The Priest of Corruption

Dozens of figures, shrouded in black cloth, sprinted from their positions, ignoring the orders to halt. Carmen, confident and commanding, quickly realized the situation had taken

an unexpected turn. He had witnessed a crackdown on such illegal arenas before, but then, as soon as the Kingdom-’s soldiers approached, everyone would freeze, sitting down in

compliance.

The crackdown on illegal arenas was a ceremonial event, symbolizing the northern Kingdom’s refusal to officially recognize the existence of underground arenas where people fought

to the death. Even apprehended citizens could be released upon paying a small fine. The forty soldiers were brought in merely to expedite administrative work.

‘This is strange. Very strange.’

Carmen thought, trying to make sense of the situation.

“Stop those fleeing immediately! Disarm the ones in black cloth! Otherwise, I will pass judgment here in the name of Her Majesty the Queen!”

“Fuck you!”

Came the defiant response.

The evil god worshippers, who had planned to bid farewell to the accursed northern kingdom capital by day’s end, had no intention of stopping, even if the queen herself appeared.

Conversely, the agents of Ilech, a group of black-clothed individuals who had to continue living in the capital, were genuinely perplexed.

“W-Why is there a crackdown on the illegal arena now?! Why are the Kingdom Soldiers here?!”

They were unaware that Setian had suddenly created an opportunity to free Carmen.

Carmen’s decision was swift amidst the frozen group and the fleeing one.

“You! Everyone but ten, follow me!!! Pursue the fugitives...”

“No! ! ! ”

“What?”

Marnak, having evacuated his opponent, ‘Redhead,’ interrupted Carmen’s orders. With his black mask on and his top off, he maintained a low voice, feigning a different identity.

Carmen frowned and demanded. “Explain quickly! People are escaping. Why did you stop me?”

Marnak had heard correctly. As they entered, they had shouted, ‘'Find Lady Dachia!’ If Carmen left with fewer soldiers, they would surely harm the remaining ones and pursue Dachia and himself.

He quickly pointed to the black-clothed figures and shouted, “They came here to kidnap Lady Dachia!!!”

“What? Are you saying that the lady is here? Why the hell?”

Carmen was unaware of Dachia and Marnak’s whereabouts, and Marnak spat out lies without hesitation.

“I don’t know!!!”

“Is that true?”

As Carmen questioned, the spectators in the stadium began to respond to the ‘Human Butcher’s’ words. If things went well, they might avoid the Kingdom’s army crackdown while battling the black-clothed figures.

“I-I heard it too! I heard them screaming to find Lady Dachia!”

“I-I heard it too!”

“Me too!!!”

Carmen pointed his sword at the black-clothed figures.

“Are those words true? Did you dare to commit crimes against the Irmel family in this country?!!! Answer me!”

The agents of ‘Ilech’ realized that things had gone terribly wrong.

“Damn!!! Everyone spread out!!!”

They scattered, fleeing from the kingdom’s army, their regular training kicking in as they searched for Lady Dachia hidden somewhere.

Carmen’s forty men were now outnumbered by Ilech’s forces. Gritting his teeth, Carmen barked out orders.

“Forget those who escaped first! Draw your weapons and drive them off! Kill if you must! Sajita, handle them as you see fit!”

Sajita nodded silently, drawing a single spear. His muscles twitched, ready to spring into action.

Crack!

“What the!”

A spear whistled through the air, crushing the skull of one of Ilech’s agents who was about to flee. The spear, still brimming with power, slammed into the wall.

“Attack everyone!”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! ! !”

At Carmen’s command, Ilech’s forces and the kingdom’s army clashed.

Having witnessed the chaos, Marnak quickly retreated to his waiting room.

***

Bang!

Bursting into the waiting room, I found Lady Dachia, sword in hand, a nervous expression on her face.

Had she rushed here as soon as the chaos erupted? Her presence saved me the trouble of searching for her.

She seemed somewhat relieved when she saw it was me who had entered.

“P-Priest Marnak. What’s happening outside?”

As I quickly changed my clothes, I replied.

“The kingdom’s army and our pursuers are clashing. The evil god worshippers we saw earlier are heading towards the demon. We need to focus on escaping. We don’t know how many are targeting you, Lady Dachia.”

There was no response. A sense of unease washed over me. I paused in dressing and turned to Dachia. Her face was flushed, her gaze fixed on my unclothed form. After ensuring her safety, I hurriedly finished dressing.

Once properly attired, I donned my black robe and spoke.

“I shouldn’t have changed here. Please accept this.”

Dachia snapped back to reality and accepted the mask I offered.

“T-This? This is your mask.”

“Your hair and eyes are too conspicuous. Anyone could recognize you as Lady Dachia.”

Understanding my point, Dachia quickly put on the mask. The relic mask, composed of hundreds of pieces, molded perfectly to her face.

“Let’s take the emergency escape route the demon showed us...”

“Find Lady Dachia! The situation is urgent! Kill all who are not her!”

“W-Who are you?!”

“Kill them all! Ugh!”

The sound of heavy footsteps and the clash of gladiators and pursuers echoed from another waiting room.

Was this a diversion? They wouldn’t attack from just one direction.

I had brought the ‘Butcher’ from my inventory as a precaution, but using it here would alert all pursuers to our location due to the noise.

I hastily grabbed a sword from the waiting room and shouted to Dachia.

“We’ll make a direct frontal assault! Don’t call me by name from now on!”

“Yes! ”

She drew her pure white Bone Sword, ready to follow my lead.

‘Kill!’

‘They’re coming!’ Mother warned. The sound of approaching footsteps grew louder. I calmly drew my sword and waited.

“You search the rooms in this hallway! I’ll search that one!”

“Yes!!!”

The sound of footsteps split. Were there two or three coming this way?

The soft patter on the stone floor indicated they were well trained. I held my breath.

“This room! The door is open....”

Whoosh.

A sharp sword skewered the head of a man in a black mask. I tightened my grip on my sword. The sword, still lodged in the man’s brain, swung towards the next masked figure. The pursuer was calm, attempting to parry my attack.

A bright spark erupted. Choosing to deflect my sword was a fatal mistake. I capitalized on it.

Clank!

The pursuer, unable to withstand the force of my sword, dropped his weapon. Seizing the opportunity, I swung my left fist, striking him. His head burst.

One remained. Even as his companions fell, the last pursuer calmly sought an opening, lunging at me.

lust as I was about to counterattack, a small flame bloomed in front of the pursuer’s eyes, searing them.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Ahhhh!!!”

The white Bone Sword pierced the pursuer’s neck. Dachia withdrew her sword and turned to me.

“I did well, right?”

She had just killed a man and was asking if she had done well. She had changed significantly since our first meeting when she had never killed before. I wasn’t sure if this change was good or bad, but one thing was clear.

I smiled.

“You did very well.”

This change was certainly beneficial for our survival here.

“Let’s move quickly towards the emergency exit.”

“Yes! ”

As we sprinted down the corridor, she voiced her concern.

“But the evil god worshippers went to confront the demon. Will she be alright?”

She barely spoke when we were around, yet she seemed worried now that we were mere acquaintances.

“She’ll be fine. Killing a demon as ancient as her is no easy task.”

Instead, she should worry about the evil god worshippers who dared to enter a room with a demon inside.

***

Crack.

The demon’s white teeth voraciously devoured the head of an evil god worshipper.

“F-Fuck!”

As the woman stomped her feet, the evil god responded to the priest. Dark shadows rose, halting the toothy tentacles protruding from the back of Writhing Curiosity.

“No one warned us that the Godmother of the arena is a demon!!!”

The demon replied with a grin.

“You should’ve asked. Had you done so, I would have kindly answered.”

“Shut up! Demon!!!”

A pure white ice spear was launched at the demon’s head. The demon slowly extended her hand, her palm clenched, her eyeless head protruding, and her mouth opening.

Gulp.

Her teeth swallowed the ice spear as if sipping a cold drink.

“T-The attack doesn’t work?!”

A voice echoed in confusion. Talan, the man leading the evil god worshippers, spoke softly.

“Everyone, stay calm! She’s a ‘demon’! Once she exhausts her resources, she’ll be just a woman! We’ll engage in a war of attrition! You, and you! Search for the holy relic!”

Normally, they would have protested against a nobody giving orders, but the sight of the writhing tentacles silenced them. On the contrary, his calm voice in such a situation was somewhat soothing.

The demon, the black eyes of Writhing Curiosity, curved softly.

“True, I can’t use my strength when I run out of ‘rewards’ to offer. But did you know? I anticipated guys like you would come, so I prepared everything.”

Crash!

A tentacle smashed the wall. The evil god worshippers were stunned by what they saw inside.

“T-That’s insane!”

Corpses, they were corpses. The bodies of those who had perished in the underground arena. The corpses were eerily fresh, as if they had just died.

Thousands of tentacles from the demon’s back penetrated the bodies of the corpses.

She spoke slowly, grinning. The bewitching mole on her face danced with delight.

“You did well to enter my ‘room.’ Let’s have some fun.”

***

“The divinity of an evil god...”

A woman with blue eyes, strolling down the street, vanished in an instant.