I Became the Priest of Blasphemy of the Outer Gods

Chapter 33. The Underground of the City (4)

The smiling face was hard to read.

‘Was I found out?’

No, I couldn’t have been found out.

If I had been, there would have been no reason not to be executed immediately by the sinewy woman.

‘She’s suspicious about something else.’

My mind raced quickly in the tense situation.

As long as this woman didn’t suspect that I was Ethnos, surely…

“Do you think I’m collaborating with that Outer God priest?”

“Yes! That’s correct!”

So, it was this.

If she had said no, my complicated thoughts might have made my head explode.

“I don’t have solid evidence, but my intuition, bestowed by God, tells me you are suspicious!”

“Then why not use that miracle? The ‘Bright Light of Truth Detection’.”

The miracles of the Church of Hayat mostly pertained to light and were heavily focused on non-combat elements like order, discipline, healing, purification, and inspiration. This was why the priests of the Church of Hayat were often seen as pure buffers or healers, and most combatants were composed of paladins.

One such miracle that I thought was a scam, the ability to discern whether someone’s words were true or false three times, used only once per day.

“Indeed! Normally, it would require special permissions, but in the case of investigating heretical activities, I have the authority to make judgments on the spot based on my discretion!”

Seeing her proud posture, as if she was boasting, made me let out a slight bitter smile.

How could she show the exact same attitude as at the time of ≪Orders≫?

—Arian was proud of herself, showing her pride as a knight who earned the favor of her God, shoulders squared.

I remembered the description I heard back then.

It was an old memory I had forgotten, but seeing that scene brought it back vividly.

“Should you make any unrelated claims, you will be deemed as committing deception and imprisoned for more than three years, but because this is regarding heretical activities, you will face summary execution!”

When I nodded, Arian used the miracle simply by uttering its name without any special prayer.

‘Not only does she have the qualities of a warrior, but also that of a priest.’

In terms of specs alone, she was an obvious candidate for a leader, but her excessively upright personality and inflexible behavior were problematic.

“Now, speak! You can do so three times!”

A glowing orb floated before her eyes.

If I lied, the light would flicker intensely; if I told the truth, nothing would happen.

“I came to Wave Reach for Talia’s self-reliance and stability, and I’m gathering information on the red-haired Outer God priest.”

Since there were no lies, the light showed no reaction. All I did was speak cleverly.

I truly came for Talia, and I was deliberately gathering my own information to check how much the pursuers had found out.

“There’s no lie!”

“I hold firm resentment and hostility toward heretics.”

Again, since I was telling the truth, the light remained unchanged.

Unlike other Outer God priests, I indeed despised and rejected them. This statement was also perfectly suited to Ahad, a character who had lost his family due to incidents involving heretics.

“Good! You have told the truth again!”

Arian nodded and displayed a bright smile. Although she was attractive, if I were to lie, she would behead me instantly. Or perhaps, she would just neatly pluck my head off.

“I have never formed an alliance with the red-haired Outer God priest.”

I could have said this from the start, but the previous two statements likely earned me more trust.

Naturally, there was no situation where I would form such an alliance, so this statement was also the truth.

“Thank you for the confirmation! The result of the miracle shows that Mr. Ahad came here for his granddaughter, is gathering information on the red-haired Outer God priest, hates the heretics, and is not in any alliance with the red-haired Outer God priest!”

The light disappeared, and I pretended to nod calmly, but inside, I was dripping with sweat.

Had I left even a small suspicious trace or subtly tried to deceive her, my spine might have turned to dust in an instant.

“I apologize for my doubts!”

“Hair strands or anything else. For someone like me, who watches the sea all day looking for even the tiniest things, it’s easy to spot.”

Well, this time it was indeed a lie.

“Are my charges cleared now?”

“Yes! Additional investigations haven’t been authorized yet, and as the deputy leader, I decided it was unnecessary! But the problem lies below here!”

Finally, the underground city was revealed. The pitch-black darkness opened its maw wide. Without using a miracle this time and with the spiderwebs gone, it was hard to accurately sense what was down there.

“Tsk… getting old. I can’t see well anymore.”

“If I may assist! 〈Guide of the White Light〉!”

When Arian used the miracle, white light began to descend underground, illuminating the inside. Behind the door, there were stairs leading to a vast space far below. There, as previously sensed, were the corpses of people. To be exact, decaying undead were standing upright, only moving their heads.

‘I feel like throwing up.’

The smell of rotting flesh and the sight of decomposing corpses were far from a pleasant view.

“Please step back for a moment!”

Arian grabbed her sword and jumped straight into the pit.

“〈Lion’s Whirlwind Slash〉!”

With a spirit as fierce as a lion, she spun and slashed the surrounding enemies. Despite the lack of resistance, over a hundred corpses lost their upper bodies in a single technique.

‘As expected, a Level 4… no, a Rank 4 Paladin.’

Unlike Andor, who was just an acquaintance from ≪Orders≫, I knew Arian’s skills well. To be at Rank 2 at that age was considered exceptionally talented, and being at Rank 3 would make one’s name known far and wide for their strength. Rank 4, however, was seen as someone who had transcended human limits—a powerful figure or a monster of sorts. It was almost strange for someone that strong to just be a mere battalion officer.

“You can come down now!”

Arian’s cheerful and resonant voice echoed through the underground. It made me think her lack of caution might be the reason she hadn’t been promoted yet. But then again, her incredible strength might be why she didn’t need to be cautious.

‘Damn… being weak means I have to be careful about everything.’

It was clearly a height that would guarantee fractures if I jumped, so I descended the stone stairs peacefully. Arian stood by, waiting with a smile, which was kind of terrifying.

“Are your joints not good?”

“Age gets to everyone.”

In truth, it wasn’t really about my joints. The cloak’s tendrils wrapped around me made my movements a bit awkward.

“It’s best to abandon plans to hunt Outer God priests! Generally, they have tenacious regenerative abilities and are exceptional at summoning monsters or transforming battlefields, often requiring prolonged engagements!”

“You speak as if you’ve faced them directly.”

“I haven’t! But it’s all in the manuals!”

Even without first hand experience, she wasn’t wrong. Abnormal regeneration, summoning ancillary creatures, contaminating and transforming surroundings, and…

“What about dealing with issues affecting the mind?”

…and driving people insane. These peculiar and bizarre features were the hallmarks of the miracles performed by Outer God priests.

“Miracles or magic to protect the mind, as well as tranquilizers, are essential!”

“That’s too obvious. I expected Luminaries to have a more extraordinary method.”

If possible, use something I can utilize too.

“There’s nothing like that, which is why Outer God priests are dangerous! No matter how strong your mind is, it still gets worn down slowly, so the only option is to minimize the damage as much as possible!”

“Is that so…”

“If I had to say, the best course would be to retire those involved in Outer God priest incidents more quickly and foster successors!”

Humans in this world were stronger than the ones I knew on Earth.

They were strong both physically and mentally, and above all, they could utilize mana to achieve various feats.

It was possible to strengthen the body, perform miracles of Gods, and induce changes with magic…

‘In the end, they’re still human.’

Even such strong beings crumbled before the madness of Outer God priests.

How long could I hold out?

“Unlike the priests of Ancient Gods, Outer God priests have a swift and decisive order to kill before anything happens for a reason!”

“That’s one way to handle it, I suppose.”

I nodded while observing the excessively broad underground cavity.

“But this space, isn’t it huge? It’s almost the size of a village. Huh, at this rate, we should worry about the entire city collapsing.”

“We’re currently investigating to see if evacuation is necessary!”

What…?

“Wait a minute! Then, you mean it could really collapse?”

“This underground cavity was clearly artificially created relatively recently.”

When Arian moved the light orb to show around, the interior that resembled a cave became more evident.

“It wasn’t there when we used detection magic ten years ago.”

“So, this all appeared within just ten years?”

“Yes, so we…”

*Ssshak!*

Arian suddenly threw her sword without warning.

The sword flew at near invisible speed and pierced something.

“It’s not just undead; we need to watch out for these creatures too!”

As Arian shone the light deeper, a group hidden in the darkness became visible.

Undead beings moved without making a sound, blending with creatures that looked like dogs.

But most notably…

“… What is that?”

Beings with dog-like heads and human-like bodies covered in fur.

With limbs resembling humans yet out of proportion, and sharp-looking claws, these ghastly creatures were…

“Ghouls! That necromancer has tapped into heretical power too!”

Monsters known for their penchant for cannibalism and even eating their kind, are said to be the descendants of the Outer God priests of 【Twin of Blasphemy】.

Unlike the servant races loyal to a single Outer God, ghouls served multiple Gods. Hence, it was unclear who these creatures served.

“Le… leave…”

A guttural voice, as if a dog was scratching its vocal cords to force out words, echoed among them.

Though they appeared beast-like, they were surprisingly intelligent and capable of human-like communication.

“These ghouls seem to have some intelligence!”

“Weren’t we going to kill them all anyway?”

“Of course, we will deal with all of them! Exterminating monsters and harmful beings is part of Luminaries’s duty!”

The sword thrown earlier had pierced through a large ghoul and several others behind it, leaving behind ghastly bodies, but lacking a retrieval function, Arian picked up her sheath.

“… This is something.”

Come to think of it, incidents involving undead often seemed to have connections with Outer God priests.

I didn’t know why, but…

‘It seems like there will be some unexpected gains.’

Thanks to this, I could look forward to some rewarding loot.

TL’s Corner:
I will now specify whether Outer God priest is Ancient God Priest or Outer God Priest. Both are considered heretical priests according to the Church of Hayat, and I need to make a clear distinction between them. I will also retroactively fix previous chapters as well. 🙂