Chapter 597: Carnival of Desire [29]

The darkness began to move.

Not the darkness of space or the dead of night—but something alive, like a creature stretching after a long, deep sleep. It writhed out from the cracks in the bone walls, from patches of damp moss, from the deepest corners of the castle. And as it moved, it revealed something.

Something enormous.

Nick lifted his head from the meat table, his eyes widening so far they looked as though they might spill from their sockets. Beside him, Ember was also struggling to sit up, but his body was still too weak. There was nothing either of them could do but stare.

Gluttony was slowly emerging.

It had no human shape, nor did it resemble any creature they had ever known. It was a colossal mass of flesh, coated in layers of fat and black, viscous slime, piling upon itself like a living mountain. Its skin was ashen gray, split by deep cracks, and within every crack, blood-red eyes stared out from the darkness, blinking like countless red lamps.

Its body was so massive that the surrounding castle seemed ready to burst apart. The bone walls had already begun to crack, while chunks of stone rained down from the ceiling as the pressure from within forced them outward. Gluttony could not stand, nor could it move quickly—it could only drag itself forward, inch by inch, like a gigantic, slime-covered snail, leaving behind a trail of thick, foul-smelling black fluid.

But it was moving forward.

Toward Adrian.

Hundreds of blood-red eyes scattered across its enormous mass of flesh were all fixed on him. From the deepest cracks, thick black saliva began to ooze out, dripping onto the floor and eating away at the bones beneath its feet.

It was hungry.

[What... What is that?!]

[That's horrifying! Is that the master of this dungeon?]

[Adrian made it all the way to it... but it definitely doesn't look like it wants to talk!]

[Looks like Adrian won't be swallowing everything in one bite this time, haha!]

Ember slowly pushed himself upright, though his entire body ached so badly that every movement felt like being burned alive. He looked toward Adrian, his amber eyes filled with wariness.

"Adrian..." he called, his voice hoarse.

Adrian did not turn around. He simply stood there with his hands in his pockets, staring up at the enormous mass of flesh slowly moving toward him.

"Don't worry," he said, his voice as calm as ever. "I know what I'm doing."

Nick struggled to his feet, his expression turning grim as he stared at the grotesquely oversized monster before them.

Gluttony stopped.

It was only a few meters away from Adrian, its blood-red eye sockets blinking like hundreds of lamps. Then a sound emerged from the colossal mass of flesh—not words, but something caught between a growl and a moan, reverberating from somewhere deep within its body.

"You have quite the discerning eye," Adrian said, his voice gentle yet brimming with confidence. "Everything on the table is fresh—ingredients that will sate Your hunger in no time."

Silence.

Gluttony's blood-red eyes never left Adrian for even a moment. Hundreds of pupils narrowed as they focused on him. Drool poured from its enormous mouth, soaking a patch of the floor and filling the air with a rancid, fishy stench that was almost unbearable.

Gluttony roared.

The air grew thick.

It opened its mouth.

It was no ordinary mouth.

It was an abyss—pitch-black and bottomless—with thousands of razor-sharp teeth arranged in layer upon layer, like the maw of some deep-sea creature never before discovered. It opened wide enough to swallow an entire house.

And then it lunged at Adrian.

"ADRIAN!" Ember screamed, his voice cracking.

The colossal maw was just about to swallow Adrian whole.

He smiled. His ocean-blue eyes glowed with an eerie light as he whispered,

"Too bad the thing you're about to face isn't me."

He raised a hand.

"Erebus, the Revered..."

The darkness erupted without warning.

Not the darkness seeping from the cracks, nor the darkness of night—but something alive, surging and churning like a black ocean swallowing everything in its path. It wrapped around Gluttony, around Adrian, around the meat table and the bone walls. For one brief moment, Ember and Nick were completely swallowed by a vortex of darkness, unable to see a thing.

Then everything stopped.

Ember slowly sat up. The pain that had wracked his body was gone, and the wounds and corruption that had been eating away at him had been completely healed. He looked around.

Nick was sitting up as well, his eyes wide as he stared ahead.

They were still inside the castle. The bone walls were still there. The dining tables and food were still there.

But Adrian and Gluttony were gone.

Without a trace.

...

Inside the God Realm.

Endless darkness. No ceiling. No floor. No walls.

Gluttony roared as its enormous body was bound tightly by the darkness, dragged downward and forced into a space from which there was no escape. Its blood-red eyes flickered frantically, black saliva pouring from its maw as it struggled desperately.

But the darkness would not allow it.

And before it stood a figure walking toward it.

There was no Adrian anymore.

The man who emerged from the darkness had jet-black hair falling slightly past his shoulders, gleaming like water beneath the night sky. His eyes were emerald green, bright as gemstones, cold and unfathomably deep. His features were delicate, yet the youthful brightness he normally carried was gone. In its place was a calm, ancient presence, like a god looking down upon the mortal world.

Silvanus.

He walked closer to Gluttony, his emerald eyes never leaving the enormous mass of flesh thrashing helplessly within the darkness. The blood-red eyes of Gluttony began to flicker faster and faster as it caught sight of him.

"You... you are..."

Gluttony's voice cracked, filled with frenzied hunger. It tried to reach toward Silvanus, but the darkness held it fast, allowing it no movement.

Silvanus stopped before Gluttony.

"Don't worry," Silvanus finally said with a faint smile. "From now on, you will never have to be hungry again."