Chapter 10: The Corrupt Priest’s Second Power.
Second power.
Second power.
Second power.
A mirror so opaque it was utterly useless for reflecting my face. I tried adjusting its angle, but nothing was reflected.
I’d heard the sword embedded in the head of the rampaging demon in the distance was used to subdue it, so this mirror must be a sacred relic that reveals the demon’s true nature.
In truth, the purpose of this mirror didn’t matter to me at all.
‘Kill!’
“I was already planning to absorb it quickly, Mother.”
As I quietly prayed to the Mother of Corruption while gazing at the mirror, a dark green light slowly flowed from its surface, seeping into my body and Mother’s hand. When the energy ceased, I closed my eyes and retreated inward.
[Divinity: 11723]
As expected, a single sealed relic contained exactly 10,000 divinity—equivalent to one power. I pulled my mind back to reality.
Carefully, I retrieved Mother’s hand from my pocket.
“Mother. Another seal has been broken. Could you tell me if there’ve been any changes?”
‘Kill!’
Hearing she was still assessing the situation, I waited patiently. After all, with my legs crushed during the earlier fall, there was nothing to do but wait for them to regenerate.
After a moment, Mother slowly conveyed her will.
‘Kill!’
“Huh? Is that true?”
‘Kill!’
Mother’s hand slipped from my grip, fingers wriggling as it crawled away to create distance. Then, as if exhausted, it flopped to the ground and sent me her will again.
‘Kill!’
I crawled over, picked up Mother’s hand, and tucked it back into my pocket.
“It’s good you can now project your will from farther away... But isn’t this result too meager for breaking a seal? No, it is meager. This disappointment is beyond words...”
‘Kill!’
I snorted at Mother’s sharp reprimand.
“You’ve expanded your vocabulary. A stellar improvement! Now you can even speak one syllable at a time. Your son is moved to tears by your growth.”
‘Kill!!!’
Mother’s hand thrashed violently, demanding I stop teasing her.
“Understood. Given the circumstances, I’ll refrain from mocking you further.”
I closed my eyes and prayed quietly.
“Mother of Corruption. I offer 10,000 divinity. Grant me a new power.”
As my inner divinity plummeted, a new power settled into my body. Information about its effects seared into my mind.
‘Kill...?’
“Hmm. Not bad, Mother. Quite useful for the current situation.”
The new power gained from offering 10,000 divinity was The Mark of Corruption.
Its effect was simple yet potent: upon activation, dense metaphysical tattoos in dark green would cover my skin, amplifying my already superhuman physical abilities.
Unlike The Giant of Corruption, however, this power wasn’t purely beneficial. The cost was straightforward—while amplified, my organs would slowly rot from within. By the time the corruption became visible, I’d be incapacitated.
I smirked.
“Using this even once will leave me writhing in agony until my organs regenerate, Mother.”
‘Kill...’
I patted my chest pocket reassuringly.
“Mother, you needn’t feel guilty. I choose to use these powers. Besides, having diverse tools is always good.”
Finally, my legs finished regenerating.
—Gaaaaaaaaah!
I rose slowly, gazing at the demon still rampaging in the distance.
“Something’s off.”
‘Kill?’
It was bizarre. Even after all the proselytizing priests who’d provoked the demon’s wrath had died, it continued raging like a mindless beast. Demons weren’t creatures ruled solely by instinct.
The chaos had left no time to think earlier, but the brief respite during my regeneration allowed me to analyze the situation. Soon, I reached a conclusion.
“Mother.”
‘Kill?’
“This might get bumpy. Hold tight to your pocket.”
‘Kill?!’
A man in white priestly robes sprinted across shattered debris. Dark green tattoos covering his skin pulsed endlessly with divine corruption.
With inhuman strength, Marnak’s footsteps cratered the earth as he closed in on the demon like a streak of light.
—Gaaaaaaaaah!
The massive black crocodilian demon instinctively sensed approaching danger. Rolling its enormous eyes, it scanned the battlefield until spotting the source—a tiny creature charging toward it.
The demon responded simply: it swung its colossal tail with crushing force, obliterating everything in its path.
Marnak reacted calmly. His leg muscles coiled to their limit, then exploded—launching him skyward just as the tail whipped past.
As the black tail blurred beneath him, Marnak reached out and seized it. He hauled himself onto the demon’s back and sprinted toward its head.
The demon stretched out its front paw, trying to scrape off the tiny creature darting across its back, when it realized a fatal truth:
The crocodile couldn’t scratch its own back.
Faced with the limitations of its body, the demon chose another method. It decided to roll its massive body once more, thinking this swift little creature would surely be crushed under its weight—just like the metal-clad one that had caused it such pain earlier.
The black mass beneath Marak’s feet began to tilt. But this, too, had been anticipated. Without hesitation, Marak leaped off the demon’s back and landed on the ground. A sharp pain shot through his knees, but his divine power-enhanced body withstood the impact.
“Cough.”
Fragments of rotting viscera sprayed from his lips.
“This is progressing faster than expected. It seems this power won’t last long, Mother.”
There was no time to linger. A colossal black shadow engulfed the earth. Marak sprinted through the rubble again, evading the demon’s enormous body rolling toward him. The massive form obliterated Guis’ streets without a trace.
Marak ran and ran. Just as the demon rose after completing its roll, he reached its front paw and vaulted upward. The priest’s hand—swift as a bird’s flight—grazed the demon’s limb. He scaled its rugged hide like a monkey climbing a tree.
“Gaaaaah!”
The demon seethed with rage at this pest it couldn’t dislodge. With a roar, it tilted its body again. If one roll wouldn’t suffice, it would crush this creature through sheer repetition.
The ground tilted once more. But this time, Marak didn’t jump off. Having reached the demon’s neck, his eyes locked onto the white sword embedded in its distant skull.
“Haaah!”
The Priest of Decay slid across the sloping surface and leaped. Marak’s hand closed roughly around the white sword. One final push would drag the demon back to its realm—yet instead of driving it deeper, he wrenched the blade free with a violent tug.
“Wake up!”
“Gaaaaaaaah!”
The massive crocodilian body collapsed. The fleshy mass cushioning Marak’s fall absorbed the impact. He sprang up, clawed through the blackened flesh, and grinned at the demon he’d unearthed.
“Have you come to your senses?”
The demon wrinkled its empty eye socket and chuckled.
“Meeting you, Priest, must truly be the greatest blessing of my existence!”
Demons thrive on conversation—the clash and flow of words. For one to rage without speech, no matter the provocation, was unnatural. After observing it closely, I reached a conclusion: something was suppressing its intellect. The white sword in its skull, the sole foreign object in that colossal body, could only be the shackle.
So I pulled the blade out instead of driving it home.
The demon wept over its lost eye, legs, and left arm.
“This is too cruel… Guis was my beloved city, nurtured for forty years… And I destroyed it with my own hands.”
I sank beside it, too nauseated from Corruption’s Gate to stand.
“What’s broken can be rebuilt. Now we can redesign the city properly. Look—the outer buildings remain intact.”
The demon giggled.
“How wise you are, Priest! Yet sorrow is… exhilarating! It makes my heart pound! Ah, may I ask one thing?”
“Ask.”
Its raw, eyeless socket fixed on me.
“Why help me?”
“You gave me two gold coins. One should repay debts.” I smiled.
“Well? Was my assistance worth two coins?”
The demon bared its teeth in a sly grin.
“An overflowing generosity.”
