The Outer God Needs Warmth-Chapter 191: Beauty and the Beast (1)

The sky was collapsing.

It was impossible to describe it any other way. Looking up, the darkness was deeper than pitch black, writhing in a way that seemed unnatural. When someone shined light into the darkness, it rippled like the surface of the night sea.

But in nature, water always falls downward, yet now, the water from all directions was being pulled upwards into the sky.

It spread out in all directions and covered the sky.

The mountain range in the east was half submerged, with an orange sunset casting a slanted light, showing how much of it had sunk. In contrast, the sea to the west was revealing its black mud. The seawater that should have been filling that space was being pulled up into the sky, exposing the bottom more and more.

But it looked like the entrance to hell from a myth, so no one dared to approach that direction.

Turning my gaze elsewhere.

To the north, there was the sea, and to the south, a massive river blocked the way.

However, the river was no longer there, so if one ran fast, they could reach Vern City. But due to the water blocking all light from the sky, it appeared to be nothing more than simple darkness, effectively making it impassable.

The assumption that the river was flowing blocked the way. It was already late in the evening. With the faint light of the sky obscured by the sea, the ground was barely visible. Who would dare cross under such circumstances?

There was nowhere to escape.

And the surface of the water slowly descended from the sky to the ground.

Everyone watched this in a daze.

The fight no longer seemed meaningful.

The soldiers here and the citizens resisting also looked up at the water’s surface.

Some thought that since they could swim, they could escape if the water came down slowly like this.

But once the highest spire submerged into the water with an ominous grinding sound, they quickly abandoned that thought.

The collapse.

It wasn’t just that the water was floating.

Almost no one understood what that meant, but everyone now clearly realized there was no place to escape. The only certainty was that if they touched the water, they would die.

It wasn’t even infused with magic, and the world was suffocatingly still. There was no magic, the air was eerily still, and it felt bone-dry.

Therefore, no one knew the culprit.

No one thought this was something a human could do.

So maybe, if they dealt with the one creating it, they could survive. But no one could come to that conclusion.

So what would people do?

Flash!

At that moment, a beam of light that had melted the ground toward the water shot up into the sky.

Although no one understood why the water was floating, they thought that if it were simple water, it could be evaporated. With that thought, they attacked the object in front of them.

It was simple and intuitive.

But the water was heavier than expected and could store tremendous heat.

The beam of light soon disappeared.

And if the power to turn the evaporated vapor back into liquid existed, there was no damage from the heat. The disturbed surface of the water quickly returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

No, it didn’t just return.

KWAANG!

As if the surface was made of countless blocks, the position where the light had struck was violently pressed down as a wall fell from above.

The Craft Nine, the pinnacle of magical science from Vern City, was instantly crushed under the mass and disappeared.

A small port near Vern City.

Now, the people in this village denied that what was happening could be real.

But even if they denied reality, the water covering the sky did not disappear.

Instead, it slowly descended from the sky like a damp tissue being placed over a breathing mask. Or it was as if the land itself was sinking.

The moment people realized it could kill them, they desperately attacked the sky. Terrified, thinking that if they hit the water, maybe they could survive like others.

From all around, magic and objects flew upwards.

Light, heat, fire, ice, rock, steel, arrows, bullets, fire, bricks—every kind of attack imaginable shot up into the sky.

People, in a panic to escape death, cast magic in a frenzy.

But like a single drop of oil in the sea, the magic that fell into the ocean disappeared, as if nothing had ever been there, turning back into darkness.

Because the surroundings briefly brightened as the magic was used, when all the magic ceased, the darkness seemed even darker.

With that darkness came a deep sense of despair and fear, creeping into hearts.

In many societies, rivers symbolize death. They have claimed lives brutally through floods over the years.

Those looking up at the sky were drowning in despair.

And that despair broke their spirits.

They say that in extreme situations, a person’s true nature comes out, but in such extreme circumstances, only the broken remnants of the mind scatter in all directions.

A person who would smash a small glass bottle with a hammer and claim it’s the original form must be a fool or an artist.

Some people are pleading into the air, while others are blaming each other for the situation. Some are trying to create something with whatever they have to escape, while others simply sit in despair and wait for death.

All sorts.

Most people, like shards of glass, cling to their fractured minds. Even if despair flows from their hands like blood, if they let go, they’ll only go mad.

Creeeek...

And then the water passed the second floor. Buildings were pulled up by the pressure of the water and dragged into the surface.

Panic spread further as more people began to lose hope. The structures that had once supported them were now being pulled to the sky, crumpled, and the sky was unbearably low.

Above them, a sea of death loomed. The sea that, if touched, would instantly pull them under.

The fear of claustrophobia spread, and those who couldn’t stand waiting for death leapt into the water, thinking it would be a release.

Dying was incredibly simple.

One leap and their head was immersed in the water. The pressure of the water instantly shattered their skull, killing them. And that pressure didn’t stop there, dragging their bodies upward.

Like a sinking ship, the village slowly sank.

And in the middle of the village.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

A girl stood with a broken heart.

Victoria Bet.

No matter how full of anger she was, if she hadn’t kept a cool head right now, she would have already died at Daegon’s forward base.

She had thought this through calmly and was doing it because it was necessary.

She had told Polaris everything that had happened up until now.

That she came by airship, that the spring mechanism killed the crew, and that they even attacked to make the airship crash with a powerful weapon.

And the information that people trying to enter Vern City were protesting ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) at the harbor, asking to be allowed in.

She had also seen the soldiers killing protesters just a moment ago.

So, thinking calmly, the first priority was to make this place safe. After that, the goal was to find out what was happening in Vern City and somehow return to her family’s home.

As the water filled slightly above Victoria’s head, she stopped.

Among girls, her height was average, but compared to an adult man, she was small.

Thus, by lowering the water to this level, it would inconvenience the enemy’s movements.

Judging that this would secure enough safety, Victoria walked toward the place where the protesters had gathered.

The barbed wire was broken, and several soldiers were trembling, clutching their heads. Some had killed themselves by driving weapons into their own heads, while others were praying, trembling, with their eyes closed.

Victoria checked the line the soldiers had drawn and dropped the water.

The defense line disappeared into the water. Any object submerged in the water was quickly crushed and broken into pieces.

Having flushed them away like toilet water, Victoria stepped forward.

Now, seeing the dead and feeling sorrow wouldn’t do her any good. She was filled with rage.

Instead, she created water pillars around the buildings, blocking anyone from escaping by stacking walls.

As she entered the building, she dropped a water pillar on anyone inside. Most objects under the water pressure were shattered to pieces.

A simple task. Killing low-ranking soldiers and tearing down buildings from the second floor.

When Victoria entered the building and looked up, the ceiling was still intact. To prevent any gaps during the attack, she carefully lowered the water to tear down the second-floor floor, which also served as the ceiling for the first floor.

A high-pitched scream echoed from inside.

Instead of walking straight into that direction, Victoria carefully scanned the inside from the entrance. She could turn everyone present into fragments of cells in an instant, but she cautiously checked the nearest room first.

She left the large central hallway untouched and circled around the hallways to check the rooms one by one.

In Victoria’s eyes, papers were scattered in disarray, and used weapons were littered everywhere.

She scanned the papers she picked up and checked the weapons, confirming their general functions.

After searching the surroundings carefully, she moved deeper into the building.

She gently pushed the large door in the back while pressing herself against the wall.

"Ugh, UAAAH, protect me!"

Someone inside screamed loudly, and as the sounds of murmurs and footsteps approached, Victoria cautiously distanced herself in the hallway.

And, preparing to block the entrance with a water pillar, she waited in silence until a soldier emerged. She immediately blocked the door behind her with a water pillar.

When one person realized they were isolated, the soldier understood they had been baited but couldn’t return to the passage.

So, using a weapon like a gun powered by a device that converted magical energy into kinetic energy, they aimed at all directions.

Then, he noticed a girl looking at him from a crouched position.

Was she here to ask for help in this situation? The soldier thought, and slowly lowered his gun.

A wrong judgment.

The price for that mistake hit him hard.

Thin streams of water poured down from all sides, wrapping around the soldier like a snake. Unlike before, he wasn’t pulled by the pressure, but his face was covered by the water mass, and he couldn’t even scream before being dragged up into the air.

He struggled for a while, but as his oxygen ran out, he collapsed. However, the water continued to fill his airways and lungs.

Finally, Victoria set him back down on the floor, searched his body, and checked the weapons he used and the protective gear he wore, piercing them with the water streams.

Then, she pulled out something that could identify him and frowned. Combining the information she had gathered from the scattered documents with his identity as a soldier from a Marquis's house, the outline became clear.

"Marquis Gaston? So you’re the one who caused Vern City’s blockade?"

The target had been set.

Victoria immediately entered the room.

"A... woman?"

Two men in guard uniforms. One woman. And in the middle, a man holding a shiny sword, cowering.

He was originally large, with a manly face, but sitting like that, he looked pitiful.

"Marquis Gaston. Did you blockade Vern City?"

"This woman knows who I am and speaks to me like that—"

When negotiating, act with confidence.

Remembering Beatrice's words that it's fine to lightly threaten if necessary, Victoria pulled a rectangular water pillar from the surface, where the first soldier had stood.

Before the soldier could scream, he was sucked into the water pillar and crushed, disappearing before everyone's eyes.

"I’ll ask you again, Gaston. Right now, you only have two options to refuse."

Victoria looked at the remaining men and woman as she spoke.

This wasn’t negotiation—it was a threat.

"Tell me why you blocked Vern City."

It was clear that this would force the people here to answer.