I Became the Priest of Blasphemy of the Outer Gods

Chapter 115. Formless Residues (3)

“So, do I really have to make all these things?”

Lyla looked at the parchment I handed over and scrunched her face.

Written on the parchment were all the items that needed preparation before heading to the wilderness.

“And what’s this about enhancing existing enchanted items? It’d be easier to just create new ones!”

Lyla expressed her dissatisfaction. However, I responded calmly.

“After investing all that capital, shouldn’t there be a return?”

My financial situation was quite abundant.

Even after providing lodging and meals for free to people, I had surplus resources.

There was a reason why others knew not to tamper with the miracles and divine relics of an Outer God.

Meanwhile, I skipped meals, transformed my clothes, and had no interest in luxury…

The remaining funds were invested in Lyla.

“Well… that’s true, but! I’m still recovering from what happened back then!”

“And yet, you’re treating yourself to extravagant meals with those expensive spices.”

I hadn’t realized pepper could be so costly.

“You even built a private pond for your crocodile in the backyard, along with unnecessarily expensive accessories and clothes. Seems like I’ve provided enough support for you to recover.”

“… Tch.”

One couldn’t afford to turn their back. Even after saving her life, she only seemed eager to benefit more.

“But I’m not lying. The mental trauma is still there… Don’t look at me with that expression!”

Lyla shouted with a voice threatening to tremble.

“Do you think everyone has the same strange resilience as you?”

Lyla grumbled as she looked over the parchment again, letting out a sigh.

“Alright, fine. I’ll give it a try.”

“If you feel like going out, just let me know. I’ll have a transformation potion and guards ready.”

“Who else uses precious transformation potions so freely? It’s only you.”

Though she found every opportunity to criticize, as long as she performed her tasks well, it didn’t matter.

“… Anyway, thanks, for everything.”

“As if it’s something new.”

It seemed she wasn’t entirely bad after all.

As I stepped out to let Lyla concentrate on her work, Mary emerged from the wall unexpectedly.

“Letter.”

It seemed Lyla’s familiar had brought it.

‘That was quick.’

I had sent a letter through the familiar yesterday, and to receive a reply today was impressive.

Opening the letter, I found it was from Ender.

‘It looks like he’ll arrive by tomorrow night. Along with Ansandy and Delion.’

The team for the wilderness journey was essentially formed. However, there was a concern.

‘What would Arian think about Delion and Ender?’

Granted, if Ender hid the divine relic well enough, it would be fine, but Delion…

‘Come to think of it, Delion is a priest of an Ancient God, yet he operates so openly?’

The Church of Hayat was extremely intolerant of other faiths.

Possessing a divine relic from another religion was illegal and punishable depending on the severity.

Why wasn’t Delion punished?

‘I need to see it for myself.’

Given Arian’s lack of a reaction upon hearing Delion’s name, there must have been something.

‘I should prepare before everyone arrives.’

After much deliberation, I decided to meditate on one of the miracles inscribed in the new scripture.

The risk to my mind was considerable, but if I drank the Golden Blood Elixir, I would probably be okay.

I took the Scripture of Black Glory and entered my room.

‘With Mary on alert, there shouldn’t be any interruptions.’

With her eyes discreetly observing from the wall crevice, Mary would take immediate action if anything transpired.

Though I had meditated numerous times before, since the interference of the ‘White Night’, I resolved to be thorough.

‘The miracle for my meditation this time…’

While those written in the ‘Scripture of Defilement’ mostly required offerings in exchange for gains, those in the ‘Scripture of Black Glory’ focused more on combat-related miracles.

Among them, one stood out.

‘〈Zone of Black Blood〉.’

This miracle polluted the surrounding land, covering it with formless residues that the caster could freely control.

It’s exceptionally useful against multiple foes due to the sheer volume of residues involved.

But its unique aspect was even more noteworthy.

‘This miracle continues to grow.’

Typically, miracles grew in power as the caster’s rank and skill improved.

However, the 〈Zone of Black Blood〉 expanded in scope as more lives were claimed within it.

I was curious about what made this miracle different.

‘Alright, let’s begin.’

I drank the Golden Blood Elixir and closed my eyes.

Faint echoes from ancient records began to surface – memories, emotions, and an overwhelmingly dark desire threatening to induce nausea.

I peered into it.

* * *

Hate. A seething, bone-crushing anger. The owner of this emotion was a wealthy man who seemed to lack for nothing.

His name was Carlos.

“Die! Perish, you despicable offspring of vermin!”

He was a priest of a 5th-ranked Outer God.

Boom!

Numerous lightning bolts tore through the sky.

Carlos transformed the surrounding terrain into defilement, countering the attack at lightning speed.

“Damn it! This cursed fool…!”

His body had long since ceased to be human, reduced to formless residues, yet the wound was slow to heal.

Seeing the silver trident skewering his body, Carlos recognized the attacker.

“Servan!”

The hero Servan.

The 5th-ranked holy knight of ‘Nodens’. The man with long, white hair raised his silver-glowing arm, creating another spear.

‘Is that the legendary hero said to have once hunted a Leviathan single-handedly?’

I recalled something a ship captain had mentioned before.

“How dare these creatures covet what’s mine!”

Carlos unleashed a storm of defilement in his fury.

The scale of the chaos surpassed the whirlpools summoned by Belido.

A cataclysmic force driven by rage threatened to engulf everything, but the storm was torn apart by a flash of light.

“Give up, Carlos. Your vile path ends here.”

A bolt of lightning struck, and a man in a Greek-style tunic appeared. He was Alexandros, the 5th-ranked priest of Zeus.

“My glory is unending! Until the wretched drown in my overflowing wealth! Until all creation submits to my towering power!”

Carlos, with a maniacal laughter, raised his arms, and formless residues emerged from the ground. Each as large as a house.

A black rain poured over the towering giants of defilement.

‘It’s 〈Black Blood of Frenzy〉.’

The residues twisted violently, rampaging like mad beasts.

“In the name of the vow and the contract, warriors, appear!”

Alexandros produced an item I had seen before. The 〈Grand Call〉 scroll.

“Rally!”

A colossal magic circle etched itself into the ground. Soldiers clad in red armor armed with giant shields and spears were summoned.

“Glory to Mars!”

As formless residues charged in to claim the soldiers’ lives, they fearlessly formed a shield wall.

Boom! Boom!

Despite the quake from the massive shields slamming into the ground, they could not entirely hold back the tidal wave of residues burrowed in the earth.

“Have no fear! We are under the protection of the God of War!”

“You contemptible creatures…”

As Carlos prepared his next miracle, something began to approach rapidly. It was Servan, charging in a chariot made of shells.

“How dare you invade my territory without permission!”

Carlos split his body into thousands of arrows, aiming them at Servan.

“Your rotten soul wails endlessly, doesn’t it?”

A rain of arrows covered the sky. Each arrow was part of Carlos’s body, ready to bore into whatever it wounded. Servan waved his silver arm, revealing a rift in the calm abyss. He drove his chariot through it, avoiding the storm of arrows.

Reducing everything to ash, Carlos shifted back into human form.

“Where did they go… Don’t tell me!”

Boom.

An explosion echoed as the sanctuary crumbled. Servan hadn’t targeted him but had instead infiltrated the sanctuary through the rift.

“You haven’t forgotten me, have you?”

In the meantime, alexandros had approached and was unleashing countless lightning strikes.

“You wretched creatures…!”

Normal formless residues would have perished instantly with a single lightning streak. But Carlos, with his immense vitality and tenacious recovery, resisted.

‘Zeus, mars, nodens! Do I have to lose everything because of these beings playing Gods? No… I refuse!’

With his selfish and twisted desire, I gradually resonated. Everything I gathered, seized, and received as offerings. The lands, the people, the resources – all were his, and it was never enough.

“Swallow everything up… Gah!”

Half of Carlos’s body flew off from Servan’s thrown spear, yet Carlos continued unabated.

“I shall bring silence upon this land for the Slumberer of the Abyss!”

With a warped and powerful will, Carlos confronted his desires. All he longed for was power, insurmountable strength that none could obstruct.

“I will become the master of all!”

It was felt. The Slumberer of the Abyss bestowed a new miracle upon him!

“Let my body be filled with precious blood.”

Black blood began to flow from Carlos’s entire being. The pulsating, alien black blood quivered in ecstasy with its master.

“With this blood, I shall transform the earth, and exclusively reaping for your sake!”

Black blood engulfed the land. More than a mere dark pool, it became an immense formless residue.

“〈Zone of Black Blood〉!”

The black blood began to consume everything around it.

From those unable to escape its grasp to small plants, it voraciously consumed all, expanding its domain.

“Raise your shields!”

Mars’s soldiers attempted to block the encroaching black blood, but even their massive shields couldn’t hold back the advancing flood.

They were devoured one by one.

“Retreat! Prepare for the next battlefield!”

The soldiers had no choice but to fall back, but Servan and Alexandros continued to combat Carlos.

Bang!

For three days, Earth-shaking explosions and deafening thunder echoed without pause. Until finally…

“Ugh…!”

Tendrils of black blood claimed Alexandros’ heart, exhausted from pushing past his limits.

“Alexandros!”

Despite feeling humiliated, servan had no choice but to retreat with the dying Alexandros.

Despite heavy losses, the victory was undoubtedly Carlos’s.

“Ahahaha! Did you see? I haven’t lost anything!”

Carlos laughed maniacally. Looking at the black blood enveloping everything around him, he paused.

“… Who are you, peering into my work, into my being?”

He perceived me and stopped laughing.