Rue slapped away Soma’s hand, sending bread sprawled all over the floor.

  “Junior!” Soma shouted. He cradled Junior’s head, who was breathing in a short, gapped gasps. “His vein bulging…”

  “Lay him on the bed!” Rue ordered. He started to browse the shop for a potion, before Lars dumped five green vials into Soma’s hand.

  Lars kicked the door open. In an instant, he was thrown back, crashing against Rue's bookshelves. The wood cracked, and Lars held a sword made out of pure light in his hand. His head reeled from the impact.

  A man, no two men in that tall chef hat, entered, each carrying a knife in their hand. One of them entered with his feet down after kicking Lars, his eye landed on Rue and Soma, along with the wounded Junior.

  (Server. Lvl 30)

  (Server. Lvl 30)

  Rue moved; he swung his sword down, catching one server across his shoulder, leaving a deep red gash on his white clothes. The other moved toward him. The knife was jabbed straight at his face. Rue withdrew his sword and parried the strike, but the server's grip was strong, and Rue did not have much room to maneuver.

  Both of them attacked him. With his left hand, Rue summoned a shield; it was a small one, not bigger than a basketball. But the shield of Light managed to block one knife, and with his other hand, Rue deflected another strike with his sword. He flowed to counterattack, drawing a thin cut across one server's face.

  Before the server could continue, ice burst from the side of its head. It's not big enough to stop his movement, but the creature stumbled away in panic. And Lars was there, swinging his sword like a whip made out of light. In swift motion, he decapitated both servers. Their head jumped and fell back down in a burst of blood. Their headless body dropped with red liquid, sprayed all over… Just like humans.

  “What the hell?l” Lars breathed. He looked at Rue and then back down at the dead server. He crossed, skipping the bodies into the hallway.

  “Wait,” Rue called. “I’m coming with you,”. Lars gave a nod before he turned and entered another combat.

  There are others?

  “Soma, are you good here?” Rue held the door, making sure to check on his red-haired friend.

  “Yes, the potion is working. I will stay with him. Close the door.”

  “All right,” Rue said. He entered the hallway. And to his left, Lars is fighting two servers; he has already killed one and driven his sword to the other's neck.

  But beyond them, on both sides of the hallways, is a cacophony of steel clashing. To his right, three warriors were holding a huge shield against five servers, while archers and a mage dealt damage behind them.

  Summoning the Plague Doctor Mask, Rue donned it, and it fit him. Now he had complete Poison Immunity; there’s no reason for him not to wear it. His breath swirled in the beak, which gave him a claustrophobic feel, and his vision was limited, but the plus attribute this mask granted and more resistance to poison, would be worth it, although Rue doubted he needed the poison resistance anymore.

  Rue also summoned his Plague Doctor Cane. The dark cane appeared on his left hand, and on his right is his Frost Bite Sword.

  Looking back at Lars, he had made incredible headway, felling two more. That side won’t need his help, Rue decided.

  So he ran to his right. Passing a girl Archer who held her bow shakily. An Old Mage, on the other hand, expertly pushed a sickle of wind between the warriors that were still holding the line, cutting apart one server's throat.

  “Coming in,” Rue shouted behind them as he charged.

  The girl turned and yelped, letting her arrow fly. The arrow hit a warrior straight in her back. The poor woman screamed, and her shield dropped. The monster in human skin ahead of her took advantage. One server lunged in and carved his knife through the woman's throat..

  The other two warriors, noticing this, drop their guard and start to run back; each of their faces is purple with fear.

  Rue tried to hold them back, but one of them just screamed and swung at Rue. He parried the attempt with his sword and smashed his cane at the man's face.

  “Calm down and fight!”

  “No! Go away!” The warrior pushed him aside, running across the hallway.

  The girl who shot the woman now fell on her knees, her bow dropped. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” She cried.

  “Sir! You–whatsoever you are,” The wind mage shouted. “Ignore them, I've got your back. Don’t let them pass you, hear me!”

  Rue grumbled under his beak mask, he turned to five servers charging at him. With his cane, he cast Fireball, not wanting to hold the spell for long, he let it fly as a small one. The fire crashed into one, throwing him back, but not killing. Still, that was a very fast cast.

  Not willing to let them get closer to the mage. Rue dashed forward with Glacial Wake. Ice burst by his feet, and he slid low, ducking two attempts on his throat. He tripped over one of the servers as he slid with his cane. And with his Frostbite Sword, he did a sweep strike, carving through two servers' stomachs. Before blood could color their clothes, ice jumped from their body, heaving them to the floor.

  Now, behind the five of them, with three falling and two incapacitated. Rue pressed his advantage. But the problem was that he was behind them. One of the servers charged the old man and the girl. And nothing Rue could do to help; it was a mistake in his decision. One server struck at him, and Rue stepped back, not willing to leave further, as he wanted to kill the fallen three.

  He skidded back further, gaining more space, and with his long cane, he jabbed at the server's nose—sending him reeling back. He sliced his throat with his word, and moved immediately further.

  You Have Slain Server. Lvl 30)

  The server that has been charging the mage and archer has almost reached them. Before a sickle of wind blade threw him back, and an arrow jutted from the server’s throat.

  Rue sliced across two throats in one strike, killing another two. As for the last one—managed to lunge at Rue, knife dangerously close—almost piercing his eye. Rue kicked the man on his shin, and it bounced back from the impact; his legs slipped across the ice floor, which Rue had caused from his glacial wake. The server fell on his head first. Rue stabbed at his gut, and rend his sword across its neck, killing the server immediately.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  (You Have Slain Server. Lvl 30)

  (You Have Slain Server. Lvl 30)

  (You Have Slain Server. Lvl 30)

  Level Up General 32→33.

  Level up, Frost Swordman 28→29.

  The lifeless body bled, its figure dangerously close to human. Its skin crumpled into a black husk. Smell of rot drifted up, the body of the server crumbled into dust, like it had just been cremated.

  “Not human..” Rue breathed out. A heavy weight on his shoulder was gone. Although he had killed the Plague Doctor, that one felt like a monster rather than a human, and he still thought so.

  “I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” the girl who had killed the warrior cried. She fell on her knee, eyes shaken at the sight of the dead.

  “Stand, girl! Not over yet,” the wind mage said.

  Rue turned and found a separate fight all over the hallway. Steel clashed ahead of him. A myriad of screams and cries drove a slight fear inside.

  “We, three of us, will begin clearing ahead. We will pick more people and push them to the end of the hallway. Let's focus on this floor,” Rue said to the two behind him.

  The old man held a staff tightly, as if he were about to protest. But, ultimately, his body loosened, and he tipped his head back, “What about the other end?”

  “They will be fine. Some freak is fighting on our side there.”

  “Freak…” The old man shook his head. “All right, let's go then, you too, girl. The best thing you can do is to prevent more deaths.”

  The girl still shook, woobily stood like her legs were made of paper. She hefted her bow and nocked an arrow. “Let's go, my name is Jessica.” She said.

  “I’m Jon”

  “I’m Eu– Rue,” Rue coughed inside his mask. “My name is Rue”

  —------------------

  A Head Chef always needs a competent team.

  Especially if a kitchen became the target of hundreds of hungry stomachs!

  Even the garnish section needed to step up. The meat section, especially, is hellish. Bondred has experienced the horror many times.

  The time he was rushed to deliver meat, he was not satisfied with… That is the horror. To serve something you know so well, not perfect, yet being forced to… Your art, your years of practice… All of that is thrown away like garbage just to please hunger. How cruel are they? What kind of people do that?

  Yes, no one should do that. None! No living being, at least!

  Bondred is sure of it.

  A true person would wait until the chef delivered a perfectly cooked meal, down to the last temperature. That is what people would do.

  To those who didn't want to wait… Those who would rush the kitchen over something trivial like hunger?

  Those should just die.

  So Bondred poison them, it's only right to do so… His brother, his dear brother, even offered him the best poison to put into food. He even made his knife poisonous. Ah! What a joy to use them!

  “Brother…” Bondred cries, his tears drop into the shiny metallic prep table. “Ah! No! no! The table must be clean. Why there’s a teardrop here! Why!” Bondred screamed. Who does this? Who dare. “You!”

  Bondred screamed at a chef beside him.

  This one is a female, made to look like people. Made by him. But Bondered knows full well they’re not one. They’re just his skills, a skill he picked up so he can run a kitchen well.

  “Yes, Chef!” The woman creature snapped like a soldier. Perfect, perfect. This is how a chef acted.

  (Chef. Lvl 35)

  A normal person would have fear, especially after the great sin committed at the prep table.

  “Why, there’s a water drop here!” Bondred pointed. Then another chef, this time a man, carried a tray full of bread. They steamed with a delightful aroma, perfectly made to hide any sign of poison.

  As the chef was about to put the tray into the prep table, Bondred’s knife flashed. And the bread sprawled to the ground

  The chef just stared at him with a questioning eye before also falling bloodied, just like the discarded bread.

  “No!, No! No!. You do not put food in a contaminated prep table, you fool!” Bondered screamed. “And why did you fall! Huh! Oh, and you drop the bread too!! Worthless!” Bondred kicked the man in the head, splaying it apart in an explosion of blood. “What a waste.”

  Why is everyone so incompetent? Why? He had trained them hard to be a perfect chef, yet.. yet..

  “Oh, brother, what should I do?” Bondred cried. He just wanted to serve this poisonous bread. Why did something so noble need to be difficult?

  Yes, noble…

  What he does is noble. He wanted to get rid of world hunger. The best way is to kill the very source that caused hunger. Which meant stomach! Which meant a living being!

  Efania had agreed with him… Though in her case, it's to prevent tragedy from happening, so she wanted to kill the source of tragedy! What a beautiful girl! How smart is she! Bondred should think about her marriage proposal. Yes, they should get married and make a better world.

  Will Aegis be there at their marriage? That guy kept waiting for his king, one who was already dead, killed by Bondred’s dear brother. It would be perfect to have the headless knight as a ring bearer, for who else can be more fitting?

  Also, Joya… He did not want to invite Joya. He hated him… Joya only cares about performance. When Bondred heard that, he thought they could get along.

  Joya could perform, and Bondred will serve food to his audience.

  It was supposed to be so perfect. Yet… yet… Yet Joya called him a fool! How dare he? How could he… “Bondred cried again, tears couldn’t stop streaming down. “Why. I just want to get rid of hunger… Oh!” Bondred looked up to another woman chef, who just stared at him blankly. “You, yes, you’re my creation… You should have an answer.”

  The woman tilted her head.

  “Tell me why—”

  The woman's head fell, and her headless body slowly crumpled sideways.

  In place of the woman is a man with long blond hair and glasses. He held a glaive with two blades on each end. Electricity crackles from his spear, and those glasses reflect the bright light in the kitchen. The human stared down at him.

  “You,” the man paused, examining Bondred. “You’re Bondred? The chef?”

  “Yes, who are you?”

  “Name is Rafael.” He pushed his glasses up with his left hand, and with a calm, examining eye, gazed across the kitchen. “This is a horribly run kitchen.”

  Bondred vein twitched. “What?”

  “Bread all over the floor, some even touched blood. And two dead chefs. Granted, I kill one, but a chef shouldn’t be dead; their body could contaminate the food.”

  “You're smart,” Bondred gaped. This human is very intelligent… Maybe he knew the answer?

  “Stand, I hate incompetence the most,” Rafael ordered.

  Bondred stood and asked. “Tell me, how can I eliminate hunger?”

  Rafael clicked his tongue. “Why would you do that? You will lose your job.”

  “What? No, of course not! People will still eat even if they’re not hungry.”

  This man… he challenged Bondred eternal belief?

  “Sure, but most would just save their money”.

  That… “No… No way…. How dare you say that? Unforgivable… They would search for the ultimate cuisine! A taste where none had ever tasted. The epitome of culinary. If there’s no hunger, the chef would be able to make the highest quality of food. Quality is where it is worth it to travel across the multiverse. Such a utopia will exist if hunger is simply gone. Such a beautiful world is what I tried to create. My greatest wish! Such a world will make everyone happy; no one shall rush an order! No one!. It will be a great liberation of gluttony!” Bondred screamed. Breathing hard and deeply. The man needed to understand. He has to!

  “Ah, I decided. I will kill you.” The long-haired man pushed his glasses up and let out an insultingly long sigh.

  “What? Why?”

  “I hate those who prioritize emotion over logic. Your speech is merely wishful thinking. You want the world to bend around you instead of adapting to it. Such pathetic behavior should just perish”.

  Lighting crackles, and Bondred gripped his knife in a dead grip.

  This human… This human is one he needed to kill. How dare he… And after that he will find the one who killed his brother and use their dead body to make various food… So he can offer it to his dead brother.

  Yes, yes, how wonderful!