Corrupted Priest-Chapter 32

A new weapon?

As the trumpet for the dead sounded, the pace of the revived ones gradually quickened.

Faster. Rougher. Stronger.

— Kiiiaaaaahhh!!!

All the mouths on the body of the patchwork giant let out rough roars. Triggered by the roar, the corpses forming the giant's body squirmed, resisting the undead climbing up and clinging to them.

Boom!

The patchwork giant's fist swept away a horde of undead. The gap left by the giant was immediately filled by a surge of new undead. The void disappeared in an instant.

An endless horde of the dead.

Even the broken and crushed bodies began crawling again toward the patchwork giant, writhing with whatever parts remained intact.

The undead were silent, and within that silence, only the patchwork giant kept roaring and rampaging endlessly.

— Kiiiaaaaahhhh!!!

We watched from a distance. Dakia glanced at us cautiously before speaking carefully.

"It looks like a decisive blow is needed. Should I try supporting with magic?"

Carmen gave a weak smile after briefly looking at me and Sagitta.

"That might be a bit..."

Sagitta nodded quietly, and before the princess could act out, I supported Carmen's stance.

"You need to restrain yourself, Your Highness. As I've mentioned before, uncontrollable allied magic is more dangerous than the sharpest enemy blade."

Friendly fire from an ally is terrifying.

For mages who manipulate powerful mana that distorts natural phenomena, the most important quality isn't raw output or versatility—it's precision.

A great mage must be able to control their power down to the finest detail. No matter how powerful a spell is, if it sweeps up allies, its usefulness drops to zero.

In that sense, Dakia's magic was as volatile as a spark turning into an explosion, with a huge margin for error. That meant she was more likely to hit the undead climbing the giant than the giant itself.

In short, "doing nothing gets you halfway there" was the most appropriate approach.

Dakia blushed slightly.

"I-it's not that bad, is it? The target is huge. At that size..."

"At that size, you'd need to pour in a massive amount of mana to do meaningful damage, and that increases the margin for error even more. If your intention is to blow up the city along with that giant, I'd advise you to hold back—there are still people alive down there."

She gave me a sour look.

"Fine, fine. I won't use magic. But aren't you being a bit too blunt?"

"I have to be, when it comes to battle. There's no point warning people after someone's already been hurt. Warnings only mean something before things go wrong."

"You're sharp as a knife."

"You have to be."

— Kiiiaaaaahhhh!!!

The patchwork giant stomped and rolled on the ground, trying to shake off the undead, but the tide of corpses relentlessly chewed away at its body.

But Dakia was right—it did seem that the Trumpeter of Rest lacked a decisive way to bring down the patchwork giant.

It was clear the Trumpeter would win eventually, but getting there would take time.

Should I help?

If I summoned the Giant of Decay to assist, it would cut down the time needed to defeat the patchwork giant drastically—but I wasn't crazy enough to reveal my mother's power in front of a priest.

That meant I couldn't use the Script of Decay either, so boosting my physical abilities was out of the question.

So, for now, watching seemed like the best option.

At that moment, the Trumpeter of Rest tucked his trumpet away and slowly walked toward us.

Why is he coming here?

Dakia asked cautiously.

"He's coming toward us, right?"

"Seems like it..."

The Trumpeter of Rest approached at a brisk pace and suddenly spoke. His hoarse voice rang out low and deep.

"Among the four of you, is there one who is confident in their agility?"

Agility? What's this about?

The party's eyes turned to me. The unspoken meaning: "You're the priest; maybe you should talk to him." And the Trumpeter's white, featureless mask was facing me anyway.

I smiled gently and replied.

"What is the reason for your question?"

A black-gloved hand extended from his flowing black robes. When his fingers swept the air, space twisted, and a spear made of bone appeared. He held it out and said:

"I want someone agile to take this spear and pierce the giant's heart. The spear will guide you to its location."

A spear? Then it should be Sagitta.

"Kill!"

As I instinctively received the spear, my mother suddenly yelled to ask for a sword as well.

"Do you have one in the shape of a sword, by any chance?"

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The pure white mask without eye holes silently stared at me. Then, once again, the black glove drew through the air. A white bone sword fell into my hands.

Oh, he doesn't just make one—he can make multiple?

I made a mental note to book a room and give my mother a proper hand massage after this was over, and cautiously asked again:

"Um... if you don't mind, could you also make two more swords and a quiver of arrows?"

The Trumpeter of Rest remained silent. As the patchwork giant's roar rang out again, he finally replied:

"Say everything at once."

Thankfully, he was a generous man. I received two more swords and a quiver of bone arrows from him and distributed them to the party.

Sagitta gripped the bone spear and gave it a few swings before smiling in satisfaction.

"Quite decent."

Dakia held her sword and sliced the air a few times, exclaiming in awe.

"It's super light."

While Carmen examined the arrows and sword, I studied the bone sword I had received.

It didn't feel like bone at all—razor-sharp edge and characteristic lightness. I was a little worried about its durability, but since it was made with the Trumpeter's divine authority, it had to be strong.

The Trumpeter's divine energy subtly infused the sword, which likely made it especially deadly against undead beings like the patchwork giant.

"Quite a decent weapon."

"If you want help, I'll give these weapons to you."

We quickly exchanged glances and nodded. Weapons like these were never easily obtainable, especially those given by the "Trumpeter of Rest."

I nodded at him.

"I will help. But..."

Boom!

The patchwork giant, still unrelenting, continued to rampage fiercely. To climb its body and stab this weapon into its heart?

That seemed like something only a legendary hero or the protagonist of a game could do.

The Trumpeter of Rest seemed to understand the meaning behind my gaze, and surprisingly, he spoke in a long sentence.

"I will stop the giant's movements for a moment. You should use that opportunity to stab the weapon deep into its heart. The arrows are too short for this task."

Before Carmen could say anything, the Trumpeter of Rest cut her off, as if unwilling to repeat himself. Carmen scowled and stepped back.

"Will you do it?"

It seemed that Sagitta and I would be the ones to directly pierce the heart. I looked at Sagitta, and he nodded heavily.

Alright. Let's give it a try.

"I will do it."

Hearing my response, the Trumpeter of Rest took a white trumpet from his robes and blew it toward the patchwork giant. With that silent performance, the situation suddenly changed.

The bodies of the undead surrounding the giant melted and mingled together. The congealed blood and flesh of the dead became a vile liquid, which began to climb up the patchwork giant's body.

The ominous liquid quickly solidified as it covered the giant's body. Within moments, parts of its lower body and arms were sealed, and the giant let out an ear-piercing roar.

Gyaaahhh!!!

Melting the bodies to solidify them?

Isn't that worse than consuming corpses to create the giant?

At the same time, we all had the same thought. We looked at the Trumpeter of Rest, who calmly spoke.

"I only deal with the shells of the ones I've given rest. Run."

At his words, we immediately rushed into action. The giant's thrashing was becoming more intense, and if we left it any longer, it would likely break free.

We ran along the sloped path formed by the solidified undead bodies and charged toward the giant's upper body. Upon spotting us, the giant roared menacingly.

Gyaaahhh!!!

Dakia laughed nonchalantly and shouted.

"You can't even move but still roaring so loudly!"

Before Dakia's words had finished, the giant's right hand burst out from the undead, shattering the solidified bodies. I shot her a stern glance, and she quickly covered her mouth, lowering her head.

"Mark, I'll handle that hand!"

With a shout, Carmen released her bowstring. The arrow, like a beam of light, pierced the giant's head. As the bone arrow lodged into its body, the giant reacted violently.

Gyaaahhh!!!

A sharp scream erupted from the mouths of all the dead bodies. Dakia seized the opportunity and quickly made her move. The sword she wielded left a deep wound on the patchwork giant's left arm, which was still encased in solidified undead.

The patchwork giant screeched once more.

"I'll help hold the giant from below with Carmen!"

Sagitta and I nodded lightly and dashed toward the giant's back.

Boom!

The giant's thick right hand swept across, but with its lower body fixed in place, the area within reach was obvious. No one in our group was going to get hit by such an obvious attack.

Sagitta and I stepped onto the giant's back and moved toward its heart. As we did, my mother quickly whispered into my ear.

'Kill!'

Information about the 'divine' being clustered in the center of the giant's head. My mother told me to secretly take that divine fragment, as it might be useful.

Then I should take it.

"Sagitta!"

"Yes!"

"Do you think you can pierce the heart alone? I'll cause a distraction at the head!"

Sagitta looked at the location of the heart as indicated by the weapon and nodded.

"That will be enough."

The bodies making up the giant's back reached out to grab us, but we trampled over them as we climbed the giant's body.

I focused all my strength into my legs. The dead bodies beneath us were crushed as we sprinted. I left Sagitta behind and continued to climb, finally reaching the giant's head.

The faces of the many heads that made up the patchwork giant somehow resembled Liverkel's.

Perfect.

This time, I'd be able to smash the head with my own hands.

Gyaaahhh!!!

The giant's massive face, having detected my position, opened its mouth wide and roared at me. The giant's right hand charged toward me, attempting to knock me off its shoulder.

Boom!

I leapt out of the way, avoiding the giant's hand. Gripping the bone sword, I didn't stab—it was time to split it open.

The face of Liverkel grew ever closer.

Honestly, even without the Trumpeter of Rest asking for help, I had planned to help anyway.

This monster, a sworn enemy of Saint Sanktus, the disgusting mage—this one, I intended to kill myself.

Thud.

The bone sword plunged into the giant's skull.

Gyaaahhh!!!

I heard its screams, unleashing all the old hatred I had stored for so long.

"This is the revenge for the corpse cleaner you once killed, you trash!"

Without hesitation, I swung the sword down. Amid the spilling of unidentifiable chunks of flesh, a red orb filled with intense divine energy rolled out.

'Kill!'

That must be it, my mother shouted.

I quickly reached out and grabbed the orb, tucking it into my chest. At that moment, the patchwork giant's body began to slowly collapse.

It seemed Sagitta had successfully pierced the giant's heart with his spear.

Boom!

As I landed on the ground, Dakia and Carmen quickly ran toward me.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded in response to Dakia's question and then asked.

"Where's Sagitta?"

"I'm here," Sagitta replied, covered in gore, holding his bone spear and smiling.

"This thing's pretty sharp."

At that moment, parting the undead, the Trumpeter of Rest slowly approached, his white mask fixed directly on me.

The white mask spoke.

"Follow me. Just you."