Chapter 463

Chapter 86: Speculation Part 1

Gurgle—

My stomach growled.

Saliva filled my mouth.

Stop looking, just go…

I suppressed the urge to eat and quickly ran out of the tent. Looking up, I saw that the Pope was still grilling meat.

He turned his head at the sound, his expression relaxed. As if he had expected my reaction, he casually asked, “Did you see?”

“What is that!”

“A surprise.”

“You…”

“I slit open his chest. Yes, you guessed right.”

The Pope turned back to focus on grilling the meat: “The heretic’s body was originally meant to be burned and buried. The ‘blood sacrifice’ phase is extraordinary; no one knows if that thing will come back to life… Well, thanks to Isaac’s keen judgment. Perhaps he didn’t think much about it, but instinctively believed that before burying it, he should let me take a look.”

I stood behind Angel, my heart still racing. My appetite surged, my eyes fixed on the grilled meat, my breathing quickening.

Angel didn’t turn around, continuing to grill while speaking.

“In fact, the Church has tried countless methods in the past. Frost Order members have also been involved. We’ve always tried to preserve the complete ‘blood sacrifice’ heretic’s body, but we’ve never succeeded. The reason is simple—no one can instantly freeze the infernal fire. Except for you.”

“I think this might be the will of the gods. It was your frost that prevented the infernal fire from consuming the body, even freezing the source of his power… Yes, that piece of flesh. It’s something unique to ‘blood sacrifice.’ It grows here.”

The man patted his chest.

“Inside the left thoracic cavity, next to the heart, half-encasing the lungs… like a newly formed organ. If you studied human anatomy in the academy, you would know that it’s not a part of the human body. It’s an extra, inexplicable existence.”

Extra…

Organ…

Even though I had already guessed some things, hearing it confirmed by Angel made my scalp tingle. My mouth opened, but no words came out.

Then saliva dripped down.

Hungry…

Angel didn’t notice my abnormality. He continued, “I have a bold guess. If every ‘blood sacrifice’ phase heretic has that thing inside them… Look, unlike ordinary first and second stage heretics, those in the ‘blood sacrifice’ phase don’t die even if their heads are smashed. But how can a powerful healing ability allow someone to regrow their head?”

“Whether it’s the strongest dragon during the God’s Presence era or the immortal beings in Amikir Mountains, as long as they are considered life on this earth, losing their head means death.”

“Without a head, life stops thinking, stops any bodily activity. Even with immense power, it can’t be used… Yet the ‘blood sacrifice’ heretics can. Based on this premise, if their heads were smashed, what allows them to recover and even reassemble?”

—That organ.

“The power of the gods cannot be borne by human flesh. But if the source of power isn’t the flesh, but that extra organ… If that thing allows them to absorb others’ blood and wield more intense infernal fire, even regrow after their head is shattered… Little Black Charcoal, what do you think this is?”

The man turned his head, the smile in his eyes fading, his expression gradually turning solemn.

“Let’s speculate even bolder. You fought against the monster form of Teresa in the capital, Little Black Charcoal. You’ve seen that monster… It’s not the abyss, it’s something else… Like something that needs to feed on flesh to survive.”

“And when that thing hasn’t obtained enough flesh and is still in its ‘egg’ form, what do you think it looks like, and where would it hide?”

“…”

“What’s that look on your face?”

“…Can’t hold back anymore.”

Goo, I suppressed the strong desire to turn back and eat that piece of meat. Without thinking or saying anything else, I walked to the side of His Holiness, and before he could react, I snatched the roasted fox meat from him.

Angel looked stunned: “Hey, wait—”

Wait my ass!

The whole roasted fox was skewered on a tree branch. The blackened skin was still smoking. I held the branch with both hands, blew on the part with the most meat, ignoring Angel’s warnings, and bit down hard.

It’s hot, hot, hot…

…and so tough!

My full bite couldn’t even tear off a piece of the meat, so I decided to rip it instead. I changed my grip on the branch and stretched forward, holding onto the fox leg with my teeth, tilting my head back forcefully, making a sound of effort, “Hmm—”, with an extremely fierce expression. My saliva almost dripped out.

I don’t believe this…

“Wait, Little Charcoal, wait!”

Angel looked shocked and stood up to try and take the meat back: “Don’t eat it, don’t eat it, I was just teasing you! You can’t eat this—”

Bullshit!

Instinctively, I took two steps back to avoid him, and during this process, I finally managed to tear off a piece of the leg meat.

Due to the force and being caught off guard, the leftover momentum almost made me fall over. My upper body felt like it was hit by a punch and leaned backward sharply. The meat almost flew out of my hand, but I quickly grabbed it again, steadied myself, and warily looked at Angel as I started chewing with a puffed-up mouth.

Two steps away, His Holiness in his golden robe extended a hand several times, wanting to say something but stopping himself, then covered his face.

“I thought… after seeing that thing, how could you still have an appetite… you definitely won’t want to eat meat for a while… I originally wanted to tease you first, then tell you that the red-horned fox meat actually can’t be eaten… Little Charcoal, what’s wrong with you…”

“Inside… human transformation!”

“Spit it out!”

“……”

Gulp.

The meat was too tough to chew, so I swallowed it directly.

Seeing this, Angel seemed panicked: “Did you eat it?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you really eat it?”

“Ahh.”

“……”

His Holiness was silent.

I smacked my lips, keeping a wary eye on him, and opened my mouth to eat again.

However, the fishy, bitter taste slowly spread in my mouth—my actions paused, and I couldn’t help but frown.

Hmm…

Why is it different from the fox meat I ate in my dream…? It tastes wrong, is it not cooked?

Previously, due to the tension, I had almost swallowed it whole, thinking about eating quickly before Angel could snatch it away, and not giving him any of the leg meat either. I had to eat it all in one go to fill myself up, otherwise, I was afraid I would run back to eat the meat in the tent.

But after eating a mouthful, Angel seemed to give up trying to take it back. I felt a little relieved, and only then did I taste the meat, which still had a fishy sourness and an astringent bitterness, whether from the meat or charcoal.

“…Ugh.”

I spat out some saliva.

This meat…

Tastes like chewing on old leather…

So disgusting.

I felt puzzled and couldn’t help but look at the roasted fox in my hand again.

Seeing I wasn’t eating anymore, Angel seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: “I told you it couldn’t be eaten, now do you believe me?”

“…It’s not cooked.”

“Even if it were cooked, it wouldn’t be safe.”

His Holiness approached me, reaching out again to take the meat, and I instinctively dodged.

“Hey, that stuff will kill you if you eat it, I’m not joking.”

“Poisonous?”

“…To humans, yes. In the Divine Presence era, red-horned foxes were a favorite food of dragons, and only their stomachs could digest them. If you eat it, you’ll have problems, so give it to me?”

Angel cautiously reached out a third time to take the food.

“…No.”

I dodged again.

Stepping back another step, I looked at the roasted fox in my hand, hesitating for a moment—

Since dragons can eat it, maybe I can too.

Anyway, let’s finish it first…

So I opened my mouth again and bit down fiercely.

“Hey hey hey!”