Chapter 58: The Four Heavenly Kings

「Anyway, the five participants from our side have been decided. Tomorrow is the day of the decisive cooking battle.」

A month after the match between Fitis and Miss Katherina, the five participants, including myself, gathered at the royal palace of the Kingdom of Valkyria. We were ready to challenge the enemy through a cooking battle. This battle was set to take place tomorrow at Demon Castle.

Of course, the participants were myself, Himuro Kyouji. The Gourmet Hero, Fitis. The owner of Mina’s Restaurant, Mina-chan. Amines, the Valkyria Empress and War Hero, and my father, Himuro Keiji. Of course, our fellow friends such as Lily, Jack and Dora-chan accompanied us.

During the last month, the participants of the cooking battle, including myself, had been polishing our cooking skills, obtaining better ingredients, and growing and improving new monsters. Moreover, Fitis and Miss Katherina taught Amines, the Empress of this country, about the essentials in cooking. It seemed that she grew into a powerful ally.

「Ah, ah, ah. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s battle. My crystal knife is going to cut wonders.」

Amines treated the kitchen knife in her hand as if it were a weapon of murder. Please stop, because it is dangerous!

「Well, there’s no need to rush things. The invitation to the Demon Castle will arrive soon enough. But, there’s something we need to do before that.」

「What do we have to do first? 」

I passed through the dangerous movements of Amines’ knife, and I asked this question upon hearing my father’s words.

「We must do a combination first. In the Battle of 5 versus 5, who will lead the vanguard and serve as the general? Depending on this combination, the outcome will change greatly. I think it is more important to decide this now.」

Surely. I nodded upon hearing my father’s words. I mean, why did I feel as if my father was taking charge of our group? Well, to be honest, I didn’t mind his behavior that much.

「However. Regarding the roles, I will decide it based on dogmatism and prejudice.」

I thought deeply of my father…Until now! I withdraw my previous statement! Why was he detestable like this!

「Well, calm down, Kyouji. I am the one who can see your worth in an objectively way. Besides, the opponent is your mother, am I right? And, as her husband, I naturally know more about my partner and opponent’s gameplay than anyone else’s.」

Hmm, I see.

「Perhaps, the opponent will decide on their roles so that includes some strange measures against our group. If this is the case, then we must decide our combination now. Fortunately, I got some information on the Four Heavenly Kings.」

「Ah yes, I’ve met some of them a few times on the battlefield, but I think I can still speak about each one of the Four Heavenly Kings and their respective abilities.」

Before I knew it, everyone began to join this conversation in search of our opponent’s known abilities. I never thought about assigning roles before. But, I guess my father was right.

「However, there is one problem. 」

I noticed that Amines had a very serious expression on her face.

「I have no information about the last one of the Four Heavenly Kings.」

I see. I nodded quietly at her words.

No information had been revealed about the last one of the Four Heavenly Kings. At present, it seemed that the information was absent. But, did this King actually exist? Who was filling the seat at the cooking battle? And who was the successor in case this King died previously? All that information was unknown. However, I felt that my mother had some self-confidence during the last time. Perhaps, that last member was a trump card.

However, no matter what kind of opponents they were, we also had the best members. I couldn’t afford to lose. I had to do my best for everyone who have gathered here.

When I renewed my determination, I heard the sound of something hitting the window. I saw that a black three-eyed raven was waiting at the window with a letter in its mouth.

「It seems that the invitation from our opponent has finally arrived.」

I opened the window and received the letter from the raven. The letter showed an entry permit for the Demon Castle, and also showed the time of the cooking battle to be held tomorrow.

I told everyone gathered in this place what was written in the letter, but no one was uneasy, or undetermined. Every single one of us showed our resolve as we were fully prepared for the cooking battle taking place tomorrow.

—

At the distance, I saw an extremely cold mountain covered with snow. Originally, it was an ordinary mountain with no snow. However, that changed when a certain witch settled there.

All witches in this world belonged to a special clan that inherited the powerful blood of the Great Witch Miraka. This Great Witch Miraka was a powerful entity comparable to the power of the Demon King. It was said to possess the ability to create demons controlled by the Demon King. For this reason, the relationship between these two entities was close, and one theory even reported that they were even close friends.

One of the reasons why that special clan was called “Witches” was due to the relationship between the Great Witch Miraka and the Demon King. Therefore, many of the witches were perceived as allies of the Demon King. Of course, many witches were not allies of the Demon King, but because of the prejudice they’ve received, many of them were persecuted and were chased into remote areas.

Nevertheless, the witches’ ancestor lived in this snow mountain range, and it seemed that they couldn’t get rid of these roots and stigma. Several witches defended themselves and said that they were different from their ancestor, but it was difficult for the people to believe and accept them truly.

「As I said, this battle is about cooking. Therefore, there won’t be any physical altercation.」

The one who spoke to us was Alucard, a member of the “Vampire Tribe” and one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

「Following the agreement between the ancestors of the Great Witch Miraka and the Demon King, I request the participation of someone who inherited the blood of Miraka in a direct line of succession.」

Alucard bowed his head. Then, a pure white witch with a white hair and a white robe walked in. I noticed that she grabbed a letter in her hand that indicated the time of the cooking battle to be held in the Demon Castle.

「Please join us as one of the current Four Heavenly Kings as a substitute for Miraka, one of the first Four Heavenly Kings. Snow Witch Isu.」

In response to the Demon King’s direct order, the Snow Witch Isu nodded quietly. And thus, the last one of the Four Heavenly Kings finally appeared and accepted to participate in this decisive cooking battle.

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All challengers have assembled!