The gaze of the Fourth Seat was stiff.

He saw the monster’s arm twisting endlessly, cells and muscles gradually destroying and collapsing, body constantly shrinking and contorting, emitting deafening screams, as if tearing the air around it to pieces.

Soon after, a chilling sound of chewing rang out.

He casually pulled a corpse from the ruins, bit off its head, and yanked out the spinal cord. While consuming the corpse in a pathological manner, his throat continued to wail, convulsing limbs surging with powerful energy.

Quickly, he finished off the corpse, hungrily rummaging through the ruins, devouring head after head as his twisted body began to heal rapidly.

Protection·Bloodthirsty Healing.

The cruel protection from that lady has now become the source of his swift recovery of strength.

The Fourth Seat had never seen such a monster.

Agonizing groans sounded again; his body was in unbearable pain, as if sliced mercilessly by thousands of knives. Every muscle, every inch of skin twitched, bruises emerged, covering him.

In the rampant growth of fleshy tumors, the Fourth Seat saw nearly broken armor... that was the First Seat’s armor.

The Fourth Seat felt his breathing halt.

He saw the mass of flesh growing more and more, the monster almost unable to support its weight, body constantly writhing and rolling, entangled like a mess, limbs flailing, trying to grasp something for support but ultimately could only grovel on the ground.

Teeth ground together with a cracking sound.

"The... First Seat?"

In an inexplicable response, the Fourth Seat called out that name.

The monster suddenly lifted its bloody head, it saw the Fourth Seat, and a strange giggle sounded.

"Fourth Seat? You’ve come just in time."

Hearing that bizarre voice, the Fourth Seat involuntarily stepped back, a dreadful sense of crisis exploding in his heart.

He had heard such rumors, that a monster existed within the Pillar of Royal Authority. The current King of Slaughter and several King’s Secret Swords were controlled by it. Red Dog also went mad after learning of the monster’s existence... The Fourth Seat had never believed such rumors, dismissing them as enemy propaganda intended to disrupt their unity.

That was not a rumor.

The monster’s back muscles kept swelling, as if about to explode, organs being squeezed by the flesh as if about to be crushed. Its groans grew louder, more piercing, the sound emanating with a chilling despair and fear, seeming to tell the world: I have reached the peak of agony.

The Plague of Decay, a man-made alchemical gas, classified as an Extraordinary Disaster due to its unimaginably fatal nature.

The First Seat bore the brunt of the Plague of Decay’s impact, acting like a filter, reducing its influence to a minimum. Otherwise, such a high concentration of the Plague of Decay would, upon explosion, claim the lives of everyone within the Great Rift.

This was not because of some great sacrificial spirit of the First Seat, but rather a design by the Shadow King and the Tyrant.

"Bastard!"

The First Seat cursed hoarsely, under the influence of the Devil’s Power, the Plague of Decay washed over his body like a torrent; even the Seeker of Glory could hardly survive under this compounded power.

No matter how much he gnawed on the corpses buried under the ruins, his body’s healing and destruction continued to cycle.

"It’s fortunate you’re here... Fourth Seat."

Pain and fear did not let the First Seat sink, with immense will and determination, he staggered and stood up, flesh grew again and decayed, a swollen arm lifting a heavily damaged Skull Scythe.

By the time the Fourth Seat realized something was amiss, it was too late.

A whistling wind swept over him, his entire arm severed and lifted.

"Such ugliness cannot be seen by others."

The bloodthirsty voice sounded from behind him, before he could turn his head, a huge mouth bit into the Fourth Seat’s neck, tearing away a great chunk of flesh with ease.

The unnerving sound of chewing continued incessantly.

The Fourth Seat immediately launched a counterattack, the wound began to Etherealize, the Alchemy Matrix lit up, simultaneously the Ether reaction that surpassed the Fourth Seat arose.

The strength of the dying, the deranged, the Seeker of Glory.

Under the extreme threat of death, the battle did not last long.

The Fourth Seat fell to the ground, gaze filled with despair looking upwards, a rustling sound of chewing coming from his lower body, after extreme pain, his mind was numbed.

Even an Etherealized body was inevitably consumed and swallowed by the monster; it sucked his blood, pouring pure Ether down its throat.

Eerie whispers rose amidst the bloodthirst.

"Great lady, I offer you fresh flesh."

The monster murmured while devouring the Fourth Seat’s body, eating him alive to the bone.

Not even the bones were left behind.

As the Defender’s flesh was swallowed down, the rampant growth of flesh gradually counteracted the Plague of Decay’s effects on him, and the maddening hunger was slowly being satisfied.

Upon swallowing the last piece of flesh, immense satisfaction rose from the mouth of the First Seat, but following it was endless hunger once again.

The Gourmand is never satiated.

The First Seat, in utter disarray, propped himself up with the Great Scythe, after addressing his physical injuries, the diffusing Ether counteracted the surrounding high concentration of the Plague of Decay.

His gaze swept over the ruins, the First Seat sought the Shadow King’s corpse. When the Plague of Decay exploded, both of them bore the brunt of the deadly Extraordinary Disaster.

The First Seat knew the Shadow King must have died, but even in death, he had to find his corpse and devour it wholly.

Only then could the First Seat’s resentment be satisfied, only then could more flesh please that lady, and only then could the First Seat’s next actions proceed smoothly.

"Bring Xilin’s corpse back to me."

The voice of the King of Slaughter rang in his ear.

"This concerns the survival of the Empire."

The First Seat forcibly endured the piercing pain from his body, the scarred Great Scythe swung mightily, smashing the ground.