Chapter 5 - Instinctive Fear
Translator: Homia
It’s coming.
Because of the words of abuse that he uttered without even realizing it, the priest was running precisely towards him. Belkir screamed with the nerves of his whole body on edge.
“I’ll take care of that priest for now! You guys clean up the rest of the mess and help me!”
Of course, there was no answer. Because he taught them like that himself. Belkir calmly pulled an arrow and fired at the priest’s body. It was necessary to deal some more damage before facing each other in person.
The priest, who already had two arrows stuck in his body, calmly swung the sword and deflected the arrow.
Belkir had a hunch it wouldn’t be so easy to stall for time.
“Fu*k!”
Belkir, who uttered a swear word, pulled out the long sword he was wearing around his waist. A sword made of Froststeel, a specialty of the northern kingdom, was the most precious of the items he brought with him when he deserted.
Kaang!
The first collision was heavy. So much that he wondered if it really collided with a sword wielded by a human. But Belkir was no ordinary man either.
If Belkir was an ordinary man in the first place, he would have to roll around the cold prison floor without being able to resist the pursuit of the Northern Kingdom’s Rangers.
He was a man who carried the term “genius” for a long time.
Their swords repeatedly hit each other with sparks jumping around. Fortunately for Belkir, it seemed the opponent was not that good at swordsmanship compared to his physical ability.
Belkir’s judgment was correct.
It’s only been a little less than three years since Marnak started learning swordsmanship properly. Being a priest of corruption as his profession, he had to learn swordsmanship from the basics, of course, without anyone correcting him.
‘I have to stall for time!’
Marnak bit his lips. The opponent was uncharacteristically outstanding. Inside, he lamented that the game balancing was a mess and shouted out loud.
“How many?!”
Belkir couldn’t understand what the priest was asking for. Asking “how many” out of the blue.
The swords collided and sparks appeared again.
“What kind of nonsense is this?!”
Marnak did not answer. Because he didn’t ask Belkir in the first place. The dried hand in his pockets stretched out two and a half fingers.
Two and a half fingers.
With two and a half fingers, it was the same number of fingers that the most skilled Ranger who chased Marnak had. A thief on the same level as the Ranger. Shouldn’t bandits be low-level mobs? Marnak grumbled inside and rushed forward.
He wanted to kill that thief even at the risk of a little damage.
As time drags on here, I will be at a disadvantage. I wouldn’t die from attacks without divinity, but that’s not to say I can’t get incapacitated. If a limb was cut off, it would get quite difficult. It doesn’t mean it would be impossible, though.
Belkir noticed with his extraordinary sense that the priest had made up his mind.
But it was fine. Because he was able to earn some time. Preparations were already over.
Marnak, who narrowed the distance in an instant, swung the sword as hard as he could, trying to show a gap.
“Sigh!”
All his injuries would regenerate after some time, so he wanted to attract the attention of the enemy, ready to lose a bone to take the flesh of the enemy. This was Marnak’s strategy.
[Tl/N: Proverb, like he’s ready to pay a higher price to harm the enemy.]
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Belkir didn’t attack through Marnak’s gap. He just calmly struck Marnak’s sword, but the result was unexpected.
The sword, cut in half, flew through the air and fell in the pure white snow.
“Hahahaha! That’s why I use Froststeel!”
This is why Belkir had been relentlessly attacking Marnak’s blade. How could a sword made of such cheap iron beat his sword that a craftsman himself smelted from Froststeel?
Marnak, caught up by surprise, sighed.
“Hoh. The difference in equipment.”
Belkir pointed the tip of his sword at the priest.
“The priest doesn’t seem to have anything anyway, but I’ll let you go. We’re leaving the area after this. So why don’t we stop fighting and say goodbye?”
To be honest, if that priest ran away without looking back, he was not confident he could catch up. Marnak smirked at Belkir’s polite suggestion.
“I’d like to suggest something too. Quit being a bandit here and leave immediately. Then I’ll let you off the hook just this time.”
“Are you serious about that? Do you really think we’re going to say ‘yes!’
“That’s not…”
Puck.
An arrow hit Marnak’s head. With such a clean hit, Belkir laughed like a mischievous boy.
“You’re late! You bastards! I thought I was going to die!”
The man who released the arrow grinned.
“Don’t be so dramatic. I saw how the sword that priest carried had been broken in half by the captain.”
“Hey, I didn’t do that by chance. Every cut was made after careful calculations.”
“Yes, yes. As expected, the leader is the best.”
“It’s been a day or two since I last showed off. By the way, did you kill them?”
“Yes, I killed all of them, not one of them.”
“Did you really kill them all?”
Marnak asked in a gentle way, pulling out an arrow stuck in his head.
Belkir and his men’s faces hardened as they saw the body that should have died.
“Why are you all so surprised? Like you’ve never seen anyone alive after being shot by an arrow in the head.”
Belkir wanted to scream, ‘Because it’s the first time I’ve seen it!’, but Marnak asked slowly again.
“I want you to slowly answer my question. Did you really kill them all?”
The face of the priest who asked the question was as serene as ever. Belkir gulped down and answered.
“Yeah, Priest. Everyone in that party is dead, so why don’t we just go our separate ways, huh?”
“I’ve already given you the chance to go each other’s way. You answered me with an arrow to the head.”
Marnak knelt on one knee and slowly put his hands together.
“Dear Mother of Corruption. Your son is in trouble. I’m so embarrassed and scared that I don’t know what to do. Don’t you think it’s time for you to try your best if you’ve been watching, too?”
A prayer that was recited roughly as he knelt down. If other priests had seen the prayer, which was even playful, they’d clearly call that blasphemy.
However, a prayer in the first place is good as long as there are those who want it and those who accept it.
Marnak wished, and the Mother of Corruption agreed to it.
A dark green light flashed in Marnak’s eyes, which opened slowly. Belkir realized that something was wrong.
“Hey! Shoot everyone! Shoot! Don’t just stare blankly, you bastards!”
Marnak quickly became a hedgehog with the arrows that flew in. At the same time, a green light lashed out at the earth, drawing a huge circle around them.
Belkir has given the best order for the present situation with extraordinary perception.
“Hey, retreat now! Run, you bastards!”
The bandits rushing over the snow soon hit an invisible wall.
“Jeez, I can’t get past it! Captain, there’s a wall you can’t see!”
“I know, you bastards!”
What stood in their way was the ‘line that the living cannot cross’, a basic skill that the Priest of Corruption learns when changing jobs.
The ‘line that the living cannot cross’ is a skill that the priest of corruption must use in case of any unforeseen circumstances before he can exercise his power, preventing the living enemy from escaping and hiding from the divinity of corruption.
Marnak, who had become a hedgehog, slowly opened his mouth.
“If you want to cross that border, either kill me or break my heart… Or are you just going to commit suicide?”
Belkir clenched his teeth, pulled out his sword, and shouted.
“Hey! Everybody, take your swords out! No matter what a monster he is, he’ll die if cut into pieces! Don’t you think so?”
“That’s right!”
“That’s right! Arrows have small holes so he could survive, but if we cut him into pieces as the captain said, he’ll die!”
In the midst of groundless confidence, the bandits pulled out swords altogether.
Marnak said casually, pulling out the arrows one by one.
“Your opponent is not me, but the one who is coming now.”
“That’s nothing-“
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Thud!
The air was torn apart and a giant creature fell.
Four huge arms, a head with only a mouth on a plain bare face. The giant’s abdomen was similar to the upper body of a muscular man with bulging muscles.
The giant slowly decayed from the outside and at the same time gained new flesh.
Finally, the giant’s mouth opened wide and let out a scream.
Gahhh!!!
The first power was obtained by Marnak by devoting 10,000 divinity from the first holy object.
The ‘Giant of Corruption’ came to earth in response to his mother’s call.
Marnak said, pulling out the last arrow from his head.
“You can do whatever you want except for the leader.”
Gaaahhhhhh!!!
A roar that reverberates in the brain. The giant’s screams seemed to forcefully pull out everything that was deep inside a person. Belkir’s instincts screamed for help.
“S-sh*t…”
Crack.
Those were Belkir’s last words before he was crushed by the corruption giant.
“Ahhhh!”
“Save me, priest! Please save me!”
Crushing flesh and tearing screams. Marnak watched the slaughter of the giants of corruption with a calm face. Marnak grinned as he slowly tapped his mother’s hand in his pocket.
“It’s the first time I’ve called that giant friend out myself, and it makes my heart pound. I really like this power, Mother.”
Gaahhhhh!!!
The corruption giant screamed goodbye and disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
‘Kill!’
“Yes, yes. This time, I really killed all my enemies as my mother wished. My companions are all dead.”
I stepped up to save them, but couldn’t save anyone.
While I was organizing the corpses of the party in one corner, I searched one by one to retrieve the mercenary plaques.
‘Kill!’
“You want me to retrieve the divinity from the corpses right now? I can’t do that. Mother, if I retrieve their divinity, the body will decompose and disappear. Then I’m sure the mercenary guilds who will come to investigate the scene will find this situation strange. As you know, it’s time for me to be cautious.”
‘Kill!’
“I’ve heard that we should just absorb all the divinity, turn them into powder, and then go to another city. But this son dares to oppose his mother’s words.”
‘Kill…?’
“Look over there.”
In the place I pointed to were the heads of bandits beautifully gathered by the corrupt giant.
“That’s a head worth twenty-nine silver. I clearly remember what I’ve been looking for, Mother. Huh?!”
The moment I was about to retrieve the mercenary plaque from Pierre’s chest. His heart moved very quietly. Pierre’s bear cub-like body was barely breathing.
I smiled brightly.
“We saved one, though, Mother.”
‘Kill!’
“I’m on my way there anyway, so please help me do it comfortably. I’m going to take this bear-like friend back to the Guise and save him. I’m sure it’ll be a great help to my reputation. So please help me quickly, Mother.”
At the end of the short prayer, protection was put on Pierre’s body to prevent the wounds from getting worse.
I walked slowly, holding a 29 silver-worth head in one hand, and Pierre’s body in the other.
‘Kill!!!’
The Mother of Corruption shouted urgently.
“Oh, right. I guess I can’t live without Mother. I almost forgot.”
I picked up a sword on the floor and put it around my waist.
The Froststeel sword that the thief boss was so proud of.
“Thanks to my mother, I can now afford a sword. When I go back, I’ll give you a hand massage.”
‘Kill…!’
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