Hehe.
I obtained both the memories of the man called Jeongha and the man called Gu Seongyong.
When Heavenly Demon killed them with a light beam, I was worried whether I could still get warmth that way, but I properly received not just warmth but memories too.
Getting the memories of two Cult Leaders, I learned various facts.
Things like if Eunjae was the 3rd Heavenly Demon then Jeongha was the 6th Heavenly Demon, or that Gu Seongyong was taking Eunjae’s traces very seriously.
I also learned that Choseol was actually Eunjae’s granddaughter.
So this body was a descendant.
Indeed, I can’t just ignore descendants.
Though the contract itself continues, for me to see from their perspective, they need to contain me.
Logically thinking, it’s natural I can’t see since I’m not contained.
I learned a lot, but the more I know, the more I find I don’t know.
Whether I can enter a harvester’s descendant.
Whether it’s hard to reach out from below the water surface even though I can easily reach harvesters’ descendants when I’m in that world.
If I fill in these things one by one, someday I might be able to build an automatic warmth harvesting system. I have plenty of time so I’ll proceed step by step.
In other words, it’s low priority.
The highest priority right now is how Heavenly Demon sees me.
Just before Heavenly Demon became a harvester.
Looking at me, Heavenly Demon saw not a girl but a vast sea turned upside down above the sky. And Heavenly Demon felt fear toward that sea.
But that sea is me.
Heavenly Demon was once the cult leader’s personal guard titled Right Light Officer under Gu Seongyong. Meaning they confirmed Eunjae’s traces together with Gu Seongyong.
So they know what that sea is. Like how Gu Seongyong was shocked seeing me, Heavenly Demon has reason to fear me.
Of course I saw through Eunjae’s view too. I thought maybe he had dementia in their later years, but I didn’t know he saw me as such a frightening monster.
Since I actually am a monster, Eunjae’s skill in figuring that out is quite impressive.
I watch Heavenly Demon while thinking about what to do next.
She examines her naked body and checks her reflection on the water surface. And after touching her body several times, she raises her head to look at me and asks.
“What’s with this skin color?”
I pointed to where the shattered corpse is. The one that once had the name Jeonyang.
“That happens when there are fatal wounds related to life. I don’t know why it’s blue either.”
I don’t even know why the hair turns purple.
I don’t know why the skin turns white either.
At first I thought it just turned white because the skin regenerated in a fresh state. But even people with naturally dark skin turn white.
Yet it can’t be vitiligo since there are no side effects like sunburn. After becoming harvesters, I have no memories of them suffering from skin problems.
Honestly speaking, I don’t know that much about harvesters.
“I see.”
Saying that, Heavenly Demon slowly walked to where Jeonyang’s corpse is.
Though not many parts remain already, Heavenly Demon lifted up the chunk of meat with only the upper body remaining and looked up.
Far above, several people can be seen looking down.
Just earlier, Eunchun held his sword against them, and taking that opening, Jeonyang took Heavenly Demon and jumped down breaking through the wall.
But now they’re just quietly looking down.
Yes.
Eunchun died fighting.
Though Eunchun could use some of the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique, he couldn’t win against the combined attack of Oh Myeongseong, Gu Milmil, and Left Light Officer Young Poison Master, these three.
But there’s something interesting.
According to Gu Seongyong’s memories, Oh Myeongseong uses a martial art called the Qi Absorption Technique. This technique absorbs qi from others and makes it one’s own.
Yet, he attacked Eunchun.
Meaning he attacked Eunchun who was fighting using me as fuel. He attacked Eunchun with the Qi Absorption Technique and absorbed his energy.
Maybe because of that, I can see the world through Oh Myeongseong’s view very slightly.
Of course compared to other harvesters it’s like watching through a broken television and not very clear, but I mean I can feel just a tiny bit.
Hehe.
In other words, he absorbed me with the Qi Absorption Technique.
The Qi Absorption Technique is a technique that absorbs qi.
Meaning there’s a high possibility that I’m something like a mass of qi.
Moreover, though very slowly, the image quality is improving. Perhaps after a long time passes, Oh Myeongseong might become a harvester too.
Hmm.
Huh.
At this rate, those three will likely die soon. I don’t care about the other two.
But since I’m interested in what will happen to Oh Myeongseong, I should let him live for now.
Since it’s no different from Jeonyang dying while fighting them, if Heavenly Demon decides, they will die.
Even if they combine their strength, they can’t defeat Heavenly Demon. There’s even a high chance they won’t be able to escape.
I need time to see what will happen to Oh Myeongseong. I should create that time.
“Heavenly Demon. Are you going to cremate Jeonyang?”
At my words, Heavenly Demon takes a stance of backing away from me while holding the corpse. A reaction as if I might try to steal his corpse.
“Do you mean to take Jeonyang from me?”
“Why would I?”
At my question, Heavenly Demon looks at me with a puzzled expression. And after hesitating several times, speaks.
“You said you’d take everything after finishing up, didn’t you?”
Come to think of it, there was such a clause in the contract.
Honestly, since I just take the warmth and leave the body and light alone, it’s a very unexpected question.
How should I explain this?
If I say I only take warmth, there’s a chance my playing with the word “warmth” until now might be discovered.
So I need to choose my words carefully.
Speaking pure facts while allowing misunderstanding.
“That means I come to see the final warmth. I watched Eunjae’s end too.”
I completely omit the part about taking warmth. One who guides death. Though I twisted the words to sound that way, I’m not sure if I can deceive until the end.
Death-related gods are inherently unsettling gods, and my appearance like an upside-down sea looked ominous.
Therefore I need to act carefully while reading the situation.
“I know humans have cultures for sending off the dead. Burning them, burying them, or embalming them. What do you do here?”
I carefully guide toward thinking about the funeral rather than killing those above.
Heavenly Demon remained silent for a while holding the corpse. After quite some time passed, Oh Myeongseong’s blurry gaze watching here moved. And he changed positions.
Good. Only Oh Myeongseong needs to survive.
Now if Heavenly Demon doesn’t suddenly say they’ll kill them and put their heads on coffins, I’ve achieved my goal.
“We need to hold the funeral.”
Heavenly Demon said in a low voice.
“Does it take about 44 days?”
“What country’s culture is that?”
Heavenly Demon burst into laughter, then moved with the corpse. I know this path too.
I saw it when I first came to this area. It’s the path to the elevator.
But.
What should I do?
I tried to follow as Heavenly Demon walked on water, but suddenly it got deep. I can’t do water walking techniques!
So even Gu Seongyong’s bisected corpse got swept away and sank deep.
Seeing countless warmths gathered down there, fish must be feasting.
I just swam in the water.
At first I thought about swimming properly.
But I need time. And while at it, manipulate impressions too.
Among various styles, I chose to do the dog paddle.
When I crossed about half the water, I hear laughter from far away.
Heavenly Demon is laughing softly near the elevator.
“Purple Mad God of the Four Seasons’ Chaos. I heard you were an immortal with such a name, but you can’t even swim properly?”
Immortal?
Ah, here gods and immortals hold such positions.
They call all beings like the Jade Emperor that the faded man knows immortals.
I want to speak, but water would enter my mouth so I quietly swim. Of course, since it’s dog paddling, it took quite some time. I barely arrived at the dock.
It’s the dock where I got off before.
I crawl up there and wring out my clothes to squeeze out the water. And after shaking off several times, I headed to where Heavenly Demon was.
Entering the elevator, Heavenly Demon looks at me with a mocking expression.
“You’re very different from the appearance seen beyond you.”
Then with a click of touching the mechanism, the elevator slowly rises. Looking at such Heavenly Demon, I asked.
“My appearance?”
“An infinitely vast, cold and deep sea.”
From Heavenly Demon’s view, I just look like a girl. But the focus isn’t on me.
It’s not like they see the sea either. But she’s not even recalling memories.
This is seeing me through a different method.
And that remains only in memory.
So that’s why I couldn’t see what Eunjae saw. I thought they acted strangely due to old age, but the perspective was different.
Given that memories remain, I might need to think carefully about making harvesters in the future.
First, I counter with a joke.
“I mean I flow downward because I’m heavy. Know that swimming is a very difficult task.”
At my words, Heavenly Demon made an expression of understanding.
Until now, I’ve distinguished between my true body and the body I’m in.
Using expressions like humanity, or how human bodies are.
Once you think something’s a monster, don’t you tend to accept unknown parts as “that’s just how it is”? While humans would insert their own perspective, monsters find that difficult, right?
Even if trying to see an alien appearance, after seeing an unseemly sight like dog paddling, can you connect that to a powerful monster?
If your imagination is excellent, it’s my defeat.
If not, my victory.
Not a monster that must necessarily be dealt with, but not a monster so stupid it’s better to kill either.
Maintaining balance is difficult.
Click.
The elevator opened.
We returned to the room full of battle traces. Heavenly Demon carefully laid Jeonyang’s corpse on the bed.
And seeing how they’re sitting in front, it seems they’re not thinking of chasing Oh Myeongseong. Time is needed to mourn the dead.
In that gap, Oh Myeongseong would have left the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Hehe.
I stood at the door of the room where Heavenly Demon is.
“People need to cry when they’re sad.”
And I closed the door. Suddenly I thought of a witch, but she’s gone now. She twisted and broke in that cold sea.
I moved my steps toward where Soo-oh is waiting.