A tremendous number of people gathered in the square of the capital of Anselus Kingdom.
There were so many that every street was packed with people, and the large roads were lined with them, reaching all the way to the city walls.
They all knelt, facing in one direction, praying.
The direction was toward the square in front of the royal palace.
In the middle of that square is where I died.
Now, Dakota, who had become an adult woman, was standing there wearing very elaborate clothing. She took out a worn cloth. On the cloth were the words from the contract we had made.
It seemed as though it was crafted to look like an ancient document. Such a thing shouldn't even exist.
Dakota read it aloud.
"Lord Outer God asks of you."
‘I will give myself to you. In return, after you complete everything, I will take everything you have. How does that sound?’
The followers of the Outer God Church, hearing this, prayed joyously.
In other words, they agreed. As a result, their skin turned pale, and their hair turned purple. A few, those who had severe injuries or illnesses, had their skin turn blue.
Yes. That’s right.
At this moment, I was submerged beneath the surface, making contracts with the people.
I never expected to make contracts with over ten thousand people at once, but I could.
And any doubts I had were quickly erased.
I had been worried that if I made contracts with too many people, I might not be able to share myself anymore.
But even with over ten thousand, I didn’t feel a shortage.
There was no sensation of being unable to contain more or of it being slightly insufficient.
That was fine.
I would test it with more people later.
And as I gathered such a vast sample, I learned the criteria for gaining powers.
If someone strongly yearns for something, and that yearning is for a problem that cannot be solved by improving the body, then it is likely that they will gain powers.
However, if there is something they yearn for, I’m not sure how I interpret that yearning to grant them a power.
Wye was easy to understand.
He wanted a different kind of individuality.
And that was mixed with his desire to sit at the highest position. Perhaps it’s because fire has an image of great power, but Wye obtained the power of a mighty fire.
What about Tisah?
He felt something strange about the organization he belonged to and wanted to escape.
Then, isn’t it right for him to gain a speed that no one can catch?
Why then did he gain the power of regeneration? Whether his arm is severed, his leg blown off, or an arrow pierces his eye, he has the regeneration ability to heal instantly.
There’s an inexplicable gap between yearning and the abilities that are granted.
But it’s not an urgent issue, so I think through it step by step.
The important thing is that Harvesters have grown tremendously.
And I’ve now managed to create a mass production plan.
For humans with power, there is only one path.
Yes.
As expected, the Outer God Church exploded in growth. During this time, Rebecca did something remarkable.
Holy Land.
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In the Outer God Church, when we say “Holy Land,” there is only one place that fits.
It’s where I was executed.
Rebecca came to the Holy Land and gave those who received blessings a sort of guestbook and asked them to write their names. Then, she gave them a piece of cloth to prove it.
At first, I didn’t understand what this meant.
But after a few months, I understood. The effect was clear right before my eyes.
The goal of every follower of the Outer God Church is to come to the Holy Land, receive blessings, write their name in the guestbook in the Holy Land, and then return home with that proof.
That’s right.
Rebecca made it so that people would deliberately pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Then, an enormous number of people flocked to the headquarters of the Outer God Church.
Traveling long distances was an arduous task. In the early modern period, where roads were not well-developed and transportation was scarce, it was something that really required risking their lives.
But once they arrived here, they could instantly heal all their wounds and even receive blessings that made them stronger?
Truly, everyone, from all places, clenched their teeth and made their way here.
Movement of people is the movement of wealth.
As people arrived, goods rushed into the headquarters of the Outer God Church, and a massive market was formed in the capital of Anselus Kingdom.
This meant that Anselus Kingdom began to prosper.
As people with purple hair spread like a swarm of locusts, the Holy God Church launched a full-scale attack on the Outer God Church.
They said, "Even if you live well now, those who sold their souls will have no afterlife."
I rebutted, not really rebutting, from below the surface.
I left the light, presumed to be the soul, alone.
Of course, if I touch it, it turns black, and if I steal the warmth, the light crumples as if it were made of balloon flesh, but once the warmth is gone, isn’t it reasonable that the light should eventually fade away?
Honestly, once they gain warmth, I don’t care about the leftovers.
Anyway, the Holy God Church staked everything on their war for humanity.
The number of Outer God Church followers surpassed the Holy God Church, but it was still a barely 5:5 ratio.
However, the royal families of each country basically only believe in the Holy God Church.
If you just look at the nobles, the ratio was almost 1:9.
In other words, this was the last chance for the Holy God Church to defeat the Outer God Church, in my view.
The Holy God Church gathered kingdoms that followed them and invaded the Anselus Kingdom.
However, before they even reached the Anselus Kingdom, their forces began to falter.
The upper ranks were mostly Holy God Church, but the lower ranks were mostly Outer God Church. Even if there were paladins who could fight one against a hundred or wizards capable of massacring a thousand, if the soldiers who supported them fled, their scale would rapidly shrink.
Holy God Church believers who also believed in the Outer God Church.
Especially those with purple hair, who were used in various ways with abilities superior to normal people, were at the bottom of the Holy God Church’s society.
They had abilities, but they were treated poorly.
At first, they made great efforts to persuade the higher-ups.
But when they refused to listen, they began to leave one by one.
When they were forcibly held back with violence, they fiercely attacked their superiors.
When someone with special abilities rampages, even a knight who could kill an Outer God Church follower without a scratch in one-on-one combat struggles. Especially in a chaotic situation, it’s nearly impossible to fight multiple able people without injury.
Before the Holy God Church’s army even arrived in Anselus Kingdom, their numbers began to dwindle.
Of course, they didn’t completely disappear. At worst, maybe 0.05%?
Even so, there were still many elite soldiers full of faith in the Holy God.
I was pleased, as it was a war in which I could harvest countless amounts of warmth, but if this continued, the Outer God Church would definitely be in danger.
Even someone with abilities isn’t necessarily strong enough to kill people.
Some came from working in mines, and they gained the ability to see in complete darkness.
Others had worked with sheep-like creatures, gaining the ability to speak their language.
The Future Hope Church’s environment produced many people who gained particularly aggressive abilities.
And the roots of the Outer God Church were with people who had lived at the bottom. They didn’t know strategy or tactics, and their only experience with fighting was street brawls.
Even though they had numbers, they were severely lacking when it came to fighting a war.
I know that if someone runs away in fear, everyone else will flee with them.
No matter how many people there are, they can still lose.
So, I gave up on victory, thinking I’d at least harvest more warmth, and watched the war unfold.
As expected, countless warmths came to me.
People died, enough that blood flowed like rivers.
But something strange happened. Even ordinary people, let alone the trained ones, should have screamed and fled from the battlefield.
But almost no one fled.
I never told them to fight and die.
I never do anything that disrupts their minds, except sending memories of Yasla.
I kept watching from their perspective, but I couldn’t understand what they were thinking.
I gain memories the moment I come into contact with light. When I harvest, I gain memories and warmth from the deceased by touching their light.
If a Harvester is killed, I only take warmth at the moment of their death. I cannot receive the memories again, as I had already tasted their light.
It’s not that I don’t know the life of a Harvester.
From the moment I make contact, I observe the world from that person’s perspective.
So, it’s fine even if I don’t have the memories.
I’ve watched them.
But memory and observation are different.
Memories are more organized, though often not detailed. For example, the warmth of sunlight at a special moment, the unique smell, or the sensation felt at the fingertips.
In terms of the amount of information, Harvesters have more. However, I can’t clearly understand what they are thinking. I have to guess from their physical responses.
So, I don’t know what they were thinking when they faced death in battle with the Holy God Church. They seemed to be afraid, yet they chose to fight and die without even speaking a word.
I don’t know why they chose death, but I’m happy to gain warmth from their passing.
Since I can already copy Harvesters, the Outer God Church can lose.
No.
No, we can’t lose.
At least not until we deal a blow to Hyungkeshni.
What should I do?
Is there no way?
Should I edit the memories of someone skilled in martial arts and send them?
No, that will take time.
While the war raged, I watched the Harvesters closely, trying to find a way.
But unlike before, when I realized I could make Harvesters even if I wasn't physically present, this time, that didn’t seem possible.
In the midst of this uncertainty.
The Holy God Church’s army arrived at the headquarters of the Outer God Church.
And a fierce battle erupted. Many Harvesters died. Simultaneously, many from the Holy God Church perished as well.
What surprised me most during the war was none other than Rebecca.
I had wondered how she had survived, but she was quite strong. At least strong enough not to die when meeting individuals or groups.
In the middle of the battlefield.
Suddenly, Rebecca stepped forward alone, and there was a flash of light from her chest, forming a sphere of light.
Before I was summoned, I had created the heart of a creature from which I stole warmth. That was a highly evolved creature’s heart.
When the sphere of light glowed, nearby armor and weapons began to float. They revolved around her and then turned to dust, vanishing.
Humans? What do you think would happen if metal is swirling around and mixed with flesh and bones?
They are ground up.
She became a living shredder, walking through the battlefield, literally grinding people to pieces.
But human strength has limits.
Not long after, a force that overwhelmed her personal power stopped her. It wasn’t magic. If she had been hit by magic, she would likely have died, but she jumped and evaded the attacks.
Then, a massive pillar of light fell from the sky.
At that moment, every Harvester in that area melted away and disappeared.
Yes. Every Harvester. Even those fighting on the Holy God Church’s side evaporated.
But everyone here understands what that means.
The Holy God used his power.
At that moment, I thought the Outer God Church would lose.
Honestly, how could they win?
No matter how strong the Harvesters are compared to ordinary people, they cannot fight against a god with orbital bombing abilities.
But where that pillar of light had been,
Rebecca was perfectly unharmed.
In fact, she was smiling.
She turned around and went back to where the Outer God Church’s followers had gathered.
I wondered why she was smiling, but when Rebecca stood before the followers of the Outer God Church, she shouted.
"The Holy God burned his blessed one."
When the Holy God Church heard this from the other side, they cheered. I thought the Holy God Church had done a good thing.
I wasn’t sure what Rebecca thought of the Outer God Church, but as I observed, things took a strange turn.
Enemies and allies alike, the Harvesters were burned by light. That became proof that the Holy God’s inclusiveness was a lie, and the story began to change.
And the story was completed like this.
"From the beginning, the Holy God Church was a religion for the existing privileged class."
That statement spread quickly. And anyone who had even slightly distanced themselves from the privileged class began attacking them.
They claimed that the Holy God had never truly accepted them, and the soldier from the Holy God Church, who had just fought alongside them, stabbed the royalty and nobles from behind.
Chaos spread.
The army, summoned by the Holy God Church, had almost reached the headquarters of the Outer God Church.
Before them, the Holy God demonstrated His power, and that was the cause of the Holy God Church’s downfall.
Then, not just the Outer God Church, but those with other religions or even atheists began to move. The Holy God Church became a narrow-minded religion and was seen as an unworthy god.
In other words, the Holy God Church was utterly destroyed in this war.
With just one person’s words, the Outer God Church not only won the battle but also claimed the position of a universal religion.
That day, the Holy God Church was effectively finished.
The surviving followers of the Holy God Church fled, and the Outer God Church celebrated its victory.
And right after the war ended.
Even while post-war recovery was far from complete.
Rebecca, treated as an incarnation of the god, declared a witch hunt.
Then, a festival was held.
The content of the festival was as follows.
Harassing the Witch of Ecstasy, Hyungkeshni.
Everyone joyfully participated.