The Gentleman at the End

On the Circus Arena dyed gray,

Gluttony Gratoni's condition is getting worse, with a large amount of bright red blood splashed on the ground. Not only is his abdomen filled with blood holes, but even his back and back of the head have been punched through.

Yet he doesn't feel the loss of life, or whether life is fading away, whether he will face death seems to matter to him not at all. In the grayness, he even forgets who he is, and why he's standing here.

But as Gratoni slowly lifts his head, his gaze briefly falls upon his ally in this battle, Marquis Enwei, yet he can't remember who he is.

His upward gaze finally settles on the Great Emperor in the audience,

He suddenly catches a whiff of blood, and a slight "cacophony of sound" resonates in the eerily quiet ears.

It seems like the sound of people conversing, like a distant voice lost in the deep recesses of memory.

"Great Emperor, it's this person… an abandoned blood orphan born in a Neutral City, raised by a local Slave Master, who later discarded him because his appetite was too great, abandoning him to fend for himself in the [Rotten Meat Ruins].

Yet the boy didn't die; he consumed much of the rotten meat inhabitants of the ruins. Now these rot that are incredibly dangerous to ordinary Patients just scatter like seeing the plague when they spot this boy.

Later on, a passing merchant caravan discovered him, originally planning to capture him alive for a high price only to end up being consumed entirely.

Due to the intense aroma of blood, our spy discovered him. Preliminary tests revealed this boy's Blood Plague concentration far exceeds others of his age and belongs to a special Blood Plague variant, his hunger insatiable."

In the deep of the Rotten Meat Ruins,

Young Great Emperor Pulaid and his confidant watch a chubby boy estimated to be around eight years old, currently writhing atop a heap of rotten meat like a small mountain, voraciously munching with red hair, blood-stained mouth, exuding a beastly aura, clearly a blood citizen of the estate without need for a blood test.

The Great Emperor steps forward, extends his right hand, "What's your name?"

Unexpectedly, the chubby boy turns and bites, severing and swallowing the Great Emperor's index finger.

Witnessing this scene, the confidant instantly draws his sword, ready to execute the boy on the spot, however, the usually hot-tempered Great Emperor raises a hand to stop him.

"No one in the entire estate dares consume my flesh, drink my blood…he is the first. Never mind, let him try, if he survives bring him to see me, my blood and flesh are not easily digested."

"Understood."

The chubby boy immediately reacts, bleeding from his seven orifices, blood vessels swelling along the surface, rolling on the ground from pain unlike anything seen with the most toxic rotten meat.

The Great Emperor knows well, even Blood Citizens from Open Source cannot bear his blood, much less a several-year-old boy.

Chances are he won't survive, and even if he endures, such a condition would last at least three days, risking becoming a cripple.

However, as the Great Emperor turns to leave, not yet ten steps away, the disturbance behind dissipates, the remaining blood scent of his finger no longer exists.

Stunned, he turns his head to see the chubby boy crawling up as if nothing happened, cautiously eyeing the Great Emperor, then rapidly scurrying away on four limbs like a primitive beast.

The Great Emperor silently watches this, couldn't help but sigh, "The estate annually exhausts such manpower and resources yet produces few talents, but such a blood citizen birthed outside, abandoned and growing in the harshest environment, could have such talent.

Upon returning I shall discuss with the Blood Lord about reforming the training…"

The confidant anxiously inquires about the vanished chubby boy: "Great Emperor, should we pursue?"

"No need to pursue, let him continue life here and invite him back to the estate upon adulthood. Let's see the level he could reach by then, and whether he can replace the current 'Seven Marquis'."

Blood citizens 'adulthood' is thirty years.

Decades later, the chubby boy returns to the estate now grown adult, his physique several times larger than ordinary blood citizens due to years of consuming rotten meat and an unparalleled digestion ability.

Without training, barely able to speak, he enters the estate's internal "Blood Death Duel."

Unexpectedly, unbeaten by any,

The young man, with a record of a hundred victories, promptly achieves Earl status and qualifies to compete for 'Seven Marquis.' Within merely less than twenty years, he proactively challenges the then [Gluttony] Blood Maggot King, Gratoni.

Before the eyes of all blood citizens, he devours the former glutton, ruler of the Myriad Maggot Blood Cave, wholly, leaving no remnants, shocking everyone.

The Great Emperor secured early consent from the Blood Lord to bestow a name upon the young man,

"Gratoni, from now on this is your name! It is also your title, and you shall become my right arm alongside the Blood Lord, leading blood citizens to a crimson future as one of the 'Seven Marquis!'

You may not yet understand the significance within this, I shall gradually teach you.

Do you still remember me?"

Gratoni responds, not with words, but by spitting out a finger, exactly the one he swallowed decades ago, now returned intact to the Great Emperor.

"Hmm? You didn't consume it?"

Speaking unsurely, Gratoni responds simply: "I… back then didn't… absorb, kept inside the belly. If… I could eat it… I would also be able to eat you…"

Hearing this, the Great Emperor laughs heartily, "Keep it! Whenever you can absorb it, give it a try, see if you can completely devour me as well."

"Oh…"

Young Gratoni retrieves the finger again, storing it within his internal space.

…

Inside the circus venue.

Gratoni's gray Field of View Capture sees the Great Emperor, echoing memories resonate within the silent brain, refusing to fade away, and that finger stored deep in the belly trembles slightly.

He had long since forgotten this incident, and never dared disobey the Great Emperor once his Thought matured, the finger being stored in its deepest section, completely forgotten.

Now,

The finger is extracted and thrown into Gratoni's most powerful digestion Stomach Pool!

Sizzle! The once indigestible finger begins to bubble blood, soon dyeing the entire pool red, a new kind of blood uninfluenced by gray rapidly saturates Gratoni's body.

In reality, a massive pillar of blood soars instantly, washing the circus rooftop, blood rain descends, turning the originally gray circus venue entirely red.

Gratoni wraps his body, the defensive tooth enamel being washed away by this deluge,

The mouths covering his entire body disappear in the blood rain,

The multiple wounds punched through by Zede heal in turn,

Returning to True,

Gratoni returns to a human-like form, bright red hair droops on the shoulders, facial features regrow, with extra mouths only appearing on his left and right palms.

Blood-red eyes stare at the crawling corpse on the venue, unaffected by blood rain, remaining gray without releasing any aura.

"Zede…"

Corpse and blood,

Human and blood citizen,

Clearly such discordant opposing elements,

The nearly killed Gratoni bows deeply towards Zede's direction, even with the precise motion of a gentleman's bow,

He had never met such a rival, not only gaining combat Skill from them but breakthroughs in battle and even rediscovering hidden memories of the past.

He understands well, Zede could have killed him completely earlier, those punches permeating his body surely could be more accurate, more deadly, but the opponent deliberately held back.

It seems Zede too understands Gratoni hasn't shown his full ability, unwilling to decide the victory,

"Come then, Mr. Zede… now is the time for Gratoni's ultimate form, come! Defeat me or be devoured by me."

Their feet move simultaneously,

Sometimes those blood-soaked fists clash with gray punches, a huge soundwave erupts within the venue, the smiling Audience shocked enough to rupture eardrums.

Silhouettes crisscross, each impact on the ground forms a deep pit, quickly filled by corpses again.

Evenly matched,

No one yielding,

Every strike is with full force,

Every punch aims to kill the other,

Continuous clashes until one side reveals a flaw… Swish! Blood rain ceases, both combatants land at opposing positions of the arena.

Gratoni lands firmly, with a complete gray arm clenched between his teeth.

Zede with a severed arm kneels on the other side, blood drip-dripping down his remaining arm.

Yet, a corpse does not contain blood.

Sizzle!

The center of Gratoni's chest is pierced by a blood hole reaching the soul, spurring blood out frantically as an ordinary person would sever a major artery, and finally dims his eyes to the ground.

Gluttony Gratoni, defeated…