Ch.250250. The Starvation Cult (1)

The Hunger Cult, an organization composed of those who have transformed into ghouls after becoming corrupted through acts such as cannibalism.

This cult organization, referred to among themselves as the “Cult of Solar Truth” or the “Cult of Red Flesh,” is a notorious heretical group with enough influence to appear anywhere in the world.

Notably, unlike most undead cult organizations, it was not founded by necromancers, and despite being an undead organization far removed from faith, it strongly exhibits religious characteristics.

These entities, recognized as the largest undead organization in name and reality… are surprisingly actually thousands of separate organizations sharing the same name.

Nevertheless, regardless of which culture or era they originated from, they naturally develop sun-worshipping tendencies and, strangely enough, come to resemble each other in organizational structure and internal hierarchy.

Thanks to this, when they make contact with each other, they can quickly expand their influence through establishing hierarchies, and above all, they possess “order” that other heretical forces lack.

The Crypt Ghouls, even after their transformation, suffer from cognitive dissonance and mental distortion, greatly losing their cognitive abilities. They particularly follow “discipline” while genuinely believing themselves to be noble or great.

…In reality, this discipline merely describes methods of consuming corpses, and this characteristic is actually just the result of their distorted perception of the dominion ability that higher undead possess over lower species.

Anyway, among the countless heretical cults known as the “Hunger Cult,” the branch in Dongrae Harbor is especially famous for its massive scale.

By cleverly allying with certain power holders or accepting them as members of their group, and by continuously expanding their influence without ever letting their guard down…

The ghouls of Dongrae Harbor have successfully taken control of a significant portion of the city, particularly the criminal underworld commonly referred to as the “shadow world.”

And in one of the many branches of this Hunger Cult, in the basement of a butcher shop that serves as their base in the Dongrae Harbor slums, the Ghoul-Priest, the leader of this branch, was processing “meat.”

The Hunger Cult is typically formed around a central figure called a “Strigoi,” known in Eastern regions as a Ghoul Lord, and serving these Ghoul Lords are executive-level priest-class beings called Ghoul-Priests, or Agwi Priests in the Eastern continent.

[Hmm….]

Wearing a robe that was once undoubtedly splendid but now reduced to mere rags, he pressed down on his head a hat whose mouth had grown due to the corrupt and hunger-inducing magical power emitted by ghouls.

In his hand was a twisted staff, secretly passed down within the cult, capable of processing “food.”

A disgusting monster holding an object made from tendons, flesh, skin leather, skulls, and various bones including the spine.

If one were to extract the pure essence of the concept of a “twisted human,” it might look something like this.

This being, who seemed to have distorted humanity in every aspect, looked like a bloated ghoul.

[Hmmmm….]

And now, this figure, quite different from an ordinary ghoul, was frowning as he thought about his subordinates whom he had dispatched.

As part of the grand plan established by the Ghoul Lord, the superior and object of worship to the Agwi Priest, he had recently been plotting against a mother and daughter located near his butcher shop.

He needed someone born with sufficient talent to be used as a tool for the plan, especially someone with the innate ability to “receive.” Having confirmed the birth of a suitable person nearby, he had devised a decade-spanning plan.

Particularly since the girl who would be at the center of the plan had to willingly sacrifice her life of her own volition, this complex and chaotic plan was absolutely necessary.

In fact, the plan had been progressing smoothly, and they were on the verge of completing it, but…

[What, what are those things!]

In this situation, the priest, who had surveillance networks throughout the city, spotted the girl who was the target of the plan meeting with a duo who were concealing their identities through some method.

Therefore, he realized that the plan might fail at its final stage, that its success might be delayed by at least several hundred years, and he fell into impatience…

[You, you all! Bring that woman here immediately!]

This was the Agwi Priest’s worst mistake.

Short on immediately available subordinates, he sent some of the lowest-ranking members among his Ghoul Priest’s followers.

Creatures that were neither fully “blessed” by the grace of the sun like themselves, nor the filthy abominations that remained “unenlightened.”

Of course, he eventually noticed his mistake, but by then, the events had long since unfolded.

‘The connection… is broken?’

Realizing that the connections to his subordinates and minions were being severed one by one, the Agwi Priest, ignoring the chill running down his spine, immediately began considering his next course of action.

Necromancy, a branch and cousin of spirit magic/summoning magic. “Corpse magic” that he had mastered to an intermediate level gave him many options.

Unfortunately, however, his enemies moved several times faster than the Agwi Priest could.

[…What?!]

What the Agwi Priest felt in his senses while contemplating his response was, to use an analogy, like someone cracking an egg over his head.

Feeling something sticky enveloping him and the entire vicinity of the butcher shop, he was flustered but coolly assessed the situation.

Even if the enemy had somehow caused this entire space to collapse through some ability, directly invading the basement of the butcher shop to deal with him personally would be incredibly difficult.

The magical traps he had created by applying various corpse magic spells to repel intruders—such as “Wrath of the Gluttonous Ghoul” or “Hungry Devouring”—boasted enough killing power to take down even intermediate-level threats.

Additionally, there were over 50 elite Crypt Ghouls currently resting in the butcher shop after returning from missions, and somewhere in the basement, one of the Ghoul Cult’s secret weapons, a “Ghoul Flesh Giant,” slept wrapped in a meat body.

Thanks to this, the Agwi Priest was relatively unconcerned, preparing magic just in case while inwardly feeling reassured, but…

-KUGUUGUGUNG!!

No one in this place could have predicted that the “just in case” would turn into “as expected.”

‘What…?!’

Simultaneously with the sound of something massive pouring down, the symbol of trust (master-servant contract) connecting the Agwi Priest and his elite Crypt Ghouls was rapidly severing.

The Agwi Priest couldn’t hide his bewilderment at this unexpected series of events, and as this continued, the sound of something pouring down grew louder and louder until—

-KWAAAANG!!!

After the wooden door of the priest’s room shattered into pieces. As fragments of the destroyed door scattered in all directions, the priest could see a massive black wave pouring in.

It was, they were many. Incredibly many, and then some more.

Beings with such numbers and dark fur that they could be mistaken for a black wave at first glance, these creatures, presumably some form of hive-type magical beast, would have devoured everything in their path.

Traps designed to attack the minds of intelligent beings and target single opponents could simply be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Honestly, the priest had to admit it.

Not only was he in a desperate crisis right now, but he was also in a situation where death could come at any moment.

The corpse magic, thoroughly modified to specialize in one-on-one combat, was weak against such hive-type enemies, and the priest’s own physical body could not be described as excellent or highly skilled even as a courtesy.

Of course, while he was larger and physically stronger than ordinary ghouls, if asked whether this would be useful for surviving against that swarm of rats, one would have to tilt their head in doubt.

Therefore, recognizing that the situation ahead was by no means favorable to him, the Ghoul Priest, while lamenting the despair rising in his heart, gritted his teeth and gripped his staff tightly.

And then—

“Die, abomination.”

[—?!!]

When someone approached from behind without any warning and spoke, the Ghoul Priest was startled and tried to concentrate his nerves to use magic, but…

[Celestial Radiance!]

-PIYUUUUNG!!!

Before he could even begin preparing to cast a spell, one of the two magic users who had approached the Ghoul Priest used magic first.

That cursed false light-emitting magic, said to be used only by the wicked.

‘D…damn it….’

The celestial wind weakened and pulled down the priest’s spiritual position and rank, destroying all negative energy and shattering everything.

‘This shouldn’t… be happening….’

The Agwi Priest, groaning from the terrible and fearful pain that felt like his entire skin was being flayed off, soon lost consciousness completely.