"This is the final cut. Once I slice it open, the five quadrillion tons of air compressed inside will be released."
Even Kael felt a chill run down his spine as he said it.
An average person breathes in roughly ten to fifteen kilograms of air a day. But the Horse King takes in three hundred sixty billion tons in a single breath. That difference alone was terrifying.
And yet, the amount of air sealed within AIR was even more absurd—five quadrillion tons.
Even if the Horse King needed to breathe a hundred times its normal amount to give birth, that number would still seem insignificant in comparison.
The total volume of air inside AIR was enough to support the Horse King through over a hundred births.
And all of that had been compressed into just a few meters of space.
If it detonated improperly, the destruction would be unimaginable.
Thankfully, if prepared the right way, the released air wouldn't harm other lifeforms. Otherwise, Kael—who had just dug himself into a hole—would've taken a direct blast of an air cannon to the face.
The moment the final cut fell, Kael felt the air inside surge outward.
He immediately retreated from the hole he had dug.
In the next instant, countless streams of air erupted outward.
"Boom!"
The violent recoil slammed the still-falling AIR straight into the ground. Air surged wildly into the sky, and in a single moment, the dark clouds blanketing Area 8 were blown apart.
An endless tide of air swept outward in all directions.
At Horse King Hill, the Horse King sensed the overwhelming surge.
It understood at once—Kael had succeeded.
There was no other explanation for such an immense release of air.
To it, this was like a banquet laid out before its eyes. More importantly, the healthy foal it could only birth after breathing one hundred times its usual intake of air… finally had a chance to be born.
Before every ripening of AIR, the Horse King would conceive new life.
But each time, it had never been able to inhale enough air. The Phantom Beast Hearc it birthed lacked the qualifications and potential to inherit the title of Heracles.
Every generation of Horse King bore the name Heracles.
That name of the mighty god had long since become the exclusive title of the Horse King.
The same went for Dragon King Derous.
These were inherited titles.
Endless air poured in.
The Horse King drew in a deep breath.
The incoming air spiraled into its mouth like a colossal funnel, sucked directly into its body.
Its breathing was already terrifying under normal circumstances.
Now, at one hundred times its usual intake, it was even more monstrous.
Five quadrillion tons of air might have been vast beyond comprehension—but if one were to look from space, they would clearly see ten massive gaps torn open in the raging airstorm, carved out by the Horse King's breath.
At last, the Horse King was satisfied.
It had staked everything on Kael for the sake of this healthy child.
Fortunately, Kael had not disappointed it.
He had successfully cooked AIR.
The Horse King felt deep gratitude toward him.
But now was not the time to visit Slow Rain Hill to express its thanks.
It was about to give birth.
"So he really released the air inside… It seems all previous cooking methods were flawed—or incomplete. Only the ingredient's own guidance is the true method."
Watching the scene unfold, Daruma Hermit did not consider this a failure.
A failed preparation would cause AIR to rot like a wilted leaf.
But this was different.
AIR had transformed.
Its presence was overwhelming—like the Horse King itself—commanding everyone's gaze.
Even though they had never seen successfully prepared AIR before, something instinctive told them:
This was it.
This was perfectly cooked AIR.
The most delicious AIR.
"The presence is overwhelming… I've never encountered an ingredient like this before. And its quality—it surpasses everything I've ever worked with. I almost feel like… I shouldn't be the one to cook it."
Brunch spoke quietly.
As a chef, encountering a supreme ingredient should spark excitement.
But when facing AIR, he felt hesitation instead.
After a moment, he understood why.
First, the ingredient itself was too exalted. There were no side dishes or seasonings in existence that could properly complement it.
Second, his own culinary skill wasn't enough. Forcing himself to cook it might only ruin its flavor.
Though he wanted to try, he ultimately followed his instincts.
"Perhaps only Mr. Kael can take it further," Dina said.
By then, Kael had already returned to their side.
"No," Kael replied calmly. "It's not about skill. It's that there simply aren't any suitable ingredients or seasonings on this planet to pair with it. If I force it, it'll still taste incredible—but it won't be as good as its natural flavor."
He wasn't being modest.
The Eight Kings' ingredients were the pinnacle of what Earth could produce.
Unless they ventured into space in the future, it was better not to tamper with them unnecessarily.
Daruma Hermit and the others gathered around.
Kael didn't hold back. He prepared generous portions for each of them.
Though AIR didn't look massive, it had been compressed.
Once cut open, the volume was astonishing.
After distributing shares to everyone, Kael stored the rest in his Storage Space.
"I'll take the remaining AIR with me. I'd like to leave some behind—but you all understand what would happen if I did. No matter how much I leave, you'd be the ones who suffer for it."
The Bewitching Food World residents froze for a moment.
But no one here was foolish.
They had no ability to protect AIR.
Keeping even a portion would paint a target on their backs.
When stronger forces arrived, their village would face annihilation.
Even if eating AIR boosted their strength, the gap between them and the true top-tier monsters would still be like heaven and earth.
"I understand," Daruma Hermit nodded. "This is already more than enough."
"After I leave, I'll ask the Horse King to keep an eye on you. Leave word outside the Bewitching Food World that you have no extra AIR. With the Horse King's deterrence and your own statement, no one should dare move against you."
Kael's main concern was the Blue Nitro and Joie.
As long as the Horse King's presence loomed over them, even Joie and the Blue Nitro wouldn't act recklessly.
In theory, the Blue Nitro couldn't truly die.
But now wasn't the time for them to gamble.
The Gourmet Eclipse was drawing near.
Acacia's plan was entering its most critical stage.
If too many of them died and revived at random times, the entire plan could collapse.
And if that happened, NEO might devour the Red Universe just as it had the Blue Universe.
With Don Slime already dead, there was no one left capable of opposing NEO.
"Thank you, Chef Kael," Daruma Hermit said solemnly. "If there's ever anything we can do for you, just say the word."
He knew the Bewitching Food World couldn't truly offer Kael anything.
But whether Kael needed them was one thing.
Showing gratitude was another.
Kael smiled faintly.
At least they weren't ungrateful.
That alone was enough.
As they spoke, rainbows suddenly filled the sky.
These weren't illusions.
They solidified into something tangible.
Among them was one grand rainbow—far larger and more complex than the rest.
Unlike the usual seven colors, this one shimmered with a hundred hues, crisscrossing and stretching across the entire continent.
Without question—
This was the path the newborn Horse King would walk.
Every generation of Horse King had to step onto this Road of the King and announce its arrival to the world.
The Phantom Beast Hearc was truly a special race.
With sufficient air, they could continually produce individuals with the potential to become one of the Eight Kings.
But mass-producing such beings was impossible.
The world's air was finite.
A healthy Phantom Beast Hearc consumed far too much air with every breath.
If there were many of them, Earth itself would be drained dry.
In the end, even they wouldn't survive.
That was why each generation had only one Horse King.
Once the new one matured, the old king would seek its resting place and quietly die.
Their lifespan was almost limitless.
But being confined to a single continent for centuries—millennia—tens of thousands of years…
Even a king would eventually grow weary.
When the old Horse King conceived a child, it meant it was ready to pass on its duties and walk toward death.
Kael could clearly sense it.
The old Horse King's aura was weakening.
At the same time, another aura—still young, not yet overwhelming but already powerful—was rising.
The healthy foal stood the moment it was born.
A true king's bearing.
It was far larger than the undernourished Phantom Beast Hearc of previous generations.
The old Horse King gazed at its child, eyes filled with warmth.
Even the Eight Kings had such moments.
The Wolf King Guinness had been the same.
When it learned its child had died, its fury toward Acacia reached its peak.
It had risked grievous injury just to try and kill him.
But by then, the Eight Kings had already become high-level cannon fodder.
Before Acacia, their strength meant nothing.
The little Horse King met its mother's gaze.
It understood.
Without hesitation, it stepped onto its Road of the King.
The instant its hoof touched the path—
A resounding hoofbeat echoed across the entire planet.
The sound was strange.
It didn't seem distant.
It was as if it rang right beside everyone's ears.
"This is the Horse King's response," Daruma Hermit said, trembling with excitement. "A new Horse King has been born. I've only read about this in our records… I never thought I'd hear it in my lifetime."
Since settling in Area 8, the Bewitching Food World had always been under the Horse King's protection.
Generation after generation, reverence had been instilled into their hearts.
Some may have doubted it as children.
But after witnessing the cruelty of the Gourmet World, they understood.
Without the Horse King's protection, they would've perished long ago.
Unlike Area 7, where the Monkey King Bambina barely interfered, leaving its natives to die out.
The contrast was stark.
So when the new king was born, their excitement was boundless.
Kael didn't share their devotion.
But he respected it.
The Horse King's response truly was impressive.
Announcing its existence to the entire world the moment it was born—
That kind of presence was on another level.
In the Human World, people paused in the middle of their work.
They all heard the hoofbeats.
To ordinary people, it was nothing more than a strange, inexplicable sound.
They didn't know what it meant.
Aside from organizations like the IGO and Gourmet Corp, or certain powerful individuals—
Most of humanity didn't even know of the Eight Kings' existence.
After all, beings like that had nothing to do with their daily lives.