## Chapter 1470 – Heavenly Demon Kim Kat

“Oh.”

A strange sensation clings to my entire body.

It feels as if hundreds, thousands of incredibly thin spiderwebs are carried by a gentle breeze and wrap around me. Thanks to the knowledge I’ve acquired over the past few days, I know this is a kind of dimensional pressure.

Every dimension possesses its own unique type of dimensional pressure.

Of course, for this Heavenly Demon Kim Kat, such pressure is nothing but trivial. Perhaps a weak being wouldn’t be able to withstand this pressure and would either be squashed like a meatball, scattered like air, or melted like chocolate, but not me.

—Pshhh.

I savor the pressure, which feels so insignificant it barely registers, for a moment, then take a step forward, and all kinds of pressure shatter instantly.

“Kuei kuei.”

Absolute power.

With the overwhelming strength I possess, such things can’t even touch me.

And so, I fully entered the Celestial Realm.

“Different.”

The Celestial Realm.

I’ve experienced it before as a kind of spiritual body inside the World Tree at her invitation, and I’ve seen it momentarily when the unstable torrent of power I experienced while becoming a god allowed me to glimpse other dimensions.

But the Celestial Realm spread out before my eyes now felt different from all those times. The fact that it’s a space mixed with bright sky blue and blue is the same.

However, the power and energy felt different.

“This is the space where the Outer Gods reside.”

The Celestial Realm.

—Swish.

Clearly recognizing that fact, I prepared for battle. Even though the Outer Gods are in a terrible state, the odds are high that I’ll have to fight them now that I’m in this space… That’s kind of exciting. I’m curious to see how strong they are.

I roughly thought that.

And I looked up at the sky.

「—Gooooo.」

In a way, it’s a familiar sight.

Fragmented behemoths floated in the sky like shattered satellites and space station debris.

Like an ancient astronomer connecting constellations to create images, I tried to connect the fragments to create meaningful shapes, but it wasn’t an easy task. The haphazardly scattered puzzles were mixed up and randomly dispersed.

Adding some imagination to piece them together… a giant with incomprehensible carapace. An unknown being with wings of absurd shape. Something that looked like a combination of a door, wings, machine, and a human face. Anyway, they were all so disgustingly ugly that I couldn’t bear to look at them.

“…”

I don’t sense much power.

“Is it to be expected?”

They’re beings that haven’t even been able to repair themselves after being so shattered. And they’ve been in that state for at least 500 years. They can’t be strong. Well, even if that weren’t the case.

“It’s difficult for me, in my current state, to perceive anything as strong.”

I had become that strong.

Realizing that, the things floating in the sky looked like mere cookie crumbs. A Koukidas cookie crushed and crumbled in a bag that hasn’t even been opened. Total pushovers. That’s what the Outer Gods are now.

“Long time no see, friends.”

So, I greeted them warmly as I slowly floated up.

To reach the Outer Gods who were merely existing there.

“I’d like to have a little chat.”

Verde, Izzermart, Sertoga, Ezaths, and other forgotten and minor gods. Beings summoned in the Titan era who have been sucking up human souls until now.

Honestly, they’re all so shattered and scattered that I can’t even properly distinguish them. Even if I expand my senses to feel their power, I can’t determine the exact number.

How many Outer Gods are there?

And which of those scattered fragments are corpses?

“Can you guys even speak our language?”

I soon narrowed the distance by half. It didn’t seem likely that these guys wouldn’t be able to speak our language. Even the World Tree did. No matter how much of an alien being they are from beyond the outer reaches, if they’ve been sucking up souls and observing for thousands of years, they should be able to communicate.

They were the kind of beings that could understand humans and maintain the human world.

And.

「—Zhiiiiiing.」

As I approached, the space began to shake as if some kind of rejection was occurring.

—Flash!

At the same time, pure white flashes of light erupted from the countless fragments that were studded in the sky like stars. I could instinctively feel it. This was divine power. The kind of divine power I’d seen so much of while living in this world.

And it’s 100% concentration.

The source of power that paladins have been honing.

“Are you resisting?”

I thought that, but it didn’t really seem like an attack. Even when the divine power touched my body, there was no reaction. Or… is it too weak to even be recognized as an attack? A person feeling the breeze from a fan doesn’t recognize it as an attack. Maybe it’s something like that.

—Swish.

I briefly changed my perspective.

“Indeed.”

The beams of power extending from each fragment pierced through dimensions and stretched out. Those were the strings of divine power. Priests receive divine power through those strings. All priests were connected to the Outer Gods through those strings.

Each one was really thin and faint.

Those must be the number of priests remaining on the ground.

And.

「—Kugugugugugung.」

A great tremor occurred, and an unknown voice began to be heard. No. To be precise, it wasn’t a voice. It was a kind of will. A telepathic kind of will. It was the first time I’d ever used such a means of communication, and I’d never even heard of anything like it before.

“Ah.”

I could understand all of its contents.

If I were to interpret it into human language, it would be as follows.

「Completely different. A power so altered that it’s impossible to believe it was obtained by absorbing the corpses of its own kind.」

The Outer God was marveling at my power. Of course, it didn’t speak in those exact words. It’s just closer to the nuance that I roughly interpreted in a human way.

「To possess such power. And to be able to exist in the real world with a physical body. It’s impossible.」

“Impossible my ass.”

Why does everyone who sees me say that?

Anyway, I confirmed that communication was possible. I spoke with my mouth, mimicking the way the Outer God sent me telepathy and returning the words.

“Yeah, I did devour fragments of you Outer Gods. Of course, that was just the catalyst. I made it my own. And I developed it.”

That’s why my power has a completely different nature from the power of the Outer Gods. And it’s powerful.

“But of course, that’s not what’s important.”

There’s something else that’s important.

“Who are you? Tell me the name that humans know.”

As I spoke threateningly, filled with aggression, the world seemed to freeze for a moment. Insane flashes of light erupted from the sky, engulfing the world in white. In the midst of that, a will was conveyed.

「I am Verde.」

So this guy was Verde.

—Fwoosh.

The light faded, and I looked up at the sky again. Of course, I couldn’t pinpoint which one Verde was. I was currently talking to an unspecified being in front of countless fragments.

“Why did you answer? Are you the most intact out of all of them?”

「That is so.」

“Well, I guess so.”

The Bronze Celestial Church is the largest religion. Everyone’s screwed, but they’re in the best condition, relatively speaking… Okay. Whatever. Verde is right here. And in a state where it can speak.

Then Paladin Kim Kat must begin the interrogation.

A true paladin can hold even their own god accountable.

That is Kim Kat.

“Anyway, Mr. Verde, you speak pretty well. There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

「…」

“I know that you are beings summoned from another dimension. And I also know that you feed on human souls… I’m asking because I’m wondering what to do with you guys right now.”

「…」

“What do you think of humans?”

「…」

I don’t think there’s any room for compromise. No matter what these guys say. No matter what they’ve done to maintain the human world until now. I don’t care about any of it. Alien monsters that devour human souls are just targets for extermination.

Kadia asked me to ask, so I’ll listen to what they have to say.

That’s all.

「…」

Silence continues.

“Don’t you intend to answer?”

—Fwoosh.

I spread out my hand.

And begin preparations to deploy the Heavenly Demon Death Beam. —Fwoooooosh! Extreme power sucks in everything around me and gathers in my grasp. The Celestial Realm warps because of it.

—Kugugugugugugu!

The distorted sky couldn’t withstand my power and convulsed.

—Kugugung!
—Kwaang!

As if a giant wave was crashing.

Countless fragments fell from the convulsing sky.

—Shweeeeeek!

It was like watching a large-scale meteor shower. The fragments that fell while emitting white flashes of light soon completely disappeared.

The Outer Gods were helplessly falling and collapsing, even though I had only deployed my power.

If I concentrate my power in my finger and shoot it out like this, they’ll all be annihilated without a doubt. They’ll be completely annihilated from this world along with the power of the priests on the ground.

「Are you asking about humans?」

“Yeah.”

A reply came, so I briefly stopped the Heavenly Demon Death Beam.

「After we came to this world by humans, we have been constantly interacting with humans and using our power to protect their world.」

It seemed like they were dodging the question, but I decided to listen for now.

“Why?”

「Because that was the wish of the humans.」

Wish.

「There was a race called the Titans. Humans were beings dominated by them. The one who opened the way, and at the same time, the one who led us to ruin, wanted to drive out the Titans, and we accepted the offer.」

Lich.

「The fact that we were able to take the souls of the Titans was entirely thanks to the humans opening the way for us.」

So they were grateful?

As Lich said, the Outer Gods destroyed the Titans and devoured all of their souls according to the wishes of the humans.

“You devoured all of the souls of the Titans.”

「That is so. The souls of beings with intelligence and emotions enriched us more than anything else. For us who wandered the world of infinite darkness and coldness, this kind of stimulation was unprecedented, and it was an unknown stimulation that we didn’t even know existed. We felt as if the small beings living in this real world were a race born to be our nourishment, and everything about their souls was delightful.」

I couldn’t tell whether the last part was talking about humans or Titans.

「Also, souls gave us a clear consciousness. It was the acquisition of the establishment of an individual self. We, who had only wandered according to instinct, were able to distinguish each individual with it. This was an unbearably delightful thing.」

Somehow, emotions seemed to be conveyed.

“Is that so?”

I roughly understood.

“But I still haven’t gotten a proper answer.”

「…」

“What do you think of humans?”

I asked that once again.