The Outer God Needs Warmth

Hyungkeshni listened from a distance to the foreign press speaking about Tis-ha.

The nonsense spoken by the foreign press didn’t affect Hyungkeshni in the slightest.

Of course, she knew that the foreign press was telling the truth. But it sounded like a monster begging for warmth from the people of Ansellus Kingdom to survive.

So, when the foreign press mentioned religious freedom, it didn’t faze her in the least.

Hyungkeshni had been chased by various religious groups in her past. Gods had always been on the opposite side of her throughout her life.

Therefore, even if someone said that people had the freedom to choose their religion, it only made her question why such an obvious statement was being made.

To someone who had been cast out from the gods, the idea of having the freedom to believe in them meant nothing.

It wasn’t as if she was promising blessings if people believed in her. If they wanted to believe in the Holy Spirit, they could, and nothing would change.

Sure, after hearing this, the Holy Spirit Church seemed cowardly, but would anyone really abandon their faith for that? It seemed like the foreign press was simply trying to deceive people with empty words.

Hyungkeshni thought this as she sat on the terrace of an unknown house, watching the execution platform.

However, the excitement was beginning to wane.

Watching the foreign press get slapped in the face and act like a sycophant was amusing, but she was looking for something more stimulating.

For example, the foreign press crying and begging for her life on the execution platform.

As she thought this, contemplating whether she should cast a curse or not, the foreign press continued speaking from the platform.

“I gave Tis-ha a blessing as long as he lived, and when he died, the contract was completed. So, I came to fulfill my promise and claimed his last warmth.”

It was a simple truth.

Hyungkeshni, who understood what it meant to take warmth from someone and knew what happens to a person once it’s stolen, wondered if the foreign press was confessing their sins before death.

Those with knowledge often forget how those without it think.

When you know something, you assume everyone else does too. It’s a common mistake, and Hyungkeshni made it as well.

This was something that should have been learned through experience.

It’s important to understand how people without knowledge would think when you try to share your knowledge with them and how much effort it takes to explain things to them.

But Hyungkeshni had never had such an experience.

Had she taught Yasle?

He was already an expert. With just a little knowledge that only Hyungkeshni knew, he could easily organize it and use it in his own way, for he was sharp and had a vast amount of knowledge already.

So, she had thought that everyone would understand the situation the way she did.

“However, something interfered with that. It prevented me from keeping the last promise.”

There’s a saying about “human warmth.”

It’s a phrase that is rarely used negatively. And when the last warmth before death is mentioned, people usually feel as if someone is trying to accompany them on their final journey.

And it was the Holy Spirit that prevented it.

“So, when I denounced it, this is what happened.”

We all know what "something" refers to.

It’s the Holy Spirit.

Normally, even if a person from Ansellus Kingdom hears something negative about the Holy Spirit, they would just consider it heresy and leave it at that.

They would rush at the person with a club if they cursed.

In other words, the faith of Ansellus Kingdom would not waver just because the foreign press said a few words.

Unless, of course, they insulted Tis-ha just before.

Human greed caused anger.

The jealousy of not liking the fact that the person who received the Holy Spirit’s blessing wasn’t one of their own, but someone from the outside, quietly rolled and gathered into a small spark.

Of course, people from the Holy Spirit Church had their own excuses.

Because the gods themselves spoke.

They had been directly told to go and defeat the evil god.

It was like receiving a powerful mandate that they could do anything in Ansellus Kingdom. If it’s hard to understand, think of it as starting a simulation game. Once you start, isn’t it typical for the player to brutally kill people in the game?

The words of the gods were a strong justification for doing whatever one wanted.

This melted away the rationality of the people.

Everyone in the Holy Spirit Church standing here was thoroughly educated in theology, and not just in theology but also in political prowess.

Because if they couldn’t do that, they wouldn’t be in this position.

But even these wise people’s reason was melted by the power of the divine call.

The fervor to do whatever they wanted made them throw away not only the rules people must follow but even the most basic caution.

This overwhelming power could have been a sufficient driving force to spread the faith in oppressed regions, but right now, standing on top and executing the weak was far too much authority.

The power was what pushed the people of the Holy Spirit Church to cross a line they shouldn’t have.

If it had been someone long forgotten, it might have been different. But they had just held the funeral for their national hero yesterday.

A rift had formed between the people of Ansellus and the Holy Spirit Church.

And through that crack, the foreign press’s words seeped in.

“Does humanity break a contract with someone who had made a promise without any compensation? Or, as a god, can you ignore every contract without consequence?”

The foreign press’s words immediately caught the knight’s attention.

“Daring to speak such nonsense about the evil god! Our Lord, who has saved us, will never allow such wickedness to happen! Even if the devil deceives the fools with his words, we will continue walking on the righteous path as long as our Lord’s words guide us!”

A perfect response from a believer.

But there was one fatal truth that could not be revealed.

“So, the Holy Spirit blocked the fulfillment of the contract? Does the Holy Spirit never abandon those who come to him?”

The foreign press asked, almost as if they were confirming it.

The priest, feeling a sense of foreboding, tried to stop them, but the knight was a little faster in responding.

“Yes! Our Lord, who is omnipotent, is someone you could never dare approach! Now, we will kill you to restore His greatness!”

The knight also felt the unease but had already made a painful mistake. By answering, he had handed over the right to strike to the foreign press.

“But I got Tis-ha back. There was interference, but it broke easily. So, I wondered if he was abandoned—was that the power?”

It appeared to be a question, but it was a dead-end.

Either lose omnipotence or lose compassion.

Screech.

The knight didn’t speak any further, and he cut off the foreign press’s neck. It was too late, but at least this would be the end.

If the foreign press had died with this, it would have been a clean beheading.

But there was no blood spattering.

Instead, cracks appeared in the space where the head had been, like a spider web, as if a bullet had pierced reinforced glass.

One of those cracks pierced the knight’s head, who had just cut off the foreign press’s head.

“Uh, uh, huh?”

The foreign press reached through the cracks toward the knight, grabbing the white light that appeared.

They almost immediately tried to take the warmth in front of them, but with superhuman patience, they stopped themselves.

Instead, they licked the light.

The moment they licked it, they absorbed the knight’s memory, and the light turned into a purple-tinted black.

And that change began to happen in reality.

In an instant, the knight’s hair turned purple, and his once healthy brown skin turned pale white.

Murmurs.

The sounds of astonished people spread throughout the square, and the other knights nearby pointed their swords at the knight who had killed the foreign press.@@novelbin@@

Crack.

From within the cracks, something shattered.

It was the sound of the hole in the crack widening as the surrounding edges slowly crumbled.

Anyone who had heard the sound of glass or ice cracking under a heavy object could roughly guess what it meant.

Something very heavy was on top of the hole.

But the sound was brief.

The cracks all over the place were drawn into the hole. The inside and outside flipped, and the hole vanished as if it had never existed.

In the place where the hole had been, there stood a girl with long purple hair.

The evil god, the one whose head had been cut off just moments ago, now stood unscathed.

“If you kill me, you gain the blessing. Of course, I won’t force you to believe in me. If you want to believe in the Holy Spirit, go ahead. You have the freedom to choose your religion.”

The foreign press paused for a moment, collecting their thoughts.

This brief pause allowed the crowd to focus on the words. And unexpectedly, the next sentence became even more emphasized.

“There is also the freedom not to believe in the gods. If you don’t want to believe in the Holy Spirit because you hate it, that’s fine too.”

The foreign press smiled brightly.

It was a thought that came to them when they had just been about to return to the depths below. But after realizing the situation, they spoke those words.

Their impromptu responses were quite sharp.

They never forgot to lace their words with poison.

They had naturally explained that the Holy Spirit would abandon those who had received its blessings.

At these words, the knight, Martin, hesitated and stepped back. The heat from his faith melted away, replaced by the cold chill of reality.

As he looked around, he noticed that his fellow knights had drawn their swords on him.

It was a wound to his heart.

How much had he dedicated himself to the Holy Spirit Church to be met with this sword?

“The Holy Spirit has abandoned you, just like it did with Tis-ha. Now, let me make a suggestion,” the foreign press said.

At that moment, Martin, despite having been forcibly blessed by the foreign press, resolved to not leave them alone.

However, the suggestion wasn’t for him.

The foreign press stood up from the execution platform, turned their body, and bowed their head toward the people of the Holy Spirit Church.

“I will die here, but please forgive others. I have only given blessings to humanity. I’ve also given explosive power to those in deep despair, so I will disappear here.”

Still.

Still, no one understood what these words meant.

Hyungkeshni knew that the foreign press was a defeatist who had inspired the primitive faith in others, causing sudden outbursts of power. But since they never prayed to the gods, she didn’t understand what the foreign press was trying to say.

They didn’t know the fundamental reason why the Mirae Hope Sect had captivated people’s hearts.

The god of the lowest class.

It was them, claiming that they would forgive humanity, declaring the freedom not to believe in the gods.

The foreign press truly smiled with happiness.

“I’ve already accomplished everything.”

At that moment, the three people in the mansion on the outskirts of the capital had finished reading the book.