The Priest of Corruption

A bone spear, piercingly white, skewered the shoulder of an Ilech gang member. Sajita swiftly reclaimed his weapon. Clank!

Bone and metal clashed, ricocheting off each other. The outcome was as expected. Sajita hadn't been able to properly grip the hastily swung spear. With calm precision, he swung his left fist. His heavy iron gauntlet shattered the bones in his enemy’s face.

Loud cries echoed from every direction.

“Get the hell out! You bastards!! !”

“Ahhhhhhhh! ! !”

“Ugh!! !”

The overall situation was grim. All the voices belonged to the soldiers. Despite the Kingdom soldiers maintaining a steady formation as per their training, they were vastly inferior to the members of Ilech in terms of skill.

The soldiers dispatched to suppress this location were mostly inexperienced, sent merely to bolster numbers. In contrast, Ilech's agents were the cream of the crop, tasked with extracting Lady Dachia as swiftly as possible. With the added advantage of superior numbers, the tide of battle was inevitably turning in favor of Ilech.

Without Carmen and Sajita, defeat would have been certain. Clank!

A dagger aimed at a gap in Garments armor struck him. The iron plate and metal blade clashed, sending sparks flying. Garments sword sliced through his attacker's throat. “Damn.”

No matter how fiercely he fought, their allies fell faster than their enemies. He was faced with a choice.

Should he prioritize eliminating his enemies at all costs, or focus on protecting the soldiers he had brought with him?

Carmen gritted his teeth. Marnak would undoubtedly be with Lady Dachia. As the commander, he was duty-bound to protect the lives of those he had brought here.

Bang!

Carmen charged forward, his sword swinging wildly. The head of an agent about to strike a soldier from behind was sent flying. Bright red blood splattered across the soldier's face. In the soldier-’s wide, frozen eyes, Carmen saw his own reflection.

A gaze fixed solely on him.

“T-Thank you.”

Carmen made his decision. Lifting his helmet, he pointed behind him and shouted.

“Stay calm, fall back and regroup with the other soldiers!”

“Yes, yes!”

“Listen up, everyone!!!”

His voice echoed throughout the underground arena. At the sound, all eyes - those of Ilech and the Kingdom soldiers alike - turned to Carmen for a moment. He seized that moment to shout.

“Abandon the pursuit of the enemy!!! Close the gaps in our formation and prioritize defense!!!” His declaration to abandon the chase sparked hope in the eyes of the Ilech members.

Now, if they could just escape quickly, they might be able to lay low and resolve the situation.

Carmen extended a gauntlet-clad finger and swiftly pointed at one of his soldiers.

“Commander Trudy, from now on, you are in charge of this place. Prioritize the lives of the soldiers above all else!”

“Yes! ”

Carmen nodded slightly at the confident response, then called out to his friend.

“Sajita!”

Sajita, who had just crushed the head of another Ilech member, turned to look at Carmen. Carmen grinned, revealing his white teeth, and lowered his helmet's faceplate. The black eye sockets of the knight, clad in solid silver full-metal armor, focused on his foes.

“Let's focus on killing them all!”

With his red cloak fluttering, the silver knight charged towards his enemies. Ilech's agents clenched their teeth.

Carmen Baltas was not to be killed. If Carmen Baltas were to be killed on the spot, upon discovering their plot against Lady Dachia, Ilech would be annihilated without a trace.

The kingdom's nobles would be furious. But they couldn't afford to go easy on him either.

Carmen was hit by a stray attack aimed at a gap in his armor. Metals collided, and sparks flew. His armor, made of a single piece of frost steel, could withstand hundreds of such

attacks. He tightened his grip on his sword, the tip of which traced a line across an enemy's throat.

Another head flew. Before the blood had cooled, the silver knight sprinted again, continuing his slaughter.

His sword skills maximized the advantages of the frosted steel armor. The Baltas family's sword techniques, designed for sheet metal armor, were unleashed like a wild dog chasing its prey.

If they went easy on him, they would all die instead. Finally, the agent leading the group shouted.

“I take responsibility! Kill Carmen Baltas....”

The head of the officer who had been shouting exploded. The spear that had shattered the officer's head was lodged in the wall, shaking violently from the remaining force.

Sajita didn't even check the result of his attack. He mechanically threw his spear towards the next target. Another life was claimed by his spear, the body rolling on the floor. Ilech's elite agents died one after another. The remaining agents, still silent, muttered curses under their breath.

“Damn it...” ***

I sprinted down the hallway.

“She's over there! Lady Dachia is over there! Follow them right now!”

My plan to disguise Dachia's face with a mask had worked. But the real problem was elsewhere.

The enemies knew my face as well as Dachia's. Because of this, the pursuers who recognized me immediately knew that the woman next to me was Dachia.

“Stop right there!”

“Haap!”

The sword blade swung and pierced the enemy's chest. There was no time to retrieve the sword. I simply took the sword from the pursuer's hand and shouted at Dachia.

“Don't fall behind! lust keep following me!”

“Yes! ”

'Kill!'

Mother warned of 'three on the left aisle'. I threw the sword in my hand to the left.

“Uh, huh?!”

The pursuer, who had barely managed to deflect the thrown sword with a startled cry, was pierced in the chest. “Dachia!”

I didn't even have time to add the word 'lady'. Even at this moment, enemies were converging on our location. Without a small defense, we couldn't hold them off. If we were completely surrounded, Dachia's life would be in danger.

“Yes! ”

Dachia, who was running beside me, slashed her sword and pierced an enemy's chest. The moment she withdrew her sword from the enemy's chest, two other pursuers charged, swords in hand, as if they didn't care if they hurt her.

Quiet words. The spell that Dachia murmured quickly created a small fireball.

A small explosion erupted in front of us. The explosion burned the pursuer's face. “Aaaaaaah!”

One down. However, another sword still aimed at Dachia's leg and rushed in. I lunged forward, grabbed the man's head, and threw him to the floor.

Bang!

His head, which had struck the stone floor, couldn't withstand my strength and shattered. Meanwhile, Lady Dachia ended the life of the pursuer writhing on the floor, his face seared with pain.

I swiftly picked up two swords lying on the ground and yelled. “Let's go!” “Yes! ”

lust a little further. A little more, and we would reach the secret escape route the demon had given me in case of a crackdown.

We cut down the enemies blocking our path and finally reached the secret exit, soaked in their blood. Dachia let out a brief exclamation.

“Ah.”

The entrance to the secret escape route was already open. And in that narrow corridor, countless pursuers were lying in wait.

Upon confirming our arrival, they all unsheathed their swords simultaneously. “There!" “Lady Dachia is over there!”

The sound of footsteps grew louder. Those chasing us from behind were closing the gap. “W-What do we do?”

I yelled, pulling her into the secret passage.

“Bring down the entrance with the maximum firepower you can muster!!! It's okay if the entire hallway collapses! I'll protect you somehow!!!”

“Yes!!!”

Her golden eyes, filled with unwavering trust, gazed at me. Her lips moved quickly, uttering ancient words, and a massive roar echoed through the passage. Boooooom!

I shielded Dachia, taking the brunt of the flying stone shards on my back. The entrance was completely obliterated. This would stall our pursuers for a while.

The problem was the pursuers ahead, swords at the ready. After a brief retreat from the explosion, they quickly filled the hallway, torches flickering.

“Marnak! If you hand over Lady Dachia, we will pay you more than she promised, no matter the amount! We won't even question the many lives you've taken!” I smirked.

“Lady Dachia promised me gold equal to my weight. Can you offer more than that?” Dachia's eyes, in my arms, trembled violently.

“Priest Marnak?”

The pursuers grinned and shouted.

“Yes! Our client will give you gold that is twice your weight!!!”

I remembered a head rolling on the floor during our escape. The hair of my partner, 'Redhead', stained with bright red dye.

I was irritated. Very much so.

I smiled and lifted Dachia. Along with the scent of dust, the peculiar smell of flesh tickled my nose.

“But come to think of it, I don't believe any gold smells better than this.”

My hand, hidden behind my back, tore through the air. The air split open, and a saw-bladed sword emerged. 'The Butcher' was activated.

Whaaaaaaaang!!!

The grumbling about why I had only just summoned it echoed loudly in the hallway. I released Lady Dachia from my arms and stood tall.

The hallway was narrow, so I didn't need to worry about my back.

“You're all rats in a trap! No matter your strength, victory against these numbers is impossible!” Hoisting the Butcher, I grinned.

“No rat can hang a bell around a cat's neck, especially not a group of rats like you.” “lust kill him!” Bang!

Springing into action, the Butcher roared, as if it had been waiting for this moment. Whaaaaaaang!

The sword that tried to block the Butcher couldn't withstand its rotation and was knocked away. Blood and flesh splattered as the saw blade tore through the enemy's body. Fragments of their organs slid down the narrow wall. Drops of blood trickled down my face.

Suddenly, the hallway fell silent.

I chuckled and whispered.

“Meow.”