Corrupted Priest Chapter 13

Battle.

We moved forward slowly and cautiously in silence.

Passing a strange, unidentifiable statue, we entered a white building, greeted by a stark white hallway. But the hallway was shrouded in darkness. Just as Carn lit a torch she had prepared in advance and took a step forward, a blue light suddenly illuminated the corridor, as if mocking her efforts.

Carn turned to us with an awkward smile.

"Since I've already lit it, might as well carry it in. Who knows when these lights might suddenly go out, just like how they suddenly ca on."

I held my hand out to Carn.

"Then I'll carry the torch—my hands are free anyway. All my weapons can be used one-handed."

Since Carn's bow required both hands to wield, it made more sense for to take the torch. She nodded lightly in thanks and handed it to .

Beyond the shimring blue-lit corridor, a massive door awaited us. In the center of the door, complex characters were inscribed. Though adorned with many phrases and modifiers, the ssage was simple at its core:

—Prove the royal blood that flows through your veins.

So this was a ruin where ancient royal blood granted free passage.

Of course, the fact that I could read the ancient script was a secret. So Toniça, stepping forward, scanned the inscription and spoke to Carn.

"Blood. Without ancient royal blood, we may have to prepare for a fight."

The kind of enemies that could erge from such a well-preserved ruin might be too much for the four of us to handle. We all turned to look at Carn.

As the leader of our party and the one who hired us, it was up to him whether to fall back and regroup or proceed further. Carn stared at the door in silence, then spoke slowly.

"There's no other thod written, is there?"

"No. But if I may offer a personal opinion, we can always escape using the 'key' if things go bad—so I think it's worth going in."

Toniça, who had been silent until now, spoke clearly and firmly, unlike the usual image of a mage. Sucus, standing next to her, nodded in agreent.

"I think so too."

As Sucus finished speaking, Carn turned to , silently asking my opinion. I smiled quietly and replied.

"I agree. Since we've co this far, we might as well take a look inside."

Carn smiled at us.

"We're all here because we're after sothing. Let's proceed carefully. As they say, precious treasures and big-hearted won are won by the brave. Sucus, please open the door. I'll cover you."

"Understood."

Sucus, the one wearing the thickest armor among us, stepped forward and pushed the door open. Carn took out the bow strapped to his back and notched an arrow. The taut bowstring was ready to release at any mont.

"Hup!"

Creeeak.

With force, Sucus pushed, and the massive door slowly gave way. I drew my froststeel sword from my waist and stood behind Sucus.

Thud.

At last, the door fully opened, and ominous red lights flared across the dark plaza beyond. Sucus quickly picked up his shield and axe, readying for battle.

We stood still, waiting for sothing to erge. But nothing stirred in the wide plaza, bathed in red light.

After scanning the surroundings, Carn unstrung his bow and motioned with one hand—let's go in.

With Sucus at the front, we advanced slowly. The heavy silence pressed on our chests, our footsteps echoing softly in the stillness.

The plaza offered only two paths: the door we ca through, and a black door at the far end.

The mont we reached the center of the plaza, sothing changed. Sensing it instantly, Carn spoke quietly.

"Toniça. Be ready to use the 'key,' just in case."

Thud.

The door behind us closed on its own. At the sa ti, the black door across from us slowly rose, revealing the guardians of the ruins.

Bodies covered in pitch-black leather, clad further in white tallic armor—these bipedal monsters stood at the midpoint between life and machine, roughly human-sized.

There were ten—no, eleven of them.

Fortunately, they were all ard with swords and shields. None of them appeared to be equipped for long-range combat.

"Toniça! Cast a spell!"

Carn shouted and loosed an arrow. It pierced clean through the dark hide, embedding itself in the guardian's neck. As one guardian fell, the others charged toward us.

With Toniça's chanting, a massive boulder erupted from the ground, smashing into another guardian. Its arm shattered, the creature flew back like a ragdoll, rolling across the floor. Nine remained.

Being surrounded in an open space was dangerous. We kept retreating, trying to hold them back.

But when only seven were left, we could no longer stop them from closing in.

Now it was my turn. I threw the torch I was holding.

With a red arc, it struck a charging guardian's head. Following the motion, I rushed forward and swung my froststeel blade.

Another head flew through the air. Six left.

"Sucus! Watch the rear!"

"Leave it to !"

A guardian swung its sword at . I responded as I had trained—my upward diagonal strike clashed with the enemy's, overpowering its arm and knocking it back.

The guardian coolly thrust its shield forward, but I had been waiting for that. I kicked the shield hard. Unable to withstand the force, the creature tumbled backward.

Just as I was about to rush in for the finishing blow—

"Kill!"

Along with my mother's warning, another guardian swung their sword, aiming for my exposed side.

It'd be good to take out one more here.

Just as I was about to back off, regretting the lost chance, an arrow flew in and pierced through the guardian's neck. I glanced back to see Carn nodding with a gentle smile. I imdiately rushed the fallen guardian and finished him off.

Four guardians left. No—Sucus just split one's skull with his axe. Now, three.

Tonisa, standing behind Sucus, made a quick gesture with a chant, and a rock shot up from the ground, slamming into another guardian. The impact sent the guardian flying—straight toward . Calmly, I swung my sword, cutting the airborne enemy in half. No blood splashed.

Of the remaining two, Carn took one down with a pair of arrows. The last one—Sucus took care of it by cleaving its head.

Finally, all the guardians lay defeated.

As if waiting for that mont, eight new guardians appeared. This ti, two of them carried bows. Carn, her face tightening, called out loudly:

"Priest Marnak! Can you break through and suppress the archers?"

"I'll give it a shot!"

Though my class was definitely "Priest of Corruption," I couldn't openly use my powers in front of others. In the end, my actions resembled more of a swordsman or warrior.

Seriously, lee fighters should get bonus stats for stuff like this.

Grumbling to myself, I kept moving my feet, charging toward the guardians.

"Kill!"

With my mother's warning and my honed senses, I caught two arrows coming my way. One aid for my body, the other for my head. Gripping my frost-steel sword tighter, I calmly swung it.

Clang!

I deflected the one coming at my body. As for the one targeting my head, I dodged it with a slight tilt of my head.

Now I was close enough—before they could nock their next arrows.

As I approached the archer, another guardian blocked my way.

"Priest Marnak! Keep running straight!"

An arrow from behind and a rock jutting from the ground kept the blocker at bay. I slipped through and swung my sword sideways.

An archer's head flew through the air and landed on the ground. I didn't stop. Lowering my stance, I launched the next attack.

The frost-steel sword dug into the archer's waist, delivering an eternal farewell between their upper and lower body.

"Aaaaahhh!"

Sucus rushed in next, ramming a guardian with his shield. After that, it was one-sided. The remaining guardians couldn't reach Carn or Tonisa and were all killed.

Still, every now and then, Tonisa's spells sent guardians flying straight at . Of course, I used that to my advantage, taking out each one—but Sucus didn't seem to see it the sa way. As soon as the battle ended, he growled at Tonisa with a scowl.

"Why the hell do you keep sending enemies our way? Marnak or I could've gotten hurt!"

"We got them all, didn't we? Don't whine needlessly. And it was the fastest way to clear them."

"What?! You hornless ratty little—!!! Say that again—"

Just as Sucus was about to charge, I stopped him. Carn quickly stepped in between.

"Enough. That's enough. Sucus. Tonisa."

Sucus ground his teeth, shot a glare at Tonisa, then slumped to the ground to check his gear.

"By the way, Priest Marnak. You truly lived up to your na as the 'Demon Slayer.'"

Trying to shift the mood, Carn spoke in a more cheerful tone. I offered a quiet smile.

"It's a bit embarrassing since I didn't really act like a priest."

"Honestly, I thought the sa."

"Still, you shoot incredibly well with that bow."

Carn smiled softly and replied,

"Since childhood, the bow was like a best friend to . I practiced really hard."

While Carn checked her bow and retrieved her arrows, I examined my frost-steel sword.

The sword looked as pristine as ever, as if mocking for doubting its durability.

"Quality gear is worth its price, clearly."

"Kill!"

I patted my chest pocket in response to my mother's prideful claim—it was her who gifted the sword.

As we sat down for a brief rest, Tonisa spoke up.

"When shall we depart? I'm fine leaving now. I still have enough mana left."

Before Carn could reply, Sucus frowned.

"Why are you already yapping about leaving again? You just muttered so spells from the back. Marnak and I did the heavy lifting. We need a bit more rest."

Tonisa glanced at Sucus, then turned her gaze to Carn, clearly ignoring him. Sucus's face started to redden. Carn quickly intervened.

"Enough! Tonisa, we're resting a bit longer before we move. Please wait."

At Carn's firm command, Tonisa looked at and Sucus and replied,

"I suppose we could leave now. Three of us are still perfectly fine. I'd rather not waste ti lounging here when we could be pushing toward the end of the ruins. Honestly, I think Sucus is just being dramatic."

I let out a baffled laugh at the arrogant mage's words.

Well, most mages I'd t were like that—egotistical and pushy. Frankly, by mage standards, Tonisa was almost polite.

Before Sucus could explode again, Carn quickly declared,

"We rest longer. That's final—no more discussion."

So in an awkward silence, we rested a little more before continuing. I sat beside Sucus and gently tried to calm him down.

As we slowly approached the black gate, it closed right in front of us.

Yeah... the enemies really had been too easy for a ruin like this.

Trapped in the plaza, we quickly scanned our surroundings—and then, sothing massive dropped from the ceiling.

Boom!

The heavy impact and tremor shook the ground.

A pure white tallic body, no flesh, with a glowing blue gem embedded in its forehead. The true guardian of these ruins had revealed itself.

Thud.

The tal giant began marching toward us. As Sucus stood frozen, Tonisa shoved him aside and stepped forward.

"Move."

With a mutter and a flick of her hand, countless rocks exploded toward the giant in a wave of rough magic.

The giant reacted with shocking speed for its size.

The blue gem on its forehead glead, and the flying rocks instantly lost power, clattering to the ground. Then, with a lunge, the giant slamd its fist into Tonisa.

Flesh and blood splattered everywhere.

Damn. We're seriously screwed.

The giant didn't stop. With Tonisa's gore still on its fist, it swung again—this ti hitting Sucus. He died instantly, not even managing a scream.

I shouted at Carn, who stood frozen in shock.

"Do you want to live?!"

"Huh?"

"I said, do you want to live?!"

Frantically, she nodded.

"Y-Yes!"

"Then stick your chin out!"

"Wha...?"

Without waiting, I punched her square on the chin. Catching her now-unconscious body, I turned toward the tal giant raising its fist again and shouted:

"I've got a giant too! Mother! This is urgent! No ti to pray! Send him now!"

"Kill!"

Boom!

The air tore open—and the Giant of Corruption burst out, smashing its fist into the tal giant's head. The behemoth reeled and crashed into a wall.

–GRRAAAAAAAH!!!

As the corrupted giant roared, the tal one slowly began to rise again.

Watching this overwhelming scene, I smiled.

"No matter how many tis I see him... what a majestic friend. Don't you agree, Mother?"

"Kill!"