Above Your Head

Chapter 47: Kidnapping (5)

Kwaaaanggg-!

Celestia's face flushed red like it was close to exploding. Her expression turned into that of a jumbled mess of embarrassment and shame. For the first time ever, I saw a genuine expression coming from her.

"Pffftttt!"

As the surroundings were enveloped in silence for a while, a burst of laughter came from the back. Celestia's face was flushed, but looked back at once with a grimly distorted expression.

"Stop it."

Although she spoke in a cold-hearted manner, the other party was a combat-type transcendent who walked the blood-ridden battlefield with a smile on his face. Something of that level wouldn't even come off as a threat to him.

"Pfffftt! PPffttttttttttt! Pff-hahahaha!!!! I can't believe you just got rejected! The Queen of Starlight, famous Space Idol, just got dumped! What's worse, you were confident that he would obviously like it, but you were mistaken! Kyahahahaha! Ahhh, I'm going crazy. I'm dying, bwahahahaha!"

"Shu-, shut up, you stupid bear!!"

"Puhahahaha!"

No matter what Celestia said, Hyun-il burst out in laughter, sounding like he was enjoying the situation. Bo-ram stood behind me quietly and sneered at her.

"There's always that one person with a Princess Syndrome who believes that everyone loves her and that the world revolves around her."

"She's actually even greater than your run-off-the-mill Princess. Don't try to pick a fight and keep quiet. Are you trying to start a fight just because I'm protecting you?"

"Uhhh...sorry about that, Sunbae. Strangely enough, it makes my blood boil to see that dude."

It wasn't as bad as when she was wearing that armor, but when I saw Bo-ram showing some sort of symptom(?), I shook my head and looked back at Celestia. She was still unable to collect herself together, but she came to her senses shortly after and stared at Cheong Won.

"Anyways Grandpa, could you perhaps evaluate him?"

"In the end, are you going to force your way through?"

"I-, I don't have a choice, do I! I have to keep on living! You can just say no after we survive here and get out!"

Celestia looked at Cheong Won while shrieking; the latter simply nodded.

"If it's the request of the Imperial Princess-nim."

At the same time, a beam of light rose up in the air and a few words materialized instantly. In a flash, the talisman of light drawn in the air hovered around for a moment and then permeated Cheong Won's eyes.

"How is he? He's good enough to bring to the Imperial Capital, right?"

"You're taking me to the Imperial Capital?"

Celestia nodded as I questioned her unexpected remark.

"That's right. Grandpa Mae-pa can exert his powers in the Physical Realm, but it is only limited to matters related to his mission. But… If I find a companion that is good enough to strengthen my bloodline, and if that person is determined to have enough potential, Grandpa can bring him to the Imperial Capital for the purpose of marriage. After all, it is a matter that is related to his mission."

"I see... and if we go to the Imperial Capital through this method, we can report to the Union without needing any further assistance from the Saints?"

"That's my point."

Once we informed the outside world of the current situation, the situation would be resolved. The demi-humans employed the help of Legion, an identified enemy of the Union, and all the evidence had remained on the Albatross ship. If we reported on the demi-human's doings with these evidence, the Union would impose a sanction against the demi-humans without a doubt.

Kiinggg!

While we were conversing, the Aura in Cheong Won's body dissipated like a broken glass. Somehow, Cheong Won had a pretty grave expression.

"How is he, Grandpa?"

"...I don't know."

His heavy voice caused this indescribable weird feeling in me. Of course, I didn't like this unexpected marriage deal, but if I got out of the "deal", the besieged situation would not be resolved and we would be hanging by the thread. However, Celestia's reaction was slightly different.

"It's done!"

"What do you mean it's done. He said he didn't know, so doesn't it mean I failed?"

"If someone didn't qualify, he would've said so. In the first place, there's almost no one talented enough to strengthen the godly bloodline, so it's already a great assessment if he says he doesn't know. Indeed! Even when I didn't learn to use the Lion's Eyes much, I could sense that you were abnormal from the very beginning!"

Perhaps because of the thought that I would survive, I scratched the back of my head at the sight of Celestia, who looked a little brighter. Anyways, does this mean it went well? So I'm going to some place called the Imperial Capital to marry her? 

However, surprisingly, Cheong Won shook his head, "I'm sorry."

"Hmm? Grandpa, what are you talking about? Are you saying sorry because he's not qualified?"

"Normally, I would be able to know if he qualifies or not. I can't believe I can't foresee the future at all… There aren't that many people who can escape my eyes, so it's safe to say that he has great potential."

"Then that's good enough. Now you just got to take us to the Imperial Capital."

"But." Cheong Won lightly cut Celestia off and looked up.

"There is around ninety percent possibility that the Sixth Prince is qualified. I don't want to create a variable."

Cheong Won's eyes were shining gray. Celestia shouted with a stiff expression, "... Major General Chun Hyun-il!"

With a "Shiiingggg!", Major General Chun Hyun-il's physical self, who was somewhat far away from us, jumped beyond the space and appeared between us and Cheong Won. The blue Aura whirling around his whole body was intimidating enough to cause one's legs to tremble, but he dared not even extend his fist towards Cheong Won. Cheong Won was calm and composed as he knew that the bear wouldn't be able to jump at him.

"What a shame."

"Don't be stubborn! This is a burden to you too, Grandpa! Even if this is the road towards achieving your mission, this is just too over-the-top! The consequences that will come from breaching the agreement is definitely not light!"

Celestia sounded somewhat worried for Cheong Won, but the latter stood firm.

"No, it's not. This is the only way for the mission to be completed more accurately. I have the ability and flexibility to at least decide that much."

Step by step, he stood forward. Major General Chun Hyun-il stood in front of Celestia to block Cheong Won's advances and shouted, "Cel! Is self-defense part of this guy's mission?"

"Yes! But only for defense, attacking is not possible! Furthermore, he has to reveal and warn the opponent about self-defense being part of his mission, only then can he retaliate. He can't coerce others, nor can he interfere with the fate of the Physical Realm as he pleases!"

"But even so, isn't he approaching us too confidently! Are you sure you're not somewhat mistaken about it?"

Even though Major General Chun Hyun-il, someone who looked down on humans lightly, warped his face menacingly and exuded a great deal of Aura, it was useless. It wouldn't be strange if an ordinary person collapsed on the spot from his suffocating Aura, but Cheong Won was walking indifferently.

'The difference in power is too apparent!'

As a transcendent, Major General Chun Hyun-il was a transcendental existence who possessed the power to destroy an entire civilization, but even for him, his opponent was an insurmountable monster.

"I'm sorry for this."

For someone who spoke informally all this while, there was a flash of guilt in Cheong Won's eyes.

And perhaps because she could sense it, Celestia pleaded, "...Grandpa, please don't do this."

"I'm sorry. I can't wait any longer." said Cheong Won as he raised his right hand, and dozens of talismans made of light floated around him. Major General Chun Hyun-il took on a strong defensive posture, but the talismans of light brushed past him lightly and wrapped around Celestia and me—

Shiiingggg!

"What, what is this!? Where did these bastards come from!?"

"Kreukkk!! It's the humans! The humans have infiltrated the ship!"

"It's an invasion! Everyone, gather round!!!"

We had arrived at the Great Sky, the mother ship of the demi-humans.

*

A father and son with dragonfly-like wings were walking down the boulevard. Though they looked similar to humans, they weren't humans, they were from the Perrin tribe.

"Daddy daddy! There! There's a huge armor over there!"

"Hohoho. I see our Arthur just saw God's remnants."

"What do you mean remnants, isn't that an armor?"

The father-son pair were walking in the old square in the middle of St. Selmacron, and there was something as huge as a mountain. There was an armor in a slanted position in the middle of the square and it looked as if it was made from a thick metal plate.

"Hoho, Arthur. Would you like to try going inside the remnant?"

"Wait a minute please!"

Flap! The young boy's body flew up into the air. And after being suspended in the air for a while, he saw the arm section of the armor which he referred to as God's remnants, and came back down on the ground.

"Daddy daddy! The inside of the armor is packed full! Besides that, there's something weird in there! The insides are full of machine-like stuff, and they're shining on their own!"

"Hoho. That's the reason why it's called God's remnants. Though it looks like a piece of armor, the interior is packed full and it's pulsating as if it's alive. In addition, if you look closely, you can see parts that connect to other parts of its body. That's also why it's called the body of a God who lost in a war of the Gods and got his head and limbs severed."

"Huhhh… But if it's shining like that, isn't it some kind of treasure? Is it something that we're not supposed to bring out?"

"Hoho. God's remnants fell here even before St. Selmacron was built. There were many beings who were interested in the remnants of God that fell about 200 years ago, but… All this while, no one could even touch God's remnants. A force field enveloped around the God's remnants, and it is so powerful that the Great Warriors of the Empire are unable to even scratch it."

"Huhhhh…"

At his father's explanation, the young boy stared at the huge body, God's remnants, with eyes full of curiosity. Although the father referred to the metal as the body of a God, it was larger than any other building in the town. It was so big that even if you lied and exaggerated a little by saying that there were dozens of people living inside, it would still be believable.

As the young boy looked around, he could see that besides himself, many people were also looking at the God's remnant. The old square with the remnants of God was one of the famous attractions in St. Selmacron.

"...Ummm? Dad."

"Hmm? What's wrong, Arthur."

His father lowered his head at Arthur's sudden call and the latter answered, "There, that body, it just moved."

"Hmm? Hahaha! Don't be ridiculous, Arthur. So far, no one, not even the Emperor, has ever moved the God's remnants at all. Do you understand, Arthur? God's remnants are…"

Kriekkk…

But, just then, the huge body moved.

"...What?"

"Huh? What the? God's remnants just moved!"

"Are you sure you didn't see wrongly?"

"No! I'm sure... Uwahhhh!?"

Kriekkkkkk—

Along with the heavy energy spreading around, the huge body that had been stuck on the floor for more than 200 years floated up into the air. All those who had gathered in the old square succumbed to shock and could only stare at it, not knowing what better to do.

"It's-, it's floating up!"

"God's remnants! The body of the God of War! It's flying up into the sky!!"

As people screamed, the huge body slowly floated up into the sky. The initial speed was slow, just like a hot air balloon rising, but soon, it started to accelerate and soared into the end of the sky like a ray of light. In that brief moment when everyone was staring at the huge body in a daze, the huge body turned into a dot and disappeared.

"...Daddy. The body of that God disappeared."

"I... I saw it too, Arthur. But what the hell is happening?"

He groaned at the sky where the God's remnants had disappeared into.

"What's going on?"

*

Astral Drive.

The Kendler Saints who had reached the peak of Type IV civilization created this product that incorporated both super-science and magic. It was a type of lightspeed that stemmed from the purpose of breaking free from the limitations of the laws of physics that was difficult to overcome. If a substance were to exceed the speed of light, it would require an infinite amount of energy. But what if the target wasn't a substance?

The Astral Drive moved the spacecraft itself to the Astral Realm and performed overlapping accelerations. Unlike the Physical Realm, which faced resistance when speed rose to a certain degree, the Astral Realm, which was outside the influence of the laws of physics, nothing would restrain the spacecraft just because of its increase in speed.

As the Astral Drive accelerated, it started off extremely slow - an extremely slow speed that moved at the speed of just an airship, not even a spaceship. However, as the acceleration began to overlap, the speed became faster and faster. It would just keep speeding up. A week, two weeks, a month, or even up till a year.

And as it continued to accelerate, the spacecraft would easily exceed the speed of light that could only be reached in the Physical Realm through the consumption of a huge reserve of energy. Eventually, it accelerated to a speed which exceeded the speed of light by tens, hundreds, and even thousands of times.

In theory, overlapping acceleration could increase its speed indefinitely. Of course, it would require that much more energy, but it became possible to cross over to dozens of galaxies without the help of Star Gate. And now, there was an existence that operated that very Astral Drive.

Krooommm!!! Boom! Baaaaaammm! Booom!

The huge left arm embedded deep in the ground pierced through the ground and flew up into the sky; the right arm that was hidden in the great forest flew through the woods and up into the sky.

The left foot which had sunk deep in the sea, also soared into the sky; and as expected, the right foot, which was trapped in the lava, also soared into the sky.

His limbs were scattered all over the universe. The distance between them was beyond imagination and all the body parts weren't located in the same galaxy, but all of them began to move at the exact same time.

Whooooosh—!

At God's command, all the limbs began to gather around.