Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 114: The Salvation of God (51)

By mid-December, all the monsters that invaded the Unique World were killed. After killing all of the first 1.1 billion monsters, the Regen was repeated 19 times. The number of monsters fell from 330 million to 280 million in the end (The Shelter was destroyed by the breaths, resulting in additional deaths), leading to the deaths of approximately 7 billion Space Monsters. More than 80 percent of them died at my hands. 

"I can't believe it's 7 billion... I think my concept of numbers is getting strange these days," I muttered.

Such a grand scale of casualties wasn’t a common occurrence in space warfare. Of course, the number was entirely possible if Maximum Annihilation Shots were rained on the residential colonies, or if nuclear bombs were dropped on the planet. However, if the power difference between the two sides were that stark, one side would usually surrender or escape. It was rare, no matter where it was in the world, to have a Kill Log that was just so crazy.

Wiiiiingggg---! Clunk!

"There! It's quite reinforced, so please go up to the roof!"

"My Azure Hawk is all out of power!"

"Miss Genie! Where do we go next?" 

All the members of the Unique World, except children, were working together to rebuild Center City. Recently, the number of Satellite Cities had exceeded 10, but the population of the Unique World had significantly decreased. After organizing its supplies, all the remaining members were gathered in one spot, the Center City. 

"Please make sure to imbue the spells on the barrier wall! If you don't want to see it being pierced through in a single shot at the Level 20 stage!"

Center City, which had been reconstructed, was gradually changing into a modern city. The entire city, over 20 kilometers in diameter, was surrounded by iron plates like petals on a flower. If an emergency were to happen, the iron plates would cover the city and form dozens of layers of outer walls. Wizards were putting their enchantments on each and every single iron plate, and technicians were installing all sorts of advanced weapons and checking its condition according to Genie's guidance and the blueprint. 

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of maintenance-use Tool-rank Gigas as well as combat-specialized Gigas also worked diligently to build the city. Thus, the city was built as quickly as a fast-forwarded video. 

One of the wizards who were enchanting said, "But all this could be for naught."

One of the metal attribute Chakra users who was welding next to him said, "If so...that would be great. If all these were done in vain..."

Originally, at High-difficulty stages, 10 monsters of the corresponding level and a Boss Monster which was a level higher would appear. However, in the Level 19 High-difficulty stage, there wasn't any Boss Monster which was a level higher. In other words, the Level 20 monster did not appear. The Level 19 monsters just continuously appeared 20 times and the stage ended. 

In the end, the players couldn't help but to have such thoughts.

"Even if it is the Project End, perhaps it isn't capable of materializing a Level 20 monster?"

"That's right. Level 20 is the realm of transcendence, isn't it? As soon as one reaches that level, they're said to have climbed to the realm of Gods. How can they summon a God as a monster when only Iron Mask-nim had risen to that realm on Earth?"

Unfortunately, they were mistaken. After all, I was still at the door of the realm of transcendence and I was not in the realm of transcendence yet. Of course, this was a play on words, since I had the power close to an Emperor-class because of my special bloodline and the power of cheat-like weapons such as Ares and Gungnir. 

Captain-nim, the repair has been completed. 

"...Alright." I, who was inside the capsule restoring my stamina and spiritual energy (All of it was already Unranked and I couldn't use it for a while), stopped looking at the city shown on the display and transferred my consciousness. 

Poooof! I moved my consciousness into my body which was on Earth. Before I knew it, I was standing in a gray world, the parallel world. 

Pushakkk! Kwagagang!!! Large whales rode the waves of the Han River and shot to the ground like missiles. Moreover, they didn't even flap around and die after coming up to the ground. Instead, they dashed around and made huge furrows on the ground. They numbered in the tens of thousands, so just facing them brought about immense pressure. 

"Load up!!"

Then, across the swarm of whales, tens of thousands of Gigas were taking up positions. 

"Fire!!"

Along with the loud scream, a violent artillery firing struck the whales. The force from the rain of bullets fired by the tens of thousands of Gigas was beyond imagination, so the skin and flesh of the whales, nothing more than targets, tore and blew apart. 

The players' attacks were nothing to laugh at, since they were those who provided firing support on the Highest-difficulty stage on a daily basis. 

If the whales were in good condition, they would have flown around and avoided or fired their breaths and killed all the players. However, both of these methods were restricted, so they were treated like sandbags. Of course, the whales didn't die easily even when hit by such attacks. It was only inevitable that their charge was stopped as they took on substantial damages. 

"It's going to be a long time..."

The objective of the stage is definitely to 'Eliminate the 20 unstable Space Monsters within 100 hours'.

"If we do not meet the quota in that 100 hours, we will be disqualified. But there won’t be no Death Procession this time round..."

In fact, in light of the situation, it was true that there was a constraint. The people who failed this time would be excluded from the stage and could not participate in the next level,  but Project End would definitely not do that. 

Time passed by and the season of reality suddenly changed.

"It's snowing!"

"Wow... So this is snow. I've only seen it in textbooks." 

"Merry Christmas!"

After the Unique World stabilized to some extent, a combat unit was sent to the real world. This was because it took time to get rid of the whales who scattered in all directions after colliding with the demons.

"It's spring!"

Time continued to go on. 

"Uwahh, it's hot!"

The number of whales continued to decline, and people spent time restoring the destroyed Earth. Sometimes, the surprise attack of the whales which were undetected resulted in casualties, but that was just a routine the people had always seen.

Still, the speed it took to take care of the whales was faster than expected. After all, the monster whales clashed with not just the humans but also the demons. In the process, the demons of the parallel world were almost wiped out too. 

That's unexpectedly good news. 

"There's nothing to consider as good news. They're just victims of this crazy power inflation.."

To say that the demons are victims…

It was no exaggeration to say that the parallel world of the past was actually a land dominated by the demon tribe. Humans supported by the Great Wizard created hiding places and fortresses and made it their territory, but it was only a small part compared to the entire parallel world.

After all, there were billions of demons filling up the parallel world. Rumor had it that there were even monsters among the monsters, the demon nobles, which were First-Tier Demons.

'It's all useless.'

Now, the situation was that enemies in the units of billions simultaneously poured in on the stage. Moreover, each one of them was even stronger than First-Tier Demons. 

Most of the High-rank demons are dead. All those who did not die fled to the Demon Realm...

"If they hadn't escaped, they would have all died by my hands," I commented. Of course, even so, there were still many demons in the parallel world. This was because Low-rank demons with no reason or rationality were still pouring in.

The High-rank demons seemed to have gone through a lot of trouble to enter the parallel world, but the Low-rank and Lowest-rank demons, which were born almost indefinitely, poured in like waterfalls. Of course, as they entered like that, they were also beaten to death by those they met on the way. 

- Congratulations! The stage has been cleared! Rewards are given based on contribution.

- Your ranking is 1st-place. 

Ultimately, the number of people left on Earth was 730 million. Including the 280 million people in the Unique World, approximately 1 billion people had survived.

As we were under the surprise attack this time, the elderly and the low-level talentless people were killed in droves. When they remained alive, assuming that they were armed, the average level of Earth was expected to only be over 15… This was not a joke.

So this is the real Demon Realm.

To explain this crazy situation in words, Sejong and Sun-shin, the Giant Soul Soldiers protecting Gwanghwamun Square as the guardian deity of the Lee Family for a long time, were now almost equal in terms of power with anyone on the street. In other words, they were similar to a high school student or the cafeteria lady.

It was literally the power inflation that the Dragon Ball would have cried for. There was the spiritual medicine which was sold almost infinitely on the stage, my strategy guide that allowed them to earn the points to buy that spiritual medicine, and the superpowers were completely disclosed to the point where there weren't any visions. Moreover, the Gigas with powerful output which was given to those who were strengthened like that…

Due to all kinds of peculiarities and unexpected variables, there was no problem even if Earth-34 were to go out to the Great Universe with its current combat power right now. 'Of course, that would be something to discuss when we survive in the end.'

- Congratulations! The stage has been cleared! Rewards are given based on contribution.

- Your ranking is 1st-place. 

As expected, the Level 19 Highest-difficulty stage was also easily overcome. The Highest-difficulty stage was a level that never existed originally, but it was an update made under the pretext of those who avoided combat from the Low, Intermediate, and High-difficulty stages by going to the Cradle of Justice and the Unique World. Still, it was useless in the absence of people who were excluded as it was now. And finally, the day had come….

"Phewww." I took a deep breath while on board of Ares. Grooooooarrr---- I could feel the Life Energy that strengthened my body as I closed my eyes, as well as the moldable Aura that enveloped my whole body. I could also feel the spiritual power that could be exerted beyond the realm of power after connecting to Ares, the control persona. 

"Oh my." I felt a wall every moment when I trained my Life Energy. Spiritual power was just hopeless then. Aura, the most suitable spiritual ability for me, was also far from crossing the realm of transcendence. However, it was different. The Authority of the God of War was different. 

"Ares."

Yes, Dae-ha.

"Is Authority of the God of War originally this kind of power?"

Of course not. Authority of the God of War is, of course, a great spiritual ability, but... If I have to say so, it is a support-type. Should I say it's a self-buff? Normally, it plays the role of supporting and assisting based on a spiritual ability. 

However, I could feel the Authority of the God of War devouring all my spiritual energy inside me when it should have been providing support. In addition, when the remaining three spiritual abilities inside the Authority of the God of War were insufficient or overflowing, it would be calibrated and it would converge into a single huge one.  

Is it because you inherited a high-ranking bloodline? I have imparted Authority of the God of War to quite a few guys, but I've never seen anything like this before. 

I listened to Ares and took a deep breath. Huuuuuffff-! My breathing turned into a spiritual Aura and whirled around the cockpit before disappearing. I could feel my whole body boiling up, and I could hear the prayers of the devotees who were filled with anxiousness. I knew something inside me had reached a critical point.

'There's nothing to worry about.' Even if a Level 20 transcendent appeared, it was not my opponent. Riding on Ares and holding Gungnir, I, who started forming a new Divine Spirit to add to that, was close to being an existence on the level of Emperor-class. 

Then, the moment I was about to reach the realm of transcendence, I would become an existence that went beyond even the Emperor-class. 

- Stage will be open!

- Level 20. Difficulty is set to Low.

- Eliminate the ???.

- Stage will begin in 10 seconds.

- 10. 9. 8. 7….

It's begun. 

"Tell everyone to be on their toes." Having said that, I waited for the enemy while floating high up in Center City. The Center City has already built a strong protective wall and dug more than a kilometer into the ground. Moreover, combat units were standing by in bunkers prepared all over the Unique World. 

As they were standing by, one hour passed. "Hmm?" However, the enemy did not appear. 

Captain-nim, the players are making a fuss. 

"But the announcement came out, right? Tell them to stand by."

As per your order. After I talked to Genie, I waited in position. My spiritual energy was already at its peak. I had a hunch that if I fought a few times against a transcendent-grade enemy, I would surpass a certain line. 

But after a day, a week, and even after a month… The enemy did not appear.

"No... What trick are they pulling again this time? Moreover, they didn't even announce the patch update details?" I had been standing by while on board of Ares for as long as a month, and I clicked my tongue at the sudden surge of dejection. 

Genie said, Some players say that the stage is over because Project End can't materialize a Level 20 monster...

"It doesn't make sense. The official start of the stage was alerted by a notification though?"

Since the monster that has to be eliminated has question marks as a name, it is a problem too. 

"What are they trying to do?" This was a situation where my spiritual energy which had reached its peak was raging up in vain, and rather, causing the condition to get worse. I spoke to Genie, "I'll be in Center City, too. Let me know if there's a problem." 

Yes, Captain-nim.

After listening to Genie, I stood on a huge iron plate covering the sea of magnetic sand. Wiiiiingggg!!! Then, the floor opened up and I was moved deep into the ground. Claaaaank! Ares stopped and I said, "Let me off."

My my. What a waste. Ares' head opened up and I got down. I did not have to worry about washing up or any physiological phenomena like going to the toilet due to the Avalon System, but I had been on edge for a month now. Thus, my mental exhaustion was nothing to scoff at. 

"Hmm?" But there was a little boy in front of me when I got on the floor in Ares' hands. "What are you? A kid? How did you get in here?"

Captain-nim?

A kid? What are you talking about?

The two control personas were bewildered by my sudden remark, but I felt all my hair stand on end. Thuck! Something black penetrated through my heart.

"I've been thinking a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot about it," said the kid. The corners of his mouth practically reached the tip of his ears. "I think it'll be fine as long as you're not here."

"Keu...uckkk? T-This crazy. A Stealth-type Transcendent...?"

- God Killer Sword effect activated! Unable to resurrect! Effect of Eternal Destruction activated!

- The Curse of Eternity is activated! All blessings and protection have been disregarded! 

And at the same time… Kwakkkkk!!! Thudd!!! The sword that penetrated through the outer armor of the Star-rank Gigas, The War Lord, also radiated in light. It was stuck in my body which was in the real world. 

The man who stabbed the sword in my chest bowed his head. "I'm sorry. And thank you for protecting humanity so far." 

"You, you, youuuuu... Juan." I was suffocating. I could feel my spiritual energy that had blazed to its peak fading like it wasn't there. 'What the hell is this? At the same time... My body in both the real world and the Unique World are killed at the same time?' The moment I groaned, my world turned dark.