At this moment, the Snake King's soul was filled with confusion, regret, and disbelief. It truly had no idea how it had been killed. But one thing was certain—it had provoked someone it never should have.
The Snake King had long been used to acting tyrannically. After all, as one of the Eight Kings, as long as it didn't encounter the other Eight Kings or the three great powerhouses of the Human World, it was practically invincible in this world.
And even when it did run into those powerhouses, they usually wouldn't try to kill it outright.
Because of that, the Snake King had grown extremely arrogant. Even when it crossed into the territories of other Eight Kings, it still behaved domineeringly.
Take Whale King Moon, for example. That guy was basically a shut-in who rarely left his territory. Meanwhile, the Mother Tornado left in the Snake King's wake spanned across the Sixth Continent and even reached the Fourth Continent
It was obvious what had happened. The Snake King had barged into someone else's territory and started a fight. Otherwise, the chances of Moon provoking the Snake King were practically zero.
This creature had simply gotten used to acting without restraint. Whenever it saw something looking at it, it killed first and asked questions later.
If you're strong enough, that attitude isn't necessarily a problem.
But you'd better be prepared for the consequences.
Because you never know when you might provoke someone you absolutely shouldn't.
That was the real danger.
The Snake King believed there were very few beings on Earth capable of threatening it. There were a few among humans, but it knew all of them. So when it saw Kael, it assumed he was nothing special.
Now, however, it had paid for that mistake with its life.
The enormous serpent corpse was directly stored away by Kael inside his Storage Space. Kael had no interest in wasting words with the Snake King. Since it had tried to kill him, he naturally wouldn't spare it—no matter what its status was.
At this moment, the Snake King's soul was filled with endless regret.
Why had it provoked that monster named Kael?
But it was too late for regrets. There was no turning back.
Technically, the Snake King could still be saved.
But the only person capable of saving it was Kael himself.
And Kael was the one who had killed it.
How could he possibly give it another chance?
Just like that, the Snake King's soul entered the Spirit World, carrying boundless regret. Perhaps one day its soul might return—but that would be a very long time in the future.
After killing the Snake King, Kael didn't bother with the aftermath on the Area.
Without one of the Eight Kings, the balance here would naturally collapse. Once the other creatures realized the Snake King had disappeared, a new struggle would inevitably begin as they fought for the throne of this Area.
But none of that had anything to do with Kael.
He could certainly participate if he wanted.
But why would he waste time becoming one of the so-called Eight Kings?
Soon, Kael arrived at the Aging Cave.
This place contained almost no signs of life. Thinking about it carefully, that made perfect sense. The flow of time inside the cave was absurdly distorted—ordinary creatures simply couldn't survive here.
In a way, the Aging Cave had become a natural protective barrier for the local inhabitants.
Kael scanned the cave with his senses and quickly realized that Yosaku wasn't here. Only the aura of the native residents remained.
Kael had no intention of contacting them.
Instead, he headed straight for the flower field.
By now, the flower field had fully regenerated. Countless blossoms were in full bloom, and at the center of the flowers sat a massive fruit.
This fruit was one of the eight legendary ingredients—the dessert ingredient EARTH.
Preparing EARTH required an enormous amount of knowledge, much of it dating back to ancient times.
In the original story, Sunny and Livebearer had been sent together because Livebearer possessed the knowledge needed to cook these ancient ingredients.
There was no helping it.
That guy loved stealing other people's memories.
Many people in the Human World might not be strong, but their ancestors might have been. Because of that, fragments of information about the Eight Ingredients had been passed down through generations.
Livebearer learned about them by reading those people's memories.
Sunny, meanwhile, excelled at extremely delicate manipulation. Together, the two made a good team.
However, Sunny pursued absolute beauty.
And Livebearer's appearance was rough and grotesque.
So although Sunny could work with him as a partner, he ultimately chose to part ways.
After all, Sunny was obsessed with beauty to an extreme degree. He wouldn't even drink an ingredient like the Century Soup, simply because of the goofy, smirking face it forces the drinker to make afterward.
All things considered, Sunny was quite an interesting person.
But that kind of obsession also meant that while he could become incredibly strong, he could never become the strongest.
When Kael arrived at the flower field, he walked straight to the fruit.
The preparation process was extremely complicated.
But for Kael—
It only took a single moment.
After finishing the preparation, Kael plucked the fruit.
The instant it was harvested, the entire flower field began to wither at a visible pace. The next time EARTH matured, no one knew how long it would take.
Moreover, the flower field required a Gourmet Regenerator to restore it—and not just any regenerator.
Only top-tier regenerators like Yosaku or Mohyan Shaishai could accomplish it.
"Five ingredients down," Kael muttered.
"Two more to go."
He stored EARTH inside his Storage Space.
Strictly speaking, three ingredients remained.
But GOD hadn't been born yet.
So the only ingredients he could currently capture were ATOM and CENTER.
ATOM was located on the Area 3.
CENTER, however, was located on the Area 0.
More precisely, its entrance was on the Area 1—guarded by Dragon King Derous.
Area 0 was essentially a world located at the planet's core.
Within the Gourmet World, this subterranean realm functioned as a breeding ground for brand-new ingredients.Once ingredients successfully matured there, they would be released into the outside world.
That was how new ingredients appeared.
But compared to successful ingredients, most failed during the process.
When they failed, they dissolved and became nutrients for other ingredients.
CENTER was among the ingredients hidden within that world.
However, the Area 0 was extremely dangerous.
Not only was Dragon King Derous guarding the entrance, but the environment itself would erode anyone who entered.
In the original story, Aimaru and Teppei only managed to survive there thanks to Aimaru's Gourmet Bacteria.
He used the fungus to wrap himself and Teppei inside a protective layer, allowing them to remain inside the Area 0 for a short time.
Even so, that time was very limited.
Of course, such erosion meant nothing to Kael.
But before going there—
Kael planned to capture the ingredient ATOM on the Area 3 first.