Taste Like Foot

The clinking of glasses echoed in the huge dining hall. The atmosphere was so lively that everyone was celebrating. A man sat at the long table in front. His victorious gaze oversaw the entire hall, a smug smile curling his lips. He held a goblet in his hand, swirling the wine slowly.

"Supreme! You're amazing! Very amazing!" The executives next to him kept on bootlicking on him because of their success. "You're the greatest among the Supremes of the Gluttony! You're about to transcend into the realm of demons, Supreme! You will be undefeated!"

"Yes, of course." The man laughed and hummed as he waved his hand. "I am nothing less capable than Chroma. Even her followers knew how to bow down to the truly powerful."

He then got up. "Listen, everyone! Tonight, we will be on our path to immortality! Yes, the Demon of Wrath will rise, but our coven will be known as the most influential! We will be kings in the new world that our lord, Beelzebub, had promised us!"

He picked up the goblet and raised it for a toast. "For the grand future and salvation!"

"For the grand future and salvation!" All the supporters picked up their goblets and cheered before drinking for the toast.

One follower then noticed a man who was only sitting in his chair. He was donned in a black coat and had his dark hair covering most of his face from the angle. He was like dozing in his seat as if he didn't feel excited about the occasion.

The one who saw him wore a displeased face and even moved to nudge him. "Hey! How dare you sleep through—"

Bang! The wall broke as eight black huge dogs broke into the dining hall using brute force. The followers then gasped as they saw the hellhounds grew to their large sizes and even broke their heads apart for the well of teeth.

Druid then gasped as he angrily got to his feet. "Hellhounds! What are lust demons doing here?!"

The man in the black coat opened his eyes and slowly got to his feet, pushing away the follower that tried to touch him. He then looked at Druid and spoke with no emotion on his face. "Are you aware that your actions are against the rules of Hell? Did you think Beelzebub is enough to save you?"

"What? Who are you?" Druid put down his goblet and glared at the man who hopped to get onto a long table and proceeded walking across it as the hellhounds began to spread out for a slaughter. He then frowned. "Identify yourself!"

"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't want to… it's just that… I am not required to do so."

With that, a suffocating aura flooded the entire dining hall, pushing all the followers to the floor. The push was so great that they were all pummeled to the hard marble; some breaking their skulls upon contact. Druid could barely resist it, his shocked eyes glaring at the man now standing in front of him.

"Lord Beelzebub would never forgive you…!"

"I don't care."

He then sent a foot down, bursting the Supreme into bits and pieces. The executives who could barely move gasped at the brutal nature of the man in the black coat. They all had one thought in their mind:

Level ten!

A level ten witch? No… it shouldn't be like this!

Wormholes then sprouted all over, and gluttony demons began to attack. Caliga and the others growled, and yet they started to attack. Blue flames coated their bodies, and their eyes burst in a blue glow. Their teeth and claws grew sharper. It was like they were not the level four they should be.

The man in a black coat only huffed as he ran his hand up his hair and turned around to watch the slaughter. Soon, a small smile lifted his lips. "How good was it for that child to learn how to make use of the souls he had collected all along?"

"You… how dare you…?" A level nine phased through the wormhole next to the man in a black coat. However, he wasn't planning to attack the level ten. "This will reach our lord master, and you will be destroyed…"

"I wonder if I will be. I haven't tried fighting Beelzebub again…" The man in a black coat turned towards the level nine. "I'm not Mephistopheles. You cannot negotiate with me, but I do have orders. Your demons are not part of my list. Pull out now and watch them survive."

"…orders? The King…?"

"If you're willing to die for humans, then go ahead and feed your army to my children." Pollo smiled, but his smile was cold. "Otherwise, abandon this realm and just wait for your prince's orders to wage war against us. That way, your allegiance will be justified."

The level nine shook his head. "All this for what? Just so the human realm will belong to the despicable angels?! Have you lost your mind?!"

Pollo shook his head. "The human realm used to belong to us alone, but terrible decisions had been made that day Satan chose to throw our freedom away. This has always been the price of his actions, and your prince is helping him commit another sin."

The level nine gritted his teeth. "Then, let's be enemies until then."

Even if he said that, the level nine gave orders to retreat. He would not have his men decimated by a level ten and his horrible children. He would serve the Demon of Gluttony, but he would not die protecting the dead Supreme. One level nine to die was enough.

The demons that evolved from blobs vanished. The hellhounds all panted in their spots, enduring the pain of their wounds against level eights and level sevens. Caliga looked up in the direction of his father, and he raced towards him as Pollo jumped off of the table.

"Lord Father, let us come save Master…"

"Leave that brat to someone else." Pollo threw the long table out of the way, revealing the remains of Druid's body. "Collect the souls and brands of everyone around you. I'll look for their handler. Then, you could feast on a thousand souls again."

"Lord Father, Master cannot handle the souls. His body is not… strong enough." Caliga walked along Pollo. "Lord Father, help me help him."

Pollo then looked down at the hellhound next to him. "You can pretty much help yourself. I'm not going to spoon-feed you everything there is in becoming a hellhound, Caliga. You chose to stay by him; you handle yourself. Your mother had already done her part, and I have done mine."

Caliga's ears folded, and his ears lowered. "I apologize, Lord Father."

"Caseus! Pane! Gala! Riza! Fillo! Siera! Dilli!" Pollo called on the other hellhounds that were from another litter, and they all came near their father. "Continue patrolling outside the maze. Let me know if anything emerges. You have left big and terrible holes; someone is bound to pass through.

"Make sure you alert me with anything very suspicious, Caliga." Pollo looked over his shoulder and gazed at the eldest among them. "Go now. The brat might just die so helplessly."

Caliga nodded and raced away. Caseus wanted to come with Caliga, but he saw his father staring at him. As the eldest among the other litter, Caseus had no choice but to lead a good example. The rest of the hellhounds phased back into the immaterial to check the surroundings.

Being left alone now, Pollo sighed. "They're so desperate. The brat's progress is too slow if he's left on his own. However, I have orders not to interfere if unnecessary. I hope Caliga could force him to work harder. A person he was not willing to—" Pollo then thought of something before brushing it away.

"No, I can't drag the earl into this. There should be someone else to use…"

…

Huff… huff…

Alessa panted heavily as she made the last swing towards the blob in front of her. The entire place felt limitless. This was just demons from an illusory maze realm; how come they felt so real? She then turned in Isla's and Winona's direction, her eyes squinting at her sister.

While Winona was fighting rigorously, Isla was only walking casually. The blobs around her wouldn't even move and would only look at her as she passed by. Alessa was shocked that staring at them seemed to have made them less docile and began attacking Isla.

The sister only hopped out of the way and landed next to Alessa. She then wrapped her arms around her sister's neck and grinned. "Sister, sister! The blobs aren't scary! They're soft and harmless and would not attack!"

"What are you talking—? Oh." Alessa remembered how they seemed around Isla. She then admitted to herself. "Yes, they're soft and harmless and would not attack…"

"You don't believe it?" Isla then grabbed Alessa's chin and made her face the blobs. "Don't they all look like squishy marshmallows? They're so soft and creamy and would melt on your tongue. Can't you see? Can't you see?"

Alessa twitched, but her energy loss had given her hunger in return. Like Luca, she would have to eat ten times her weight to replenish. At a speed visible to her eyes, the blobs began to move slowly and then to a stop before gaining a white color…

"Huh? They turned into marshmallows!" Winona's whip landed on one, and it wobbled like a puffed marshmallow. "This is making me hungry…"

"These things… we're in a very high-grade illusory maze realm. Everything we think about will show up and attack us. We're so guarded we got crushed by the enemies. Phew, this is very awful." Isla bit her lip. "We need to warn Gianna and…

"Alessa?"

A streak of drool dripped from Alessa's mouth. Her eyes were twinkling as she stared at the blobs. "Marsh… mallows…"

"Alessa… no… they taste like foot."