The situation gradually worsened.
And as the situation became urgent, people came to me.
Especially those who fled after receiving serious injuries in battle came to me risking their lives and bowed their heads asking for blessings.
Though it was said the Heaven Palace Hall Master had forbidden entry to where I am, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult people aren’t staying away because they believe in the Heaven Palace Hall Master’s authority or Heavenly Demon’s power.
They’re just following out of fear of the insect called Three Deaths inside their bodies.
This insect swims inside the body and inflicts terrible pain if one rebels against those of higher rank within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
This insect created a structure where people risk their lives to try to rise higher.
But they found out that if they become my harvester, the insects inside their bodies disappear.
Moreover, when they learned that severed arms or legs, seriously damaged body parts are completely regenerated, people came to me prepared to die.
But only 3 people per day.
A game of wits began.
And those above who should restrict this are turning a blind eye because people who couldn’t fight can return to the frontlines.
Those even higher up are busy with factional infighting.
Those who want to push out Oh Myeongseong, those who want to make Gu Milmil the cult leader, those with completely different schemes. It’s very diverse.
In addition, the Moon Emperor Hall Master is pulling out the wedges of the patchwork Heavenly Demon Divine Cult one by one. It was a trace of the Severance Religion, but it was also the string that bound the group of people together.
As the traces of the Severance Religion that suppressed people with pain disappear, people are becoming freer.
In other words, they’re losing control.
The irony that actions taken for a better cause are damaging the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s cohesion and ultimately causing it to disintegrate.
The Moon Emperor Hall Master has helped bring about the downfall of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
But the Murim Alliance that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult has to face is very large in scale.
When harvesters kill people, I gain memories along with the warmth of the dead opponent. Of course, I don’t get everything, but I can know a lot by gathering and organizing the fragmented information.
The Murim Alliance is huge.
Moreover, it’s growing bigger.
As its scale grew large enough to affect the entire inhabited area, it became so big that not joining would be disadvantageous.
Taking sides is an age-old human tradition.
Especially in a world that has created independent closed groups that only treat people within their own fences well for a long time.
No, to be precise, it’s the opposite.
Straight from the tribal era.
Unless a war so huge that it shatters people’s identities occurs, or a horrific event that shatters all norms and values, it’s difficult to accept larger concepts.
Because they’ve lived well with just the social identity they’ve built up so far.
Though it’s close to makeshift, the growth of a huge group goes well as long as there’s an immediate goal.
The annihilation of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
For a world where many people don’t die like in the era when the Martial God appeared again.
Because they were victims, there’s no restraint in their harshness.
There’s no resistance to killing people. Because they’re not killing people, but killing evil ones for our family, our interests, and the greater good of the world.
Ideology sometimes spreads through the world more intensely than drugs.
Anyone in the Murim Alliance who can wield a sword somewhat comes to catch the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Looking at the cause, there’s a great cause, and in terms of practical benefits, the more people you kill, the higher position you can rise to.
As it grew to that scale, it seems the central government ruling this vast land called the state is keeping an eye on it, but there’s a high chance they won’t intervene until the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult disappears.
They don’t pay taxes anyway, right?
No different from wild animals.
I’m not sure what will happen after the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult falls.
Anyway.
While the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is splitting apart, the Murim Alliance is growing.
In terms of numbers alone, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult will fall.
There are already signs of that.
It’s now about the 10th day since the war started.
During that time, Heavenly Demon hasn’t come once.
To be precise, she couldn’t come.
Every day that passes, Heavenly Demon Divine Cult believers die. And do misfortunes come in pairs?
Now in villages near the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, people selling out the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult are increasing.
Conversely, people coming from the Murim Alliance are gradually increasing. And not just weak people are being replenished, but people with excellent martial arts are coming.
The answer is visible.
Thinking such thoughts, I sent back a harvester who had come all the way to the house and sat on the porch.
Unlike the war situation viewed through others’ eyes, there’s not much happening here.
Since it became known that only 3 people can become harvesters per day, there’s occasionally a big commotion when more than that number of people come, which is about the biggest trouble.
There’s nothing else major yet.
Not yet.
* * *
The next day.
Finally, martial artists reached a position where the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is visible.
Then bells rang loud enough to be heard from the main building and village to the house. It seems alarm bells are similar everywhere.
Gong-gong-gong, a loud sound filled the place where the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is.
Nevertheless, those who arrived at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s conference room were only half of those who should have come.
In the end, even just those who gathered, including Heavenly Demon and Oh Myeongseong, decided to immediately go out to fight.
A Murim Alliance corps with white headbands appeared in the northwest where the village entrance is, and the fight had already begun.
“Choseol. Don’t come out of the door.”
I was leisurely watching the situation unfold from inside the house when suddenly Soo-oh frowned and stood up holding her sword.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s killing intent.”
Saying that, Soo-oh opened the door.
As the wooden door opened, the yard came into view. But there’s no sign of people around. No light visible either.
So I thought Soo-oh had sensed what was happening in the village now, but as soon as Soo-oh went out through the door, I heard the sound of air being cut.
Clang!
Soo-oh raised her sword and deflected something.
Looking at what fell to the ground, there’s a strange-shaped arrow.
No, it’s not an arrow. The shape is similar to an arrow but it’s made entirely of metal.
“Choseol, outside. Oof!”
Suddenly Soo-oh came to me, grabbed me, and jumped outside.
And not long after, a long iron rod pierced through the house. If we had been inside, we would have been skewered by the iron skewer.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult headquarters is on a cliff, and the entrance that can be accessed is a gentle hill from the north to the west.
There’s a village in the westernmost gentle slope, and Murim Alliance people are invading from that direction now.
Then, this side is a feint.
“Choseol. Bad people.”
Soo-oh held her sword and covered it with purple smoke. I turned my gaze to where Soo-oh was looking with sharp eyes.
The northern forest where the arrows came from. Human figures hiding their bodies with natural objects are approaching from the forest’s edge.
The distance from here to the forest is quite far.
But they shot iron skewers from there to here?
If you have internal energy, humans can exert superhuman strength. Assuming that, it can’t be said to be impossible, but to shoot so many?
In the hands of the people approaching this way, there’s a strange object.
It’s neither a bow nor a crossbow.
It looks like a harpoon gun, but there was no sound of something exploding when the skewer flew earlier. That means it’s at least not gunpowder.
Soon, they aim the bladed part of the harpoon guns this way.
And immediately after.
Without any sound, skewers fly this way.
Soo-oh grabbed my arm and threw me to the side, then raised her sword.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Metal fragments stuck everywhere.
But Soo-oh was standing fine holding her sword. She had deflected them all.
“Gurk.”
“No!”
I was about to say something at Soo-oh’s scream, but only the sound of air escaping comes out because of the iron in my chest. My lungs and diaphragm are all pierced.
My body is a bit big, and the iron skewers flew over such a wide area that it wasn’t an attack that could be avoided just by throwing one person.
One pierced my chest, and one pierced my thigh.
So touching the light of two people, I immediately stole their warmth.
Far away, flesh and bones burst out, and the weapons held in their hands were eaten by flesh and went inside. Looking at part of their memories, I realized a surprising fact, but one I had already anticipated.
The name of this thing is Sealing Needle.
It’s immortal technology.
There are two unusual things.
First, the tube. This is a device that fires the needles. It’s estimated to use qi like the magic of the first world to fire.
And the iron skewer called the Sealing Needle. This sucks qi from a person when it pierces their body. Seeing that its appearance before and after firing is different, there must be a device that only sucks qi when fired.
Two humans who mutated into monsters after having their warmth stolen rampage to gain warmth.
But they were subdued in an instant by weapons like lightsabers there.
They’re strong.
Their identity is disciples of immortals.
It means people who go to where immortals live to study to become immortals.
Guessing from the scattered memories remaining, it seems similar to how the Great Kraken created fish-people who followed him.
Creating their own kind using humans.
It seems all immortals use this method.
They came carrying special objects called treasures to eliminate those who create harvesters.
Yes. I thought they were aiming for Heavenly Demon with a feint, but that wasn’t it.
The Murim Alliance is trying to eliminate the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s harvesters, and these people are trying to eliminate me.
Strictly speaking, both the Murim Alliance and these immortal-side people connected to them probably decided.
Because they extracted the souls of Jung Jaewoo and Byeongil and obtained various information about the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
In other words, the goal of the group called immortal disciples is me.
I looked at Soo-oh fidgeting beside me.
Wow, I didn’t know Soo-oh was this strong.
I knew she would be somewhat strong, but to this extent. I looked at those called immortal disciples who had started advancing this way again, then looked at Soo-oh again.
At this level, she probably won’t die anywhere even if she lives alone.
And I pointed to the east with my finger.
Yes.
There’s nothing but stone pillars and complex lakes in that direction.
I’m just telling her to run far away.
If the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult wins, she can come back later. If not, she can just run far away like this.
Shouldn’t she live to make all the raising so far worthwhile?
Soo-oh looks at me with an expression full of tears.
I grabbed Soo-oh’s cheeks with both hands, headbutted her forehead, then pointed to a distant place again.
Soo-oh mumbled words for a long time, then finally held her sword and faced forward.
What?
No, I told her to run away, not face forward?
“I’m going to protect Choseol.”
Soo-oh said that while raising her sword.
Really.
She doesn’t listen.
How foolish.