The Outer God Needs Warmth – Chapter 32

Hyunkeshuni hasn’t entered her space since yesterday until tonight.

Joanna’s gaze is piercing.

I think I provoked her too much at the end.

But at least I know there was something, right?

Because as soon as the black curtain Hyunkeshuni created disappeared, Joanna woke up from sleep hearing my and Hyunkeshuni’s voices.

But it’s also true that Hyunkeshuni is being excessively cautious.

Hieronymus is now barely paying attention to me.

Now, I can see that he thinks of my following him to take the warmth of sacrifices and give blessings as just work.

Surely Hyunkeshuni must have warned him about me, but there’s a high possibility he’s not listening. Or he might think it doesn’t matter what happens to the Future Hope Church, he just needs to endure until he destroys the Kingdom of Anselus.

Almost half a year.

The seasons have changed twice.

I’ve learned a lot in between.

For example, about Hieronymus who called me.

His real name is Yasle. He was a person in a fairly high position in the Luminous Theocratic State.

The Luminous Theocratic State is the name of a country that perished about 15 years ago. A theocratic society located in the Arim Jungle to the north of where I am now.

But it was destroyed by a religious war. Many countries to the east believe in a religion called the Holy Spirit Religion, but the Luminous Theocratic State didn’t believe in that god. So the particularly devout Kingdom of Anselus among them led soldiers and started a war.

Like the Crusades, they passed through the Kingdom of Kogni and completely destroyed the Luminous Theocratic State.

And Yasle is a survivor of that.

A survivor full of the determination to take revenge on the Kingdom of Anselus.

After that, he used a primitive religion for the poor and failed as a pillar, created the name of a god and made precepts.

He created it at an amazingly fast speed. Among those who voluntarily became sacrifices, there were several people who were there even before the name Future Hope Church existed.

For them, becoming a sacrifice to me was salvation.

No, of course it’s not really salvation? Strictly speaking, they were killed by religion. But at least they thought so until the moment they died.

Because their lives were always unhappy, the act of giving up their lives for god at the end was rather a plus.

So I checked from various angles how Yasle created the Future Hope Church.

Among them, a person named Andrew joined relatively late. He had already formed a large pseudo-religion on his own.

But for some reason, Andrew bowed his head and joined Yasle. I don’t know exactly what he was thinking at that time.

But I said it before, right?

That there are Andrew’s subordinates among those who receive my blessing now.

Yes.

Andrew is thinking of getting rid of Yasle and absorbing this Future Hope Church himself. He secretly explained that to his followers.

That’s how I know.

I don’t know if Yasle knows this or not.

But I know he’s not dealing with it.

I only know that he’s pushing more blessed people into the Kingdom of Anselus.

Oh? But isn’t he putting too many in one place?

There was one more place where blessed people were needed, right?

The Lasve-Kogni Kingdom front is now hardly fighting. They’ve set up positions quite far from the border and are searching villages around there to root out the Future Hope Church.

Because blessed people waiting in nearby villages were caught and killed. Multiple times.

Thinking about that, they should push more people to the front, but since winter came, no one is going north.

Rather, the Future Hope Church is becoming a public enemy. So Witga is coming down with his favorite subordinates.

By the way, that subordinate is a person blessed by me. None other than Isla. Although her actual age is young, her body has completely changed to an adult’s, right? She’s following Witga and learning well.

Additionally, Wide is leading many blessed people in the Kingdom of Anselus.

On this side, he wants to gather blessed people and create a completely separate society.

When people receive a blessing, their overall physical abilities are enhanced. And if they’re lucky, they gain special abilities.

In easy-to-understand terms, they’re Human 2.0.

It’s not strange for humans upgraded to a new version to seek higher positions. The Future Hope Church is moving to make that happen too.

So as blessed people move from simply being soldiers who know how to use force to commanders who can perform various abilities, my range of knowledge gradually widens.

So I can see something.

I can hear the sound of the Future Hope Church gradually creaking.

Each person’s desires are spreading randomly, and Yasle has no intention of strongly controlling it.

Because there’s a high possibility he thinks it doesn’t matter what happens to the rest as long as he can destroy the Kingdom of Anselus.

The lifespan of a disposable tool is coming to an end.

Of course, destroying the Kingdom of Anselus seems quite difficult.

Because Tis is in that kingdom.

At first, the Kingdom of Anselus left him alone, viewing him as a dangerous convert.

But Tis’s goodness shone through.

A person who can move for unfortunate people, not just doing what needs to be done. Good people shine brightly in an era when such terrible wars are happening.

And above all, he converted to the Holy Spirit Religion.

From a dangerous convert, to a person of the Kingdom of Anselus, he gradually grew into a hero.

In just less than half a year.

But as Yasle’s offensive became stronger, he fought many battles.

And while he lost many people, he also protected many.

It’s textbook.

The results of Yasle’s actions are there.

Is this what they call karma?

And beyond just blocking Yasle’s offensive, here.

They’re making plans to attack the underground temple in the Skard Rocky Desert. Surprisingly, the main target is not the leader Yasle.

It’s me.

Because the cost-effectiveness of blessed people is too good. Just by offering one sacrifice, a superhuman who can randomly handle ten to a thousand people alone is drawn.

Anyone would try to destroy that production factory. Moreover if it’s an unknown being.

I might die.

Considering the device Yasle prepared to deal with me, it’s hard to think that only Yasle has that technology.

There must be devices that can kill me too.

Of course, I’ve thought about switching sides, but at this point after receiving sacrifices, I’m likely to be out.

When religion is involved, people become more conservative.

If not, they change too much and become dangerous. Like how if there are too many mutations, they quickly move away from the original species.

If they’re too conservative, they can’t respond to changes and might become extinct if they encounter the wrong era.

The fact that they’re maintaining a large and huge religion means they’re somewhat conservative. Additionally, in a world where gods actually exist, god’s words can be heard.

Yes.

There are several people who have memories of hearing god’s words from Holy Spirit Religion priests I received as sacrifices.

It’s not something they heard after being drugged or falling into a trance state through special actions. They used an unknown power called holy power.

At first, I thought it was using mana. But after licking many magicians and priests, I saw the difference.

For example, let’s say they do something with their hands. Then for magicians, something flows out from the heart and goes to the hands. But for priests, something suddenly generated in the head escapes through the hands.

At least the mechanism of the ability is different.

It means there is a god.

And that god is likely to view me unfavorably.

A monster that dyes light black and steals warmth.

That’s me.

They also call me an outer god, but compared to those who appear in works featuring outer gods, I’m just a simple monster.

So it seems difficult to survive by attaching myself to the Holy Spirit Religion.

But I’m really looking forward to Tis bringing the Kingdom of Anselus to attack this place.

Many will die.

In other words, I can get a lot of warmth.

Hehe.

Looking at the timing, many people will gather at this underground temple in the Skard Rocky Desert at about the same moment.

Of course, there’s a possibility that by luck they might destroy the Kingdom of Anselus and invade other kingdoms, but.

Looking at the situation, it’s difficult.

Above all, there are too few people.

There are certainly many believers in the Future Hope Church. But among them, very few are fanatical. Rather, they believe just because of the environment. And most of the recently increased people outwardly say they believe in the Future Hope Church, but inwardly dislike it.

Because they exploit a lot from those villages.

They say they’ll free them from the cruel rule of lords, but they take more themselves. Some villages even had good lords.

But the warriors of the Future Hope Church killed them all and ‘liberated’ them.

Yes. Resentment is growing. You can’t solve everything with ignorant violence. Rather, in most cases, the situation worsens.

Basically, those who receive blessings are people loyal to the Future Hope Church. So I can’t see, but there will probably be many people who surrender when the Kingdom of Anselus comes.

And there will be quite a few who will point swords at them instead.

Well, it’s time to sleep now, so I’ll summarize briefly.

First, the Future Hope Church. The village around the underground temple is at its peak. They live while directly seeing blessed people demonstrate superpowers. But as you go outside, the situation is getting worse.

The Kingdom of Lasve and the Kingdom of Kogni.

They first made a ceasefire with each other and turned to catching and killing the Future Hope Church’s minions first. Of course, due to Witga’s machinations, no official letters were exchanged. Or letters might have been exchanged through routes Witga couldn’t grasp.

Anyway, the north is gradually being blocked. So Witga is coming to the Skard Rocky Desert to request reinforcements.

The Kingdom of Anselus.

Currently, the Future Hope Church is winning consecutive victories in the main battlefields. The blessed ones led by Wide are extremely powerful. It’s like superhumans rampaging on a medieval battlefield.

But in other places, the Future Hope Church is having its limbs cut off. They’re winning tactically, but losing strategically.

Above all, they’re preparing one hammer blow centered on Tis.

That is to attack this point in the Skard Rocky Desert.

The noose is tightening from all directions.

What choice will Yasle make?

What will Hyunkeshuni do?

What move will Andrew make in this situation?

I’m curious.

Time will solve everything. So I just need to wait.

“Joanna. Good night.”

“Yes, Miss Rebecca. Sweet dreams.”

I lay down quietly in bed.