Chapter 349 - 340: Don’t Worry, I Have a Big Appetite, and None of You Will Be Left Out

Chapter 349: Chapter 340: Don’t Worry, I Have a Big Appetite, and None of You Will Be Left Out

To the left and right, two more Demons emerged from the stone chambers.

One was over five meters tall and covered in yellow fur. Its arms, thick as pillars, hung past its knees to the ground. It resembled a giant ape, but sported a bird’s beak filled with menacing teeth. The skin of its face was bright red, as if painted with Cinnabar, giving it an indescribably bizarre and savage air.

The other was a Two-tailed Giant Crocodile, likely over ten meters long. With six legs under its belly, it looked like a massive piece of cast iron, wisps of cold mist coiling around its body. Wherever it crawled, it left a long, frost-covered path in its wake.

The auras emanating from the two Demons were in no way inferior to that of the Human-Faced Demon Python, and the Two-tailed Giant Crocodile’s was clearly a notch above them both.

The three demonic auras intertwined like pillars of signal smoke. The smile on the ghastly pale human face on the Human-Faced Demon Python’s neck slowly vanished as it let out a wary, warning hiss.

But before the three Demons could react to one another, the doors to more stone chambers around the vast Earth Palace swung open.

Demon after Demon emerged from the stone chambers. A moment later, another massive figure appeared beside the Human-Faced Snake, the Red-faced Yellow Ape, and the Two-tailed Giant Crocodile: a colossal hawk. It was covered in blue-gray feathers, its eyes glowed like golden lamps, its plumage was like steel, and its wingspan exceeded a hundred feet...

The giant bird folded its wings and stood among the three other Demons. Though it stood motionless, countless currents of air swirled rapidly around it, coalescing into tiny, visible vortexes. Its Demon Qi surged to the heavens, its presence utterly astonishing.

Not far away, two other Demons whose strength was clearly a cut below the four cowered to one side, too timid to approach.

The six Demons stared at one another, then their gazes fell in unison upon a single stone chamber, one where the red light of the Array had already faded.

The great door to the stone chamber was tightly shut, and it was impossible to know what was hidden inside.

"HISS—"

The Human-Faced Demon Python coiled restlessly, as if trying to explain to its kin that the bloody meal inside the chamber was one it had already claimed.

But it had barely begun when the Red-faced Yellow Ape beside it interrupted.

The ape beat its chest with both arms, its bright red beak gaping open as it let out an enraged, almost human-sounding roar, "AHHH!!—"

The Two-tailed Giant Crocodile and the giant bird didn’t spare the two "arguing" Demons a single glance; they simply closed in on the stone chamber with all speed.

In the world of Demon Fiends, there were no rules or order to speak of. The prey belonged to whoever was first to eat it.

After they ate the one in the chamber, if they still weren’t satisfied, they might just turn around and eat the others, too.

The moment the Two-tailed Giant Crocodile and the giant bird moved, the scene descended into chaos.

The Human-Faced Demon Python and Red-faced Yellow Ape cut short their cries and scrambled to follow. The other two Demons that had been cowering nearby also scurried to join them.

The six Great Demon Officials "scrambled over each other" to get to the stone chamber. The fastest of them—the giant bird—flapped its wings, kicking up a furious gale. Without the red light of the Array to block it, the heavy stone door was as brittle as paper in the wind, shattering into pieces in an instant.

The great doors to the stone chamber stood wide open. Compared to the pandemonium of Demon Fiends and the foul miasma outside, the inside seemed unnaturally quiet.

Within the dim stone chamber, a "small and frail" human figure stood with its back to them, positioned before the altar in the center of the room.

Hearing the commotion, the figure slowly turned its head.

In the darkness, a pair of eyes like cold stars began to glow—

"Tsk."

The figure let out a soft click of the tongue, showing not a trace of panic or fear. Instead, it seemed quite surprised and even pleased.

"I didn’t expect..."

"...you all to be served up so quickly."

The six Demons stopped at the chamber entrance, staring blankly at the unexpected human morsel—a snack that looked too small to even get stuck in their teeth.

The Two-tailed Giant Crocodile and the giant bird hesitated, but the Human-Faced Demon Python was the first to "snap out of it." A greedy expression twisted the human face on its neck, and with an impossibly smooth movement, its dozens-of-meters-long body shot into the stone chamber.

"AHHH—!!"

Seeing it had been beaten to the punch, the enraged Yellow Ape pounded its chest and let out a furious roar.

But before it could charge in, all the Demons outside heard the Human-Faced Demon Python’s eager shriek suddenly morph into one of terror and shock.

"BOOM!"

A thick, scorching wave of heat blasted out from the stone chamber.

The massive stone chamber suddenly exploded like a fragile box, even as the Human-Faced Demon Python’s body—half of which was still outside—thrashed and struggled madly.

Raging crimson flames rolled out like a flood, a sudden Fire Prison descending upon the world, scorching the surroundings until the very air seemed to blur and warp from the heat.

An utterly tyrannical, purely evil, and terrifying aura instantly enveloped the entire area.

The rampaging Demons froze in place.

When they finally saw the source of the aura’s eruption, they found a tall figure standing silently amid a sea of orange-red flames. It stood over four meters tall, its form slender yet ferocious.

The figure emanated a terrifying aura, one that felt similar to their own, yet so powerful it made them instinctively want to kneel in submission.

A pitch-black Scorpion Tail coiled around a torso that looked to be forged from steel. Four long, elegant, golden legs extended from its back. Impaled upon the sharp tips of those legs was the body of the Human-Faced Demon Python that had so recklessly charged in.

The figure was far smaller than the Human-Faced Demon Python, yet the four legs on its back held the massive serpent aloft as effortlessly as if it were a feeble worm on four iron skewers, SIZZLING over a fire.

The figure’s eyelids lifted slightly. Its dark gold eyes swept over each of the five Demons as it spoke in a low voice, "Don’t worry. My appetite is quite large..."

"Appetizer, main course, dessert..."

"Every... single... one of you... will have your turn."

As it finished speaking, a bewitching, ice-cold smile slowly spread across its demonic, crimson-patterned face.

「The next instant.」

"RUMBLE!"

"HISS—"

Amid the Human-Faced Demon Python’s despairing hisses, a battle between a master gourmand and his "all-you-can-eat buffet" abruptly began.

....

"THUD!"

With a dull thud, a figure was sent flying from the tournament stage like a punching bag.

Xu Chu, his arms as thick as a rhinoceros’s yet his hands as fierce as a hawk’s talons, slowly withdrew from his second Spirit Awakening state. A faint smile touched his usually impassive face.

"I was fortunate."

He gave a simple, cupped-fist salute toward the Lower Five Banners. The crowd from the Lower Five Banners remained stonily silent, but in sharp contrast, a wave of cheers and applause erupted from beneath the opposing "Spirit" banner.

The greenhorn, Mu Tingzhou, was especially loud, running right up to the stage, shouting and clapping furiously, practically begging for someone to hold a grudge against him with his punchable expression.

Faced with the arrogant celebration from beneath the "Spirit" banner, the Banner Lords of the Lower Five Banners remained expressionless, their gazes silently shifting to a single person.

"General Tu."

The man who had been addressed, a bald giant with a thin braid, rose slowly from his seat. His ridiculously knotted muscles rippled, and his bones emitted soft CRACKING sounds.

"Patience."

The giant looked across at the other side, a cruel, bloodthirsty smile spreading across his savage face. "The real show..." he said softly, "...is just beginning."

With that, he began walking toward the stage, one slow step at a time.

As he walked, it was as if an invisible, ink-black scroll was unrolling around him, gradually enveloping the distant stage and stone steps in its darkness.

......

"In this, the Wuchen year, the first month of spring, on the second day of the new moon, I, Wuhuan, your subject and succeeding Son of Heaven, do solemnly proclaim unto the heavens..."

"...We pray for harmonious seasons and bountiful harvests, for peace throughout the realm, for the longevity of the Banners’ mandate, and for a line of descendants to stretch for ten thousand generations..."

During the Celestial Altar Grand Sacrifice, eight-year-old Wuhuan Che stood at the highest point of the altar, draped in an ill-fitting, Embroidered Golden Dragon Robe. His clear, childish voice stumbled through the recitation of the sacred text.

The members of the Upper Three Banners and the remaining nobles of the Previous Dynasty’s Inner Court were arranged on either side below the altar.

Helu stared at the small figure on the altar, so frail it looked as if a gust of wind might blow him away. A sharp glint flickered unceasingly in Helu’s eyes.