Above Your Head

Chapter 77: Advent of the God of War (8)

Chapter 77: Advent of the God of War (8)

The hypothesis that came to Celestia's mind instantly sent goosebumps all over her. Just then, Hawa said something which further convinced Celestia of the latter's hypothesis.

"In particular, the unique technique of cutting off the enemy's limbs and rendering them incapable of combat was so impressive that he became famous in the entire universe; it became his trademark. No, I should say it was fated to be."

After a being went through self-training and attained enlightenment, they would reach the realm of transcendence and become a transcendent, above and beyond and laws of this world. They would be able to escape from their ordained fate and surpass the limits of their species; they would attain the low-rank Status of God. These beings included those who reached the peak of an absolute master, a Ninth-Class Great Wizard, a Divine Deity or Dragon King who managed planets according to the orders of a Primordial God.

However, a low-rank Status of God would only amount to a low position among the transcendents. Naturally, there were those of higher statuses -- intermediate-rank Status of God, commonly referred to as the Emperor-class. Masters who reached the Realm of Life and Death, the Tenth-Class Ultimate Magus and Tribal Gods who managed an entire race were some beings under that category. Cheong Won, the saint from Elohim who persecuted Celestia also fell into this category.

In fact, those attaining the intermediate-rank Status of God would become monsters capable of easily destroying planets and even stars. Not many in the Great Universe would be able to stand up against them despite the Universe's plentiful powerful beings.

Way above those of the intermediate-rank Status of God stood the True Gods; they were those who achieved high-rank Status of God and would enter the realm of the Untouchables. They transcended even their very existence and assimilated to a concept.

These were not very widely known information, but Celestia was able to quickly grasp the situation. Despite being a girl who was more interested in gunfights and warfare as compared to history and fairy tales, she was still a member of the Imperial family and had received high-quality education.

"Domination of concepts…"

Not all existences with a high-rank Status of God possessed that power. In reality, Eve and her companion, Adam, as well as another great adversary of the Union -- King and Queen, did not possess that sort of power.

However, beyond those beings who only possessed a high-rank Status of Gods, there existed Gods with a unique Status and these Gods would take a particular concept as the foundation of their existence.

All those with unique Status of God had a distinct characteristic.

'They would possess every single thing that fell under that particular concept.'

The God of Magic, God of Martial Arts, God of Light, God of Darkness, God of Time, God of Space, and even God of Life, God of Death...

These beings dominated and are Masters of their particular concepts. In particular, masters of soul energy such as the God of Magic and God of Martial Arts possessed all concepts under the relevant category.

There was nothing the God of Magic didn't know from the secret spells that existed when the heavens and earth were created, to the future magics that had yet to exist. On the other hand, the God of Martial Arts could naturally learn the fistfighting skills that existed from the very beginning, as well as the martial arts of the future created after thousands of years of refinements.

"From the beginning of time until the end of time."

These beings were able to dominate the particular concepts and these relevant concepts were not bound by any sort of restriction. They were even free from the influence of time and had perfect enlightenment of the concepts they dominated from the beginning of time until the end of time.

In other words, no matter how powerful a being trained or how long the duration they had trained, they would never be able to go beyond a high-rank transcendent in terms of enlightenment of the relevant concept -- for the transcendent was basically the concept itself.

"But Dae-ha is a human being. Not just that, he's extremely ordinary and weak…"

"That's right."

"…But a human like him knows every single technique in existence. In the first place, what kind of concept must he possess to make that possible? God of Manipulation?"

Celestia couldn't understand how.

Hawa responded to Celestia's question, "To be exact, he knows it not because he perceived it but rather, he's just doing things that's in his nature."

Dae-ha didn't even know who the King of Adventure, Carlos was. He also did not know that the method of the Energy Absorption which he came to use naturally, was a method that someone had devised with their life on the line.

He just naturally came up with it.

It was the same scenario. In his mind, he was just thinking that he didn't want to kill humans as much as possible, and he came up with the Art of Non-Killing that should've been established a few decades later [1].

It was a given that the enemies wouldn't be able to avoid Dae-ha's shots.

Since the far distant past, countless people had been shooting at their enemies with smart-guns, electron-guns, as well as naval cannons and photon cannons. Among them, there were snipers who could hit a coin-sized target from dozens of kilometers away and there were some who could do a trick shot that could pierce through dozens of falling coins thrown into the air. There were geniuses who could also fire naval cannons to accurately blow up the cockpit of an enemy's fighter jet, and also masters who could intercept dozens of incoming missiles.

Without Dae-ha realizing it, all those techniques, skills, and know-hows came as second-nature to him.

"As a matter of fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the greatest pilot in the universe. Wait a minute."

Celestia turned her head and looked at Hawa. Hawa was focused on Napoleon's fight in space and didn't even bat an eye at Celestia. However, Celestia didn't care.

"Why are you telling me this? What the hell do you want or expect from me?"

One of the scariest things about an Untouchable was a particular power of theirs -- All-knowing. This transcendental perception ability allowed them to read the world's flow, so it was extremely easy for them to induce inferior beings to act in the direction they wanted.

"Who knows."

However, Hawa did not respond to Celestia's cautious words. With a strange look on her face, she was just looking into space where flashes of light were continuously exploding.

"Well…"

That was something that not even Hawa would know. She wasn't even able to clear her mind yet. Of course, when she woke up from her fragmented self because of Adam, she intended to eliminate Dae-ha at Adam's request. No, to be exact, it was Adam's command. But as soon as she came face-to-face with Dae-ha, she couldn't do so. No, to be precise, she didn't do so.

'How come?'

Hawa pretended to be calm, but her state of mind was in confusion. It was so frustrating to the point that she felt like she was suffocating, and she couldn't make up her mind.

"I can't believe I can't see anything to this extent…'

It was blurry. When she first saw the future, she could at least see some sort of outline. But now, Dae-ha aside, she couldn't even see Celestia's future. Her transcendental power -- All-knowing -- was in complete dysfunction.

Every time Hawa saw Dae-ha, she felt perplexed by the amicable feelings arising within her. The anger and jealousy she felt when she first heard of his existence had all dwindled down as if they were just mere fabrication.

'This is dangerous.'

Despite feeling that way, she couldn't take her eyes off Dae-ha. She couldn't kill him, nor could she distance herself away from him.

Flash--!

Just then, a tremendous light dazzled out of nowhere above Napoleon's head. Celestia was startled and checked the battlefield information. Information about the newly appeared Gigas was being displayed; she was very familiar with it.

"What the hell, they sent Goldrian out? Why? For what reason?"

The Golden Constellation, Goldrian, was the Imperial Gigas of the Imperial family. It was a Star-rank Gigas which was uncommon even in the Leonhardt Empire.

However, Goldrian was a Gigas that only members of the Imperial family could ride on. Ultimately, the Sixth Imperial Prince, Elion, was the only person on board Rising Storm currently who could pilot Goldrian. So, why would he go out of his way to appear in battle now?

"To kill. And… perhaps they might be able to achieve their goal."

Celestia narrowed her eyes in response to Hawa's ominous words.

"What the hell do you mean by that… Didn't you say that Dae-ha possessed the Untouchables' power to dominate concepts?"

Of course, Goldrian was a powerful Gigas which Napoleon couldn't compare to, and Elion was a pretty good pilot. However, the situation would be completely different if his opponent was an Untouchable.

In reality, hadn't Dae-ha display powers that went far beyond the limits of the Gigas?

However, Hawa replied in a calm voice, "And you were the one who said he is an extremely ordinary and weak human."

"...Is being a normal human being a problem?"

"You're a lot more quick-witted than you look, huh."

'Hohoho'. The way Hawa laughed was graceful and elegant. Even though she definitely looked like a young girl, the vibes she emanated were so unique that it was impossible to describe.

"Well, to be exact, it's wrong for you to say that he is an ordinary human. But at least, it's not completely wrong for now since he's trapped in a human's body. And if so…"

Flashh!

With a dazzling light, Napoleon was blasted off like a ball struck by a bat. Goldrian, shining with a golden brilliance, chased after him.

"In the face of overwhelming strength, any sort of technique would be useless." Hawa said as she jumped into space with her mind clouded with thoughts. She could see Napoleon struggling to get away from Goldrian.

She couldn't kill Dae-ha. The moment she faced him, she knew that she could not harm him even if she did it in an indirect way.

Dae-ha was her last kin whom Father left behind. She still found it unbelievable, but... the more she looked at him, the more she was convinced of the absurd hypothesis. Just looking at him made her feel warm and cozy, and the desire to leave everything in his hands rose like wildfire in her heart.

'But I can't do that.'

She had already lost her authority among the Legions. She was shattered to pieces and only fragments remained. On the other hand, Adam, the one who crushed her to bits, became an even more powerful existence. And he was insane, he was out of his mind.

Adam would never be able to tolerate Dae-ha's existence.

'Yeah, that's the only way.'

If Dae-ha died here, everything would go back to its original state. Adam would have no reason to go mad. Rather, his madness might even subside.

Hawa stared at Goldrian who was chasing after Napoleon.

'You're going to die in the hands of a human.'

*

Boom!

There was an explosion. The cockpit, which was protected by the Avalon System, was ringing, so it was difficult to even imagine how great of a damage Napoleon had received. I changed my position over and over again by using Flash, but it was all futile resistance.

Bang!

"Shit! Goddamn it! What's all this fuckery?"

I barely managed to block the attack with Energy Absorption, but it shattered the barrier in one hit. It was impossible to evade. Goldrian was blasting light in all directions like a sun shining on the entire universe.

Partner! This is weird! I know that Goldrian is a strong Gigas, but it wasn't to this extent!

"I know that too!"

I had only rode on Goldrian a few times, but I even managed to capture the demi-humans battleship Punishment with it. So, of course, I would know the extent of Goldrian's performance.

Shiaaaang---!

"Damn it, it's coming again!"

Light radiated from Goldrian. I activated Energy Absorption to try and somehow stop the attack, and then strengthened the barrier. However, the attack hit its mark and the barrier was reduced to nothing like a candle that was blown out by the wind.

"Napoleon, how much energy do we have left?"

Fifteen percent.

"Aghh, how did it reduce by 25 percent in a split of a moment!"

I groaned and looked at the golden giant flying in front of me. In terms of size, it was similar to Goliath which I decapitated, but its power was way beyond that.

"Fuck. I knew something like this might happen, but…"

I was never at a disadvantage against any kind of enemy. I possessed more Abilities than others, and I was always overwhelming the enemy with my techniques.

Hence, that was why I knew all the more about my weakness. No, to be exact, rather than calling it a weakness, it was more like a limit.

"To think he's just an enemy with larger energy reserves…"

I couldn't do anything to an enemy who was purely pushing a power struggle because if I were to ride on a Gigas, I couldn't increase its energy reserves.

1. The Art of Non-Killing is supposedly to be established by the guy from Celta Galaxy which Hawa mentioned in ch 76.