A Priest's Life as a Villain

Chapter 24

"What do you think you're doing right now!"

Ran ignored Demian's outburst and poked his head deeper into the storage. A stench assaulted his nose.

"Hey! Ran!"

Ran extended his hand to restrain Demian. Demian's face flushed red; he was being blatantly ignored. Secretly, he believed that in the suppression force, only Zima outranked him.

'What is this?'

Ran's pupils widened. The shocking sight that had been shrouded in darkness revealed itself to him.

Inside the vast storage, there was not a single supply. Instead, the space was packed with haggard people. Their eyes were vacant as they mumbled incomprehensible words.

"We need to seal this off. Quickly."

As soon as Ran pulled his head out, he spoke to Demian.

"What? What's inside that has you reacting like this?"

Demian pushed Ran, who was standing beside the door, and shoved his own head inside. He widened his eyes, scanning the interior. It was pitch dark—nothing could be seen. Only the faint sound of human voices could be heard.

He hurriedly barked an order to the holy knights.

"Torches! Bring torches! I need to see what's inside."

"Demian! They're all dead men. A dark mage is behind this. We need to burn everything immediately."

"So now, not content with cutting off the heads of ordinary people, you want to burn all those people alive? Are you insane?"

Demian shouted. He was sure he sensed a hint of movement. He thought Ran, being an inquisitor, was simply making extreme suggestions due to hatred of demons.

"They're humans just like us! Even demons are human beings with dignity and life! I've tried my hardest to see you without prejudice. But now I think I was foolish. You lot don't view demons as fellow humans. To you, they're just insignificant prey!"

The inquisitors murmured among themselves; some scoffed. Demian's sudden excitement just seemed laughable.

Ran turned away and lifted his mask to his brow. Breathing in the open air made him feel slightly better.

'They're not demons, they're ordinary humans.'

Demian was mistaken. Those people were not demons, but ordinary humans.

The dark mage had forcibly infused demonic energy into their dead bodies. This was a different path from common dark magic, such as reviving the dead or summoning demonic beasts.

'Demonic energy is writhing within the corpses of ordinary humans.'

Ran was unsettled. Even he had never seen something like this before. He couldn't tell how this grotesque experiment would act.

"If they've committed a crime, we can revive them first and question them—there's still time. All holy knights, enter and start rescuing people. Ran, you go too. Let's see if you can keep spouting such nonsense after seeing it with your own eyes. The rest of the Special Unit will wait here."

Demian led the holy knights with their torches at the front. Inside, he was plotting how he ought to deal with Ran.

The torches brightly illuminated the vast interior. No supplies at all—just people, eyes unfocused, in a trance, completely filling the place to the point there was barely any room to step.

The holy knights, unnerved, frowned unconsciously. Demian surreptitiously pulled out a handkerchief and covered nose and mouth; the smell of filth was revolting.

"They must have gone through severe psychological shock. All right, let's hurry. If they're suddenly exposed to bright light, they could have seizures, so slowly—"

"We mustn't bring them outside, demian. We don't know what will happen. They're all dead, I'm sure of it."

"Are you out of your mind?"

Demian grabbed Ran by the collar, blue eyes flashing with suppressed anger.

"Just know I'm holding back right now! I swear to the Lord, I'll punish you with my own hands."

Demian released the collar with a shove. Even as he looked at people who seemed alive and well, he found it absurd for Ran to insist they were dead.

'This is dizzying. I've never felt demonic energy like this before.'

Ran could barely stand. He didn't have the strength to retort to Demian, being on the verge of vomiting.

"What's wrong with you, Ran? Are you sick?"

Peco approached to help support him. Meanwhile, the holy knights began lifting people to their feet, one by one.

"Try to get up slowly."

"U... Ugh?"

Holy knight Campbell gently helped an old man to his feet.

'Why does he feel so light?'

The old man looked as though he could collapse at any moment. Campbell awkwardly bent his knees and lifted the old man onto his back. Suddenly, something fell from over his shoulder. Campbell's skin crawled. What hit the ground was an eyeball.

BOOM!

A deafening blast erupted, scattering blood and fragments of armor in all directions. All eyes turned toward the sound. A body, ripped so badly it was barely recognizable, staggered and collapsed face-first. Dark smoke billowed from its back.

"Ca—Campbell!"

With Demian's shout, a chain reaction of chaotic explosions went off. More blasts, flashes of fire breaking out here and there.

Ran wrapped himself in his cloak and flattened himself against the ground. The earth shook.

"They're surrounded! Catch them—!"

"UWAAAA!"

Shouts rang from outside. The situation was spiraling out of control.

Ran consciously steadied himself, quickly assessing the flow of events.

'So this is it.'

The order of holy knights was a religious knighthood founded on spiritual conviction and nobility, not a field army. They believed themselves champions of God. Once they'd drawn their swords, they had to remain unashamed before the Lord, preferring to die nobly than win by ignoble means.

Their enemies had exploited this. Lacking real combat experience, the holy knights would never have imagined civilian corpses would be used as bait.

CRUNCH!

Ran scooped up a sword from the floor and swung it. His skull rattled, his vision blurred.

The inside of the storage turned into carnage in an instant. After the chain explosions, the corpses that hadn't detonated shot upright, attacking the living.

Ran tapped his temple. His ears were ringing. The overlapping screams sounded far away. Peco's voice called out amidst the chaos.

"Damn it! I can't see a thing! Ran! Are you all right?"

"Don't get distracted—just concentrate on clearing a path!"

Acrid smoke choked the air. Corrupted corpses and allies were tangled up everywhere. In the mayhem, the torches had gone out. Scattered embers gave scant light. After all the blasts, the ringing in their ears made it impossible to think straight.

Ran and Peco relied on pure instinct, cutting down endless waves of corpses rushing at them.

"AAAAAGH—!"

"Everyone, rally at one point! Can you hear my voice?"

The desperate screams of his comrades stabbed at Demian's heart, his own cries echoing back at him.

'What—What did I just see? What on earth is happening here?'

Demian firmly believed the righteous path held all the answers. He'd mastered every basic tactics manual and art of war. But a strategy involving exploding corpses—he'd never heard of such a thing.

'But they were alive!'

Demian had to cut down those he'd sworn were alive. Soon, the exit was in sight.

"KYAAAAAA—!"

A corpse crawling on the ground grabbed Demian's ankle. Its grip was ferocious. The torso was hollowed out below the chest, only the shattered head and both arms thrashing.

CRACK!

Demian drove his sword vertically through the corpse's neck. As he turned around, more corpses sprang at him like beasts after prey.

VRRRRNG.

Demian's sword let out a low hum. He gripped the hilt tightly, dropping his shoulder. He needed a single wide sweep—there might be allies in range, but his instincts screamed for survival.

SLASH!

CRUNCH!

His concentration was broken. Demian looked up. The bodies charging toward him broke apart and fell in pieces in the air.

It was Ran and Peco.

"Get out, now!"

Peco gave Demian a kick in the back, sending him sprawling outside. Ran and Peco, having escaped, each grabbed the iron gate. Ran shouted inside to Peco.

"Wait just a moment!"

In that exact instant, two holy knights slipped through the opening. Several decomposed, purple-skinned arms and wide-jawed heads also emerged. Ran cut them all down.

"Shut it!"

BANG—!

While Ran held the gate shut with his body, Peco grabbed a pole and wedged it into the handle. Corpses battered the other side, causing the iron to tremble.

CRACK!

Just as they caught their breath, an arrow embedded itself in Ran's mask. The chaos outside was just as severe. There, a large group of rebels had surrounded the inquisitors.

"Yes! That's it! Come all at once!"

An excited inquisitor beat his chest and shouted. They hadn't volunteered for this expedition with noble intentions—they simply itched for a fight, and sitting idle at headquarters was torture.

"UWOOOO!"

Hank let out a war cry and swung his axe. The rebel soldier's body was bisected, top and bottom.

There was a clear difference in strength. No matter how trained, ordinary soldiers could not take on inquisitors in close combat. Rebel numbers rapidly dwindled.

The two holy knights who had barely escaped rushed over to Demian.

"Sir Demian! Are you all right?"

"I—I'm fine. What about—?"

Blood dripped steadily from the holy knight's severed left arm. Yet he paid it no mind, checking on Demian first.

Demian bowed his head, unable to meet his comrade's eyes. Of ten, only three survived. He could still hear the screams of those trapped inside.

'Did my decision doom my comrades?'

Regret flooded in—if only he'd heeded Ran's advice sooner. His empty gaze followed Ran. Already, Ran and Peco were slicing through layers of rebel encirclement.

SNAP!

Ran caught a flying rebel soldier out of the air and smashed him down onto the ground, firmly breaking his neck.

"HIYAAAH!"

A spear-wielding soldier attacked from the side. Ran dodged with a twist, trapped the spear under his arm, and yanked it hard. The dragged soldier took a straight punch to the face and collapsed.

'This isn't a regular unit.'

He had thought it odd from the start. The rebels' clothing was mismatched and their weapons all different. Real soldiers would favor standard-issue arms.

Even for desperate stragglers, the absence of a commanding officer was bizarre.

"You bastard! Just die, will you!"

A wrinkled veteran charged, spitting in rage. What he gripped in both hands was a hoe.

'Improvised soldiers.'

Ran relaxed his shoulders. Beneath his mask, his pupils gleamed sharply. He stared the veteran down. The old man's wrathful eyes fluttered slightly.

Thud.

Ran simply angled his body and touched him with his foot. With a wail, the old man toppled.

Ran didn't even glance at the fallen veteran, immediately turning his gaze elsewhere.

'??!'

Searching for something, Ran's head suddenly stopped.

A naked boy crouched in the chaotic center.

He hadn't been there a moment ago—yet now he existed as if he'd always been part of the scene.

From the moment he noticed the boy, time slowed. The sounds around faded into the distance. Faint, black mist began to swirl around the child.

The boy lifted his face from his knees and met Ran's eyes.

"Hehe, you're pretty good, aren't you?"

The voice reverberated inside Ran's head. The boy grinned, baring his teeth. Instantly, an overwhelming stench washed over the area.

The boy vanished in a blink.

All of Ran's senses returned at once, replaced by dizziness. Then, a roaring explosion jolted him from his stupor.

BOOM—!

The warehouse's iron door bulged outwards, swelled, and then exploded. The blast engulfed the area.

Crrrkkk.

Something stepped over the scattered debris, crunching across the floor. Its outline was blurred.

"Campbell??"

Demian recognized him.

Only half of Campbell's face remained. The rest—and all the torn, empty flesh—were filled in by black mist. Joints snapped in odd directions, as if he were a broken marionette, making clicking sounds as he moved.

SSSSS.

A crowd of corpses from inside revealed themselves, following Campbell's lead. Some of them had been holy knights just moments before.

Sensing the threat, the suppression force members began to edge back.

"Everyone, fall back."

Ran murmured almost to himself. The suppression force all turned to look at him at once.

Even Peco pulled back his mask, eyes widening at the odd aura Ran projected.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Damn... Just damn.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】