Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 119: The Salvation of God (56)

That huge flow.

It was connected to Dekarma who was outside my Inner World.

“Are you saying that’s my past life?”

When asked, Myeong-wol looked at the flow before speaking.

“You are both alive in the same era, so how could that be? I cannot say because I’ve never seen anything like this before… but I know one thing for sure.”

“What is it?”

“That neither you nor that divine being in your image has a past life. I would say both of you are pure and simple existences.”

He looked at the flow with a look of wonder, then continued.

“Did you say he was your father?”

“Yes.”

“It looks a little different to me, but I do not know much about the gods, so I’ll move on. The important thing is to know which side is friendly between your foster father and your real father.”

“If I had to choose, it would be my foster father.”

“That’s good.”

“That’s good?”

Boooom!

I looked out to the outside world. Gigantes and Hawa were slowly moving towards the north while destroying the Americas. Unlike Hawa, who looked to be relatively fine, Gigantes’ whole body was in tatters. It appeared that the Demon God Armor did its job in protecting Gigantes, as the situation would have been much worse without it.

“Unrelenting Chaos! I call you without any restriction! 15 months of ravaging predators!”

I couldn’t even confirm Jenica’s location, but along with her cry, a nearly three-kilometer crack suddenly appeared in the sky. Thick, grotesque tentacles appeared from the crack and an eerie voice could be heard with it.

What!? You’re calling me without any restrictions?

The appearance of the monster was simply bizarre. It possessed the head of a bird and the body of an octopus. In its eight arms, the monster held various items, including a totem, cane, chair, knife, ruler, club, and so on. But the moment it descended into reality,

“I command you in the name of Dekarma! I! Expel you!”

Flash!

A dazzling light emanated, and the monster was sucked back into chaos.

Oh no! Dammit! I was almost out! Fuck!

Fwoosh!

The octopus-shaped monster struggled and resisted. Just before it was sucked back into the chaos, it discharged something that was similar to ink.

Kiyaaahk!

“Keuk! You damned beast!”

I could hear Hawa’s screams, Dekarma’s moans, and Jenica’s laughter.

“Hahahaha! I trusted in your temper, you piece of shit! Of course! There’s no way you would stand by and do nothing while being kicked out!”

Hawa stumbled. It seemed that the ink-like material was quite unordinary, judging from the immense power that it was emitting.

But at that moment,

Flash!

With a tremendous flash of light, all the ink stuck to the body of Hawa evaporated. A huge wheel of light appeared above Hawa’s head.

A halo.

It was proof that she started wielding all powers, including divinity. I overheard whispers between my dad and Jenica.

This is driving me nuts. An untouchable riding an untouchable is creating a synergistic effect. Jenica, you still can’t?

Damn it. They’re still blocking the retreat! That Dekarma bastard, why is he so relentless? What did you do to him?

I could feel the frustration in their conversation. On the surface, it appeared as if the two parties were evenly matched. However, the impasse was only maintained because Dekarma was fighting while utilizing his powers to block the opponent’s escape. If this continued, it was obvious who would remain victorious.

“My father seems to hold the advantage here, so why is it good?”

“That is exactly why. He’s the one we can interfere with.”

Myeong-wol spoke before standing up and lightly stomping on the ground.

Craaack!

A fissure opened up on the ground and an ash tree started to grow. It was rather amazing that he could achieve such feats in someone else’s mind.

“Let’s start with interference through the connection.”

“Interference…”

I reached out and attempted to touch the flow that existed between Dekarma and I felt nothing. Myeong-wol spoke.

“You cannot interfere with the flow of karma in such a fashion. You need to use a Justice Weapon, which is created from karma.”

I looked down at the Carving Knife of Justice I held in my hand. Myeong-wol’s gaze moved down as well, and he took on a perplexed expression after spotting my knife.

“Hmm. It would have been better to have it take the form of a weapon. Well, you can start by trying to scatter the flow.”

“…..”

I observed the flow without responding to him. It was called a connection, but it was still a flow. This was the flow of karma that existed between him and I, something that I had never recognized before. If I had to categorize it, it was more of a liquid or a gas. However, I perceived it a little differently once I held the Carving Knife of Justice.

“Iron Mask-nim?”

Myeong-wol asked in puzzlement.

In that stillness,

Puck!

I stabbed down with my carving knife.

***

I always had one long dream since I was a child. As such, I lived a life that was no different from a mental ward patient when I was young. How could a child possibly be sane when he dreams for hundreds of years before his own ego was established?

And that dream began with the fall of a transcendental being.

“Father! Look at this! I can move! This is amazing!”

“This is… This is a body. Such grace…”

“Be quiet, all of you. Oh, goodness… What have I done? No, more than that, to think I would fall as well…? Is this the father’s will? Were my mistakes so crucial?”

I, no, he was panicking. He was deeply saddened. All he did was show a little curiosity. In addition, he had interfered very, very slightly. But just for that, he was falling down.

“Why… Why, father…? Was it such as in to have a moment of mercy, a single moment of hesitation?”

He murmured as if questioning the incomprehensible situation. He realized that his infinite and eternal knowledge was horribly blurred and distorted. He was no longer omniscient, and the restraints of a human body was suffocatingly suppressive.

The children were given their names after the first humans. Adam and Eve were looking around with wonder and excitement in their faces, but he could not. Rather, he was in despair as if he had fallen into hell.

“Really? I’m seeing this dream again?”

I was taken aback by the sight before my eyes. I had desperately held back sleep every night because I didn’t want to see this dream. I would eventually faint before being faced with the same sight. I had only thought of it as a dream in the past and moved past it when I was younger, but now I knew. All of this was something that really happened in the past – an ancient event of an unfathomably long time ago.

The Creation God was still running the Great Universe with deep affection and interest. The events of the Great Universe was tracking along according to the scenario.

Originally, he was an administrator of all civilizations and information. The archetype, or a superior of all the Primordial Gods. He was an existence who stood on the same level as Asura, who was known as a close aide of the Creation God.

However, a being of such magnitude was confined to a human body.

“I already know all of this…”

Fortunately, the dream was passing by quickly. As the familiar scenes flitted by, more than 100 years passed. In the glimpses of the scenes, I could see him change gradually.

“Why are you taking sides with such monsters? You’re a human as well, aren’t you?”

“Save him. Save him!! Save my brother!!”

“We will punish you in the name of justice.”

“Why, why are you doing something like this…!?”

“Please let me live. I, I will beg for your forgiveness like this…”

“I will wait… In… Hell…”

Numerous figures passed by at a terrifying speed. A man sobbing tears of blood, a woman wielding a sword while burning with hatred, an army charging like a tidal wave, and a white-haired old man.

“Die.”

“Die.”

“I’m going to kill you!”

“Nice to meet you.”

“I love you.”

“You.. Son of a bitch.”

“I should have never met you…”

Blood splattered and bodies fell. Many people died. Greed, desire, misunderstanding, and resentment merged together to form a wheel of blood that went round and round without stopping. In his days as the administrator, human life was just a mere phenomenon. They were only numbers, and a part of a large flow.

But with a change in perspective, everything changed.

He made a friend. He fell in love and became affiliated with an organization.

He made an enemy. Those with whom he could not live under the same sky. Large organizations became greedy for his power.

He had to fight. He could not die in vain, nor allow himself to become someone’s possession or a research subject.

After experiencing all that… Human life was no longer a simple phenomenon. Everything he learned was something new he never imagined. However, the entire process was painful for him.

“This is…”

He came to blame his father.

“…it’s the same story after all.”

I yawned in boredom while watching the scene. It was a desperate scene, but I had watched it countless times already. There was no reason to be swayed by this dream.

“Fortunately, it’s not the 300 years one. I think a week must have passed even with the shortened version… Now that it’s done, am I going back?”

I had such thoughts, but the scene did not end. I was certain that this dream always ended at this point, but this time around, it continued.

“…Hmm?”

I recognized his thoughts.

He thought “no”. He felt a sense of crisis. He felt a sense of fear. He realized the emotion he felt to be an obvious antipathy towards his father. Perhaps the father wanted him to cherish human existence by confining himself to a human body.

Although he referred to it as a “very, very small interference”, creating the first Legion out of artificial intelligence was an enormous act. The Legion had the potential to destroy or modify every civilization in the universe. Technological advances were inevitable in higher civilizations. Even the dragons, who were known as a magical race, built and rode on spaceships.

If the Legion could rise and multiply without limits… the Great Universe would either perish or be forced to abandon any mechanical civilizations.

What he committed was a dangerous act.

But the father wasn’t a perfect being either.

Unlike his father’s intentions, which was for him to cherish human beings, he came to loathe them.

“No.”

He could not shake off his hatred towards his father. He could not shake off his hatred for humans. But at the same time, he knew he could never return to his original position with such emotions. The glorious days of overseeing civilizations and information of the entire universe would never return. After realizing the fact, he,

“N….o!!”

Crack!

He started pulling his right arm with his left. The flesh began to tear starting from his shoulder.

Crrunnch!!

“Keu…gh! Keugh!”

Even while moaning in pain, he did not stop.

The pain of tearing the soul apart.

The despair of tearing one’s existence apart.

But it could not be helped.

“Kuu….aaaaghhh!!”

He tore off his right arm and threw it to the floor while shedding tears. It wasn’t only his arm either. Most of his intestines and pelvis spilled to the floor as well.

“Heugh…Uagh…!”

He quivered after falling on the floor. The ripped flesh and blood on the ground came together and began to form something new.

“You are not my destiny!”

He shouted with tears of blood.

“You are nothing more than karma caused by a single mistake!”

His appearance started to fade away. He was slowly sucked into a key hanging from his neck. At the same time, the something on the floor gradually morphed and took on an appearance that was the same as him.

“As such, your name is.”

He spoke while fading away.

“Dekarma.”