Chapter 14: Escape of the Priest of Decay.
Escape.
Escape.
Crash!
A massive hunk of flesh and a chunk of metal collided violently. The giant of decay, having rammed the metal giant with its shoulder, opened its massive mouth and bit off the metal giant’s arm.
Graaaaaah!!!
The metal giant raised its remaining hand and slammed it down hard on the decay giant’s head. The decay giant’s head crumpled, and chunks of flesh splattered everywhere.
The rotting chunks of flesh shattered before they even hit the ground. The headless body clenched its fist and struck the metal giant’s head again. With a rough collision sound, the metal giant’s body was slammed into the wall.
A new head burst forth from the mangled flesh.
Graaaaaah!!!
In that moment, I quickly harvested the corpses of Sukus and Tonisa. Sukus was worth two and a half fingers, and Tonisa was worth three fingers’ worth of humanity. 1100 Divinity flowed 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 fiercely fighting and said,
“It seems like it will take quite some time for either side to win this.”
‘Kill!’
“As Mother said, I’ll stop playing around and help now.”
I leaned Carmen’s unconscious body against the black door and drew my Frost Steel Sword.
My immediate target was the blue gem embedded in the center of the white metal giant’s forehead—the only noticeable part of its massive body. I judged that breaking it would bring about some change.
“Here I go!”
Crash!
I kicked off from my spot and leaped into the collision between the hunk of flesh and the chunk of metal.
Graaaaaah!!!
The decay giant’s massive fist responded to my movement and struck the metal giant squarely in the chest. The torso tilted. I dashed toward the metal giant being pushed toward the wall.
The Corruption Divinity began to flow through my legs, activating the ‘Corruption Rune.’ My strength increased. Though I felt slightly nauseous, I ignored it and focused on increasing my speed.
The rough resistance of the air struck my face fiercely. Ignoring the air resistance, I accelerated further and further. My leg muscles burned as if they were about to burst. Amidst my heart pounding violently, I roughly scraped my feet against the ground and kicked off.
My fully accelerated body shot up into the air like a beam of light.
The glass-like eyes of the slowly rising metal giant reflected me. In that opaque reflection, I swung my Frost Steel Sword.
Clang!
The Frost Steel Sword pierced through the blue gem with precision. The cracked gem shattered and fell apart.
The metal giant moved even after the gem in its forehead was destroyed. A massive metallic hand approached me relentlessly. Still floating in mid-air, I couldn’t do anything to counter it.
“Help me!”
Graaaaaah!!!
The decaying hunk of flesh struck the metal giant’s face hard. I quickly grabbed onto the decay giant’s arm and hung on. The metal giant with its gem shattered resisted fiercely, but as expected, since the gem was its main power source, its movements were noticeably slower than before.
I stepped on various parts of the decay giant’s body and jumped down to land on the ground.
Crash!
The violence that followed was one-sided. The slowed-down metal giant was no match for the decay giant. The massive metallic body crumpled again and again until it could no longer endure the relentless destruction and ceased functioning.
The victorious decay giant let out a fierce roar.
Graaaaaah!!!
I smiled contentedly and was about to offer some words of praise when—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
At that moment, three more metal giants fell from the ceiling.
“How long is this going to go on?!”
‘Kill...?’
Mother’s response felt slightly mocking, as if asking me wouldn’t yield any answers anyway.
The decay giant, having been struck by one metal giant, hadn’t even gotten up before a new metallic fist slammed into its head. Watching it get beaten one-sidedly, I quickly made a decision.
“Just hold on a little longer! Just until I can escape!”
Graa…
Crash!
The decay giant tried to roar, but the metal giants did not allow it. I turned my back without hesitation and headed toward the black door. When it opened earlier, it definitely opened from bottom to top.
“Haap!”
I shoved my hands under the massive black door and put all my strength into lifting it. Needless to say, the door didn’t budge an inch.
“Haaaap!”
With a shout, the Corruption Divinity flowed over my skin, covering my entire body with a vivid dark-green rune. The Divinity I had absorbed up to my limit activated the ‘Corruption Rune’ without restraint.
My muscles screamed for help. The accelerating blood flow. My skin turned bright red, and my veins bulged out all over my body.
Finally, the massive black door began to lift slowly.
I squeezed out every last bit of strength I had and lifted the door up to shoulder height, then kicked Carmen, who was lying next to me, inside. I quickly jumped in and shouted:
“You can retreat now!”
Whether the decay giant—who was getting beaten up by three metal giants—heard me or not, I did not know, but it would certainly know how to retreat on its own. I believed that.
Crash!
The massive black door fell and closed roughly. A wave of exhaustion hit me, and I collapsed to the ground, spitting out rotten innards as the price for the ‘Corruption Rune.’
“Phew… Haa. That was really tough, Mother.”
‘Kill!’
Mother scolded me, asking why I bothered bringing Carmen back alive. I leaned against the wall and answered:
“If I had my way, I would’ve wanted to save those two as well. But they died too quickly, so I couldn’t.”
‘Kill!’
Scolded for being too soft, I glanced at Carmen and said:
“Besides, isn’t she special? If we harvest her, I think it’s better to wait and watch her a little longer.”
‘…Kill. Kill.’
After a brief silence, Mother agreed that my thoughts had merit.
The reason Mother Decay was convinced was because Carmen was a three-and-a-half-fingered human. A human who could grow into a four-fingered human worth 10,000 Divinity—enough for one power. That was Carmen Baltas.
“Moreover, her cheerful personality really appealed to me, so I wanted to save her personally too.”
‘Kill!’
At Mother’s warning not to easily get attached, I simply smiled quietly.
"Feelings aren’t something you can withhold just because you decide to, you know? They grow when you share meals and laughter. Please don’t be so upset."
After catching my breath, I managed to shift slightly. Though the passage was too narrow for metal giants to enter, the uncertainty of what lay ahead made moving forward the wiser choice.
I hauled Carmen over my shoulder and trudged down the corridor bathed in muted blue light. After a few steps, Carmen groaned weakly and stirred.
"Where...?"
"Awake now?"
"Ugh... My head’s pounding. My stomach’s churning too."
"I’ll set you down. Let’s rest here."
Carmen gripped the wall, retching dryly several times before slumping to the floor.
"Are Sukus and Tonisa truly... dead?"
"Yes. I’m afraid so."
He stared at the ground with hollow eyes.
"I should’ve activated the ‘key’ the instant that metal giant dropped from the ceiling. My greed killed them."
"Were you close?"
Carmen shook his head.
"No. I’d only recently hired them. But that doesn’t erase my guilt." He wiped his mouth. "Where exactly are we?"
"Beyond the black door."
"But how—" He bit back his question. "It’s rude to pry into secrets worth knocking me out over. Besides..." A wry smile twisted his lips. "Isn’t Priest Marnak my lifesaver now? I swear on House Baltas’ honor—this debt will be repaid."
I extended my hand with a grin. "I’ll hold you to that."
He grasped it with a bitter chuckle. "You never refuse gifts, do you?"
"Rarely. Now—can you walk? We merely fled that metal beast, didn’t kill it."
Nodding, we crept toward the corridor’s end where an unmarked door bore azure patterns.
This has to be the treasure chamber!
Steadying my breath, I turned to Carmen. "We’ve reached the ruin’s heart. Let’s proceed."
The door swung open at my touch, revealing an altar flanked by an ‘exit.’ Two objects lay atop the dais: a necklace with a thumb-sized orb and a sword.
Carmen’s eyes locked on the necklace. "The records were true! Priest Marnak—I’ve no right to ask, but grant me this! I’ll compensate you tenfold later!"
"What’s so special about it?"
He lifted the pendant reverently. "This is the ‘Guide of Flesh and Blood.’ Feed it your blood while envisioning kin, and it points to their location."
Memories surfaced—Carmen, Ensis Baltas’ illegitimate child. His father ruled from the capital, leaving only one person he’d seek.
"You’re looking for your mother."
He nodded.
Useless to me. I smiled. "Then I’ll take the sword?"
"Keep it. Without you, I’d be dead anyway." His gaze fell. "Though it shames me this is all I can offer."
My attention had never left the blade. Its strange design—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Priest!"
Something colossal crashed through the corridor. I seized the relic sword.
"To the exit!"
CRASH!
A metallic fist shattered the door. We lunged through the portal as claws grazed our backs.
I scrambled up in a snowfield, shouting, "Carmen?!"
A gloved hand shot from the snowdrift. Carmen emerged, powder crusting his lashes.
"Let’s avoid metal lumps bigger than me for a while."
I smirked. "My thoughts exactly."
