Ch.262262. Grotesque Body (2)

Abomination.

An English word meaning something detestable, monstrous, or repulsive. The monsters called Abominations in this world have appearances that match this definition of grotesqueness.

Most of them were originally followers of evil gods. The reason these once-ordinary followers became monsters is—absurdly enough—due to the “blessings” of evil gods.

The blessing itself wouldn’t be a major problem if the evil god didn’t imbue it with malicious intent….

However, as befits their nature as “evil” gods, most deities, with few exceptions, enjoy bestowing curses disguised as blessings.

As a side effect, physical deformities or transformations are quite common among evil god worshippers (Cultists).

But there’s an even greater issue: one of them being that the blessings bestowed by evil gods inherently carry the influence of that god’s divine nature.

Those who receive the blessing of “pleasure” might experience heightened senses regardless of the intended effect, while those blessed by “misfortune” may suddenly become unlucky or unable to feel joy.

The only one who can prevent this divine influence from permeating blessings is “Vengeance,” who is regarded as superior to anyone else in this world when it comes to calibrating blessings.

However, even “Vengeance” cannot prevent certain side effects of evil gods’ blessings.

There are mainly two reasons why these side effects transform believers into Abominations.

One is a reason I’ve continuously observed as a witness—when the soul lacks sufficient capacity to contain the blessing—the power of a god—and goes berserk.

And the other reason is… the power of evil gods that constitutes their blessings inherently contains their unique malignancy.

Whether intended or not, those blessed by evil gods gradually have their souls and bodies tainted by this malignancy.

Of course, such tainting by malignancy can be cleanly restored with just a prayer to a god, and it’s not impossible to purify even the blessing of the most powerful evil god.

However, this kind of purification doesn’t apply to those who have received anywhere from several to dozens of blessings.

Consequently, those who receive too many blessings from evil gods eventually reach a breaking point.

As a result of both body and soul being contaminated and distorted by the evil god’s power,

the believer’s body undergoes horrific mutations, and their mind degenerates to the level of a beast.

And the life form that ultimately emerges from this process is—the Abomination.

A monster classified as its own unique type, neither a Humanoid, nor an Outsider like demons, nor even a Magical Beast.

Each Abomination has a completely different form.

Most Abominations appear as giants with strange protrusions all over their bodies and grotesquely transformed flesh, but among them, there are plenty that look relatively normal, and some even possess completely amorphous bodies.

Additionally, since Abominations are fundamentally the result of souls overloaded by blessing side effects,

their ferocity is maximized while their intelligence degrades to at best the level of wild beasts.

Therefore, in most evil god factions, these transformed Abominations are typically tamed through dark magic and used as meat shields or living weapons, sent charging into the front lines…

However, in the Dawn Empire, Abominations are treated quite well.

In the Dawn Empire, during the process of training the elite Avenger Legion, some periodically fail to withstand the blessings and mutate into Abominations. Considering this transformation occurs when they’ve passed all training and are receiving blessings… they are still undeniably members of the Avenger Legion.

So they treat these unfortunate Abominations as still being their comrades, and perhaps because of this, the Abominations of the Dawn Empire can at least distinguish between friend and foe.

However… even so, Abominations are still monsters that could go berserk at any moment, so after much deliberation, the imperial army asks each trainee a certain question before they receive blessings.

The question concerns how they wish to be treated if they become an Abomination, with only two options: euthanasia or preservation.

If a trainee who chose euthanasia fails to withstand the blessing and mutates into an Abomination, a mid-rank or higher Avenger Legion officer and a priest of the Vengeance Order who have been waiting will personally grant them a painless death.

Becoming an Abomination is considered a terrible fate by all, so many choose euthanasia—and no one blames them for this choice.

However, if the trainee wishes to continue serving the Empire and their god even in that state, even as an Abomination…

From that point on, the Abomination is given the same name they used in life, assigned a rank and military specialty, and continues to serve as a member of the Avenger Legion.

Of course, the Empire has no intention of treating these honorable individuals carelessly, so during peacetime when there is no full-scale war, they reside in the “Spirit Tombs” on the outskirts of the Empire.

Even though they can distinguish friend from foe, this arrangement prevents potential accidents, and another reason they stay in the “Spirit Tombs” is that Abominations emit a uniquely unpleasant presence around them.

These transformed monsters therefore reside in the “Spirit Tombs,” structures designed to keep Abominations in a dormant, sealed state.

However, if external enemies recklessly attack these “Spirit Tombs” where they sleep, and if the defensive forces alone cannot possibly repel them—

[[[[—————■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!]]]]

They awaken these heroes who chose honor and dedication to the Empire, unleashing the wrath of the fallen upon the invaders who disturbed their slumber.

※ ※ ※

The Abominations, awakened from their sleep in the “Spirit Tombs” thanks to the base commander’s instructions and guidance, attacked the invaders—the Frost Claw tribe—vividly demonstrating why they bear the name “abomination.”

[[■■■■■■■■———!!!!]]

“Ugh, AAAAARGH! AAAAAAA———”

———CRUNCH!!

They extend tentacles of all shapes and sizes to entangle, swing enormous arms, tear enemies apart with claws—or body parts serving similar functions—drag them close and mercilessly maul them with mouths—or beaks or muzzles.

Only a small number of specimens have flight capabilities, and even those aren’t as fast as wyverns, so escaping by air might have been possible…

But the problem was that these Frost Claw tribe raiders had descended to the ground to finish their work just when those horrific monsters poured out from inside the building.

“Fly, Sku! I said fly!!”

“Keeruruurururu……..KEEEEEEK——!!!”

Having spotted the enemies of the Dawn Empire, the Abominations emitted an aura that caused discomfort in all directions, then latched onto the frost wyverns and engaged them in chaotic combat.

Most Abominations possess physical abilities comparable to at least mid-tier beings even without aura, and many have gained various special abilities as side effects of their mutations.

Some can spew poisons or contaminants like breath weapons, others can produce magic-like effects through their gaze, some can further mutate their bodies, or mimic the bodies of creatures they’ve devoured.

With the raiders unable to utilize their few advantages over Abominations, such as flight capability,

they began to fall to the ground one by one after struggling against dozens of attacking Abominations.

“GYAAAAAAAH———!!!”

They were torn to shreds by tentacles, bitten and devoured by various mouths, dismembered by pincers, turned into honeycombs by spikes, and crushed by the sheer mass of these living weapons.

The northern raiders who rudely awakened the sleeping ones met the same fate as the victims of their human sacrifices—their corpses being devoured.