The Outer God Needs Warmth

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As Polaris and Victoria gazed at each other, while I anticipated something horrendous, the Fourth World also had its share of events.

To assassinate Jeber, the Special Forces intruded.

Considering the day Jeber entirely defeated the army sent by the royal family, it was practically the same as sending assassins immediately after their defeat.

Typically, a lot of preparation is needed for an assassination.

So, I found it strange that a new assassin had burst in so suddenly, but later, when Jeber extracted the memories of the assassin, I understood.

The Inspection Bureau didn’t merely send over weaknesses; they gathered as much information as possible about Jeber’s territory and sent it over.

The data was already in place.

Thus, they decided to strike before Jeber could gain more power.

Jeber persuaded these future Inspection Bureau agents that he was an Evil Wizard with intentions of world domination.

In fact, you couldn’t say it was entirely false—it was quite amusing.

Moreover, the wizarding family that had been defeated by Jeber also lent their support. They sent people and provided resources.

For instance, valuable magical tools that could prevent brainwashing.

So, armed to the teeth, they infiltrated Jeber’s mansion.

Some headed for Jeber’s assassination, while others aimed to invade the laboratory to destroy the factory.

Me?

I realized what was happening when they broke into the mansion and killed an Artificial Human they stumbled upon.

Of course, at that moment, I had no idea who had invaded. All I knew was that someone had entered and killed the harvesting machine.

And as I had previously identified, not all Artificial Humans are connected to Jeber. So, even if something happened, Jeber was slow to react.

As a result, his response was sluggish as well.

Jeber realized something was off only after they had invaded and some time had passed.

It was after witnessing the massive explosion at the laboratory.

Most of the Artificial Humans in the lab couldn’t resist and were murdered, and explosions were triggered by planted bombs in the lab.

And amidst that chaos, the would-be assassins rushed in to assassinate Jeber.

However, there was something the Special Forces hadn’t anticipated.

Jeber’s psychic abilities were far too powerful.

It wasn’t uncommon for wizards to exchange curses. Each wizarding family developed techniques to counter such curses.

And Jeber was no exception.

Every family had its own protective techniques. If you could layer multiple types, you’d almost be invincible.

Thus, battles among wizards became a contest of poison, then power.

If you can’t stop curses, you’re no wizard. You probably get the gist of it.

But the techniques all relied on magic power.

With psychic abilities, they immobilized them, and they were swiftly rendered powerless.

If you ask whether that was Jeber’s complete victory, it wasn’t.

It was already too late.

Jeber incapacitated the assassins and headed toward the laboratory, where real and magical flames intertwined.

He encountered the Special Forces responsible for blowing up the laboratory, but they couldn’t stop Jeber’s psychic talents.

At that point, Jeber was already grinning, thinking of concocting something new with the assassins.

First, he stripped off all the protective gear from his body, severed his limbs, and clumsily healed the severed areas to cover them with skin. Then he cast a curse to prevent any potential recovery.

After that, he waltzed into the lab, giddy about the “foolish materials” he was acquiring.

He could rebuild a collapsed building.

But he was positively cackling at the prospect of how priceless the new body he’d gotten was, compared to the lab.

However, it didn’t take long for that laughter to disperse.

Jeber entered while magically extinguishing the flames.

An ordinary Artificial Human barely clung to life, extending a hand, but Jeber marched forward, delivering death as he went.

To an ordinary Artificial Human, life was disposable anyway.

But such indifference wouldn’t last long.

Inside the factory. In the passage leading to Jeber’s laboratory, he spotted an assistant.

A long black spike pierced the upper left arm, the lower right arm. It broke through the shoulder, sliced the left scapula, cut the right pulmonary artery, ruptured the abdomen, and pierced the left knee.

There were also several marks indicating other spikes had been pulled out. And finally, a massive spike that exited the right orbit and lodged itself into the back of the skull.

I said it, didn’t I?

It was already too late.

I had already gained warmth.

When I found the assistant’s corpse, Jeber’s laughter finally vanished.

And he went into a frenzy.

“Why has this happened?” he rushed toward me with the assistant’s corpse, which had been hard at work in a nearby factory.

It felt like déjà vu.

Not long ago, he had come to me with a dying assistant.

The difference now was that Jeber was fine.

Though, looking at his mental state, it was pretty much the same. He was equally scarred.

Yet, even the same situation yields different results. This time, the same miracle did not occur.

The assistant, named Cyclami, was already a harvesting machine.

Jeber placed Cyclami before me and clicked the machine.

And I recited the contract document.

But the corpse didn’t respond.

Because there was no longer light within.

Jeber pressed the machine repeatedly, and with every spike of pain piercing my head and spine, I recited the contract.

“Why isn’t she reviving this time? Why! Why! Why!”

The dead do not come back.

Only a god could manage that. Honestly, if the light had yet to evaporate before becoming a corpse, it might be possible.

But Cyclami’s light had vanished long ago. And above all, she was a harvesting machine.

I was already within the light.

What would happen if you asked me to insert myself again? It’s like placing a small container into the ocean. Asking to put something in that’s already in the ocean is a contradiction.

Removing it and reinserting it?

I would never do that.

I had already gained warmth. Why should I let go of warmth? A better future? Shall I be seduced by resurrection?

No way.

Absolutely not.

It’s warmth already in my grasp.

If I were to let go of warmth, I’d rather tear apart the world, stuffing all warmth into my mouth and turning into a monster that craves only warmth.

This is my line.

This is my limit of tolerance.

No way.

I will never let go of this.

So, Cyclami died.

Jeber looked at Cyclami, despairing.

Someone might say that the despair of a being living off countless lives is sweet, but I couldn’t care less.

Whether saint or villain, all I need is warmth.

“Ugh, sniff.”

Ultimately, Jeber began to weep on the floor.

No matter how cruel a human, no matter how a wizard treated life like trash, the death of someone they cared about seems to be sad.

I watched him while recalling his memories.

Back when Jeber was a young man, full of vigor.

He heard rumors of an unheard-of wizard causing a stir and went out to deal with it. He thought if he could force a debt on a wizard in that area, he could gain useful tools because he had biotech magic.

And there, he killed the world’s first harvesting machine, Bardrol.

He captured that corpse and learned the skills of Yasle that Bardrol had somewhat honed.

Curious about the traits acquired by the harvesting machine, he created an Artificial Human using Bardrol’s body.

That was Cyclami.

She was more human than any of the Artificial Humans he had created until then. In other words, she resembled a person the most.

His research on Artificial Humans rapidly advanced from that point. In the process, he ended up developing feelings for Cyclami, who had worked as his assistant throughout his study.

The timeframe they spent together amounted to twenty years.

Foolish human.

Look at the result of developing feelings for a test subject you shouldn’t have.

He stopped crying, his tears having run dry, and sat there, dazed before Cyclami.

As the bodily fluids from the assistant’s corpse began to exude a repugnant odor, Jeber got up.

In his eyes shone pure hatred.

A familiar look.

The gaze of one seeking revenge.

Hehe.

Look at that! Hatred is festering!

With a rigid moral compass in hand, Jeber, who had been grinding humans for research, was justly repaid.

The royal family was merely trying to act morally.

But here, evil prevails.

No, for now, it is evil. If they win, it directly becomes the righteous side. They ambushed a well-off household and killed its family.

That side becomes the evil one.

If they win.

And now Jeber was filled with nothing but hatred.

As soon as he stepped outside, he gathered all the surviving Special Forces from his home.

Just hours ago, he had been grinning at the thought of creating new toys with them, but not anymore.

Until now, he had been preparing for war using biotech mechanically.

But Jeber had no intentions of that anymore.

He infused evil and hatred into technology.

Hatred boiling to stain the Fourth World. I can’t wait to see how much warmth can be obtained by slaughtering people.

Every moment in this world is a continual expectation, and I find it thrilling.

Thank you for bringing me here.

Jeber Ibn Haideka.

I’ll compliment you, so keep up the effort.