Tōtsuki Culinary Academy, also known as Tōtsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy, is the most prestigious culinary school in Tokyo, Japan.
Renowned for its rigorous training and exceptionally high standards, the academy aims to produce the world's finest chefs. Unsurprisingly, only a small fraction of students graduate each year, proving how difficult it is to break through Tōtsuki's wall of culinary perfection.
Within this elite academy exists a unique system known as the Shokugeki—a formal cooking duel held between Tōtsuki Culinary Academy students.
This long-standing tradition allows students to settle disputes, disagreements, or arguments through a formal duel that directly showcases their cooking skills.
In short, at Tōtsuki, conflicts are not resolved through physical fights as in shounen manga but through battles of flavor in the kitchen.
Each party involved in a Shokugeki must wager something on the duel. Typically, both sides must agree that the proposed stakes are balanced and fair.
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The room where the Shokugeki was held resembled a professional boxing arena, complete with high-tech cooking equipment at the center of the stage. Surrounding it was a spacious viewing area for interested students and a grand table for the judges.
"So boring… If I knew it'd be this dull, I would've refused the invitation to watch."
In the spectator seats, Ren yawned widely, his eyes lazily fixed on the Shokugeki participants busily cooking on stage.
"They're not even part of the Elite Ten. What's the point of watching people cook?"
He glanced at the students around him, who were buzzing with enthusiasm, heatedly discussing the participants' cooking techniques, the aroma of spices wafting through the air, and the presentation of dishes.
To Ren, it was all bizarre. He labeled them all as cooking otakus.
Glancing at the judges' table, Ren watched Sonoka, who occasionally commented and responded to the other judges about the Shokugeki participants.
"It's only a matter of time before Sonoka gives in, but I'm getting impatient." Ren muttered under his breath, his gaze never leaving Sonoka. "Her cooking skills far surpass Ai and Ririka's. She should be a private chef at the Rokuhara Residence instead of serving her delicious food to others for money."
The thought sparked a strong sense of displeasure in Ren. It was his characteristic possessiveness; he disliked the idea of his women serving or cooking for others, especially for material gain.
"It's decided. If Sonoka still refuses to give me her first time after Itsuki gives birth, I'll have to use dirty methods."
Clearly, the dirty methods Ren referred to were mind-control magic, the same technique he had used on Masha and Alya.
From the start, he was never a good person, and after gaining extraordinary powers beyond human reason, his patience wore thin. Ren cared little for concepts like consent or free will if they stood in the way of his desires.
"Once Sonoka becomes my woman, I won't allow her to continue her restaurant business. She'll have to obediently be a housewife, cooking for us." he said, already planning Sonoka's future without her consent.
Since Ren spoke in Indonesian, the students around him didn't understand that he was plotting a crime—a manipulation that would alter a woman's life.
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At the same time, far at the edge of the solar system, in the frozen silence of outer space, no sound broke the void, only absolute darkness and stars twinkling like cold gems.
*BUZZ!*
Suddenly, the void fluctuated. An invisible ripple appeared, then expanded into a swirling vortex of energy that twisted space and time. Slowly, the vortex formed a pulsating wormhole, like a giant purple-blue eye emitting an eerie glow, swallowing the surrounding darkness into its endless spiral.
From the core of the wormhole, hundreds of massive spacecraft emerged one by one.
Each was approximately 30,000 meters long, their dark, menacing silhouettes resembling prehistoric predators rising from a cosmic abyss, now moving silently but steadily toward the small blue planet in the distance: Earth.
Inside the command bridge of one of the largest motherships stood an octopus-like alien with a soft, gelatinous body.
"This time, Earth will surely fall into our hands!" Its voice dripped with unrestrained greed and deep-seated hatred.
A longstanding grudge fueled their resentment for the small resistance that had once thwarted them. This time, they came with unimaginable power.
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As the invaders from beyond the Milky Way arrived at the solar system's edge, several extraordinary individuals on Earth immediately received visions.
Hime-Miko, Mages, Witches, Espers, or anyone with the ability to foresee the future all received the same vision: Earth would be invaded!
"So… the Prime War has arrived, huh… It's earlier than before. No matter how many times they're defeated, they never give up." Alice grumbled, lying weakly on her bed.
She was a powerful Hime-Miko and Witch, as well as a member of the European magical association known as the Witenagemot. In other words, her foresight abilities were among the best in the world.
"There are eight Campiones in this era. Earth should win this Prime War again."
Knowing aliens were targeting Earth, Alice showed no excessive worry. She had full confidence in the Campiones, who would always rise to protect Earth.
"By the way, Lord Ren, Lord Doni, and Lord Godou are the new-generation Campiones. They might not know about the Prime War." Alice sorted through the information in her mind. "But Lord Godou has Erica Blandelli and Liliana Kranjcar by his side. The factions behind those two women will surely inform Lord Godou about the Prime War's arrival."
"Lord Doni is the same. His overseer, Andre, will handle it. The only Campione without an organized Mage Association faction is Lord Ren."
The Witenagemot collected information on Campiones worldwide. Naturally, Alice, as a special consultant, knew that Ren's only significant backing was a secular conglomerate in Japan—likely unaware of cosmic threats like this.
"Alright, I'll contact Lord Ren and inform him that the Prime War is about to begin."
Recalling her cooperative (or rather, coerced) relationship with Ren, Alice felt indirectly bound to the Seventh Campione. Thus, she saw it as her duty to inform him about the Prime War.
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Meanwhile, Ren was completely unaware of the massive threat approaching Earth. Instead, he smirked with amusement as he watched Sonoka taste the dishes presented by the Shokugeki participants.
(Wow, no one would guess that mouth was tasting my protein not long ago, huh?) Ren chuckled inwardly, a depraved thought crossing his mind.
(What kind of expressions would the students and judges here show if they knew Kikuchi Sonoka, the respected Elite Ten alumna, had just used her precious mouth to milk my seed, then immediately judged food with that same mouth…)
Ren felt a strange wave of satisfaction. The contrast between Sonoka's professional, conservative public image and their dirty secret gave him a unique thrill.