Became an Apostle of an Ancient God

Chapter 5

Father Moore, the priest, refused the offer to hand over the staff.

In that case, refusal comes with a price.

Haru himself felt it to some extent.

'I have denser and more Divine Power than others.'

However, the Divine Power consumed to call Shub.

The Divine Power consumed to twist and distort space.

Both consume an immense amount of Divine Power, so much that even Haru's overflowing amount could not handle it.

If he were to really use more rites here, or borrow Shub's power, he might collapse. He was already suffering from hallucinations, headaches, and bleeding, after all.

Each rite needed to be used carefully.

Haru looked back at Iron Mask. Iron Mask also knew. That Haru was currently in a difficult situation to use any more Divine Power.

Adding to that, to escape the 'Holy Maiden Jeanne' now, they had to defeat—no, kill—that priest.

Nodding, Iron Mask lightly loosened his body and rushed towards Father Moore.

And at that moment, Moore realized.

That sometimes, simple and brute physical force can be more terrifying than the mysterious power of rites using Divine Power.

"A shield...!"

Moore hastily tried to erect a shield to block Iron Mask, who charged like a cannonball. However, before the shield was completed and activated, Iron Mask's shadow spear reached the shield first.

Kwoooong! Crack!

The transparent barrier of light cracked and crumbled.

Indeed, there was such a method. Lee Haru watched Iron Mask's fight, reading the battle situation from behind.

The moment the priest showed a gap in his shield, insert the Rite of Distortion to twist Father Moore, and that would be the end.

Just as he had made that judgment, Father Moore scratched the corpse felled by Shub with the beast claw attached to the end of the staff.

At that moment, Moore's Divine Power decreased significantly. Realizing some rite had been activated, Lee Haru warned Iron Mask and focused on the corpse scratched by the staff.

"Iron Mask, be careful. A rite was just activated!"

No sooner had Haru finished speaking than the 'anomaly' manifested. Dense fur sprouted from the human corpse twisted and broken by Shub's tentacles, instantly transforming it into a 'Werewolf' that lunged at Iron Mask.

"Hmm."

'So, that's what it was.'

'A sacred relic that beastifies whatever touches the claw infused with Divine Power.'

'Does that mean it can be applied to inanimate objects too?'

'No, that's unlikely. If so, he would have infused Divine Power into nearby objects indiscriminately to create an army of Werewolves. There's no reason to insist on using corpses to wield the staff.'

Then the range of strategies widens.

Slash!

"Urgh!?"

Iron Mask, dodging the Werewolf's blow, pierced the beast's lower and upper jaws with his spear as it tried to bite him, then fiercely kicked its abdomen with his knee, breaking its ribs.

"From a corpse. Life...?"

"Ehehehe... Yes! The moment they touch this sacred relic, they become beasts loyally following my command. Even if it's an enemy!"

Father Moore swung the staff again towards Iron Mask, who was struggling with the Werewolf. Just before the tip of the claw reached Iron Mask, Shub immediately intervened.

She summoned purple tentacles with sharp blades from the ground and swung them with the force to slice Father Moore apart.

Slaaaaash!!

"Uoooook!!!"

And behind Shub, Haru, with one eye closed, formed a gun shape with his right index finger and thumb, aiming at something.

"That's far enough."

However. Father Moore, despite bleeding profusely, did not stop swinging the staff.

"It's already too late...!!"

The tip of the claw aimed at Iron Mask, and Iron Mask, busy dealing with the Werewolf, was defenselessly exposed to the blow.

"Ugh!"

Pook, the tip of the claw entered Iron Mask's body, infusing Divine Power.

The effect of the sacred relic began to manifest immediately. Fur sprouted all over Iron Mask's body, and beast claws emerged from his right hand.

"This...! Even with the mask's power. This is...?! Haru, run... away!"

"Run away?"

Haru scoffed and looked at the [Distortion] rite that was beginning to show its effect.

"There's no need to run."

"What?"

*Click.*

The place where the Distortion rite manifested was neither the Werewolf holding Iron Mask nor Father Moore's side. Because the point Distortion twisted was the connection between the sacred relic and the staff.

As space twisted, the sacred relic separated from the staff and fell to the floor. Haru used Shub's tentacle to pull it towards him and snatched it.

"This... This guy. From the beginning...!"

"Father Moore, I anticipated you'd try to beastify Uncle Iron Mask. I figured you were the type more specialized in putting others forward than acting yourself."

Haru tossed the snatched sacred relic up and caught it, then extended his hand towards Father Moore.

"What someone like that would think when they have no one else to put forward. It's pretty obvious. If it were me, I would have rather used that sacred relic on myself and stepped forward in a beastified body. Seems you didn't have the guts for that, huh?"

"Hk. Gk."

Haru, having no more business with the man, spoke briefly to Shub.

"Shub Noona."

[Whyy?]

"Kill him. He needs to pay the price for interfering with our meeting."

[That's true too.]

"W-wait."

The monster of tentacles slowly approached Father Moore.

The 'monster', or perhaps 'monster' Shub-Niggurath, who stared at the priest through the giant eyeball on her chest, ruthlessly bound the priest's limbs with tentacles, then reached out with both hands and grabbed his shoulders.

[Haaaaa...]

Spread beneath the priest's feet, a pool of void whose end could not be known.

Hot, white steam billowed out from within it.

It was the breath of some 'monster' whose form was unknown.

The priest, feeling a fear beyond simply 'dying' from Shub, struggled and cried out.

"S-save me. Hey! S... Save me. R-right now, control of this ship is mine. It's mine so...! If I say. Yes! Just one word. I can turn the ship around and drop you off somewhere else. So!"

Crack. Cruuuunch!!!

Just then, the ship shook violently and tilted to the side.

Unable to withstand the fierce storm, the mast of the Holy Maiden Jeanne broke.

Moreover, this ship is gradually sinking.

This was because a large hole had been made in the ship due to a Guiding Missile one of the Inquisitors had mistakenly fired at the wall earlier.

Riding this ship to land somewhere nearby?

That's impossible, Haru thought.

But Shub looked back as if asking if he would change his mind at the last moment. To Shub, who at least appeared as a girl in 'Lee Haru's eyes', Haru repeated his earlier words.

As Shub's apostle and her lover.

"Now, it's time to pay the price."

As soon as Haru's words fell, the monster's giant mouth gaped open.

"Hieeeek!!!"

[It's mealtime.]

Shub was like a pure girl feeding a pet.

At the same time, like a mischievous little devil. She commanded the 'something' beyond the pool.

At that moment, a giant monster's snout momentarily shot out from the pool and bit off Father Moore's upper body alive.

As the scream of agony fell into the monster's stomach within the pit, Father Moore's trembling lower half lost strength and slumped.

Haru looked down at the sacred relic in his left hand and absorbed into himself the Divine Power that Father Moore had previously infused into it.

By canceling the god's authority emitted by the sacred relic, he returned Iron Mask—who had begun to beastify—back to normal.

The problem came after that.

The rite that twisted and refracted space consumed a huge amount of Divine Power, and even more had been spent to summon and bind [Shub-Niggurath] to this world.

Until now, Lee Haru had endured the consumption of Divine Power with sheer willpower, but now he had reached his limit—mentally and physically.

"Ku... huh...?"

At that moment, just like Father Moore, blood poured from Lee Haru's eyes.

No, not just his eyes.

From every hole in his body, blood gushed out. Seeing Haru bleed from his eyes, nose, and ears, Iron Mask was startled and hurriedly supported him.

"This... is trouble..."

Haru, who had vomited blood spectacularly on the deck, saw it then.

Along with his vomit on the floor, dozens of maggots, slugs, ink, beetles, awls, and octopus legs poured out of his mouth.

'No. This... can't be.'

Hallucination.

It's a hallucination.

This is all, 'hallucination'!

[Man in the Iron Mask.]

Since Haru wasn't in a situation to speak, Shub stepped forward. Without Lee Haru's Divine Power backing her, it's impossible for her to manifest in this world.

Therefore, Shub borrowed a speck of Haru's scarce Divine Power to manifest only her 'voice'.

"Tha- That voice just now."

[Man in the Iron Mask, can you hear the voice of the Mother of Life?]

"Mother of Life?"

[That's right. Man in the Iron Mask. There is no time. Right now, put this child on a lifeboat and escape from this ship. There is no time. If you delay any longer, you too will be swallowed by the wrath of the sea.]

Shub's voice was completely different from the gentle tone she used with Haru.

Was it to show the dignity of a 'god'?

"Isn't this storm caused by you? Can't you simply make the storm stop?"

[This is not a storm I caused. Details later. Hurry. Man in the Iron Mask.]

With those last words, Shub's manifestation ceased. All that remained were the blood-soaked, half-crazed Lee Haru and Iron Mask supporting him.

"Tch. I hate taking orders from a god, but I have no choice."

Towards the lifeboat, towards the only escape route on the raging sea, Iron Mask ran carrying Lee Haru on his back.

Just before the deck split and the broken mast collapsed, threatening to tear the ship in two, he leaped and ran towards the lifeboat with incredible physical ability.

'Reminds me of my mercenary days in Anatolia.'

Back then too, did he run and run to save a small child like this?

But, he couldn't save them back then.

That was his regret.

That's why this time, he would save him.

And he would seize it.

The chance at freedom he had barely obtained.

* * *

A golden sandy beach where the seawater washed ashore.

There stood a girl.

A blonde girl who had offered a prayer of thanks to the warm sunlight bathing the earth; the pendant around her neck and the scripture hanging at her waist proved she was a Follower of Serre.

With clear blue eyes like specks of dust, clearer than the color of the gently waving sea, she finished her prayer and gazed towards the distant sea with a melancholic face.

How long had it been since she had gone beyond that horizon? The blonde nun shook her head. Her duty wasn't to offer prayers peacefully in a place like this, but to patrol the surrounding area.

Contrary to public perception, the place where the girl was located was very peaceful. So much so that there hadn't been any incidents in the last five years.

Standing up and dusting herself off, she lifted her head to focus on her patrol again.

But then, in her eyes...

From the far sea, a man and a boy arrived on a half-wrecked boat.

"What is that...?"

Unmistakably, they wore restraints around their necks. This meant they were originally prisoners scheduled to be transported here.

'I should go check.'

The girl hurriedly ran towards the beach.

Behind her stood a massive Gothic-style cathedral church, showcasing the majesty of Serre. Beneath the time-tolling bell, numerous prisoners wearing restraints headed to their respective workplaces.

Dyed in the light of Serre.

Prisoners who could only think of Serre.

As if possessed by something, they praised the goddess and headed towards the construction site for building a new church.

The place where the girl was, the Hall of Atonement.

It was the grave of all Heretics.