The Outer God Needs Warmth-Chapter 111: Climb the highest (11)

The situation continued to deteriorate.

As things became urgent, people came to me.

Especially those who had been severely injured in battle and had fled, risking their lives, came to me, bowing their heads, asking for a blessing.

Although the head of the Heavenly Palace had forbidden anyone from entering the place where I was, the followers of the Heavenly Demon Church did not refrain from coming because of the authority of the Heavenly Palace or the Heavenly Demon’s power.

They were merely afraid of the samsi, the insect inside their bodies, and followed out of fear.

This insect is a dreadful creature that tortures those who oppose higher-ranking individuals within the Heavenly Demon Church. It swims inside their bodies, causing excruciating pain.

It has created a system where people are forced to climb higher, risking their lives.

But I discovered that when they become my Harvesters, the insect inside their bodies disappears.

Moreover, when severed limbs or critically damaged body parts regenerate completely, they began to come to me, ready to die in exchange for the blessing.

However, only three people a day.

The competition for the opportunity began.

And the upper ranks, who should be limiting this, have become incapable of fighting and are now allowing it, turning a blind eye as they return to the frontlines.

Meanwhile, the higher-ups are too busy with factional infighting.

There are groups pushing to expel Omyoungseong, groups aiming to make Goomilmil the leader, and some with entirely different schemes. There are many factions.

Moreover, the head of Woljedang has been pulling out the wedges that held the fractured Heavenly Demon Church together. Though it may seem like a severing of ties, it was actually the glue that kept the people united.

As the traces of severance fade, people grow freer.

In other words, control is slipping away.

Actions meant for a better cause are ironically weakening the Heavenly Demon Church’s unity and ultimately leading to its collapse.

The head of Woljedang has inadvertently helped bring down the Heavenly Demon Church.

However, the Murim Alliance, which the Heavenly Demon Church now faces, is vast.

When Harvesters kill people, I absorb the warmth of the deceased and their memories. Of course, I don’t acquire everything, but by piecing together fragmented information, I learn a great deal.

The Murim Alliance is enormous.

And it’s growing larger.

As its influence expands to the point where it affects the entire area where people live, it has grown so large that not joining would be a loss.

Factions and divisions are a long-standing human tradition.

Especially in a world where closed groups have been formed by those who treat only those within their circle well for an extended period.

No, to be precise, it’s the opposite.

Unless a war breaks out on such a massive scale that it shatters one’s sense of identity, or unless there’s a catastrophic event that breaks all norms and values, it’s difficult to accept larger concepts.

Because, after all, people have survived just fine with the social identity they’ve built up until now.

It’s a bit of a makeshift arrangement, but the growth of large groups goes smoothly when there’s a clear immediate goal.

The annihilation of the Heavenly Demon Church.

For a world where fewer people die, unlike the time when the martial gods appeared.

Because they were victims, their cruelty is undisturbed.

There is no resistance to killing people. Because it’s not about killing people; it’s about killing evil people for our families, our interests, and the greater good of the world.

Ideologies sometimes spread more intensely than drugs.

In the Murim Alliance, those skilled with a sword are coming to eradicate the Heavenly Demon Church.

On the surface, there’s a righteous cause, and in terms of practical gains, the more people you kill, the higher you climb in rank.

The scale has grown so large that it’s now under surveillance by the central government that controls this vast land, but they’re likely to keep their hands off until the Heavenly Demon Church is gone.

After all, they don’t pay taxes, right?

They’re no different from wild animals.

What will happen once the Heavenly Demon Church is gone, though, remains unclear.

Anyway.

The Heavenly Demon Church is fracturing, while the Murim Alliance is growing.

In terms of numbers, the Heavenly Demon Church will fall.

The signs are already there.

It’s about the tenth day since the war started.

During this time, the Heavenly Demon hasn’t come once.

More accurately, he couldn’t come.

Each day, a member of the Heavenly Demon Church dies. And unfortunately, misfortune seems to compound.

Now, the number of people selling out the Heavenly Demon Church in the nearby villages has increased.

In contrast, more people from the Murim Alliance are coming in. And it’s not just weaklings; skilled martial artists are joining.

The answer is clear.

With these thoughts in mind, I sent the Harvesters who had come to visit back and sat on the verandah.

Unlike the dire situation seen from the outside, nothing too major has happened here.

The rule that only three people can become Harvesters a day has become known, so when more than that show up, there’s occasionally a loud commotion, which is the biggest trouble so far.

Nothing major has happened other than that.

Not yet.

The next day.

Finally, martial artists from the Murim Alliance reached a position where they could see the Heavenly Demon Church.

The sound of bells rang, reaching as far as the main building and the village. It seems the border bells are similar everywhere.

Bang, bang, bang. The loud sound filled the place where the Heavenly Demon Church was located.

However, only half of those who should have arrived came to the Heavenly Demon Church’s meeting room.

In the end, only those who had gathered—The Heavenly Demon, Omyoungseong, and others—decided to engage in battle immediately.

In the northwest, at the entrance of the village, a Murim Alliance unit with white headbands appeared, and the fight had already begun.

“Choseol, don’t come out.”

I had been calmly watching the situation unfold inside the house, but suddenly Sooga frowned, drew a sword, and stood up.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s murderous intent.”

Sooga said this, and then she opened the door.

As the wooden door opened, the yard came into view. But there was no sign of life. There was no light either.

I wondered if Sooga had sensed something happening in the village, but as soon as she stepped outside, a sound of air splitting reached my ears.

Clang!

Sooga swung her sword and deflected something.

Looking at the ground, there was an oddly shaped arrow.

No, it wasn’t exactly an arrow. It looked like one, but it was entirely made of metal.

“Choseol, get outside. Ugh!”

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Suddenly, Sooga grabbed me and pulled me out.

Not long after, a long metal rod pierced through the house. Had we been inside, we would have been skewered.

The Heavenly Demon Church’s main building is located on a cliff, and the only entrance is a gentle slope stretching from the north to the west.

The western side is the gentlest and has a village, and now, people from the Murim Alliance are attacking from that direction.

This is a trap.

“Choseol. They’re bad people.”

Sooga, holding a sword, cloaked it in purple mist. I turned my gaze toward where Sooga was glaring.

From the northern forest, arrows were flying. The figure of a person, camouflaged by natural materials at the edge of the forest, was approaching.

It’s quite a distance from here to the forest.

But they shot a metal spear all the way here?

If they have internal energy, humans can exert superhuman strength. So, it’s not entirely impossible, but shooting this many?

The person approaching now is holding something unusual in their hand.

It’s neither a bow nor a crossbow.

It looks like a harpoon, but when the metal spear flew earlier, there was no sound of an explosion. This means it’s not gunpowder-powered.

Soon, they raised the harpoon and aimed the pointed end toward us.

And immediately after,

Without a sound, the spear flew toward us.

Sooga grabbed my arm, threw me to the side, and raised her sword.

Clang! Clang!

Metal fragments lodged into the surroundings.

But Sooga, holding her sword, remained unscathed. She had deflected it all.

“Grrr.”

“No!”

I was about to speak when the iron pierced my chest, and I heard only the sound of air escaping. My lungs and diaphragm were pierced.

Since I’m a bit larger, and the spears had been spread out so widely, the attack wasn’t one that could be dodged just by throwing someone aside.

One pierced my chest, and another pierced my thigh.

So, I drained warmth from them immediately.

From afar, flesh and bone were torn, and the weapons in their hands dug into the flesh, sinking inside. As I glimpsed their memories, I realized something amazing but also something I had expected.

This object is called a Sealing Needle.

It’s a technique of the immortals.

The peculiarities are twofold.

First, the device. It’s a harpoon launcher. It’s presumed to use internal energy to fire it, similar to the magic in the first world.

And the Sealing Needle. When this metal harpoon pierces the body, it drains the victim’s energy. Judging by how the appearance changes after being fired, it seems that there’s a device that only works after the shot is fired to absorb energy.

Two humans, transformed into monsters due to the drained warmth, now run wild trying to regain it.

But they were quickly subdued by a weapon resembling a lightsaber.

They’re strong.

They are disciples of immortals.

They are individuals who go to the places where immortals live to study, aiming to become immortals.

From the scattered memories I have, it seems similar to Daegon creating his followers.

Using humans to create their own kind.

It seems that immortals use this method.

They came with a special item called Bopha to eliminate those who create Harvesters.

Yes. I thought they were targeting the Heavenly Demon, but it turns out they weren’t.

The Murim Alliance is targeting the Heavenly Demon Church’s Harvesters, and these people are here to eliminate me.

Strictly speaking, it must have been decided by those affiliated with the immortals connected to the Murim Alliance.

They extracted the souls of Jungjaewoo and Byeongil to gain various pieces of information about the Heavenly Demon Church.

In other words, the group known as the disciples of the immortals has me as their target.

I watched Sooga, who was fidgeting beside me.

Wow, I didn’t realize Sooga was this strong.

I knew she would be strong to some extent, but I didn’t expect this much. I looked back at the disciples of the immortals advancing toward us, then turned to Sooga again.

At this point, she could probably survive on her own.

I pointed east with my finger.

Yes.

That way, there are only stone pillars and a complex lake.

I’m just telling her to run far away.

If the Heavenly Demon Church wins, we can return later. If not, we can run even farther.

First, we need to survive. Isn’t that worth everything we’ve worked for?

Sooga looked at me with tears in her eyes.

I grabbed both of Sooga’s cheeks and knocked my forehead against hers, then pointed toward the distance again.

Sooga mumbled for a long time, and finally, she grabbed her sword and headed forward.

Huh?

No, I told you to run away, didn’t I?

“I’ll protect Choseol.”

Sooga raised her sword as she said this.

Really.

She’s not listening.

How foolish.