Chapter 60: Outbreak (Part 2)

The banquet was lively and grand, lasting well into the evening when the even more boisterous ball began. Young noblemen and ladies flocked to the center, dancing gracefully to the melodious music. In a quiet corner of the hall, two young men sat, utterly unconcerned by the world around them, content to eat and drink in peace.

“Brother, did you really want me to bring you here just to eat?” Daniel looked at him in exasperation, his expression growing ever more dramatic. “Come on, are you looking down on me? If you’d said so, you could have picked any place in Stormport. I’m so broke now, all I have left are gold coins… oh!”

Before he could finish, a chicken drumstick was shoved into his mouth. Charles glanced at him calmly and said, “Shut up. If you want to leave, you can go now.”

“Meow!”

The little white fox, Firefly, also let out a cry, as if to voice its own displeasure. Its tiny paws gripped a roast chicken much larger than its own head, gnawing away in a most incongruous sight. Even more curiously, not a spot of grease marred its snow-white fur, which gleamed as if impervious to dirt.

“Fine, you stay here and eat. I’m off to find some beauties to dance with!” Daniel disdainfully tossed aside the chicken leg, dabbed his lips with a white handkerchief, and transformed into a dashing gentleman as he approached a noble maiden he’d set his sights on long ago.

The young lady blushed, clearly well aware of his identity. She extended her dainty hand, the white handkerchief draped over it, and together they glided into the dance floor.

Crunch!

Charles paid them no mind, biting through a chicken bone with ease, chewing twice before swallowing it whole. Now that he possessed several evolved totem beasts, his teeth seemed only to grow stronger—he ate with the ravenous appetite of a starving man, as if he could never be sated.

“Could it be that everything I eat is being stolen by those gluttons?” Charles mused with some annoyance. His evolved totems were renowned for their appetites; a single cow wouldn’t suffice for even one meal. He’d had to let them hunt for themselves, as he simply couldn't provide for such voracious creatures.

His gaze returned to the dance floor, thoughtful. “It’s clear I haven’t seen any life mages with guardian auras here. Perhaps they’ve all mastered concealment spells—if I don’t employ my own detection magic, I can’t tell, but if I do, it’ll draw attention.”

The guardian aura was a layer of protection that shrouded a life mage’s body, manifesting in times of danger but otherwise hidden with magic, invisible to their peers. This made it impossible for Charles to determine how many life mages were present. After all, this was the stronghold of the True God Cult in Faen County—a gathering place for life mages, with no fewer than two second-level mages stationed here—yet he hadn’t spotted a single one.

However, he did notice a familiar face…

“Alan, are you sure this is the place?” Roddy sat with obvious discomfort. From a humble background, it was his first time attending such a noble gathering, and he felt completely out of place.

“Relax, you’re a prince, aren’t you—” Before he could finish, Roddy hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth. Though he was increasingly convinced of Alan’s prophetic abilities, he refused to believe he had royal blood. If anyone overheard, it would surely spell trouble.

Alan pried his hand away, sighing in exasperation, and wiped his mouth with an air of disdain. “Don’t worry. We’ve searched all of Stormport these past days, and only here matches the vision I saw. Just wait—something special is bound to happen!”

“All right, but if an ultimate-class creature appears, the two of us will have a hard time escaping.” Roddy longed to ignore it all, but his sense of justice forbade him to run away. Resigned, he began eating in earnest. This was a rare chance for a free feast, after all, and he meant to enjoy it.

With Little Black’s evolution, Roddy’s appetite had also grown exponentially. By the time he finished, he’d singlehandedly devoured all the chicken, duck, and other dishes on the table, leaving those around him staring in disbelief.

“Roddy, are you all right? That was enough food for ten!” Alan looked as if he’d seen a ghost, shocked at just how outrageous Roddy’s appetite had become.

“I’m fine… burp!” Roddy let out a burp most inelegantly, drawing even more curious stares and whispers from the crowd. Alan slapped his forehead; he’d hoped to keep a low profile, but their gluttonous display had ruined that plan.

Now, many in the hall were casting suspicious glances their way. After all, these were nobles—who would dare eat so gracelessly in public?

Before he could explain, a terrifying roar sounded outside, as if something had exploded. The entire hall shook with the impact.

Boom!

The deafening noise came again. A wall-mounted oil lamp detached and fell, spilling lamp oil across a tablecloth. Flames leapt up, engulfing the dining table and setting fire to the dress of a nearby young lady whose gown swept the floor.

“Ah! Help me!” she screamed, trying to flee, but her foot caught on her skirt and she fell hard to the ground.

In an instant, the delicate fabric ignited, turning her into a living torch. Her anguished screams echoed through the hall, filling the others with terror. Someone tried to help, smashing a bottle of wine at her feet, but the alcohol only fed the flames, which consumed her utterly and spread even faster.

“Idiots! Don’t they know alcohol makes fire worse?” Charles muttered in exasperation. As the flames spread, he grabbed Firefly and leapt out the window.

Hundreds of nobles, maids, and guards rushed to flee, only to find the exterior shrouded in a pitch-black fog, so thick even the courtyard walls were invisible.

Boom!

Charles had barely landed before the building behind him collapsed with a thunderous crash, crushing those who hadn’t escaped in time.

Amid the ruins, two monstrous beasts appeared, locked in a ferocious battle. One was a plant creature, its dozens of massive tendrils writhing and coiling across a vast area. The other was a terrifying dinosaur-like monster, somewhat resembling a tyrannosaurus, but entirely crimson, belching torrents of flame from its maw.

“What in the world? The fight’s starting just like that?”

Charles stared in shock. He’d expected some prelude, a chance to slip away in the confusion, but instead both sides had unleashed their full force without a word, heedless of the carnage around them.

He took a deep breath, keenly aware of a strange, mysterious voice echoing all around, filling him with an urge to scream and lose control.

What on earth was happening?