After leaving the Area 5, Kael headed straight for the Fourth.
The next ingredient he needed to capture was EARTH—the dessert course among the Eight Kings' ingredients.
EARTH was the only one born through human intervention. The other ingredients all matured naturally. Even AIR, though it could be artificially accelerated, would eventually ripen on its own without interference.
But EARTH was different.
The flower fields required for EARTH's growth would wither completely after each harvest. And once they withered, they wouldn't regenerate on their own. Someone had to intervene and restore them. In the original story, that task fell to Yosaku.
As for where EARTH was located—it wasn't exactly a pleasant place.
It grew inside the Back Channel, a region where the indigenous people of the Fourth Continent also lived.
Time flowed at two hundred thousand times the normal rate inside the cave.
In other words, if someone entered without any way to resist that accelerated time, they'd be dead in moments.
Yet in the original story, Sunny and Livebearer weren't affected at all. Neither were the natives—or even Yosaku himself. That meant the solution had to lie somewhere within the cave.
Of course, Kael didn't need to worry about any of that.
His lifespan was already infinite. Time meant nothing to him now.
Two hundred thousand times faster? Two million? Twenty million?
It wouldn't make a difference.
Even without immortality, he could have handled the Back Channel easily. He already had partial control over time and space—basic abilities for a Gourmet God.
Before long, Kael arrived at the Fourth Continent.
Each continent had its own defining trait, and most of those traits were tied to one of the Eight Kings.
Area 8 was shaped by Horse King Heracles—its colossal horses and dark thunderclouds were all connected to him.
Area 7's billions of monkeys existed because Monkey King Bambina ruled there.
Area 6 belonged to Whale King Moon, an ocean world through and through.
Area 5 was carried on the back of Deer King Sky Deer and his Forest of the Ten-Month Food Season.
And as for Area 4—
It belonged to the Snake King.
The entire continent was crawling with giant serpents. Disasters here made any so-called "snake apocalypse" look like a joke.
Of course, to Kael, these giant snakes posed no threat at all. If anything, their massive size made them less terrifying.
And on this continent, spotting the Snake King wasn't even that rare.
After all, the creature's body stretched a staggering two hundred twenty thousand kilometers.
It could wrap around the entire planet once.
Terrifying.
That said, its thickness was only about two thousand five hundred meters.
Despite being 2,500 meters thick, its staggering length of 220,000 kilometers gave it the proportions of a gossamer thread when viewed from the stars.
Just as Kael prepared to head straight for the Back Channel, he caught a glimpse of a streak of pink light moving at incredible speed.
The pink streak also seemed to notice him.
Kael was releasing a faint aura—just enough Intimidation to keep surrounding creatures at bay. Apparently, that was enough to draw attention.
The pink streak wasn't anything else.
It was the Snake King's head.
There was a rumor—any creature that saw the Snake King's face would be killed by it. To this day, no one knew what it looked like.
Now Kael did.
He couldn't help but wonder—since he'd seen it, would the Snake King attack?
The answer came instantly.
The Snake King opened its mouth and spat out a strange liquid.
It was the nectar stored inside its body—yet it carried terrifying corrosive power.
"Seriously? You've got that bad of a temper?" Kael sighed. "No wonder you clashed with Moon, that reclusive whale. You clearly have a talent for provocation."
He was genuinely speechless.
It was actually attacking him just because he'd seen its face.
And it didn't hold back either—this was a killing move from the start.
What exactly are you hiding? Kael wondered.
Still, there was no way he'd let that nectar touch him—even if it posed zero threat.
It was disgusting.
An invisible barrier formed around him, blocking the nectar midair.
The liquid splashed harmlessly against the barrier, unable to advance a single inch.
The Snake King froze for a split second.
It knew exactly how powerful its nectar was.
In the original story, that same nectar had corroded even Acacia's Gourmet Cells. That alone proved just how terrifying its digestive ability was.
And yet now—
It was completely useless.
Stopped by nothing more than an invisible barrier.
That was enough.
If this move didn't work, then it would crush him directly.
The Snake King's massive body surged forward with astonishing speed.
But in Kael's eyes, it was slower than a turtle crawling.
"Perfect. I've never tasted one of the Eight Kings before."
He cracked his knuckles.
"You'll be the first."
He had killed Monkey King Bambina before—but Midora and the others had already reduced that body to nothing.
And honestly, Kael had zero interest in eating Bambina anyway.
That monkey was disgusting—from appearance to habits.
No thanks.
But the Snake King?
That was different.
And besides—it had attacked first, with full intent to kill.
Otherwise, Kael wouldn't have taken its life so lightly. An Eight King was vital to its continent's balance.
But if it insisted on courting death—
He wouldn't hold back.
Kael stepped forward and threw a single punch.
No flashy techniques.
No wasted movement.
The Snake King didn't even have time to react.
Its life force was erased instantly.
There was no need to destroy its body. Kael simply extinguished its vitality at the source.
In an instant, the Snake King was dead.
It didn't even understand how.
However, Kael had left its soul intact.
The Snake King's powerful spirit lingered for a brief moment, watching its own corpse from above.
But not for long.
Soon enough, it would be drawn into the Spirit WOrld.