The Priest of the Evil God, Part 4
It took Seraphina several more hours to escape the dungeon. The ancient temple's layout was labyrinthine—a relic of the ancient Constellation War, designed to serve as a fortress in times of crisis. While it was not a maze built with malicious intent, it was still far too complex for Seraphina to navigate on her first attempt.
'At least the beasts left tracks.' Realizing this, Seraphina devised a new strategy: she would follow the trail of the monsters that had nested in the temple. The protection of the Evil God still lingered around her. Though its influence had waned compared to when she first arrived, the beasts remained deeply wary of her. Whenever she drew near, they fled in the opposite direction—away from the dungeon's depths where the Gate lay. Seraphina simply followed the sound of their retreating footsteps.
Despite losing her way a few times, she kept moving forward until she finally reached the temple's outer perimeter. By then, the sun had completely set. Finding a relatively safe spot, she settled down to camp for the night. The next morning arrived.
"Gah! Help! Aaaaargh!"
Seraphina was jolted awake by a sudden, piercing scream. It was the desperate cry of a young boy. Because ordinary creatures never dared to venture near a dungeon, his voice echoed with crystal clarity even from a distance. Seraphina quickly gathered her gear and stood up. Concealing her presence, she crept toward the source of the noise.
Before long, she reached the source of the commotion. Naturally, the dungeon beast was the first thing she saw. It was a four-legged creature covered in short, bristly fur, standing roughly as tall as a grown man. As expected of a cursed entity from another world, its appearance was grotesque.
Massive horns protruded from its head, looking as if two gnarled trees had taken root directly inside its brain. Ash-gray bones formed the branches, while strips of peeled skin fluttered like sickening leaves. The beast had adorned its horns with rotting flesh and hide—undoubtedly torn from its own body or those of its kin. Seraphina finally realized the origin of the velvet-colored lumps she had seen scattered throughout the dungeon.
Thud! The creature slammed its horns against the stone wall, shedding those fleshy "leaves" like autumn foliage. The sight of the beast relentlessly ramming its head into the stone, utterly indifferent to its own tearing flesh, was deeply unsettling even to Seraphina, who had survived an otherworldly apocalypse.
"Whoa! Ah, noooo!"
The owner of the screams seemed to find the spectacle just as horrifying. The high-pitched, cracking voice of a young boy pierced the air. Seraphina looked up toward the sound. High on the wall where the beast was ramming its horns, a figure clung precariously to a narrow ledge. It was a young boy, his round ears twitching atop his head and his tail lashing anxiously, betraying his sheer terror.
'A beastman?' The boy was clinging to the vertical surface with impressive agility, leaping between handholds with a dexterity impossible for an ordinary human child of his age. However, his desperate struggle could only last so long. The beast was pursuing him in a blind rage, and the boy's avenues of escape were rapidly shrinking.
'I don't know why a young boy is in a dungeon, but...!' Having assessed the situation, Seraphina acted immediately. She shouldered her Thunder Staff, aimed quickly, and pulled the trigger. The Evil God's gift had brilliantly resolved almost every crisis she had faced so far. She placed her faith in its track record. This time was no exception. Although the beast was moving so violently that the thunder only grazed its hind leg, the impact was immediate.
The deafening roar and sudden pain triggered the creature's primal trauma. It recalled the history of hunting engraved in its very DNA. In an instant, the beast remembered: the terror of being ruthlessly hunted, and the humiliation of being bred in a park.
"Screeech!"
The beast shrieked and fled. Its rage vanished in the face of absolute terror. It bolted to escape the lethal thunder. It was such a frantic, desperate retreat that even Seraphina was left dumbfounded.
'Did it recognize the trace of a god?' Seraphina stared blankly at its retreating figure. This was the first time she had used the Evil God's gift against a monster, yet the reaction was far more extreme than she had anticipated.
'No, that's not what's important right now.' Seraphina shook her head and turned her gaze to the beastman boy. He seemed unable to comprehend the sudden turn of events. With his mouth agape, he stared at the retreating beast's tail before slowly turning his gaze to Seraphina, the architect of his salvation. Their eyes met. An awkward silence ensued. Seeing the boy's deeply anxious expression, Seraphina spoke first.
"Hello, child. Do you have a moment? I seem to have lost my way." She spoke, recalling the training she had received at the convent. Drawing on her past experience during missionary practice, she adjusted her expression. A faint, gentle smile graced her lips, radiating harmlessness. Seraphina gently reached her hand out toward the boy.
"Aaaaahhhhh!" The boy shrieked as if he had seen a ghost and bolted, screaming even louder than when his life was threatened by the beast.
"Aaargh!" The boy fled rapidly, swinging and climbing over the countless vines of the jungle surrounding the dungeon. Seraphina pursued him. The Gate's location had suddenly changed, and she was in a jungle she had never seen before. She couldn't easily let go of the first person she had met in such a place.
Of course, with the body of a young woman who had only recently reached adulthood, Seraphina couldn't match the speed of a beastman boy traversing his native jungle. However, "He-help meee!" The boy's movements, exhausted from his ordeal with the beast, were clumsy, and above all, he screamed periodically, constantly revealing his position. Thus, Seraphina was able to track him relatively easily.
After a few minutes, the brief chase ended when the boy ran into a village. Seraphina stopped and caught her breath. 'Things got a bit complicated, but... at least I made it.' Seraphina caught her breath and scanned the settlement. Hiding in the dense foliage, she narrowed her eyes. The village was small. Judging by the number of buildings, the population wouldn't exceed a hundred. Even for a village built in the middle of a jungle, the wooden fences and barricades were flimsy.
'If I wanted to enter, I could do it right now.' Compared to cities where guards patrolled the walls and immediately locked up suspicious outsiders, this place was practically defenseless. Nevertheless, Seraphina did not blindly head toward the village. She had learned something from the boy's reaction just now.
'My current appearance... must look incredibly suspicious.' Because she had experienced so much in just over a month, she hadn't realized it until now. The boy's screams forced her to look at herself objectively. She was wearing a black priestess robe tailored from mysterious materials, holding the Thunder Staff—the Evil God's gift—and making even a dungeon beast flee in terror. No matter how one looked at it, she was an anomaly. It was not a dissonance that could be resolved with a friendly smile.
'At rate, I can't use the missionary methods I learned at the convent.' The standard method of approaching people warmly and slowly sharing the word of God was out of the question. She needed a more radical, groundbreaking approach. 'Then how...' Seraphina's thoughts raced. How was she supposed to proselytize? Should she lure them with doctrine and rewards? Wait, did her order even have a doctrine? Even if she made one, wouldn't it be ruined by a single whim of the Evil God? Her naive plan of blindly gathering believers had hit a realistic wall.
'Common sense dictates that an ordinary person wouldn't willingly worship an Evil God from beyond the Gate.' Unless their life had fallen into the abyss like hers, they had no reason to follow such a deity. 'Unless those people are also in a crisis—' Just as her thoughts reached that point—
"Grrr... gurgle...!" An anomalous sound began to echo from the bustling village. It was a disgusting, throat-scratching growl, as if imitating a beast with human vocal cords. Seraphina turned her head. Her ruby-red eyes reflected green-skinned monsters. They vaguely resembled humans, but with a much rougher and meaner appearance. Seraphina knew them.
Monsters! Evil and foolish races said to be born from the Demon King's magical power. They were different from the beasts that emerged from beyond the Gate; they possessed no force fields or incomprehensible curses. They were driven solely by base instinct. Unable to speak the common tongue, they had never followed human morals or laws, raiding human settlements out of primitive, savage impulses.
'Of course, if that was all, monsters would have just been classified as common dangerous creatures of the Continent...' But after the Gate incident, when the three main gods fell silent and the Demon Kings began their war of conquest, monsters were instantly declared the archenemy of humanity. Under the command of the Demon Kings, their ruthless violation of humanity was enough to strike terror into mankind. The Demon King's army systematically raided remote villages to secure food and slaves. If the Gate's beasts were an irresistible, unrealistic natural disaster, monsters were a much closer and more realistic threat.
Of course, Seraphina didn't know why they were raiding the village at this exact moment, but... 'Is this also the arrangement of the Evil God?' She accepted it. It wasn't entirely unrealistic. After all, wasn't it the Evil God's will that had changed the Gate's destination? If she assumed that He also desired believers and had sent Seraphina to the perfect location, then this situation made perfect sense.
'Either way, it's an opportunity.' The girl's eyes flashed. If she couldn't hide her suspiciousness, she could wrap it in mystery. And mystery was born from power, secrets, and goodwill. Click. Seraphina flipped the selector switch of her Thunder Staff to full-auto.
"Aaaah!"
"It-it's goblins!"
"Everyone evacuate! To the central hall! Hurry, hurry!"
In the middle of the village filled with screams and shouts, the old beastman mage Merlin looked around urgently. Spotting the boy running from afar, he shouted.
"Arthur! Where on earth have you been, and why are you only returning now!" His voice was filled with anger, bewilderment, and an even greater sense of relief. The worry the old man had felt while searching for the boy was palpable. Already emotionally overwhelmed, the boy burst into tears.
"G-Grandpa! I'm sorry!" The boy threw himself at Merlin. Burying his face in the old man's chest, he sobbed. "I-I thought if I lured the dungeon beasts, they could drive away the monsters, but the beasts were too fast, and I-I couldn't muster any strength—"
The boy's words were incoherent, blurted out in the confused, frantic tone typical of a young child. Old Merlin knew exactly what to do. The situation was urgent; the monster army was right before them. Calming the child was the priority.
"Arthur, it's fine. I'll hear the story later. I'm just glad you're safe. Hurry and hide. Your siblings should be in the central hall." Merlin patted the boy's back to calm him down. After immediately guiding the child to the shelter, he turned to the beastman youth standing nearby, who was checking the headcount.
"Has everyone evacuated properly? Did you check the numbers?"
"Yes, Elder. Everyone in the village has been sent to the central hall. The headcount is complete."
"Sigh... Thank goodness. We barely made it in time. You should head inside as well." Merlin patted the youth's shoulder. At his casual attitude, the youth asked back, still unable to believe it.
"Elder. Are you really planning to face those monsters alone? I know you are an outstanding mage, but do you not know where we are?"
"Of course. I know. In fact, I probably feel it better than you do. Hehehe, mages are more sensitive to mana concentration than anyone else. Even more so if that mage is a beastman."
"...Then why are you trying to handle this alone? Let me help you."
"Bwahaha! You, even if you are the chief, aren't you looking down on this old man too much? I was once a royal mage, you know."
"..."
Merlin laughed and shouted, but his eyes held a powerful resolve. Seeing that, the youth could no longer argue. Offering help here would only be an insult. The chief of the small village ultimately held his tongue.
"...I will remember this, Elder." The chief bowed deeply. Leaving those final words, he walked toward the central hall. The growls of the approaching monsters, which had grown closer, replaced his retreating footsteps.
"Kieeeek!"
"Yes. It seems you've finally arrived." Merlin rolled up his sleeves as he looked at the monsters. The number of green monsters was by no means small. Ordinary magic wouldn't be enough. Moreover, this was near a dungeon. Since the mana concentration was low, the efficiency of magic was also reduced.
'Hmm. Perhaps this will be my last.' The old man calmly prepared for his end. He tapped his heart lightly a few times. Insufficient mana could be supplemented with life force. Performing a technique possible only for a beastman mage, he drew a magic circle. A blue glow drifted through the air, forming geometric shapes. Merlin brought to bear the best of his knowledge. Borrowing the format of the Constellation Pantara and the formula of the Constellation Elyusen for power—Ruuuumble—he manifested a magic that enveloped the entire village. His experience as a mage screamed at him. This was a magic that an old man's body could not handle. The moment he activated it, all his mana and life force would be drained. Merlin didn't care. He simply maintained the magic circle, waiting for the right moment. He had to do it. There were few people in this village who could fight. Weren't they all outcasts to begin with?
'If I perform a great deed in my final years, Tanamalia will surely welcome me.' He steeled his heart and waited for the moment. Thus, a moment later, just as the goblins and other monsters were about to trample the village with their muddy feet—Rat-tat-tat!—faster than Merlin's magic, thunder began to pierce the bodies of the monsters.