## Chapter 1240 – Shurdik Great Desert

The more absurd, the more persuasive it becomes.

The Lich fought to achieve his goals even during the Idol War.

Until now, those goals have been quite vague.
We’ve only been able to speculate.

Like, the Lich is trying to overthrow the world using the undead, or he’s trying to resurrect an evil god.

I don’t know exactly, but it’s probably something similar.

But… that bastard. He tore open a dimensional rift and summoned a powerful being from another world, and it’s been revealed that he borrowed power. He’s still tearing open dimensional rifts now. Is he doing that to recruit outsiders like this?

It’s possible.

Anyway, he claimed to be humanity’s savior while summoning Karset. Yeah. This is important.

“Kim Gkat, who has slaughtered countless serial killers, is adept at criminal psychology.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Shut up, you son of a bitch. You only open your mouth when I tell you to.”
“…”

Speaking it out loud helps me concentrate.
So don’t bother me…!

Good.

I’m a pro-profiler with a tremendous amount of experience. I may not know for sure, but there probably aren’t many people in this era who have killed more serial killers than me.

Which means I’m a damn competent expert.

Therefore, I can accurately read the twisted, narrow-minded, and malicious thoughts of serial killers, psychos, and cultists.

Let’s say the Lich summoned this Karset to win the Idol War. The purpose is to keep the gods in check. Why? Because he can’t lose. He summoned it because he had to win. It’s almost like he had to bet everything on the summon to pull off some crazy shit.

And there’s a high chance he summoned other monsters besides this one.

But he went out of his way to introduce himself as humanity’s savior to this otherworldly powerhouse. This isn’t just some crazy guy. He’s likely to have his own ideals and beliefs. He’s just completely insane.

It’s no different from being intoxicated by the setting he created. Isn’t that right? Otherwise, there’s no way he would introduce that kind of thing to this alien monster.

—He’s consumed by some kind of fanaticism.

He’s such a madman that he summoned this soul-devouring monster, and on top of that, he calls himself humanity’s savior even though he’s been sacrificing human souls as offerings.

Does he think that eliminating all human souls is salvation? It’s highly possible. But is that the only reason he’s… acting?

He’s a Lich who’s hundreds of years old.

He’s clearly an ancient Lich who’s been active since before the Idol War.

Has that kind of guy been acting for hundreds of years, consumed by the fanaticism that only the annihilation of humans is salvation? If you think about it simply, it might just be that, but I feel like there’s something more… what is it?

For what reason, exactly?

What the hell have you been doing all these years?

“Hmm.”

I can’t think any further because I don’t have enough clues.

“Aladdin. Tell me everything you know about gods and divine power.”
“Gods… divine power… I have fought against them at the request of that small being… They were very powerful.”
“No, you son of a bitch, not that. I mean, like, their identity.”
“Identity… gods are powerful beings. They didn’t descend into this world by incarnating or obtaining a physical body like me, but they were able to exert influence on this world from the outside… I don’t know their identity except for that.”

That influence must be the act of bestowing divine power.

“Here. Here’s a fist, sir. Let’s get some gut punches in.”
“More! There is more that I know!”
“Yeah. It’s great that you know so much.”

A fist is the best.

“I do not know the reason… but the souls of humans with divine power… could not be devoured.”
“What?”

The souls of humans with divine power.

Can’t be devoured?

“What are you talking about? Explain properly.”
“I can devour the souls of humans who meet their death at my hands. But the souls of humans with divine power disappeared at the moment of death… so I could not devour them. That is all I know.”
“…”

According to the soul devourer.

The souls of humans with divine power disappear at the moment of death.

“Originally, souls remain. But if you have divine power, they don’t remain?”

I know that souls exist. Because there are wraith-like undead like Wraiths and Ghosts in this world.

Visible ghosts exist.

“…That is correct. If I kill them, a soul remains in that place. I devour it.”
“Hmm.”

Souls remain.
But if you have divine power, they disappear.

Then there’s only one thing to think about.

That soul goes to the god it believes in.

“Well, that’s normal.”

That’s what most people in this other world believe. People in this other world believe that when they die, they go to the side of the god they believe in. Religious people also say that’s accurate.

Of course, that’s just a belief.
No one would know the real truth.

“…”

But I found out the truth.

Yeah.

It was true that when a person dies, their soul goes to that god. Then what about the souls of those who don’t believe in God…? Wait. So, the reason souls remain is because they don’t believe in God…?

“Ah.”

I see.

The important thing is divine power.

He said that the souls of those with divine power disappear. So, that means that the souls of humans without divine power remain. Then. What happens to that soul? Ah, damn it. It’s so hard to think about things I don’t know.

Still, I figured something out.

It was quite a beneficial time.

“Okay. It’s useful information, so I’ll hold back my fist for now. So, the next question. Tell me as much as you can remember about that savior.”
“It was made of human skeletons… and asked me to destroy things related to gods. That is all.”

Is that all he knows besides what he already explained?

I tried interrogating him more with my fist, but in the end, he didn’t really know anything about the Lich. He was just absorbed in devouring souls rather than being a summon. The reason he was hostile to the gods was just because the gods were hostile to him.

“Okay. One more question. Where is that guy who summoned you now?”
“I do not know. I am not omnipotent. I was sealed for hundreds of years, and during that time, I did not receive any information about that being.”
“Try to feel for magical energy or something.”
“I cannot feel it.”
“Do it! Do it! Do it!!!”
“Aaaaaaaah!!!”

In the end, my patience reached its limit, and I had no choice but to beat the shit out of this otherworldly powerhouse…! This bastard! He knows too little!!!

“Die! Die! Die, you son of a bitch!!!”
“Gwoooooo!!”

I beat him and beat him again!!!

I must never let a bastard like this live! An existence that will eventually devour human souls! It’ll only cause harm! I wasn’t even thinking about letting him live in the first place! I extracted the information, and once it served its purpose, I’ll thoroughly dispose of it!!!

“I’ll avenge the souls you’ve devoured in this place!!!”

—Whoosh.

At that moment.

—Fwoooooosh!!

Blue flames rose from his body.

“Foolish being. Are you intoxicated with a sense of victory?”

Along with that solemn voice, a cube the size of a soccer ball was created from his torso, and—whoosh!—the space was violently distorted in an instant, and his body was sucked into it.

It felt like he was assimilating, and it was clear that he was trying to escape. No, this is just him trying to escape without even needing to think about it.

“Too bad.”

I was watching all of it with my own eyes. No matter how fast a bastard like this moves, it can’t transcend my senses. Yeah. He’s trying to escape using that bizarre magic.

I never forgive a bug who runs away in front of me.

—…

My fist was already charged with the power of Pacha. The overflowing power of annihilation at its peak made me load the Heavenly Demon Pacha Palm.

“Heavenly Demon Pacha Palm.”

In a fleeting moment that shattered one second into thousands, tens of thousands of pieces.

The Heavenly Demon Pacha Palm was fired.

—Tooooooooong!!!

Immense destruction engulfs the cube created by Karset.

I could feel it accurately.

That Karset, buried in my power, had been annihilated.

He distorted space and tried to escape to another place, but it was impossible to do that in front of this Heavenly Demon Kim Gkat. This Kim Gkat is a god who never misses a fleeing bug. Showing your back to me. It’s just the same as losing your life at that moment.

“Pretending to be friendly in conversation.”

Fierce power still surges.

“Did you buy time to escape?”

I withdraw that power.

“Foolish and also ignorant. Did you think this Kim Gkat wouldn’t have thought of that?”

—Fwoooooosh.

I extinguish the flames of love.

What remained in that place was a blue cube shrunken to the size of a ping-pong ball. It sparkled as if it were a processed sapphire. Karset, the otherworldly powerhouse from another dimension, met his complete death with this.

“I’m a man with thorough preparation. Remember that.”

I say, holding the transparently sparkling blue cube.

Bastards like this are always looking for a chance to extract their bodies. In fact, it doesn’t make sense that a magical being of this level has no means of escape.

Until now, I was beating him with my power, so the activation of the escape magic was blocked. I flowed my power into his body while beating him. To confuse his senses, interfere with his spells, and inflict pain. So, he endured my torture, engaged in conversation, and created the time and conditions to complete the spell.

Of course, Kim Gkat knew everything.

Anyway, loot remains.

“This.”

Can I absorb this?

“No.”

I won’t.

I suffered side effects by killing Colossus and absorbing its fragments. I won’t absorb God’s fragments in the future either. Let’s just collect them if we find them for now. There won’t be a problem even if I absorb them after clearly identifying my power.

The same goes for this cube.

There’s no reason to absorb the power of a bastard from some unknown other dimension.

—Gooooo.

I burn the cube placed on my palm with my flames again. Ah, I’m not really burning it. I’m just analyzing it by resonating it with my power.

“…”

I feel a unique… energy.

But I can’t identify it.

“Well.”

Still.

“I did a damn good job today.”

I did a damn good job.

“I did a truly divine thing.”

I caught and killed the liberated ancient soul devourer with my own hands. This is no different from saving the lives of countless people. Geez. I wonder how many people I’ve saved with my own hands so far.

—Whoooosh.

Thinking about that, a warm and cozy wind blew and tickled my chest. Yeah… I saved people I don’t even know. I don’t know about them. But this feeling of saving them.

It was definitely love.

“It’s the power of love.”

—Whoosh!

I danced while feeling love.
I felt very good.

I became very aware that I am an existence made of love. Maybe Karset. Wasn’t he like a lucky bluebird that appeared to let me know this feeling?

“Huh?”

Oh, shit.

When you think about it, his skin color was also blue… geez.

“There are some interesting coincidences.”

A bluebird and a soul devourer with blue skin.

In fact, the bluebird in the Belgian play “The Blue Bird” is also a monster with a somewhat soul-devouring feel. It utters seductive words, lures humans into false hope, and eventually steals their souls.

In order not to have your soul stolen, you must realize that happiness is not in unrealistic things like bluebirds, but in your own close proximity, and you must shake off the bluebird that is still singing about vain hopes and tempting you, but as you know, there are not many people who can realize that.

Most humans are foolish.

Because they are foolish, they continue to chase vain hopes until the end, and eventually have their souls eaten by the bluebird. Pure children eventually realized the truth and preserved their souls, but what about adults who are jaded by the world?

“This Kim Gkat believes in purity.”

Therefore, I will not have my soul stolen by the bluebird.

“Happiness is in front of my eyes, and it is not something that someone gives, but something that I must seize with my own hands.”

I am clearly aware of that.

“But I have my women who are sharing happiness with me. That’s why I have all kinds of hope. Therefore, I am. I am both the Heavenly Demon of Love and the Heavenly Demon of Hope.”

Today I realized.

I am love, and destruction.

At the same time, I was the hope of mankind.

“The inhuman, hopeless monster bluebird stole the souls of humans by using fake hope as bait, but I will save those pitiful souls with true hope.”