Above Your Head

Vol 2. 46: Destruction vs Destruction vs Destruction (3)

Vol 2. Chapter 46: Destruction vs Destruction vs Destruction (3)

30,000 against 150,000. The unreasonable war that diminished fighting spirit even before it started reversed the expectations of all forces around the world and the numerically disadvantaged side emerged victorious. It was a miraculous victory.

The Lee Family suffered a painful blow of 16,000 casualties, which was more than half of their forces, but it was a small damage when compared to the loss suffered by the Zhu Family's expeditionary forces.

Now that the 150,000 large army of the Zhu Family, who confidently invaded the region of the Lee Family, were exterminated without a single survivor, the Zhu Family was now in a position where all the forces of China must do its best to recover its territory in the parallel world, let alone revenge. What more, the Zhu Family's base of activity, the Forbidden City, was taken over. So, they were at the crossroad of destruction.

If the victory today was spread around the world, there would be a crustal movement in the power structure of the parallel world. It wasn't as if there was never such a sweeping great victory in history, but those were made possible due to a very special terrain, external problems such a supply or politics, or the existence of asymmetrically developed weapons. They were not as mysterious an outcome as the current situation.

All the forces in the world, which had already been preparing for the movement of the Zhu Family, had been hit in the back of the head.

Strategists from South Korea, who were instilled with a lethal dose of patriotism, did not dare to insist on such a result. Instead, they carefully stretched the degree of tactical victory over strategic defeat with the goal of the best result amongst the available results. This was because it was an impossible matter to achieve. This was initially acknowledged as being that sort of battle.

For example, in the surface world, it would be a shock equivalent to North Korea winning a battle against the United States of America. It was a surprise as unfathomable as the defeated United States becoming a subordinate country of North Korea. Basically, after the United States did all they could to arm itself with the latest weapons, including aircraft carriers, and even bringing over an overwhelming 150,000 troops, they launched a surprise invasion without even a declaration of war. Yet, they were exterminated by 30,000 North Korean conscripted soldiers. This was just how shocking the entire situation was.

An unbelievable victory that even the word "miracle" was not enough to describe it. In the first place, who would have predicted that they would emerge victorious when their quality and quantity were overwhelmingly inferior? However, it was hard to find anyone happy about the victory at Gwanghwamun Square.

"Oh my God, what in the world is this…?"

"Ughh damn it, the smell. Blurrghhh!"

"What do you think you are doing right now?! This is why novices are really-! Come on, move your butts! Recover the bodies and equipment!"

All the personnel who had fled and took refuge inside Gyeongbokgung Palace came out to Gwanghwamun Square and cleaned up the battlefield. The pretentious yet promising younger generations, the descendents of the households with a long history, as well as the trainees who were not allowed to go outside Gyeongbokgung Palace due to their weak fighting power, and even the court ladies of Gyeongbokgung Palace who were bound by all restrictions, sweated as they cleaned up Gwanghwamun Square. They were eventually covered in blood.

"Isn't it terrifying that despite the smell of blood being so intense, none of the demon tribes are charging here? It's not just because they're not nearby, but rather, there's not a single one of them in the range of detection."

"They were probably surprised by the large-scale battle and widened their distance."

"Does that make sense? Aren't the demon tribes beings who would crawl towards the smell of blood even if all their limbs were cut off?"

The trainees, who were dragging a large cart enchanted with magic containing broken weapons of war, chatted amongst themselves. They were not the only ones.

"There are almost no corpses that are fully intact. How could most of the bodies be mashed or exploded apart? This is like… Yeah, it is like they were hit by a big pole that flew at lightning speed.”

"I thought I lived a gruesome life, but I now seem oblivious to reality. I never thought I'd see such an outrageous sight."

The bodies were stacked like a mountain. Even the warriors, who were confident that they had lived a life that was no different from walking on a blade streaming with blood, trembled all over. This was because they could guess how horrible the war had been just based on the traces left in Gwanghwamun Square. However, even so...

"I don't know. I was contacted and listened to the news, I even participated in the war until the mid-to-late part of it… What kind of weapon did the Lee Family use at the end to be able to create such a devastating power?"

"I've been poking my nose around and I haven't figured anything out. Still, I heard from those that escaped to the rear that they heard the sound of thunder and lightning, along with a huge explosion."

"Moreover, to kill all these numbers without even taking any prisoners captive..."

"They must have used a forbidden spell, right?"

Even those who belonged to the Lee Family could not find out about the devastation that took place at the end of the war. This was because the strong barrier that the Lee Family spread out separated Gyeongbokgung Palace by zones, and also because Min-kyung took follow-up measures to distort the memories of the low-level ability users. Within the Lee Family, only about 1,000 High-rank ability users were aware of the existence of Dae-ha.

"Your Highness, Imperial Princess." The girl who approached Min-kyung was one of those High-rank ability users. This was a strong ability user who was at the top of the ranks even among the ability users of the Lee Family.

"Human Sword."

Heavenly, Earth, and Human, were the symbols of the Lee Family's martial prowess. She was the Guardian of the Human Sword, which symbolized mankind. Furthermore, being the Guardian of the Human Sword meant that she was the Leader of the Hwarang group, one of the Lee Family's three major martial groups.

Hwarang group was a youth-fostering organization established during the Silla period, and it was long destroyed and disappeared. However, it was revived by the Great Wizard who was intrigued by their abilities. Then, he made the Human Sword and ordered it to be inherited by generations of the leaders of the Hwarang group, and to build up their strength.

Hwarang were those who only gained strength from humans. They substituted the human's yearning, envy, love, and affection, with strength and served in fatigue duty[1]. Because of that, the Hwarangs had jobs such as singers, actors, models, or broadcasters.

They were beings who shined even when they were mixed among humans, no matter where and when. Due to the fundamental temperament of the group called Hwarang, they would bring along their stylists and makeup artists even if they went to war. They were beings of outstanding appearance, talent, and attractiveness. Furthermore, they lived frantically to further grow those qualities of theirs with all their might. That was why the leader of the Hwarang group was...

"Choi Bae-dal."

"Ah, this fucking..."

"What did you say?"

"I-It's nothing." The young girl, who lost her reason for a moment, regained her composure. She had a high reputation in the parallel world as the leader who led the Hwarang group, but there were actually far more people who remembered her by a different title. She was a genius singer-songwriter and the National Sister, Leaf. She was a singer-songwriter with excellent singing skills and was a top-notch actress recognized for her acting skills. She was also a broadcaster who was well-liked by the nation for her straightforward manner and behavior that she portrayed in all kinds of variety shows.

"Uuushaaa." Leaf walked up next to Min-kyung and leaned against the window. Min-kyung was on a high-rise building that still had some structural integrity left among the other ruined buildings, and as Leaf stood side by side with Min-kyung, she looked down at Gwanghwamun Square, which was being dealt with for quite some time after the war. Suddenly, Leaf said, "I've always been regarded as a genius."

"A genius?"

Min-kyung turned her head and Leaf nodded. "Teacher found me, who was an orphan, by chance and he clapped his hands and laughed like crazy."

It was a legend of the man who clapped and laughed crazily. The story was that her teacher, who was regarded as an expressionless man because he usually appeared that way, could not endure his joy upon witnessing her amazing talent. This was a testament to how amazing of an aptitude she had for the unique training method of the Hwarang, the Hwarang’s Way of Heaven Earth Flower. Unlike Heavenly Sword, who was a descendent of a prestigious household, or Earth Sword, who was manufactured as a weapon, only she, Human Sword, rose to the position of a leader only through her talent.

"I was called a musical genius when I first sang, and I was called an acting genius when I first entered acting."

Without anyone's help, she went to a big entertainment agency with nothing in her repertoire and got accepted at once. Her tone and vocalization was so amazing that it was burdensome for the agency to assign a vocal trainer to her, and she was so coordinated that she could perfectly imitate a dance she saw for the first time down to the most minimal movement.

"And face genius[2] was the nickname that always precedes all of the others."

"..."

Even Min-kyung, who was so serious when it came to bragging about herself, made a baffled expression. However, Leaf soon smiled bitterly. "Even so, despite that." Leaf turned her head and looked straight into Min-kyung's eyes. "When I saw Yeong-min... I felt inferior."

The reason why she first took interest in Kwan Yeong-min was, of course, because of his appearance. It was actually an extraordinary appearance that made him look more like a short-haired beautiful girl straight out of a manhwa rather than a man. But when he lifted the sword inside the tower, when he finally showed his talent for martial arts that he could not reveal in the surface world, as there was nothing that garnered such a display of power... She felt a shudder.

"He was a genius great enough to upset the world."

He was literally a genius that reigned supreme. It wasn't just talent sufficient enough to be the strongest person among many people. Rather, he had enough power to turn the world upside down by himself. He had the spirit and talent that was assumed to exceed beyond the limitations of the human species to reach the realm of transcendence.

"Yeah, he was a terrifying guy."

The remnants of the Unnamed that was embedded in the deepest part of the parallel world. The Tower accepted challengers from all over the world once a year. If there were insufficient or no challengers, they would forcibly summon them.

Kwan Yeong-min was the only challenger that came from the surface world. He was the only ordinary person among more than 1,000 challengers. However, that ordinary person became the winner of the Tower just with one cutter knife in hand.

"But." Suddenly, the air became heavy. Leaf's expression turned serious. "His brother was different. He w-was completely different."

Leaf thought of Kwan Yeong-min's younger brother, Kwan Dae-ha. His transcendental Mana, which made her legs tremble just by facing against him, and his unbelievable level of attribute ability that could turn weapons imbued with all kinds of spells into liquid in a blink of an eye, were truly frightening. However, it was his robots and fighter jets that he called forth that shocked and frightened her. It was dumbfounding. A robot in the parallel world dominated by swordsmanship and magic? He was not a genius. The surface world was a given, but he was also so foreign in the parallel world.

"What the hell is he?"

"..." Min-kyung looked down at Gwanghwamun Square without any sort of answer. The court ladies were seen operating the facilities on one side of Gwanghwamun Gate to retrieve the blood that had flowed into the sewer.

The damage suffered from this battle was truly devastating, but the benefits in return were so enormous that the damages were taken lightly. Aside from obtaining the authority of the Forbidden City, which was as good as everything the Zhu Family had, they also gained the equipment and supplies used by 150,000 people and even their corpses. From now on, the Lee Family had to walk on the tip of a blade.

The Lee Family would come to possess stronger powers with the current benefits gained, and the status of the organization known as the Lee Family would be completely different from what it had been thus far. However, other forces would try to dig up the secret to their victory by stabbing them in the back and poking with their feet instead of celebrating it.

"I'm also curious about that." Min-kyung turned around by the window. Even if she did not feel like it, she did not have the time to be immersed in her emotions anymore. “You do know that you can't be too curious about it, right?"

"...You're right. Yeah, I suppose." Leaf smiled bitterly. She was reminded of the overwhelming sense of pressure emitted by Dae-ha and the giant robot he was on board when he came down in front of them.

And above all, his words. "Then, there's no need to purposely annihilate humanity." That arrogant remark. It was an unbelievable matter, but... She did not feel even the slightest hint of pretentiousness from his words.

"Make sure you work towards not letting those morons provoke him." Baang! Min-kyung, who finished saying what she wanted to, lightly jumped down the building. Leaf stuck her head out and looked down, but she was already gone.

"Aigoo, I didn't hear a single answer to the questions I had and I was only given even more work.” Leaf grumbled, "I shouldn't have asked," and looked down at Gwanghwamun Square again. She saw numerous ability users of the Lee Family. "That's right. Mankind should fight a human's battle." They were words of determination. However, she didn't know. In front of the surging waves of the legend, the fact that a human's battle was nothing but a forlorn hope and wishing thinking.

1. Fatigue duty (or fatigue labor) is the labor assigned to military men that does not require the use of armament.

2. This is a commonly used term in Korea, which means a genius when it comes to looks. It basically describes someone who looks amazingly attractive.