Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 112: The Salvation of God (49)

The huge frame of Ares flew into the flock of whales.

Craack!

The head of a whale monster split in half with a single swing of Gungnir. The monster whales rushed towards me from all directions, but I continued to freely wield Gungnir. Then I used the head of a monster to go even higher.

Boom!

The head of the whale monster was crushed and my body rose even higher into the air. I had finally entered into the middle of the whale herd. Everywhere I looked, I could only see whale monsters. It was as if I was looking at a sea of monsters.

The whale monsters numbered as many as drops of water in the ocean.

Kuwaaah!

With so many monsters dying as they approached me, the whales switched their tactics and started to use their breaths from a distance. With more than 10,000 whales simultaneously using their breaths, it was physically impossible to avoid the attacks.

If this were the stage, I would have used the ability, The Undying Emperor to block the attacks. The firepower of 10,000 breaths was not to be underestimated. I would definitely die if such an attack even grazed me.

But things were different now that I was aboard Ares.

Fwoosh!

I jumped into the barrage of breaths. I should have been pushed back and smashed into smithereens, but I soared up in the flow of energy as if I had simply jumped into water. The breaths were burning and melting everything it touched, but it could not penetrate the translucent membrane surrounding Ares.

An attack of this level could not even put a dent in Ares’ “basic barrier’.

Wiiiing!

The God-rank gigas’ Iron Heart produced energy without rest. The Iron Heart’s unique and absolute nature, superiority advantage, dispelled all kinds of curses and aggressive energy swirling around Ares’ frame.

Crunch!

As I swam against the current of breaths, I twisted my body and pulled back Gungnir with all my might. Then I shot it forward.

Fwoooosh!

In an instant, the breaths evaporated into the thin air and all of the monsters lined up in front of me were destroyed. Holes with a diameter of 5 meters were left in the bodies of the unfortunate monsters.

Chuuuck! Chuack!

I could see a whale monster stumbling around in the air with Gungnir in its head, roaring as it crashed into all the surrounding monsters.

Nice shot!

Flight distance: 11.5 kilometers! 314 enemies have been penetrated!

I raised my right hand as the two voices spoke in my head. Gungnir vanished from the head of the falling whale in the far distance, then instantly reappeared in my hand. The surrounding monsters tried to close in for a bite, but my spear was faster.

Kwakwakwaang!!

A large explosion took place in the distance. It appeared as if the monsters had attempted to do something where I had been, but I had already moved more than a kilometer using the reactive force of throwing Gungnir.

“Again!”

Whoosh!

I hurled Gungnir once more as it reappeared in my hand. Hundreds of whale monsters were killed.

Whoooo--!

An immense divine power surged through Gungnir. In fact, it was not an easy feat to utilize Gungnir to this degree. Just as Ares would only allow someone who was a Transcendent and a Great General to ride him (me being an exception, of course), Gungnir also possessed strict usage conditions. In order to wield Gungnir, one needed to reach the point of transcendence through the spear. In particular, great achievements and capabilities in spear-throwing was a must.

Above all else… one had to inherit the godly bloodline of Odin.

Due to the strict conditions of use, not many capable users of Gungnir could be found even if one searched the entire Great Universe. However, I could disregard such conditions because of Ares’ ability, King of All Armaments.

‘Ah, it would have been much better if I had taken a weapon that was more suitable for large-scale combat rather than Gungnir.’

Gungnir was not a weapon suitable for large-scale combat. Gungnir’s most powerful characteristic was to never miss, which was a meaningless ability in a situation where mass destruction was needed. But even so, Gungnir was a transcendental weapon and a Numbering – one of the top 1,000 transcendental weapons in the universe.

Authority of the God of War

God of War

The passive ability and the transcendence skill enveloped Ares’ figure. In particular, the effect of Authority of the God of War was enormous. Even though it was a single ability, its effects were insane, providing the user with buffs according to the number of allies and enemies surrounding the user (originally, only enemies possessing Iron Hearts would be judged as enemies, but the level 19 space monsters possessed as much firepower as regular Star-ranked gigas). The buff given from Authority of the God of War was boosting Ares’ Iron Heart and durability to a degree that was almost equivalent to the God of War, which was a transcendence skill.

Uhh----ahhhhhh!! I’m! Overflowing! With power!!

I ripped apart a monster with my bare hands as Ares shouted excitedly. Using the monster’s corpse as a stepping stone, I shot up even higher into the air.

Pang!

With every thrown spear, every thrown fist, and every charge, heaps of monsters were slaughtered.

But nevertheless,

“Dammit.”

There were just too many. The enemies numbered in the billions.

Hahaha! To think there are this many primitive space monsters! I’d love to see how the Grotesque would react!

Although their huge number gave the impression that they might be as insignificant as ants individually, that wasn’t the case at all.

‘If that were the case, no matter how many billions of them existed, I could get rid of them easily with artillery.’

But they were level 19.

They were durable enough to withstand nuclear bombs and their breath could destroy an entire city in an instant. They could continue to battle even with their heads blown off, and they could move at incredible speeds of thousands of kilometers per hour in every direction. Even though I was in Ares, I could not kill the monsters unless I delivered each blow with all my strength.

‘If such a monster had appeared on Earth a few months ago, one of them would have caused enough damage to the entire planet to threaten humanity.’

Jokes aside, a single one of the monsters could have ravaged through dozens of countries, countless soldiers, and abilities users before humanity could finally defeat it.

I continued killing the monsters. Fortunately, due to the attack, the monsters had stopped attacking the city with their breaths. Instead, all of them were swarming towards me.

“Genie! What’s the evacuation status?”

There are currently 337,448,871 survivors. 98% have been evacuated into shelters. Currently closing the shelters that finished evacuation. 9.8 million combatable pilots are being regrouped.

“300 million?”

It was astonishing that 70 percent of the world’s population died in such a short amount of time. The only good news was that the evacuation was almost complete.

“Genie, how long until the evacuations are completed?”

Three minutes will be enough.

“Good. Then… do it.”

Ra’s Fury. Activating.

Originally, the Unique World was devoid of any light sources. A very feeble light could be seen on the ceiling of the Unique World, which resembled faint starlight of space, but it wasn’t nearly bright enough. As such, when the Unique World expanded enough to accommodate a high enough altitude, I utilized a lot of resources to launch the artificial sun, Ra.

And at this moment, the sun was glowing brighter.

Gwwuoooo---!

The light from Ra had been occluded when the countless whale monsters appeared, but the light was starting to slowly pierce through the dense darkness. I kicked off the ground.

Flash!

A massive heat wave spread throughout the sky with the explosion of Ra, the artificial sun.

Guwwaaoohh!!

Guoonog--!

The monster whales in the sky started to stagger. The vast heat and light energy would rob any ordinary person of its sight immediately, but not a single one of the monsters died.

“Wow, they’re so durable!”

It was unreasonable to have expected them to die from such a widespread attack. After all, they were strong enough to endure a direct hit by a nuclear bomb. But that did not mean that the explosion had no impact at all. It affected a particular function of the monster whales – to be exact, their ability to fly.

“Haap!”

The whale monsters rushed towards me while staggering, as if they were drunk. I ripped them apart to shreds.

I cut, stabbed, stepped, and jumped.

I threw, shot forward, and killed.

I started to pick up pace.

“…Hmm?”

I could not help but wonder at a strange feeling as I fought like crazy. It was something I could not express with words. I threw the spear – 300 enemies dead. 350, 400, 500 enemies died.

I swung my fists. One enemy died. Two, three enemies were torn apart.

I jumped. I traveled two kilometers. I traveled 3, 4 kilometers.

“What the heck?”

My senses were slowly getting sharper. My emotions were amplified, and my heart started to beat wildly. Ares’ output was increasing sharply as well. The power of my abilities was being gradually amplified as well.

Wooong!

Gungnir glowed blue as I lifted it up.

Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights. Blue.

Boom!

The spear became fastened to the empty air.

What is this? A defensive ability?

“No.”

I activated Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights once again. Using my fist, I punched the space where the spearhead was cemented.

Booooo--!!

The very air started to tremble. I knew at the moment that my proficiency with Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights had gone up a level.

Vibrations that shook space itself.

This was dimensional vibration.

Rumbleee--!!

The monster whales surrounding me were torn apart and scattered into nothingness. I shouted in excitement after realizing that Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights was not the cause of my growth, but rather a result.

“Hey, Ares! That’s it, right!?”

Hahaha!! You’re doing so well! That’s right! This is the War God’s Honor! I told you, didn’t i? This is the most perfect way to transcendence!

I was bewildered at the incredible power surging through me.

“I didn’t even train it, so when did it grow to such a degree?”

There is no need to train in it! Think about the nature of the War God’s Honor! This is a power that grows as you shine on the battlefield!

Honor.

I recognized the source of the boiling excitement that accompanied the growing power of the War God’s Honor. It was stemming from the excitement and wonder of those who were watching me, the believers.

“Believers, huh.”

I could feel countless eyes watching me fight. When I became conscious of it, I could see tens of millions of lines floating around me.

I grabbed onto the threads.

- Uah… Iron Mask-nim…

- You can do this! You can win! Iron Mask-nim!

- We need to go help him immediately!

- I’m scared… Please save me…

- Help me!

Countless voices buzzed in my head. But instead of being swept away by the innumerable voices, I controlled it. It came as naturally as breathing.

‘What can I give them?’

I could not give power. Even if I had incredulous power, it wasn’t infinite.

Hmm? Dae-ha, what are you doing?

Captain-nim! I’m sensing a huge release of magical energy into the surroundings!

The two of them became flustered at the sudden turn of events and spoke to me in urgent voices, but I shifted all my attention and focused. Fortunately, the whale monsters had lost me for an instant in the aftermath of the dimensional vibrations.

I invoked an ability.

God of War’s Army

The cloud of magical energy was absorbed by the countless threads that connected me to the people. I kindly wrote down the contents of the blessings so they would not fall into confusion.

Blessings of Iron Mask.

You will be incorporated into the army of Iron Mask. Two advantages will be provided upon acceptance. The relationship can be broken whenever the target wants.

1. Blessing of Piloting – You will gain the piloting ability of Iron Mask

2. Abilities of the Day – You will gain one random ability.

That was all I wrote down before continuing the battle. I had done my share, and the choice was left up to the rest of them – the 17 million gigas-riding believers in the Unique World.