Who Said A Necromancer Can't Be A Priest?-Chapter 45: Making Up The Losses (2)

"Well, that was quick," Darius commented.

Aaran closed Prior's eyes before offering a quick prayer. But it wasn't out of kindness.

[Guided a lost soul to salvation. Divinity +10]

[First prayer of the day offered. Divinity +50]

[0.01% of necessary divinity gained.]

Hm… this might not be that bad of a deal.

Aaran gestured for Brute as soon as those notifications appeared. Without delay, he raised his foot, stomping on Prior's body until he became one with the soil.

"A quick burial for a cultist bastard," Aaran said, shaking the dirt off his hands. "Gather up the rest. Let's get done with it."

Brute and the goblin gathered the worshippers before him, and Aaran quickly prayed for their souls. By guiding them to salvation, he gained divinity that the goddess hungrily feasted on.

[0.03% of necessary divinity gained.]

Once that was done, he thought about raising them as undead but changed his mind. Compared to resurrecting humans, resurrecting monsters was much easier as he didn't have to deal with their resentment and other bullshit to deal with.

Well, in most cases.

Aaran added, looking at Brute.

After a dozen prayers and quick burials, Aaran breathed a sigh of relief. But the relief didn't last long as Prior's parting words played in his mind.

"Tsk, summoning a demon. What are these fools doing?" Aaran said.

One demon lord had thrown the entire world into chaos once. But those idiots wanted to summon more! Like, yeah, you want to take over the world, but seriously, only a total moron would even think about controlling a demon.

I would know because I was the fool in question.

What worried Aaran more was that, according to Prior, this wasn't their first or last summoning. He didn't know how many summons had happened or how many of them were successful, so that was even worse.

"Unbelievable," Darius said, shaking his head.

Aaran scratched his head, annoyed by the news.

"Why do I end up in these messes? Oh, I know!"

He didn't say anything more, just looked up at the sky.

If he had a choice, he would've just walked away. But at this point, there was no choice.

According to Prior, the one they called the Abbot was very close to a successful summoning.

If the ritual succeeded, it would bring destruction and chaos. Someone had to interfere before that happened, and with him being the only one in the forest, the choice was obvious.

Besides, even if Aaran returned to the academy and reported the ritual, things would only get worse for him.

One, no one would believe that a child survived in the forest alone. He'd be questioned, doubted, maybe even locked up.

Two, the enemies of Aurelia would see him as a growing threat. And if word got out that he had survived in the forest, they would move to kill him before he had the chance to grow stronger.

The only benefit he'd get was he'd gain more divinity. If he stopped the summoning, then he would certainly get quite a bit of it.

"I will have to think of an excuse either way," Aaran mumbled. "But before that..."

Aaran's gaze turned towards the barely breathing Cerberus. He aimed at the creature, ready to kill it. Before he pulled the trigger, Darius jumped between them. Not like that made a difference.

"Why did you want us to keep it alive if you were going to kill it anyway?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to kill it myself."

What Aaran wanted was the experience he'd get from killing it. But Darius didn't need to know about it.

Darius's mouth fell open. He couldn't believe Aaran's brazen greed. A moment later, a gunshot rang out, and everything went silent.

***

The abbot knelt before the altar, lost in his chanting when a three-headed lava hound jumped out of the bushes, aiming for the abbot's nape.

Without even opening his eyes, he backhanded the beast, sending it flying across the clearing. The beast landed on its feet, growling.

The abbot continued chanting at first, but the constant attacks and growling got on his nerves.

"An unruly mutt appeared…" the abbot sighed and got up.

But instead of attacking Cerberus, the abbot stared in the opposite direction.

"I don't want to waste my time, I suggest all of you come at me together."

Aaran stepped out of the bushes, followed by Brute. That was his force. It wasn't nearly enough to defeat the abbot, but it was all he had at his disposal.

He looked around and saw the gruesome sight. Flesh was altready growing on the altar, a sign that a demon was about to spawn from of it.

The abbot stood between Aaran and his target, the altar. Defeating the abbot wasn't important; as long as the altar was gone, the summoning would fail.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

The abbot knew that too. Hence, he stood between them. Aaran wanted to distract the abbot via Cerbie, the Cerberus, into leaving the altar unattended and then destroy it.

But the childish plan didn't work.

Unlike Prior and his men, the abbot was on a different level. Both in strength and intelligence.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" the abbot said, noticing Aaran's gaze.

"Beautiful?" Aaran scoffed. "More like grotesque."

A vein popped out of the abbot's head, but his smile didn't falter.

"You've got a foul tongue for someone possessing darkness," he said. "The young these days are brazen."

"Why summon a demon?" Aaran asked, still looking at the altar. "For power? Revenge? Riches?"

"…All of a sudden, you don't sound like a kid."

"Just answer the question."

The abbot smiled. For a child, the boy was certainly fearless. More importantly, he was skilled enough to hide his darkness to the point even the abbot couldn't feel a trace of it. Not till he focused.

Having someone like him on our side would boost our strength.

The abbot stared at Aaran with a hungry gaze. The boy possessed darkness, was fascinated by the altar, and killed over a dozen worshippers. Although he wasn't strong like the rest of the members, one day he could surpass them all.

The more the abbot thought about it, the more he wanted to have him as his apprentice.

"Oi, wannabe Diddy. Don't look at a child like that."

"…Wannabe what?" The abbot scratched his head. "Let's forget about that. How about you join my cult? I promise you'll be treated well."

Aaran looked the man over. Tattered clothes, bony arms, and sunken cheeks. Someone who couldn't even feed himself was barking about treating him well? It was hilarious.

But Aaran thought of a way to stop the ceremony.

"Treat me well? I have everything I want," Aaran said. "What could you possibly give someone like me?"

The abbot's smile widened as he pulled out a small orb. He crushed it, and a moment later, dozens of corpses were laid before Aaran.

"I got these to make the next altar," the abbot said. "As long as you become my apprentice, all of this and much more will be yours."

Aaran couldn't lie. It was a tempting offer.

The corpses were well maintained, and some even belonged to creatures like giants. However, he felt something wrong with his core. Dread was upset… really upset.

[Boy… that's my corpse.]