Barchel could not understand what was happening right now.

‘How can the Frying Pan Killer be here?’

Barchel also firmly believed that the Frying Pan Killer had some of his allies with him. After all, it was hard to believe that Minhyuk hunted Poison Dragon Ambacca all on his own. Barchel was more inclined to believe that his allies were hiding somewhere and waiting for the right time to step in.

However, if the person in front of him was really the Frying Pan Killer, then things would still make sense even if he was alone. That was when he remembered that he was Blackstone’s enemy. Calauhel wanted the death of the Frying Pan Killer. Even if he was alone, he had a high chance of winning. After all, the Frying Pan Killer was a powerhouse that defeated the gold medalist Carr in Athenae: Korean War.

However, the knights from the tower who were accompanying Barrchel wielded their swords from a young age. They were talented and hard working. Each and every single one of them were on par with Carr. In addition, they had achieved the highest level of the Faramil Swordsmanship, the strongest swordsmanship of the Collodis Empire.

There was a legend about the Faramil Swordsmanship, it was said to have happened when the Knight’s Tower was just built. This swordsmanship was praised as the strongest swordsmanship in the continent and was created by Arakkan, the man who established the Knight Tower. Arakkan had also said, ‘This swordsmanship originated from a boy, who had told me that he wanted this sword to protect and not to kill.’ 

He then said, ‘Also, I was defeated by this little boy.’

His words came as a surprise back then. Arakkan, the person that built the Knight Tower, was the strongest swordsman of his time. No, he was only second to the Sword God, but he was actually defeated by a child. He then imitated the child’s swordsmanship to create the Faramil Swordsmanship.

From then on, Faramil Swordsmanship was known to be the strongest swordsmanship of the continent. It was a difficult swordsmanship that only a few from the Knight Tower could learn. However, once they learned this swordsmanship, their strength would surely increase by leaps and bounds. These knights who accompanied Barchel had learned such swordsmanship. Of course, there still existed a wall between the players and NPCs, so even if the knights were of lower rank in the Knight Tower, they were still a lot more powerful than most players.

‘I can win against him… And once I kill him, I can report it to Calauhel!’

With this, Barchel believed that he would be able to climb comfortably to the deputy tower master position. In time, he would be able to sit on the Tower Master’s throne of the Knight Tower.

“You shithead, don’t keep on blabbering!”

At the same time, Barchel gripped the hilt of his sword and tried to strike at Minhyuk. However, before he could even land a strike, Minhyuk’s sword had already slashed his sides.

Slash―

[Intangible Sword.]

[Your sword strike has ignored all of the enemy’s defenses.]

“Urgh!” A groan spilled from Barchel’s mouth. His opponent’s reflexes were extremely fast. He never thought that Minhyuk would be able to strike him with his sword at that moment.

‘20% of my HP has been cut down with just a single attack, crazy shit…!’ 

Barchel’s hairs stood on end. The three knights who accompanied Barchel also moved quickly.

Dash―

‘Quite fast, huh?’ 

Minhyuk was a bit surprised. They narrowed the distance like ghosts suddenly appearing in front of him, and their swords flowed smoothly like water running down a stream.

‘I can’t see the trajectory of their swords?’ 

Minhyuk could not see it. Usually, when fighting with swords, one could predict the attack through their muscle and arm movements. The attacks were not determined through the swing of the sword. However, he could not read their movements at all. He could not even get through to Barchel, since they easily narrowed the distance with their efficient moves.

Clang!

The three knights’ eyes made eye contact. It seemed like they immediately made a unanimous decision as they triggered their swordsmanship at the same time.

[Faramil Swordsmanship Chapter One]

[Wailing Child]

[An unpredictable fast swordsmanship.]

Papapapapapapapapapa―

The swords of the three knights moved unpredictably fast.

‘…that’s a lot faster, right?’ 

Minhyuk frowned. He could see that the speed of the swords of the three knights were much faster than his Rampant Sword. The sharpness of their flashing swords were also extraordinary.

Minhyuk quickly took a step back with his ‘Like the Wind’.

At the same time, the three knights stabbed their swords strongly.

[Faramil Swordsmanship Chapter Two]

[Roaring Child]

[A powerful force is condensed at the tip of the stabbing sword, it will give a longer range than what it looks to the naked eye.]

Stab!

Minhyuk clearly tried to steer away from the range of the swords, but his abdomen was still pierced, even though the range was far shorter than their distance. Then, another attack flew towards his chest.

‘This is dangerous…’

As soon as that thought crossed his head, he heard a loud sound even if the sword did not reach his chest.

Clang!

[Physical Damage Reflection! Returns double the damage received.]

“Keuaaaack!”

One of the knights staggered as he clutched his chest after the Armor of Immortality’s effect was triggered. Minhyuk took out his frying pan and enlarged it to block another attack.

Clang―

Their swordsmanship was quite unpredictable. Without realizing it, Barchel had taken a potion out.

‘It will be hard to use Fluttering Sword or Rain of Kitchen Knives.’ Minhyuk thought.

It was because his cast time was reduced. In fact, even before he had met them, he had already reduced his cast time by 60% by tearing up one of the parchments that he had. However, it was quite difficult to use his skills because their movements were quick.

Then, at that moment…

[Lis… ten…]

Minhyuk had heard Conir’s voice from his spiritual body. Conir continued to speak to him.

[Sound… listen…]

‘The sound?’ 

Minhyuk was confused for a moment. That was when one of the knights named Radvel approached him quickly. Radvel was using the third chapter of their swordsmanship, the Reckless Child. Reckless Child had the power to explode anything indiscriminately within a certain radius. Several strands of black lights spilled out from Radvel’s sword.

‘Why am I familiar with this swordsmanship…?’ 

He was definitely familiar with this technique. Minhyuk knew that he had seen this swordsmanship somewhere before. Then, Conir spoke.

[Listen… to the… sound… coming from the tip… of the sword…]

Minhyuk was not afraid of the strands that were stretching out from the sword. What he was worried about was the damage that would come, even if the sword had not touched him yet. So Minhyuk decided to listen to Conir. He quietly focused on the sound.

Then, he heard it.

Shwwiiiiiiiiik―

He could hear a sound coming towards him ahead of the sword that was targeting him. Minhyuk slashed his swords towards where the sound was coming from.

Bang!

The strands of black light that were stretching from the sword scattered in the air and disappeared.

“Gasp…!”

Barchel and Radvel both let out a gasp of surprise.

At the same time, Conir continued to speak to Minhyuk.

[Lend… me… your… body…]

‘…?’ 

Minhyuk frowned for a moment. However, he understood what Conir was feeling. These people were clearly those who took advantage of the children’s hunger just so they could seek and accumulate plenty of riches. He must have wanted to take revenge on them. Besides, Minhyuk had faith in Conir’s strength. Even if the entire Legend Guild had cooperated, they were still unable to hunt the latter. They were only able to do so because they used food.

[Conir is attempting to ‘possess’ your body. Are you willing?]

‘Yes.’ 

Minhyuk’s eyes began to turn black as Conir was sucked inside his body.

***

Count Peru had quite a serious expression on his face. He thought, ‘Why isn’t Conir coming back?’ 

Conir was on an entirely different level compared to other chimeras who were made from ordinary children. Count Peru had found Conir lying beside the Cup of Essence when he discovered the Dungeon of Sin. Conir was a mummy, to be exact. Other than that, he was just like a normal person with extreme hunger and desire. Count Peru had also found Arfield’s writings there.

‘The Devil Sword Saint has fallen asleep.’

When Count Peru looked at the supposed Devil Sword Saint, he realized something. This was the boy whom Arakkan, the first captain of the Knight Tower and the creator of Faramil’s Swordsmanship, was talking about. The boy was none other than Conir. Unfortunately, Conir would not be able to come back and shine on the world anymore.

However, when Count Peru realized that Conir was dead, he thought about the Cup of Essence and the Essence of Flavor. The Essence of Flavor that filled the Cup of Essence.

‘Arfield was a very cunning and devilish man.’ 

Count Peru was given two choices. The first choice was for him to drink it and his second choice was to give it up. But for someone like Count Peru, whose greed and ambition had reached the heavens, it would not make sense for him to choose the second choice.

***

‘Wh…what the hell…!’ 

Barchel’s thoughts were in disarray. He was using Faramil’s Swordsmanship’s Sixth Chapter, ‘Skilled Child’.

The skill would show the opponent’s weak points and gaps through red dots. For ordinary players, there would be at least seven dots appearing on their bodies. His knights had around four dots on their bodies. With Minhyuk, he was able to see around 2~3. However, that was earlier. Right now, Minhyuk, with his blackened eyes, did not show a single weakness or gap, even though he was just stretching his sword out.

Then, Minhyuk approached them. He did not use any skill at all. He was just approaching them, plain and simple.

Radvel hurried forward to block his front with Chapter Five: Dancing Child. The skill enabled them to move around like a skilled dancer. It allowed them to avoid any and all attacks from the enemy in a single breath.

However, just as Radvel was about to continue his dance-like evasion…

Slash―

“Keuaaaaaaack!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

…blood spurted out of Radvel’s chest with just a light swing of Minhyuk’s sword. Arancar, who was standing beside Barchel, quickly dashed forward with his sword using the first chapter.

Minhyuk was immediately besieged with quick sword strikes from all directions.

Claang―

However, he easily blocked it. Using the recoil from the block, he quickly twisted his sword and pierced the neck of the knight in front of him.

[You have hunted the Knight’s Tower Knight Radvel.]

[This is an NPC that has an accumulated Chaotic Number, your status will not become chaotic.]

[You have gained 3,154,673 EXP.]

If one killed an NPC that had accumulated quite a lot of chaotic numbers, the player would not become chaotic. NPCs who were in this state were usually those that had killed innocents, or were the miscreants of society.

Minhyuk then dashed forward.

“C…crazy…!”

Barchel could not believe the scene in front of him. Arancar quickly used Chapter Three: Reckless Child. Dozens of black strands of light stretched out of his sword. At the same time, Knight Roband used the most powerful chapter out of the six chapters of Faramil’s Swordsmanship, Surging Child.

Several sword lights that looked like they could tear everything on their path to pieces rushed at Minhyuk, who easily blocked the sword of the knight.

Clang!

Just like before, Reckless Child was offset by his strike as it scattered through the air.

“This…!”

Barchel ran towards Minhyuk when he saw the latter trying to pierce through the neck of the remaining knights.

[Faramil’s Swordsmanship Chapter Eight]

[Storming Child.]

[A powerful tempest of swords will rush straight towards the enemy.]

A storm of blades immediately formed when Barchel brandished his sword. Minhyuk just looked at it indifferently before striking his sword out. Two sword lights quickly flew from his sword. It was none other than the Splitting Sword. The moment the sword lights met with the storm of blades…

Shweeeeeeeeee―

…the storm of blades scattered and disappeared in the air, just like a cogwheel being stopped from rotating by a metal chopstick.

“…”

The overwhelming difference in their strength and skill made Barchel tremble.

‘Th…this is impossible!’ 

He knew everything about Faramil’s Swordsmanship. From its power, to its movements and patterns and how to prevent them.

“Wh…what the hell…”

Just as he was flustered and confused…

Stab!

…another one of the knights fell down.

Puhaaa!

The final knight also fell under Minhyuk’s sword.

[You have hunted the Knight’s Tower Knight Arancar.]

[This is an NPC that has an accumulated Chaotic Number, your status will not become chaotic.]

[You have gained 3,511,473 EXP.]

The notification rang one after another in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have hunted the Knight Tower’s Knight Roband.]

[This is an NPC that has an accumulated Chaotic Number, your status will not become chaotic.]

[You have gained 3,154,673 EXP.]

Barchel was left dumbfounded when he saw the overwhelming gap between them.

Right now, the approaching Minhyuk looked like a demon to him.

‘C…Calauhel could not handle him if he’s this strong…!’

Of course, it was because he was unaware that the person he was fighting right now was not really Minhyuk.

“Th…this is ridiculous…!”

Stab!

His chest was stabbed by the sword.

[Your HP has fallen below 60%.]

“Argh!”

He was stabbed by Minhyuk’s sword continuously.

Stab, stab, stab, stab!

Barchel met with a black screen after experiencing those continuous stabs. The sword that he was holding earlier also dropped on the spot where he had died and disappeared from.

[The possession has been released.]

Then, Conir’s spiritual body separated from Minhyuk’s body.

“…”

Minhyuk was left speechless when he saw Conir’s strength. No, he had the exact same reaction as Barchel earlier. He also could not understand how Conic knew the swordsmanship that they used well.

Then, Minhyuk put the thought aside for a moment, as he walked towards the Cup of Essence. He purposely left it behind just so he could easily catch Barchel’s eyes.

Then, the notifications came in.

[You have acquired the Cup of Essence.]

[There are two different methods on how you can use the Essence of Flavor.]

[You can immediately ingest the Essence of Flavor and your class will immediately be upgraded.]

[When those who have been deprived of their ‘desire and longing’ eat the Essence of Flavor, they will be able to escape the pain of their desire and longing.]

“…?”

Minhyuk tilted his head in thought.

There were two choices offered to him for the Essence of Flavor. From what he had read, his class would only get upgraded if he drank everything in the cup without leaving a drop behind. On the other hand, if he chose to let the children, who had their desires deprived of, drink it, that effect would not be triggered anymore.

Minhyuk stared at the Cup of Essence for a moment. Then, he saw Haze and the other children feeling relieved that they were alive and well. There was also Conir who was watching them silently.

Not long after, Minhyuk smiled at them.

***

Conir knew the power of the Cup of Essence. After all, Count Peru had retrieved it dozens of times already.

He was very grateful to Minhyuk for saving the children and preventing Count Peru from making any more chimeras. Even if Minhyuk drank everything from the Cup of Essence, he believed that it would still be fine, because it was a reward for helping him.

Not long after, he saw Minhyuk taking out a frying pan as he started to make fried rice. When he completed the fried rice, he made sure to sprinkle a drop or two of the Essence of Flavor on it, before placing it in front of the children.

“Wow! It’s really, really delicious!”

“It’s very, very, very delicious!”

The same dish was also created in front of Minhyuk.

“It’s very delicious?!!”

“Yes, it’s very, very delicious!”

It was very ironic. They were all eating happily even though Poison Dragon Ambacca’s body and corpses littered the place. However, Conir could not help but smile when he looked at this scene.

***

The notifications rang while Minhyuk was savoring his fried rice.

[You have chosen the second method for the Essence of Flavor.]

[You have achieved the Hidden Piece: The One Who Makes Good Choices.]

[As a reward, your class will be upgraded and enhanced.]

[Food God is a class that can no longer evolve.]

Surprisingly enough, even though he chose the second method, he was still able to obtain the rewards from the first method when a hidden piece was triggered. However, the reward was something useless for Minhyuk.

Then, the Cup of Essence started to crack. The light that came out of the cracked silver cup started to envelope Conir’s spiritual body.

[Selecting the second method will destroy the Cup of Essence.]

[The Cup of Essence is exerting its last power before getting destroyed.]

When the shining light disappeared, what appeared in front of him was a clean and neat boy. Not some bandaged person, or a spiritual body, but a neat and lively boy.

“I’m Conir.”

Minhyuk was speechless, and immediately, a feeling of dread spread in his guts, something ominous coming for him.

“I will serve you.”

[Sword Saint Conir vows his eternal allegiance and loyalty to you.]

Minhyuk’s face distorted in pain.