The Stigma of Corruption

I walked to the prison and noticed Hikomi sleeping on the floor then knocked on the cell door. She woke up and looked up at me. She stood up and walked to the door. 

[Hikomi's Mental Endurance: 100] 

"What do you want..?" Hikomi asked. 

I opened the door and walked off. "Come with me." 

Hikomi watched me then followed me. She noticed her shackles break then rose an eyebrow. "You're letting me free?" 

"I'm allowing you freewill. I don't have enough souls to properly corrupt you, but at the same time, I don't want your Shrine Maiden powers to go to waste." I said. 

"What are you going to do to me?" Hikomi asked as she followed me. 

"You'll see." I said as I made my up to the main floor of the castle. 

I walked out of the castle and noticed Dahlia standing outside looking at the black lilies that were growing near the castle. She noticed me and gave a slight smile then walked over to me. 

"You haven't corrupted her as you've done to me?" Dahlia asked. 

"I can't. I don't have any souls, and a Dark Miko doesn't have the same benefits as a normal Shrine Maiden. In fact they lose most of their abilities to focus on demonology which is something I don't want." I said and looked at Dahlia. 

"So what are you going to do to her? Since she's not corrupted, she is more than likely going to find a way to betray you." Dahlia said. 

"We are going to find a Relic. A Relic called Stigma of Corruption. I can give Hikomi that Relic which allows her to access her Dark Miko abilities and remain loyal to me without the need of Corruption. There is only one in existence." I said. 

"But that Stigma is only found in Shrines. If you don't know, Shrine Maidens aren't often easy to come by. It's not known which Shrine so you'll be endlessly searching around and wasting your time. You're better off killing me." Hikomi said. 

"She's rather combative." A voice said behind us. 

I looked back and noticed Guinevere. I smiled at her and crossed my arms. "That she is. Good morning, Guinevere." 

"Good morning, Milord~ Good morning to you as well, Dahlia." Guinevere said, placing her hand on her hip. 

Dahlia bowed to Guinevere. "Milady.." 

"I overheard you are looking for the Stigma of Corruption? I know where to find it. I was actually looking for it the other day. I found it at Silverton Church, but after they kidnapped me and your invasion, they moved it to another church." Guinevere said. 

"What church?" I asked. 

"Karius Church." Guinevere said. 

"Karius? That's where my brother is. They most likely took it there because they have way stronger units. It's full of Elite Heroes." Hikomi said. 

Guinevere held her arms and smirked. She took out a few Monster Cards. "She's right. They are full of Elite Heroes which is why we need Elite Monsters. Come with me, Raiyu. I'm a master when it comes down to picking Monsters. Also we need some life in this Domain so let's go adopt some monsters." 

We followed Guinevere to the Monster Shop then walked inside. The Monster Shop was a massive shop where there were a few facilities inside the shop. 

"Welcome!~ Awe you here to buy Monstews? Or pewhaps enhance them into Ewite Monstews? Or maybe fuse two Monstews together to cweate a better monstew? How about Sacwificing your Monstews to stwengthen youwsewf? Or just wanna sell them, I can do all of that for you!~" The woman at the front counter said. 

She had medium length red hair, red eyes, tiny red wings, and a slender body. Her ears were pointed and wiggled as she stared at us. She wore a cute frilly red dress, a black cloak, and had a Cerberus and a Blood Wolf beside her. Her demon tail swayed from side to side. 

"Ew. Why does she talk like that?" Hikomi asked. 

"Hello, Faye~ Ignore her. We are here to enhance our monsters...and get Milord some new monsters." Guinevere said and smiled at the woman. 

"Of couwse! i cawn enhance youw monstews fow you, uwu!~" Faye said happily and smiled happily at us. 

Dahlia and Hikomi grew a bit uncomfortable by the way Faye spoke. They stuck close to me so they could absorb my dreading energy to counterbalance Faye's cuteness overload energy. Guinevere met Faye at the Monster Enhancement Station. 

"Pwease put youw monstew of choice own the enhancement ciwcwe!~" Faye said and watched Guinevere. 

"Her speech is only becoming worse...Why can't she speak normally.." Hikomi said and cringed. 

Guinevere smiled and gently pat Faye's head then summoned her Vampire Girl and sent get on the Enhancement Circle. Faye activated the circle and the Vampire Girl closed her eyes then let the Elite Energy enter her body, evolving her into an Elite Monster.

"Compweted!~ youw vampiwe giww iws weady!" Faye said with a giggle. 

"I can't take much more of this." Hikomi said and walked outside the building. 

"Yeah.." Dahlia said and followed Hikomi. 

I watched them and smiled then shrugged. I walked to the Monster Cards. For me to obtain these cards I needed Astral Dollars which I did have. Guinevere walked over to me and stood beside me. 

"You want to get the best Monsters, but the higher ranks of Monsters will cost more Astral Dollars. Certain Monsters are only obtained via Fusion, Contracts, Events, or Awakenings. For now we just need to buy the Monster Cards. I suggest the Inferno Imp, the Siren, and Ent Girl." Guinevere said. 

[Tip: Monsters that are Rank C and above can only be acquired once. Once that monster dies, another purchase of that monster can be made.] 

I picked up the cards Guinevere suggested and looked at them. I took them to the front counter and paid for them. After making my purchase, I walked out of the Monster Shop. Guinevere purchased a few Rank F and D Monsters then walked out of the Monster Shop to summon then and bring life to Astarfall. 

[Tip: You can also order Monster Cards by using me to access the Dark Web.] 

"There we have a few Harpy, a few Slimes, a few Goblins, and some Lizard Soldiers. We have some life in this Domain now~" Guinevere said and smiled. 

"Seems like we have everything in order. Let's head to Karius Church." I said. 

Everyone followed me to the Wander Portal. Once we made it, I used 10 Souls to activate the portal then walked into the portal first. The others followed behind and we appeared in a forest. I placed my hand on a tree and noticed two Holy Guards standing in front of the gates leading to the church. 

Hikomi looked at the Holy Guards and looked at me. "We're really doing this..?" 

I nodded and changed our element to the Wind Element. "All I need are two kills and I can summon one of the three new monsters I bought." 

"Once we attack this church, we can't retreat." Guinevere said. 

"We have two Overlords, a Fallen Hero, and a Shrine Maiden plus with your Elite Monster who's a B+ Rank Monster, our chances of failure are slim." I said. 

Guinevere summoned her Vampire Girl and summoned her sword. "Alright, let's go spill some blood..~" 

I summoned my spear and surrounded it with wind energy then threw it at the Holy Guards are full speed. Because of the wind energy surrounding the spear, the noice was silenced and the spear killed the first guard, alerting the second guard. 

I dashed forward and summoned my sword then quickly assassinated the second guard then summoned my Siren. She landed on the ground and spread her white wings. She sang a note and boosted our stats. 

[Notice: All Allies are boosted by 50%] 

I opened the gates and noticed Elite Priestesses and Elite Holy Knights rushing to defend the Church. I changed our element to Darkness and walked forward. "Alright everyone...Destroy Karius Church." 

Dahlia dashed forward and clashed with the first Elite Holy Knight then pushed them back and kicked them away. She launched two dark cutting waves at the knight and killed them. Hikomi rushed forward and remembered her torture session and didn't want to experience it again. She struck down multiple Elite Priestesses and dodged their light attacks then dished out a few lightspeed strikes of her own. 

Guinevere gathered all of the blood that was on the battlefield then laughed as the blood entered her and the Vampire Girl, empowering themselves even more. The Vampire Girl dashed forward and clashed with another Elite Holy Knight and dodged the next strike then Guinevere sliced their head off and absorbed their blood. 

"Find the Shrine!" I commanded. 

"There isn't one!" Hikomi said and turned around to see a man appeared behind her. She gasped and groaned as she was knocked away by a powerful slash. She crashed into a Goddess Statue and fell to the ground. 

[Warning: Boss Unit Nearby!]

"Betrayal is a sin, Hikomi.." The man said as he walked toward her. 

"A Vagabond Class?!" Guinevere asked in shock. 

[Scanning Target...]

{Target: Karius (LV. 15)} 

Strength: D {107}

Endurance: D {99}

Dexterity: D {86}

Agility: D {102}

Magic: D {62}

Intelligence: D {97}

Power Level: D {92}

"Milord! We have to retreat! I'm not strong enough for this battle!" Guinevere warned. 

"I agree! We're only Level 10!" Dahlia said. 

I watched Karius near closer to Hikomi. She struggled to get up and grunted softly. 

[Would you like to retreat?] 

{Retreat} 

{Save Hikomi} 

I looked at Guinevere then looked back at Hikomi. Because Hikomi wasn't truly a part of my army yet, if she dies I can't revive her. On the other hand, this Vagabond Class Hero was stronger than all of us except me. 

Hikomi looked up at Karius and noticed he was going to deal the final blow then grunted when a dark energy sword blocked the attack. I appeared in front of Hikomi then kicked him away. 

"Unfortunately, I can't allow you to kill Hikomi." I said and picked my sword up. 

Karius looked at me and glared. "How unusual for an Overlord to protect a woman of Holy Descent. Because of your actions, I can tell you can still reach Salvation. How about you surrender and seek Guidance." 

I laughed and moved my hair from my eyes. "Repentance...is for the weak!" 

I dashed toward Karius and slashed at him. He blocked my attack and pushed me back then slashed at me. I clashed with him and we clashed three more times before entering a blade lock. We pushed each other back then jumped backwards. 

Karius's hair became white and his eyes shined silver. Angelic wings emerged from his back and he bellowed as his aura surged powerfully around his body. "I'm gonna end this quickly!" 

[Tip: When the Devil Crystal is supercharged, you can tap into your Awakened Form! Use your Awakened Form to defeat strong opponents like Karius!]

I released my Mana and my demonic wings emerged from my back then black horns protruded from my head. My eyes shined a blood red and black aura surrounded my body. 

I propelled myself toward Karius and clashed with him. He grunted as he slid back then broke away from me and flew backwards, launching blades of light at me. I flew toward him and dodged the blades of light then used a burst of speed to appear in front of him. We clashed rapidly then I parried his next strike and kicked him away. He crashed into a wall and took flight to the sky. I flew after him and smirked widely.

Guinevere watched the battle and her eyes shined. "He's matching his energy...This Awakened Form feels so much different from mine and the other Overlords..!" 

Dahlia rushed to Hikomi and helped her up then looked up at the sky and noticed Karius and I clashing rapidly. "Milord.." 

Hikomi watched and held onto Dahlia. "I'm actually glad...that I'm on your side.." 

Karius and I clashed in the sky continuously and fired magic attacks at each other, causing explosions in the sky. I dodged Karius's next strike and formed blades of darkness behind me. 

"He copied my attack..?!" Karius asked in shock. 

I changed my element to Light and began to strike Karius at lightspeeds from all directions, using the blades of darkness to strike him as well. Dark energy particles formed above us and turned into blades of darkness.

"Blade Hell!" I bellowed and snapped my fingers. 

The blades of darkness began to rain down on Karius and he did his best to dodge and block, but the blades struck him, knocking him to the ground then an explosion happened. I looked down at Karius then smirked. 

[Notice: Karius has retreated] 

I descended to the ground and reverted to my normal form. I walked toward the church and kicked the doors open then walked forward. I noticed the nuns cower before me and I had my Siren sing a hymn and her voice caused internal rupturing, causing their hearts to fail and kill them. 

I moved the podium and opened the secret compartment on the floor then pulled out a vase that contained the Stigma of Corruption. I smirked and my eyes shined. "Here we go..." 

Dahlia and Hikomi noticed me walking out of the church with the Stigma of Corruption. I took out the emblem then let it float toward Hikomi and it entered her body. Her kimono changed from white and red to black and red, her hair became white and her eyes shined yellow. The Symbol of Corruption shined on her back.

Hikomi looked at herself and felt Dark Power coursing through her veins. "I don't feel much different." 

"That's the point. You still have your original powers plus the added bonus of Dark Miko abilities. You've become the first Dark-Holy Shrine Maiden. Hopefully your powers will come to good use in the future." I said. 

Guinevere walked toward us and held her arms. "We actually won...but who was that guy?" 

"Karius...My brother. He works closely with the Goddesses. You should've killed him! Now he can report to them and start a Divine War! The Dawn Ages are back upon us!" Hikomi said. 

"Dawn Ages?" I asked. 

Guinevere was a bit surprised and crossed her arms. "The Dawn Ages is a period of time that only happens when a Total War starts. A war like this...changes Reality forever." 

'Where have I heard of this before..?' I thought to myself.

{To Be Continued}