Chapter 18: I’ll Judge That Taste

That level of magic power was nowhere near enough to satisfy a soul core.

Back then, things were better. Demons who spent centuries, even millennia, honing their cravings filled every corner of the underworld. Maybe I’ve lived too long. I’ve eaten too much good food. And now, within limited resources, struggling to satisfy these spoiled tongues of ours—we’re nothing more than starving ghouls of hell.

Heh… back then was better, huh? I’m starting to sound like an old man.

Most of the powerful demons were wiped out over ten thousand years ago—slain in the great war against the heavenly soldiers, the invaders from the heavens. Since then, the majority of demons that remain, even those called Demon Kings, are just youngsters who haven’t lived even ten thousand years.

"Zebul-sama, hungry."

The one who spoke was a demon with the head of a wolf. A general-class demon, one who embodied Gluttony itself. His hunger, though he hadn’t reached the rank of Demon King, was something I understood all too well.

"Hahaha… so am I. But endure it. The meal you take after enduring the deepest hunger—that’s true bliss. They say hunger is the ultimate seasoning, don’t they?"

"Food… food… want it…"

The fragrant aroma of blood, flesh, and soul tickled my nose. They call me a gourmand, but really, I’m a seeker of flavor. To call me a glutton is far from the truth.

I shifted my crossed legs on the throne of pure white marble. A muffled scream echoed from the mouths of the food that supported the throne.

The proud are best eaten after you’ve broken their pride. That’s when arrogance tastes sweetest. Still, I didn’t sense much power from this demon. The flavor would only be average.

Of course, my stomach is infinite, so I’d never waste food. I never skip my itadakimasu or gochisousama.

Blood sprayed like a shower, wetting my cheek. At the same time, the throne shook violently.

"Hey, hey! You can’t just eat it on your own!"

"Gu?"

Startled, I peered down and saw one of my subordinates—fangs buried in the neck of the demon I’d been preparing, his massive jaws crushing bone.

Aaaah, I was in the middle of cooking that… Just because the ingredient is poor, doesn’t mean I don’t want to make it as delicious as possible.

But when I watched my wolf-headed subordinate crack bones with a crunch, grinning as wide as his head would allow, I stopped caring. I understood that feeling, after all. They really are hopeless children.

I leapt down from the throne, tore off the corpse’s right arm before it lost its freshness, and popped it into my mouth.

The sweet taste of a matured soul lingered only for an instant. A few chews, and it was gone.

Good grief… it doesn’t even take the edge off my hunger.

I ripped off the left arm, and the wolf-head spoke.

"Gu… Zebul-sama… too fast…"

"Hmph, I just… eat a little quicker than most."

"J-just ate a Demon King…"

"Ah, and it was delicious."

Yes, Demon Kings are different. The depth of flavor, the texture—my body shuddered with delight. Even a newly crowned one, their magic power is on a level far beyond any general-class.

By the time the wolf-head finished the skull and turned to look for more, the limbs were already gone. He shot me a reproachful glare.

"Unfair…"

Really now. What a thing to say.

Impressed by his insatiable craving, I told him:
"Not unfair, not at all. You have to take your own prey. I was the one who fought Claud Astal. Naturally, I get to eat him. What did you do, exactly?"

"T-that demon… I finished him off…"

"…Oh? Was that so? Hahaha. Well, then—what your vassal kills belongs to his lord, doesn’t it? If you don’t like it… become greater than me."

That way, you too could taste the flavor of a Demon King. Though honestly, not knowing might leave you happier.

I activated my skill of Gluttony. Magic surged, and the hunger within me churned deeper.

『Formless Feeding Hands: Million Dish』

Countless tendrils sprouted from my back and skewered the armless, legless, headless husk of the once-proud demon.

The wolf-head let out a cry.

"N-no…"

"Hahaha, fine, I’ll leave you a little."

The skill of Gluttony exists for one purpose only—eating. The tendrils writhed and moved on their own, consuming the demon’s mutilated body in less than a single second.

The wolf-head’s desperate bite closed on nothing, the hollow sound echoing in vain.

Hehehe… trying to steal a meal from me, what a greedy little child.

"Aaagh! Y-you said you’d leave some…"

"Hahaha… gochisousama. The taste wasn’t bad."

Still, for a general-class, it was underwhelming. Times have changed, clearly. Or perhaps it’s just that I rank only fifteenth among the Demon Kings, so the demons drawn to me are of this caliber.

"…Zebul-sama…"

"Hmhm, look. There’s still some left, isn’t there?"

I pointed at the pure white throne for my tearful wolf-headed general, Gal Luxed, to see.

"…Throne."

"Plate… don’t need it."

Honestly, even as a general-class, you’ve got no sense of dignity… A great demon lord ought to carry themselves with a bit more elegance, don’t you think?

Ahaha, well, wolves are carnivores, aren’t they? That was—my bad. Still, being picky isn’t a good habit.

"I see… heh, in that case I’ll take it."

"…You eat anything. Don’t choose."

"When the time comes, you’ve gotta be ready to eat dirt or rock if you have to."

Gnashing teeth sprouted from the palm I pressed to the throne, crunching through the marble. Not a bad taste. Still, no matter how fine the material, in the end it’s just a plate. It’ll do to stave off hunger, but it can’t compare to what should’ve been on it.

The battle was long over. What remained was a feast of victory.

The Army of Pride had already collapsed, and every last enemy soldier had been turned into food. They hadn’t stood a chance. Even with a demon king on their side, the fight had been decided in less than two hours.

My army consists only of gluttony demons, but gluttony excels in raw offensive power, and its most basic skill, "Wave of Hunger," is a wide-area attack. With me here, any demon beneath a certain threshold gets caught up in that wave and reduced to nothing but fodder.

Of course, I held back for them. Even so, they were hesitant from the very start.

Heh heh heh. The demons of Pride, cowed and timid? Not even worth the trouble. In the end, they were just losers who knelt before Kanon Ir Lord. Pride grows stronger the more arrogant it is—and at the same time, it becomes all the more delicious.

Maybe the difference in our ranks was just too vast. Even the "Superiority" invoked by their demon king wasn’t much to speak of. Well, their despair and screams weren’t bad as seasoning.

Once I’d finished off the throne, I rubbed my stomach. I’m slim—any nutrition gets devoured straight into my gluttony skill.

"Zebul-sama… hungry again."

"Hm? Good grief, already… Well, I suppose it was only quantity, after all…"

This much wasn’t nearly enough to balance out the skills we’d burned through. A glance around showed that whatever rations my subordinates had snatched up were already long gone, and all that remained were eyes blazing with hunger.

Good grief. If they’d prepared it properly, it would’ve kept them full a little longer… but if they can’t hold back, then so be it. I could still endure, even after devouring a demon king—but answering the hunger of one’s subordinates is also a ruler’s duty.

I clapped my hand once and spoke to my ravenous, beastly troops.

"Well then, shall we go find our next meal?"

"Ooooooooohhhhhhh!!"

The roar of my subordinates shook the ground, echoing with waves of hunger and the growls of beasts. They were more than eager. Most of my gluttony demons bore animalistic bodies—an adaptation so they could at least bite through tough things, since they hadn’t yet grown strong enough to devour anything and everything outright.

Which is why my army… isn’t exactly known for brains. Not that you need brains to devour.

Among them, though, was Gal—drooling from the jaw as he unfurled a map. Even with his appearance, he had a reputation as something of a strategist in our ranks.

The Demon Lord’s Castle of Shattered Flame was ringed by allied demon lords’ territories, never meant to be reached easily. So, making our way toward it while dining on the others as appetizers before finally reaching Kanon-sama—that sounded like quite a sensible plan.

Heh heh heh. Even I’d struggle against multiple demon lords at once. Better to eat them in order, one after another. And once I devour the Demon Lord, my power will rise further. I could even take their place as Demon Lord myself. After all, demon lords are all full of ambition. No one would care if a weak one got eaten.

I followed Gal’s finger to the marked path, the territories divided by lines. Blocking the shortest route to Shattered Flame lay a vast land—so vast that even combining the territories of the demon lords I’d eaten yesterday and today, it wouldn’t compare. Even mounted on a wyvern, it would take more than a day to cross. To avoid it would mean a serious detour.

And when I saw the name written there, I couldn’t help but grimace.

"Ah, damn… looks like our invasion route’s a mess. Out of nearly twenty demon lords, why’d it have to be this one here?"

"Hm? Is that a problem?"

"A problem? Oh, it’s a problem, alright. What were Mizna and the others even thinking, laying out a route like this…"

"Zebul-sama… Mizna is gone. So are Seita and Glaud."

"Yeah, I know. They were delicious."

I know, but still—it makes me want to complain.

I recalled the three whom Kanon-sama had dispatched as overseers. My own troops were useless for making plans, so I buttered those three up into drawing one for me. Not that I was honest enough to tell them it was all for the purpose of eating Kanon-sama. All I had them do was chart the route. And being Kanon-sama’s direct subordinates, they were nothing but an obstacle afterward—so once they finished, they became appetizers for our banquet.

General-class, sure, but with their guard down, they were no match for me. Well, they tasted far better than Pride’s generals. Call it a difference in quality.

But of all things, why this…

For the first time in a while, I felt something other than hunger as I traced the name written on the map. To be honest… I really don’t feel like it.

"What’s the problem?"

"…Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the Demon Lord of Sloth, Lazy Slaughterdolls?"

Once ranked fourth, recently promoted to third after a string of achievements—the Demon Lord of Sloth.

Not that the demon lords’ ranks truly reflect their strength. He’s not terrifying because of his position, nor because he’s a veteran who, like me, survived the Great War with Heaven ten thousand years ago.

Of course, I’ve never fought him. But anyone who’s lived this long has accumulated more than enough power. He’s not someone you can treat like the fifteenth or sixteenth ranked. That much is certain.

But that’s not the real issue.

I let out a deep sigh.

And so, I revealed that shocking truth to my adorable subordinates, who clearly hadn’t grasped it at all.

"The demons of Sloth… taste unbelievably bitter, you know."

"Bitter…?"

"Yeah. My creed is to eat anything I defeat. But even I don’t want to eat a demon of Sloth."

"Ehhhhhhhhh!?"

Gal practically jumped out of his skin, acting all exaggerated. Thinking it was too much, I glanced around—and to my surprise, even my usual lot, who never thought about anything beyond eating and never showed a shred of intelligence, were all staring at me like I’d just said something unbelievable.

No, no, no, no.

I had to explain myself, like offering an excuse. Call it the wisdom of Gluttony.

"Look, it’s not a problem with the low-ranked ones. But the stronger a demon of Sloth grows, the more ways they develop to indulge in idleness… and among those is a skill that makes their flesh and soul taste worse so they won’t be eaten."

That’s the real problem.

It’s an exclusive skill, and a high-level one at that—so the taste it produces is extraordinary. One bite and you’re traumatized. Not just ‘bitter’ in the sense of taste preferences—it’s bitter and foul on a level beyond comprehension.

Take it from me—the one they call the Gluttonous Beast, who boasts of eating anything, poison included, with my infinite stomach. And yet, even I… it’s lethal. Disgusting enough to die from. That was the one time I ever experienced stomach pain.

You might think swallowing them whole would fix it, but no. Their taste resonates with your very soul. Even if you sent them straight into the stomach, it’d still be unbearably foul.

To make yourself inedible by altering your own taste… it’s practically like some plant’s defense mechanism.

"Now, the lower Sloth demons, sure… they’re actually easy prey since they barely move, and the taste is unique but not bad. But this one’s a Demon Lord, you know?"

"And that means?"

I paused for effect, gathered my strength, and declared:

"The single worst taste in existence. No doubt about it."

"Ooooooooh!"

For some reason, applause erupted.

…They didn’t understand. Of course they didn’t. To Gluttony, taste is something we’re endlessly broad-minded about. They might know ‘not delicious,’ but ‘disgusting’—that’s a concept they’ve never once tasted.

I couldn’t help but feel envious. In all my tens of thousands of years, that experience ranks easily among my top three traumas.

Well, it’s not like chances to eat a demon of Sloth come up often anyway, and especially not the upper ranks like generals—they rarely appear on the battlefield. So odds are, it won’t happen again.

…Hm?

"…Ah, I see. That’s what Mizna and the others were counting on."

"Hm?"

Makes sense. Thinking about it, of course. The Demon Lord of Sloth would never step onto the battlefield.

After all, unlike Gluttony, their craving doesn’t require harming others. And the King of Sloth is, by definition, the laziest existence in all of the Demon Realm.

There’s no way they’d take part in something as troublesome as war. Even if the Great Demon Lord themselves ordered it, it still wouldn’t happen.

I tried to recall Lazy’s face, but nothing came to mind.

I’ve served under the Great Demon Lord’s army since three reigns back—an old veteran by anyone’s measure. Yet no matter how far I searched my memory, I couldn’t picture Lazy Slaughterdolls, that slaughter-doll of Sloth.

I furrowed my brow, focusing hard, devoting thought to the memory. And finally, something faint, hazy, caught.

Yes… I do remember, vaguely.

Kanon-sama must have attended the festival when he became the Great Demon Lord, pulled along by the inspector of that time.

He should have been a slender man with black hair, unreliable in appearance. I vaguely remembered fragments of the other demon lords talking back then, wondering how someone like him could rise to that position.

"How should we proceed, Zebul-sama..."

"...Wait a moment. Huh? He was there even during the time of Fels Crown-sama just before him..."

I traced my memory further back.

It was the festival when the previous Great Demon Lord ascended to that position. My memories were already hazy; the entire scene was shrouded in mist, but he was certainly there. A man with black hair and a slovenly appearance, carried on the backs of his subordinates. I barely remembered the other demon lords at the time whispering, “How could someone like this...”

I tilted my head.

"...Huh? How long has he been around... He’s practically a veteran, considering Fels Crown-sama’s era..."

Fels Crown-sama ascended as Great Demon Lord twenty-five thousand years ago. I couldn’t possibly remember the generation before him, but was he already around when I became a demon lord? Or not?

Demons live very long lives, but to survive that long would certainly require incredible power. Probably he wasn’t there back then, though I wasn’t completely sure. I hadn’t cared either way—it wouldn’t have changed anything.

"Zebul-sama, what should we do?"

"Mm… What do you expect me to do? At this point, we have no choice but to move forward."

We were now at a point of no retreat. Everything depended on how quickly we could bring down Kanon-sama. There was no detour… we could only proceed with unwavering resolve.

Fortunately, Sloth is said to possess a skill of remarkable endurance. It should pair well with Gluttony’s skill—if only we could withstand the taste.

Well, even regarding taste… it’s been a long time since I last devoured a demon of Sloth. My memory was hazy, and perhaps it was only memorable because it happened long ago. If I tried it now, it might not actually taste that bad.

Yes, that’s right. Even if it was unpleasant back then, there’s no way I could find food unpleasant now.

Besides, Sloth itself isn’t likely to appear. Even if it did, it would at most be an army of Sloth. True, Lazy’s army is famous for its strength, but generals alone cannot match a demon lord like me.

On the contrary, I was actually looking forward to the taste.

"Alright, then let’s head straight to the Flame-Breaking Palace!"

"Yoooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Kanon-sama… please wait. I will, on behalf of all the Gluttony demons, be the one to experience that taste for you.