episode_0024

The cockatrice flapped its wings and let out a massive roar.

With a fierce momentum that caused red mist to swirl and rocks to split from the shockwave.

“Wow~ It’s gonna get eaten anyway, but it’s really thrashing, isn’t it? Trash goes in the trash can! Chicken goes in the fryer!”

Lilien smiled brightly and stepped into the air.

Instantly, dozens of projected spears, swords, and bows appeared behind her—

“Sizzle sizzle~ Before frying it in oil, let’s start with some preparation.”

The projected weapons flew towards the cockatrice as if exploding.

Scales and wings that popped out from the chicken-like form deflected them, but one of the spears pierced the leg joint precisely.

Kyaaaaaaaaaak!!

“You’re really caught! I was just getting very hungry!”

It was Elice who didn’t miss the opportunity.

With the corners of her mouth turned up, she leisurely took one step, then two steps forward.

Her eyes were playful, but her expression somewhere thrillingly enjoyed the rhythm of battle.

She lightly raised her hand.

Ting! Ting!

The moment she snapped her fingers twice in a row.

Below her feet and above her head, two magic circles simultaneously unfurled.

From below, red flames surged, and from above, blue lightning formed vividly.

“Let’s give it a preliminary roasting! Gehenna!”

Instantly, a pillar of fire that shot up from below engulfed the underside of the cockatrice’s massive wings.

“Kyaeee!!”

The creature flapped its wings in pain and reflexively tried to fly up—

But a lightning spear that fell from above at the perfect timing pierced its back directly.

With a flash that ripped through the sky, the cockatrice plummeted into the smoke, screaming.

Kwaaang!!

The ground was deeply gouged, and a massive tremor shook the earth.

The cockatrice crashing down with the sound of its heavy body hitting the ground.

However, as if not wanting to just take it, the eyes of the chicken-head glinted golden.

Eye of Petrification.

To think it could shoot that like a long-range beam.

A sharp gaze, like a beam of light, poured straight towards Elice and Lilien.

Just as it was about to petrify the two, heavy footsteps mixed with mechanical sounds echoed.

“Danger response detected. Responding.”

It was Arte.

As if having calculated the trajectory of the beam precisely, she blocked the cockatrice’s front.

An force field unfolding in an instant.

A metal frame expanded from her arm, instantly deploying into a hemispherical shield.

A thin yet seemingly solid translucent barrier.

The petrification beam that touched the surface caused distorted refraction.

“The petrification energy intensity exceeds expectations. Force field pressure is rising abnormally.”

Just as she said, the outer edge of the force field was slowly hardening.

The light unable to spread, freezing as if solidifying.

But Arte didn’t even flinch.

Calmly, she deployed a new dimensional gate behind her back.

“Auxiliary weapon call. Target paralysis objective.”

“Taser.”

…Huh? That, electric zap! That taser?

What shot out from inside the dimensional gate was an electronic curve shining with white light.

In the blink of an eye, it pierced the cockatrice’s neck directly.

Pazzzzzzt!!

The current spread, causing massive convulsions throughout its body.

“K-Kyaaaaaaak—!?”

Feathers puffed up all at once, and the scales on its back burst in all directions.

“It seems like a reaction as if lightning exploded inside its body?”

Perfect suppression.

The monstrous bird’s large bulk was crawling across the floor as if sliding, with irregular convulsions.

“The Eye of Petrification has been nullified too! Excellent, Arte! Please leave the rest to me!”

Instantly, Lilien’s silhouette soared into the sky like lightning.

The greatsword in her hand held sky-blue projection energy and shone brilliantly.

Rotating her body lightly in the air, she faintly smiled towards the monstrous bird.

“In the next life, let’s meet as Coq au Vin!”

Along with that shout, the greatsword, surging with light, fell precisely.

Kwaaaaaang—!!

The trajectory of the greatsword, shining like a meteor cutting through the night sky.

The impact resonated and exploded on the ground as if a comet had collided.

Exploding projection energy.

An overflowing flash of light.

The brilliant light spreading from the sword tip precisely cut and erupted over the cockatrice’s back, and along with scorched marks along its spine, huge feather fragments flew up in all directions.

Vibration. Light. Fragments.

And silence brightly colored.

On the ground, the shape of a large chicken slowly collapsed.

“Hunting, complete! Yuan, let’s get ready to cook!”

“Phew… It’s finally over. Now it’s time to cook~”

My cooking instincts were already starting to peek out.

“First, for the snake part’s tail and butt meat…”

I muttered as I took out a knife.

“Just in case, let’s boldly throw it away. Ugh~ The texture is too strange. It feels like it might crawl up [on me].”

“Ah! Please give the tail part to me, Yuan~”

When I was about to ask Elice for the tail, Lilien immediately ran over.

“Are you really going to steep snake wine, Lilien?”

“Hehe, the path of gourmet is endless. When it’s well-aged later, I’ll give everyone a glass~”

Hmm… I feel like my body might just stiffen if I drink that.

A taste where even if two people drink it and a third gets stiffened by the Eye of Petrification, you wouldn’t know the difference!

Hearing that, Arte took a step forward and said.

“Lilien. Please give it to me. I will store it in a stasis field. I will transfer it to a dedicated bottle when we go back to the village.”

“As expected, Arte~! You’re reliable~”

Then, someone hung—onto my shoulder with a bump.

“Yuan Yuan! I like the wing part! The breast meat is dryyyy~”

Elice flapped her own wings and hung on with affectionate eyes.

“Demon Lord-nim, there’s probably more protein in the breast meat? If you’re still growing, it’s good to eat mainly breast meat.”

“Are you gonna keep saying ‘breast breast’ like that?! You’re so suggestive! You mean Yuan is a guy after all?!”

“No, why does it lead to that? I was just stating nutritional information.”

In the meantime, Arte quietly opened her mouth.

“Don’t worry, Elice. Apparently, the proportion of men who prefer small breasts is surprisingly high.”

“I’m not meager, alright?! I’m still growing… I can get bigger! Maybe not Lilien, but I’ll easily surpass Arte!”

But before Elice could even finish speaking, she was lifted up by Arte, held by both armpits.

“Aaaah!! Put me down! Put me doooown!”

Our Demon Lord flailing her legs in the air.

For some reason, she looks like a small squirrel…. Cute!

“Hold her for a moment, Arte. And, Elice.”

Concentrating on preparing the chicken, I quietly, warmly added.

“Don’t worry. The breast meat of the chicken I make will be more delicious than anything.”

“Okay, all that’s left is frying!”

I neatly sliced and arranged the breast and wing portions refined from the cockatrice, and prepared batter and seasoning in the three types of bowls placed next to them.

“Arte, is the power supply ready?”

“Yes. Targeting 180 degrees Celsius. Power is being supplied stably.”

A portable fryer acquired from Alraune’s flower garden.

Originally it was exclusively for mana power, but Arte specially modified it so that power supply is also possible.

As a side note, that power comes from Arte’s back, and she kept letting me touch that area… it was a bit, awkward.

Booooom—!

As the fryer heated up, the oil began to bubble and boil.

“Then, here we go!”

First. Fried Chicken.

I carefully dropped the chicken coated in flour and breadcrumbs into the oil, one by one with tongs, plop!

Sizzle sizzle—!

Golden bubbles surged up, exuding a strong premonition of crispy fried taste.

Second. Yangnyeom Chicken.

Taking out the freshly fried chicken, swirling it in a sweet yet spicy chili-based seasoned sauce to coat it~

The glossy, red temptation. Yangnyeom Chicken complete!

Third. Sweet and Salty Seasoning Chicken.

I scattered a secret powder mixed with salt, brown sugar, and garlic powder like snow over the crispy fried chicken.

Originally I wanted to make Bburing-x, but I didn’t know the ingredients for this, so I skipped it!

“Alright.”

Tapping off the apron that had gotten a little oil splashed on it, I placed three steaming plates on the table.

“Fried, Yangnyeom, Sweet and Salty Seasoning. Alright, today’s main dish, chicken! It’s complete~”

“Hehe! I’ve poured all the beer too~ It’s a great era, isn’t it? To think the pub would even do beer takeout like this.”

Lilien smiled brightly and lightly shook her glass.

“Yuan was the one who suggested it to Wil Marina, wasn’t he? ‘Let’s develop combat-style beer befitting a dungeon city’~ I never thought it would be such a huge hit!”

Elice laughed in admiration and raised her glass.

“Code isolation complete. I will dispose of the oil separately later.”

“Thanks, Arte~ Alright, then everyone—”

“”Cockatrice Hunting! Good job everyone!!””

Clink—!

Their beer glasses clinked with a clear sound as they touched.

Golden foam overflowing above the glasses,

And the tempting aroma of cockatrice chicken.

Let the mukbang begin!

“It’s delicious. Hmm. It’s delicious. It’s delicious.”

Lilien kept letting out exclamations of admiration, tearing into the wing meat of the fried chicken one after another.

They say when a knight keeps repeating the same words while flicking their tongue, it means it’s truly delicious.

“The taste is… stimulating. It’s a strong stimulation to the point of paralyzing the taste sensors. But, I don’t dislike it.”

Arte slightly tilted her head and cautiously brought the sweet and savory Yangnyeom Chicken to her mouth.

The corners of her mouth rising ever so slightly on her expressionless face.

“This is delish… Yuan! Make it again! Make me four plates just of the seasoning chicken!”

Elice, with an emotional expression, took a big bite of the seasoned breast meat, waang—!

Without even caring about the powder getting on her mouth, she was happily enjoying the taste.

The girls enjoying the chicken according to their respective preferences.

Looking at that scene, I just couldn’t help but smile contentedly to myself.

“Yeah, I’m glad everyone is enjoying it.”

What suddenly came to mind then was—

“Ah, there’s no chicken mu. I’ll have to prepare it next time I make it.”

But, was there even soda in this world?

“Well, I can think about it slowly.”

While watching the faces of the three eating the chicken with enraptured expressions—

“Yuan? Aaang~”

“It is ‘aaang’, Yuan.”

“Hehe! Yuan! Mine tooo~”

The three people each holding out a piece of chicken towards me.

Fried. Yangnyeom. Seasoning.

Three different temptations with different tastes and atmospheres.

And all of them were smiling brightly right before my eyes.

“So~ whose are you going to eat first?”

To Lilien’s slightly playful question,

I accepted all three pieces simultaneously without saying anything.

And all three pieces in one bite—

Waang.

“You’re mixing and eating them like that?!”

“Hehe… It is efficient.”

“You were hungry, Yuan!”

The laughter of the party members echoed inside the dungeon.

A peaceful afternoon, warm enough to forget that this place was the core [of the dungeon].

Today, gourmet as usual!

Today, happiness as usual!

[Eyecatch!]

Today’s dish ㅡ Chicken dish utilizing a cockatrice!

Chicken made using the wing meat and breast meat of the cockatrice!

Originally, there should be chicken legs too, but the lower body of the monstrous bird was a dragon, so it was boldly discarded!

Only wings and breast meat exist!

1. Fried Chicken

Crispy crispy! Juicy meat under a golden batter! The fundamentals can’t be faked!

“I can’t help it! I have to eat the chicken crumbs scattered on the floor too!”

ㅡThe knight who eventually went to the village and steeped snake wine

2. Yangnyeom Chicken

Sweet and spicy! A devilish sauce you’ll lick your fingers for!

“Oh dear, it was so delicious that my signal was lost for about 4 seconds. That I would make such a mistake.”

ㅡThe automaton who wants to try mixing and eating chicken with rice

3. Seasoning Chicken

The ultimate king of sweet and salty!

Is Bburing-x afraid of Yuan’s chicken becoming delicious?

“Give me more give me more give me more~! Make me that Kkanpunggi flavor too! Snow too! Volcano too!”

ㅡThe Demon Lord who kept eating chicken for two consecutive days after that