Jim was reminded of the incomparable, delicious food he tasted at his last Shiller banquet. The soul-piercing aroma might not have been his imagination. Why couldn't it be from a demon?
Just as the first fork was about to touch the food, Shiller's voice rang out again.
"I feel honored that you all appreciate the dishes I provide, but I must give a slight warning. Some of you hold baseless misunderstandings and ill intentions towards me."
No one seriously listened to him. Perhaps they heard, but didn't care. They mindlessly rushed toward the power they could obtain. Shiller calmly continued, "Some of you arrived uninvited. The greatest respect I can show these individuals is having them at the feast in another way."
"I sincerely hope that the rudeness running through their veins won't affect your enjoyment of the flavors. Now, let the feast begin."
Shiller gently raised his cup and sat down again.
All the others felt a chill through their bodies.
"I can smell it, the scent of Kaz's soul!" An elderly witch with an ugly scar on her face cried out: "And that Shahlia sheep's foot, the table is filled with the aroma of their flesh ..."
Jim's eyes grew wide. He turned to look at Shiller and shot up, yelling in disbelief: "You've served them up…!"
Then he looked at the food on the table, clearly seeing two different types of meat in each dish.
Jim's lips began to tremble. He continuously and instinctively swallowed saliva, fighting against the nauseating feeling rising from his stomach. He had almost eaten it.
Cannibalism, the most unforgivable sin since the establishment of human civilization.
"Insane! Shiller, you're insane!" Jim yelled, waving his hands: "I won't eat them. It's absurd. I'm leaving now!"
Having said this, Jim pushed away his chair and walked toward the door. He turned back to glare at his companions. Lady Shangdu threw up her hands and said, "I'm no human, I'm a forest fairy..."
"I also…" Bennett hesitated, swallowing his saliva.
Feeling the angry glare from Jim, the remaining three gradually stood up and followed Jim out of the room.
Strange also put down his fork, coldly glaring at the food on the table as Shiller shot him a glance. Strange stared back fearlessly and said, "I'm a surgeon."
"So you only save lives?"
"So I understand how filthy the human body is, your seasoning ruined this feast."
Strange was hinting at something different – if they tried to provoke the greed in the hearts of the human mages with dishes made by devils, to make them realize that directly seizing and killing the devils would gain more, why add unnecessary psychological burdens on the diners?
Since consuming demon's flesh meant no turning back, shouldn't they devise a way to entice them to eat?
But to Strange's surprise, the crowd paused for a second before pouncing on the meaty dishes like beasts ravaged by famine.
No hesitation, no reluctance. Strange even believed he heard their inner voices.
What's so wrong about cannibalism? We're now starving. We need power. We'll eat whatever can satiate our hunger.
What's so wrong about cannibalism? We've endured hunger long enough. Because we're powerful, we're the diners, the weak should be served on the table.
What's so wrong about cannibalism? Once we truly evolve into something completely different from the weak humans, the flesh that enters our stomachs is merely food. Why couldn't it be humans?'
The boundless anger clouded Strange's mind. He felt that the wide-open mouths on this gluttonous feast had become swirls that absorbed his rationality.
At this moment, a hand holding a glass of wine was placed in front of him. The sound of the glass brought Strange back from his thoughts, he looked up befuddled, and met Shiller's eyes that held a touch of amusement.
"Do you see it, Stephen?"
Strange looked again at the situation on the dining table. He didn't see a single human. All he saw was a group of hungry beasts, fearlessly devouring human meat.
Their sharp fangs had been blunted, their talons retracted, their bodies grew layer upon layer of thick fur. When Strange strained his eyes for a better look, all he saw were fat farm animals, pigs with flapping ears and rotund bellies.
"Overcome by satiation and fear of hunger…" Strange couldn't help but repeat Shiller's words in his mind.
Shiller then turned to look at Pamela, seated at the first place on the left, and said, "When people forget who they are and succumb to hunger, they are reduced to pigs, and humans continuously submit."
Pamela's fingertips on the table were slightly trembling. She raised her head to look into Shiller's unfocused eyes, and then at the gourmet food on the table. From the instinct of her human genes, she smelled a fragrance, not of meat, but of fruit.
When Azazel appeared on the opposite side of the long table, his huge black wings cast shadows over everyone.
No one stopped, as everyone was frantically stuffing meat into their mouths. They gave up the utensils, abandoned decorum, reached out to grab and bite until most of the meat was consumed. Finally, they picked up their utensils once more.