Chapter 452

Chapter 452: Barbatos, Fall Here!

“Barbatos!”

“You’ll fall right here!”

“Hah…”

In a corner of the Chaos Swamp Realm, a murder was happening.

Such things happened often among its members.

After all, the rule was "by any means necessary." If you got what you wanted and won other members’ understanding later, no one cared how shameful or dirty your methods were.

For chaos deities, violence and murder felt as natural as eating or drinking.

But this time was different.

The target was Barbatos. The attacker was Vashak—the Third Seat of the Chaos Council.

Both were core councilors.

For one core councilor to plot against another…

That was rare.

Core councilors held ranked seats, but none were weaklings.

Their Divine Bodies and magic skills stood among the finest Chaos Demon Gods!

Normally, such fights ended badly for both sides.

Unless the targeted core councilor was badly weakened, and their own subordinate officials had turned traitor—bribed by the schemer.

High conspiracy points, personal vulnerability.

Barbatos faced exactly this.

“You…”

They glared at Vashak,

And at the Chaos Demon Gods crowding around Vashak, surrounding them.

Barbatos didn’t mind Vashak’s followers—subordinate officials just obeying their master showed loyalty.

But those encircling them…

“Papronus!”

“I treated you well!”

“Why betray me!?”

“Bobokabridge! I took you in when you had nowhere to go!”

“This is your repayment!?”

…

Barbatos’s subordinate officials had turned traitor!

They’d never noticed the betrayal.

This cannot be blamed on others, only on…

"The Giant God!"

During the time Barbatos accepted the mark of the Giant God, he had been troubled.

The mark of the Giant God and the energy infused into his body indeed brought immense convenience.

The flow and movement of his Divine Body became smoother; Magic Power surged abundantly.

The magic circuits throughout his body seemed to respond to the changes in his Divine Body, becoming exhilarated.

His Soul brimmed with power!

Formidable!

Lively!

Yet what was the cost of such power?

In truth, no matter how gloriously it was presented initially…

Because…

"The price is only known after being paid…"

Barbatos often recalled this saying.

The cost for the Giant God’s power seemed light as a feather; but after paying, Barbatos realized the Giant God was fundamentally altering him.

The mark from the "sharp teeth giant jaws," rooted deep in his Soul, constantly generated Hunger.

Only by devouring flesh and blood, letting the Giant God "manipulate" his Divine Body again, could he suppress it temporarily.

Demon gods of the Giant God Association called this maddening feeling "meat craving" or "meat rage."

But Barbatos, a dignified and noble deity, refused to abandon his "noble existence" like others.

Thus he named this feeling "meat fall"—utterly forsaking divine dignity to descend into savage craving for flesh.

Though based on Lady Xidi and Gimmerly’s experiences, after more "manipulations" by the Giant God, "meat fall" symptoms lessened. The "sharp teeth giant jaws" also triggered the craving less frequently.

Yet consuming flesh and corpses became a lasting way of life.

Perhaps that shameless goddess Lady Xidi could accept such a crude self.

But Barbatos couldn’t.

He remembered crying "I’m just a meat-gorging shameless goddess," "Meat, meat, huge meat, fragrant meat," giggling obscenely while feasting, eyes rolling in ecstasy as he gnawed flesh.

So indecent!

So mortifying!

Meat brought wild euphoria in the moment, only to leave him grinding his teeth in bitter regret afterward.

He loved that feeling yet hated it.

This turmoil left Barbatos unable to focus on anything.

He neglected his domain, ignored his subordinates’ loyalty, abandoned all oversight.

All day he either wandered dazedly at the "Giant God Association," stared blankly at the Core Council of Chaos, or loitered through the Chaos Swamp.

No matter what he did, he always appeared indifferent and absent-minded.

This couldn’t continue.

A deity’s spiritual confusion would destabilize the Soul and drastically weaken their power.

It was like a car; no matter how advanced its features, a drunk driver would still end up in a ditch.

For Barbatos—a demon god commanding numerous subordinate officials—his distraction risked upheaval across his entire dominion.

Most subordinate officials held little genuine "loyalty" toward their lord.

Their allegiance stemmed solely from vested interests.

Once those interests went unmet, and the lord’s oversight and forceful control vanished, scheming to find new patronage became inevitable.

Their chosen patron was the Third Seat of the Chaos Council: Vashak.

Among the Chaos Demon Gods, Vashak stood as a skilled orator, capable of beguiling all—even Barbatos—with honeyed words.

Yet Barbatos remained the First Demon God.

He ultimately classified Vashak as "untrustworthy."

But Barbatos’s subordinates lacked their master’s discernment.

Enchanted by Vashak, they clamored to defect.

Yet defection demanded an offering of allegiance, didn’t it?

"Barbatos, your head will serve nicely!"

Thus, led by his own subordinates, Barbatos stepped into Vashak’s long-prepared trap.

There, his limbs were immobilized by a strategic-level primordial magic formation; his Divine Body corroded by a strategic-level "venom curse," weakening relentlessly.

"Could it be…"

"Does Vashak know of my ties to the Giant God!?"

"So he’s Barbatos’s agent? Here to destroy me?"

"Ah…"

"I should’ve known this day would come."

Barbatos sighed, closing his eyes in despair.

If his own confusion had exposed him to Barbatos, then such an ignoble demise was deserved.

Yet soon his eyes snapped open.

The situation…

seemed utterly bizarre.

For Vashak declared: "I know you’re Barbatos’s loyalist—a stumbling block to overthrowing him!"

"To topple Barbatos, I must eliminate you first!"

Barbatos froze, tilting his head, his skull full of question marks.

"Ha!?"