Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 393: Farmer’s Kingdom

Stuttering and stammering.

These were the words that perfectly described what the guild members of Let’s Eat Sect's current state was. All of them stuttered as they looked at Ali. They recognized the Staff of Despair that Ali had equipped right now. They knew that the level requirement for the Staff of Despair was at Level 350. The fact that Ali had the item equipped right now was something that they could easily interpret.

“You’re already over Level 350?!”

“Yes,” Ali nodded with an abashed smile on his face. He was actually at Level 404. The moment his level reached 400, the Mana Heart stopped protecting him, which meant that the monsters were now attacking Ali. Vormon’s Mana Heart had acknowledged and recognized Ali’s strength. It had judged that Ali was now able to protect himself with his own power. However, there was something more surprising.

“It looks like you’ve grown even stronger than before…”

The power of the magic that he used was far stronger than the magic that he used when he awakened his power in the Continent Cloud. This was only natural. After all, he had Black Dragon Vormon’s Magic Book, the Magic God’s power, the Mana Heart, and the Staff of Despair. That was not all. Ali also had the God of Magic passive skill.

‘All of my attacks against the undead will have a 1.5x increase in attack power.’

The Magic God was a great and noble existence. An existence like him could exert a stronger power against the undead. In other words, even if the skeleton knights’ defense was beyond 500, the fact that they were the undead had allowed Ali and his attacks to have a higher power that could ignore such defense. On top of that, Vormon’s ‘Turn Undead’ was on a completely different level than the ordinary Turn Undead.

Ali and Minhyuk explained what they had experienced in the Bonus Stage. After listening to their experience, the guild members of the Let’s Eat Sect were very happy, as if it were them that had experienced it.

“I’m sure Ali will shock the world!”

“Don’t let go of those that are laughing and mocking you now!” Locke declared as if he wanted to immediately tell this to the world. However, Minhyuk, Genie, Khan, and Ali shook their heads.

“Why?”

Right now, they have received countless ridicule and criticisms from all over the world. Even the Koreans cursed at them asking why Ali did such a foolish thing despite knowing that Ali was the reason why Vormon’s hunt was successful. So, what was the point of hiding this at this point in time?

“Everyone is mocking and ridiculing me for participating in the World War. This will be our greatest variable. I’m pretty sure that they have excluded me in all of the strategies that they are making right now.”

“Ah…”

That was right. All of the strategies that excluded and ignored Ali would definitely crumble and fall apart the moment the games started. This meant that they would not be able to execute all of their plans and tactics, which in turn would cause chaos and confusion.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to give them a good beating.”

Locke could see that Ali had his own ulterior motive, so he did not pry anymore. Ali was not a fool. He knew himself well and he knew that he would do well on his own.

***

Farmer’s Kingdom.?

This was the place hailed as the ‘Ingredient Heaven’ and even though it occupied a huge area enough to be called a kingdom, it still remained hidden to foreigners. To be exact, the Farmer’s Kingdom was a place that was not only hidden to foreigners, but also to the locals from both Cairon and Asgan Continents. To put it simply, it was a hidden and unexplored gem of a land.

The Farmer’s Kingdom was hidden in the depths of Black Dragon Vormon’s lair. Eating delicious food was one of Black Dragon Vormon’s joys in life. After getting a taste, he fell in love with the incredibly splendid crops that this kingdom produced. Vormon had created his lair to protect these farmers with mysterious powers.

Even if he was a powerful dragon, Vormon knew that he would not be able to receive good crops and amazing ingredients if he threatened and coerced the farmers to do his bidding. Instead of coercion, he decided to give the Hybrid Race his protection.

The Hybrid Race had a similar appearance to humans, but had significantly different powers. They were farmers that lived in small villages, secluded from the rest of the world. With their outstanding agricultural and farming skills, they have caught the interest of many, to the point that plenty of their kin had died from raids and battles that were a result of people’s greed.

But thanks to Vormon’s protection, this race was able to build a new home for themselves, plow a small land of their own, which grew into a small village, then a large territory, and eventually into a small kingdom. This kingdom was named ‘Rocard’. And shrill screams were currently ringing inside this very same Rocard Kingdom.

“Keuhaaaack!”

“Verd!!!”

The Hybrid Race looked completely like humans. The only difference was that they were born with completely different characteristics and power. One of the Hybridmen, a farmer, vomited a mouthful of blood after being pierced through the chest by an arrow.

“Stop them!!! We must do all we can to stop them!!! We have to protect the Rocard Kingdom!!!”

“Uwaaaaaa!”

The difference between the Hybrid Men and humans was their power to control nature and make it obey their whims. This incredible power allowed them to always produce better crops and gain good harvest every year. On the other hand, the ones that were attacking the Hybrid Race were the Undead Corps that Black Dragon Vormon originally created to conquer the continent.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping—

Hundreds of arrows flew in an arc and poured down on the walls that the Hybrid Race created. Seeing this, the Farmer Mages poured out their powers and controlled nature. Their stretched hands controlled the tree trunks, stretching them and making them expand, until a shield was created.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump—

The arrows failed to pierce through and only ended up being stuck on the wooden shield. Meanwhile, the Farmer Knights fought valiantly with their pickaxes on the ground.

Slash—

Thuuuuud—

Crack!

The Farmer Knights, whose moves were comparable to that of an Imperial Knight, swung their pickaxes swiftly and skillfully. No, it was far more than that. The Ingredient Heaven had the power of immortality and everlasting youth, for the Hybrid Race that were born and raised in this place while eating the crops that they produced here had made them inherently stronger than any other races. Their numbers were only a fifth of that of the Undead Corps, but they remained steadfast as they endured the onslaught of attacks for days on end.

To put it simply, if ordinary human soldiers were at Level 350, the level of their ordinary soldiers was at Level 450! This just showed how powerful they were compared to other races. In fact, the Farmer’s Kingdom did not have any concept of ‘civilians and ordinary people’, they were all farmers, and they were all warriors.

Vwooooooooooooooom—

Even if that was the case, it seemed that they still could not escape from despair and hopelessness. With the sound of the trumpet ringing loudly in the area, hundreds of drakes made from bones rushed straight towards the walls. There was also the Death Knight wearing a black armor made of bones standing tall, as he rode a drake that hovered on top of the huge walls.

Even though the Death Knight was an undead, its existence was something that could not be overlooked. It stood at the pinnacle of the undead. Their powers might be weaker than when they were alive, but the problem was that Vormon had used the souls of heroes that brought hope, as well villains that brought despair to the world, and trapped them in the bodies of these Death Knights.

The one riding on top of the drake was well-known in the entire continent for his spearmanship and commanding abilities. He was Evon. The name ‘Evon’ was something that all of the spear masters had heard and learned about in their books since they were young. He created the foundation of spearmanship. He was a young slave that used his own spearmanship to catch the attention of the emperor and eventually became his friend.

But was that all?

Definitely not. There was also the mage that created the Mage Tower, the first ever Mage Tower Master, Verite. The woman hailed as the most beautiful woman of her time had also become a Death Knight and brought despair with her catastrophic magic attacks. And that was not the end of it. Arford, the Summoner of Despair, summoned a creature that was only known in legends, the Hydra.

Deputy Commander Beth, who watched everything, stood on top of the walls and thought, ‘Hydra is known to be the second most powerful monster. It’s a monster that’s only next to Cerberus, a demonic beast.’

Beth realized that their doom was already right around the corner. He might also be powerful, but he knew that he would never be able to fight against those Death Knights even with the help of all of the powerful men with him.

‘However, as long as we can endure for a few more days and maintain the walls…’

But just as this thought crossed his head…

“These are Queen Iris’ orders! Open the gates and destroy the enemies!!!”

“What, what did you say?!”

Beth felt his heart sink into despair as he looked at their enemies outside the walls. One of the Death Knights used his spearmanship and sent spearlights that killed their army on the walls while still standing still on top of the drake. The gigantic hydra was also spewing powerful poison that engulfed their own troops until they died with no bones left. The first Mage Tower Master also used Fly Magic and accurately threw Exploding Magic at their own mages below. They were being killed one after the other. The enemy had launched an all-out attack against the Hybrid Race as if they were sure that they would see the end of this war by the end of the day.

Yet, the Queen wanted to open the gates in this situation?

‘I’m begging you. Please! Queen Iris, please come back to your senses!’

Beth begged desperately for their once wise ruler to come back to them. He knew that Vormon was the one that turned their beloved ruler into this. Vormon might not have coerced and threatened them, but he always had a back-up plan set in place. He kept them on a leash by brainwashing Queen Iris and getting control of her consciousness. However, he never delved deeper in his control. But with his death, the reaches of his control had gone awry.

“No… Even if you threaten me with a knife to my throat!!!”

Beth decided to risk his life for this. He would do everything to protect this kingdom that Queen Iris and her knight, Mercenary King Broad, had guarded before.

But what Beth did not know was that there were already a lot of nobles from their kingdoms that had been seduced and tempted by the commanders of the Undead Corps. They had received a promise, a promise for a life of luxury and not a life restricted by the walls of their small village. A life that would allow them to reach the peak of the world. Yes, there were quite a lot of farmers that felt like they had been trapped in this small place. The nobles were among those people. In fact, they felt this more severely than the others. They could easily turn their backs from their own kind, especially when their deaths were close at hand.

“Open the gates!!!”

“This is Marquis Roleid! Heed my command, the queen has given her orders. Open the gates!!!”

“What, what?!”

“N… No!!!”

The public and the soldiers all fell into deeper despair. Marquis Roleid immediately slashed their necks the moment they showed hints of hesitations.

Puhaaaa!

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!

Marquis Roleid’s skillful display of swordsmanship brought fear to the soldiers, which forced them to open the gates. Beth tried to stop them, but he was already too late.

‘Aaaaaah! This kingdom has gone nuts!’

‘We will all be killed…!’

‘Save me, please save me!’

The enemy had coveted this Ingredient Heaven for a very long time now, as well as the shocking and ridiculous land that they had created. Back then, this was what the queen told them: ‘The Ingredient Heaven belongs to the Food God. It is all thanks to his blessings that we are able to live a very peaceful and fulfilling life. We should always remember to be grateful to him.’?

But now, these fallen and corrupt nobles were personally trying to hand over the ‘Ingredient Heaven’ to their enemies.

“Noooooo!”

“Stop them!!!”

“For Queen Iris!!!”

“For the queen!!!”

The soldiers squeezed the last of their strength as they moved to stop their enemies. They knew that death was just right around the corner, and although they resented their queen for this rash decision, they still loved her more than anyone in this world. And the same was true for Beth, the corrupted nobles, and Broad, the Mercenary King and the only knight that protected the mad queen. All of them loved her.

Not long after, the soldiers were swept away by the flood of enemies. They had allowed the Undead Corps to enter their kingdom. Beth surveyed his surroundings as he continued to fight desperately. He could see their soldiers both covered and vomiting in blood while the undead, with only bones left on their bodies, continued to slaughter them with their blades while stepping on them to enter their gates. Beth continued to ruthlessly cut down another undead.

“Protect the gates!!! Kill the enemies!” The nobles shouted as greedy and vicious smiles stained the corners of their mouths knowing that a new world would unfold in front of them.

‘Morons. Do they think that they will give you what they have promised you before?’

Beth’s bitter smile turned even more desolate when he saw a little girl crying over the loss of her parents. He rushed forward and cut down all of the enemies that tried to surround the crying girl. But in the end, he had reached his limits and collapsed on one knee. He quickly hugged the girl tightly to protect her and said, “Don’t be afraid.”

Beth used the last of his strength to give a warm smile to the child. Then, hundreds of undead swarmed to him with their blades raised high up in the sky. But suddenly…

“Turn Undead.”

Flash—

A flash of golden light appeared in his vision. The golden light stretched out and covered the entire kingdom, devouring and slaughtering thousands of undeads. Meanwhile, above the walls…

“Sword of Absolute Death.”

…a rain of sword lights poured down on the land of undead.