The Priest of Corruption

Huh…? It’s not such a long story, nor a complicated one.

When Mother could still only wriggle, I kept her hand in one of the two compartments in my inventory. The overwhelming presence I felt whenever I touched the hand was too burdensome.

As a wretched and invincible person, I wasn’t welcomed anywhere, and I couldn’t stay in one place for long for fear of being discovered as a worshiper of an evil god. It was a futile fear, but I was always full of useless worries back then. I earned a day and lived a day. When I couldn’t earn a day, I would starve that day. Fortunately, this body was the kind that could move well, even with a little starvation.

I once considered becoming a mercenary, but I wasn’t confident in killing. I was also much more scared of getting hurt than killing.

I experienced my second winter. A year passed, but my life hadn’t taken a single step forward. I was still earning a day and living a day. But I met my benefactor, Sanctus.

As usual, I was running away from the city, driven by unfounded fear, when I encountered a group of thieves. Luckily, I ran away from the thieves and managed to avoid their pursuit, but eventually, I got lost in the mountains.

I had no idea how to find food in the mountains in winter, so I walked on while my body could. I continued to walk to the east as the sun rose, hoping that one day I would reach a road people traveled. I starved and starved, then starved again.

The body that seemed like it would move forever fell. I saw a little light just before I lost consciousness in that terrible blizzard. Sanctus saved me like that.

He was a man between middle and old age, often cheerful and rarely serious. When I finally came to my senses, he jokingly told me that he almost had my body removed for a few coins and laughed. But Sanctus didn’t ask me anything, and he told me to stay as long as necessary and leave when I was ready.

He was a priest who worshiped the Goddess of Maintenance, and, at the same time, he was a grave keeper who lived outside the city. When I learned he was a priest; I wanted to immediately get up and run away. Of course, I couldn’t resist the temptation of free food and board and stayed.

I learned to handle corpses under him as I recovered since I felt sorry that I was mooching off him. And while he worked, I tried to ask him why in the world he’d saved me.

He replied with a smile.

“I just wanted to.”

That smile settled in the deepest part of my heart.

Sanctus always helped others. He said he didn’t need a reason to help. I wanted to be like him. So, I became more and more like him.

Winter arrived again after a year of peaceful living. I didn’t think it would be a bad idea to continue like that. Really. But one day, while clearing the snow, I found a man lying on the ground as usual. Like me the previous winter, he was driven to the end of his life, and I saved him as I learned to do from Sanctus.

But I should never have saved that damn wizard bastard.

The damn wizard bastard received my help with a smile on his face, and then he confessed to me that he was a worshiper of the evil gods and ripped me to pieces with his magic. I died like that. No, I just felt like I was dead.

When I woke up, that hand stroked my cheek, though I wasn’t sure how it let my inventory. That day, I faced the consequences of what I had done.

The torn and dismembered corpse of Sanctus was left to greet me. It was all my fault. If I hadn’t saved that damn wizard bastard, Sanctus would have lived.

I buried Sanctus’ corpse, grabbed his priest’s robe, and put it into one of the two-compartment inventory. I knew I needed power. In this world, serenity was granted only to those with the power to protect it, and mercy should also be given only to those who deserve it.

The hand wriggled sadly as it tried to comfort me. I looked at the hand and remembered the job I had been avoiding.

Priest of Corruption? I had a way to get stronger all along.

***

Whaaaaaang!

Without a single bit of grief, I swung the Butcher with the intent to kill.

“Whoa! That’s dangerous!”

Divinity moved with Lieberkel’s cry. Black shadows held my body back for a moment, but these were mere shadows. I tensed my legs and ripped through them, swinging my sword.

“Die!”

Lieberkel smiled, then shouted as he stomped his foot.

“Libra of retribution!”

A hammer of pure white light fell on my head, and it was the Hammer of Punishment, the power of the Reformation Church priests. The light hit me, and a heavy blast of divinity ran through my body.

“Cough.”

Blood flowed from my mouth. After I spat it out and regained focus, Lieberkel broadly smiled.

“Looking closely, the divinity I can feel in your body isn’t from the Goddess of Maintenance, huh? But seeing the protective clothing hanging on that priest’s uniform is being used properly…”

He chuckled.

“You were a worshiper of the evil god just like me!”

This son of a bitch.

“Shut up!”

“I guess I hit the nail, right?”

“I told you to shut up! Mother!”

The space around us distorted, and the Giant of Corruption fell between us.

“Gaaaaaaaah!!!”

I revved the Butcher’s engine again, causing it to roar. Today. I would kill that damn wizard bastard who doesn’t even know grace today.

Lieberkel looked up at the Giant of Corruption and laughed.

“Wow. It’s an interesting ability. It just so happens that I have an empty spot for my left arm, so if I take yours, it’ll be perfect!”

No response was needed. I sprinted straight at Lieberkel. The Corruption Arts shone brighter than ever, giving me strength. The rotating saw blade sought to devour Lieberkel.

“I like this guy! Really!”

The purple-haired woman, split in half earlier, slid between Lieberkel and me and held out her arm. It cleaved through her arm, but she smiled as it stopped on her shoulder.

“You came…”

“I said move!”

Whaaaaaaang!

I cut the woman’s throat and ran toward Lieberkel. He smiled and pointed behind me.

Something grabbed me from behind. I gave up cutting down Lieberkel, instead rotating my body around to tear apart what had grabbed me. Blood and flesh mixed with purple hair scattered in the wind.

“As expected, you’re wild! So wild!”

The purple-haired woman poked her head out from behind Lieberkel and laughed.

“How far will you go? I’m really curious! Really!”

They were having a lot of fun, but I wasn’t the only one there.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The footsteps of the Giant of Corruption shook the ground.

“Gaaaaaaaaah!”

The giant, with a roar, slammed his fist into Lieberkel and the woman. Lieberkel said something in a low voice, and a purple curtain intercepted the blow.

Bang!

While the thin film shattered like glass, the two quickly retreated. The red-haired woman, still watching us with a blank expression, shouted.

“If he’s also a worshiper of the evil god, you can just talk to him! Huh? Let’s just take what we have to!”

“No! Never! No! I’ve been waiting for him for too long!”

Hearing the cry of the purple-haired woman, Lieberkel chuckled.

“I want to do that, but I guess he doesn’t, huh? Right?”

I grabbed the Butcher without a word. The vibration of the saw blades calmed my anger. He was right.

Tonight, I’d kill Lieberkel. Certainly.

“Let’s go.”

Bang!

The Giant of Corruption roared in response to my call and rushed them.

“Gaaaaaaaaaah!”

***

Smack!

The man who was hit by Sajita’s weapon collapsed. Dachia looked at them with trembling eyes.

“He’s not dead, right?”

Sajita glanced at the fallen man and gave a brief reply.

“Not yet.”

Puck!

Another woman was hit in the head by the scabbard wielded by Carmen and fell. He looked at her slightly apologetically and then shouted.

“Let’s move quickly to the lord’s castle!”

Everything started suddenly. As soon as the purple curtain enveloped the city, some citizens began to run mad. Those hurt by them also went crazy. Within moments the city was consumed by chaos.

The party saw the horde of madmen sweeping the city while unpacking at the inn. They took up arms and ran out to meet them. At first, they tried to escape the city, but the horde constantly appeared to block their way, so they eventually gave up and turned to the inner city where the lord lived.

Dachia swung her sword with the sheath on. A crazed man hit by her sharp blow was rolling down the street—a little bit. A little further, and they would reach the castle.

“Huh…?”

Dachia, finally arriving in front of the castle, saw despair. Broken gates. Floors and walls are slick with fresh crimson. The madness didn’t just afflict the citizens.

Sajita looked at the shattered gate with a blank face, slung the blunt weapon around his waist, and pulled out a spear. At the request of Carmen and Dachia, he’d only stunned the crazy people; that was all.

“Sajita?”

He looked at Carmen, who called him and answered.

“Now we have to kill. Kill and kill to get out of this crazy city.”

Sajita looked away from Carmen and to the princess.

“Princess.”

“Yes?”

A madman jumped out and sprinted at Sajita.

“AAAAHHH!”

Crash.

Without hesitation, Sajita swung his shield and crushed their head. Red blood splashed over his helmet. Sajita looked into the princess’s golden eyes and spoke.

“Women, children, and men are just lumps of meat if beaten properly. If you want to live, think of it as stabbing a piece of meat and killing them. I will lead the way.”

Sajita leaped into the approaching crowd, smashing them with shield and spear, paving the way for his companions. Carmen and Dachia clenched their teeth, pulled their swords from their sheathes, and ran after him. As Sajita said, now was not the time to be considerate of these once citizens.

Sajita shouted, kicking down those standing in his way and taking their lives.

“Don’t fall behind!”

Dachia closed her eyes tightly and swung her sword. The feeling of cutting through the flesh of a living creature passed through her hands. The situation was too urgent to be immersed in the shock of her first murder. Dachia once again moved, committing a second murder. And then a third.

The party pierced, pierced, pierced, and pierced through them.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Sajita sprinted on. The gate was right in front of them.

But as he looked back at the way he had made on his own, he noticed a giant was running wild, and a few people gathered in combat. One of them, Marnak, was fighting the rest.

He changed the way he held the spear, not for swinging but for throwing.

Bang.

Using his strong legs as a pillar, he squeezed the strength from his muscles. His body knew how to put it in the spear without wasting a single ounce.

The spear slashed through the air with explosive speed.

***

Clank!

Lieberkel, who had stopped the Butcher again with magic, grinned at me.

“Isn’t there another way? You’re too simple…”

At that moment, Lieberkel’s head exploded. The spear that had blown his head off slammed into the ground.

I was so disconcerted by the sudden attack that I stood still and muttered:

“What the hell…?”