episode_0007

Giant tentacles swarmed from all directions.

Squid rushing in to cover Lilien in an instant, with glistening mucus flowing down their smooth skin.

Kang! Ka-ang!!

The greatsword instantly slashed through the air, mercilessly cutting down all the tentacles.

Lilien did not waver an inch.

Cutting down a tentacle, she instantly drew her sword back.

And from her fingertip, a clear and transparent sky-blue dagger was projected.

A dagger bearing a beautiful light, like flowing water.

Gripping it firmly in a reverse grip, without a moment’s hesitation—

Plop!

She plunged the dagger into the ground.

“Unbroken Belief.”

A short but powerful incantation flowed from her lips.

In an instant, the dagger glowed and melted into the ground.

Simultaneously, a sky-blue barrier unfolded.

A dome-shaped barrier formed around Lilien as the center, with deep blue light filling the space.

“……”

Amidst that brilliant radiance, Cthulhu, a black figure, looked down at Lilien in silence.

The Outer God of cosmic horror did not stand still.

Raising its colossal arm—

Kuang—!!!

A tremendous shock struck the barrier.

“The barrier held?”

As the mighty force reached it, the barrier’s surface momentarily distorted, but absorbed the power entirely, scattering as fragments of light.

Lilien smiled as she quietly watched the fragments.

“Yes. Faith isn’t easily broken, is it?”

Along with her voice, the fragments of light began to envelop her greatsword.

Blue light flowed along the blade, and in an instant, the entire sword was imbued with sacred light.

Whooshing—!

The aura of light shimmered, and the space instantly fell silent.

In that space, Lilien glared at Cthulhu before her eyes.

“Then.”

Lightly swinging the greatsword, which left behind a blue afterimage, she charged towards the massive Outer God at an explosive speed in an instant!

“Splitting the light, I shall cleave the sky!”

As her voice echoed through the space, blue light burst forth explosively from the blade as if in response.

Kwa-aang!!

A massive shockwave erupted, and its power sliced deeply into Cthulhu’s body as if splitting the space.

A strike that tore apart the darkness within the dungeon.

The form of the Outer God trembled endlessly within the intense blue light.

The dark space was instantly bathed in bright light.

The blue light shimmered and even swallowed the darkness that had filled the dungeon’s core.

Thump.

With a tremendous impact, Cthulhu’s massive form completely collapsed.

I stared blankly at the sight.

Is this really possible?

A being that was considered something humans couldn’t dare to confront.

Cthulhu, the very embodiment of cosmic horror…

That our party would actually catch it under the guise of a gourmet exploration, who would have thought?

“We really caught Cthulhu…”

Was cosmic horror actually a member of our party?

“Yuan!!”

Lilien came bounding over, wearing a bright smile like a child.

However, she was holding two giant tentacles in both hands.

From the color, the size, to their overwhelming presence—

Truly a legacy and drop item left behind by an extraterrestrial god.

But Lilien approached, shaking them with an excited look.

“Yuan! Please cook for me!”

…Truly, brightly.

She proudly held out the tentacles, her eyes sparkling as if she had discovered a tremendous treasure.

“Cleanly! Brought them without a single speck of dirt! Hehe!”

This person, really…

No matter what I say,

No matter what reaction I show,

She’s just filled with anticipation for eating a delicious meal.

Now, that…

It’s to the point where it feels cute.

I sighed and let out a chuckle.

“Okay. You worked hard, Lilien.”

I accepted the Cthulhu tentacles she held out.

The ends of the tentacles wiggled softly.

It felt like a strangely fresh sensation reached my fingertips.

“How can I object here? Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

“Yes~! I’ll look forward to it, Yuan!”

Lilien smiled brightly, clasping her hands in joy.

That appearance was so pure and lovely that I needlessly sighed again.

I fell into deep contemplation while looking at the cutting board.

Why am I doing this when I just need to cook now?

Because the Cthulhu tentacles, which Lilien must have cut cleanly, were still wiggling and alive.

“It’s edible, right?”

I carefully looked down at the tentacles squirming on the cutting board.

The tentacles subtly wiggling and changing shape even after being cut off, as if they couldn’t accept their demise.

It occasionally bounced off the cutting board, reacting grotesquely.

If I actually eat it, it feels like Cthulhu Phase 2 will start just like that.

“If I eat it, won’t I suddenly grow four more arms and become a muscle monster, or suddenly start spouting alien languages and become a tentacle monster?”

“Ah, Yuan worries too much, doesn’t he?”

Next to me, Elice crossed her arms and shook her head.

Ah, for reference, it wasn’t her own arms she crossed, but mine.

“I don’t want to hear that from you, Elice, the Demon King!!”

“You won’t die~ won’t die~ A human’s digestive system is stronger than you think, you know? Fight! Win!”

Clasping her hands together, shouting like an overly excited cheerleader at a stadium was a bonus.

“First, I won’t eat it raw. It seems relatively safe only if it’s cooked thoroughly.”

Then Lilien’s eyes sparkled and she raised her hand excitedly.

“Then please cut just a little bit raw for me! I came all this way for Tangtang-yi~!”

“I won’t take responsibility, Lilien?”

However, she declared confidently with a mischievous smile.

“Hehe, just leave it to me, Yuan. I’ll splendidly repel (digest) it.”

“I don’t know anymore~ Ah, Elice. Arte. Shall I make yours raw too?”

Then Elice quickly waved her hand.

“I’ll pass pass. I’ll eat it cooked.”

Arte also quietly nodded her head.

“Me too. I’m uneasy that it might cause malfunctions inside.”

“Okay okay~ Then I’ll prepare only Lilien’s separately. Just a moment.”

Among the three kitchen knives, I chose the sharpest one and picked up one of the two tentacles.

Carefully held it down with my hand…

“…Ah, damn, why is it moving so much!?”

Pal-ttak! Pal-ttak!

The tentacle bounced back defiantly like a living creature.

Holding the kitchen knife, I looked down at the tentacle with a bewildered face.

“It’s going to be hard to hold this down with just one hand.”

Just then, Arte, who had washed her hands with water, quietly approached and firmly held it down on both sides.

“Yuan, try it now.”

“It’s stable now. Thanks, Arte!”

Gripping the kitchen knife firmly, I boldly went Tang! Tang! striking down.

—Tang!

—Tang!

“Huh?”

There’s no damage at all?

The tentacle seemed to have a firmer elasticity than rubber.

The moment the kitchen knife’s edge touched it, that elasticity was bouncing back all the impact exactly as it was.

How did Lilien manage to slice and dice something like this?

“Hehe, do you need help? It can’t be helped, Yuan.”

Lilien raised her hand and created a sword shaped from light—

And instantly transformed it into the shape of a sharp kitchen knife.

She handed me the sparkling projected knife.

“Try using this. Only hold the handle part. The blade is especially sharp, so you might get hurt.”

I carefully looked down at the sparkling sky-blue sword blade.

A projected sword that gave a feeling of being more than just beautiful, almost dreamy.

“Nothing to lose by trying. Thanks, Lilien.”

Suh-guk—Suh-guk—

…?!”

The clean cutting sensation felt at my fingertips.

“This is good? If I sold this as a kitchen knife, I’d make a fortune.”

The tentacle that kitchen knives didn’t work on at all just moments ago now sliced through as smoothly as butter.

The smoothly continuing cutting sensation and the perfectly separated cut surface.

I prepared half of the cut tentacle into bite-sized pieces.

“Tangtang-yi coming up!”

I grabbed the projected sword again, slightly adjusted the blade, and held the handle firmly.

Tang! Tang! Tang!

The moment I struck down, strangely, the cutting board was not damaged at all.

Only the tentacle felt like it was being softly crushed.

“Huh? Why isn’t the cutting board getting cut?”

Then, Lilien propped her chin up with a proud expression and replied.

“I adjusted it a bit~ I made it so this projected sword cannot cut materials with an elasticity above a certain level.”

“To become the strongest in the world, you have to be able to do even things like that…”

“Hehe. And, if Yuan cut the cutting board too, I wouldn’t have anything to eat, would I?”

“Ah, is that so? It was consideration, in its own way.”

Since I couldn’t argue, I just quietly started making Tangtang-yi once again.

Tang! Tang! Tang!

I placed the finely pounded and softly loosened tentacles onto a plate.

Then, add salt, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and garlic and lightly mix, and you’re done.

The texture, unique to tentacles, feeling elastic, was conveyed even to my fingertips.

“Okay… now for the finish.”

I plated dried vegetables on the plate as decoration and prepared a separate oil-based dipping sauce to go with it.

“Alright, ta-da. The Tangtang-yi for the knight is complete~”

I held out the plate towards Lilien.

Her eyes sparkled, and she smiled brightly like a child who had received a gift.

“Wow~! It’s the best~! Well done. Excellent.”

“Okay, try eating it, Lilien. Originally, it’s made with nakji (octopus), but since it’s the same cephalopod class, it should be okay, I guess.”

Lilien picked up her chopsticks.

And picked up one tentacle.

“……”

The tentacle was still freshly wiggling.

A sparkling surface.

Flesh subtly trembling.

She stared at it for a long time, then—

Yum!

Straight into her mouth!

The moment I saw that scene, not just me, but Elice and Arte also had their gazes fixed simultaneously.

“……”

Lilien slowly began to chew.

Omul, omul.

The chewy texture spreading in her mouth.

The savory sesame oil and sesame seed aroma spread slightly, and the elastic chewiness of the Cthulhu tentacles that were sticky to chew.

After chewing for a long time—

Gul-kkeok!

She swallowed.

“Lilien, how is it? Is it edible? Are you okay? Is there anything wrong with your body?”

At that moment, Lilien paused.

And then—

“I’m so… haaappy…”

“……?”

Lilien’s eyes slightly unfocused, and she just went Tak—! and put down her chopsticks.

And then—

With an ecstatic expression, she completely melted down.

Her face turned red, her lips slightly parted, and her breathing mixed sweetly.

She even slightly trembled while gently stroking her lower abdomen with one hand.

“My… lower abdomen is tingling… Haah…”

“…???”

“Yuan… Thank you…”

“…??!!”

“I love you!!”

“Yaya yayaya!!!”

She was so overcome with emotion that she even reached out her hand towards me.

With sparkling eyes, slightly biting her lip.

That appearance was so full of emotion that it felt like something would really happen.

While calming her down, I also shouted to Arte who was beside me.

“Arte! Get the gochujang from my bag! And peel Lilien off me! She’s incredibly strong!”

“Gochujang? First, I’ll peel Lilien off you.”

“Arte, let goooo… Hmph, Yuaaaan~”

“Phew, I can finally breathe. I have to make your dishes too. Spicy stir-fried squid is okay, right?”

“Okayy! Quickly, quickly, Yuan~ I’m starting to get hungry~!”

Elice raised both arms and shouted excitedly.

Arte also smiled quietly and nodded her head.

“Me too. I request a dish that will evoke as much emotion as Lilien experienced.”

A dish that’s already started. I have to see it through to the end.

Looking down at the tentacles remaining on the cutting board, I smiled a little.

[Eyecatch!]

Today’s Dish — Cthulhu Tangtang-yi and Gochujang Stir-fry made with Cthulhu’s tentacles!

1. Tentacle Tangtang-yi

Freshly wiggling Cthulhu tentacles, Tangtang!

Fantastic texture pounded out with the knight’s projected sword.

Savory sesame oil and garlic aroma blend together, filling your mouth with ecstatic flavor the moment you take a bite!

PS. Do not attempt if you do not have a kitchen knife that can cut the tentacles.

If consumed raw, the genre might change if digestion fails.

2. Gochujang Cthulhu Stir-fry

Cthulhu’s tentacles imbued with a hint of fire flavor.

Spicy gochujang sauce meets the tentacles’ chewy texture, resulting in a strong addictiveness that bursts in your mouth.

A spicy taste that even the Demon King and the Automata eat by mixing it with instant rice while breathing fire!