Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 1072

Arshad could not understand the illusion that he had just seen. Why would the emperor, who was supposed to lead hundreds of millions of people, kneel and worship another? But the shocking part did not end there.

Twitch, twitch–

His body’s reaction did not stop. Another panorama unfolded through his glasses.

“Fwaaaaa–”

Like a man drunk on something, he exhaled and looked up at the sky.

Through his glasses, he saw a pitiful human boy who was forced to become a vessel of demonic energy. A mysterious and unidentified hand broke through the darkness, grabbing the crying boy’s hands, and pulled him up.

Then, another illusion appeared in front of Arshad. The boy, now a man standing in front of millions of demons and demonic beasts, knelt and worshiped someone. This person stood with a smile as he looked down upon him. Just like before, the features of the man's face were vague.

Twitch, twitch–

Arshad’s senses were constantly being stimulated.

When he saw an unknown young boy holding a sword in his hands, his trembling body shook even more intensely. When he saw a beautiful girl with silver hair and snake-like eyes, his breath stagnated.

‘Why?!’

Why did the boy who stood at the pinnacle of all swordsmen kneel in front of someone?! Why did the beautiful girl with snake-like eyes and a beautiful yet ugly past worship this someone?!

‘Why is it this man again?’

Arshad, whose entire body would spasm whenever a “candidate” appeared, flinched and twitched as countless people appeared around them. It looked like he was being electrocuted constantly.

“Arshad! Arshad!” Someone called out to Arshad, whose eyes were left unfocused.

Blink–

Captain Evaluator Ruba grabbed and supported Arshad by the arm.

“Haaa...” Arshad breathed out.

Captain Evaluator Ruba was aware of how Arshad reacted whenever he was observing people who were candidate material. But Arshad’s reaction this time was quite unusual. Ruba could see that Arshad’s reaction had not stopped.

The most puzzling was how he kept on questioning, ‘Why? Why?! WHY?!!’

“What the hell did you see?” Ruba asked.

Only then did Arshad come back to his senses. Arshad could record his evaluation based on what he saw, but he could not tell his companions anything about the panorama and the illusion he saw. All he could do was give his evaluation.

“I also don’t understand the things that I have seen.”

He just could not understand why that man always appeared at the end of every illusion.

“It’s very surprising.”

“What’s surprising?”

“This is the first time I have seen the panorama of so many people in a single day.”

“You have been shaking and twitching non-stop because of their panorama?” Ruba asked, his voice filled with disbelief. Nevertheless, Ruba knew that Arshad’s intoxication and reactions were much more than usual.

“How many people did you feel?”

“There are more than seven.”

“...!”

“...!”

Ruba, Royer, and the rest of the evaluators were shocked. It was extremely rare for Arshad to react to anyone and recognize them as candidate materials. But more than seven people in this empire alone had already gained Arshad’s recognition. It was the first time that this had happened.

‘Of course, the people I reacted to are still unqualified to become candidates.’

Still, the fact that Arshad reacted to them meant that their growth potential was high enough. Although they weren’t qualified now, Arshad could predict that their influence in the future would be comparable to a candidate’s.

Ruba, who knew Arshad could feel and evaluate those who had the potential to be candidates, asked, “So, are there any eligible candidates right now?”

Arshad nodded in response. “There are two...”

“Did you say that you were the Pillar Evaluators?”

Before Arshad could finish his words, the wolf-like man, the same man who stood at the center of hundreds of millions of people in the illusion that Arshad saw, appeared.

Brod stepped forward and began to chastise Ruba. He said, “Were you the one who did it? Did you do that to our people just now?”

Although the influence that the Pillar Evaluators had now was not as great as before, anyone who had heard of the term “Pillar Evaluator” would know they weren’t people to be ignored or treated lightly. They were the type of people who had enough power and strength to make even an emperor run barefoot to meet them and kiss them on their feet.

The arrogant Ruba looked up as if he wanted to correct the man’s mistake.

“So, you did it.”

“...?”

But the man was staring at him coldly.

“...”

Ruba, who had never experienced being welcomed like this before, looked puzzled.

“Right now, you should know who I am...”

“You entered our empire without undergoing the identification process with the guards. Furthermore...” Brod gritted his teeth. “...you have injured our guards.”

That was right. One of the guards had his legs broken, while the other’s arm was completely torn apart.

“Of course, the priests can heal their wounds. But we have decided not to welcome you because you have injured them like that.”

Ruba listened silently to the cold and hard voice.

“Apologize and treat them politely, otherwise...” Brod pulled out a rope. “...I will have to arrest you.”

“...!”

The evaluators were so flustered that they were rendered speechless. This was the first time they had been greeted like this.

Ruba smiled. “In the end, you’re nothing but a pawn of your emperor. Who allowed you to act like this...”

Then, Ben, with his black hair tied tightly in a ponytail, took a step forward. Holding his spear tightly, Ben spoke, “Our Majesty has declared that we have the authority to pass judgment upon anyone who dares to hurt or harm our people.”

Thud–

He slammed his spear on the ground.

“According to His Majesty’s orders, if such a man appears, we can cut him down. This order stands even if Athenae is in front of us.”

“...!”

“...!”

The evaluators were taken aback. They would put their entire empire at risk for just two mere guards?

Ruba could tell that these two were the ones who Arshad was saying were the candidate materials. He grinned. “Fufufufu.”

Ruba pulled the sword from his waist and said, “Let’s start the evaluation.”

The other evaluators hurriedly stepped back after understanding what Ruba intended to do. Meanwhile, Ben and Brod looked at each other. The fact that these people did not even admit to their wrongs and were extremely unapologetic was enough. They both jumped out at the same time.

A sharp and intricate spear shot out toward Ruba. Ruba looked at the skillful and masterful flow of the attack with interest.

‘Sure enough...!’

The two were genuinely outstanding individuals. Most of Ruba’s powers had been sealed, but he was no pushover. Nonetheless, he had to admit that he was not good enough to block the sharp and sophisticated spear that was constantly targeting his vital points and the menacing sword that could break anything in its path aiming for his throat.

A powerful burst of force flowed through Ruba’s body as he sent attacks toward the two.

Shwaaaaaa–!

Shaaaaaaaaaa–!

The force was so powerful that it created a loud and terrifying sound. It could tear any enemy in front of him apart. Ben held his spear gently and stabbed the exact center of Ruba’s attack. Just like that, the force was offset, and the attack scattered with the wind.

Shwaaaaa–!

Brod immediately sent the Wolf King and pressed down on the force stretching toward him. The Wolf King, much stronger than Ruba’s force, looked like it was trampling the force.

Crack–

Ruba was in awe of the power and thought, ‘I couldn’t reach them?’

It was quite shocking to see that his power could not do any damage to them. Although it looked like they had only collided once, their weapons had clashed more than a hundred times during that confrontation. Each time they offset Ruba’s force, it would scatter and disappear with the wind.

Shwaaaaa–

Ruba looked at the two men in delight as the wind caressed his face. He even clapped without realizing it.

Clap, clap, clap–!

“Ahahahahahahaha! Excellent! Brilliant!” Ruba shouted as he turned to look at Arshad.

Arshad had already recognized the two as candidates. Now that he, the captain, had recognized them, they had fully met the qualifications. Arshad immediately told Ruba the appropriate name for them.

The delighted Ruba pointed at Brod and said, “I recognize you as a candidate. The suitable name for you is Lord of the Masses.”

[The Pillar Evaluators have chosen someone as the ‘Lord of the Masses’.]

He spoke arrogantly like a king appointing his subject and giving him a good position. Then, he pointed at Ben and said, “The suitable name for you is Pillar of Courage to Never Back Down.”

[The Pillar Evaluators have chosen someone as the ‘Pillar of Courage to Never Back Down.’]

“Of course, you are still just candidates. You still have to compete with the other candidates and prove your qualifications. But you’ll obtain good results. Isn’t it great? If you become pillars, you will become the center of this world,” Ruba said.

He laughed smugly as though Ben and Brod had obtained a considerable honor. “In addition, once you become Pillars, he will bestow upon you a Disaster. How is it? Are you delighted? You must be crazy with joy, no?! Hahaha!”

While Ruba was crazily laughing alone, Ben and Brod looked at each other.

“Brod, your farming has produced a good harvest this year, no?”

“That’s correct, Grandpa.”

“For some reason, I really want that damn good bumper harvest.”

Ruba’s face turned ugly when he heard the light banter between the two.

Ben laughed and said, “Even if you give it to us, we don’t plan on taking it though?”

A ridiculous notification rang in Ruba’s ears.

[The Pillar of Courage to Never Back Down has refused his nomination.]

Then, Brod stepped forward with his sword, already brimming with power. The figure of an enraged wolf that appeared on his sword seemed ready to pounce on the enemy.

“We have a lot of things to do.”

[The Lord of the Masses has refused his nomination.]

“That’s not what we’re asking you to do.” The anger in Brod’s eyes burned even more. “Kneel to our soldiers and apologize. Mercenary’s Pinnacle Swordsmanship.”

Hunt of the Wolf King.

Awoooooo–!

A gigantic wolf came out of Brod’s sword.

Ruba realized that this power was at a level that could threaten his life. He instinctively tried to counter the red sword light coming straight at him.

Bang–!

Alas, his defense was easily torn apart. The gigantic Wolf King continued to charge toward him and caused multiple wounds. Thankfully, he could strengthen his body instantly and protect himself from the rampaging attack of the Hunt of the Wolf King.

Drip, drip, drip–

Nevertheless, the wounds all over his body were large, and his blood continued to drip down the ground. He was even forced to take a few steps back. This was the first time he had experienced something like this as the Captain Evaluator. He had never been humiliated like this during any candidate’s evaluation.

The other evaluators were left astonished.

‘Even if most of our powers have been sealed, this is still ridiculous. He pushed back Captain Ruba...?’

‘What the hell? What do they eat in this empire?’

Of course, they were still far worse than the evaluators. However, at least seven of them had power that could rival their own.

Ruba’s face grew uglier. “I’ll kill the both of you.”

A strong killing intent rose from Ruba’s body. The other evaluators also stepped forward.

Of the five evaluators that came, there was Captain Ruba, Dexterity Evaluator Royer and Observer Arshad. The other two were considered evaluator escorts with power that could rival Brod and Ben. They were sent along with the three just in case something unexpected happened.

As it turned out, the situation was escalating.

But then, Arshad suddenly grabbed Ruba’s arm. He was shaking all over again. It was a sign that he was feeling the energy of another candidate. But his reaction was much more intense than the reaction that he had before. There was even a blank look on his face. Perhaps it was because he was looking at the candidate’s panorama.

Ruba was surprised by Arshad’s reaction.

“W-what...?”

This was because Arshad was crying.

At the same time, someone appeared in front of them. All of the evaluators could tell that this man was the one who made Arshad react like this. When he saw the man, Ruba felt like things had become easier.

Then, Royer said, “Ruba, there’s no need to dye our hands with blood. That guy looks like the guy who we’re looking for. He should know who we are. He will execute those two people who provoked us for just two mere guards.”

Ruba notched his anger down.

The face of the man, who was listening to the report, was growing darker by the second.

“Candidate, you must have heard the disrespect that these men have shown me. Go ahead. Execute them quickly...”

“Brod, break that bastard’s legs.”

“I will do my best to break his legs, Your Majesty.”

“Grandpa, break his arms.”

“Hoho. This old man will use all his power to tear his arms apart.”

“...?”

“...?”

‘No. Wait... what?’

“Candidate, do you not understand the situation right now?”

“I know it well. I heard that you broke our precious guards’ arms and legs.”

“No. They’re just mere...”

“Mere? You must be complete lunatics.”

“We are evaluators...”

Then, the man asked, “Is that an official position?”

“...”

“...”

‘Ah. That’s right. It’s not an official position, no?’

At that moment, everyone was rendered speechless.