I Became the Priest of Blasphemy of the Outer Gods

Chapter 87. Fate

There was a common factor in the incidents that happened after arriving in this world.

The world always presented options and questioned me.

It asked, why do you refuse to follow the fate assigned to you?

“Get out of the way, you disgusting things!”

I pushed forward, dealing with the swarm of spiders blocking my path using Gluttony.

‘Why didn’t I take everything I could on the first day?’

I could have offered the orphanage children and the director as sacrifices.

If I had dealt with the subsequent Stigmata and priest, I would have started with a much greater advantage.

In the end, didn’t the children and the director I spared end up dead anyway?

“Kiieek!”

“Found you! Surrender quietly to my lady!”

Whoosh!

A massive club was swung at me. I barely dodged it and glared at the old woman, whose body was half spider.

Despite killing hundreds of spiders, an uncountable number still surrounded the old woman.

“Damn things are trying to stall.”

I propelled myself forward, and the old woman, unable to respond to my sudden attack, had her head pierced by Gluttony in an instant. I ran on, burning the surrounding spiders with Gluttony’s flames.

“I must reach the hybrid as quickly as possible before these spiders descend from beyond the stars along those threads!”

This was probably a faction or subspecies different from the Leng Spiders who requested me. Whatever they were, there was still time before they reached the surface.

“Sevika! Sevika! Damn it… No response at all.”

I tried to make contact with Sevika, the most powerful being I could ask for help, but I couldn’t enter Sevika’s dream. It seemed as if more and more options were gradually being taken from me.

—You’re suppressing yourself, aren’t you? You know that’s not how to use the miracle of an Outer God, right? Perhaps you’re afraid of what’s beyond?

Levant’s words suddenly echoed in my mind. As an Outer God priest, he probably noticed what others couldn’t—that I was deliberately suppressing and restraining my power as much as possible.

“Don’t make me laugh. I have other options.”

I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.

“Cleanse for the great era. Leave only ashes. 〈Black Flame of Annihilation〉.”

The dark and ominous flames spread. The Black Flame began to burn only the spiders.

“It’s better not to use it if possible.”

I had been continually refraining from using Outer Magic because, as Sevika noted, it constituted blasphemy.

Although I never cared about such things before, like with Belido, I didn’t want to increase my enemies by generating hostility.

“Kiiii!”

Sure enough, the monster spiders influenced by an Outer God became more aggressive. Even the spiders heading elsewhere turned to attack, clearly infuriated.

“Wind that tears the spirit, whirl around. Become the storm that follows my steps. 〈Wind Blade’s Footstep〉.”

The spiders that avoided the Black Flame lunged at me. However, as soon as I took a step, they began to be shredded. Each step I took summoned brutal gales of slicing winds.

“Kiiii!”

Ignoring the spiders attacking with almost seizure-like aggression, I advanced, only to be blocked again shortly.

A grotesque spider as large as a house, seemingly made of human flesh, charged at me with terrifying speed that didn’t match its size.

Its exoskeleton was torn by the slicing wind, but it succeeded in ramming into me. Despite blocking with Gluttony, I was knocked back as if struck by a car.

* * *

“Hey, that’s not how you play this game.”

It was during the test play before I properly tried ≪Orders≫.

“You’ve just got a poor sense of balance. With such gear and no decent comrades, how do you expect anyone to win?”

“I gave you all the means to clear it. You just missed them.”

“Nonsense!”

An angry Dowol had spread out his preparations on the table and began explaining.

“Look here. When you got a request for help because the village was on fire, what did you do? You insisted on checking if they could pay first and got chased away, right?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I can’t work for free.”

Dowol shook his head.

“This character is not you sitting in a chair playing a game. It’s really facing the situation and truly living its life.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If there’s a fire in reality, and someone asks what they can give before helping, what would people think of them? They’d consider that person trash.”

Because of that, my character’s reputation was ruined, making its evaluations in the game drop significantly.

“That’s why you don’t get requests or make connections, right? Plus, you just sold the enchanted item you got.”

“It was an axe. I wanted to use a sword.”

“If you had that, the battles would’ve been much easier, right?”

“Well……”

Dowol sighed and said.

“In this world, your character was a low-ranking mercenary struggling to make ends meet. It skips unglamorous requests. If catching monsters is more fun, it does that even without money.”

“It’s just an RPG……”

“RPG means Role Playing Game. It means to play according to the role.”

Dowol finished up, reorganizing his things.

“You can’t advance without a plan in this game. You have to use everything given, to overcome the trials and tribulations. It’s a game about using the fate given to you.”

* * *

“Talking about fate!”

Charging toward the giant spider, I slid underneath to avoid its fangs.

With Gluttony, I burned through its belly, turning the giant spider into a blazing mass hurled towards the spider swarm.

“Ominous aura of death spreading like a plague. Spread with malice and cover all things. 〈Vicious Death Transition〉.”

Starting from the burnt spider, a black mist began to spread. The spiders exposed to it flipped over and went berserk, spewing black smoke as they died.

‘If only I had accepted Charlotte’s offer back then and allied with her, I would have gained incomparable strength and knowledge.’

Like temptations, these calculative thoughts kept surfacing in my mind. What benefit did I gain from saving Arian at that time? Why didn’t I abandon those children who couldn’t be protected anyway?

‘The mask, well, I could have done a separate deal with Charlotte to give it to Sevika.’

Though she wasn’t a trustworthy ally, her strength and talents could have been significantly beneficial.

At least it would have been more advantageous than the current hostile relationship I have. As I recalled these things, the world presented several proposals to me, offering choices.

It suggested I abandon petty morality and quirky stubbornness and utilize what was given to become stronger, safer, and more prosperous.

However, I always chose different answers. As a result, I constantly suffered losses and repeatedly faced danger. And eventually…

“Ha… Damn it.”

A catastrophe was unfolding, leaving no room for me to find other choices.

『He’s here!』

Finally, I confronted the hybrid.

A gigantic spider monster hung by webs in the sky. Beneath it were spider giants positioned in formation, surrounded by even smaller spiders.

『An entity similar to me! A being made chaotically! An entity as unique as me!』

The monstrous giant spider, shaped as if woven from wings, hung in a colossal stance obscuring the moon, evoking an unreal sense of wonder and strong repulsion.

『I am Pleroma Freurutus. You see? I am always hungry. No matter how many people of this city I devour, I’m never full.』

The hybrid monster, introducing itself as Pleroma, began speaking as if it had been awaiting our meeting.

『It’s agonizing. But you know, right? This is fate. A fate that only brings more agony if defied. A fate forced upon us by everyone.』

“Cleanse for the great era. Pulverize all things. 〈Wave of Annihilation〉.”

I launched Outer Magic without responding. Shockwaves that distorted the surrounding space battered the massive Pleroma.

The powerful wave propagated across the web holding the monster, causing an illusion as if the sky was shaking.

『Why cut off my sentence? Why not respond? Could it be you’re still—』

“Cleanse for the great era. Leave only ashes. 〈Black Flame of Annihilation〉.”

The black flame rose but did not burn Pleroma. It felt as though it didn’t even apply the damage, rather than it failing to inflict it.

‘Is it an entity that can’t be designated as a species? It doesn’t seem like it’s just because it’s a hybrid…’

Now wasn’t the time to analyze further.

『If you keep interrupting, I’ll really get angered—』

“Thunder isn’t the only wrath that descends from the sky. The flames of the Lord are a pouring catastrophe, a reverence. 〈Falling Flame of the Red Sky〉.”

A crimson light spread across the night sky like a sunset, and flames engulfed the tethered Pleroma. As time passed, spiders on the ground would only increase. There was no need to endure inevitable offers of alliances or appetites.

『It hurts. Even I can feel the pain… Astounding. But I watched you fight Father, from the cradle. Your bad habits. Your stubbornness.』

Despite being hit directly by the flames, Pleroma laughed.

『Father mentioned it, right? That’s not how to use the miracle of an Outer God.』

“Tsk!”

I grimaced. I needed to conserve mana and consider the damage to the city. So many things to juggle made my head throb.

“The flame of tribulation trembles the heavens and earth, rise O fire! 〈Inferno of Thunder〉!”

Following the fire descending from the sky, a pillar of flame erupted from the ground, hitting Pleroma. Even while engulfed in fiercely burning flames, Pleroma remained nonchalant. No matter how strong, it couldn’t be unscathed. Yet, it seemed to continuously recover from nutrients sucked from the entire city.

『Coward. Stubborn.』

Boom!

The ground shook violently. Pleroma moved its legs as if pulling a net, causing the earth to move, and piles of dirt to rise.

『I’ve been patient. You just have to play with me. Let me forget my pain for a moment.』

Pleroma pulled on the web. Houses forming Wave Reach were caught in the net. The city, developed over countless years of accumulation, was instantly destroyed, and the debris floated into the air. Those unable to escape were caught like bugs in the web or fell to their deaths.

『If you refuse, I’ll have to just eat you…….』

Pleroma’s legs moved. The massive structure seemed to draw a circle, tearing the net from the ground, sending everything crashing down like a meteor shower toward me.