I Became the Priest of Blasphemy of the Outer Gods

Chapter 78. Funeral (2)

『Indeed, such kind words.』

Tuatem sent a voice tinged with laughter into my mind.

『However, I find it difficult to expect such from you. Not because I underestimate you, but simply because reality dictates so.』

“Is it because the miracle that can grant you rest is one that only you can wield?!”

I asked.

Tuatem affirmed my query.

『You certainly know much. But if you are aware of that fact, what prompted you to indulge in such bravado and speak of rest to oneself? Did you trust in that black flame, perhaps?』

I shook my head. Even if I used the 〈Black Flame of Annihilation〉, I could not gift Tuatem with rest. There was only one miracle that could grant Tuatem death.

“It is not bravado. I have a means to replicate your flame.”

Tuatem remained silent for a moment, pondering my words.

『With my knowledge, there is no means available to you. Enlighten me.』

“It’s nothing extraordinary. I intend to use a method where I experience the miracle through meditation. Also, I have a unique ability that allows me to use any miracle once a day without reliance on mana. Even at my current level, I should be able to withstand the flame.”

『Meditation…? Is there such a method? I have never heard of it, but it seems new things have been discovered as the world changed.』

Was there no meditation on miracles during Tuatem’s time? Quite unexpected.

『If you are so confident, then give it a try. Even if things don’t go well, don’t worry. If anything goes awry and you become a being yearning for rest, I shall grant you that rest.』

Although it sounded like a grim threat, it was truly meant as reassurance. It was comforting to me as well, as it assured me that I wouldn’t have to worry about becoming a monster.

“Please show me the scripture.”

Tuatem’s body moved. His slender and ancient tree-like arm delved into his belly. What was pulled out with a pained groan was a book, as black as a burning coal, with several red flame-like glows emanating from it—the Scripture of the “Eternal Blaze”.

『Be careful when receiving this. It is stable now, but sometimes I lose control and use the miracle involuntarily. Especially when someone covets the scripture… it happens even more.』

I recalled the bodies of the formless residues Charlotte had taken out.

‘Were they also trying to steal the scripture from Tuatem and met their doom?’

I cautiously approached Tuatem. As I touched the flame surrounding him, fatigue suddenly rushed over me. It wasn’t Tuatem’s intent, but the flames were indiscriminately sapping life force.

『Are you all right?』 he asked.

“This is nothing!”

I replied as I barely managed to take the book. Stepping away from Tuatem, I opened the scripture, flipping through pages to find just one miracle.

‘I don’t need to verify the Awakening Ritual, as simple as it is.’

Surprisingly simple, it was about casting the miracle of the “Eternal Blaze”!

Successful casting meant being shrouded in flame.

『To experience this miracle is to witness one’s own life!』

Tuatem spoke softly.

『If you find out, please tell me the names of my parents. It’s been too long since I forgot. It shouldn’t be forgotten.』

Nodding at Tuatem’s sorrowful words, I realized I would likely glimpse Tuatem’s life when recalling past memories. This was because the prophet who first cast this miracle was none other than Tuatem himself.

“I shall begin. Eldritch, assess the situation, and awaken me either by attack or some other means.”

As Eldritch nodded, I turned my gaze to the book.

‘〈Funeral of the Living Flame〉.’

Compared to the names of other miracles of the Outer Gods, this one was surprisingly devoid of malice.

As I slowly read through the recorded miracle, I closed my eyes.

* * *

In the history of this world, it was the most tumultuous period of warfare.

The Holy War was the greatest event that shaped the current form of the world and decided the survival of the Gods.

Tuatem Peret became a slave merely ten years after being born.

“Oh eternal and radiant sun watching over us…”

He prayed to the Sun God ‘Ra’, whom he learned was the greatest from a young age, but the chains on his ankles and the distant screams seemed endless.

The civilization built by the people of the sun was destroyed by the priests of the Outer Gods.

Some despaired that their God had already left them.

The man who was both their king and the high priest, a reincarnation of the Sun God, experienced a miserable defeat and fled somewhere.

Except for those who followed him into exile, the rest were captured by the dreadful forces of the Outer Gods.

“If you cannot take me, then at least take my soul. Oh sun as golden as yourself, take me into the underworld you created…”

Following the adults, Tuatem continued to pray, but was dragged by the hands of an Outer God worshipper wearing clothes made from human skin.

That place forced you to read the scriptures of the Outer Gods to convert you into a new believer and warrior.

However, Tuatem thought,

‘This is hell.’

A madness more dreadful than death and more vicious than the cruelest of diseases prevailed there.

“No, no! Just kill me already!”

A young man with a robust physique was set ablaze alive after reading that ominous scripture, unable to die as his blackened remains writhed grotesquely.

“Oh… gurgle…”

On the floor, an old woman convulsed while making bizarre sounds.

From her head emanated intense heat, and her eyes were charred black.

“Mother! Father!”

Upon seeing his mother and father in the distance, Tuatem wanted to break free from his restraints and run to them.

In such a nightmare, for a child, parents were the only hope.

But that hope was cruelly twisted.

“Mother… Father…?”

His mother Nephret Peret and father Mehen Peret.

Their bodies melted from the intense heat, becoming entwined with one another.

Their bodies ignited in places, their flesh burning, and their mouths emitted sounds that scarcely resembled human cries.

“What did we do to deserve this! If you must enslave us, then do so! If you must send us to war, then send us! Why do such things!”

Some showed their dissent.

However, their voices never reached the worshippers of the Outer Gods.

Laughing men and women surrounded the burning corpses and danced joyfully.

Their laughter mingled with the pitiful groans, making one dizzy.

“Read.”

A worshipper of the Outer Gods approached a young girl near Tuatem and handed over the scripture.

Although she shook her head, the continuing kicks and the pain of a searing hot iron branding her flesh forced her to reluctantly follow the worshipper and read the scripture.

“Vis… ah’ki Kahthi. Zhoroi vix’a…”

Watching the girl who was younger than him gradually become possessed with a maniacal smile, Tuatem felt chills down his spine.

Her eyes melted away, replaced by two flames.

“Next, read.”

Would he end up like that too?

Would he die a horrible death like the others?

Tuatem was paralyzed with fear.

The brutal violence began against the trembling Tuatem, and to survive, he had to somehow read the scripture they forced upon him.

“Graciously offering my body, let me burn alongside you as a dancing flame. 〈Dance of the Mysterious Flame〉.”

Zing.

****

At the acknowledgment of the prayer, my consciousness briefly returned.

The memories entwined with this miracle were…

It was so intense and vivid that I felt as if I had lost myself and become completely one with Tuatem.

“Oh! You can fully receive His miracle!”

Looking at Tuatem again, I saw that parts of his body had turned into flames.

Nevertheless, Tuatem maintained his sanity, and the parts of his body that hadn’t transformed remained relatively intact. This was the beginning of the discovery of his unfortunate talent.

『I was forcibly driven onto battlefields for decades afterward.』

Tuatem’s thoughts resonated. As a boy, he was pushed onto endless battlefields into adulthood. In his first battle, he completely lost his mind and succumbed to madness. It was some relic that brought his sanity back.

“The Repulsive Flame. Tuatem Peret.”

That is how he was called on the battlefield. Hundreds died by the flames of an Outer God he summoned. However, it was not until the end that he summoned fire for an Outer God’s forces.

『I endured only because I could not forget them.』

Those who had turned into monsters did not die easily. Even with their horrific appearances, they could not die and lived a wretched life as monsters, purified by the miracle of powerful flames.

This was why Tuatem held onto himself. It was sympathy, and actions driven by fear. That day, to quell the fear he felt at ten when he saw hell…

『But, I soon discovered.』

He continued to light flames for the numerous transformed monsters, and eventually, he left the battlefield to live such a life. His journey had brought him back to the beginning.

“Mother, Father.”

Tuatem, now an adult, still burdened by charred skin, could see his mother and father, who had yet to die.

Useless on the battlefield, thrown into a large pit with other failures. Tuatem continued to use his miracle.

It didn’t matter how much his mind was eroded. Even if it was a forcibly chosen wrong path and power, even if his remarkable talent gradually made him less human…

He had to light the flames for these undying beings.

『But they too were flames. Fire could not kill fire…』

Tuatem’s conflict and fear were palpable. Would they have to live like this forever? His parents groaned in agony that felt eternal. Ultimately, he returned to the start, as he was when he was a ten-year-old boy. He prayed in the face of despair.

“… Living flame, the Eternal Blaze that consumes life.”

Desperately. Even more desperately.

“Please grant them rest.”

His prayer was unanswered.

“Take back the power bestowed upon them.”

The “Eternal Blaze” showed no interest.

“Eternal Blaze!”

In despair, he set his body on fire and laughed. He endlessly pleaded within the flames that burned day and night until his desire mingled with madness, hatred, and malice.

The miracle he finally attained was nothing like a funeral or anything memorial, as he named it.

“Eternal Blaze, burn them! Just let them blaze! Let the flames consume even the avaricious flames!”

The flames ignited in the pit. Those who had become one with the fire finally began to burn away. … Only one remained.

The prophet who brought that miracle into the world. The man who couldn’t shed a single tear as his tears evaporated in the blazing fire while sending off his parents.