I Became the Priest of Blasphemy of the Outer Gods

Chapter 9. The Priest’s Journey (2)

“This feels so real.”

The sense of reality instilled a certain fear. If I became too absorbed, I would end up wandering endlessly in this reconstructed history.

“I need to stay alert. This is not just any miracle; it’s an ‘Outer God’s Miracle’ that I’m experiencing.”

Now, the scenery of this ultra-ancient city depicted the moment when the miracle 〈Forbidden Transformation〉 was first used. The record of the first use of a priest’s miracle was an extremely important point.

“This is where magic and miracles differ the most.”

Magic required understanding principles and directly causing changes to create phenomena. Therefore, magic necessitated high Intelligence and study, but miracles were different.

“There’s no need to understand. No, understanding itself is impossible.”

No matter how advanced and complex the magic, it had principles, whereas miracles were closer to unique phenomena forged by the will of gods and priests, without any principles. When a miracle was first performed, someone recorded its content and the prayer used by the priest. Other priests could then evoke the same miracle by reciting the prayer from that recorded moment. This was the principle of miracles.

“In this regard, I prefer being a mage more.”

Unlike magic, which could be adjusted and altered according to the user’s will, miracles could only produce predetermined phenomena. Because of this characteristic, priests gained experience by meditating on and directly experiencing the miracles’ origins.

“No matter how much I expected it, I didn’t think it would feel this real.”

The ancient city and the bloody atmosphere were one thing, but the surprising part was different. The prophet, the first user of this miracle, was a woman, and I was now experiencing her body. My movements were awkward, and my body felt heavy. When I looked down, I understood why.

“…She was pregnant.”

With an unpleasant premonition, snippets of the prophet’s memories and thoughts began to seep into me.

“She wasn’t particularly devout, but she possessed a high Mind and sensitivity.”

Aside from that, she was a surprisingly ordinary person with a typical family. But her unfamiliarity with the culture of human sacrifice, which was the primary form of ritual in this city, stood out to me.

“How horrible. How can humans do this to one another?”

The methods in the prophet’s memories reminded me of the Aztec empire’s human sacrifices and cannibalistic customs, horrifying in every aspect.

“No wonder this city met its doom.”

This city was essentially built from blood and bones. It developed using the offerings from human sacrifices, and families even had children specifically to offer them. Of course, the invaders weren’t much better.

“Move forward!”

I felt the rope around my neck tug violently. The rough handling caused my skin to chafe, sending waves of pain through me. The pain was so vivid it almost made me believe I was actually experiencing it. Just like the prophet, I marched towards the execution platform.

“It seems my neck will be cut off again.”

The execution platform wasn’t equipped with a guillotine or hanging ropes. It was a simple beheading method; they would make you kneel and then strike your neck with a sword.

“『Slumberer of the Abyss』, our king….”

The prophet recited a prayer while being dragged along. Annoyed by this, the soldier escorting her kicked her, but she didn’t fall. As the prophet closed her eyes, a dark and hazy figure appeared, an entity she conjured in her mind.

“This woman… She connected with the Outer God through dreams and visions, thanks to her high Mind and unique sensitivity.”

She was quite talented, in a disturbing way.

“Though she hasn’t gone mad yet, she would have lost her mind in a year or two anyway.”

Those who associated with the Outer Gods were doomed to destruction. However, at this moment, by offering everything she had, the prophet sought revenge against the invaders who took her husband and daughter.

『He is indifferent.』

The prophet’s thoughts resonated in my head.

『He feels greed and joy from the sacrifices we offer, but to him, we who worship him are nothing more than insignificant insects.』

The prophet fully understood.

Just like every priest who followed the 『Slumberer of the Abyss』.

As his priest father had once taught him.

—He is interested not in us, but in sacrifices. He desires offerings, not our love.

Some people mistakenly believed that the more sacrifices they offered, the more they would be rewarded. However, in the end, an Outer God was merely an Outer God. What that entity pursued was nothing but slumber, filled with laziness.

To attract such a god’s attention, a very special offering was required.

‘Wait a minute… Could it be this woman?’

The scripture simply stated that the prophet offered an extremely rare sacrifice. I only realized now what it was.

“You… you can’t even bring down a single woman properly.”

The prophet taunted the soldier who had kicked her earlier.

“Judging by your appearance, have you never overpowered a woman before? They say mongrels of a primitive heresy are terrible in bed service.”

She mumbled intentionally, loud enough for everyone to hear. Enraged by the prophet’s words that hit a nerve, the soldier pushed the prophet down and started kicking her repeatedly while they were being transported to the execution platform. As brutal violence accompanied with curses poured onto his body, the crowd merely reveled in this new spectacle.

“Ahh! Great 【Slumberer of the Abyss】, please watch over me. I offer you my most precious treasure…”

Horrendous pain spread through her abdomen. Silence descended, one only a mother could know. The life that had been growing inside her extinguished, no longer did the kicks target his belly, nor did his body writhe anymore.

The unborn child, lost to the soldier’s brutal kicks, was the only sacrificial offering that the prophet, who had lost everything, could give.

“【Slumberer of the Abyss】…”

Through blood-stained eyes, the prophet saw it. Perhaps it was just an illusion or delusion, or maybe merely the shapes cast by people that seemed to form something.

“Finally…! Finally, I can see you!”

“She’s completely nuts. Drag her away!”

The prophet, lifted and dragged to the execution platform, saw below the crowd, a dark shadow forming some kind of shape. It was gigantic and bizarre.

‘Could it be just a mere hallucination…?’

To my eyes, it appeared akin to a demon and evoked a uniquely revolting and unpleasant feeling, reminiscent of some kind of amphibian. Simultaneously, it looked merely like the shadows of the people.

“Great one, I pray to you. Bestow your favor upon us…”

The prayer began from the mouth of the prophet, and from my mouth… or whose mouth it should be, no one knew. A true prayer, bestowed by the divine.

“Grant us the darkest… blessings heading towards the abyss.”

A miracle started.

The prophet felt an odd power course through her veins. She sensed her mana being tainted by something.

*Thud!*

And then the head was severed. To be exact, half-severed.

“Ugh, the blade’s dull…”

Not being cleanly cut, the executioner sawed through the neck with a rusty, chipped sword.

“Waaah!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd. Executions were always entertaining, a thrilling spectacle for both children and adults who watched the provocative deaths of the vanquished. But gradually, they noticed something unusual.

“Isn’t this strange?”

“Why isn’t there any blood?”

Neither from the severed neck nor from the head was blood flowing. I, completely aware of the prophet’s body, knew that there was no blood left in it.

“Look at that! It’s moving!”

The headless prophet’s corpse twitched and began to rise.

As the soldiers shot spears and arrows, the corpse simply slumped.

“Is it over?”

“Those things are always so unpleasant… huh?”

Then, as the large, swollen belly split apart, it began to spew out something dark instead of a fetus and amniotic fluid. From the cross-section, a black liquid gushed out in an instant, engulfing the head of a soldier who had beheaded the corpse, dissolving it completely.

“Run, run away!”

The once festive site was now filled with screams and chaos. The prophet had started transforming into a formless residue. I also experienced it, gaining an understanding of this miracle. Just as it happened in Albeka, the soldier who beheaded the prophet faced not revenge but divine retribution.

‘The punishment for harming one blessed by God. So, this is the principle of this miracle.’

Unlike me, the prophet, who had talent but was lacking as a priest, failed to recover his body and immediately turned into a formless residue.

“Kill it! No matter what, it’s just a monster!”

The soldiers attacked the formless residue that the prophet had become, but physical attacks were futile. The formless residue mixed with rainwater, gradually swelling and beginning to engulf its surroundings.

“O Slumberer of the Abyss!”

In a city devoted to Outer Gods, the residents cheered as they were gladly swallowed by the formless residue. After merging and transforming, they too became new formless residues, which started to engulf the city. The priests and mages who arrived later launched attacks, but they were insufficient to stop the rapidly growing formless residues.

“Run! Our attacks aren’t working!”

“If it touches you, it’ll melt you! Don’t let it touch you!”

Swallowing more corpses, they swung their formless bodies, smashing, consuming, and biting.

‘This feeling…’

I thought the prophet would feel a sense of liberation. The pleasure of revenge, the ecstasy of finally reaching the Outer God. But the prophet felt nothing.

‘It feels like she’s become a machine. This is terrifying.’

For the prophet turned into a formless residue, only the orders of the 【Slumberer of the Abyss】 were prioritized. She felt no emotion in dealing with the soldiers who killed her family, merely exterminating those who defiled her master’s city for her master.

“Praise the 【Slumberer of the Abyss】! Worship our great god!”

Fanatics ran wild, participating in the black tide, but fell silent after being swallowed. The buildings they had erected collapsed, and the invaders who couldn’t escape in time were devoured.

‘Everything is sinking.’

Only a mixture of blood, flesh, mud, and filth remained where the formless residues had swept through. The city was gone. Only corruption remained.

“Gasp!”

I broke out of my meditation, drenched in cold sweat. As I wiped my head and looked at my hand, I noticed that the green light was gradually fading. It seemed to be a mental damage roll.

“Mister?”

“Oh, sorry…”

Right, we were in the forest, and Talia was keeping watch. I felt a bit guilty towards Talia for having been in meditation for quite a while.

“It took too long, right? I’ll take over the watch now—”

“No? It hasn’t even been 5 minutes since you closed your eyes.”

From the way she looked at me, seemingly bewildered, it seemed like it really had only been about that long. Although it felt like several hours had passed, in reality, only about 5 minutes had gone by.

“Sigh…”

Even in the quiet forest, I could feel the formless residues writhing deep beneath, awaiting their master’s command to one day engulf the world in corruption.

“…Corruption.”

Ironically and fearfully, I found myself no longer scared of that horrendous future.