American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 393 Say more, I love to hear it!
Roy didn't bother with any more pleasantries with the King of Gluttony; he went straight to the point.

Hannibal squinted at Roy.

“Mr. Blake, before we begin our formal conversation, why don’t you try some of my cooking?”

Just kidding. Roy wouldn't even eat the food Hannibal made, let alone now that he knows Hannibal's true identity is Beelzebub, he'd be even less inclined to eat it.

Who knows what the real ingredients of these dishes that look like beef, seafood soup, and tuna are?

Having learned his lesson from Lucifer, Roy didn't want to suffer the same fate with Hannibal.

"Let's talk about your business first. It won't matter if we eat after you've finished talking."

Hannibal shook his head.

"That won't do! As I just said, all good food has an optimal time to be eaten; if you don't eat it now, the flavor will be much worse!"

Roy looked at the frozen environment around him and knew that Hannibal was making excuses. As long as he maintained this magic, how could the food miss its best time to be eaten?

"Sorry, I just prefer to talk before eating."

Hannibal's expression changed, and his aura began to rise gradually, causing the previously still furniture to tremble under his powerful presence.

Unfortunately, Roy remained unfazed, while Claire, with her mortal body, showed a pained expression.

Seeing this, Roy stepped in front of Claire, unleashing his full aura to confront Hannibal head-on.

Hannibal's expression changed; he clearly hadn't expected Roy's strength to improve so quickly.

After all, just six months ago, Roy only had the strength of a mid-level demon.

As a result, six months later, Roy's strength had leaped several levels, and he was now at the level of a demon lord, not far from the level of the Seven Demon Kings of Hell.

"This is impossible! How could your strength be..."

"Hehe, there are many things you haven't thought of!"

After saying that, Roy placed his hand on his chest, whereupon a red brand appeared. Then, a beautiful woman stepped through the ring of fire and arrived at Hannibal's apartment.

"Roy, what's the matter that you suddenly called me over here?"

Hannibal stared wide-eyed, completely unprepared for things to have come to this.

Elizabeth, who had just arrived, suddenly revealed an evil smile when she saw Hannibal.

"Beelzebub, I never expected you to come to Earth! This is truly a wonderful surprise!"

Hannibal's lips twitched into a wry smile.

"Lord Belial, it's been a long time!"

"Tsk tsk tsk! You actually call me 'sir'? It feels like it's been thousands of years since I've heard you call me that."

Elizabeth pulled out a chair, sat down, and crossed one of her long, beautiful legs, looking very relaxed.

How could it not be easy?
The King of Sloth is already stronger than the King of Gluttony, and with Roy as his ally, Hannibal has no chance of defeating Elizabeth. The initiative is now entirely in the hands of Elizabeth and Roy.

"Ahem! Although thousands of years have passed, in my heart you will always be the noble and beautiful Lady Belial!"

This was the first time Roy had ever heard the Demon King of Hell flatter him, and it was quite effective, as Elizabeth seemed to enjoy it.

No wonder Elizabeth said that Beelzebub handled interpersonal relationships very well, always managing to navigate between different camps. This ability to be flexible and adaptable is far superior to that brainless and grumpy Samael.

"Well said! Say more, I'd love to hear it!"

So Hannibal kept changing his words to flatter Elizabeth, and for a full ten minutes he didn't repeat a single one.

Roy couldn't help but suspect that this guy might have gotten his position by flattering others.

After listening to it for a while, Elizabeth finally got tired of it.

"Enough, Beelzebub. Now we can talk about why you've been causing trouble for my family."

Hannibal's eye twitched. He had noticed Roy's connection to Belial back in March and had even told Asmodeus about it.

But who would have thought that Roy, one of his servants, could summon Belial at any time?

Even your own son doesn't get this kind of treatment, right?
It's as if Belial is Roy's kin!
Mahorgni, the butcher in the Midnight Cannibal Train incident, was also a member of Beelzebub's faction. Did Beelzebub ever care whether he lived or died?

Don't be fooled by the fact that being a Demon King's familiar sounds impressive. Becoming a familiar is actually quite easy. You just need to offer something that pleases the Demon King during a ritual, and you might get a Demon King's mark, which will then allow you to use some of the Demon King's abilities.

How much you can use depends on how satisfied the Demon King is with your offerings.

This is actually a transaction. The Demon King doesn't take his retinue seriously. He only remembers that he has a retinue as a tool when he wants to cause trouble in the human world.

"Lord Belial, I think it's all a misunderstanding! Today, my students just happened to come to visit me, so I invited them to have a meal with me. There was no other meaning behind it."

Hannibal began to argue, but Elizabeth, who possessed the power of lies, saw through his lies with ease.

"Really? Let me see what all these are..."

Elizabeth snapped her fingers, and the three dishes revealed their true forms.

Veal tenderloin is indeed the tenderloin meat from a human body, while the so-called bluefin tuna meat is actually the meat from a human calf.

The most outrageous one is the seafood chowder, which is actually made from pig brains.

Knowing the truth, Roy's stomach churned. Luckily, he hadn't tried any of the dishes, or he would definitely be throwing up now.

Elizabeth could tell from Roy's expression that he must be in a very bad mood, so she decided to help him vent his anger.

"Beelzebub, is this the kind of junk food the infamous King of Gluttony serves to his guests?"

Hannibal gave an elegant bow.

"If I had known that Lord Belial would deign to come, I certainly wouldn't have brought so little!"

This guy was still saying nice things, but unfortunately Elizabeth wasn't buying it this time.

"Oh? So you mean if Roy comes, we can use this trash to deal with him?"

Hannibal's expression froze; he was beginning to have trouble figuring out what the relationship between Roy and Elizabeth really was.

Could he really be Belial's biological son?
Of the seven demon kings of Hell, only Lucifer and Belial have no descendants, unlike the other demon kings.

Asmodeus and Leviathan, needless to say, are both demon lords who are extremely prolific.

The King of Lust has a whole bunch of daughters who wreak havoc all over the universe; Roy alone has seen two of them.

The King of Envy also had a large number of monster offspring; the Kraken, the giant sea monster Roy had encountered before, had some Leviathan blood flowing in its veins.

Samael, Mammon, and Beelzebub's own descendants, though not as numerous as Asmodeus and Leviathan, were still a considerable number.

Carrie possesses a portion of Samael's bloodline, which is why she is the perfect vessel for the arrival of the Wrathful King.

But it doesn't seem like it, because Roy has Belial's mark, which means they are not related by blood.

It's important to know that the Demon Lord of Hell can remotely control his bloodline without needing to be branded; the higher the bloodline concentration, the stronger the control effect. For example, Adela and Elareza can chat with their mother, Asmodeus, across servers without needing to be branded.

If he was merely a member of a family, Roy was receiving far too much favor; even King Solomon didn't receive such treatment.

The current situation left Hannibal unsure, so he had no choice but to ask Elizabeth directly.

"Lord Belial, what are your thoughts?"

“Show me your true skills and let Roy, me, and this lady taste the gluttony king’s cooking.”

Hannibal understood Elizabeth's meaning: she wanted him to prepare a delicious meal as an apology.

This might be an insult to other demon lords of hell, but not to the King of Gluttony.

Beelzebub was passionate about tasting good food and also enjoyed cooking.

If you offer Beelzebub a food or ingredient that he has never eaten, you will receive a very good reward, and you may even receive food cooked by the King of Gluttony himself.

Therefore, many of Beelzebub's followers were gourmets or chefs, or at the very least, butchers like Mahokni.

Of course, no one knows what would happen if someone ate food cooked by the King of Gluttony himself.

This is actually very similar to Lucifer.

Lucifer loves to drink and mix drinks. If he likes you, he will mix drinks for you himself.

However, it's hard to say what might happen if you drink Lucifer's wine without someone familiar with you.

Roy had a terrible experience the first time he went to Time Bar for drinks, but luckily Adrian was with him that time.

However, with Elizabeth around this time, nothing should happen.

Moreover, Roy saw the hints Elizabeth gave him.

Hannibal snapped his fingers, and the room returned to normal.

"No problem, I'll go prepare right now!"

Claire suddenly regained her mobility. She seemed completely unaware of what had just happened, only surprised to find an incredibly beautiful woman suddenly standing opposite Roy.

Hannibal turned and went into the kitchen before Claire could ask him anything.

"Roy, what just happened?"

Claire was certain that something had just happened, otherwise a beautiful woman wouldn't have appeared out of nowhere.

"Claire, let me introduce you! This is Elizabeth Hull, she is my teacher and now a professor at the UCLA School of Film, and she is also one of the Seven Demon Lords of Hell, the Sloth King! Professor Elizabeth, this is Claire Sheffield."

Roy told Claire directly about Elizabeth's identity to prevent her from making any mistakes.

Claire gasped. Although she had already witnessed the power of Death, the title of Demon King of Hell was still more intimidating than the unseen God of Death.

After learning Elizabeth's true identity, Claire started to stammer when she spoke.

"Hello, Ms. Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth simply nodded slightly, paying no attention to Claire. Ordinary mortal women like her couldn't possibly attract the attention of the Demon Queen.

"Ms. Elizabeth, about what just happened..."

Elizabeth knew what Roy wanted to ask and interrupted him directly.

“Roy, although the two of us together can indeed defeat Beelzebub, it will not benefit us at all, but will only create an enemy for no reason.”

After a brief explanation from Elizabeth, Roy understood what she meant.

Whether it's Hannibal or Elizabeth, they are merely the human forms of the demon king of hell, not his true form.

So even if Roy and Elizabeth team up to kill Hannibal, at most they can only get a treasure chest and Elizabeth can gain a little bit of the power of Gluttony, but there is no other benefit.

However, Beelzebub will certainly retaliate against Elizabeth afterward, and may even join forces with Leviathan to completely change the current power structure of Hell.

Therefore, Elizabeth chose to give Hannibal an acceptable way out while also allowing Roy to save face.

At least a demon king from hell personally cooked an apology, so Roy must have gained some face.

After thinking it through, Roy nodded, agreeing with Elizabeth's approach.

However, things were a bit strange with Claire.

"Wait, the Beelzebub you're talking about, could it be the gluttony from the Seven Deadly Sins?"

Roy remembered that Claire had been under Hannibal's magical influence and was unaware of anything, so he explained.

"Claire, your mentor Hannibal Lecter's true identity is Beelzebub!"

Claire's mouth dropped open, and her brain went blank for a moment.

What could be more outrageous than your mentor of several years suddenly turning into a demon king of hell?

Well, I guess it's something like in some anime where you suddenly discover that your childhood friend next door is actually a succubus.

"God, if you hadn't said this, I would have thought it was nonsense!"

Claire trusted Roy completely, so even though what Roy said was extremely absurd, she still believed him.

After waiting for a while, Hannibal came out pushing a brand new food cart.

"Ladies and gentlemen, come and taste the delicious food I have prepared."

Hannibal placed four plates on the table, then opened the metal lids to reveal huge, golden tentacles underneath.

"These are the tentacles of an ancient octopus, the flesh and blood of a descendant of Leviathan, the King of Envy. I've treasured this ingredient for many years!"

It's actually a descendant of Leviathan, and also an octopus. Could it be a relative of Kraken?

Roy's expression turned strange. He had previously thought about finely chopping up the Kraken and making a topping to eat, but he never expected that he would actually be eating the Kraken's relative today.

Next, Hannibal brought out four more desserts. They looked like ordinary cakes, but the bright red fruits on top of them looked like hearts that would thump and beat, which looked a bit scary.

"This cake is made with frost wheat grains, a specialty of hell, and chimera eggs, and the fruit on top is the fruit of the human-faced tree."

The ingredients for this dessert are a bit daunting, but when Roy looked at Elizabeth, she nodded slightly.

It means that these things only look scary, but in reality, there shouldn't be any problems.

There were only two dishes, so Roy took the first bite of the ancient octopus tentacles, the main course.

After taking a bite, Roy's eyes lit up.

Claire Sheffield

　Happy Dragon Boat Festival to everyone!
　　P.S.: My blessings are late, because I was so busy typing that I forgot it's Dragon Boat Festival.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)