Corrupted Priest-Chapter 21

"Reunion (재회)":

As the "Pit of Decay" deactivated, I shot up to the surface along with the corpse of an avatar. My body, partly rotted and barely moving, scanned my surroundings.

I was lying amidst scorched wreckage. It seemed the burning lord's manor had finally collapsed.

While still lying on the ground, I closed my eyes again and sank inward. A number floated into my mind.

[Divinity: 10001]

Divinity, to the Priest of Decay, was akin to skill points. Naturally, it could be used not only to acquire new powers, but also for other purposes—like paying 10,000 Divinity to enhance an existing power.

The most reasonable choice would be to enhance something like Giant of Decay, which had been a great help so far, or Gate of Decay, which I'd been using quite often. Given its nature, upgrading Pit of Decay could wait a bit.

But—I'm sorry, Giant of Decay—I wasn't planning on choosing enhancement at all. There was something I needed to experiment with after acquiring three powers.

In the original game, the Priest of Decay could equip only three powers at once.

No matter how many powers you had, in a single battle, you could only use three.

But did that limit still apply now that this world had become real? I wanted to find out.

"Mother, I offer up my Divinity. Please grant me a new power."

[Divinity: 10001]

[Divinity: 1]

All the Divinity I had painstakingly gathered vanished, and a new power settled into my body. And I realized something:

As I suspected, in this reality, there was no limit to how many powers I could equip—just like how you could wear multiple rings on one hand.

"But, Mother..."

'Murder?'

"What exactly does this new power mean?"

'Murder...?'

Mother answered that she didn't know—she doesn't choose the powers, after all. But somehow, I always ended up with exactly what I needed. Still, I chose to trust her. It wasn't like her to lie over something like this...

I quickly pushed aside the blasphemous thoughts creeping into my heart.

"But isn't this power a bit... too extreme?"

'Murder!'

Mother cheerfully advised me not to worry and to use it freely—but I couldn't just be happy about it.

The new power, "Curse of Decay," was... undeniably, extremely close to evil.

Unlike the previous powers, the Curse of Decay wasn't free to use. Casting a single curse required 100 Divinity. Also, it could only be used on non-living objects of a certain size—something like a rock.

So at first glance, it didn't seem all that useful.

But its true nature revealed itself the moment the cursed object touched the ground.

Just placing a single item imbued with the Curse of Decay on the earth would cast a curse over an entire small city.

A curse that would slowly, painfully rot every living thing.

Food would spoil slightly faster. Every living creature would start to suffer mysterious, slow illnesses. Animals would grow emaciated. Plants would bear less than half their usual fruit.

And the crown jewel of this power?

Any human who died on cursed land would be "harvested" at the moment of death, and their life force would be converted into Divinity, flowing straight into me.

I wouldn't even have to lift a finger to gain Divinity.

But such terrifying power naturally came with many drawbacks.

First, the curse spread very slowly. If the cursed object was destroyed beforehand, the curse would dissipate entirely.

Second, the object constantly emitted a signature Decay energy. In other words, if other priests got close, they could instantly tell that this was the work of an evil god.

And lastly—more important than any of the other flaws—I simply didn't want to use it.

There were probably ways to solve those issues. But I didn't want to find them.

To gain Divinity by making innocent people suffer and wither away? I wanted no part in that.

"Mother, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can use this power."

'Murder!'

Mother responded boisterously that it was up to me. I smiled faintly, still lying on the ground.

"But, can I ask you something?"

'Murder...?'

"That dead avatar over there—there's still an overwhelming amount of another god's Divinity flowing from it. Is there no way for me to collect it? It feels like a waste to just let it all disappear."

From within my immobile body, Mother's hand wriggled out and transformed into a girl in a soft green-patterned black dress, glowing faintly. She skipped over to the avatar's severed head, placed her hand on it, then frowned and groaned for a while.

I watched her struggling and let out a small laugh.

"Mother, if it's not possible, don't force yourself. Please come back."

She scolded me for a bit, then realized her voice didn't reach me. Hugging the avatar's head, she ran back to my side and placed her hand over mine.

'Murder!'

"With just one god's power, she could do something... but this one's infused with too many different divinities tangled together? Then there's nothing to be done, I suppose. Have you seen any orb-shaped relics nearby, by chance?"

'Murder.'

She told me to wait a moment, stood up, tossed aside the avatar's head, and wandered off. As soon as she vanished from view, a strange sense of unease crept in.

Maybe I should've just handled it myself... No, I should have!

Dark thoughts slithered up my spine, coiling around my throat—

'Murder!'

A sharp cry snapped me back to my senses. I barely managed to turn my head and saw Mother extending her hand toward me with a cracked orb in it.

It was no longer a relic, just a broken piece of glass.

A natural question rose in my mind. Why? Why was a relic that sealed Mother's Divinity inside the avatar's body?

What if it wasn't just coincidence?

What if the relic containing Mother's Divinity had been the very catalyst used to create this being known as an avatar?

My head spun. But worse than confusion was the state of my body.

I had taken too many Divinity-infused attacks today. My physical state had reached its limit, far beyond just mental exhaustion.

My barely held consciousness began to blur and slip.

'Murder?!'

I heard Mother's panicked voice and whispered back in a fading voice:

"...Hurry... get back inside me..."

The soft sensation of the bed welcoming my back and the comfort of loose-fitting clothes clung to me, coaxing me to stay asleep a bit longer. Loose-fitting clothes? These weren't my priestly robes?!

"Gasp!"

"You're finally awake!"

I shot up from the bed, grabbed Carmen by the shoulders, and shouted.

"My clothes! Where are my clothes and belongings?!"

"P-please, calm down for a moment, Priest Marnak. I can explain everything one step at a time—"

I had no time for that kind of calm explanation. Because... Mother. I couldn't feel Mother's hand on my person.

"Where are my belongings?! Right now—!"

'Kill!'

From a basket under the bed, I heard Mother's voice. I scrambled to grab her hand from the basket and hugged it tightly.

"I was really scared I'd lost you."

Carmen smiled softly and said to me,

"I figured it must be something special. Others wanted to throw it away, saying it wasn't something a priest would carry, but I kept it separately and brought it here."

'Kill!'

Mother said she almost got cremated along with the other corpses, and I bowed deeply to Carmen.

"Thank you truly. I don't know how I can repay this favor."

Carmen waved her hands as if to say not to even mention it.

"No need for thanks! Without your noble sacrifice, Priest Marnak, I would've died long ago, never making it out of Kelton."

With my heart finally calming down, I started to get a sense of my surroundings.

"By the way, where are we?"

"This is my tent. We're still in Kelton."

A tent?

"How long have I been asleep?"

"It's been a full ten days since the disaster in Kelton."

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Ten days?! Then again, judging by the hustle and bustle beyond the tent, it seemed Kelton was well into the recovery process.

"At first, I was really worried you wouldn't wake up again because of how severe your condition was. But fortunately, the Goddess of Preservation must have watched over you, as your wounds healed rapidly and eased some of our fears."

I moved my lips a few times before carefully asking,

"Were there any other survivors?"

Carmen's smile faded, and she answered with a hardened expression.

"Within Kelton's walls, you were the only one found still breathing, Priest Marnak."

A wave of complex emotions washed over me.

If anyone had survived, they likely would've seen the Giant of Decay fighting the Incarnation, so eliminating any witnesses was the right thing to do. But at the same time, the fact that I couldn't save a single soul despite everything... filled me with sorrow.

'Kill!'

Mother cheered that it was a good outcome, and I gently pressed her palm with my thumb as I asked Carmen,

"So, who's currently in Kelton now?"

Carmen spread her hand and started counting on her fingers.

"First, the lords of the nearest cities sent troops and manpower for reconstruction. Also, some relatives of the Lords of Stren Flcor sent support as well..."

At that moment, a man walked into the tent, pulling aside the curtain with a cane.

"I heard you just woke up."

It was the Lord of Gyus, the so-called "Demon," clanking in with his prosthetic leg. He briefly smiled at me while Carmen had her head turned, then resumed his stern tone.

"If someone's been unconscious for ten days, the first order of business should be feeding them, don't you think?"

Carmen looked at me with an "Oops" expression.

"Ah, I truly lost track of things. You looked so healthy, I got confused. I'll get someone to bring food right away."

I slowly stood and began dressing myself in my priestly robes.

"I'll go get it myself. I'm a bit curious to see what Kelton looks like now."

Carmen exchanged a brief glance with the Demon Lord, then smiled awkwardly at me.

"If you go out yourself, things might get a little... noisy. Are you okay with that?"

"A bit of noise won't bother me."

A bit of construction noise from workers—I could handle that.

But the moment I stepped outside the tent with Carmen, I realized the "noise" she mentioned was nothing like what I expected.

"Enemy of the Evil God!"

Shouts exploded from all directions.

"The 'Enemy of the Evil God,' Priest Marnak, has awakened!"

"He said he's hungry! Someone go get the finest dish ready right now!"

"I told you! The 'Enemy of the Evil God' would surely awaken!"

Surrounded by cheers, I awkwardly turned to Carmen and asked,

"What... is all this?"

Carmen grinned brightly and replied,

"I may have done a little work to spread your heroic reputation."

"No, I mean..."

I tried to say something, but my words were swallowed up by the erupting crowd.

"Woooooo!"

The overwhelming cheering made me feel faint.

Well, of course it did—because I was the actual priest of an evil god.

'Kill!!!'

Mother shouted playfully, calling me the Enemy of the Evil God Marnak!!!, and I pressed her hand down firmly and turned back toward the tent.

"I think I'll just eat inside."

Carmen nodded brightly, genuinely delighted that my fame had spread far and wide.

"I thought you might say that."

Turning back, I walked slowly toward the tent, shaking my head.

Demon Slayer, now Enemy of the Evil God?

These titles were getting heavier and heavier...

And without a care in the world for my feelings, a thunderous shout followed from behind me—

"Long live the Enemy of the Evil God!"