Chapter 1169: Greater Infernal Predator [Part 2]

Chapter 1169 – Greater Infernal Predator [Part 2]

The first demon barely managed to turn.

A tentacle wrapped around its torso and yanked it backward. The mouth along the appendage opened, clamped down, and swallowed the creature in two violent bites.

Black blood sprayed across the leaves.

That was apparently the dinner bell.

Gormaw went insane.

Tentacles lashed through the horde.

One demon was snatched by the ankle and dragged screaming through the dirt before disappearing into the central mouth.

Another jumped.

A smaller mouth opened directly beneath it.

Gone.

Three demons tried attacking one tentacle simultaneously.

Terrible financial decision.

The tentacle curled around all three.

Teeth erupted along its underside.

The creatures screamed as the limb contracted, then Gormaw shoved the entire bundle into its torso-mouth.

Crunching echoed through the trees.

Gormaw shuddered with happiness.

The remaining demons scattered.

Gormaw disagreed with their decision.

Its tentacles slammed into the earth and launched its enormous body forward with disturbing speed.

Trees cracked.

Low-level demons fled between them.

Gormaw chased like an excited dog discovering someone had thrown seventy steaks into the forest.

A ceiling-crawler scrambled up a tree.

A tentacle followed.

The creature reached the highest branch.

Its head turned.

The tentacle-mouth was already there.

-CHOMP!

Nothing remained except two claws falling through the branches.

Another demon tried burrowing beneath the ground.

Gormaw stabbed a tentacle into the soil.

There was a muffled scream.

The tentacle came back carrying the demon.

Gormaw ate it immediately.

Black blood splattered its body.

It didn’t care.

If anything, it became more enthusiastic.

Dozens of mouths snapped independently, each searching for another meal. Tentacles whipped through the darkness, dragging demons from behind stones, trees and collapsed ruins.

There was no strategy.

This was consumption.

Predator against prey.

The low-level demons that had terrorized the fortress suddenly understood what being lower on the food chain felt like.

One managed to reach Lux.

It lunged.

Lux didn’t even draw his daggers.

A tentacle shot over his shoulder.

The mouth opened beside his face.

-CHOMP!

The demon vanished.

Lux stood very still.

The tentacle paused.

One mouth turned toward him.

Lux slowly looked at it. "No."

The mouth closed.

The tentacle retreated.

[You have successfully established dietary boundaries.]

"I hate that sentence."

The massacre continued.

Five minutes later, the forest had changed.

Broken branches.

Cratered soil.

Black blood.

Fragments of shattered demonic armor.

And Gormaw.

The creature sat in the middle of the destruction with its tentacles curled around its enormous body.

One final low-level demon crawled desperately from beneath a fallen tree.

Gormaw noticed.

Every mouth opened simultaneously.

The demon froze.

Gormaw pounced.

A final scream vanished beneath the wet snap of teeth.

Silence returned.

Gormaw’s tentacles wiggled.

Then the monster turned toward Lux.

[All detected hostile low-level demons consumed.]

[Residual demonic contamination reduced by 94%.]

[Gormaw Satisfaction Level: EXTREMELY HIGH.]

Lux looked over the blood-soaked forest.

Vaelor was still holding Eve protectively against his chest. His expression suggested his understanding of Hell had just become significantly worse.

Eve whispered, "Is that... your pet?"

"No," Lux said.

He looked at Gormaw, who was currently chewing on something that Lux deliberately chose not to identify.

"It’s my servant."

Eve blinked.

Vaelor looked from Lux to the twenty-foot mass of tentacles, mouths, teeth, and questionable digestive decisions. "Servant? That thing can do something other than eat?"

Lux turned toward him calmly. "No."

Vaelor stared.

Lux stared back. "He’s from the Gluttony Domain. His job is eating."

"That’s his entire job?"

"Essentially."

Gormaw made another wet, pleased noise from across the clearing.

Lux continued as if discussing a perfectly respectable employee. "He’s bound to serve me because he couldn’t pay his food debt."

Vaelor slowly looked toward Gormaw again.

Considering the creature’s size and the number of mouths attached to it, suddenly the concept of food debt sounded considerably more threatening.

"How much did he eat?"

Lux paused. "A lot. So instead of collecting the debt normally, I converted it into service. I use him to guard certain assets, particularly places where wild demons tend to appear. He’s also useful for situations like this."

Lux nodded toward the blood-soaked battlefield.

"He gets food. I get a guard. Nobody has to calculate how many centuries it would take him to repay what he ate. Efficient arrangement."

Vaelor actually seemed impressed.

Eve stared at Gormaw.

The enormous creature swallowed something with an audible gulp.

"The downside is..."

Lux looked at him.

Gormaw looked back.

One of its mouths opened happily.

A thick string of drool stretched from its teeth before dropping onto the ground with an unpleasant splut.

Lux’s face flattened.

"...it’s a bit disgusting."

Another string fell.

"And it stinks."

Gormaw made an offended bubbling noise.

Lux raised an eyebrow. "You do."

Gormaw’s tentacles drooped slightly.

"Normal for this kind of creature," Lux added.

Apparently satisfied with that clarification, Gormaw perked up again.

It made a happy bubbling noise and shuffled closer.

Lux took one step backward. "Absolutely not."

A tentacle extended toward him. Clutched delicately at its tip was what appeared to be half a demon body.

Lux stared at the offering. Then smiled politely. "No, thank you. I already ate."

The tentacle drooped.

Vaelor’s mouth twitched.

Lux sighed. "If you’re done with your food, you need to go back."

The creature immediately began retracting its tentacles.

"But before that..."

Gormaw stopped.

Lux pointed toward the battlefield.

Several demon corpses remained scattered among the trees, along with severed limbs and various pieces Gormaw had apparently considered beneath immediate priority.

Lux pointed at them. "Don’t forget to eat all the crumbs."

Gormaw’s entire body perked up.

Every mouth opened.

Apparently, crumbs was an inspirational word.

The creature immediately scuttled across the battlefield, scooping up everything it had missed. Tentacles reached beneath stones, collected severed limbs, dragged corpses from bushes, and even shook one unfortunate tree until a dead demon dropped from the branches.

Another tentacle found an arm.

Within minutes, Gormaw had cleaned the battlefield with horrifying efficiency.

Lux watched approvingly.

Vaelor stared at the spotless patch of ground.

Lux smiled. "Excellent employee."