Chapter 857  

Keller had always received the respect and admiration of many from the Arcas Kingdom, the empire that he belonged to before. He was indeed worthy of respect and admiration. After all, he held the position of commander and led all of the knights at the young age of twenty.

“Go and spar with Epaule, you f*cking bastard.”

‘Bastard?’

Hearing Minhyuk call him something Keller never heard in his entire life, the veins on Keller’s head popped out. Even the king that he served before did not insult him like that.

“Did you just call me a bastard?”

Minhyuk just continued to glare coldly at him and the other recruits. Minhyuk’s CHA had already exceeded 14,000, completely overwhelming those around him.

‘Wh-what heavy pressure...’

‘I can’t breathe.’

‘I have never felt a pressure this heavy in my entire life.’

Minhyuk spat coldly, “I’m fully aware of what you think of Epaule. You think that he’s nothing but a knight commander from a small kingdom on the frontier and that he’s the weakest among all of the recruits. After all, the first thing that you did when you came here was to determine your ranks, no?”

None of them could refute Minhyuk’s words. It was the truth. Epaule was truly the weakest person in this place.

“But you dare to slander me in my face and say that I conspired with Epaule to trick you? Which emperor do you think would sit still and remain quiet when they hear such words, huh?”

No matter how arrogant and proud Keller was of himself, the man standing in front of him was an emperor. Keller was the one who committed an act of disrespect toward the emperor first. This behavior was worthy of the death penalty. That was why Keller immediately clamped his mouth shut.

Keller pointed his spear at Epaule. “Unbelievable. I have to spar with Epaule? He’s the weakest among us. If he ends up getting injured in this spar, know that it’s not my fault.”

“Epaule, are you confident?”

Epaule was stunned when he heard Minhyuk’s question. He pondered for a moment before slowly nodding his head in agreement. Aside from his growth rate, all of his stats had increased by 35%. Still, this effect would only last for two weeks.

There were many reasons why Minhyuk was able to make a dish with such a high buff effect.

The first one was because of the 15% increase in buff dish effects when cooking with the Bizarre Cauldron.

The second reason was the triggering of Trance when he wanted to feed Epaule, the only person who showed respect and admiration for him, with a delicious meal.

The third reason was that the dish was legendary grade. Minhyuk had used several precious ingredients when cooking earlier. He wanted the first dish of his that Epaule would eat to be special.

There was also a reason why Minhyuk had proposed a spar between Keller and Epaule, as he watched them raise their weapons and pointed them at each other.

‘Epaule has a more outstanding mastery of his skills compared to Keller.’

Epaule might be the weakest among them, however, compared to all of the recruits present here, he was the one with the highest mastery of his skills. This was probably because of the difference in their innate mana.

Keller snorted. ‘This punk will be able to beat me? That’s bullshit.’

Keller was one of the strongest among all of the people present here. In his eyes, Epaule was nothing but a child. Of course, he would not be foolish to let the opponent strike first. So, he immediately went on to attack Epaule.

Claaaaaang–

However, the moment his spear made contact with Epaule’s sword, he knew something was off.

‘It feels heavy?’

Under normal circumstances, Keller should have been able to push Epaule’s sword away easily with his spear. However, Epaule’s sword felt heavy and he failed to push him back. Then, Epaule began to counterattack.

Swooooosh–

Epaule’s sword moved swiftly, his attacks targeting all of Keller’s vital points.

“Heok...!”

“How- how come...?!”

The people watching on the sidelines were both shocked and impressed. Epaule’s movements were swift and skillful. His sword was so fast that their eyes could barely follow its movements. Keller was soon forced to be on the defensive. In response, he immediately released the power that accumulated in his spear.

“Bull’s Spear.”

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang–

A force akin to a bull’s charge slammed into Epaule and sent him flying back.

“Ugh!”

However, Epaule only let out a groan. He immediately stood up and blocked Keller’s spear, all the while moving to slash his opponent’s waist.

Clang–

Slaaaash–

Keller, who was being cut and slashed by Epaule’s sword non-stop, felt unbearable shame and disgrace.

Clang– Clang, clang, clang, clang– Clang–

Keller found himself in a situation where he was being overwhelmed and pushed back by Epaule’s tremendous speed.

“Wow...” Someone in the crowd exclaimed unknowingly.

After the humiliation, anger began to wash all over Keller.

“How dare you, you bastard...!”

Keller had always treated Epaule as nothing but a child. For him to lose to a brat, was unfathomable. At that moment, a spark bloomed at the tip of Keller’s spear. This was the power that brought Keller to where he was now.

‘Bull’s Lightning Spear.’

Bull’s Lightning Spear was a skill that could instantly kill his target. Clouded by anger, Keller could only see his pride and ego being trampled on. His face was more important than the fact that this was just a mere spar.

Crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle–!

Keller stabbed toward his opponent, with the power that could kill even the strengthened Epaule all at once.

“Sir-sir Keller...!”

“Oh no!”

Everyone was alarmed by Keller’s sudden move. This was supposed to be a spar, not a fight to the death.

At that moment, the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor stepped forward while holding a mixer and a bowl, and quickly whipped the mixer.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaa–

[Cancel.]

The overwhelmingly powerful force that was shooting toward Epaule scattered and disappeared with the wind. Minhyuk took this time to wrest away the spear in Keller’s hands.

“What do you think you’re doing...?!”

Then, Minhyuk raised his hand and slapped Keller on the cheek.

Slaaaaaaaap–!

The force of the slap was so strong that Keller’s face was forced to turn sharply. He even felt like he was seeing stars in front of him. However, this blow only served to anger Keller even more.

‘How dare this man slap me?!’

“How dare...!” (f)reewe(b)novel

Slaaaaaap–!

Minhyuk slapped Keller, who tried to rebel against him, on the other cheek.

‘I wanted to make him lose but this is much better.’

Minhyuk knew that this was an opportunity. There was no need to fear Keller trying to break free and rebel against him because it would be of no use. After all, Minhyuk’s stats easily surpassed Keller's stats. Just like that, Minhyuk began to slap Keller. He was doing it so easily as if he was patting the water off of himself on a rainy day. Anyway, he had enough justification to do this.

“You tried to kill your comrade because you can’t contain your anger during a spar? Unforgivable. I wouldn’t stand for such behavior!”

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

All of the recruits were frozen solid when the sight in front of them registered in their heads.

‘How? He easily overwhelmed Keller?’

‘Oh my God. Is it possible to beat Sir Keller like that with just your bare hands?’

‘Is the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor truly as strong as they say?’

What happened next was quite interesting. To be honest, Minhyuk just wanted to beat the shit out of Keller. However, this act made everyone feel both shock and awe.

[Ava’s favor has increased.]

[Korda’s favor has increased.]

[Uriman’s favor has increased.]

Even their favorability toward Minhyuk was increasing.

At that moment, Spear God Ben appeared. It was just when Minhyuk was about to beat Keller to a pulp.

“Your Majesty, what’s happening?”

Keller wanted to die right at that very moment. Spear God Ben was the person that Keller respected and looked up to the most. Of course, Ben had recognized the boy’s efforts and had always treated him very well. He was very considerate of him.

Ben’s expression turned ugly when he heard what happened earlier from Minhyuk. “Beat him some more. How dare he say those words to you, Your Majesty?! And he even dared to kill his opponent during a spar?!”

Only after he heard Ben’s words did Keller realize that he had been too complacent. It seemed that the old man who had cared for him deeply before was turning a blind eye to his plight. “I am going to pass a summary judgment on you. Do you have anything to say?”

Keller, who was beaten to a pulp, could not say anything. He would not be able to say anything even if he was brought to death right here and now.

When Minhyuk finally stopped beating Keller, he said, “I will kill you. But before that, I will show you through the others, those things that you wanted me to prove to you.”

It was also a message to everyone present here.

The first thing that they were most curious about, Minhyuk’s power, was already proven to some extent when he beat Keller to a pulp with his bare hands alone. As for the second one, it was whether his cooking skills were truly excellent. After all, they all said that he conspired with Epaule to trick them earlier. This was what Minhyuk was going to prove to them.

So, Minhyuk began to cook. He used his Create a Recipe skill on everybody else except Keller. Then, he began to hand the dishes one after another. There was only one result for those who finished eating his dishes.

“Heok...! Your- Your Majesty! You have my utmost respect!”

[Ava’s favor has reached the MAX level.]

[Ava is one of your newly recruited talents.]

[He will do anything for you!]

[Korda’s favor has reached the MAX level.]

[Korda is one of your newly recruited talents.]

[He will do anything for you...]

Notifications rang constantly in Minhyuk’s ears. With this as proof, they could no longer ignore and deny the existence of Minhyuk, the emperor of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. On top of that, the effects of the buff dishes that Minhyuk gave them were truly outstanding. It was to the point that they felt like they could reach their goals swiftly with the increase in their growth rates. Because of that, their favorability toward Minhyuk had reached an all-time high.

“I am very proud of the fact that I chose to come to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

“Your Majesty, please forgive me for the disrespectful behavior that I have shown you earlier.” magic

“Your Majesty, I will make sure to make up for the disrespect that I have shown you today, with my life!”

They immediately began to cry for forgiveness for the disrespectful behavior that they had shown Minhyuk earlier. Standing among these crying and shouting recruits was Keller, who wanted to die on the spot.

‘I was too conceited.’

It was at this point that Keller admitted that his behavior was worthy of death. However, Keller was not really a bad seed. He was just suffering from the overwhelming pressure. Yes, it was true that he willingly came to this empire. He felt happy that he would be able to stay by Spear God Ben’s side. However, he had doubted if the Beyond the Heavens’ emperor would be able to guide him on the right path.

Yet, His Majesty Minhyuk had proven to him that he was fully capable of doing so. It made him realize that he had committed a grave sin.

‘I still want to live longer...’

He wanted to grow to be more like Spear God Ben. He had made a vow to himself that he would make it happen no matter what. Alas, because of his behavior, it seemed that death was right around the corner.

The others, who had eaten Minhyuk’s dishes, were looking at Minhyuk with eyes shining with respect and admiration. At this point, Minhyuk just continued to cook.

Just when Keller was waiting for his death penalty, Emperor Minhyuk stood up and approached him. Keller immediately closed his eyes and waited for the strike that would take his life.

“Eat, Keller,” Minhyuk said, handing over a bowl of fondue to Keller.

Keller was very fond of fondue. However, even if that was the case, he still hesitated.

Minhyuk growled, “Eat it right now or I will kill you.”

Keller hurriedly picked up his fork and started to dig into the fondue. In that first bite, the flavor and texture of the fondue was so amazing that he almost cried out in admiration.

[Emperor’s Comfort has been triggered!]

Minhyuk watched Keller eat the fondue in a hurry. Then, he said, “Keller, I can kill you right here and now. However, I won’t.”

“...”

Keller’s hand stopped moving, his gaze turning blank as he looked at Minhyuk.

“I do not want to kill my people with my own hands. Also, I believe that...”

“...”

“...you will be able to become a proud pillar of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

“...”

“The reason why I beat you up was because I wanted to make you understand that you have to cherish your comrades. And that you can’t show disrespect to me. If you can do that, then I will welcome you with open arms and regard you as one of my people, Keller.”

[Emperor’s Comfort is reaching its climax.]

Keller was deeply moved. The emperor, who could regard him as a traitor and a rebel, was comforting him. The emperor even looked at him with soft and gentle eyes while patting him on the shoulder!

“I believe that you can follow in Spear God Ben’s footsteps and succeed him. Can you make it happen?”

Keller felt his emotions boil in the depths of his heart when he heard that question.

‘Ah, what a cool and wonderful emperor! He even spared my life!’

Keller immediately slammed his head on the ground as he shouted, “Your Majesty! This Keller promises to dedicate my life to serving you!”

Minhyuk smiled kindly at him. Meanwhile, those around them looked at Minhyuk and began to rethink their view of Minhyuk. It seemed like the man in front of them was a benevolent emperor.

Minhyuk had caught two birds with one stone.