Corrupted Priest-Chapter 30

As usual, I had fled the city in a panic driven by baseless fear. In the wilderness, I ran into a gang of bandits. I managed to outrun them, but I lost my way in the mountains.

Not knowing a single thing about how to find food in the winter mountains, I kept walking, dragging along this still-functioning body. I kept heading east, where the sun rose, hoping to eventually come across a road people used.

I starved, then starved again, and starved some more.

Eventually, even this supposedly tireless body collapsed. Just before I lost consciousness in the blizzard, I saw a faint light.

That's how Sanctus saved me.

He was a man somewhere between middle-aged and elderly. He was just the right mix of cheerful and serious.

When I barely came to, he jokingly said he had almost removed my body without charging a fee. He didn't ask me anything. He just told me to stay as long as I needed.

He was a priest of the goddess of preservation, and also the caretaker of a cemetery outside the city.

Honestly, when I learned he was a priest, I considered running away immediately. But of course, I couldn't resist the free food and warm bed, so I stayed.

Once I was somewhat better, I started helping him with handling corpses. It all began because I felt guilty just eating and resting without doing anything in return.

While working, I eventually asked him casually:

Why did you save me?

He smiled gently and answered:

"I just felt like it."

That smile lodged itself deep in my heart.

Sanctus always helped others, again and again and again. He constantly said that you don't need a reason to help people. I wanted to be like him.

And slowly, I became more like him.

Winter came again. A peaceful year had passed. I started to think that maybe continuing to live like this wouldn't be so bad. I genuinely believed that.

Then one day, while clearing the snow as usual, I found a man collapsed on the ground. Like me the winter before, he was on the verge of death.

I saved him, just like Sanctus had saved me.

But I never should have saved that damn magician bastard.

That damn magician bastard accepted my help with a smile, recovered, and then confessed that he was a worshipper of an evil god—before tearing me apart with his magic.

That's how I died. Or so I thought.

When I came to, a hand was gently stroking my cheek. The same hand I had locked away in my inventory—I didn't know how it had gotten out.

And then I saw the result of what I had done.

Sanctus' corpse, torn to shreds.

It was all my fault. If I hadn't saved that damn magician bastard, Sanctus would still be alive.

I buried his remains and took his priest's robes, storing them in the now-vacant slot of my two-slot inventory.

I needed power. In this world, peace was only granted to those strong enough to protect it.

Mercy, too, was something only the worthy deserved.

Only the hand that had slipped out of the inventory trembled with sorrow and concern for me. Looking at that hand, I remembered the profession I had long avoided.

Priest of Decay.

I had a way to become stronger.

And so, I accepted myself as a Priest of Decay.

WHIIIIIIIRRRR!!!

With no hesitation, I swung the Butcher's Blade, pouring nothing but pure killing intent into it.

"Whoa there! Careful!"

With Riverkel's shout, holy power stirred. Black shadows grabbed at my limbs. Shadows? Please.

I braced my legs harder. Tearing through the shadows with brute force, I swung the Butcher again, craving the enemy's blood.

"Die!"

Riverkel grinned, flashing his white teeth. He stomped his right foot and shouted:

"Scales of Retribution!"

A hammer of pure white light came crashing down on my head—the divine spell Hammer of Judgment, a holy power wielded by priests of the Church of Reform.

The light struck me hard. A heavy divine shock coursed through my entire body.

"Gah."

I coughed up blood. Barely regaining balance, I saw Riverkel smiling even wider as he spoke.

"Now that I look closer, the divine energy on you doesn't come from the goddess of preservation. But that blessing on your robes is functioning properly, so..."

He chuckled and continued:

"You're a fellow worshipper of an evil god, aren't you?"

That son of a bitch.

"Shut up!"

"Did I hit a nerve?"

"I said shut up! Mother!"

The air twisted. The space tore open, and a massive giant of decay fell through.

–GAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

I revved up the Butcher's Blade again. The metal teeth spun at high speed.

Today, I will kill that ungrateful, damn magician bastard.

Riverkel looked up at the Decay Giant and laughed.

"Wow. That's a fun divine ability. Since my left arm slot's free, I'll just take yours!"

I didn't need to answer. I sprang forward straight toward Riverkel. The Gate of Decay glowed brighter than ever, pouring power into me.

The spinning sawblade tore through the air, becoming a line meant to devour Liverkel.

"I really like you! Seriously!"

The woman with violet hair—whose body had clearly been split in two just moments ago—intervened between me and Liverkel, stretching out her arm.

Blood and flesh were shredded. She had blocked the Butcher with a sacrificed arm, yet wore a beaming smile.

"You and I—"

"Get out of the way!"

WHRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I lopped off her head and charged straight at Liverkel. As I lunged, he smiled and pointed behind me.

Something pulled me back from behind. I gave up on cutting Liverkel and spun on my planted foot, shredding whatever had grabbed me. A mess of blood and flesh, tangled with strands of violet hair, scattered through the air.

"Hot-blooded! I love it!"

From behind Liverkel, the violet-haired woman peeked her head out again with a radiant grin.

"How many of me will you get through, I wonder? I'm so curious! Seriously!"

They were taking their time and enjoying this—but I wasn't alone here.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The steps of the Giant of Decay shook the earth.

—RRRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

The roaring giant swung its fist down to crush Liverkel and the woman. As Liverkel muttered something low under his breath, a violet barrier intercepted the giant's blow.

KRAAANG!

The thin veil shattered like paper, but the two of them quickly retreated to safety.

The red-haired woman, who had been watching us in a daze, suddenly shouted:

"If we're all worshippers of evil gods, can't we just talk this out? Huh? Let's just take what we need and be done!"

"No! Never! No way! Do you know how long I've waited for him?"

Liverkel grinned at her outburst and answered.

"I'd be down for that, but this guy? He's not gonna go along with it. Right?"

I silently gripped the Butcher. The vibration of the spinning saw calmed my fury.

He was right.

Tonight, I will kill Liverkel. No matter what.

"Let's go."

BOOM!

At my call, the Giant of Decay let out a ferocious roar and charged.

—RRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

THUD!

A man rolled across the ground after being struck by Sagitta's club. Dakea looked at the fallen man with trembling eyes.

"He's not dead... right?"

Sagitta glanced at the man and answered briefly:

"Not yet."

SMACK!

A woman collapsed after being struck on the head by Carmen's sheathed sword. He looked momentarily guilty, then quickly shouted:

"Let's move—head to the lord's castle!"

Everything had happened so suddenly.

The moment the violet veil enveloped the city, some of the citizens went berserk. Those they injured also went mad. The chaos erupted all at once, swallowing the entire city.

The group had just been unpacking at the inn when the mob of lunatics began tearing through the city. They quickly grabbed their gear and rushed out. They first tried to escape the city, but waves of lunatics blocked every path, forcing them to change course and head toward the lord's keep.

Dakea swung her sheathed sword. Her sharp blow sent a madman tumbling.

Just a little more—they were almost at the inner castle.

"Uh...?"

But what Dakea saw when she finally reached the keep was despair.

A broken gate. Blood and flesh smeared across the ground and walls. Madness hadn't just struck the common folk.

Sagitta stared at the shattered gates with a blank expression. He slung his club back to his waist and drew a spear.

Per Carmen and Dakea's earlier requests, they had only been knocking people unconscious. That ended now.

"Sagitta?"

He looked back at Carmen and said:

"We have to kill them now. Kill and keep killing until we break free of this insane city."

Then he turned to the noblewoman.

"My lady."

"Yes?"

A lunatic charged at Sagitta with a wild scream.

"RAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

THUD.

Without hesitation, Sagitta swung his shield and crushed the madman's head. Blood sprayed across his helmet. He looked into the princess's golden eyes and said:

"Woman, child, man—none of it matters. Beat them hard enough, and they're just meat. If you want to live, stab the meat. I'll lead the way."

He dashed forward into the mob of madmen, smashing through them with shield and spear.

Carmen and Dakea clenched their teeth, drew their swords, and followed close behind. As Sagitta had said, there was no room left for mercy toward those who had once been citizens.

Sagitta kicked away an oncoming lunatic and stabbed another through the neck, shouting:

"Don't fall behind!"

Dakea shut her eyes tightly and swung her sword. She could feel the sickening sensation of slicing through living flesh. But the urgency of the moment left no time to dwell on her first kill. She swung again—her second kill. And again—a third.

The group pushed forward, and pushed again. Killing every lunatic that stood in their way.

"Haaah!"

Sagitta cut down another and charged forward. The gate was now just ahead.

Through the gap he had made, he saw them—a rampaging giant, several people, and in the center of it all, Marnak holding his own.

He shifted his grip on the spear—not to thrust, but to throw.

THUD.

With his legs as pillars, he poured every ounce of muscle into the motion. His body knew the way—to send the spear with zero wasted energy. And he followed that instinct.

The spear in Sagitta's hand tore through the air at explosive speed.

CRACK!

Liverkel blocked the Butcher with magic, then chuckled at me.

"Don't you have anything new? You're so predictable—"

At that moment, Liverkel's head exploded. The spear that burst it hung quivering, embedded in the ground.

I was so dumbfounded I stood frozen, muttering:

"What the hell just...?"