The Outer God Needs Warmth

Silence, understanding, and astonishment.

If only those in higher positions had acted this way, one could have assumed that the Holy God had protected them, and the matter could have been overlooked. On the other hand, if only those in lower positions had acted this way, it could have been dismissed as them lacking the power to kill the Outer God, and it could have been easily passed off.

But all three.

After witnessing the immense power of the god directly before their eyes, the fact that someone had fled from the sacrifice ignited the hearts of those present from the Holy God Church.

If only the highest-ranking person had acted this way, they might have been able to stop and think before carrying out their actions due to the pressure of power.

But when both the highest-ranking person and someone lower than them were involved, resentment towards the higher-ranking individual would naturally shift towards the person lower in rank.

“How could you think you could survive on your own like this! You didn’t pray properly!”

When one of the most radical individuals could no longer hold back, the priests looked at each other, confirming the coward. They then all, as one, turned to blame the one who had remained unchanged. But the one being blamed had no idea what they were saying.

Because unless someone had notably short hair, it was hard to realize that their hair color had turned purple.

Thus, the rebuttal came too late.

They were heavily criticized and cast as the worst of humans.

The sacred place, where a divine miracle had occurred, was instantly defiled.

The sanctity that had erased the evil god was now going to be dragged down again by the selfish desires of humans, which would ruin the image of the Holy God Church, which had once been on the rise.

The priest of the Holy God Church, understanding the situation, tried to restore order, but it was already too late.

Everyone saw it.

Had only the Anselus Kingdom been present, it would have been easy to return and blame everything on them, declaring the Anselus Kingdom as heretics.

But there were royals and nobles from other countries present.

And they watched this show from the best seats.

Normally, those from the Holy God Church present here had experienced everything in the world. But the reason they were reacting like children was clear.

Because no matter what they did from now on, they could no longer go to the afterlife they had believed in, according to the standards of the Holy God Church.

In other words, because of their faith, their future would be ruined. Let alone considering the times, in a society reminiscent of the early modern era, faith was everything to them. Imagining a society without faith was nearly impossible.

This is not a society where nothing happens just because someone stops believing in God.

In a situation where it is hard to endure even as a believer, one person had managed to slip away. The person with the least mental discipline broke first.

They pointed fingers at those beneath them and blamed them.

And that anger spread like a plague.

The priest who resisted, claiming they had prayed properly, and the priest who couldn’t believe it.

It quickly turned into a vile quarrel.

And everyone saw this spectacle.

How would one think about it?

It was the disgraceful appearance of those who had rejected their national deity.

It was too big a crack in their hearts to simply blame people.

Was the Holy God really a great god?

Doubts began to dig into their hearts. Normally, it would take much time for such thoughts to form, but there was someone here who presented another answer. Anyone with thoughts would recall the one who provided the answer.

The Outer God.

What had they said?

The freedom to believe in God.

Or the freedom not to believe in God.

People’s doubts and desires sprouted like seeds fertilized by them.

It hadn’t grown large enough yet to influence society. Only a few intellectuals vaguely sensed that something would change in the future.

Meanwhile, Hyungkeshni covered her ears with her hands.

When the execution was over, a man returned home and yelled at her for being in her house. Hyungkeshni cursed as if swatting away a bothersome insect.

Clack.@@novelbin@@

The skull attached to the staff opened its jaws and then closed again, causing the man's head to fly off as if bitten by teeth. Then, the woman beside him let out a shrill scream.

This was annoying.

Clack.

The jaw of the skull on the staff opened and then closed again. The woman's head also fell off.

Hyungkeshni looked out the window again.

The tiresome show was over.

At first, it had been entertaining, but the Outer God remained unresponsive, and soon it became boring. Later, she had anxiously watched, wondering if they would actually die, and yes, they did die.

That part was satisfying.

Whether they had truly died or had simply returned to where they belonged, she wasn’t sure… but if they were alive, it would be better if they didn’t return to this world. She chuckled, recalling the twisted things she had written in her book.

It was incredibly amusing to see the remaining Holy God Church members making fools of themselves, but it was time to leave the Anselus Kingdom.

Because the person who had screamed earlier meant someone would come looking for them soon. In other words, she had to escape before being caught.

Moreover, she felt an odd sense of unease. On days like this, it was best to leave quickly, Hyungkeshni thought.

Above all, she felt uncomfortable that the Outer God had mentioned her name at the end.

Since it was a bad person who had died, Hyungkeshni wasn’t overly worried about her name being mentioned, but still, being a coward by nature, if there was any sign of trouble, she would immediately escape.

That’s how she had survived while other witches were killed.

Originally, being a woman skilled in various magic and knowledge, she had survived long enough to be seen as a woman who wielded malicious curses.

Hyungkeshni left the room with the man and woman lying dead by the door.

But when she stepped outside, she found a child trembling on the floor. Judging by the child’s appearance, it seemed that the man and woman Hyungkeshni had killed were the child’s parents.

"Who, who are you?"

"Me? Hyungkeshni."

Hyungkeshni said her name. But that was also a death sentence for the child. Knowing that leaving traces would be troublesome, she raised her staff.

And pierced the child’s chest.

Hyungkeshni knew from experience that when something sharp pierces the lungs, a person can’t even scream.

The sharp bone tore through the child’s chest and dug inward. But strangely, the blood didn’t spill onto the ground. Instead, it traveled up the staff, following the bone.

When the child’s breath stopped, Hyungkeshni felt she had fulfilled the resentment required for the curse and turned to leave.

The dark night.

Two decapitated bodies. And one child with a pierced chest.

But.

The child didn’t die.

The child should have been dead already. The wound was far too severe for the child to survive.

So how despairing must it have been for the child to witness their parents' murder right before their eyes?

How horrifying must it have been for the child to helplessly watch the one who murdered them pierce their own chest?

The light fell to the ground.

Far, far below.

Beyond the abyss where the evil monster dwells, even further down.

The light, which had fallen onto what is called the earth, crossed the curtain that nothing should ever surpass, and met something.

That something handed itself to her.

The Outer God tainted the light black, and blessed it.

The Outer God’s blessing remade the body.

The hole in the child’s chest disappeared, and instead of blood, a strange substance began to flow through the veins. Though too young to remember enough to kill out of vengeance, the child had enough to remember the enemy.

The skin turned blue, the hair turned purple, and the whites of the eyes turned black while the irises turned fluorescent.

The wheels of fate slowly began to turn.

On a day with a special event.

The child remembered the unpardonable enemy.

And the Witch of Joy had acquired an impossible enemy.

“Wow, Hyungkeshni is really something.”

How does she manage to create enemies so well?

I saw the memories from the light that had fallen below the surface.

Ordinarily, or rather, as one would expect from living in a capital city of a kingdom, there was a family that had lived happily, without any particular reason, until the witch appeared and killed them.

On the day when the light of the Holy God melted their bodies, it was when Hyungkeshni, who had been watching from someone else's house, was found out and killed.

I had known from Yasrel's memories that she was no good, but I didn’t expect her to be this bad.

That child.

The girl named Dakota remembered Hyungkeshni's name. I don’t know how she will grow, but if she’s lucky, she might even steal away Hyungkeshni’s warmth.

With that personal expectation, I observed the first world.

First, after I died.

Though the Holy God Church had displayed such ridiculous behavior, surprisingly, nothing had changed. It seems that they had just pieced together words from some truly great person on the spot, with no real effect.

Still, one lucky thing was that they didn’t kill anyone who had been blessed by my blessing from the Holy God Church.

Of course, I know why.

A total of 20 priests from the Holy God Church.

They killed three of the unblessed ones during their return journey. Yes. Amazingly, that’s what they did. When you listen to what they said, they claimed that since they were going to hell anyway, they might as well save their lives right now.

And surprisingly, it was Martin who suggested a new path.

Believing in another god.

And that god was me.

Ugh.

Honestly, I didn’t want to be called a god. So, I tried not to say it myself, but in the end, they accepted it.

And surprisingly, the priests and holy knights accepted it without resistance.

From what they said, it seems there has always been a folk belief in a god who brings revenge to the desperate.

I thought that it would eventually turn into something like the Church of Future Hope or be remade into something like the Midikhan Church, and disappear. But it turned out that the roots were much deeper.

So deep, in fact, that people in a position of exploitation were legally forced to live far from the city.

But the fact that it was the blessing of a god seemed to move their hearts. There was also a sense of resignation, knowing that they would fall to hell anyway.

So, to survive, they killed three unblessed ones. The priest cursed them, but since they weren’t actually cursed, everyone ignored it.

And when they returned to the Holy God Church headquarters, they gave a somewhat altered version of the story.

The evil god died easily as a price for the conversion of the survivors. And the survivors converted willingly. They had changed as a result, but they still believed in the Holy God.

They said they would accept excommunication. But they begged for forgiveness for the remaining ones.

From any perspective, it was the model of a good believer. The headquarters looked at the purple hair with unease. So instead of excommunicating them, they accepted it.

Three people?

The journey had been quite rough.

It wasn’t uncommon to encounter thieves and be killed.

Little by little, the Holy God Church began to twist.