Chapter 88: Sacred Banquet, the Birth of the Glutton Demon

Luo Si was in the Dragon Slumber of the Steam Rift.

Far away, the stone giants were migrating through the wilderness under the rain, searching for a suitable settlement.

There were eleven of them in total, six of whom were minors, ranging from childhood to adolescence.

Of the other five stone giants.

One was an adult elder over two hundred years old, three were young adults, and one was a full-grown adult.

Giants, like dragons, are long-lived species; their lifespans, depending on the type, are roughly one or two hundred years shorter than dragons’, with similar age classifications.

The difference is.

At the same age level, dragons rank far higher than giants.

Giants compensate with greater numbers, tight social cooperation, and combat prowess comparable to dragons at the same level.

The rank of adult stone giants ranges from 8 to 10, equivalent to juvenile dragons or later-sequence adolescent dragons like the Bai Long.

The rank of adult elder stone giants is 10 to 13.

This group of stone giants came from the Stoneheart Clan.

Their leader and other higher-ranked warriors died in war against the Blue Dragon Clan.

The strongest remaining among them is the adult elder stone giant.

It is tasked with leading the surviving stone giants to a safe, suitable new territory.

To rest, recover, and rebuild their strength.

Hoping one day to return and reclaim their homeland.

The wilderness’s rainy season continued, and the drizzle thickened into a torrential downpour; the stone giants marched silently through the rain, growing ever smaller in the wilderness.

Beneath the same sky.

Wind and rain lashed, lightning cracked and thunder roared.

The flesh-eating ogres of the Chewbone Clan, settled in the fertile rolling hills, did not hunt, sleep, or mate—they gathered in the central hall to hold the “Sacred Banquet.”

The centerpiece of the banquet was the old chieftain and its nine descendants.

The reason: as the old chieftain aged, its strong, vigorous offspring eyed its position with hunger.

To preserve its rule, the old chieftain cruelly devoured two of its own offspring.

But it knew it would eventually have to choose an heir.

After consuming two offspring, it still had nine direct descendants.

To select the strongest among them—the one capable of replacing it—the old chieftain enacted the most sacred ritual of the ogre race.

This ritual is called—the Sacred Banquet.

For ogres, the meaning of survival is—eating.

They have enormous appetites, capable of consuming fresh meat, bones, even stone and metal.

The more an ogre eats, the stronger its body and the higher its innate talent.

The Sacred Banquet revolves entirely around eating.

Whoever has the strongest stomach, can fight through all competitors, and eats until the end becomes the next king of the Chewbone Clan.

During the Sacred Banquet, the old chieftain and the other nine participating ogres will begin nonstop, round-the-clock eating.

So far.

The banquet has been going on for some time.

The contestants have dwindled from ten to just three.

The old chieftain and its two most favored offspring.

Ugo Chewbone, Karu Chewbone.

The three ogres gathered around a dining table formed of marble slabs; lamplight cast three mountain-like shadows as grease dripped from the table’s cracks.

More ogres packed the hall tightly, watching the ongoing banquet.

The slab table was piled high with maggot-infested dead sheep.

Ugo was as massive as a mammoth wrapped in ogre skin.

Each time it swallowed a mound of maggot-ridden carcass, its belly swelled slightly.

Its gaze was fierce, it ate rapidly, striving to finish first, its eyes filled with longing for the “throne.”

Karu did not care about the throne.

It stared at the dead sheep, its eyes brimming with love for “fine food.”

It tore off chunks of rotting flesh, swallowing the meat along with the maggots, its face glowing with happiness and delight.

Less than three minutes.

The three ogres finished all the maggot-infested sheep.

Ugo finished first, then Karu, lastly the old chieftain.

As it aged, the old chieftain’s appetite and digestion could no longer match its two strong offspring, yet it refused to yield, continuing the banquet.

The banquet continued.

The Chewbone Clan emptied every storage, serving delicacies even ogres would frown at.

These foods were lethal poisons to other races, but for ogres vying for the throne, they were the ultimate test of stomach strength.

After the maggot-infested sheep came dried rhino leg bones covered in sharp spines.

No meat clung to them; the sharp spines would slash the ogres’ mouths, throats, and intestines, inflicting pain during consumption.

Ugo seized the leg bone first, blood dripping from its mouth, face twisted in fury, crunching loudly as it chewed.

Then the old chieftain, frowning, one hand resting on its bloated belly, began to eat.

Last was Karu; though pain echoed in its mouth and gut as it ate, it remained joyful, treating every morsel with solemn reverence, licking even the tiniest bone fragments clean.

Lightning cracked, thunder rolled, rain poured.

The banquet continued.

Dishes no other race would dare touch—live drillworm sashimi, rusted nails stewed with troll toes, pickled raw thunder-rhino bladders, sliced poisonous mushrooms—were continuously brought to the table before the three ogres.

Half an hour later.

The ogres devoured the armored shells of rotting bone beetles, their stomachs swollen into three bloated meat mountains.

“The banquet continues!”

With victory still undecided, the old chieftain belched and ordered the butcher to bring more food.

“Chieftain, all food is gone.”

The butcher: “The clan’s stores are completely exhausted.”

Ugo surged to its feet and bellowed its victory: “I always finish first! Victory and glory belong to me!”

If all ogres held out to the end,

then eating speed becomes the decisive criterion.

The old chieftain staggered to its feet, preparing to announce the Sacred Banquet’s result.

At that moment, Karu’s eyes glowed green like a starving wolf; it growled: “No! I am not full.”

The next second, it rose abruptly, strode toward the old chieftain, and swung its massive fist down onto the old chieftain’s skull.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With sudden, brutal blows, the old chieftain died on the spot.

Karu turned to the butcher and grinned: “Cut my father’s body and the food in his stomach into two halves. Place them before me and my brother.”

“The banquet continues.”

The hall fell silent.

The ogre butcher grunted a dull affirmative, then hacked apart the old chieftain’s corpse, dismembering it and presenting the pieces to the two ogres.

Ten minutes later.

Ugo finally could eat no more.

Its belly was like a stretched balloon at its limit, covered in cracks; its stomach had ruptured. In contrast, Karu’s belly was equally swollen, yet with each bite, it swelled slightly before quickly contracting again.

Whether it was an illusion.

The ogres watching the feast only now realized: Karu’s body seemed to have expanded a full circle since the beginning—not just its stomach.

It had once been weaker than Ugo.

Now, beneath its bloated skin, muscles swelled like packed asphalt and oil, making it appear larger than Ugo.

The clan’s smartest two-headed ogre shaman turned its two heads toward each other, locking eyes.

In the small eyes of its other head, it saw shock and wild joy.

“Karu has awakened the Gluttonous Talent! It will lead the Chewbone Clan to glory!”

Both heads spoke in unison.

Ogre variant—Glutton Demon.

Glutton Demons can digest any food, extract energy with supreme efficiency, and gain terrifying power capable of shaking mountains.

In ogre scriptures, ancient glory is recorded—a Glutton Demon once founded a magnificent empire of ogres!

Ugo finally surrendered, kneeling before its brother.

Opposite it, Karu chewed on its father’s arm, declaring in a muffled voice its ascension as new chieftain.

This gluttonous feast ended with the greediest stomach crowned king.

After devouring its father’s flesh and bones, Karu surveyed the chaotic hall and muttered: “I’m still not full.”

Every ogre it looked at instinctively averted their gaze, fearing eye contact, fearing being swallowed alive.

“Our people! Come with me to hunt!”

Karu shouted, and all the ogres responded.

During the feast, the common ogres had suppressed their hunger for too long, and their clan’s reserves were completely exhausted—they urgently needed to hunt to replenish.

Not only the ferocious beasts and demonic creatures,

but also the monster clans settled around them would be targets of the Bone-Chewing Ogres.

(End of Chapter)