I Became the Priest of Blasphemy of the Outer Gods

Starting from falling into this otherworld, nothing had gone according to my plans. However, this time, there seemed to be no significant issues.

‘Luck is somewhat on my side.’

The people dispatched from the Church of Hayat had left traces, which I discovered, allowing us to avoid detection. The monsters and beasts of the forest hadn’t even thought to attack us initially.

‘It’s flowing too smoothly; it feels strange.’

My tense nerves did not calm down. Besides multiple anxieties, I constantly felt as if something was wriggling beneath the ground. It wasn’t enough to completely drive me mad, but the uneasy feeling lingered.

“Why is the mage’s house far away from the village, mister?”

Could it be the vigor of youth? Talia had stayed surprisingly energic despite us getting minimal sleep while heading toward the village to find the mage.

‘Perhaps… humans here might be a bit different from the ones I knew.’

Humans in this world might inherently be stronger than the humans I was familiar with.

“Wouldn’t it be more convenient if it were nearby? Orphanages are only inconvenient when they’re far away.”

“They don’t want to be affected by disturbances like noise. Mages need a lot of concentration.”

Given my broader knowledge in magic than in religious matters, I could confidently say so.

“Still, it would have been nice if they lived closer.”

Talia grumbled. While being far from the village was one thing, having to climb a rather rugged back mountain was another. I thought they might be using it as a sort of fortress, but the house at the top of the hill appeared quite ordinary.

“And the decorations are strange too.”

Along the path to the mage’s house, there were small statues placed sporadically. As Talia mentioned, they indeed looked odd—more directly speaking, they were ugly.

“… That’s true.”

Talia thought they were merely ugly statues, but I had a different interpretation. Though the statues were poorly made, what struck me as odd was their purpose. They weren’t just placed without reason, and based on my memory, those statues were…

‘… Definitely gargoyles.’

Usually, they take on beastly forms similar to dragons and act as guardians. In this world, mages manipulate them as a type of golem, artificial life forms, as Dowol had said.

‘Hmm… could they be fake?’

Simply for intimidation purposes, or did they welcome our arrival? The statues, which seemed like gargoyles, did not move.

‘Oddly enough, I’d feel more at ease if they were real.’

Given their crude craftsmanship, they might indeed be fake. But placing fake gargoyles would also imply the mage was quite incompetent.

“We’ve finally made it…!”

Talia said with a hint of weariness. A rather ordinary-looking building with a fairly spacious garden came into view. In the garden, whether the mage kept it or not, there was an owl that looks shriveled, resembling a squeezed-out rag, and…

“… A crocodile?”

I momentarily went blank. Why is there a crocodile at the top of a hill? The crocodile, which was as long as I am, was lying on the grass, its mouth open, hissing with reptilian menace.

“Talia, stay behind me. It seems to be the mage’s pet.”

“A d-dragon…?”

“No, that’s an animal called a crocodile.”

Giving Talia a brief lesson, who seemed to see a crocodile for the first time, I slowly retreated. The crocodile also seemed to back off a bit.

“It doesn’t seem friendly either way.”

“Be cautious. It’s a dangerous animal.”

Crocodiles were quicker and more agile predators than one would think, muscular enough to be difficult for an ordinary human to handle alone.

Even though it wasn’t the swamp or the lake, which was its home ground, the pitch-black crocodile itself was a threat.

“Behind you, mister! Those weird ornaments!”

Turning around at Talia’s shout, I saw the gargoyles sneaking up, lying flat on the ground. It was a relief Talia had sharp senses, or else they might have been ambushed.

“… Look at these things?”

Had they planned a pincer attack from the start? If the opponents weren’t human, the miracles I could use at present weren’t very useful. Unfortunately, the only one I could use now was the one I was most reluctant to use.

“Grant the blessing to head towards the darkest underground. 〈Forbidden Transformation〉.”

I felt it. As soon as I invoked the miracle, I could feel something changing inside my body. My blood vessels wriggled like swarms of bugs inside my flesh. My organs felt like they were melting and blending together in a sticky mess.

“Talia, you must run as fast as you can—”

*Thud!* While attempting to pave a way for Talia in their surrounded state, what reached my ears was a dull sound of impact.

“It’s too hard…”

Talia had hit a gargoyle’s head with a stone. Despite its crude appearance, the gargoyle was sturdier than it looked and remained unscathed.

‘Her throwing skills aren’t bad at all…’

“Watch out!”

This wasn’t the time to be lost in admiration. Several gargoyles threw spear-like stones about the length of a human arm at me. At the same time, the crocodile started charging with a bulk that stirred up dust. However, after meditation, I had a better understanding of the miracle and knew what to do in this situation.

“No, don’t! Mister!”

Squish! With a gruesome sound, three spears pierced my back, shoulder, and thigh. As my muscles had already transformed grotesquely, I didn’t feel any pain. But it wasn’t only the gargoyles attacking.

*Crack!*

The next moment, the surprisingly swift crocodile tore into my arm. Black liquid spurted out from the torn area, spraying in all directions.

“Talia, fall back!”

Out of my shredded shoulder, which dangled from the bite, tentacles made of black liquid sprung out and crushed the crocodile’s front leg. This was the effect of 〈Forbidden Transformation〉, which retaliated when taking damage at close range. As blood, flesh, and bones were devoured, a satisfied smile crossed my lips without me realizing it.

‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Just like the 『Slumberer in the Abyss』 grants rewards in exchange for sacrifice. But its essence is…’

Close to a scam. Even though it seemed like they were getting even, my arm melted in the crocodile’s mouth, turning into black liquid and quickly returning to me.

“It fully regenerates even if it’s completely crushed.”

Then it naturally reattached to my shoulder—though in a black and distorted form.

“Talia, take this. Be careful not to touch the liquid.”

The crocodile retreated cautiously, and the gargoyles were momentarily stalled, trying to find an opportunity to attack. Seizing the moment, I pulled out the stone spears from my body and handed them to Talia. The spears were sticky with my own black blood, which wriggled as if alive.

“Can you hit them with this?”

“I’ve never thrown such a thing before… All right!”

Though she looked awkward compared to when she threw stones, she soon instinctively found a suitable stance. Talia hurled the spear at one of the gargoyles. Despite being her first time throwing a spear, it grazed its target and that was enough.

‘Stick to it!’

The sticky liquid on the spear was a part of me, not mere blood. The black liquid extended from the spear like a net, wrapping around the gargoyle and dragging the spear into its head.

“It’s still moving!”

“It’s got a separate core. There might be a jewel or something inside.”

Seeing the gargoyle still moving despite its head being shattered, I bit my lip, recalling some pertinent information.

While the wary crocodile showed no desire to fight, the gargoyles, devoid of any animal instincts, raised their spears once more.

“Talia.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If the crocodile charges at me, immediately duck. When that happens, you’ll have an opening to attack. Throw the spear at the gargoyle then.”

Talia nodded, and I completely shifted my direction to face the gargoyle.

I adopted a stance ready to charge at any moment.

‘Take the bait… take the bait…!’

At that moment, the crocodile moved as I had predicted, driven by its predator instincts.

To a hunter, a fleeing animal displaying its vulnerable back was the perfect prey.

Despite its missing leg, the crocodile charged madly.

“Duck!”

Though I shouted just in case, Talia was already on the ground.

Using my black, still-mutated arm, I whipped it like a lash around the crocodile.

“Hrmmph…!”

Then, with the superhuman strength of my formless residue-like body, I hurled the crocodile toward the gargoyle.

*Boom!*

“Now!”

Several of the sluggish gargoyles were crushed under the crocodile, and I promptly shouted to Talia. She immediately got up and threw her spear at the gargoyle’s torso.

‘… She really has a knack for throwing.’

Due to the crocodile flailing and causing chaos, two gargoyles distracted by it were hit successively by the flying spear.

“Impressive!”

Though she did not hit the core in one strike, my blood, seeping into the cracks, shattered the small crystal inside, halting their functions.

“Oh? That one’s running away!”

Realizing its defeat in the battle, the crocodile fled for its life.

‘It’s probably better not to chase it down and kill it. While the gargoyles are one thing, killing the familiar might provoke full hostility.’

I regulated my breathing, letting the heat of battle cool down.

My severed and reattached arm hadn’t completely returned to its normal form yet.

‘This time it’s taking a while to recover. Must be because it was mangled pretty badly.’

My arm, blackened and somewhat elongated, looked bizarre and was rather unsightly.

“Let’s go now. We need to meet the mage before it gets too late.”

“The one that ran away… You said it wasn’t a dragon but a crocodile, right? Is it some relative of an ogre? It doesn’t resemble one at all…”

Talia murmured with a puzzled look on her face.

No matter how well she fought, she was still a kid, which made me chuckle.

“It’s a crocodile, not an ogre.”

“Anyway! Both that thing and the statues clearly seem to be rejecting us, don’t they?”

“Even if they are rejecting us, we can’t give up so easily.”

Without an item that could help like a mental stabilizer, things would get dangerous just the same. Given the dire situation, I walked to the mage’s house and knocked on the door without hesitation.

There was a clatter as something fell inside, then I heard a young woman’s voice.

“Yes, I’m coming! Just a moment!”

‘A young mage, huh?’

…This doesn’t feel good.

“Oh dear~ You should have given some notice. Apologies for the wait. I was just about to report on this recent achievement…”

As soon as she opened the door, the woman started speaking rapidly. Her long hair had a slight lavender tint, and she was dressed in an attire resembling a white lab coat, like one would wear during experiments or surgery.

“Come in, come in… What? Who are you?”

Her polite and high-pitched voice, characteristic of a worker, instantly took on a more guarded tone.