Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 38: A Tumultuous War (6)

“How dare you!”

A bald warrior tried to stop my charge. He was holding a strange weapon in both hands, a strange, three-pronged, blunt, instrument.

‘Isn’t that something that the Ninja Turtle uses? Was it called Sai?’

It was something you might see in a historical drama, but this was a battlefield where such items were exceptional murder weapons. The bastard in front of me had a shaggy beard but no hair. He attempted to pierce a gap in my armor with his weapon.

Fwoosh.

I did not react until the very last minute. As soon as the weapon was about to poke into the gap, I lowered my posture. Instead of seeing blood, the weapon was deflected by the slope of my helm.

Craaccck!

I accelerated with a spark. It was the power of the legendary ability, . My foot stomped against the ground so hard that the asphalt was crushed into pieces. I lifted my upper body like a bolt of lightning while swinging my right arm even faster.

Slice.

The ability to control metal caused the armor on my right arm to quickly be morphed into something sharp. The metal was transformed into something like a super-vibration knife with the orange power from the Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights, and I cut through his right arm like butter. I charged. He had lost his balance and was floundering. I lowered my posture once more and struck his body. Utilizing the power of orange once more, my arms passed through his legs and grabbed his left arm before twisting it.

The entire sequence was as soft as flowing water.

Limb amputation.

It was quite a humanitarian method. No Gigas had their cockpits located on their arms and legs, so the pilot who was subjected to this technique was guaranteed to survive without sustaining any injuries. The statistics for surviving something like this was more than 95%. In space, defeat was no different from death. This was a technique that was extremely gentle and humane, perhaps the most peaceful of them all.

However, it was a little different in the current situation.

Rip!!

“K, kuaaagh!! My, my arm!! My legs!!!”

“Opps.”

I muttered when I saw the warrior struggling on the ground. He was like a log after losing all four of his limbs. His screaming and wriggling were all the more terrible because he resembled a worm. If he were an ordinary man, he would have already died of shock, or from excessive bleeding, but an ability user possessed immense vitality. He would survive and be subjected to even more pain.

He would not die. Unless he committed suicide from the pain and despair of losing his limbs, he would stop the bleeding after a while and survive for a long time. That was the type of superhuman that physical-type ability users were.

“Hmm, but you are bleeding so much. I should burn the-“

Clang!

“wound. Ouch.”

I staggered at the impact of something hitting my forehead, but I quickly regained my posture. It was a strong blow, but It wasn’t effective. Even though I had failed to maintain the Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights due to my frayed concentration, the surprise attack did not work. It was evidence that the defense of P-1 had increased massively since I invoked Gigas Call.

“D, dammit, what the hell is he!? Where did he come from!? How can he move so freely when there are so many Selected Ones and non-selected in the mix?”

“That’s not the important part! Why is he so damn fast!? How can he move like that when he is equipped in full-body armor?”

“It’s too durable! What the hell is that armor!?”

“Dammit, stop whining and kill him! There’s many of us, and only one brat, we can’t just…!”

Non-selected jumped from all over the place while swinging their weapons. Their blows were lightning fast. It was clear that they had trained for countless hours.

But it was useless.

Crack!

Lightning Flash. The quick blows suddenly slowed down to a crawl. In the slowed time, I used both my hands to flick a sword away and even deflect a projectile shot from far away. As I disrupted a sword’s path, the man’s posture was broken. Taking the chance, I dug into his embrace, and-

Limb amputation.

I leaped off the ground with the power of vibration while spinning around. I flew into the arms of a man watching me from a slight distance. Grabbing onto his faltering legs, I spun around and –

Limb amputation.

“Kuaagh! My arms! My legs! Arghh!!”

“What the fuck! What is this!?”

“Joint the limbs.”

“I can’t! It was as if the cut was made with electricity…!”

The non-selected had been attempting to gather in the surroundings of my brother. However, when I jumped in and started making a ruckus, they became disorganized. Of course, I was only able to incapacitate a handful of them, but they would not be able to ignore me as I tore through the limbs of their colleagues.

Ping!

One of them attempted to seize and lift my body, but it was canceled by the ability Protective Guard. I immediately dashed off the ground like a missile. Even though thousands of ability users were emitting killing intent towards me, I was also a Selected One in the end. I could not attack properly in such a messy situation.

“What is going on!? He isn’t even a non-selected, so how can he move like that!? What tricks is he using?”

“Carefully observe his movement and gaze! We may be able to figure something out! Maybe he is moving in a roundabout way!”

“No, damn it! He’s just rampaging around like a madman!”

Angry shouts could be heard from all over the place. They were confused. They tried to figure out ‘my trick’ using all sorts of spells and abilities to observe me, but there was no way that such a thing existed. It was rather simple – just that the Great Wizard’s restrictions did not work on me.

‘This is easier than I thought.’

The system’s limitations stemmed from a Mental-type Great Magic, acting on those that belonged to the system. Unfortunately, however, I was completely immune to any mental attacks. I was restraining myself just in case, but if I was willing, I could attack the other Selected Ones as well.

‘If it proceeds like this, I should be able to take care of all the non-selected.’

With all kinds of restrictions placed on them by the system, they could not engage in a proper, collective war no matter how many people they had. And if collective warfare was impossible, their large number would only be a hindrance to them.

But it was at that moment.

“Move--- Aside---!”

A thunderous roar resounded throughout the area. The warriors from the Zhu family had been crowding the space in front of Gwanghwamun Gate, but they instantly stepped back at the words. I became surprised at their sudden movements and escaped from their midst.

“Order!”

“Get in order!”

I had escaped, but I did not go too far. As far as the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin to be exact. From their sudden, collective movement, it seemed that they had already been notified of the signal in advance. I went against their flow of movement and stood next to my brother. In front of Gwanghwamun Gate, there were only my brother and I, and the Fist Emperor and the Blade emperor, who had been leading the troops and dueling against my brother respectively.

It was quite obvious, but the continuous shooting from the Hwarang group also stopped. Rather, they had no choice but to stop. Since they could only target the non-selected ones with markings on their heads, when the enemies moved away and hid behind the Selected Ones, it was impossible to shoot at them before the duel ended.

“Dae-ha, are you okay?”

“Of course. What about you?”

“I’m fine as well, but… What the hell have you been up to in space?”

My brother asked me with a small frown on his face. His eyes were full of worries and concerns as he looked at me.

Oh, I see.’

I could finally get a proper look at the surrounding scenery. The road in front of Gwanghwamun Gate, as well as about two-thirds of the square, was painted red with blood. Gwanghwamun Square had already turned into a living hell, something way beyond anything depicted in a war movie or snuff films.

There was so much blood and flesh soaking the floor that the ground felt slippery, even though I was wearing metal boots. The battle had not lasted too long, but more than a thousand bodies were laid down on the ground.

There were so many bodies on the right side of the government complex that a new terrain had been created; some of the injured were gathered behind the hill of bodies, moaning with arrows sticking out of their bodies.

“I told you. I became an emperor. Did you think I would have been able to become an emperor by just sitting and idling around?”

“That’s terrible… You… You were never greedy for power. No, you weren’t ever greedy for anything. You would always sing about peace and harmony… To think you would be placed into such a situation.”

“Who would have thought.”

I shrugged.

Gwoooo---

The Blade Emperor started to exude a heavy spirit.

“Terrible, huh? Did you really utter that word just now? Without even suffering much damage?”

“If anyone heard you, they would think that we invaded you and started slaughtering you while you were living in peace.”

“Hoohoo… How mysterious. Who would have thought that I, that the Zhu Family would have been driven to the brink by a little brat.”

The Blade Emperor’s expression had been erupting in anger, but it suddenly started to calm down. His sword was held low near the ground. At first glance, it seemed as if he had given up on the battle, but his spirit was steadily growing larger.

“Now you finally have a good expression.”

“You speak as if I am your inferior… Ah, I admit. In this case, I am your inferior. I was just an ugly old man who just didn’t want to admit it.”

The tone and complexion of the Blade Emperor became eerily calm to the point of being detached. It felt much more dangerous than before.

He continued muttering to himself without waiting for any particular answer.

“I grew old and ugly. Yes, I truly am a sore sight. Hahaha! I cannot believe that I, Blade Emperor Jang Gang-rim, became such an ugly old man! An ugly old man who can’t concede even though things have already turned out this way…”

Kwoooohh!

His energy started to manifest as strong winds. A renewed blue energy started to flow in the large sword of the Blade Emperor. It was a type of energy materialization that could only be achieved by those who had stepped on the realm of a Compléter.

My brother smiled coolly and stepped forward.

“Are you planning on revealing your real skills, old man?”

Chii---

Sharp waves became to emerge from my brother’s body as well. Even though he was only equipped with a small cutter knife, Heavenly Killing Energy exuded from the top of the weapon to reach almost a meter long.

“Haha, nonsense. Do you think I was holding back until now? I just.”

The sword of the Blade Emperor was raised high above his head. It was a typical posture for a final strike.

“I just.”

Then,

Flash!

A brilliant glare collided with a heavy darkness. The collision only lasted for a split second, and it was impossible for me to catch a glimpse of the two without activating Lightning Flash. In fact, I couldn’t even catch an afterimage of the two. Before I knew it, the positions of my brother and the Blade Emperor had been switched.

After a short moment, the Blade Emperor gave a faint, dispirited smile.

“This wasn’t what I wanted.”

Lines began appearing all over his body.

“This wasn’t.”

Splat!

He disappeared into a cloud of blood. The body of the Blade Emperor split into countless pieces.

“Dammit… I wasn’t able to keep him alive. I should have delayed it for another 10 minutes at the least.”

My brother clicked his tongue as if he was frustrated, but he soon turned his head and looked towards me.

“Thanks. Things might have been completely messed up if you hadn’t disrupted their formation.”

“Messed up?”

I expressed my doubt.

The Captain of the Lee Family has won!

Progress: 0/1, 3/3

Congratulations! The Lee Family has won the Captain’s War!

The occupation has ended!

The occupier’s authority is given to the victor, the Lee Family!

The text was something no one could have imagined only a few days ago. Seeing the sharp inhalation of the troops, it seemed that everyone had received the same message. Then,

“Attack! Wipe out the Lee worms off the face of this world!”

The roar of the last of the Three Emperors, the Fist Emperor, rang out on the battlefield.