## Chapter 1461 – Heavenly Demon Kim Kat

“Saint… what exactly do you mean?”

Elise’s face was so pained it was hard to watch. She looked utterly shocked, no, more like she couldn’t believe reality.

“…”

Khadia looked at Elise with an indescribable expression, then reached out to take Elise’s hand as she tried to rise from her seat. Of course, Elise was too preoccupied to notice.

“Saint!!! Please, say it again!!!”

She could only appeal to me.

“…”

Soon, Khadia looked at me and nodded.

It was a signal to start talking.

Khadia was also a priest, no, more than that, she was a woman who had risen to the position of a saint and managed the Brass Celestial Order. So, she knew very well what Elise must be feeling right now. She herself had screamed when she heard those words from me back then.

“Saint!!!”
“Elise, it’s as you heard.”
“What does that mean!”
“You know I went to the Elven Kingdom last time. And I met the World Tree there. They asked to meet me first, and the World Tree asked me for a favor. To get rid of a being that threatens the world.”

They asked me to do something they couldn’t do themselves.

“And while making that request, they showed me the Celestial Realm once. The space where the gods reside.”

What was there were enormous gods, but they were all shattered and floating around. Seeing that, I was so shocked I tore at my hair.

“All the gods there were in pieces. Completely shattered. They were all broken to bits. In that state, they existed.”

As I said that,

“Th-that…”

Elise’s eyes glazed over.

“But Aizermart…”
“Verde too. Aizermart too. All the same. The World Tree said that all the gods were destroyed and just floating in the Celestial Realm.”
“That’s impossible!!!!”

Elise denied it.

“No.”

I approached Elise and continued.

“It’s possible, Elise. As you know, the gods are much weaker than they were before the Idol War. It’s been almost 500 years since the war ended, but the Holy Knights’ divine power still doesn’t match what it was in legends.”

The gods had weakened.

Even after 500 years since the war, they were unable to recover. It was the Lich who had shattered the gods like that, but he had succeeded up to that point and then failed, so he was temporarily sealed.

“The gods were shattered during the war. That’s why they only have this much power now.”
“Wh-what! Th-that can’t be…! No! That can’t be!!!”

ㅡGrip.

I hugged the shouting Elise.

“Ah…!”

I felt a hot liquid on my shoulder. Elise was crying because she had heard such shocking words. Because it was me saying it, she believed it. No, she must have thought it had to be true.

“Saint…! Th-that kind of thing…! It’s strange! That can’t be!”
“…”

All I could do was hug her.

“That they were in pieces! Then all this time they were…!”

I hugged Elise and stayed like that for a while, and Elise said something while trembling and crying.

“It’s a shocking story, but if you think about it deeply, it’s not that strange. If the gods are in that state… maybe it’s difficult for them to even recover their existence. The fact that the gods have lost their power… all the priests already knew that.”

Khadia comforted Elise.

“Sniff…! Sob…!”
“It’s okay, Elise. I’m here.”
“I know…! Still! The fact that they’re in that state is painful!”

Elise expressed her sadness.

The difficulty of what I have to say next is getting higher and higher.

“Sniff, sob…”

The sound of crying echoed.

I hugged Elise and patted her back, accepting the torrent of emotions.

How long had it been?

ㅡTap tap tap.

As I patted her back like that, Elise seemed to have calmed down soon. Elise, who had regained some composure, came out of my arms and wiped away her tears.

“Such a sad truth…!”

Was it really a sad thing?

“Are you okay? Elise?”
“Hoo, hoo… Yes. Now… no. I can’t say I’m okay, but… I’m better. It’s a very shocking fact, but Saint is in this world. So… even if it’s shocking, I shouldn’t be buried in sadness.”

Even so, her voice was trembling.
I smiled to comfort Elise.

“That’s right. Good job, Elise. You overcame it well.”
“…It’s all thanks to Saint.”

Of course, it was.

“Still… even though the gods are in that state, they have been sending down divine power for the sake of our human world. How sacred is that… we must never forget that fact.”

Soon, Elise put her hands together as if she had made up her mind and said.

At those words, Khadia nodded.

“That’s right. Elise’s words are a hundred times right. So, we must continue to live, honoring that spirit of sacrifice.”
“Yes.”

Khadia stroked Elise’s face, and Elise blushed as if she was embarrassed. Like that, the two of them were trying to come to a conclusion while having some kind of touching conversation… but Khadia, Elise. The revealed truth is not just that.

This is a story that can never end well.

A terrible situation.

“No. It’s too early to be moved. There’s still more to talk about. Elise. You’ve just overcome your sadness, but I have to say it.”
“Yes?”
“Khadia, you be nervous too.”
“What?”
“If you’re not nervous, you might collapse from the shock.”
“What… what kind of story is it that you’re saying such things?”
“Ah. I misspoke. Maybe you’ll sit down and tear at your hair.”
“It’s that shocking?”
“Saint?”

Anxiety settled on Elise’s face. It was rare to see such a face. And Khadia’s expression also began to gradually harden.

“What I’m about to say is about the Lich’s identity and purpose, and the truth about the gods in that Celestial Realm.”

As I said that, the women sitting behind me nodded. They already knew roughly what it was. Only Khadia hadn’t heard it.

“…”

There was a moment of silence.

“The Lich’s identity and purpose and… the truth about the gods, you said.”
“Yes.”
“…The former is very curious, but I don’t understand the meaning of the latter.”

A hardened voice.

“The truth about the gods… are you talking about that, Saint.”
“It’s a very serious matter.”
“Why can that be a serious matter…?”

An anxious voice.

“Because it’s a world where a fearful truth exists.”
“…”
“I’ll tell you now. Listen carefully.”

I sat Elise and Khadia back in their seats. And I set them up so that the two of them, sitting side by side, were holding hands.

“…”

Extreme tension.

I could feel the two of them being anxious. Khadia wasn’t showing it, but I could tell.

“Hoo.”

Even I couldn’t help but be nervous at this part. I couldn’t know how Khadia and Elise would react. Even so, the two of them had lived almost their entire lives as priests. This was such a shocking thing that it could be said that the basic worldview itself was collapsing.

Of course, they would sit down while tearing at their hair.

I’m okay, and the other women can accept it as such, but these two are definitely not.

“A long time ago. There was a time when a giant race called the Titans ruled this land.”

That’s how I started.

“At that time, humans were slaves of the Titans. They were living a terrible life of slavery without even resisting.”

I stopped Elise from saying something and continued.

“The Lich’s identity was the high priest of that world. The one who was in the best situation among humans. The one who worshiped the Titans, gave pro-Titan education to humans, and took the lead in the enslavement work.”

The thousand-year-old Lich was a high priest in the past. He thought that humans obeying was a way to reduce pain, but after contacting the resistance forces, he changed his mind… I calmly listed the facts after that.

Khadia and Elise both blushed, saying that this was such nonsense, and tried to persuade me, saying that I might have misunderstood something.

In the first place, they couldn’t believe the Lich’s information. They insisted on that, but now that I had absorbed the Lich into the barrier, I knew that it was at least the truth.

“In the first place, there’s not enough evidence that the ancient Titan era actually existed! Even if it did exist, such a story could just be a story that the Lich bastard made up conveniently!”
“That’s right. The more evil a person is… the more they want to decorate and package themselves. The Lich may have mistaken the settings he had imagined for the truth at some point. I think it’s more reasonable to think that way.”

I just shook my head as I listened to those words.

“No. It’s the truth. The reason I’m telling you this now is because I’m 100% sure.”
“That can’t be!”

It can be.

“The Lich used ancient secret arts to open a passage to the outside world in order to drive out the Titans. And what came over through that passage were Verde and Aizermart…”
“Stop!!!”

Khadia shouted.
With a very angry face.

“It’s impossible! That evil ancient Lich summoned those gods of the Celestial Realm!!!”

A face distorted with anger. Khadia barely managed to control her expression while looking at my face, but even so, she couldn’t erase her anger.

That Lich bastard has had a significant influence on the history of mankind in this world.

“Yes! It may be true in part! But not the existence of beings like the god Verde and the god Aizermart!”
“Khadia.”
“Surely! There must be an error! There’s plenty of time, so if we reveal it from now on…!”
“Khadia. Just listen for now.”
“…”

After anger, despair.
Despair settled on Khadia’s face.

“The summoned outer gods ate the Titans and destroyed the empire. From that point on, the history of humans began. But the Lich revealed that the outer gods’ food was the souls of intelligent beings.”

As the story continued, Khadia and Elise became quiet. With very serious faces. Even so, I didn’t stop the story. Because it was a story they had to hear.

“Titans? They were also intelligent beings and had souls… but they were powerful. Maybe it was easier for the outer gods to control humans than Titans. No matter what anyone said, they were half saviors.”

So, they annihilated the Titans.

As a result, humans worshiped soul eaters from outer space as gods and voluntarily offered their souls.

You can’t put a herd of wild boars in a pigsty.

Only docile pigs can enter the sty.

It’s just that kind of story.

“The Lich, who belatedly learned the truth, has been repeating nonsense and digging his own grave to return this terrible world to normal.”

Maybe the predecessor of all pagans was the Lich.

A group that denies and overthrows the existing gods. But like the distorted Lich, the pagans were distorted from the beginning. The Lich took out a loan to repay his debt, and took out a bigger loan to repay the increased debt, and ended up failing miserably.

“In the end, what he pursued was that. To annihilate the humans who believe in the existing gods and fill the world with a new humanity. That way, he was going to weaken the power of the outer gods and completely drive them out. He dreamed of the destruction of the existing world. Until the last moment.”

He was a real ridiculous idiot.

“That’s the truth I found out.”

If the Lich had a mistake.

It was probably that he accidentally summoned me while overusing dimensional magic. If I hadn’t been there? Maybe this world would be full of white people by now.

“And I stopped it.”

That’s how I ended the story.

“…”
“…”

Khadia and Elise had blank faces. Really… it was hard to watch. I immediately went and hugged them.

“…Saint.”
“Elise.”
“Then… why have the gods… been giving divine power to humans… until now?”
“Because the outer gods are not the only ones who are after human souls. They have to protect their own rice bowls.”
“But being devoured by souls means becoming one with God in other words…”
“Just because Elise ate pork doesn’t mean she became one with the pig.”
“…”

As if she couldn’t believe it. Elise, who had been protesting in a very weak tone, fell silent.

“…The ancient Titan era actually existed. The Lich was the high priest in that world. He summoned gods who lived beyond the outer world to rebel against the Titans. The summoned god destroyed the Titans but took human souls as the price… really.”

Khadia’s resigned voice.

“Isn’t it interesting. This is truly… no different from the devil.”

The worldview that they had been with all their lives was destroyed. The shock was indescribably great. I was very distressed by that fact.

But my women are suffering.

I’m also suffering in sympathy with them.

That’s not what I should do as a leader.

“Khadia!!! Elise!!!”

ㅡClap!!!

I clapped my hands and called their names loudly!

“Heok…!”
“Ah…!”

The surprised women looked at me. I stared strongly into their eyes and said.

“It’s a serious matter. But. So, is that fact that important?”
“That’s…”
“I’m here.”

All I have to do now is captivate them with my charm.

“This Kim Kat is the true savior and god.”

Even if the gods were all fucked up bastards, it really doesn’t matter.

Because this Kim Kat exists right here.

“That’s all that matters. Just think like that. Forever from now on. So, you don’t have to think about other painful things. If it’s painful, just look at me and think about me. That’s all it takes to solve the problem.”

At those words.

“…Ah.”

Khadia and Elise, who had opened their mouths.

“Hoo, hehe… that’s right.”
“…That’s right.”

They looked at me with a slight smile. It was a smile that bloomed in the midst of real hardship.

Yeah. If you just look at me, you can’t help but feel energized.

“Right? Anyway, the last thing I’m saying is, if I have time, I’m going to go see those outer gods’ faces now.”

I’m going to go and sort out the rights and wrongs.

With my fist.