I Became the Priest of Blasphemy of the Outer Gods

As the transformation was undone, I returned to my red hair and male body.

‘Strictly speaking, this isn’t my real form either.’

It was hard to deny that the now handsome appearance of Ethnos was much better than the impression marred by fatigue. Frankly, I wasn’t likely to miss my original face, which was a bit sad. If there was dissatisfaction with my appearance, it would be my noticeable red hair and the arm that was cut off. I seemed to be taller than I originally was too.

‘And now I need to deal with this arm.’

This matter held the potential for multiple achievements. In fact, it was like hunting several rabbits with one stone.

‘Eliminate dangerous adversaries. Test my acting skills. Test the cloak’s performance. Demand arm regeneration from the formless residues. And acquire offerings through human sacrifice.’

Setting aside the aspect of offering and killing humans, it was quite lucrative.

‘Lucrative, by killing and offering humans… there should be limits to cold-bloodedness.’

I sighed as I collected my thoughts. Being cold was fine, but losing one’s humanity was not. I focused my mind and steadying my breathing, I began the ritual.

“I commit sacrilege for you. Submerged in filth, I beseech to hear the great voice. 〈Audience in the Muddy Waters〉.”

A strange silence followed. The soil bubbled and turned into a foul liquid, and the bandits began to sink into it alive. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore their desperate screams and struggles, but the horrific sounds seemed to scar my soul.

‘Mental damage is…’

I looked down at the back of my hand. There should have been some mental damage, but the dice didn’t roll.

‘Unreliable. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It would be nice to know the exact criteria.’

I deliberately diverted my attention from the gruesome ritual, pondering how to better control the dice. However, that contemplation was soon interrupted by a certain voice.

“Well, this is unexpected.”

‘It’s not the formless residues?’

Turning my head, the spot where the bandits had been was now a black pit. Twisted arms wriggled grotesquely, leaking black liquid here and there.

“…Who are you?”

In the middle of that pit stood a man. But whether he was human was uncertain. Half his body was buried in the liquid as dark as the void beyond the universe, and half his face was melting into that same dark liquid.

“I am a herald. They deemed it more appropriate for me to communicate with you.”

The man spoke in quite an even tone, but I was only confused.

“But the miracle I used shouldn’t have summoned a person?”

“The ritual you performed is originally a plea to communicate with an Outer God, the lord.”

When the man stood up, I noticed the peculiarity of his body. Like my transformed arm, his skin resembled melting, black rubber.

“Even if the plea is answered, those who are descendants of the lord respond instead of the lord directly. Although not perfect, I am also a descendant of the lord and belong to the formless residues.”

From his words, I could infer his nature.

‘I heard about this from Dowol. Hybrids born between Outer Gods and humans.’

“My mother was a devout follower of the lord. Through an unspeakable ritual in human society, she received his essence and conceived me.”

The man revealed himself, sighing as he spoke.

“I never expected a lowly hybrid like me to act as the lord’s proxy… but peculiar cases seem to occur.”

“Why are you the exception this time?”

“Because you are mad.”

The man cut in bluntly.

“My way of thinking doesn’t fall within the ordinary human range either. With the lord’s blood flowing in me, I lean more towards that side.”

He brushed his hair back and continued.

“As I am half-human, I can understand humans too. From my judgment, you are sane in neither aspect.”

“What did you say?”

“You are insane for committing such an act. Alice.”

He also called me “Alice”.

“What in the world is this Alice, and why do you keep calling me that? What kind of madness is this supposed to be?”

“Such ignorance… Now I understand why they are so fixated on you.”

Annoyingly, instead of explaining Alice, he sneered and started to speak.

“That arrow. Do you have any idea how dangerous the owner of the energy within it is?”

“I know that the formless residues are from the 『Slumberer of the Abyss』.”

When I snapped back, he nodded.

“The 『Eternal Predatory Desire』. That’s the epithet for that being.”

‘『Eternal Predatory Desire』…’

It was a fitting name when I recalled what the arrow had shown me. If the Slumberer of the Abyss feared it, it meant this being tried to prey on Outer Gods.

From the information Dowol had provided, I could infer the nature of this entity.

‘It seems to be related to cannibalism among its kind…’

“Don’t think about it.”

He warned me politely.

“Don’t think about it and just let it pass. I’m carefully choosing my words for your sake.”

“I nodded.”

… What was this?

Why did my thoughts leak out?

“I felt something flowing from my eyes. It felt strange, like blood.”

“Tsk, you’re weaker than I thought. But you’ll calm down soon.”

Though uneasy about the strange phenomenon, my mouth stopped spilling my thoughts at some point.

“… What was that just now?”

“Your mistake. You tried to analyze the given information recklessly.”

He clicked his tongue.

“While your exceptional talent might smooth things over, there will be limits. For now, take a deep breath and listen to what I say without focusing too hard.”

Following his advice, I wiped the blood from my eyes and began to breathe deeply.

“Yes, take your time. You can forget most of it. First, the Eternal Predatory Desire is a being among the gods with an insatiable urge to consume its kind.”

He continued calmly.

“It even reproduces to eat its offspring. The danger posed by this entity, which preys on its kin, is beyond description.”

With that, he coughed and spat out frothy blood.

It seemed the monster-like man was also affected by the entity’s dangerous influence.

“Especially, the Slumberer of the Abyss once fled from this entity. So your feeling was accurate.”

He sighed.

“This being has little interest in this planet. It doesn’t react to most rituals.”

Unlike Dionysus, it seemed.

“But once, a priest tried to summon an Outer God called ‘Chavis-Ka’. Unfortunately, the Chavis-Ka at the ritual was in the process of being consumed by that entity.”

I was startled by the sudden mention of the god’s true name, but nothing happened afterward. Was it because the god was already dead?

“So, instead of Chavis-Ka being summoned, a bit of that entity’s energy leaked out.”

“And that energy imbued the arrow?”

“Yes, it happened to be nearby.”

With labored breaths, he adjusted his posture and looked at me.

“Items imbued with the energy or miracles of an Outer God are always alive. They possess self-awareness.”

The arrow and the cloak both indeed had self-awareness.

“Moreover, you were blessed and used your arm and blood to merge with that arrow.”

“Merging? That was just-”

“It was a merging. By consuming and killing each other, two parents bore a child, which you now envelop as the third parent.”

The man glared at me as if asking whether I had lost my mind.

“Not only did you use the ‘grace’ in such a blasphemous manner, but you almost caught His interest.”

As the man shuddered, the black liquid around him quivered as if trembling.

“Therefore, I was ordered to come out as the proxy.”

The man sighed once more.

“As a sacrificial lamb willing to face a dangerous being like you, and as someone who can communicate with you using his humanity.”

“Does that mean that despite what I did, the formless residues and their master wish to negotiate?”

“It is a warning. Simply accept the ‘grace’ bestowed by the ‘Slumberer of the Abyss’ and cease your foolish actions. Otherwise—”

“Otherwise, will you give up on me?”

A smile crept across my lips.

“I must be quite desirable, am I not? What I did was so serious, yet you disguise it as a warning in an attempt to recruit me.”

I shook my head.

“I won’t be recruited so easily. You need to show more sincerity.”

“You truly are insane. You are as mad as the disgusting ‘bugs of Sha’gai’!”

The man, who had been angry, seemed to receive some sort of revelation or message; he sighed and nodded.

“He says to state your desire.”

“First, I want the value of the sacrifices I’ve offered.”

The man nodded.

“I expected you to say that. What else?”

“I want my arm restored, specifically as a human arm without any alterations.”

“It is regretful to deny ‘grace’, but it is not impossible.”

The man nodded and reached out to me.

“Come closer.”

As I hesitated but approached, the man poured black liquid over my torn and bandaged arm.

“Ugh…!”

It hurt.

I had to grit my teeth against the pain, as though my bones were breaking and piercing into my muscles.

The bubbling blood and flesh began to take shape, and my arm and hand bones forcefully grew back.

“… Phew.”

My arm was back to normal.

A heavy pouch lay atop my restored hand.

“This is the compensation you requested. In the future, think carefully. You have no other path but the way of defilement.”

With those words, the man disappeared beneath a black pond.

Simultaneously, the pitch-black liquid seeped into the ground, leaving no trace of the bandits either.

“Phew… It worked.”

Additionally, I gathered a lot of unexpected information.

Taking a deep breath, I drank a tranquillizer to calm myself.

‘They did not act coercively. If they desired me so much, they would have ignored my will and tried to dominate me.’

The answer to how I should proceed from now on lay within that realization.

‘Am I only of interest to the ‘Slumberer of the Abyss’?’

A thought struck me suddenly, and I delved into this possibility.

‘I am an 《Apostle of Calamity》. I am a priest specialized in serving all the Outer Gods, not just the ‘Slumberer of the Abyss.’ That means…’

They were being cautious.

They acted quietly to avoid the notice of other Outer Gods.

“So that’s it. They were trying to consume me stealthily without alerting the other Outer Gods.”

I looked down at the ground.

Ordinary soil, but it sent chills down my spine as if a massive monster beneath was trying to devour me.

“That won’t happen as you think.”

I murmured while looking at my regenerated arm and the pouch of money in my hand.