The Priest of Corruption Chapter 8

CRAWLING CREEP

Those from the church of Reformation wore outfits that usually ca to mind when you think of a paladin. Heavy iron armor and a large battle hamr matched one of the most difficult jobs in the ga.

The heavy armor, which seed very difficult to move in at first glance, was a blessed item that beca lighter as the priests faith deepened. And that battle hamr had a blessing that increased its power as it was directed at the enemy. They were a profession that specialized in close combat.

The first person to speak was a middle-aged priest of Reformation with scars all over his face. Years of experience could be felt in each of those scars.

I should avoid a close-quarters fight if possible.

Devotion to the righteous life. I never thought Id et a priest who worships the god of maintenance in a place like this. My na is Obs, and Im a priest of Reformation. These two walk the sa path as . The big guys na is Cornu, and this is Petina.

At the introduction from their leader, the priests called Cornu, and Petina bowed.

Nice to et you.

Nice to et you.

Petina was a woman of average stature, with short light-brown hair that suited her well. But it was none other than Cornu that caught my attention. He was larger than most adult n and had a thick horn growing from the middle of his forehead. Cornu was from the one-horned tribe rarely seen in the human-centered northern kingdom.

Nice to et you too.

However, that wasnt why I was interested in the one-horned tribe. They were able to attack with divinity, the fatal weakness of the Priest of Corruption.

I could freely use objects under the blessing of other gods and disguise myself as a priest. Still, if, by chance, my identity was discovered, I couldnt be friends with them. My weakness was too clear; the possibility of forming a friendly relationship with the other churches was blocked. That was the priest of corruptions life.

An awkward silence settled between the reformation priests and , but Erin intervened at that mont.

The reformation priests will stay here to help rcenaries for a while. Just like you!

That was fortunate news. There was still a chance to steal the relic they had.

So, what level of friendship should we have? In fact, there was no need to steal the holy relic. It was okay to get the relic, absorb the divinity, and then return it. The problem was that when the divinity was absorbed from the holy relic, the divinity of corruption would flow out for a while.

Now I needed to go through a total of three steps. Stealing the sacred object sohow, absorb the divinity as far as possible from those priests, then put it back.

It was complicated. It was natural that Id be treated like a madman if I asked them to touch the relic for a mont. Did I have to steal again? I wasnt a priest but a bandit of corruption.

Priest Marnak?

I thought for too long. Obs, the man with the scars looked closely at my face and said.

We have sothing scheduled after this, so I think we should go unpack for now. Lets put off our conversation until next ti.

Yeah, I needed to get my plans together too. I replied with a big smile.

I look forward to eting you again.

The three priests bowed and disappeared into the rcenary guild. Inside?

Erin watched their backs as they marched off.

The Reformation priests have decided to stay in the rcenary Guild while here.

Are you okay with that?

Our guild usually provides accommodation for the priests who visit us for a small price. Because theyre priests.

No way

Then thats why you let sleep here yesterday?

Erin laughed bashfully.

Yes! Of course, I let you sleep here because youre a priest!

The winter wind blowing outside hit my heart, which had been warm for a short mont. Yeah, that couldnt be true.

Her bright green eyes blinked.

No way? Did you think I let you sleep here because I was interested in you?

Not at all.

Yes, exactly. I thought this pretty lady had a sneaky black heart for . Black like pencil lead.

Actually, Im interested in you, so I did you a favor.

What?

Erin, after glancing around, ca up and whispered softly into my ear. Her warm breath tickled.

We have a large supply of groceries coming in tomorrow night, and I was wondering if you could put up a blessing to keep them safe for a long ti.

I stepped back and patted the side of my face.

Why are you whispering such a thing into my ear?

Erin grinned like a mischievous kid.

Why?

My pocket began wriggling violently.

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

I quickly grabbed onto the hand and smiled.

I can give you as many blessings as you want to keep the food from spoiling. In exchange, would it be alright to stay at the guild house for a while?

It wasnt a problem for to put up a simple blessing of corruption and have it remain unnoticed by the priests of the Reformation Church.

If the priest wants to stay here, thats great!

Great? Great?! I pretended to be nonchalant, gently pressing down on my wiggling pocket.

Then, Ill thankfully stay for a few more days.

Yes. If youre ever in your room and youre bored, co out and talk to . Well, excuse , I have so work to do now.

Erin returned to her station, and I returned to my room with my two gold coins.

Kill!

Mother, thats too much. Why dont you use brighter words?

Kill! Kill! Kill!

What do you an? Im just here to retrieve the holy relic. Theres no speck of darkness in my heart for that red-haired lady. Im telling you.

Kill?

I an it. Youve watched over the past five years, dont you know well? I really have only Mother in my heart. Ha, this is really bad! I will make you feel my pure heart!

I massaged the hand, pressing her palm with all my heart.

K I L L

The Mother of Corruption, who was about to say sothing, was so absorbed in the massage that she couldnt complete the thought.

After I fully relaxed Mother, I ca back down to the first floor of the rcenary guild. Only the one-horned man was there sitting in a chair, and he made eye contact with and smiled.

Oh, isnt it the priest Marnak?

Feeling the need to gather information about the relic, I naturally went and sat in front of Cornu.

I didnt expect to see you again this early. Its really nice to et you. By the way, where did the other priests go?

Priest Obs and Petina have gone to greet the lord of Guise.

Why didnt you go with them?

Cornu smiled awkwardly and scratched his cheek.

Since Im not human, so of the lords of the northern kingdom are opposed to .

Quite a few aristocrats of the northern kingdom found it uncomfortable to face other races.

I dont think Lord Thredon cares about that at all.

Suddenly, Erin appeared behind and pulled a chair to interrupt the conversation. Cornu smiled gently and replied to her.

Is that right? I should have visited him with the other priests.

Our Lord Thredon has a very stoic personality. Although he is cold-hearted in dealing with people, he is very good at work. Hes distinguished between the public servants and his vassals. There are a lot of enthusiastic supporters of Lord Thredon in Guise, so its best to be careful if you want to gossip about him outside.

Ill keep that in mind.

I asked.

But why did the other priests go to see the lord?

When priests entered the city, no law required them to greet the lord. The fact that they went to et the lord ant they had a different purpose. Cornu peeked at Erin and slowly opened his mouth.

Were following a prophecy from ten years ago on this pilgrimage. Priest Obs is the one who thinks that the end of all life will be the demons.

Demons? Crazy! Things were going very badly, but I continued as casually as possible.

Do you think that the lord is a demon?

Cornu smiled and waved his big hands.

Oh, no, not at all. If I really thought Lord Thredon was evil, would I have stayed here? Its just that Priest Obs goes to check every ti he stops by a city. The priest has a holy relic that can tell if soone is a demon or not.

Bad. Very bad. It couldnt have been worse. It was clear that a lot of people were going to die soon. If Thredon had just been possessed by a demon, the two priests of the Reformation Church could easily deal with him, but he had spent forty winters in that body. If he needed to, he could bring a part of his body from the other world to this land.

Whoosh!

The earth started shaking, and screams echoed through the city streets. Cornu and I bolted out of the guild.

And we saw it. A part of the demon had descended into this world and destroyed the lords mansion.

Gaaaaaaaaah!

The charcoal skin that covered his whole body was so thick that no spear or sword could pierce it, and the sharp teeth visible through his wide-open mouth were each the size of a human head.

Bang!

A huge hamr made of pure white light fell onto the head of the huge demon. It was the hamr of punishnt, one of the representative powers the Reformation priests could muster.

Cornu looked at .

We have to go help!

He looked back to the demon running wild in the distance, and his face stiffened.

Go ahead. Ill be right behind you.

While the three Reformation priests stopped the demon, I had sothing to do on my own.