

It was only a light graze, but he felt a tremendous amount of power from that unintentional blow.

Fwiiiiiiiish!

Arfield could feel the affected area burning, as smoke rose from the injury inflicted by the sword. At that moment, Great Mage Arfield knew…

‘T…this is the power of a strong holy power!’?Arfield thought.

The sword swiftly passed through Arfield’s body before laying snugly on the hands of the man. The young man that barged inside the room was none other than Minhyuk, and the skill that he used earlier was a skill that was attached to Ellie’s Sword.

Retrieval.

***

Real name, Somin, Nickname, Joo-Ah. She was currently working as a Ztuber. Right now, she was anxiously waiting for someone in the Barett Kingdom. She was the Ztuber that recently posted a video of Rovan and the Frying Pan Killer. In fact, she believed that there was no player in the world that did not want to be famous. At that time, Joo-ah also could not hide her excitement. The battle between the two of them was so thrilling that even the viewers felt their blood boil and reacted ecstatically.

She had gained a huge amount of profit once the broadcast ended. She had wanted to give a percentage of her profits to the Frying Pan Killer, but she was unable to find him regardless of her efforts. Left with no choice, she posted on the bulletin.

[I’ll give you money, contact me.]

However, she felt that it was definitely wrong. She did not even ask for their consent before starting the broadcast, and now she wanted them to accept the money after she had finished the broadcast.

‘I should have asked for their consent first before I recorded it...’

Joo-Ah bit her lips tightly as she reflected on herself. After quite some time, a complaint was filed against her in violation of the portrait rights.

‘What do you want?’

The Frying Pan Killer’s lawyer snorted at her when she stated that she would give all of the profits and that she would pay the compensation for violating his rights. Joo-ah wanted to plead her situation. She somehow managed to ask for them to meet with her. Right now, she was going to meet with one of the close aides of the Frying Pan Killer.

She saw a man entering the restaurant where she was waiting anxiously.

“Hello,” Joo-Ah bowed in greeting.

The man, General, also bowed in greeting as he sat down in front of her.

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!” Joo-Ah kept on bowing as she admitted her mistakes.

At that moment, General interrupted her and said, “You should apologize to him, not me. Do you know how much trouble he was experiencing because of you, Miss Joo-Ah?”

“I’m sorry...”

She could not even raise her head in shame. In the whole world, she was probably the only person that had encountered a person that did not want to be famous.

Then she said, “I’m really sorry. I feel so remorseful and I have been deeply reflecting on myself. I have uploaded the video of the Frying Pan Killer in my admiration for him... And... I also want to apologize again for calling myself a fan.”

“As expected, that punk really can see through you,” General said with a grin. He and Minhyuk had talked about the person that had shared the video. Minhyuk had also told General to pass on a message if the person who shared the story reacted in a certain way...

“My friend told me to say this to you if you said something similar.”

“Yes. What...?”

General cleared his throat as he tried to mimic Minhyuk’s voice and expression to the best of his ability. He said, “How can you call yourself a fan, that you can easily do something like this?”

“...”

Joo-Ah’s face flushed red in shame. She could not help but keep her head down.