This Chat Group's Vibe is a Bit Off

"Fine, now I'm getting angry. You rookie chef actually dared question my cooking skills. It's time to show you the Red Dragon's true power."

Talulah's face twitched nonstop. Her cooking had been unanimously approved by Reunion. It was one thing for Kiana not to understand, but to mock her like this was simply unforgivable!

Kiana refused to back down as well. "I'll stake the honor of Kaslana cuisine on this—watch me crush you completely!"

What are you two mediocre hacks getting so fired up for?

And you, Kiana—what honor does the Kaslana family even have in the culinary world? Are you sure it isn't the shame of the culinary world?

Qianyi silently mocked them in his heart. He had no doubt that neither of their dishes would be edible, but if he said that out loud, the two of them would team up against him next. Watching the show was clearly the best choice.

With that in mind, he stepped behind Talulah. "I'm on Talulah's side."

"Hey! Qianyi, aren't we best friends?! Why are you supporting Talulah?! Have you really betrayed me?!!!" Kiana roared furiously.

"Calm down, dear Kiana. People need a little distance from each other once in a while. And since that's the case, why can't that once in a while be today?" Qianyi smiled, deciding to enjoy the show from the best seat.

Talulah looked smug. "Kiana, I don't remember you two being best friends. Don't forget, I was the first one in the group to have any interaction with Qianyi."

"Then I'll side with Kiana." After thinking it over, Seele went to stand behind Kiana.

"Hey! Seele, you—!" Talulah could scarcely believe it. As fellow members of the snowfield begging duo, Seele had actually betrayed her!

"Well, how should I put it... I haven't eaten your cooking, but I think I know what it tastes like, so I don't really want to support you." Seele knew very well what food made by someone who had lived on the snowfields would taste like.

"How childish." Shoko shook her head. These people were actually arguing over something like this, even splitting into two teams. They really had too much time on their hands.

"I think it's pretty interesting. Shoko, you're carrying too much pressure. Relax a little." Raiden Mei went to stand behind Kiana.

"How condescending." Toyokawa Shoko chose Talulah's side. Though she called it childish, she actually found it rather fun.

The remaining Wutina and Artoria naturally each picked a side, bringing both teams to four members each.

Kiana put on a cool expression with a cold face. "We're evenly matched."

Talulah's fighting spirit was blazing. "In that case, we can only use cooking to decide who's stronger."

Thirty minutes later, everyone looked at the army stew and the lump of black sludge of unknown origin placed on the table, then smiled in understanding.

A military survivalist feast versus Kaslana cuisine—truly evenly matched opponents.

How could something like this possibly attract Hiroyomaru?

???

At Tenshukaku, Hiroyomaru, who had caught that aura of "death" from far away, was filled with rage. She could smell Fried Tofu in it, but... that smell could not be called food at all!

Originally, she had intended to observe this strange group that had suddenly barged into her space for a while longer, or send Yae Sakura to act and make her kill people and fall into depravity. But then this group had started making Fried Tofu, prompting her to observe them a little longer. If it tasted good, it would not have been a problem to kill them later. But who could have expected...

Fuck! You're wasting Fried Tofu! I'm going to kill you all!

In her fury and humiliation, Hiroyomaru had only one thought in her mind—kill, kill, kill! Kill every last one of these bastards wasting Fried Tofu!

A gigantic fox wreathed in ghostfire descended from the sky, smashing everyone's dishes with one swipe of its paw before letting out a furious roar.

"Do you idiots even know how to cook?! If you can't cook, then don't waste food! Bastards!!!" The giant fox roared as overwhelming malice erupted from her.

"My... my painstakingly prepared food... You! Do you know how much time and effort I spent making this pot of food for you?!!" Talulah lost her usual composure and suddenly flew into a rage.

"You innately evil little Herrscher of Corruption, what did you do to the honor of Kaslana cuisine?!" Kiana was so furious that she transformed into her Herrscher form on the spot.

At that moment, the two of them tacitly formed a united front, deciding to give this fox a brutal beating and teach her what it meant to respect the fruits of others' labor.

As for Qianyi and the others, they silently gave Hiroyomaru a thumbs-up from behind.

The innately kind Herrscher of Corruption—well done. If not for you, we might have been the ones forced to taste that stuff.

Thinking of how far Ling had gone for everyone's sake, Qianyi was deeply moved and immediately tried to stop Kiana and Talulah. "You two, please go easy on her. Our goal is to reform her, not kill her on the spot."

"Don't worry, we know our limits."

Two hours later.

When Hiroyomaru, who had been beaten senseless, woke up, she found herself tightly bound to the ground. Kiana and Talulah, who had beaten her up earlier, were holding something that might be meant to assassinate her, smiling gently in front of her face. "Ling, you're awake. Come on, it's time to eat."

"Don't come near me!!!"

Hiroyomaru let out a desperate scream.

After Your Dog Finishes Your Food, It Immediately Makes Three Dishes and a Soup

Outside Yae Village.

Hiroyomaru was suffering torture unlike anything she had ever experienced in her life.

She struggled desperately, trying to break free from her restraints, but how could she possibly escape the extremely thin, flexible strips transformed from the Void Spear?

"Be good, don't move. Ling, we're here to save you. Eat this." Kiana carried a black lump of food—something she called the glory of Kaslana cuisine—over to Hiroyomaru.

"You despicable, lowly humans, I will absolutely never eat any of your—blegh, blegh, blegh, blegh!!!"

Hiroyomaru had wanted to say that she would never eat even a tiny bit of human food, but in her giant fox form, her mouth was simply too large. Even the slightest gap was enough for Kiana to stuff the food inside.

In an instant, the fox's legs went rigid.

"&*&#!@!" Hiroyomaru cried out in words that humans could never understand.

"What is she saying?" Talulah asked.

"I don't know. Maybe she's saying it's delicious and she wants to eat more," Kiana guessed.

Qianyi pondered for a moment. "No, I think I understand what she's saying."

"You can understand her?" Seele was dumbfounded. Those were words where you couldn't even make out the syllables—yet he could understand them?

"My mouth feels like a huge crowd of Fried Tofu is attending a funeral." Qianyi translated Hiroyomaru's words.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! My Kaslana cooking is number one in the world! She must be saying my food is super-duper delicious and that she wants more!" Kiana rejected Qianyi's translation.

"Kid, stop denying reality. Admit it—your cooking really is trash." Qianyi tried to drag Kiana back to reality.

"How dare you insult Kaslana cooking! Even if it's you, Qianyi, I won't let you off! Later, I'll sink both you and this fox into Tokyo Bay."

Ah, she really has gone insane, Qianyi thought.

Running from reality and refusing to acknowledge one's true self was truly ugly.

Maybe I should learn from He Jiong's virtues and use a plan to praise you to death.

The flower language of the evil gardenia was patience and endurance.

"Kiana, admitting your mistakes and shortcomings isn't shameful. But stubbornly refusing to admit them is your fault," Talulah added at just the right moment.

"Talulah, how dare you use my own magic against me!" Kiana flew into a rage. Hadn't she said that exact line in the previous chapter?!

"Hmph, the loser should leave obediently. Now it's my cooking's turn. Open wide and eat your fill, Ling—this is your favorite Fried Tofu."

Hiroyomaru: Previous Civilization Tibetan!

The instant Talulah forcibly stuffed that militaristic survivalist feast into Hiroyomaru's mouth, she calmed down. Yet that calm was merely the stillness before the storm.

Then, she began to scream and sob. Her cries tore through the surrounding silence and echoed across the empty countryside. Tears surged forth like a breached dam; once the first drop had escaped her eyes, there was no stopping them. All four of her paws flailed wildly as she hunched over and cried as though she were vomiting.

Oh, no, wait—she really was vomiting!

It was Qianyi's first time seeing a fox bawl like that.

Amidst her sobbing howls, Hiroyomaru's giant fox body gradually shrank, quickly transforming into the form of a girl around one and a half meters tall.

After turning human, she successfully escaped the Void Band's restraints. Yet she did not run. Instead, she stood there blankly, like Hajime after getting his balls cut off—having completely lost all meaning in life, no longer caring about anything.

However, when Kiana and Talulah decided to cook again and let Hiroyomaru taste whose food was better, terror appeared on her face.

Gah! I don't want to look! I don't want to look!

I don't want to see the miserable state of that Fried Tofu! Don't show me this, and don't make me eat it either!!

At that moment, Kiana and Talulah had transformed into demons in her eyes, whispering by her ear, "Young lady, if you don't behave, we're going to cook."

The next moment, Hiroyomaru abruptly raised her head. Through her tear-filled eyes shone a hint of stubbornness and resolve. She charged straight for the pots, bowls, and utensils, snatched the ingredients from Talulah and Kiana's hands, and began cooking.

The fox ate your cooking, transformed into human form on the spot, and made you three dishes and a soup.

Before long, Hiroyomaru served the three dishes and soup onto the table.

"You call that food!? It's practically pig slop! No, it's wet garbage from a trash can—worse than pig slop!" Hiroyomaru furiously berated Kiana and Talulah. She had never eaten anything so disgusting in her life.

As she spoke, she began wolfing down the food she had made, crying bitterly as she ate.

Her tears soaked the dishes, making every bite especially salty.

She wanted to resist, but she could not defeat these people. If things went badly, they might force-feed her that dark cuisine again later. She could only escape reality in such a humiliating, pathetic way.

The more she thought about it, the more stifled she felt. In a fit of anger, she became even more stifled.

Remembering that "cooking" which had been enough to shatter ideals, let her mouth experience death, pierce through her stomach wall, and nearly turn her into a memorial portrait, Hiroyomaru's aura began to drop sharply, plummet drastically, and decrease furiously.

Drop, drop, drop! In the blink of an eye, a hateful and terrifying demon god had regressed into a cute little thing only two heads tall, with fox ears.

In the real world, the black box on the table suddenly lit up, as though activating some mysterious program. Its surface began to change, light gathering along its edges into sharp lines as keen as blades. The box's edges gradually stretched, its shape twisting, while its metallic texture became increasingly distinct beneath the light. Amid the interweaving light and shadow, the black box finally transformed into a majestic, beautiful, yet sinister katana.

The Twelfth Divine Key, Ksitigarbha.

???

I am thou, thou art I.

Here, thou hast obtained a new bond.

This bond is what is called the wings of rebellion, shattering the cage.

I, born from the eternal mask and bathed in the wind of blessings, shall lend thee further strength to soar toward freedom.

XX Eternal Ling (Flying Fish Maru).

???

With the completion of Ksitigarbha, Qianyi and the others were also transported back to reality. On the table, the so-called Key of Erosion rested quietly there like an ordinary weapon devoid of any spirit.

"This is my first time seeing a Herrscher die from terrible food." Qianyi truly could not imagine what kind of despair Flying Fish Maru had experienced when she ate Talulah and Kiana's cooking.

"So this is Ksitigarbha? With her, can we kick Otto to death like some stray dog by the roadside?" Kiana excitedly reached out to touch it, but the moment she drew close, Ksitigarbha reacted like a stressed Hajime, releasing black-red mist and attacking her.

"Calm down." Qianyi soothed Ling's emotions while telling Kiana to stay farther away, lest the two start fighting.

Originally, he had planned to let Kiana use Ksitigarbha first, combining the Previous Civilization's most versatile Divine Key with the current civilization's most versatile Herrscher to achieve an effect greater than one plus one.

He would have Kiana constantly open Space Gates to Heavenly Mandate's home with the Key of Erosion, relentlessly stealing from the enemy base and kicking Otto to death.

To their surprise, Kiana and Ling simply could not get along at all.

Forget it. Things like this could not be forced.

Just then, Bronya appeared—the one everyone had forgotten after she had completed her mission and outlived her usefulness.

At the sight of her, everyone's first reaction was—Huh? Why are you still here?

But what she said next left them unable to keep it together.

"Durandal and Rita Rossweisse, S-rank Valkyries of Heavenly Mandate, are on their way here with weapons."

Talulah.jpg

Two Punches Shatter a Herrscher's Soul, Commander, I Am a Man of Heavenly Mandate

Durandal and the Herrscher of Lust were coming with weapons in hand.

This was clearly not good news. If only Rita had come armed, Qianyi could still understand it. But Durandal and Rita arriving armed at the same time meant the problem had become serious.

That son of a bitch Otto did this!!!

Qianyi had known that becoming Otto's pen pal would lead nowhere good, but he had never expected that five-hundred-year-old fossil to put on one face in public and another behind the scenes.

Why was a man like you so narrow-minded?

When guests came knocking, whether they meant well or ill, the host should greet them out of courtesy and propriety.

By then, Durandal and Rita had already arrived outside the Raiden Residence, waiting for the others to come out. Unless necessary, they hoped to resolve this as peacefully as possible.

"Did you two forget something?"

Knowing just how troublesome Durandal could be, Qianyi did not exchange pleasantries with the others. He hung Ksitigarbha at his waist, while one hand remained in his trench coat pocket, gripping a silver pistol marked with the letters S.E.E.S.

This was the "Persona Summoner" he had specifically brought along before setting out, just in case.

"My wallet." Rita, with a scythe on her back, smiled as usual.