Gourmet Gaming-Chapter 1356

Chapter 1356

Squeak... squeak...

Hermes slowly slid inside Zeus’ Treasure House.

‘Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll just use it for a bit and bring it back here.’

Hermes, who was committing an unfilial act, stared at the Candle of Life that was burning with a flame that would never be extinguished.

‘This Candle of Life is a very precious item.’

Even in the Gaia Continent, it was very difficult to find an item with the power to cure any disease. In fact, none of the other gods of Olympus had an item that could rival this one. Its value was something that could never be measured.

With eyes filled with greed, Hermes stretched his hand out toward the Candle of Life.

[WHO?!]

“...?”

Hermes froze. He looked just like a child who was caught sneaking around to get some change from his father’s wallet.

The expression on Zeus’ face turned ugly the moment he entered his treasure house.

[You! You!! YOU!!!]

Zeus did not know what to do with this troublesome son. Hermes had not even gone to visit them in their house for years. He had always told them that he was busy traveling and wandering around. Now, he suddenly appeared here, and he was even trying to steal something from his own treasure house? Furthermore, it was the Candle of Life, one of Zeus’ favorite items.

Hermes hurriedly took the Candle of Life and hid it in his arms. He sputtered, “L-Lord Zeus! I’ll bring it back tomorrow!”

At this moment, Zeus’ ultimate skill, Divine Lightning Spear, bloomed in the small confines of the treasure house.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

Sparks appeared, signalling the advent of his power. However, no matter how strong Zeus was, it would be meaningless if he could not catch Hermes.

Zeus’ anger reached its peak when he saw Hermes disappear with a poof.

[How can all my children act like this...!]

Ares had declared, ‘I’m a lunatic!’ and then rebelled.

Hephaestus had threatened them, saying, ‘I will destroy all of the artifacts in this continent if you don’t kneel in front of me.’

Athena had said, ‘I’m going to run away!’ and promptly left.

Then, Hermes, this brat who had been wandering all those years, came back only to sneak into his treasure house and take away one of his things.

Zeus grabbed his head in frustration. However, he was left in stunned silence when he saw a handful of his hair lying in his hands. It seemed Zeus was suffering from hair loss recently.

***

Hermes felt a thrill run down his spine as he ran frantically away from the Gaia Continent.

‘Based on Lord Zeus’ nature and character, he will put me in the prison cell right next to Ares in the Wailing Prison.’

Hermes just chuckled to himself.

‘Lord Zeus, I did not steal this. I’m just borrowing it from you for a bit.’ freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

Zeus had suffered a lot at Minhyuk’s hands. If he could steal Minhyuk’s sword and all of his artifacts as well as the artifacts of all of his vassals and the entire inventory and treasury of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, then Hermes was sure that his father would forgive him. Besides, he was going to return the Candle of Life to Zeus. So, in the end, he would only be showered with praises and honor.

‘I will be recognized by my father too!’

Hermes felt good about the future that lay ahead of him.

Finally, he appeared in front of Minhyuk. He haughtily declared, “Hey, look. This is the Candle of Life.”

Hermes was thrumming with excitement. Of course, it was only natural. Why? Because by the gods! He stole something from Zeus’ Treasure House. It was just like him stealing something from Athenae’s Treasure House in the Western Continent.

“Now, give me your sword.” Hermes giggled.

‘Ah! I shouldn’t get too close to him.’

One of the conditions of the bet stated that he would only win the bet if Minhyuk failed to catch him until the very end.

“Wow. You’re amazing.” Minhyuk was truly in awe. “In just a month, you were able to rob the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s vassals, our imperial treasury, and even all of my artifacts?

Minhyuk truly meant his words. His level of stealing and plundering was truly beyond common sense.

“Kghhk... Kufufu... Ahem! Now, you know what kind of person I am, no?! I also worked veeeeeery hard this time!”

Hermes had been at his limit. He had been working so hard this past month. In his thousand years of being a thief, he has never stolen this much in such a short amount of time! After all of that hard work, now...

“You’ve worked hard. I’ll make sure to use them well,” Minhyuk said as he took something out of his pocket, causing Hermes to freeze in horror.

This item was something that Hermes was familiar with. He was the one who had made it. When Hephaestus created an outstanding weapon for his father, Zeus, Hermes used his authority and power to develop parchments that could borrow the power of the eleven gods. He did that to help his father.

Minhyuk ripped the parchments apart.

[You have torn Hermes’ Eleven Divine Parchments.]

[You can get help once from each of the Gods of Olympus.]

[They have to fulfill your request. However, if your request is impossible or ridiculous, then they can deny your request for help.]

“Hermes. Let me catch you.”

“Huh...?”

“Our dear Hermes, you have worked reaaaaaally hard. That was very nice. Great job~”

“Huh? Ha...?”

“Thanks to you stealing everything without sleeping, I will be able to receive a lot of things.”

‘This is not happening, right?’

Hermes tried to deny the reality in front of him. He had foregone sleep the entire duration of his bet with Minhyuk, using that time to steal more. On top of all of the things that he had stolen during this time, he had also stolen a lot from the Ardo Empire and the surrounding kingdoms and empires during the past year.

[You have to fulfill the request.]

As the maker of the Hermes’ Eleven Divine Parchments, he knew full well what the effects of the parchments were. Hermes could not run away. He could only watch as Minhyuk slowly approached.

“N-no...”

Minhyuk raised his hand and placed it on Hermes’ shoulder. He said, “Caught you~”

[You have lost the bet with Minhyuk.]

[All of the things that you have stolen for the past year will be surrendered to Minhyuk.]

[All of the things that you have stolen from the Ardo Empire will now belong to Minhyuk.]

[All of the things that you have stolen from the Beyond the Heavens Empire will now belong to Minhyuk.]

[All of the things that you have taken away from Minhyuk during the bet will now belong to Minhyuk.]

[The Candle of Life will now belong to Minhyuk.]

‘Even Zeus’ Candle of Life...?!’

Hermes trembled. But this time, it was because of fear. The item that he had stolen from Zeus was taken away by someone else. But there was an even bigger problem.

[Hermes’ Shoes will now belong to Minhyuk.]

[You have to fulfill Minhyuk’s request once. You have to fulfill it whenever he wants.]

Hermes’ Shoes were one of the artifacts that symbolized Hermes. These shoes allowed their wearer to fly in the sky just by wearing them. Unlike the mages’ Fly magic, there was no need for any mana.

Usually, when close-combat class individuals flew to the sky, their movement speed would slow down, and their actions would also slow down. With Hermes’ Shoes, the wearer would be able to obtain a twenty percent increase in movement speed in the sky. It was truly an excellent power! And with the skills attached to Hermes’ Shoes, it was considered one of the most outstanding artifacts that belonged to the gods of Olympus.

Hermes stared at his feet. The sock on his left foot had a hole, revealing his big toe.

Then, Minhyuk slung his arm over Hermes’ shoulder.

“It’s just this, but you’re already feeling sad? You still have to pay a lot for all of the crimes you committed, you know?” Minhyuk whispered, his voice sounding like that of a devil’s own.

***

“YOUR MAJESTYYYY!!!” Arland cried out, his face wet with tears as he burst into Emperor Consteinus’ room.

Arland had been running through the halls of the palace with the other nobles after hearing that Emperor Consteinus was in a critical condition.

Consteinus looked so weak as he leaned on his bed frame. Anyone who saw him would not find it strange if he died anytime soon. He could not eat properly. Because of that, he had lost ten kilograms in just a few weeks and had grown so thin. Even his lips had turned dry, with cracks in some places.

Emperor Consteinus looked at Duke Arland with a faint smile on his face. Arland sobbed. The cries that echoed from Emperor Consteinus’s bedroom were proof that he was not an evil emperor.

“I feel delighted to have received your faith and trust.”

Arland’s heart ached even more when he heard Emperor Consteinus’s weak voice.

Their good monarch, Emperor Consteinus, had deteriorated so much. He had worked hard for his people and his people alone. However, unable to overcome the disease, he could only close his eyes as he watched his empire collapse slowly.

Arland felt as though his heart was breaking into pieces.

Amidst their sorrow, Consteinus murmured, “Hermes...”

None of them could bring themselves to speak. Hermes was the most significant contributor to the downfall of the Ardo Empire. That little thief had taken everything away from the empire. Emperor Consteinus had wanted to capture that bastard before he died.

Then, they heard that Minhyuk failed to capture Hermes. And the bastard of a thief had also taken away everything from the Beyond the Heavens Empire because of a bet. Consteinus had also heard the story. He tried to ask if the situation had changed. Alas, based on their expressions alone, he could already tell that Minhyuk still failed to change anything.

Consteinus said, “This will be my final will.”

He knew one thing. Whether Minhyuk failed or not, the end of their empire would remain the same.

Consteinus continued, “After my death, make sure to follow the orders of the emperor of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

This was the only thing that Emperor Consteinus could do. He believed that this was the best choice.

The cries of the people echoed as they watched the end of the empire that was once hailed as the most powerful empire on the continent.

At that moment, Minhyuk burst into the bedroom with a bound Hermes in tow, “I caught Hermes.”

“...?!”

“...?!”

“Hehe...”

“I’m... I’m going to kill you! You bastard!”

“Hey! You f*cking thief!”

Everyone present shelved their sadness for a bit as they shouted angrily at Hermes.

“How...?”

At the same time, they all turned to look at Minhyuk in surprise. Minhyuk just smiled wryly in answer.

As for Hermes, he breathed a sigh of relief. The conditions of his bet with Minhyuk included that he had to stay still while Emperor Consteinus beat him up.

‘There’s no way that an emperor who’s on the deathbed like him will be able to deal damage to me. Right?’

“Emperor Consteinus. You can beat him up as much as you want.”

Hermes giggled to himself when he heard Minhyuk’s words. Suddenly, the dying Emperor Consteinus jumped to his feet.

“...?”

‘No. Wait. Wasn’t that guy just lying on his deathbed?’

Consteinus looked just like an old man who had his youth restored.

“You bastard. I’ve been waiting for this day to come for a very long time.”

The rejuvenated Consteinus began to hit Hermes.

“Heok! Ack! Keok! No. Wait. Why is this guy so strong? Isn’t he about to die... Keuhaaaack!”

Consteinus looked like he had finally let go of all of his troubles after he had hit Hermes enthusiastically and without any mercy. He weakly fell on the bed.

Minhyuk looked at Hermes, whose state was covered in bruises everywhere except his eyes, and clicked his tongue. Then, he said, “I have recovered all of the things that Hermes stole from the Ardo Empire. All of these things will be returned to the Ardo Empire. In addition to the millions of platinum from the treasury, your imperial treasures will also be returned.”

A glimmer of hope appeared for the Ardo Empire. Consteinus cried silently as he slowly closed his eyes. Even if he was slowly falling into his eternal rest, he thought that he could now be at peace.

‘He could have demanded a portion of the items that he recovered. No. In fact, he could have taken them all.’

But Minhyuk did not do that. The choice that Consteinus had made because he had no other choice, turned out to be the best.

“As I said before, our Ardo Empire will now go under the Beyond the Heavens Empire Rule. They will live together with the Beyond the Heavens Empire and—urk!” Consteinus coughed, blood spurting out of his mouth.

Now that he had conveyed his final will, he had let go of everything. Because of that, his consciousness had already started to blur. As he tried to blink away the haze, the strength slowly drained from his body. His body gradually relaxed as he succumbed to his death. Yet, there was a slight smile on Consteinus’ face.

He felt immensely relieved that an emperor like Minhyuk would be the one leading the Ardo Empire. Even if the name of the Ardo Empire would disappear in the annals of history, its framework would remain.

Consteinus felt his senses slowly disappear. The first to disappear was his sense of sight. The darkness encroached upon him and devoured his surroundings. Then, it was followed by his sense of touch. Everything felt dull and numb. He felt as if he was floating somewhere. And finally, his sense of hearing started to fade.

Suddenly, he heard a faint voice squeeze in through his slowly disappearing sense of hearing.

“Emperor Consteinus. If the Beyond the Heavens Empire absorbs your Ardo Empire, we will be plagued with countless rebellions. The first to hit me will be these nobles, who are glaring at me. Then, your people will cry your name and continue to fight me for the rest of their lives. I don’t have the confidence to lead this nation. I won’t be able to obtain the same trust and love as they have for you.”

‘What’s this sound?’

Emperor Consteinus could not understand what was happening. Then, he felt something strange. His slowly disappearing senses suddenly returned.

Initially, it felt like he was floating. He suddenly felt the sensation of the bed behind him. His sense of touch had returned. Then, a flickering light shone in his pupils. He could see him standing in front of him while holding a burning candle.

[The Candle of Life has been activated.]

[It has started to drive away all of the illnesses that have been devouring your body.]

The illnesses that plagued Consteinus disappeared as if they had been washed away by something.

“So, I need you,” Minhyuk said.

Consteinus’ gaze wavered.

Minhyuk continued, “I need you, the man who once led the strongest empire on the continent. What do you think? Will you join me?”

“Join you?”

With a loud and determined voice, Minhyuk answered, “To unify the Western Continent.”

When Consteinus first saw him, he was the king of a small kingdom. Now, he had become the emperor of the most powerful empire. But he did not want to stop there. He was now trying to devour the entire Western Continent. However, Consteinus felt that he could do it. Regardless of what path he took, he knew that this man would be able to walk through it.

“I’ll stand by your side.”

[Emperor Consteinus declares that...]

[The Ardo Empire will be a vassal state of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. They will support the Beyond the Heavens Empire both in material and spiritual aspects.]

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire’s national power has increased dramatically.]

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