Chapter 98

If I grab it, it’ll work.

No need to come up from the bottom; I can strike you directly from this body.

The light is big.

Seriously, it’s ridiculously huge. If a person is an apple, someone like Tongcheon is more like the moon. It’s so massive that I’m questioning whether touching something this large will even matter.

But then again, if it’s this big, maybe it can contain me too?

What would happen if I cover it all with myself?

I push myself into the light.

“What is this?”

The light touches me. Back in the day, it used to get covered instantly when I touched it, but now it takes time.

“Let go! Let me go! Release me!”

For some reason, I start convulsing? So I loosen my grip and take a few steps back.

“I’ve let go of my hands.”

Even though I’ve let go, I’m still touching it.

Let me explain it simply:

Imagine two circles drawn on a white sheet of paper. To touch, the black edges of the circles must meet, right?

Even if the circles stick together and then separate, as long as there’s a black sheet underneath connecting them, they’re practically still linked.

From the black sheet, blackness extends upward.

When I create objects or heal wounds, it works by rising above this underlying black sheet.

As I touch it, the light wavers unpredictably.

Memories return incredibly slowly.

Well, to be precise, there are *too many* memories. That’s why I can’t process them all at once like a normal person. It’s similar to when the first world fell onto me—there was just too much light to comprehend all at once.

Humans could cover it instantly without noticing, but trying to cover something this big has taught me something:

It’s hard to steal warmth unless I cover the entire light.

I could try siphoning it bit by bit, but it feels like it’d react if I did that. So I’m planning to cover it entirely and snatch the warmth in one go.

Since it’s my first time doing this, I’ll approach carefully.

That’s when the sect leader Tongcheon stretched his hand toward four twisted lines behind him. When those four intertwined and transformed into a fork-like shape, he lunged it at me.

*KWAAH.*

“The Diagonal Sword. A weapon to kill immortals. No matter what you are, there’s no way you can block this.”

I got holes in my head, neck, and chest—two in total. Not only do the holes appear, but something invisible flows into me through the wounds.

It’s like how a river flows, yet you can’t see the water—only the stones and sand inside moving.

This thing digs into my flesh meticulously as it enters.

Upon inspection, each blade damages different parts. The two in my chest tear flesh—one crushes meat while the other melts bones via the bloodstream.

As for the ones in my neck and head? I have no idea.

Apart from initially piercing holes, they don’t move at all.

So…

What’s the point of this?

I feel no obstacles whatsoever. My body may have been damaged, but when did I ever rely on my physical form?

I lift my arm and grab the device called Bopaee.

“What? Your Six Souls and Fate should’ve been destroyed! How…?!”

Six souls, fate, and spirit. So that’s why there are four blades?

Still, Tongcheon, you’re worrying too much about what’s inside a mere glass bottle, huh?

While continuing to stretch out, I slowly dye him in my color. His pure white light is gradually turning dark purple.

Can’t you see this?

Can’t you feel it?

You call yourself a god, right?

Or is this not even affecting you?

Slowly, my body starts to crumble into dust. Before the vessel completely breaks, I press down on reality.

*KWAAH!*

Compared to when my body shattered earlier, this crack spreading outward from me is unimaginably massive. Like a flower blooming centered around me, it spreads in all directions.

And then my body returns to normal. The weapons that pierced me dissolve where they touched the cracks.

“So you think crushing reality like this will help you escape the Sabo Blade?! Foolish woman! Your fate has already ended!”

Tongcheon shouts loudly.

But that’s what *I* should say.

It took time, but I’ve completely covered his light.

I’ve fully devoured the light.

And now I’m gripping the warmth…

Hehe.

Hehehe.

Hehehehe!

Ah, wow! It’s warm!

Not just faint warmth—it’s heat! Heat has returned! Yeah, this is it!

This is it! This is the warmth I’ll gain going forward!

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Is he screaming?

Oh, right. Wasn’t it true that taking warmth while alive turned someone into a monster?

My whole body swells up, transforming into a giant fishman, then shedding that form to reveal a hybrid creature—a mix of fish and amphibian—bursting out beneath.

Then my body twists violently. Eyes fall out, replaced by muscles and tentacles sprouting from their sockets, while ribs and shoulder bones pierce through my body on the opposite side in unnatural shapes.

So gods, beings supposedly more spiritual, aren’t really that different from living creatures, huh?

But it can’t be helped.

There’s no escaping.

It’s warm.

It’s mine.

It’s *mine*.

It’s mine!

It’s getting cold.

It’s freezing. Freezing, freezing, freezing… I want to go insane, but I can’t.

Ah, ah. Again. Is this not enough? Can’t I stay warm with this heat? Do I have to keep being cold forever?

Or maybe I need to hunt things like you—not insects or humans, but something like *you*, huh?

Huh? Sect leader Tongcheon. Daegon.

Or will squeezing you further release more warmth? More?

I shove myself into Daegon, who’s writhing underwater while screaming.

The light turns black and shrinks, but it’s still enormous. Even if you combined all the light from nearby organisms, it’d pale in comparison to this shrunken light. That’s how massive Daegon’s light was.

“KIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAH!”

At that moment, spears made of bones, muscles, blood, or organs burst out in every direction from Daegon’s body.

A tiny bit of warmth enters me.

Ah, didn’t you know?

If you give me your warmth, no matter how much you crave it, it’ll come to me because we’re connected. Cold? Freezing? That’s what I’m feeling too.

You were warm, weren’t you?

Right?

Always happy, weren’t you?

So isn’t it okay for you to become unhappy now? Huh? Isn’t it?

I see Daegon glowing with the warmth he’s lost. How’s that cold treating you? Can’t bear it? You call yourself a god, right? Why can’t you endure? You must endure. Otherwise, what am I supposed to become?

Or are you not a god?

You claimed to be one, didn’t you?

You.

Or are you not a god? In other words, is this warmth something I can rightfully take from you? Huh?

Daegon concentrates a blue light in his mouth.

It’s not directed at me. He’s killing lives to gain more warmth.

I understand.

When the cold becomes unbearable, all you can think about is where to find warmth.

So, you see the warmth, right?

That’s why living beings have always taken something from others when they needed to survive.

Kill and eat.

Acting purely on instinct, driven by the terrible cold.

The light heads downward.

Toward the depths underwater, where countless clusters of warmth gather.

There’s a city far larger than anything the Tianma Sect could compare to—a massive metropolis inhabited by fishmen, brimming with warmth.

And in an instant, it vanishes along with Daegon’s flash.

Hehe.

Warmth flows into me.

That’s right. You won’t get it, Daegon.

Despite his shredded face, I can see him making an extremely troubled expression. At the same time, an immense shockwave originating from the explosion rushes toward me.

Is this how it’s done?

I extend Daegon’s arm and consume the internal organs already reduced to mush, along with whatever he deemed important.

In exchange, the bubbles Daegon created earlier reappear.

The shockwave Daegon emitted bounces off these bubbles.

I can control my body. Knowing this, people were too small. Only beings as large and powerful as this, filled with abilities, allowed me to truly learn.

I learned the method when I licked the light.

Hehe.

*Chhhhhhhrrrkkk!*

Eh?

The part used to create the bubble bursts open. It’s not exploding—it’s being sucked into my body like it’s being ground up in a blender.

I’ve seen something similar before.

When Tianma unfurled his barrier, a monster got sucked in and died.

Ah, I see. So this is the part of me that connects to reality through Daegon’s body.

As Tianma said, it’s the opposite of the rules governing this world. Thus, it clashes with everything around it and dissipates.

Unlike antimatter annihilating matter, there’s no intense heat here—just a cold suction that leads to disappearance.

As Daegon panics, new arms and legs sprout from the remaining parts of his body. Simultaneously, the synchronized sensations tell me:

Fuel is insufficient.

Though I don’t sense exactly what this fuel is, experience has taught me it’s likely qi or magic power.

So, regeneration and transformation aren’t possible either, huh?

Something comes to mind. A crumpled little piece of black light. Could using this allow me to emerge like I did in the first world?

I subtly push myself into it.

*KAGAGAGAGAGAK!*

Like creating tree-shaped fractures in stained glass by striking it, cracks bloom into a tree through Daegon’s head.

It’s too heavy.

Phew.

Looks like I can’t use this as raw material for anything.

But I’ve gained something.

I can push myself into and control bodies of considerable size.

Though it consumes a lot, the principle remains the same. Whether it’s moving Choseol or Rebecca’s body or controlling Daegon’s, there’s no difference.

A container thoroughly designed to hold something.

A body capable of containing a god.

An imprint on reality.

Only these can fully contain me and prevent me from being torn apart when I move.

I’ve learned so much.

And now I have new prey. Not the faint warmth that barely soothes the cold, but genuine warmth.

These so-called immortals, mistaken as gods.

Beings who can travel between worlds.

Ke he he.

Yeah. You guys down there.

You were so warm.

I gently caress my own face and turn around.

Over there, Tianma stands tense, staring at me without raising his sword. He closes his eyes, expressing that if I want to kill him, I should go ahead.

I glance at the bubble holding back the surrounding water. Daegon’s body hasn’t been fully consumed yet, so there’s no rush.

I slowly approach Tianma.

“You idiot.”

I cup Tianma’s cheeks with both hands. I’m taller, after all. Startled, Tianma cautiously opens his eyes—black irises glowing with green pupils.

“Let’s go back. I’ve caught the fool.”

Rejoicing at finding new targets to steal warmth from or turn into Harvesters, I grab Tianma and head back to the house where Soo-oh is waiting.

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