The Priest of Corruption

A sleek silver fuselage streaked across the snowfield. Its lower half was akin to a metallic horse, while the upper half morphed into a human torso clad in silver armor. The knight’s right arm was shaped like a lance.

[Return it now! You mere cultists dare to covet my possessions! That item will grant me Immortalium!]

“Tsk."

Kirna, a woman with sky-blue hair, clicked her tongue in annoyance as she touched the ground.

“Stuck Ice!"

A towering wall of ice surged up between Kirna and Aurelius. Unfazed, he quickened his four-legged pace.

[Don’t assume this cheap trick will halt me!]

Craack!

The silver lance, wielded by a hefty metallic body, collided with the ice wall. Unable to withstand the impact, the wall shattered. Kirna let out a scream.

“This is insane! Absolutely insane!"

Upon removing the golden shell, the true form of the Golden Man was revealed - a being made of froststeel. Somehow, they had managed to snatch the box delivered by their command from among the boxes he was carrying. However, as soon as the Golden Man realized the box was missing, he transformed into a half-human, half-horse creature and began pursuit.

“How much longer? Pm going to die at this rate!"

I

Rhutum, a brown-haired man, shouted back.

“lust hold on! A little longer! Somehow!"

“That’s easy for you to say! Hey, Felm! You should do something too!"

[None of you are capable of anything!]

With a wild bellow, Aurelius hoisted his lance once more and charged through the snow.

“Pm ready."

Felm, the man in question, stomped his feet.

Beneath Aurelius’ galloping, horse-like form, shadows writhed. They latched onto his ankles, not particularly strong, but enough to cause him to lose his balance during his all-out sprint.

The silver, half-human, half-horse knight skidded across the snow. A cheer erupted from Kirna.

“Good job, Felm! PH give you a kiss after it’s finished! Oh, Stuck Ice!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ice pillars erupted around Aurelius before he could regain his footing. Blue light radiated from the base of the pillars, spreading over the earth and entrapping him.

“Freeze him!"

The temperature within the boundary created by the pillars plummeted. The intense chill of the Stuck Ice power seeped into Aurelius’ body. A white frost coated his silver form, freezing his joints in place.

Aurelius gritted his metal teeth and shouted.

[What a cheap trick!]

He amplified his control over the metal comprising his body. His current form was limited in size due to a shortage of froststeel, but his core could manipulate even larger quantities of metal with remarkable precision.

Bang!

His frozen back foot kicked the ground forcefully, disrupting the line. Aurelius, escaping from the icy realm in an instant, hurled his lance.

[I will kill the most annoying one first! You!]

The sharp tip of the lance targeted Kirna. She cried out in alarm.

“W-Why! Why am I the first target?"

“It’s done! Kirna, get down!"

Kirna ducked, and from behind her, a white caterpillar erupted from the snow-covered ground. The ‘Intestinal Worm’ spat out the acid it collected from the ground at Aurelius.

Hissss.

[Aaaaaaaaah!]

Aurelius, who had remained silent in his pain until now, finally let out a scream and collapsed onto the ground. Rhutum grinned, satisfied with the effectiveness of the Intestinal Worm.

“Did you really think we wouldn’t have a plan for you Golden People? Especially knowing you’re the Merchant Lord? How naive."

Intestinal Worms were creatures that spat acid capable of melting metal when threatened. The Golden People, upon contact with this acid, experienced excruciating pain, making these creatures their most despised enemies.

“Couldn’t you have acted quicker? I genuinely thought I was going to die!"

Kirna straightened her posture and shouted at Rhutum, who hastily wiped the smirk off his face and scratched the back of his head.

“You’re aware that Intestinal Worms can’t produce that much acid, and they don’t inhabit cold regions. Not everyone can manipulate them like that, alright?"

“Why are you making such lame excuses? You’re embarrassing yourself."

Kima’s biting words made both the Intestinal Worm and Rhutum shake their heads.

“That was a bit harsh..."

[Uuugh...]

The silver helmet had already lost its form and was beginning to melt. The Golden People were particularly susceptible to the pain caused by the Intestinal Worms’ acid, as they rarely experienced pain.

Kirna looked down at Aurelius, a wicked smile playing on her lips.

“Hey, Rhutum."

“Huh? What is it?"

“Tell your little friend next to you to spit a bit more. He’s not squirming enough."

She wanted to see the Golden Man squirm a bit more as he attempted to crawl away.

“It’s not saliva he spits, it’s acid, and it’s impossible to produce it at will in this low temperature. If you want to kill the Golden Man, just extract his core and..."

“Oh, shut up! If I tell you to do it, just do it!"

“Okay..."

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Gaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

A colossal giant tore through the snow, letting out a deafening scream. Kima’s eyes widened in shock as she watched the Giant of Corruption burst through the treeline.

“W-What the hell is that?! Nobody said anything about this! Rhutum, do something! If you can handle this, I might even give you a kiss!"

Rhutum responded immediately.

“To take that thing down, we’d have to recall all the guys we sent to kill the survivors. Is that what you want?"

“We’re in danger here! What kind of question is that?! Hurry up! And where the hell is Pearly?! That nutjob! Felm, cover me! I’ll try to stop it! Oh, Stuck Ice!"

A wall of pristine white ice shot up, but the Giant of Corruption didn’t even flinch. Its massive form soared over the ice wall like a bird. Kima’s mouth fell open at the sight of such agility, which seemed impossible for a creature of its size.

“T-That’s insane..."

The Giant of Corruption landed magnificently and let out a roar at the evil god worshipers.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

As the three of them stood frozen in fear, the Giant of Corruption charged at the evil god worshippers. The giant clenched its fist, lust before it could crush them, Kirna grabbed Felm’s forearm and yelled.

“Shadow! Use the shadow now!"

“Got it."

Bang!

The giant’s fist slammed into the ground just a split second after they disappeared. The evil god worshipers emerged from the shadows beneath the nearby trees a moment later.

“Whoa! I really thought we were goners! Rhutum! How far are the snow bats and the Capels?"

“They’ll be here soon!"

“Gaaaaaaaaaah!’’

Having found the evil god worshipers, the giant roared.

“Rhutum! Felm!"

“Yes!"

“Yeah."

Kirna rolled up her sleeves and smiled, revealing rows of pearly-white teeth.

“I’m going to try a bigger one, so stall him!" *

“Gaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

When I arrived, the battle between the Giant of Corruption and the evil god worshipers was heating up. Dozens of snow bats rushed at the giant, scratching its skin. Meanwhile, a

group of Capels moved to attack the giant’s legs.

Yeah, it wasn’t exactly heated. The Giant of Corruption was being beaten unilaterally after being outnumbered. Although he struggled and resisted, the horde of nimble monsters

wasn’t easily countered.

I hid behind a tree and whispered to Dachia.

“Can you move?"

“Wait."

Dachia, shuffling out of my arms, stood under her own power and smiled.

“Now I can."

She leaned out from behind the tree, grasped the situation, and asked in a low voice.

“But shouldn’t we be helping him? It’s so pitiful to see him beaten so one-sidedly."

“I want to help too, but..."

I pointed.

“Look over there."

There was Aurelius with his plating torn off. Dachia checked the Golden Man and nodded.

“I understand why you didn’t go to help right away. But what now? At this rate, the giant will be beaten."

To fight alongside the Giant of Corruption in front of Aurelius was nothing more than a confession to him saying, ‘I am an evil god worshiper.’

“It looks like Aurelius is trying to do something, so let’s hide here and watch the situation for now."

“Okay."

As soon as Dachia sat next to me, Aurelius jumped up and angrily shouted.

[Damn evil god worshipers!!! I’m going to really kill you all!]

I was unsure of what had transpired, but Aurelius was visibly irate. He sprang up, morphing into a silver metal centaur, and galloped across the snow. His extended hand morphed into a lance.

At the end of his charging lance stood two men and a woman. They were likely the worshippers Pearly had mentioned.

The woman with blue hair furrowed her brows.

“Damn it, why does he recover so quickly? I don’t care who, but someone needs to stop him! He’s charging straight at me! I need to use this on the giant, not him!"

“I’ll attempt something!"

The brown-haired man gestured, and some of the snow bats attacking the giant shifted their focus to Aurelius.

Aurelius, seething with rage, traversed the snowfield at a breakneck pace. A mass of silvery metal on his left arm flowed across his body to his right, covering the tip of his lance. It expanded to match his body size.

[I’m going to kill you!]

The snow bats fluttered in his path, but they couldn’t withstand the force of the lance. They were reduced to bloody smears on the Golden Man. As the worshippers shifted their attention to the enraged merchant, the Giant of Corruption extended its arms.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

It hurled what it held directly towards me.

Bang!

A bright red chunk soared through the air, landing beside the tree where I was hidden. It was the crushed remains of several snow bats. Why would it do that?

‘Kill!!!’

Mother’s voice echoed in my head. I sprang up, sifting through the mangled chunks of flesh, and soon discovered something. I extracted the object and dusted it off.

“T-This is..."

A copper-colored metal necklace, the fourth holy relic in Aurelius’ possession, was snatched from the bats by the giant.

“Gaaaaaaaaaah! ! !’’

Despite sustaining deep wounds all over, the Giant of Corruption roared with a profound sense of satisfaction, as if it had achieved something significant. Its gaze was directed right at me, and it trusted me.

“Yes, this time."

“Mother, this belongs to you. I will return it to you here and now."

‘Kill!’

A dark green light radiated from the coppery metal necklace, seeping into both my body and Mother’s hands.

[Divinity: 13379]

Ten thousand divinity. It was a quantity that could either grant me a new power or enhance an existing one.

“Gaaaaaaaaah..."

The giant’s voice began to fade. I held onto Mother’s hand.

“Mother, I will enhance an existing power this time."

‘Kill!’

She wanted to know which power I planned to enhance.

“Of course, the power I will enhance is..."