The Priest of Corruption

Futility.

I raised my head slightly, looked in the direction the spear flew from, and saw Sajita leaping back into the crowd of madmen.

So, it was Sajita. I stood there, staring at the headless body. I read somewhere that revenge was futile, but could it really be this pointless? I didn’t want a grand epic, but I didn’t want this either.

Did he really die? With that sudden thought, I reached out and grabbed Lieberkel’s corpse and shouted.

“Mother! I will offer this man’s body to you!”

I prayed as usual, but Lieberkel’s corpse didn’t turn into divinity. As expected, still living things…from Lieberkel’s corpse, a mixture of divinity overflowed.

‘Kill!!!’

Mother screamed to throw it away immediately, but I could never just let go. The Corruption Arts once again pushed my physical abilities to the limit. I calmly turned on the Butcher’s engine, gauging the divinity as it flowed out.

Whaaaaaaaang!

The howling Butcher mutilated Lieberkel’s corpse.

‘Kill!!!’

I wanted to split the body in half, but with the warning that it was now really dangerous, I grabbed Sanctus’ right arm and backed away. The corpse with only a torso floated into the air. Seeing this, the red-haired woman screamed.

“It’s ruined! It’s completely ruined! It’s all ruined! I told him not to fight and just talk!”

Bang!

The purple-haired woman was hit by the giant’s fist, thrown to the floor, and then jumped up and shouted.

“What! I! Didn’t see it! You! What the hell did you do?! Try again! Try again!”

Hundreds of white threads protruded from Lieberkel’s body. The threads stretched like living creatures and began to grope for the corpses nearby. Divinity flowed in each strange, far beyond what an ordinary priest could handle.

‘Kill!’

Mother kept urging me to run away. The red-haired woman was running away, holding the struggling purple-haired woman.

“We have to run! He can’t distinguish friends and foes when he’s like that!”

“Let me go! Let me go! I’ll kill you! I’ll really kill you!”

“Shut up! Seriously!”

I shouted at the Giant of Corruption.

“Throw me that way! And you can go back now!”

I looked at the place where Sajita was in the distance with some concern, but they were surrounded. Once I ensured they couldn’t see me right now, I jumped into the Giant’s hand.

“Gaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

The giant threw me with a roar. The wind blew and whipped against my skin. Once again, the Corruption Arts began to shine a dark green. The red-haired woman was running, and the purple-haired woman seemed to have completely lost it, so it was clear that it would be difficult to expect a proper answer as to what was happening from either of them.

The ground was rapidly approaching.

Bang!

I rolled to minimize the impact. The excruciating pain in my head screamed, please, stop being crazy. Ignoring my brain, I sprinted forward and drew the Butcher. The metal blades roared at the red-haired woman, and I looked into her green eyes and asked.

“What will happen to him?”

The answer came from the wrong place. The purple-haired woman tucked against the red-haired woman’s side shouted.

“Me! Me! I’ll tell you! Huh? Let me tell you!”

The red-haired woman looked disconcerted.

“Why are you trying to babble just because he’s asked? Huh?! Be quiet! Be quiet!”

“But! But! He’s a priest like us! Then, can’t we encourage him to act with us? Lieberkel was the one who didn’t get along with him, and he’s already broken!”

Lieberkel’s body was wriggling as a huge mass of flesh mixed with the corpses. The red-haired woman looked back at me with a strange expression.

“Come to think of it…?”

She shook her head.

“No! There’s no way he would listen to us! You heard rumors about him. He’s been saving a lot of people, and those kinds of guys usually hate us!”

“Still! Still! I! I! I want to try it! I want to try!”

I guess I could listen to what they have to say first and then decide whether I should cut their throats or not. I smiled.

“Then, try to tell me that story of yours.”

With her eyes wide, the red-haired woman’s voice grew bewildered.

“This really worked…?”

“Me! Me! Let me explain! First of all, my name is Pearly! This is Vena!”

The purple-haired woman, Pearly, chattered, hanging to Vena’s side.

“We’re working under Liberatio! The secret society of worshipers of the evil god! You! You! You know the kids you killed last time! In Kelton!”

“Yes.”

“They all belonged to Liberatio too! That’s why we’ve been waiting for you here!”

A secret society of evil god worshipers. To say that those people, who no one could expect solidarity from, made an organization was something absurd. Somewhere I didn’t know, the cogs that moved the world were turning. This must be related to the main quest.

More. I needed more information. The main quest would surely be chaos that swept over the entire world, and to survive, I had to learn as much as possible in preparation.

“How many worshipers of the evil god belong to Liberatio?”

“Hmmm…”

Pearly pondered for a moment, then smiled, revealing her white teeth.

“I don’t know! I don’t know! Vena doesn’t know, either! I’m just here because I can run wild! Vena came because she was told by the upper echelons of her church! I guess Lieberkel knew a bit about it! He was sent directly by Liberatio!”

There was no way that mouthless chunk of meat could give me an answer, so I’d have to ask another question.

“What is the purpose of Liberatio?”

“That I can tell you.”

Vena brushed back her red hair.

“Liberatio’s purpose is very simple. To create a world where no one believes in any god, and no one is persecuted.”

“And that kind of people destroy a city like this?”

It wasn’t even a funny goal. As I looked at the burning city, Vena continued her speech.

“I didn’t really want to do this either. It’s because Lieberkel caused this, saying he had something to collect.”

Lieberkel again?

“Then why did you want to meet me? It looks like you’re trying to get something from me.”

“That’s right. We waited for you to retrieve an item. I don’t know how we got to this point, though.”

“What item are you talking about?”

Vena looked straight into my eyes and said.

“The thing you have. The marble-shaped holy relic embedded in the incarnation’s body.”

Oh, the one sealing Mother’s divinity? That marble had been broken.

“If it’s that marble, it’s already broken.”

“What?! How could such a thing be broken?! Don’t lie! That could never break! Because…”

Vena was about to say something, but she quickly swallowed her words.

I knew why she thought it wouldn’t break. The holy relics were sealed with a part of Mother to maintain their strength so that the seal couldn’t be unsealed by accident.

The vague speculation I made a while ago was right. These worshipers of the evil god were trying to do something with the holy relics sealing Mother’s power. I asked while pretending to be calm.

“Really, the marble is broken, and the remains of it were dumped in Kelton. Could it be the one and only of its kind in your Liberatio?”

“Four! Four! There are four more!”

Before Vena could say anything, Pearly jumped at the chance. They had four?

‘Kill!!!’

Mother furiously squirmed, unleashing her rightful wrath as the master of that sealed power.

“No, how could you tell him everything?!”

“Anyway! Anyway! If he joins us, he’ll know everything! Don’t be too narrow-minded!”

“That’s not certain yet!”

‘Kill!’

Mother warned me that I had to really run away soon. The mixed holy mass was on the verge of being completed into something.

I asked with a smile that seemed as friendly as possible.

“But whose ability drove the citizens into madness?”

Pearly smiled broadly and responded quickly.

“It’s not me! I can’t do that!”

Vena frowned at Pearly.

“Hey! Why do you keep answering him…?”

Swoosh.

Vena’s head rolled. I got pretty much everything I needed. If I had spent more time here, I wouldn’t have had enough time to rescue my colleagues. Without stopping, I swung my Froststeel sword at Pearly’s neck. She calmly reached out one of her hands to block without caring about losing her limb.

I tightened my grip. The Froststeel blade relentlessly cut through Pearly’s hand and made its way toward her neck. But before her neck was cut, Pearly chuckled and said.

“I’ll see you again!”

A new head fell to the ground. I reached out my hand and spoke quickly.

“I will dedicate it to Mother.”

Only the corpse of the red-haired woman turned into divinity and permeated my body.

[Divinity: 3023]

Wasn’t that one dead too? I didn’t know what kind of talent it was, but her silk string was tenacious. As I retrieved the divinity from Vena, the divinity that had spread throughout the city slowly faded. The madmen’s scream ceased, and silence settled over the streets. Now, it was time to find my colleagues.

Of course, I believed they would be alive, and all three were capable enough to protect at least themselves. When I headed to where I saw Sajita last, I found my colleagues sitting on a mountain of corpses, catching their breath. Fortunately, all three survived.

Carmen smiled bitterly at the sight of me.

“Here! Marnak! All of them suddenly collapsed. Did you do this?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, I killed the worshiper of the evil god who created them.”

Sajita, who was sitting still, spoke. Did he notice the fact the Giant of Corruption was helping me? So, should I kill him? I didn’t want to kill him.

“Did my spear help a bit?”

I looked into his eyes, but they didn’t show any emotion. He wasn’t the kind of person to hide his feelings, and I guess I could consider that as a sign he didn’t notice for now.

I replied with a smile.

“It was very helpful. Albeit disconcerting.”

Sajita smiled a little.

“I’m really glad it was helpful to you, Priest.”

“By the way, we must start moving because something really big is about to wake up.”

“What’s waking up?”

At the same time as Carmen’s question, a shout rang from the castle gate.

“Gaaaaaaaaah!!!”

I laughed.

“That.”

The ragged giant slowly rose to his feet. Several human corpses were mixed with the giant’s body, and each was alive and wriggling.

I quickly reached out and pulled Dachia up. She had just been looking at the corpses she had created before, gloomy.

“Princess Dachia! I will work hard to comfort you after this work is over, so you need to return to your senses!”

Dachia looked at my desperate expression and smiled.

“How are you going to comfort me?”

“We’ll think about that later! We have to earn some time to save those still alive. It’s okay if you don’t help; just move!”

Carmen asked.

“Someone will come if we earn some time?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

Lieberkel was playing with corpses like that, so there was no way he couldn’t have known.

“Um…”

Sajita carefully opened his mouth.

“Yes?”

“It seems…they are already here.”

When I turned my head to look at the ragged giant made of living corpses, countless dead were climbing his body. The ragged giant roared.

“Gaaaaaaaah!!!”

The dead persistently bit scratched and attacked the ragged giant.

I found him standing in the middle of the scene of that fierce battle. A pure white mask, black clothes dragging behind him. A silent trumpet.

The Trumpeter of Rest raised the white trumpet and began to play a silent funeral song.