Time flew by, and the Shokugeki Kael had scheduled with Bunnyhair had finally arrived. Since this was a match against a Midnight Chef, the venue was naturally not inside Totsuki.
This time, the duel was held in a massive Shokugeki arena outside the academy—large enough to hold tens of thousands of spectators.
But the people watching today weren't students; almost all of them were big names from the culinary world.
After all, this was a battle between Kael and a Midnight Chef.
As for the judges, even the Shokugeki Bureau didn't get to decide. One judge was Senzaemon Nakiri himself—he practically ruled Japan's culinary scene.
The other two were veteran chefs whose ranks stood above Nine-Star.
Normally, chefs of their level wouldn't bother judging a match between a Seven-Star and an Eight-Star chef. But this was Kael—the greatest prodigy of the generation, the culinary world's so-called "demonic genius."
At his current pace of growth, surpassing them was only a matter of time. And everyone here knew he might break the existing limits of the culinary world altogether. So naturally, every major figure wanted to build a good relationship with him now.
And as for anyone thinking about sabotaging Kael? The Midnight Chefs were full of people who couldn't stand seeing others succeed, but all those troublemakers had already been intercepted by Mana Nakiri and Senzaemon.
Even outside the Midnight Chefs, there were plenty who wanted to harm Kael—but here in Japan, under the Nakiri family's protection, no one could lay a finger on him.
In the spectator seats, Gin Dojima, Joichiro Saiba, and a group of Totsuki alumni sat together. Quite a few instructors were present as well; no one wanted to miss a match like this.
So many teachers requested leave that Senzaemon simply gave the entire faculty a day off.
Students, however, were rare. Except for the group from the Polar Star Dormitory—who were brought in by Kael and the others—most students needed powerful connections just to enter.
"Joichiro, why aren't you on the judging panel? With your status, you qualify easily," Dojima asked.
Joichiro chuckled. "I've already seen his cooking. He wasn't quite this strong back then, but I'll have plenty of chances to eat his food again. I don't need a judge's seat."
Others could only envy him—unlike them, all Joichiro had to do was stop by the dorm to eat Kael's cooking.
Just then, Jun Shiomi barreled toward Joichiro with the force of a linebacker. He didn't even have time to dodge; the impact nearly made him spit out last night's dinner.
Normally, Joichiro wasn't someone who let others get away with things. But the moment he saw it was Jun, he sighed and accepted his fate.
He had no one but himself to blame—this was the price of mischief he'd caused in the past.
Meanwhile, the Elite Ten sat in another section.
"I've never felt this out of place before…" one of them muttered.
It made sense. In any normal Shokugeki, they were the imposing figures. But here? Everyone around them, chefs and spectators alike, far surpassed them in skill, status, or both.
Today, they were the small fry.
Over in the Polar Star Dormitory group, Yuki Yoshino stared at Bunnyhair's outfit—an actual bunny suit, complete with tall pink rabbit ears.
"She seriously came dressed like that? She's gorgeous, but… doesn't she feel awkward wearing cosplay to a Shokugeki?"
But Bunnyhair looked completely unbothered. Zero shame. Zero hesitation.
Alice Nakiri pointed at the Midnight Chefs' seating area. "It's not just her. Look at those guys. If we didn't know better, we'd think this was an anime convention."
Their outfits really were wild.
Erina Nakiri studied Bunnyhair's information. "Her Special Ability is Sadistic Cuisine. The rougher she treats an ingredient, the better the flavor becomes. Completely different from how she looks."
Without cooking, Bunnyhair looked like the definition of "cute." But once she started? She earned her nickname—the Rampaging Maiden—for a reason.
"By the way… Bunnyhair's already here," Megumi Tadokoro said. "But where's Kael? He came with us, right?"
"He probably went to pick up ingredients," Erina replied, her expression turning odd. "He asked me for something yesterday."
Alice blinked. "What ingredient?"
"A live cow. You know Mito Ikumi's family runs a ranch. So I contacted her, and she prepared one for Kael."
A live cow? Was he planning to butcher it on the spot? That would take forever.
Before they could discuss further, Kael finally appeared—carrying his giant knife case on his back and leading ten enormous bulls behind him.
"Ten cows!?""What is he planning!?"
The judges and audience were completely stunned. They thought Bunnyhair's weapon selection was eccentric, but Kael had just raised the bar into orbit.
"A live cow? He's not seriously going to butcher one here, is he? He doesn't even have the proper equipment!"
Speculation filled the arena. No one could imagine how this could possibly be part of his dish.
Bunnyhair herself looked baffled. "What exactly are you planning? Why would you bring a live cow?"
Even she had never seen something this bizarre.
"You'll understand when the match starts," Kael said simply.
A few minutes later, the host announced the start of the Shokugeki.
Bunnyhair immediately began cooking—violently. She slammed, crushed, pounded, and twisted her ingredients like she was punishing them. That was her Special Ability: Sadistic Cuisine.
Anyone else would've ruined the ingredients instantly. But her power made the flavor improve the more she "abused" them.
Kael, on the other hand, opened his knife case and took out all seven of his Seven-Star Knives—including the largest and most intimidating one.
"He's actually using the biggest one!?"
Everyone familiar with the Seven-Star Knives froze.
Kael walked up to the bull. Muscles tensed. Veins stood out along his arms. He gripped the giant knife with both hands…
And swung.
The blade blurred. A flash of steel tore through the air. A heartbeat later, Kael planted the knife in the ground. The knife was so sharp—and Kael's strength so monstrous—that it sank straight through the tiled floor.
He exhaled heavily.
People stared, unable to process what they'd just seen.
Then—
The bull collapsed.
Its body unfolded like a blooming lotus, splitting cleanly into perfectly separated cuts of meat. Every part—brisket, tenderloin, ribs, sirloin—was cleaved into ideal butchering divisions.
And not a single drop of blood spilled.
Silence fell over the arena. Even Bunnyhair stopped mid-swing, jaw dropped.
Kael had used a secret Dark Cooking Society technique:
Mighty Bull Azure Dragon Slash.
Strictly speaking, he shouldn't have been able to perform it yet. His knife skills weren't at the required level. The only reason it worked was because he used his Special Ability—Ingredient Dominion—to control the cow's body the moment he swung.
His blade wasn't perfect, so he compensated by perfecting the ingredient.
Even so, the move wasn't complete. The technique was supposed to finish in an instant; Kael needed several seconds, and those seconds drained nearly all his stamina.
Even with his abnormal physical strength, the cost was enormous.
In the entire World of Food Wars, not a single chef besides him could ever perform this move—even if he taught them.
"Th-the cow… the cow just exploded open!"
Someone finally screamed, breaking the silence.
The arena erupted in chaos.
Everyone had seen the cow walk in alive. There was no mistaking that. But now it had been butchered so cleanly, so precisely, and so bloodlessly—it defied logic.
Chefs in the audience instantly recognized the perfection of the cuts. Every piece was a pinnacle-quality portion of beef. If this meat were sold, people would riot trying to buy it.
"But where's the blood…?" someone muttered.
One man noticed what no one else had—the bloodless corpse. Claude Ville, whose own Special Ability revolved around blood, frowned deeply.
"With a whole cow, there should be liters of blood. So where is it?"
His comment made the entire audience freeze.
Yeah.
Where was the blood?