Chapter 63: Cannibalism

Amidst idle chatter on the street, a commotion arose in the distance.

"It is the Royal Court Hunters apprehending a criminal." Bradr glanced into the distance and gave a light chuckle. "Heh, to think it is 'cannibalism among kin'."

As he uttered these words, a flash of greedy and nostalgic expression crossed Bradr's face.

Hermione gave him a slightly surprised glance.

At this moment, those Royal Court Hunters clad in heavy armor also spotted Bradr observing from the side. They hurriedly escorted the prisoner over and saluted him, "Praise be to Glory."

Facing this well-mannered captain of the hunters, Bradr praised, "I know you, 'Light-Slayer' Milgongen. Even the Father King has praised your bravery."

Light-Slayer... Hermione's heart skipped a beat; the title of this hunter captain was truly overwhelmingly domineering.

Thinking this, Hermione clearly saw the escorted giant at close range.

With ordinary build and lacking abundant spirituality, the prisoner did not look like a high-sequence Beyonder. The vertical pupil between his brows was dull and vacant.

As Hermione observed the other party's mental state, a stabbing pain came from her back.

It was the sensation of that mental imprint...

Hermione even perceived from that clear feedback that this criminal had eaten someone not long ago.

Most likely, it was a human requisitioned from other tribes for the sake of this grand celebration.

Hermione's expression remained completely unchanged.

"Such a fellow actually committed the act of devouring his own kind?" Bradr grinned, scrutinizing the prisoner—who appeared slender among the giant race—and glanced sideways at "Light-Slayer" Milgongen with a puzzled expression, carrying a sense of disbelief.

"Yes, Your Highness." Milgongen lowered his helmetless head and reported, "For a creature devoid of divinity like this, only when such a grave crime is committed do they mobilize us Royal Court Hunters."

Cannibalism was a capital crime personally promulgated by the "Giant King". Arresting criminals via the Royal Court Hunters carried a significance akin to parading them through the streets.

Bradr let out a tut and asked further, "Did he lose control? And what kind of person did he eat? To actually commit such an act right before the celebration."

Bradr's attitude at this moment was very subtle, and Hermione, who commanded abilities in the domain of the mind, actually sensed a trace of envy within it.

The hunters, including the "Light-Slayer", failed to detect this emotion and respectfully replied, "This fellow showed no obvious signs of losing control. He attacked a companion working alongside him during the preparations for the celebration. Because their location was secluded, by the time others discovered it, he had already devoured all but the upper half of that giant's body."

"Oh? An offender who actively devoured his own kind out of his own accord?" Bradr's tone grew slightly excited, and at this moment, he even seemed tempted to keep the criminal by his side.

Hermione could sense that Bradr had fallen into an irrepressible agitation at this moment.

However, this emotion came to an abrupt halt and quickly withered away.

Yet from outward appearances, one could not detect this bizarre emotional shift in Bradr at all.

At this point, Bradr's tone turned bored, and he waved his hunters away, saying, "Take your prisoner and vanish from my sight."

The Royal Court Hunters were inwardly startled by this sudden shift in the Highness's attitude, but they dared not ask too many questions. Obeying Bradr's command, they departed with the prisoner.

Yet in the midst of Bradr's emotional fluctuation, Hermione detected a trace of a familiar power belonging to twilight, which she had once felt within the ocean of collective unconsciousness.

It was the twilight authority of the "Giant King" that had caused Bradr's irrepressible excitement to wither away.

To actually need an authority to control such an emotion—Hermione glanced sideways at Bradr, guessing that this "God of Glory" had likely devoured his own kin.

Perhaps he was even obsessed with devouring his own kind.

"How boring." The dispirited Bradr muttered. His gaze suddenly fell upon Hermione, and then shifted to Selena beside her.

Hermione frowned and stepped in front of Selena.

"Boring." Bradr muttered again, and without exchanging any further words with Hermione, he turned around with flagging will and departed without looking back.

After that giant back walked away, Selena, who had been intimidated by the malice just displayed, spoke with a slightly trembling voice: "Just now... did he want to kill us?"

Hermione shook her head and sighed, "He wanted to eat you. Therefore, in this Giant Royal Court, you must never act alone."

Hearing Hermione's straightforward explanation in human speech, Selena looked around blankly at the surrounding giants. At this moment, she fought to control the terror that had cowed her heart, but her vocal cords still trembled slightly:

"They look quite similar to us... I used to think these were just rumors, believing they were all merely rumors..."

Knowing that Selena was once again thinking of her older brother, Hermione sighed:

"It is the forced suppression by the giant gods that has caused the giants to shed a considerable degree of wildness. For instance, mutual cannibalism among kin was extremely common among giants in the earliest days, but now it is a capital crime among the giant race."

Standing on this bustling giant street corner, Hermione's expression appeared somewhat cold: "With generations of breeding, they are gradually regaining their rationality. But this process is far too prolonged and cruel for us humans."

Since both of them were conversing softly in human language, they did not cause any commotion here.

However, a rather noisy commotion gradually spread from the distance.

Hermione saw that the "Light-Slayer" Milgongen, who had already gone far away, was now galloping back, gripping a greatsword resembling the dawn, and directly struck down a giant's head.

Spurting blood spilled all over the ground.

And before that headless corpse, a giant who had been bitten and injured cowered against the other surrounding giants.

Yet in the very next second, this injured giant suddenly bared his teeth and bit into the face of the giant closest to him!

To the "Light-Slayer", the actions of these giants were sluggish in the extreme.

The "Light-Slayer" knocked out this victim who had suddenly attacked other giants with even greater speed, yet a look of confusion lingered on his face, unable to comprehend why this injured person would also attack others.

Subsequently, those Royal Court Hunters took away the corpse on the ground and the knocked-out giant who had transformed from a victim into an attacker.

"Are they killing each other?" Selena murmured at the events unfolding before her eyes, yet a trace of grim satisfaction welled up in her expression.

Hermione ruffled the young girl's hair, though she did not use her tampering ability to erase this negative emotion from Selena: "It seems some trouble has broken out within the giant race."

Could it be the means of the dragons?

However, Hermione sensed no anomalies within the ocean of unconsciousness, especially since this ocean of the giant race's collective unconsciousness was still shrouded by the authority of twilight.

Hermione suddenly recalled those abnormal mind islands...

A guess inevitably surfaced in her mind:

Could it be "Error"?