D.I.O

Chapter 240

Independence Day

*** The Modern God ***

No matter how strong an individual was, their power was meaningless in front of a large group known as a nation-state.

This was an absolute truth that no one in human history had broken through. No matter how strong an individual was, he or she alone couldn’t accomplish anything by himself or herself. Historically, only groups had been able to move the world. This was why the world had no choice but to fall into a frenzy over the unprecedented situation in which Arthur, who was a single individual person, achieved [victory] over the nation-state Japan.

He was an individual who managed to go against and beat a nation-state; he was a singular existence that could beat the collective.

This outcome was something that only occurred in science fiction novels. Arthur’s achievement completely went against and destroyed the existing paradigm and crumbled its foundation to the very core.

Rumors… the Internet… news outlets… Through all means and mediums, word of Arthur’s existence and achievements spread like wildfire.

After all, Arthur had already been famed as the knight of justice, a knight of light, and the strongest swordsman. In addition, Arthur had appeared on TV by himself and suppressed the entire nation of Japan—an economic powerhouse in Asia—solely with his power. So it had been impossible to control and limit the flow of information from the very beginning.

“… Dang, it’s so noisy everywhere,” Merlin muttered.

“Of course. In the first place, Earth is not a system that can accept transcendent beings, especially a transcendent being mad with rage… Suffice it to say, things have been turned upside down,” Eunhye replied.

The Japanese government, which had been dealt a critical blow by Arthur, and the other various groups under the government’s influence rallied together to define Arthur as a murderer and insisted that he be punished immediately… Nevertheless, all of their voices became hollow cries. Their justification was lacking, but above all, how could any being on Earth condemn Arthur and take effective action against him?

Yongno gained only fragmentary information seen through video clips. However, he was quite close to Arthur and had a lot of experience fighting alongside him, so he was able to roughly grasp Arthur’s current power level.

‘Perhaps Arthur reached enlightenment by understanding the essence of his Bursting Sword Light to reach the realm of transcendence. Moreover, his ability to wander through space without being a mage… Is it possible for Arthur to put his entire body through photonization?’

Thus, Yongno concluded that it was absolutely impossible to harm Arthur with Earth’s existing modern weapons. Arthur was now a being who could make his own physical body into an attribute. This was such a groundbreaking idea and concept that no one could imagine what this truly meant or what it entailed, but Arthur would definitely be virtually unaffected by physical blows.

It was possible for Yongo to further speculate on this. A person would be able to go anywhere on Earth instantly if they could convert their physical existence into the light attribute, which was the freest and fastest among all attributes. Excluding a few limiting factors… it would even be possible for Arthur to travel throughout outer space.

In the end, humankind had to face unprecedented and enormous changes due to one individual.

It was common sense that an individual would be helpless in front of a large group, but Arthur was a transcendent being who no longer fit into or could be understood under any existing power dynamic construct or modern paradigm of understanding.

“Hey… bro. The people in the Blue House have been trying to get in touch with you.” Youngmin, the dimension traveler, brought Yongno a smartphone right at this moment.

This was actually already the 5th time Youngmin had stated the exact same line and brought over the same smartphone though.

“Didn’t I already tell you to tell them I said no?”

“Things are crazy out there, bro. They’re so desperate that it’s hard for me to tell them no. Something is very wrong… After investigating Arthur’s case, Congressman Lee Myung-Hak took the lead and issued a statement condemning Arthur’s actions. The statement condemned the brutal carnage Arthur has been dishing out as an unacceptable act against humanity, no matter what wrongdoing or under what pretense the carnage was being carried out. It seems that the Human Rights Commission and various similar organizations are voicing the same statement and position.”

“Hmm, have they all gone mad? …I guess that’s an oversimplification. Of course, their action of issuing such a statement is crazy. But the congress representatives love to avoid any harm to themselves. No matter how stupid they and others are, there’s no way they would do such a thing without reason.”

The members of the Korean National Assembly were people who could take on every known swear word in existence thrown at them without breaking a sweat or batting an eye, and they were absolutely not stupid.

Of course, wariness against Arthur had reached its peak ever since he proved through his utter destruction and dominance over Japan that it was possible for an individual force to overthrow a nation-state. However, this was even more reason to avoid Arthur, not enrage him. Why were the congressman and many others carelessly going against Arthur’s wishes and even being contentious toward him?

Arthur had already proven his strength and non-negotiable boldness by slaughtering tens of thousands of people and destroying the Japanese armed forces alone.josei

“So, you’re saying there’s another reason why these people are taking these actions?”

“There’s a popular saying that ‘One eats mustard while crying’. Essentially, what I’m trying to say is that those people… are the culprits.”

“The culprits… The guys who eventually handed over Arthur’s mother to the far-right group?”

“Yeah. They’re probably too embarrassed and taken aback by the result, so they’re trying to buy time and seek other solutions. But they’ve chosen the wrong opponent.”

Saying this, Merlin checked the time. There was no reason for him to answer the Blue House’s call, and it was too late in the night now anyway.

“He must have already made his move,” Eunhye stated calmly.

Youngmin tilted his head in confusion after hearing that.

He muttered, “Why do you think so? He might still be collecting evidence…”

“Why would he need such things? Once he’s certain, he’ll move. Above all, I can’t believe that a being who has reached the transcendent realm wouldn’t have the power to recognize and grasp a single lie.”

Master-level users who played DIO knew how amazing transcendents were because they often met with such transcendent realm beings in the game.

For an archmage or great mage, even reading the entire life of another person was simple child’s play, and it was even possible to read the heartbeat or temperament of another even if one didn’t possess such an information-related collection ability. This meant it was impossible and futile for ordinary humans to use or deceive transcendent beings.

“Merlin! Merlin!”

“Huh?”

Just then, a silver-haired girl in her early to mid-teens jumped out of a room with six tails rustling behind her.

“Oh… Her tails…” Yongno looked towards Miho as Youngmin groaned in admiration at Miho’s fluttering tails.

“What’s the matter?”

“Look at this!” Miho said.

She opened a piece of paper confidently. [My name is Miho. I am 31 years old.] was written on it. The important thing to note was that the letters were written in Korean.

“Eh? I thought you didn’t know how to write in Korean. No?”

“I learned from reading books.”

“You’re able to write Korean in one day after reading some books? Wait, I thought you didn’t even know how to read Korean. No?”

Miho responded in [Korean] to Youngmin’s unbelieving words, “Well, I can also speak in Korean to some extent now after having watched a few dramas.”

“… Wow.”

Of course, Miho, who had lived all her life in DIO, did not know any Korean.

Miho normally used the three major languages commonly used by all users and monsters residing in Dynamic Island, but she had mastered written Korean as well as spoken Korean, to some extent, in just one day.

However, Yongno was surprised by a completely different fact.

“Wait, you’re t-thirty-one years old! Why are you so old!?”

“W-what kind of nonsense are you saying?! Who are you calling old!! I am a young monster!”

Enraged at Yongno’s unexpected choice of words, Miho wildly threw punches at Yongno.

Youngmin groaned at the sight of the six tails standing stiffly behind Miho as she threw punches at Yongno.

“Her tails…”

“What’s the matter?”

Surprised by Eunhye’s calm expression and tone of voice, which she maintained regardless of the loud commotion, Youngmin shook his hand in the air.