The Priest of Corruption

THE FALL.

Cornu left while I moved quickly back into the mercenary guild.

“P-priest Marnak! What the hell is going on?”

“Don’t move a single step from here; stay still!”

“Eh?! What’s happening…?”

I only half-heard Erin’s answer before running into my room. I grabbed my Froststeel sword and headed straight for the room where the Reformation priests were staying.

“Mother is it here?!”

‘Kill!’

Did they take the holy relic with them? I turned around without hesitation and returned to the first floor. Erin was looking out the door, but then she heard me coming and shouted urgently.

“P-priest! A mo-monster! A monster! A monster is in the middle of the city!”

I couldn’t believe she hadn’t run away. There would be less trouble this way.

“What are we going to do?”

I hugged Erin just like that.

“Priest Marnak?!”

“Where is it?”

I stormed out of the mercenary guild with her in tow.

“Eh?”

“Where’s the doctor in charge of Pierre’s treatment? Please guide me there right now!”

I couldn’t let the life I barely saved die in vain during this disturbance.

“Save me!”

“Get out of the way! Don’t slow me down!

“Aaaahhh!”

Tangled crowds screamed out. The city was swallowed by chaos.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

The huge demon ran wild, destroying everything in its path. The places where the demon had passed were filled with fresh gore and debris. On top of the demon’s head, a man in white armor raised a hammer and shouted.

“Hammer of Punishment!!!”

A huge battle hammer shone with pure white light. Obs grabbed the raised hammer with one hand and slammed it down.

“Die, you filthy being!”

As soon as the battle hammer hit the demon’s head, a huge light hammer fell from the sky. The demon groaned in pain.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

The giant black demon struggled, and many people have swept away and crushed. Blood. More blood. Red blood. The flesh of innocent people. Despair. Fear. Chaos.

Guise was falling apart.

“Erin!”

“Yes, yes?”

“Come on, to where Pierre is!”

Erin pointed in a direction. I started sprinting down the road. Mother was silent even though I was holding Erin because she knew how serious it was.

“Priest Marnak! There! Over there!

Pierre’s place was near where the demon was currently running, and the door was already open.

“Pierre!”

Blood was flowing down the floor, and the owner of the place had already died. Taking advantage of the confusion, two men robbing the people inside looked at me with startled expressions.

Garbage. Garbage beyond redemption.

“W-who?!”

Without hesitation, I pulled out the Froststeel sword with one hand and swung at the neck of the nearest man. Shaking the blood off the sword, I grabbed the other one’s head and slammed it into the wall. His head split open, and blood splattered.

“Pierre!”

Fortunately, Pierre was lying unconscious in his bed, bandaged all over. I sheathed the sword and carried him out.

“Hold on tight! I can’t hold you with both hands anymore!”

With Erin hugging my neck tightly, I ran towards Guise’s front gates. The streets were overcrowded, with citizens fleeing in an attempt to survive. The people who fell while running were crushed to death by the crowd.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

The demon shook his head while roaring. It would be too late if I went down this tight road. I looked around for another path. Fortunately, I noticed a low roof that I could jump to. My judgment was quick, and my body moved almost as fast. Erin screamed with a sudden motion.

“Kyaaah!”

I jumped from roof to roof and ran to the nearest gate. The west gate, when I finally arrived, was crowded just like the streets.

“P-priest! There’s a secret passage I know!”

“Where is it?”

“You can go that way!”

Following Erin’s guidance, we arrived at a small building.

“We can get out of Guise through the basement passageway! But the door is locked.”

“Alright!”

After I kicked the door, it fell with a hefty thump that kicked up plenty of dust. Running down to the basement, I dropped Pierre and Erin off in front of the passage.

“If things get any worse, just run away.”

“P-priest, what about you?”

“I’m going back.”

Having secured the safety of my acquaintances, it was time to save those I didn’t know. Erin tried to tell me something, but I ran out of the building without listening.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

A hammer of pure white light fell from the sky again. The demon let out a pained scream, shaking his head. Obs held onto the white sword lodged in the demon’s head and resisted its attempts to shake him free.

“Hammer of Punishment!!!”

A man with a horn on his head rushed toward the demon’s legs. A similar shining hammer hit its foot. Another light hammer fell, but Cornu’s was definitely smaller than that of Obs’. Of course, that meant the blow’s power was weaker, too.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

Cornu couldn’t escape the demon’s hand. The one-horned man flew in the air and smashed into a wall. Seeing that, I ran to his fallen form.

“Priest Cornu!”

Climbing over the ruins of the building and calling his name, I heard a voice creeping out from under the rubble.

“Priest Marnak, here….”

Cornu’s condition after being hit was disastrous. His armor turned into chains that now imprisoned him, stained bright red by the blood flowing through the gaps. I grabbed the half-smashed Cornu and asked.

“Where is the other priest?”

Petina was nowhere to be seen. Cornu managed to gather enough strength to spit out a few words.

“Petina…is dead.”

“The demon! Is there any way to kill him?!”

“Yes. Another relic we brought…that’s with priest Obs now…the white sword that he put in the demon’s head…if that sword penetrates the thick skin and pierces the fiend’s brain, the demon will die….”

Cornu, who squeezed his last strength out to utter those words, died then and there. I put my hand on his head and closed his eyes.

“Dear Mother of Corruption, take this guy back.”

With a gentle prayer, Cornu’s body decayed in seconds, leaving only his crushed armor. He was a two-fingers-worth man and became a hundred divinity for me. With roughly all the information I needed, it was time to stop that wild demon.

I left the building and pulled out the Froststeel sword.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

The demon was still running around.

“Hammer of Punishment!!!”

Hanging onto the demon’s head, Obs swung his hammer repeatedly. Upon closer observation, I discovered that the hammer was hitting the handle of the white sword, not actually the demon’s head. That must be the holy sword that could kill a demon.

The huge body crashed into the buildings in its way. The earth shook violently under its frenzied stride while I calmly watched for an opportunity.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

The moment when the demon moved around the corner, I jumped out and clung to his leg with my sword in hand.

My body shook violently with each swing of the demon’s foot. But bit by bit, I climbed the demon’s legs and ascended to his head.

“Hammer of Punishment!!!”

The hammer of light fell once again with a violent roar.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

The world turned upside down. The demon began rolling around the floor with its gigantic body. It was clear that if I stayed like this, I would be crushed completely, so I pulled out my sword and jumped away.

The air welcomed me as I fell. The distant floor approached swiftly. I rolled to minimize the impact of the fall, but my body was still swept away, and the white robe I wore was stained red with my blood. My body was wracked with pain, but I pushed myself to my feet through it. My drug-enhanced body responded to the brain’s command almost instantly.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

A refreshed roar followed. It didn’t take long to find traces of the smashed Obs. Unlike me, he couldn’t escape the disaster that huge body created. When I looked at the demon’s head, I saw the white sword still peeking out.

With the priests of Reformation dead, the demon began to carry on his indiscriminate destruction to relieve his pent-up rage. The screams of those who couldn’t escape rang out.

I started running once again. I ran over the flat road, over the ruins of buildings, and jumped over the roofs of those still remaining.

Puck.

I swung, cutting into the demon’s tail. Compared to its enormous body, the Froststeel blade was as small as a needle, so the damage it caused was pitifully minimal. The demon ignored me and continued to destroy Guise.

I moved forward little by little, relying on the sword to climb up the demon’s body as it raged. My target was that relic stuck in the demon’s head. Perhaps Obs’ efforts weren’t in vain. He had dug the blade deep enough that only a small sliver of white now remained visible.

The demon’s rampage would end if I pushed that holy relic a little further.

“Gaaaaaaahhh!”

My body was jarred by the demon’s rampage. When I couldn’t stand the shaking, I held the Froststeel sword and clung to the giant body, waiting for the tremors to pass. The demon’s rampage was only intensifying in the meanwhile.

I persevered and reached the demon’s back, then a bit further until I finally reached the handle of that white sword. The demon’s body started shaking violently again as I reached for the white sword.

‘Kill!’

Something shifted in my pocket. Mother’s hand, thrown free by the shaking, flew into the air and started a free fall toward the ground.

‘Killll-’

Thud.

Mother’s voice disappeared, and it was suddenly silent. The anxiety of being left alone in the world was suffocating. I couldn’t breathe properly.

Mother. Mother. Mother! Mother!!!

The sword in front of me didn’t matter. Without hesitation, I jumped off the demon’s head.

The landing was a complete failure. My legs were crushed by the fall, and I was left crying like a child.

“Mother! Where are you?! Mother!!!”

A small voice entered my mind.

‘Kill…’

I crawled toward the direction the voice was coming from. My nails broke, and my fingertips turned red from scratching against rock. And yet, I crawled on and on. Finally, I reached Mother’s hand in the wreckage. Peace returned to my mind.

“Ah. Mother…”

‘Kill!’

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was in such a hurry that I almost lost you.”

‘Kill! Kill! Kill!’

“What are you saying… huh?!”

When I looked in the direction the Mother of Corruption was pointing, I saw Obs’ crushed corpse.

And a small mirror in front of him.

‘Kill!’

That mirror was the sealed relic we’d been longing for. I snatched it up and smiled.

“You said it was a blessing in disguise. That’s true, Mother. Today was really fun.”