Vampire's Slice of Life

Amidst Lith's confusion, more series of words rang in his head as well as appeared in front of him.

The most peculiar out of it was:

[The Devil of Gluttony laughs heartily.]

[The Devil of Gluttony is pleased with the legend repeating.]

[The Devil of Gluttony burns a great deal of providence and casts a protective shield around you.]

Lith saw a blue haze around himself as well as the rest.

[The Devil of Gluttony looks at everyone.]

[The Devil of Gluttony burns providence and becomes the middleman.]

"Hahaha! What a sight to behold!" A crisp laughter resounded in everyone's ears.

A twinkling star shot through space and descended down at Two Path Blind Mountain World like a meteor.

It only took a few seconds for it to streak across the boundless space and descend down.

The landing was not explosive as one may have thought. It was rather soft.

A blinding radiance spread out and after a flash, a figure wearing a suit and a black top hat could be seen walking towards Lith and the rest.

The figure's face was blurry, and he was tall, slender in appearance.

As the figure neared, Lith could smell a distinct sweet aroma he had never felt before.

Stopping right in front of Lith and the rest, the figure faced the stew hovering on the magic circle.

He took a bowl and did a deep inhale.

"Haaaaaah…. So nostalgic…." The figure's crisp yet melodious voice rang out in everyone's ears. "Hehe, I must say… It's almost similar to what mother made."

"!!!!" Lith and the rest froze on their spots and stared at the figure with wide eyes.

The figure ignored the four's reaction and drank the stew in one big gulp.

Lith only saw the stew disappearing in the blurry face. There seemed to be no mouth or any distinct feature that could be seen by him.

One by one, the figure gulped down all four bowls of stew. His slender figure turned into a healthy bulky figure.

"Good job. You've done what no one else was able to accomplish. I'm thoroughly impressed, so much so that I burnt some providence to see you four youngsters."

The figure clasped his hands behind his back and said in a deep, melodious voice.

"Now, let me briefly tell you what's happening. You may have guessed it, but I'll still tell you. I'm the child who was always hungry in the legends. Yes, I do exist. And don't worry, as per the legends, I did not eat my parents or the empire. My parents are alive and well. I may be a devil, but I only do dark things if it's related to food." The man answered various questions which nobody had asked him.

He walked in between the four and wrapping his arms around Lith and Ralph who were standing at the back, the man looked up.

"Ladies and gents, I, the Devil of Gluttony—not to be mistaken as the Sin of Gluttony—greets you all."

The stars in the sky twinkled and there was a particularly bright star amongst the thousands, twinkling aggressively.

[The Sin of Gluttony snorts.]

Lith and the rest did not need to guess for long as the answer appeared right in front of them.

From the looks of it, the Sin of Gluttony and the Devil of Gluttony seems to be at odds, thought Lith.

"Have a look at the beautiful world I was born in, the Two Path Blind Mountain. Don't worry, the name is not metaphorical, there's actually two paths here that lead to a blind mountain. A blind mountain is actually a range that phases in and out of existence. If you wish to know more, give my birth world a visit, haha!"

The man was surprisingly talkative, and also really sweet with his words.

Lith and the rest wondered whether this was actually a Devil near them or a game show host.

"Now, now, all of this aside. Let's talk about why I burnt so much providence and decide to be a middleman. I'll give it to you straight. I don't want these amazing fellas to fall into the wrong hands. Their cooking skills are astonishing, way better than any youngsters under the age of five hundred from the famous clans and families."

"I want them to go to gourmet related houses and hone their skills further. Of course, as the middleman, I shall reap a lot of benefits from this. I did not burn my providence for nothing, did I? Haha!"

[Many deities are snorting coldly.]

[The Gourmet Association is interested.]

[The Wanderer of Spirit Serenade Realm is interested.]

[The Gourmet Gatherer Gerald is interested.]

[The Night Goddess is sipping on wine and looking at the show.]

[The Samsara Devil is looking at the show.]

[The Martial Master is interested.]

[The Martial Master wants to offer a contract.]

'So quick!' Lith and the rest thought.

"Hahaha! Martial Master, I'm afraid I can't let you have them. You'll only make them train and not cook. I won't be able to have delicacies." The Devil of Gluttony responded.

[The Martial Master states cooking won't be a problem.]

[The Martial Master states he has a long history with one of the four.]

"Oh? History? Now this is interesting." The Devil of Gluttony chuckled. "At the end of the day, there's no such thing that can't be bought. If the benefits are good, I'll consider handing them to you, Martial Master."

[The Martial Master sends you a contract.]

A ray of light shot out from a star and quickly descended down on the Devil of Gluttony's palms.

The light turned into a scroll and opening it, the Devil chuckled again.

"Fine, it seems like a good deal for everybody involved. Let's hear what these kids have to say. If they're okay with it, I won't stop them."

[The Martial Master nods.]

[Many deities are dissatisfied with the flow of events.]

[Many deities show their hostility to the Devil of Gluttony.]

[Many deities show their hostility to the Martial Master.]

[The Martial Master picks his nose.]

[The Gourmet Association asks for a taste test.]

[The Gourmet Gatherer Gerald asks for a taste test.]

[The Night Goddess asks for a taste test.]

[The Wanderer of Spirit Serenade Realm has an offer.]

"Ho ho? Some want a taste test while the Wanderer is bringing up an offer? Interesting. I like such risk-takers." The Devil clapped his hands and laughed.

Lith and the rest felt this was truly a bad situation. They had not expected such a development to occur.

All they wanted to do was finish this quest and go home, but things developed to a different level and now they had to bear through it.

Lith felt like a treasured item being sold at an auction. Except, he did not know whether the person he was being sold off to was good or not.

What level these deities were, Lith did not know. He just knew that he hadn't been around someone with this devil's aura.

The aura this man was emitting was scary strong.

"Alright, since asking for a taste test is not wrong, I'll let you all have some of the stew these guys prepared. Beware though, it's so amazing that you might wish to invade this world for the ingredients. It's a big no-no since it's my home, so tread the path carefully, haha!"

With that, the devil walked to the big cauldron and took out a few bowls of stew from it.

With a ray of light, those bowls shot up at the stars and disappeared.

A few breaths later…

[The Gourmet Association has sent an offer.]

[The Night Goddess's mouth is full of stew. The Night Goddess still manages to send an offer.]

[The Gourmet Gatherer Gerald sends an offer.]

[The Wanderer of Spirit Serenade Realm snorts.]

[The Wanderer of Spirit Serenade Realm is looking at the Devil of Gluttony.]

"Don't worry, fellow deities. All the offers are being shown to these four. It's totally up to them now. By the way, if anyone else wishes to step up, do so now, because it'll be considerably difficult in future." The Devil meticulously seduced the deities watching.

[The Sin of Gluttony snorts and sends an offer.]

The words of the Devil worked wonders in an instant.

"Haha! Knew you won't stay quiet for long." The Devil of Gluttony mocked, but in a melodious, hearty tone.

[The Cerberus Clan sends an offer.]

[The Vermilion Clan sends an offer.]

[The Black Tortoise Clan sends an offer.]

.

.

.

One by one, thousands of deities sent an offer and flooded the Devil of Gluttony.

The Devil, as usual, possessed the last laugh and filtered out the offers he did not like.

The majority of the offers were untouched and sent to Lith and the rest.

Lith did not know where to begin. There were just so many people saying they'll give him this, give him that and so on.

There were surprisingly a lot of Devils and beast clans in the mix, offering certainly valuable benefits.

All were enticing and rejecting any would mean losing out big time.

While Lith was confused with everything, the same was the case with Miwa, Ralph, and Dennis.

They did not get the same offer from the many beasts and devils, but their offers weren't any less than Lith's.

While everyone was busy sorting contracts out, the space around them fluctuated.

"Hm? Guests?" The Devil of Gluttony looked at the front and said with a confused tone.

Lith and the rest's attention shifted to the spatial fluctuations in front.

A portal opened up before them and out of it appeared two divine figures. One possessed lush silver hair and amethyst eyes while the other had red horns, raven black hair, and abyss-

like dark eyes.

Lith raised his eyebrows in surprise while the rest did so too.

The Devil of Gluttony stared at the arriving figures and tilted his head, confused about the sudden appearance of strangers on this planet.

"Who might you be, dear guests?"