The Outer God Needs Warmth-Chapter 114: Climb the highest (14)

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I approached with the sword blazing brightly, lying on the ground.

It’s the mark of someone who kept targeting me until the end, even knowing they would die, defying me all the way.

I tore off Hwangbo Cheon’s severed arm, still tightly gripping the sword.

Makyabo-geom. The sword, whose name I had just learned, flickered and went out, like a light bulb that had run out of power after just a short while.

It’s a real lightsaber.

I glanced around.

Of course, only a few Taoists who tripped or were thrown far away, unable to escape, barely survived. They trembled in fear, holding onto their sealing needles.

Just before Sooga swung his sword.

Hwangbo Cheon had gathered his subordinates behind him, so the enemy was cleanly cut away.

Snow falling from the sky slowly accumulates along the deep valley that had appeared in front.

Now, what should I do?

After a moment's hesitation, I decided to head towards the place where my contractor was.

Even as I moved, the Taoists didn’t attack.

They just gripped their weapons, staring at me with fearful expressions.

I wasn’t hit even once until I left the area.

I climbed the hill, heading towards the main building of the Heavenly Demon Church.

In the distance, I could see the main building of the Heavenly Demon Church and the ongoing battle above it.

The weather is currently filled with localized intense thunderstorms, so surprisingly, it seems like the Heavenly Demon might survive.

As for the rest... well, I’m not sure.

Gaphja was killed by a weapon resembling a gun. It sounded like a bullet cutting through the air, and he died from a shot, probably using gunpowder similar to the sealing needles.

Even after searching through faded memories or other recollections, I know that bullets, by their nature, are faster than the speed of sound, so by the time you hear the sound, it’s already too late.

Of course, firearms do exist in this world.

However, such weapons are used only by the military, and people who’ve lived their entire lives in the Heavenly Demon Church wouldn’t know about them.

That’s why Gaphja and many of the Law Protectors and faction leaders didn’t manage to defend themselves and died.

Unfamiliar heavy weapons, like these, are almost like first-time encounters to anyone who hasn’t experienced them.

Still, even among the Murim, after people died, others who were ranked lower than Gaphja were able to resist, but no one left was able to turn the tides of battle.

And then there’s Inshimwon.

This man immediately entered his lair and used his techniques to block the invaders. However, more than half of the devices linked to the blood sect didn’t work. The devices barely managed to bind the legs of the living for a short moment.

Even so, he desperately did everything he could.

But, perhaps he knew that Daegon’s techniques were mixed into the Heavenly Demon Church, so there were technicians who could oppose them. Most of those techniques were broken or unusable.

Around the time Sooga died.

Inshimwon too, was eventually killed by the disciples of the immortals—those whom they call Taoists. Of course, he wasn’t weak enough to die alone, as he was quite skilled.

Thanks to this, I realized that the ones pursuing Inshimwon were Taoists and that they already knew about Daegon’s techniques.

There is a cause and effect.

Daegon fought against the immortals of this world once. And he lost to them. After fleeing to the sea, he quietly built up his strength.

In other words, the immortals had information on Daegon.

They had discovered traces of Daegon within the Heavenly Demon Church through Jungjaewoo and Byeongil, which is why they sent so many immortals to attack me.

At the very least, they still believed Daegon was alive.

The Lord of Tongcheon.

They were wary of a possible appearance from someone called that.

It seems they don’t know that the place has already disappeared due to Daegon’s explosion.

Well, Daegon’s secret city. It’s strange that they would know exactly what happened there right away from Kunlun.

I gather the fragments of memories, as a Taoist dies one by one, and I gain warmth along with those memories.

The memories come in pieces, but when pieced together, they reveal much information.

Tongcheon Lord. Severance. Evil faction.

If these words describe Daegon and his followers, the opposites are these:

Primordial Heavenly Venerable. Heavenly Sect. Mountain Sect.

Heavenly Sect is not referring to the sky, but to the “enlightened” sky. They had been wary of the remnants of Severance even after their victory, which is why they sent so many Taoists after me.

So, both Hwangbo Cheon and his master, Cheong Dojin, were Taoists from the Heavenly Sect.

Taoists refer to ordinary humans, and immortals are those who have transcended the mortal lifespan.

Surprisingly, not all immortals seem to possess enormous light like Daegon. Cheong Dojin was an immortal, but from what I saw, his light was about ten times the size of Hwangbo Cheon’s.

Hwangbo Cheon’s light was about ten times smaller than that of someone who was alive and thriving.

In fact, someone like Cheong Dojin had only a few rare counterparts even in the first world.

Or perhaps, they didn’t use the method of increasing light in the same way.

Daegon’s light was incredibly vast. Considering how when one takes the elixir, the light of the person made from it is divided and added to the one who consumes it, it makes sense.

Maybe, surprisingly, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable’s light isn’t so enormous.

Daegon devoured the light of others to grow it, but they might have won without doing that.

The size of the light doesn’t necessarily explain pure strength.

So far, larger light has equaled stronger power, but that’s not always the case. At least, in the memories of the Taoists and immortals I’ve acquired, there’s no information about turning people into elixirs.

Rather, they avoided meat or grains. They mostly ate bitter herbs, mushrooms, beans, and fruits.

Not all immortals must grow by devouring humans.

Instead, their techniques came from another world, making Severance seem out of place.

In other words, the Heavenly Demon Church is collapsing because it was meant to.

On one side, they are based on moral norms, pure good, and the recognition that a human should naturally have. On the other side is the evil world, born from boiling maliciousness.

Just because they were not bad to me, I’m not denying their standing. In fact, I’m the one standing at the extreme of that evil.

At least, I don’t mistake what I am.

I’m a monster, after all.

I cannot reverse time, I can’t shape the world to my thoughts, and I am not omnipotent to do anything for those I meet.

I can never become a god.

Because I am a monster.

For warmth, I’m willing to do anything.

Anything.

As I think this, I watch as the Heavenly Demon is cleaved in half, falling to the ground, his blue blood spilling everywhere.

Thud!

One of his fragments falls beside me, as I walk towards the main building of the Heavenly Demon Church.

His left half remains.

This man was also an immortal. He was one of the twelve immortals of the Heavenly Sect, but he wasn’t an exceptional one. He had only recently been recognized as an immortal.

At the top of the Heavenly Demon Church’s main building, the Heavenly Demon and a powerful immortal are clashing.

Daegon was so overwhelming, and since he had been resisting the Heavenly Demon until just now, I thought the Heavenly Demon would struggle to win, but surprisingly, he’s killing them quite well.

When I reached the top of the main building, another immortal’s left leg fell next to me.

This one hasn’t died. He was simply severed.

The glowing purple sword from the sky shows no signs of stopping, but the natural disasters around it are weakening by the minute.

Now, it’s more of a magical event than a natural disaster. A magic level that could occasionally be seen in the first world.

Just that level.

The Heavenly Demon might survive.

But the Heavenly Demon Church is finished.

If there are no more Harvesters in the vicinity, then it's clear.

Of course, besides the Heavenly Demon, there are still some Harvesters.

The first unit that used me like a bullet, resembling a pikeman unit. Now only nine remain, but they survived by avoiding the stronger individuals after venturing too deep into the Murim League’s territory.

But excluding them, the only surviving Harvester left is the Heavenly Demon. In other words, there are almost no living members of the Heavenly Demon Church left.

Thinking this, I lifted my head to see the top of the Heavenly Demon Church, where the Heavenly Demon is.

This time, a giant purple light ring appears above the Heavenly Demon Church.

From the Heavenly Demon’s perspective, someone murmurs "the Dark Ring," but that person is torn apart by the ring and dies instantly.

As the ring explodes, spreading out in all directions, the surrounding magical phenomena disappear in an instant.

The Heavenly Demon looks around. There are many immortals showing no healthy parts left on them.

Then, the Heavenly Demon spots me.

Cough.

She coughs lightly and approaches me.

Soon, the Heavenly Demon reaches me.

She’s a mess.

Her blue skin is battered and bruised.

Blood, close to purple, pours from wounds scattered across her body.

But it's not purple blood. If you look at the hem of her clothes, it’s deeply stained red.

One of her eyes is closed, likely because of the blood flowing from a long wound on her head.

She asks me as soon as she arrives.

"Sooga?"

"He’s dead."

At my answer, the Heavenly Demon simply nods. Then she raises her head to the sky, but her gaze doesn’t land anywhere.

She’s thinking about something.

"What were his last words?"

She speaks as if she already knew he was dead. I considered whether I should ask about it, but decided to answer her question first.

"Sooga’s Soul-Sword Choseol."

Hearing my words, the Heavenly Demon chuckles softly. She then wipes the blood from her eyes with her hand, but the blood flows too quickly, so she fails and just presses the wound.

Still, she looks me directly in the eye and asks.

"I’m fine with that, but you wouldn’t have had that expression after hearing that. What did you say before?"

Her tone shows she knows me too well. Unfortunately, I can't read her thoughts directly. I can only check her physical reactions.

From that, I deduced that her body was too much of a mess.

So, I spoke the words I had heard just moments ago. I repeated the spell.

Upon hearing my words, she turned her gaze to the direction of her home.

For just a moment, she looked there, then looked beyond.

The giant valley where snow falls from the sky.

The place where Sooga died.

Then, the Heavenly Demon looked at me.

She then removed her hand from her wound.

Looking at the blood-soaked, bright blue hand, she came closer to me.

Thud.

She left a bloody handprint on my chest.

"I would’ve liked to place it on your forehead, but unfortunately, my arm can’t reach any higher. I’ll make sure to carry Sooga’s wish too."

As a surviving immortal, she approaches me with a face full of reverence and resolve, and she casts a spell on me.

"In three years, I had planned to give up the name Heavenly Demon and go with you and Sooga on a journey to fulfill your wish, but... it didn’t work out."

The Heavenly Demon sighs softly and looks to the sky.

"I always did this. But after removing all the emptiness that leaves nothing behind, I did everything I could for the people I loved."

And, probably due to the wound, she extends her sword forward with her arm, which can no longer raise up.

"Nameless one. Who am I?"

I know what to do.

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And knowing that, I responded like this.

"Contractor. Heavenly Demon."

The Heavenly Demon smiled.