NOVEL NEXT Chapter 986
Ziang carved the path, and Sing opened it up.
The cooking Oknodie’s eyes sparkled toward the final gap.
“Thanks for opening the way…!”
“Go ahead. It’s your share.”
They crossed the wall of the Ghost Warlord.
Now, the swordsmanship that Reinhardt would wield was predictable.
He was the one who personally drew his sword, inheriting their legacy.
Ziang and Sing.
It was the sword of the two of them.
-Reinhardt would certainly react that way. So you must exchange each other’s swords and prepare that method of countering.
Before the final operation, the Ghost Warlord offered that advice to the three.
Naturally, Sing and Ziang didn’t hold back their teachings.
The Cooking Oknodie recalled the swords of the two.
And she noticed Reinhardt’s maneuver initiating first.
Right before that, Sing’s Sword Dance tore through Reinhardt’s Celestial Wall.
As if filling the gap created by the Sword Dance, another wave of it flew back in.
That was Sing’s seasonal technique.
Reinhardt had imitated Sing’s sword.
-Don’t forget. The ‘resilience’ of my sword is highly adaptable.
Upon hearing that, the Cooking Oknodie thought of the Dark Ball.
Even though she couldn’t directly handle it, it was a seasonal technique she had seen in memory.
If it were the old her, it would have been impossible.
However, Sing and Ziang had helped her grow.
For her now, nothing was impossible.
‘Using dark mana as a medium, she unites opposing energies or various energies into one. It applies even to the differentiated sword energies!’
The Cooking Oknodie instantly shot forth a sphere of sword energy filled with attraction into the center of the Sword Dance.
Swords from the gathered Sword Dance were drawn into the center of the released energy.
-The moment you think it’s over with a single push, the <Origin> will swing back a strike that has received equal acceleration to the damage you’ve dealt.
The gathered Sword Dance spread outwards according to the power of the <Origin> area.
Simultaneously, the sword energy sphere that the Cooking Oknodie had sent to the center dissipated.
‘It’s an opening!’
The Cooking Oknodie successfully broke through the Sword Dance that filled the Celestial Wall.
She had succeeded in evading Sing’s technique.
But immediately afterward, she panicked when she couldn’t find the Reinhardt she was targeting.
-My concealment area renders all detection useless.
What a shocking phenomenon perfectly matching Ziang’s explanation!
Of course, there was also an accompanying countermeasure behind the statement.
-However, my concealment area inevitably accompanies ‘associative memory’. I engrave an image onto the space and erase my presence based on that. Conversely, if I can interfere with that image…
<Cooking Oknodie - Domain Establishment>
<Ingrained Violation>
Finally, it became visible to the Cooking Oknodie.
It was an image of Reinhardt, resembling Ziang’s, yet fundamentally different in quality—vanishing as he burned himself amidst a sea of ash in an incineration plant.
Unlike Ziang, who let all presence flow away in a bathtub, Reinhardt eliminated his entire presence in the incineration plant.
Someone who can replicate anything.
Thus, someone who can become any swordsman.
The essence lurking within was so cruel.
Why can he be everyone?
The answer was simple.
Because he can burn them all to ashes, regardless of who.
He leaves no self before the sword.
Only thorough analysis remains.
A tool meant to obliterate existence.
Reinhardt’s incineration facility was for that purpose.
‘It’s a pathetic mindset! Becoming stronger is for happiness and living for tomorrow. Choosing unhappiness with the powers gained from becoming stronger is strange!’
The Cooking Oknodie was different.
Her mindset was a huge pot of broth.
A pot bubbling with a savory smell.
To her, swordsmanship was like cooking.
A set recipe.
Occasionally changing flavors.
Special additives for different opponents.
And care.
The solidly ingrained area that wishes to face the opponent reaches the same level as a guest.
A domain that forcibly matches the frequency of consciousness with the opponent.
Naming it <Guest Reception Area>.
Killing-type <Cooking Area> and exploratory <Guest Reception Area>.
By mastering dual domains, the Cooking Oknodie completely detected the position of Reinhardt, who had vanished for an instant.
It’s here.
It’s right in front of her now.
‘The best. Model answers from top students who always choose the correct answers.’
‘So answer me. Your genius can answer even this last question!’
Reinhardt’s foot stepped into thin air.
Like the aerial movement of the Oknodie.
The Cooking Oknodie’s eyes widened.
Before the duel began.
She had clearly witnessed it with both eyes.
“The power of Glutton Oknodie! It’s the original seasonal technique!”
<Acceleration Afterimage Sword>
<Soul Release Sword>
<Sixth Stage Dodgeball - Rolling Ball>
Combining all those seasonal techniques into the developed <Rapid Rotation Soul Sword>.
The evolved form of Glutton Oknodie, who had left her behind, was unfolding before her.
“Even if you try to deceive me, it’s no use. I distinctly remember you as that small, weak girl who was once a comrade of someone who escaped the Tomb of the Sword.”
The swordsmanship that the Cooking Oknodie had to carry.
Techniques that had become part of her like nourishment.
It included Glutton Oknodie’s swordsmanship.
“This is wrong.”
“This was not planned.”
Even with teamwork, it fell short of the ‘minimum contribution required’ for escape.
Neither Sing nor Ziang expected that Reinhardt would go so far as to intertwine such a meager contribution with Glutton Oknodie to repay her techniques.
“Run away.”
“Listen to Sister Sia. This is dangerous.”
Almost simultaneously, the warnings of the two were conveyed.
However, the Cooking Oknodie did not retreat.
Instead, she took a more assertive step forward.
“I’m not denying it! Though Glutton Oknodie left me behind, I am also a part of Glutton Oknodie. The power of Glutton Oknodie, united as ‘comrades’, is a power I must overcome!”
“Excellent. Truly excellent. That unwavering heart. I wanted to fight against such a heart!”
Before her eyes, a feared disaster once again unfolded centered around Reinhardt.
Relentless speed and trajectories were unleashed as sword strikes were scattered in the air, creating unpredictable paths.
A storm of swords.
The pinnacle of complexity.
Even though she was born of the same original Oknodie, the Cooking Oknodie could not imitate Glutton Oknodie’s sword.
That remains true even now.
But among the things Glutton Oknodie could not do, there was one thing that only the Cooking Oknodie could guarantee.
To elevate all the extreme techniques of every spirit trapped in the Tomb of the Sword as her ‘ingredients’ and create a colossal ‘banquet dish’, a dish bearing her name.
<Cooking Oknodie - Life Masterpiece>
<Five-Hundred-Year Ritual, Joint Ritual Table>
Beautiful seasonal techniques, more stunning than any offerings, erupted in the air.
It was a cooking based on a meal dedicated to the spirit that offers flavor as ‘memory’ to the consumer.
The result of high-level cooking that provides meals with engravings and marks.
<Spirit's Sword>
<Spirit's Sword>
<Spirit's Sword>
A ‘medium’ containing the engravings used in the offering.
It was the swords stuck in the Tomb of the Spirits.
Originally, the Cooking Oknodie could not hold such swords.
But the current her could state with certainty.
Spirit’s Sword.
This too can be an ‘ingredient’ for someone.
Thus, with the approval of access permits to food supplies granted from birth to the Oknodie, she boldly stored the Spirit’s Swords in her backpack, unleashing them all at once.
In other words, it meant she had successfully struck Reinhardt’s blind spot.
“!!”
In that moment, Reinhardt realized.
She hadn’t merely inherited the legacy of Glutton Oknodie.
This girl.
The Cooking Oknodie inherited all the swords of the spirits belonging to the Tomb of the Sword.
Small and insignificant beings.
Once defeated, they could no longer even acquire martial arts.
Left behind and forgotten, these beings were less than dust that was about to vanish.
The extremes of such spirits, each contained in their respective swords, were unfurled as sword techniques interpreted and marked by the Cooking Oknodie.
Sword realm to sword realm.
World to world.
Two domains collided in the Tomb of the Sword.
Sparks flew and flared up amid the intersection of energies clashing and splitting the world.
Like the sky turning dark, thunder roared, and sparks flew between the swords colliding from all directions.
It was like stars.
A singular star shining brightly—Reinhardt.
Unlike his lonely starlight, it was the cluster of starlight illuminating the existence of all spirits that belonged to the Tomb of the Sword.
‘It’s beautiful.’
Reinhardt’s hand halted.
He could break it if he wanted.
But he did not wish to.
This was a miracle.
A scene that even the genius of swords Reinhardt could not realize even if he spent a lifetime trying.
‘I cannot destroy this.’
Reinhardt lowered his sword.
In that brief moment, the Cooking Oknodie, who had been shattered, stood dumbfounded.
Sing held her left arm, and Ziang held her right.
Then they lifted her up high.
It was a declaration of victory.
“Wow! We’ve won!”
Amidst their jubilation, a dazzling light enveloped the Cooking Oknodie, Ziang, and Sing.
They realized that they were recognized by the lower realm as having defeated Reinhardt and were about to be sent back beyond the Picture World.
But the light did not end with the three.
Light poured down over the graves of the swordsmen who had dedicated their swords to the Tomb of the Spirits.
[You have graduated from the lower realm <Tomb of the Sword>.]
[The <Spirits of the Sword> from the lower realm are graduating collectively.]
A victory achieved together.
A prideful joy beyond all.
“Ugh, the mansion has become a house of ghosts!!”
…And the mansion was overflowing with spirits.
For the owner, Oknodie, it was news akin to a disaster.