The Priest of Corruption

Escape.

Bang!

A huge chunk of flesh and a chunk of metal collided violently.
After slamming the metal giant with his shoulder, the Giant of Corruption opened its huge mouth and bit the metal giant’s forearm.

“Gaaaaahhh!!!”

The metal giant raised his other hand and slammed it into the head of the Giant of Corruption.
His head was crushed, and his flesh splattered.

The decaying flesh crumbled before it even reached the floor.
His headless body clenched his fists and smashed the metal giant’s head again, slamming it against the wall with a crash.
A new head popped out of the crushed flesh.

“Gaaaaaaah!!!”

In the meantime, I quickly harvested the corpses of Succus and Tonisa.
Succus was two-and-a-half-fingers-worth, and Tonisa was three fingers.
1100 points of divinity ran through my hands and seeped into my body.

[Divinity: 4582]

After confirming the amount of divinity I had gathered, I looked at the two giants still fighting.

“It looks like it will take quite some time for either side to win.”

‘Kill!’

“I will stop playing and help out, as Mother says.”

I leaned Carmen’s stunned body against the black door and pulled out the Froststeel sword.
First, my goal was the blue jewel in the middle of the white metal giant’s forehead, the only part that stood out from that huge body.
I thought that if I could break it somehow, there would be a change in the tides of battle.

“I’m going!”

Bang!

I sprinted out and plunged into the collision between giants.

“Gaaaaaaaah!!!”

The colossal fists of the Giant of Corruption responded to my movements, striking the metal giant’s chest and sending it reeling back.
I sprinted forward as it was pushed against the wall.

The divinity of corruption pooled in my legs, activating the Corruption Arts.
Increasing my force, I felt nauseous as I rocketed toward my goal.

The air slapped me, but I ignored the pain and accelerated further.
My leg muscles felt like they were about to explode, but at that moment, I kicked off the ground.
My body accelerated to its fullest and soared.

I could see my reflection in the glassy eyes of the slowly rising metal giant.
In that opaque reflected light, I brought my Froststeel blade down.

Claank!

It pierced the blue gem and sent it flying.
The metal giant moved even though the jewel on its forehead was broken.
A huge metal hand swung for me without hesitation.
Still floating in the air, I couldn’t do anything to evade.

“Help!”

“Gaaaaaaah!!!”

A hand of rotting flesh struck the metal giant’s face.
I quickly grabbed the forearm of the Giant of Corruption and hung on.
The Guardian pushed back, but the movement was noticeably slower than before, probably because the jewel was its main power source.

I stumbled across the Giant of Corruption’s body, jumped, and landed on the floor.

Bang!

The violence that followed was one-sided.
The slowed metal giant was no match for the Giant of Corruption.
The huge metal body was crushed and ceased operating.

The victorious Giant of Corruption roared.

“Gaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

I smiled and tried to say something to praise him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

At that moment, three metal giants fell from the ceiling.

“How long will this keep going?!”

‘Kill…?’

Mother’s answer, saying she wouldn’t know even if I asked, felt a bit provoking.
A new metal fist smashed through the Giant of Corruption’s head before he could stand up.
Seeing the Giant of Corruption being beaten unilaterally, I quickly decided.

“Hold on a little longer! Just until I run away!”

“Ga…aah…”

Bang!

The Giant of Corruption was about to let out a roar, but the Guardians wouldn’t allow it.
I turned around without hesitation and headed for the black door.
When it opened earlier, it was definitely from the bottom up.

“Haap!”

I shoved my hand under the huge black door and gave it my all.
Of course, the door didn’t even budge.

“Ahhhhh!”

While shouting, the divinity of corruption flowed through me, and a vivid dark green tattoo covered my body.
My muscles screamed for help, and I was burning up as veins bulged across my skin.
And finally, the gigantic black door began to slowly lift.

I squeezed all my strength out, lifted the door to shoulder height, kicked Carmen lying next to me, and rolled in after him.

“You can go back!”

I didn’t know if the Giant of Corruption, who the three metal giants were beating down, heard me, but I was sure he’d be fine.
I believed so.

Bang!

The black door fell and slammed shut.
I collapsed on the floor and spat out rotten guts in return for the Corruption Arts.

“Ptooey, haah.
It was really hard.
Mother.”

‘Kill!’

Mother’s scolding continued, questioning why I had to bring that Carmen alive.
I answered, leaning against the wall.

“I wanted to save the other two too, and they died so quickly that I couldn’t.”

‘Kill!’

Rebuked for being too soft, I glanced at Carmen and said.

“Besides, isn’t this guy special? Even if I harvest him, I think it would be better to wait a little longer and watch his growth.”

‘…Kill, kill.’

After a moment’s silence, Mother gave her consent to the plan.

The reason Mother of Corruption was convinced was that Carmen was a three-and-a-half-fingers-worth human.
A human who could grow into a four-fingers-worth being would, when harvested, grant ten thousand divinity.
That was Carmen Baltas.

“Besides, I liked his cheerful personality, so I wanted to save him.”

‘Kill!’

I smiled quietly at Mother’s advice not to show affection so easily.

“Just because you don’t want to give it to someone doesn’t mean you can’t give it, right? We become more affectionate as we spend time together.
Don’t be so angry.”

After taking a moment to breathe, I could move my body a little.
This passage was too cramped for the metal giants to enter, but I decided it would be better to move since I didn’t know what the future held.

I picked up Carmen and walked slowly through the hallway shining with a soft blue light.
After moving a little, Carmen released a low moan and came to his senses.

“Where am I…?”

“Do you feel better?”

“Ugh…my head is very dizzy.”

“I’ll let you down.
Let’s rest here for a moment.”

Carmen gasped a few times while holding onto the wall, then sat down and asked me.

“Are Succus and Tonisa really dead…?”

“Yes, unfortunately.”

Hearing my answer, he looked down at the floor with gloomy eyes.

“The moment the metal giant fell from the ceiling, we had to activate the key.
My greed killed them both.”

“Have you known each other for a long time?”

Carmen shook his head.

“No.
I got to know them as recent hires.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not at fault.
Where the hell is this place?”

“Beyond the Black Gate.”

“How did…?”

As he was about to ask something, he just stopped speaking.

“It wouldn’t be polite to ask about something you don’t want to show, not if it’s enough for you to knock me out.
Besides, isn’t Priest Marnak my savior now? I’ll pay you back for this favor on the name of Baltas.”

I reached out my hand to Carmen and smiled.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Carmen smiled bitterly and took my hand.

“You absolutely cannot reject it.”

“I’m the type of person who is willing to take everything offered.
Anyway, if you’re feeling better now, I think it’d be better to start walking.
I didn’t kill that metal giant; I just ran.”

“Yes.
Let’s go.”

We continued down to the end of the hallway.
At the end of the hallway, there was a door with a blue pattern, but no ancient words were written.
This was definitely the reward room!

I said to Carmen, calming my beating heart.

“It seems we have reached the end of the ruins.
Let’s go inside.”

As I reached out and pushed it, the door gently opened.
The altar towering in the middle of the room and the exit near it welcomed us warmly.
Two objects were placed on the altar: a necklace with beads the size of two thumbs and a sword.

Carmen’s eyes lit up when he saw the necklace.

“What was written in the book was true! Priest Marnak! I’m deeply ashamed, but can I ask for just one thing? Please give me that necklace.
I will definitely reward you once we get out of here.”

I tilted my head at his desperate look.

“What is that necklace?”

Carmen picked up the necklace and explained it to me.

“This necklace is a thing called the Flesh Guide.
When you pour your blood into this marble and think of the blood you want to find, the marble will swallow the blood and point in the direction of the blood you want to find.”

As I listened to his explanation, I remembered Carmen’s origins.
The bastard of Ensis Baltas.
His father would definitely be in the royal capital, so I had an idea of ​​who he was looking for.

Carmen looked at my expression and nodded.

“Your thoughts are probably right.
I’m looking for my mother whom I’ve never met.”

I looked into his black eyes and quickly put my thoughts together.
A searching necklace had no meaning for me anyway.
It was more profitable to hand over the necklace and collect the reward later.

I said with a smile.

“Then, can I have this sword?”

“I’m not interested in anything other than this necklace.
And if it wasn’t for Priest Marnak in the first place, wouldn’t I be dead already? Rather, it’s a shame that you only have a sword to bring.”

In fact, even while Carmen was talking about the necklace, my eyes kept going to the sword.
It had a very unusual appearance…

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Priest!”

Something was breaking down the door and rushing toward this room.
I quickly picked up the relic sword and shouted.

“Let’s go to the exit!”

Boom!

A gigantic metallic hand smashed the door and reached in for us.
Just before the huge hand grabbed on, we succeeded in jumping into the exit by a hair’s breadth.

After falling into the white snowfields, I quickly pushed myself up and looked for Carmen.

“Are you alright!”

As white snowflakes fell from the sky, a hand in a black leather glove popped out.
Carmen, covered in snow, looked at me and smiled.

“I don’t want to see a piece of iron bigger than me for a while.”

I grinned.

“Me either.”

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