Fractured God

A month soon passed after they agreed to work with each other and the time for the men who called themselves the Marrow of Lucifer to get their due quickly came.

Mr. Bentley had given them a specific day to commit the deed and decided to visit when the time came.

“Hmm? What are you doing here?” The priest asked as he witnessed the old man slowly approach, with two of his own men following behind. “And who the hell are those two, do you fancy yourself a comedian you old fart, because I'm not finding this funny.” He asked as he slowly got up. His men were busy piling bodies but turned their attention to him as soon as the priest raised his voice.

“Calm down, boy, I'm just making a few trusted associates of mine aware of what's going on.”

The priest rolled his eyes at such a lame reasoning.

“What for? Isn't telling them enough?” He quickly answered, slowly walking over towards them.

“Of course not, I just want to make them aware of the shit we'll be in if they don't do their jobs and keep the rest of their allies away. Understand lads?” He asked the two of them.

“O-of course, but uh, what about the bodies? They'll find them eventually right?” One man asked.

“You don't have to worry about that. This village had caught the ire of a bandits group a few years ago and I hear they've been making a bit of a resurgence lately.” He said, almost sounding smug.

“Ah, is that why this was the first village?” Father Daniel asked as he waved off his men, signalling them to continue working.

“Indeed. However, I'm not too sure about this whole leaving bodies business.”

“Aren't you the one who said you'd keep the adventurers away?”

“To a point. I can't keep them away forever.”

The priest brought a hand to his forehead and sighed. “This parish of yours is nearly the size of some states, do you really think it would be a negative to us in any way if these bodies were left out after we finished what we needed? So what a band of killers is roaming the countryside? With our frequency and your help, that shouldn't matter, we'll loot a few things so it seems like the work of that group you mentioned.” He answered.

“I know but there is a reason I brought these fine gentlemen out here.”

With those words, the men behind him looked at each other wondering where he was going with this.

“Which is why these two will help to hide the bodies in a nearby forest.” He answered.

The two men groaned as they saw the pile of bodies growing just a few metres away.

“I can't imagine the smell of so much rotting flesh would be easy to ignore.” The priest answered. “It seems like wasted effort to me. With a mass of bodies this large, no matter what you do to get rid of them, it's going to be noticeable. May as well do what you should and leave as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, but if hiding them delays the news by even a day, it'd be well worth it, don't you agree?”

The priest sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Do whatever makes you comfortable.”

Mr. Bentley told the two men to wait nearby and walked towards the bodies.

It was repugnant. The faces of various men and women of various ages screaming out for help, begging for a god to intervene stuck on their faces would be enough to bring most men to their knees. It was like these people were no more than boars being culled. It seemed their deaths weren't pretty either. Some had bruises all over their bodies, while others were missing singular limbs, the likely scenario being they had an arm or leg chopped off and died of blood loss.

“Really? The children as well?” Mr. Bentley asked as he stared into the pile.

“Are you suggesting children are any different from regular people?” Father Daniel coldly asked.

“(Whatever, as long as you pay me.) No, actually the last time I came upon a scene of this magnitude, a child was spared. I think it may have given me the wrong impression.”

“But I must say, you're doing quite well for witnessing a scene like this. Even some of our men during the initial attack couldn't hold onto their stomach when all was said and done.”

“You were going to kill people, weren't you? Instead of three villages suffering massive losses while we play cat and mouse with you, we can ensure only one is forced to go through this. Like we discussed the last time we met, it's quite an agreeable arrangement, as long as you are strong enough we can't kill you in a single go.”

“While that's true, many people don't have the brain to do something logical especially if it isn't pretty. Honestly, I was expecting you to betray me after witnessing what happened today. (Thankfully I won't have to blackmail him.)”

“Compared to the alternative, it's a far prettier option for those in this parish.”

The priest walked over to the pile of bodies. His men had placed the final one some time ago as he spoke with the old man.

“Ah, right, I suppose I'll show what we want to your own eyes.”

He walked over to them and opened the mouth of a child on top of the bodies. She wore a garland around her chest that had been stained by blood. As he opened it, he turned back to Mr. Bentley, with only mild discomfort present on his face.

The priest gave a soft smirk and bit his index finger, drawing blood. He drew a few symbols in her mouth and within the next few moments, a few crystals started forming in her mouth, a ridiculous amount at that. They filled her mouth and the priest had to bring her head forward and squeeze her cheeks to push them out.