Chef in the Apocalypse

"Come out come out! I know you’re hiding around here somewhere~"

Baran called out from within the illusion formation, strolling casually through the forest. Despite his easygoing expression, he was inwardly panicking.

’Shit! The pills effects only last for 1 hour at most, after which I will lost a good portion of my strength.’

He tried not to show any outward emotion, acting as if he had all the time in the world. After all, Jayce should not know about these kinds of pills, let alone their effects.

He had been hoping that his earlier taunts regarding his friends being in danger would cause him to act rashly and attack him in out in the open. Baran had full confidence that he would be able to destroy Jayce in a head to head confrontation easily.

However, if Jayce were to decide to abandon his friends and wait out the effects of the pill, there was nothing he could do.

Just as Baran was beginning to fear the worst, he heard the sound of a twig break in the distance, causing his face to turn up into a smile.

’Hehe that bastard took the bait.’ He thought gleefully.

"Looks like I underestimated you Jayce. I thought you were going to hide while all of your friends get murdered on the ground." Baran said with amusement dancing in his eyes.

Jayce appeared from behind one of the trees around 10 meters away, his face stern. He didn’t respond to the weak taunts of the alien, choosing to keep his mouth shut and focus on what was in front of him.

"Unfortunately for you, you’ve made a grave mistake." Baran stated, kicking off the ground and rushing towards Jayce before he could escape once again.

He cocked back his fist and fired a direct punch within an instant, aiming for the handsome face that was staring at him belligerently.

’We’ll see how long you can hold that expression for...’ Baran scoffed in his heart, awaiting the sweet feeling of his fist connecting.

THUD

The sound of flesh colliding rang out as Jayce was sent stumbling back a few meters from the blow. Baran grinned wildly before rushing in for another strike.

In an instant, he rained blows against Jayce one after the other in quick succession.

"HAHAHA, What’s the matter!? Can’t fight back?"

He taunted the human as he battered his body with vicious blows. While he wanted to kill Jayce, he also wanted to ensure that the bastard would experience great pain and suffering before death.

His younger sister, despite all of her flaws was a great ally of his. While he did not have great love for her, she was still a Core Formation realm cultivator, a great asset for him. Now that he had lost her, they would lose out on much more work.

While his mind was thinking about such things, Jayce was doing his utmost to defend himself from the onslaught of attacks. It was painful, however he was slowly able to get used to the speed of Baran’s attacks.

He patiently waited for his opening, ensuring that only his non-vital areas were being hit.

His chance came a few seconds later when one of Baran’s punches had slowed down by a fraction of a second. Jayce moved his head to the side, weaving out of the way of the strike.

Bending down and angled to the right, he twisted his body, transferring the power from his feet, to his hips and following through with a palm directed right at Baran’s chest.

Baran frowned for a moment before a grin crept onto his face.

’Idiot. Doesn’t he know I’m immune to physical attacks of such a level in this form?’

Ignoring the palm heading straight for his heart, Baran sent a chopping right hand towards Jayce who was traveling towards him. With Jayce’s momentum, the punch would be enough to almost take his head off.

The palm landed squarely on Baran’s heart, yet like last time, Jayce did not feel a great resistance. Baran’s chest muscles seemed to disperse outwards, softening the blow which should have been enough to injure him.

"HAHAHA"

Baran laughed heartily as his strike was about to land, feeling that victory was at hand. However, in the next moment he felt a searing pain of which he had never experienced in his life, attacking his heart.

"A-ARGHHHHHHHHH!"

The chopping right which had just been about to land suddenly fell short as Baran was forced to his knees from the pain. His breath was caught in his throat as he tried to process what had just happened.

Yet the pain started to spread before he could formulate a coherent thought.

"F*CKKKKK. W-WHAT DID YOU."

"GRAGHHHH"

"DO TO ME!?" Baran spat out between screams, moving his hateful gaze towards Jayce who was now standing a few meters away with the same belligerent expression as before.

"Oh man, you don’t look so good. It looks like you’re burning up." Jayce said, his tone dripping with condescension. He wiped some fresh blood from his lip with the back of his hand, only for it to evaporate a moment later from heat.

Baran’s gaze trembled at those words as he took them literally. He suddenly felt clarity in that moment, understanding that it indeed felt as if he was burning from the inside.

The burning sensation was agonizing, torturing him profusely. He screamed out in despair, hoping for even the slightest relief from the pain.

Jayce gripped his fist tightly, causing blood to appear from the nails which were digging into his palm. The blood which was oozing out quickly evaporated into the air.

However, Baran was in too much pain to notice this piece of information as he looked on the verge of begging for the sweet release of death.

Without warning, Jayce rushed forward and struck down with a fierce palm, his face reminiscent of the god of death. However, to Baran it seemed as if he was a benevolent one, come to end his suffering.

The palm landed in the middle of his back with a thud.

BOOM!

An explosive boom resounded through the air as countless dark flames erupted in the surroundings. The space within the illusion formation warped and shuddered from the immense heat that was created by the explosion.

Baran’s body erupted with black flames, yet he did not scream out in pain. His expression turned into one of pure euphoria as he was finally freed from the agony which gripped his entire being.

Jayce quickly deactivated the formation disk, his hands shaking wildly.

Once the formation was deactivated, Baran’s burning corpse floated towards the ground before turning into ashes moments later.

However, Jayce did not pay it any attention. He quickly scanned the ground, his heart filled with anxiety. And then he saw it.

A strange being with four arms was wielding a Warhammer and pummeling everyone in his vicinity into puddles of flesh.

He quickly looked around to see where his party members were, wanting to make sure they were safe. His eyes fell onto Ben who had just picked up Amber and was removing her from the chaotic battlefield.

Jayce let out a small sigh of relief before his eyes widened.

"BEN!"

He went to rush forward, his eyes turning red with rage. However in the next moment he spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling his strength escape him.

’NO! Not yet!’ Jayce grit his teeth, feeling his body begin to shut down.

Jayce lamented his current strength as he watched the being go back to leveling the entire battlefield. If only he was stronger, he could have held onto his new technique for longer.

He had discovered this new ability while he was cooking of all things. While trying new ways of using his Law of Flame to cook, the flame had gone into his meridians and began to boil his Qi.

While it was extremely painful, he eventually realized that the boiling Qi gave him explosive power. Until now, he had been practicing using the technique to ensure that it could be used as a trump card in case he ever got backed into a corner.

The black flames however, was due to his newest comprehensions of the Law of Fire. It was almost three times as destructive, while also having an inextinguishable property. Unless he willed it, the flame would never die.

His fight with Baran was the first time he had used the black flame, leading to the current state of his body. If his meridians were not fully refined, he probably would have been burned alive way before his enemy.

Jayce’s vision began to swim as he gazed upon the figure that used to be Ben within the crater. Then he lost consciousness.

As his body plummeted towards the Earth, a deep and glorious roar rang out over the battlefield, piercing into the heavens themselves.

Everybody on the ground, regardless of what they were doing suddenly paused. Their gazes snapped to the source of the sound only to see Victor with his head raised to the heavens, floating into the sky.