Preparing the food

After nearly fifteen minutes of nonstop firing, the woman's face was pale. She was utterly exhausted, and her energy pool was dangerously low, generating a headache. Yet, a smile appeared on her face as she saw that no more demons were marching toward them.

"Sister, are you fine?"

The young man was standing next to the woman, his hand on the massive club, ready to blast any demons that might get near. Even though his strength was significantly reduced without his Gift activated, he could still fight one-on-one with those monsters.

"Hmph, I should be asking you that. What kind of madman jumps from a building onto the back of a seven-meter-tall monster!?"

The young woman sneered as she glanced at the massive man, but before this one could answer, a voice emerged from above them.

"A true man, that is who."

The brother and sister turned to the top of the dead Hippopotamus Monster as a young man answered the question with a radiant smile.

Vlad smiled at the duo before calmly sliding down the Hippopotamus Monster and reaching the ground. His face was a little pale, but other than that, he seemed fine.

"Boss, you have recovered already?"

Jormungandr shouted with surprise as he jumped toward Vlad's shoulders.

"Hahaha, more or less. I have directed all the Origin Force into my fleshly body, so although I have not improved my Level, my vitality is much stronger now."

Vlad answered Jormungandr's worries before turning to the duo. Gazing at them with a smile, he clasped his hand and nodded.

"Thank you for the assistance. I would not have been able to defeat this Champion Monster alone."

The brother and sister immediately responded to Vlad's politeness. The duo was very grateful as they knew this man had drawn the focus of the hundreds of demons, allowing the survivors of Good Side Town to escape.

"We should be the ones thanking you."

"You really helped us and the entire town."

Vlad smiled as he saw the duo's attitude and then turned toward Jormungandr.

"I assume you came back after noticing the turmoil provoked by my clash with the Hippopotamus Monster, bringing our two friends with you. Is Lieutenant Mitchel still nearby?"

"Yes, Boss. They are on the hill with the rest of the survivors. There are around five hundred people."

Vlad was a little surprised by the number, happy that so many had survived the initial phase of the apocalypse, and then he nodded.

"Good. Since the demons have been taken care of, tell the Lieutenant he should bring the people here. We will have a feast with the Hippopotamus Monster's meat and blood. That will help those people recover, making the path back to the fortress easier and faster."

As he heard those words, a sharp light appeared in Jormungandr's eyes, and he could see the meaningful light in Vlad's eyes. He nodded without a word before jumping out and flashing into the distance.

The brother and sister were surprised by the speed that the small cat could achieve, but their attention was drawn back to the young man.

"Jormungandr might have already told you, but my name is Vlad. What are yours?"

"I am Mirena."

"And I am Cazan."

"Good. Mirena and Cazan, we have much to discuss, but we can do that while eating. How about if you give me a hand and help me prepare this Hippopotamus Monster."

Vlad smiled as he turned toward the Hippopotamus Monster, his eyes full of desire.

"Is that thing really dead? No Origin Force came from it."

Mirena spoke with a cautious voice. The Hippopotamus Monster was not moving, and it did not seem to be breathing or having a heartbeat, but since she did not see the bright golden energy, she did not dare declare it dead.

"This is a Monster, a natural life form of Terra that was able to adapt energy directly into its flesh and blood. It is not an Alien like these demons or a Heretic, so the Plane Will will not give us any Origin Force. Of course, that does not mean we cannot benefit from it, as its flesh and blood are incredibly nutritious, and its bones are very hard and capable of being used as weapons better than any cold weapon we have."

Vlad could practically see the question symbols rising from the heads of the duo and just smiled.

"Help me with the Monster, and in the meantime, you can ask me any question you might have. I will answer them."

Vlad intended to prepare a feast, but for that, he would need to prepare the meat. Luckily, the last attack of the Hippopotamus Monster had sent everything near it flying away. Hence, the area around the corpse was clean, and there was no problem performing the procedure there.

The brother and sister duo's eyes glowed, and they immediately nodded as they began to help the young man. The first part was to push the Hippopotamus Monster's body to the side so they could access the belly, which was by no means easy.

A normal hippopotamus was around 1.5 meters tall and weighed over 3,000 kilograms. This one was nearly seven meters tall, and its weight rose exponentially. Vlad would not be surprised if it reached 100 tons.

The trio had to exert a lot of effort and use several levers to push the Hippopotamus to the side. After that, they used Vlad's sword to cut open the Monster's neck; after finding a massive pot, they cut deep and began to remove the blood.

After taking all the blood, the trio made an incision from the pelvis to the sternum and carefully removed the entrails, taking care not to puncture the intestines.

During the entire time, the brother and sister did not stop asking questions, and Vlad answered all of them, more than happy to share the knowledge with the duo. After all, it was considered common knowledge in the higher dimensions.