funbook-pk Chapter 109 Bathing in the Holy Grail
Chapter 109 Bathing in the Holy Grail
[From this chapter to Chapter 121, we recount the incident that occurred at the Karasuma residence forty years ago. Most of the plot is original, and readers who are not interested can skip it.]
Given the author's current writing skills, this section has received unfavorable reader feedback. The author plans to revise and rewrite it once their abilities improve. Please read at your own discretion and with understanding. (bows)
The weight of the solidified substance in his hand brought Hei Men back to his senses. He looked down and saw a tall, golden goblet he was holding.
When he accompanied wealthy young men, he had the privilege of seeing some of the private treasures collected by the rich, but none of them could compare to the gold cup in his hand.
This is an artifact that can only be seen in the highest-class museums. The brilliant and beautiful pure gold cup shines under the light, and 72 pearls of different sizes are strung together by gold branches and distributed in various places according to the trajectory of celestial bodies. There are also two rubies the size of human eyes set around it.
'It should be worth a lot of money if sold.'
What puzzled Heimen was that on the side of the cup facing him, there was a noticeable indentation, as if a gem was missing. As for the characters engraved on the base, even with the experience of the body's original owner, they were undecipherable.
"My noble lords, are you satisfied with the taste of the forbidden fruit of youth once again?"
A deep, resonant male voice came from the table directly in front of him. A crow, with a round body and a shape resembling a titmouse, was sitting on the table with its legs spread apart, in a very human-like manner.
"Bravo, this is simply a miracle!" The beautiful woman sitting to the left of the black gate grabbed her collar, which was about to slip down, and stared at her reflection in the small mirror with fervor. Her beautiful face was contorted with ecstasy.
Through inherited memories, Heimen recognizes her as the current head of the Siling Group. As one of only two women among the seven, she is a true Black Widow who has slaughtered her contemporaries and even most of her younger relatives to consolidate her power.
"This is all thanks to Lord Demon and Lord ▇▇!"
She rose, her hand on her chest, and bowed deeply to the Black Gate and the Crow with graceful demeanor.
Heimen picked up the bird-headed staff beside him, lightly tapped the table, and responded in a nonchalant manner, mimicking the original owner: "This is merely the starting point of our grand journey."
"exactly."
The black pom-pom clumsily flapped its wings and landed on the rim of the Holy Grail. "You are all figures who stir up storms in this world. The sweet taste of devouring everything is yet to come!"
"Furthermore, please forgive me for correcting one point. This panacea is not a miracle, but a curse that you all willingly drank under the influence of original sin."
Upon hearing this, the masculine man sitting on the right, the eldest son of the Ooka family, laughed heartily: "What the world sees as a curse is our honey!"
As soon as he finished speaking, as if following some kind of social etiquette known only to the elite, all the tycoons and family heads present burst into laughter.
Surrounded by the demonic laughter, Heimen stared intently at the devil's high-raised, fluffy, round bird rear end, lost in thought.
'Cute butt... wait, what was the original owner of this body called?'
The crow, which had been steadily pacing on the cup, suddenly slipped and fell into the wine with a "plop".
The laughter stopped abruptly as a dark shadow flashed by and landed on Hei Men's shoulder.
The raven demon, now soaked to the bone, no longer cared about his appearance. He stared wide-eyed at "Karasuma Renya" in front of him with suspicion and uncertainty.
'Strange, the essence of the soul hasn't changed? What do you mean by the original owner of this body? Did Karasuma go mad from drinking the panacea?'
Kuromon took out a handkerchief from his pocket and, to everyone's surprise, calmly wrapped it around the bird and dried it.
"According to the agreement, the next step is to allocate the doses of Elixir that each company is entitled to... Why are you all staring at me like that? Any objections?"
'Although these people harbor rebellious intentions, isn't the planned massacre in the intelligence reports supposed to begin tomorrow? They can't wait that long.'
Having experienced the way he died in his previous life, facing this ordinary threat to his life again, Kuromon felt only a faint calm.
In his past life, when he was a laborer, risking his life to accompany the princes and princesses through mountains and rivers, every time was far more dangerous than now.
"No, no! Then let's do as you arrange!"
The chubby president of the Kyoyu Group wiped his sweat and nervously rubbed the mud on his hands: "But, from now on, will we really never grow old or die?"
"Would you like to know if you try it?"
In the blink of an eye, Ooka acted decisively, grabbed his friend beside him, raised the unsharpened silver knife on the table, and stabbed it viciously into his eye!
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"
Letting out a painful, twisted wail, Gongyou covered his bleeding right eye and rolled and convulsed on the carpet without any regard for his image, splattering thick blood everywhere.
"You madman, you damned man! Kill him now!"
"Tsk." With annoyed click of his tongue, Ooka looked at the man on the ground screaming like a pig, reluctantly got up, and kicked the knife handle hard again.
The brain tissue was damaged, and the patient convulsed for a while before becoming still.
However, a gurgling sound of flesh writhing soon caught everyone's attention—the overflowing blood began to flow backward out of thin air, and as if by magic, the injured parts healed rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. The knife inserted into the eye hole was slowly pushed out and fell to the ground, without a drop of blood on it.
Gongyou let out a few painful gasps, sat up abruptly, covered his face, and was unable to recover.
"I-am I still alive?"
Ignoring his companion's suffering, Ooka grinned contentedly, tossed in a few wisps of tobacco, and chewed them slowly: "Hahahaha! From now on, we are immortal gods!"
"No, there is still a solution."
The demon worm peeked out from behind the handkerchief and poured cold water on the situation: "All you need to do is place your right hand on the head of your kind and think about eating them. Then you can devour your own kind and gain all their knowledge and experience."
"..."
The previously "harmonious" atmosphere instantly fell silent, with only the rhythmic ticking of the clock echoing in the room, a deathly stillness.
Looking around at the complex and intertwined gazes, Kuromon calmly announced while scratching the crow's chin with his finger:
"It is absolutely forbidden for comrades to kill each other; no one can cross this line. Those who violate this rule may be more suited to settling in the underworld."
This is an utterly ridiculous declaration. Everyone present knows that in order to eliminate dissidents, they will try every means to get rid of at least half of the candidates present.
After all, everyone invited to the meeting was a truly deserving villain who had committed numerous heinous crimes for wealth, power, and fame. The amount of blood on their hands was the only measure of their admission to this banquet; organizations like the Suzuki Foundation had never even seen an invitation.
'But in any case, to maintain a semblance of peace and courtesy, someone always needs to establish fair and just rules.'
"I will wholeheartedly follow your wishes."
Mitsubishi was the first to agree, followed by Ooka, Isoi, Sadao, Kyotomo, and Sowa.
“Very good.” Black Gate nodded in satisfaction, picked up the Holy Grail, and poured the water from the bird bath into the porcelain bowls in front of them one by one.