Chapter 1008 Wine, Meat and Fighting
The grand banquet in the Kingdom of Shadows was held as scheduled.
After entering the castle, just one floor down is the banquet hall.
The heat was as scorching as that of a blacksmith's shop, making Yasen feel like his skin was burning hot.
The smell of barbecue, stewed meat, and wine mixed together and hit me in the face.
There were still no lights here, just as dim as outside. Even at the banquet, there were no torches or candles to be seen.
However, in this basement where no lightning could be seen, it was actually much brighter than outside.
There were strange round tables of varying sizes. They resembled doughnuts, or pizzas, with the outer ring higher. The inner ring was lower, even hollow. The floor beneath the tables was open, and visible flames rose from within. The flames licked the inner ring of the table, which resembled barbed wire, constantly searing the meat placed on it.
These flames illuminated the entire room. Although it was still a little dim from the outside world's perspective, for Aiwas and Yasen, who had now completely adapted to the dark world outside, these flames were even bright enough to hurt their eyes.
The soldiers did not use knives and forks, but in a sense they used something similar to chopsticks - when they ate barbecue, they used a pair of tongs that looked like long-handled pliers.
They would pick up the raw meat they wanted from the basket beside them and place it on the wire mesh of the low table in the middle, letting the fierce flames lick it. When it was cooked or burnt, they would pick it up and eat it. Or they would put the small pot of broth on the inner ring in the middle, let it boil for a while, and then put it in front of them. Some people would use it to heat the iced wine in their bowls, bringing it to room temperature or hot wine...
Even though it was a dim environment, every soldier was sweating while eating.
The fighters had different styles. Some of them just ate the meat, some drank while eating, and some focused on playing finger-guessing games and drinking.
Other witches walked around the table, constantly filling everyone's baskets with meat, placing bowls of seasoned broth in the middle, or placing bowls of iced liquor in front of the warriors, one after another after another.
These witches all possessed enchanting figures and beautiful features, but approximately 70% of them possessed some form of animalistic features—for example, a giant python's lower body or cat ears on their heads. A few even had blue or green skin, all evidence of the differences between the creatures they had merged with.
Some witches simply sat in the arms of a warrior. Perhaps because Shadow Master hadn't arrived yet, some warriors had already started a game with the witches at the table.
As if encouraged by the atmosphere, more and more warriors chose to play a game.
It wasn't until Shadow Tiansi brought Aiwas and the others down that the warriors and witches quickly became serious, separating to go about their respective duties. Like students pretending to read aloud when their teacher approaches, the noises of their eating and drinking seemed even louder.
This was actually impossible to hide from the Shadow Heaven Division - however, this little bit of "rebellion" was also allowed by the Shadow Heaven Division. It was more like a certain sentiment.
“…It’s all meat.”
Yasen pretended not to have seen what had just happened and exclaimed: "That's really good."
Ying Tiansi had been squinting his eyes as he scanned the banquet, but upon hearing this, he turned back and smiled, "Rather, anything other than meat is a rarity for me."
Upon hearing this, Aiwass immediately thought of Avalon in the original "Shadow of Avalon" incident -
Just as the Fallen Angels arrived and overlapped their domain with the Material Realm, the Shadow Angels arrived in the same way. However, after the Shadow Realm overlapped with the Material Realm, virtually all vegetation withered and died. Within the Shadow Realm, almost all plants could not grow. Only oak trees and shrubs could withstand the influence of the shadows, turning completely black while still retaining the ability to produce fruit. These alone could not even sustain herbivores.
While animal-based ingredients are still edible, they simply won't last long.
In that area, even if the lights are turned on, the light cannot penetrate far, as if it is wrapped in black fog. Therefore, even if you do not use soil corrupted by the power of shadow, but take soil from the outside world, or simply cultivate without soil, it will be difficult for the plants to survive because the light is greatly weakened.
The most important thing is that here, once a mortal dies, he will turn into the undead, and a large number of undead will block the transportation of goods.
If Isabel in the original world line had not obtained the power of the Queen of Flowers and brought life back to the land of Avalon... I'm afraid that after the arrival of Shadow Sky, Avalon would have completely become history.
It wasn't that she harbored any ill intentions... it was that the Shadow Realm inherently made it impossible for humans to survive. Just like how the arrival of the Abyssal Heavens would cause cities to be submerged by the sea—for sea monsters, it meant an expansion of their comfortable living space; but for land creatures, it meant death.
Ying Tiansi led a few people to sit at the top table—also the largest. Besides Ying Tiansi, Aiwass, Yasen, and Viness, there was only one other person sitting there: Ares, the Nation Destroyer. These people didn't even fill a third of the table.
Unlike the "self-service barbecues" below, the largest table was filled with pre-cooked delicacies. Only here could one see very few vegetables.
If I were to use one sentence to comment on Ying Tiansi's meal - it can be simply called Monster Hunter style cat food.
"Does Ares usually sit here and eat?"
Aiwass looked at Ares with some surprise.
He probably underestimated Ares's status in the Shadow Kingdom.
The two giants, Ares and Ying Tiansi, looked at each other and smiled at the same time.
"No," Ares explained good-temperedly, "Because I am the champion today."
Hearing this, Aihua suddenly understood.
Because Aiwas was going to sit with Ying Tiansi and Vignes... Yasen didn't want to sit next to Vignes, so he sat on the other side, next to Ares.
He tilted his head slightly and asked Ares in a low voice with some confusion: "Champion? Did you have any competition?"
"We compete almost every day. Or rather, our day is divided up by competitions."
Ares also whispered, "When everyone has eaten and drunk their fill, their energy is boiling, and they have nothing to do, a competition will be held. Whoever is free will hold the competition, and whoever is free will join in. Sometimes it's a small-scale duel... a duel between a few people; if everyone is awake, or most people have nothing to do, a large-scale competition will be held. The winner and the one with the best performance will gain the Queen's favor."
Yasen asked with some confusion: "Comparison of what?"
"We compete in everything, long jump, running, throwing, archery... whatever we're not convinced of, but most of the time we just fight each other. Like today's match."
Ares was quite proud: "I just killed all of them, so today I am the champion."
"If they were to fight each other..."
Yasen hesitated: "Then could it be..."
He had no doubts about the fact that "people can be resurrected after death"... but he had just learned from Aiwass that Ares was once an apostle of the Supreme Heaven and was once known as the terrifying name of the destroyer of nations.
"—Then can anyone else still win?"
"Hahaha!"
Hearing such affirmation, Ares laughed out loud with joy, obviously very happy with what Yasen said: "Well said! Come, have a drink!"
He wanted to pat Yasen on the back, but stopped short as he reached out, obviously afraid of patting Yasen to death.
So he turned around and handed Yasen a bowl of wine, then he picked up a basin of wine and drank it all.
It was a stone basin about the size of a washbasin, which was just right for Ares to hold in one hand.
"Ares, that boy has no experience!"
Someone below shouted, "Let him see it for himself!"
"Sure!"
Ares heard this and responded readily: "Come on! Fight!"
As he spoke, he finished the ice wine in the bowl, chewed the ice cubes in it, and walked down while picking up the flaming spear.
Several soldiers were eager to try it. They grabbed a piece of meat and put it in their mouths. They stood up while chewing and clapping their hands.
They didn't even warm up, and the fight started without warning.
Ares pierced the giant warrior's heart with a spear as he flew towards him, then lifted him up and smashed him directly onto the iron rack in the middle of one of the tables, making a sizzling sound as he was roasted.
He laughed wildly, and with his other hand he grabbed the arm of a human warrior and tore it off!
"good!"
"Give it to me! Give it to me!"
The other people at the banquet were in an uproar, and some kept asking for the bloody arm.
Ares threw the arm out, knocking the man who asked for it away and pinning him to the wall with his arm!
(End of this chapter)
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