As Magnus had said, the last course at the Red Feast was always meat, familiar and customary, but not beef or pork, but monster meat.
There was only one question: which monster meat was the last course?
This time, it was Thunder Demon. It was a Top-2 monster of the Purple Threat Level, it was extremely rare for a Top-5 monster to appear at Red Feast, regardless of Threat Level.
However, what surprised Adam was not that it was Thunder Demon. It shouldn't have been forgotten that Thunder Demon was a subspecies of monsters and it was Essence Thunder Demon that was Top-2.
Thus, the Thunder Demon that was the main course of this Red Feast was not necessarily the Thunder Demon that Adam had defeated.
However... One detail was enough for Adam to realize it immediately.
Thunder Demon's head was missing its left horn, every moment, every piece of Thunder Demon's broken horn was imprinted in Adam's mind. Thus, it only took one glance for him to realize that this Thunder Demon was the one he had killed.
Moreover, after a few seconds, a powerful aroma of meat reached him, causing all his genes to get excited and Evolution Tree to actively tremble.
Strangely enough, this time Adam's Artifact was also active.
Adam decided to check what was going on by closing his eyes.
[Horn of Calamity (Second Rarity Artifact)
First Trait: One-horned Disaster
Second Trait: ???]
Adam remembered that although he already used the power of his artifact several times, he never once read the description of the ability. Not that it was necessary, but it might help him better understand a part of his power.
[First Trait - One-horned Disaster:
Channel lightning energy through your body and soar above the earth as a majestic being who determines who lives and who dies.
As long as you have energy, you are free to use the power of lightning, but only within the confines of your body.
Lightning Reflexes - due to the evolution of your artifact, this Trait survived, becoming part of the One-Horned Disaster].
Adam nodded. The first time he'd used One-Horned Disaster to kill Tirana, it had taken him a few seconds to realize the power of his new ability.
Perhaps he should have expected the Second and Third Trait from his past Artifact to transfer into the new one when he unlocked the new Traits, but Adam didn't count on it.
'When I first got Horn of Calamity, I lost all the abilities with some exception... I guess Lightning Reflexes remained since the lightning had already infused my entire body, and my reflexes had time to sharpen.' Adam pondered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Then, his gaze returned to Zakira, who made for the last ingredient a small introduction.
"As you know, we always try to make the last ingredient something special, not only because of the monster's power or its rarity but also its history." Zakira said confidently.
Then, all his muscles tensed, and the veins around his eyes inflated as if in resonance. The effect soon wore off, but all his cells were more active than ever, beginning to move rapidly.
"Oh, just as I thought that would be something special in your case." Magnus grinned widely before beginning to eat.
Thunder Demon's meat caused Silvana, Nessa & Magnus to have a similar reaction, but to a much lesser extent.
Their genes were activated because of the powerful genes within the meat, but Adam and Thunder Demon had some sort of connection. After all, Thunder Demon contained part of Adam - his right arm.
"Agh... What's going on?" Adam twisted in pain when he felt a burning sensation near his right arm.
Magnus's face changed instantly, revealing an overly wide grin again.
"Hah, unbelievable. Thunder Demon's meat caused your genes to become active, it seems your body remembers that Thunder Demon took your arm and is trying to recover it. Well, even if it does, it's not enough. However... perhaps this will increase the chances of success in my method. Hehehe, I'm sure your genes definitely won't calm down until tomorrow." Magnus chuckled evilly.
Crackle.
At the same moment, somewhere in the distance of the hall, something strange, or rather inappropriate for a place of this level, happened - a waiter, one of the Soldiers, started pushing the tables of the guests, throwing them apart.
"What the fuck...?" Magnus turned around, staring intently at the girl-Soldier in the distance.
She seemed to have a plan, for she had chosen the farthest place where, strangely enough, only ordinary people were sitting, not even the military among those guests. So the guests just stood up outraged, not realizing what was going on.
Wine spilled on their expensive suits, dishes shattered, and the meat of the Thunder Demon fell to the ground.
Before the Guardians could react and approach the girl, she fell to her knees, greedily beginning to devour dozens of pieces of the Thunder Demon's meat.
"Idiot..." Magnus shook his head. It seemed like he had already seen something like this several times before.
"What... what is she doing?" Silvana asked with a tremor in her voice.
Magnus leaned on his arm with a bored look.
"She thinks she can become a Phantom this way. Sure, it makes some sense, but she's woefully lacking in theory." Magnus sighed heavily.
He stared intently at the girl who had already eaten more than ten servings. She was just shoving the meat into her mouth with her hands.
"You can't become a Phantom by absorbing the genes of a monster. Phantoms are so strong not because they use others' genes, but because their genes go to the next level with the appearance of the Evolution Tree." Magnus explained.
"In that case... What's waiting for her...?" Silvana muttered.
Magnus shrugged his shoulders.
"Death, either way. The question is different, will that death be instant or we will see an interesting show."
Soon, the girl's face twisted in vivid pain as she clutched at her heart. A stream of blood spurted from her mouth, and her eyes seemed ready to explode.
Then, her skin ripped in many places, revealing chunks of flesh that were actively moving like hundreds of parasites eager to turn into something bigger and creepier...