Chapter 111: As a God, As a Human Being (1)
Screams and shrieks could be heard, as the giant wearing a shining crown waved his hand and released a white Aura. His one gesture destroyed buildings and annihilated the troops. The missiles that rained down from the sky and surrounded the giant, but they were blocked by the transcendence skill . No damage was done.
"Noooo! Stop him!"
"Th-This atrocious motherfu-...!"
"Kill him!!"
The huge number of ability users charged towards the giant, plowing through the wreckage of the destroyed buildings. Each of them were high-rank ability users that possessed a strong and fierce spirit, but to Dae-ha, their running figures looked like jumping grasshoppers.
Thuckkk! The warrior's body was shattered to pieces upon being struck by a swinging arm. The warrior had a powerful enough fighting prowess to charge at a Gigas with his bare body, but Ares, the giant who was wearing a crown of light, was unlike any Gigas he had faced so far.
Baaaaang! As Ares swung his hand again, the air ripped apart. The palm of the giant's hand moved so fast that a burning odor filled the air.
This speed, in reality, was unsurprising among ability users. The movements were perfectly reproducible for anyone who had honed and mastered his superpowers. However, it was a problem that...the opponent was not a human. It was a huge metal giant.
Kinetic energy referred to a weight that moved with speed, but how much force did a fast-moving metal giant produce? Especially if any action was accompanied by a burning odor in the air?
Kwakkkkk! Bang! Krieeekkk! Every time Ares' hand moved in a flash, the enemies who charged at him would be obliterated and there would be a rain of blood. However, that rain of blood could not even touch Ares' body, because his surrounding Aura deflected it all.
When the enemy's main attack was over, a sun rose above Ares' head. Flashh-! A dazzling and blinding light enveloped the world. The light was not just any regular light, but a light of destruction that destroyed all beings that were exposed to it.
"N-Noooo! Sav-Save me..."
"Ackkkkkkk!"
The whole city turned into a pandemonium. It was useless to hide inside a building, underground, or even a specially-made air-raid shelter. This was because the transcendence skill Light of Punishment could only be defended against with the power of a strong soul energy. The strong beings who could have done that had already died at the hands of Ares, before the Light of Punishment was spread.
Whoooooooooh.. The wind was raging. Before Dae-ha knew it, the city of overwhelming screams, shouts and roars, fell into total silence. Another city had fallen to ruin again.
"This is the end."
Dae-ha... Are you sure you're okay?
As Ares asked carefully, Dae-ha's hardened expression became gentle. He said, "You're a nice guy, huh, Ares. You're even worried about me."
Ares was created as the status of the God of War was accepted, and there was no way Ares would be afraid of murder. After all, he was made to love fighting. He was satisfied with the process of defeating the enemy on the battlefield. Regardless of that fact.. Apart from his own likes and dislikes, he knew that Dae-ha hated murder.
Otherwise, there would be no way that the Gigas pilots on the battlefield would have been retained upon rendering them immobile. They were extremely difficult to capture alive, after all.
Obviously. I thought you were only going to deal with that Duke, or that royal...
However, Dae-ha did not do that. He overpowered the royals and the Duke, before exterminating every single existence who was on Illuminati, the planet ruled by Duke Howard. Eventually, he completed the whole process.
"Of course I did not find this process pleasing either, but...it's necessary."
How so?
"Because I need to set an example for those who dare aim for a God's life." Dae-ha raised his left hand. He naturally pulled Shadow Stalker's trigger and the fired bullet created a huge dimension portal that even Ares could pass through.
Booooom! As Ares showed up, tens of thousands of people who gathered in the middle of the ruins released an intense killing intent. Standing in the center of them were the royals who were adorned in glamorous attires, alongside the powerful transcendents.
"You've already recovered. As expected, you're sturdy, aren't you?"
"You bastard... You fucking bastard! How dare you do this to my household!!" Duke Howard was recovering quickly, despite having one of his arms severed and half of his body crushed. He clenched his teeth and glared at Ares. It was such a violent Aura that an ordinary person’s life would be in danger upon making eye contact.
However, Dae-ha focused his mind with an indifferent look on his face. What he uttered earlier on was just some sort of soliloquy to himself, and he had no intention of having a conversation with Duke Howard. What use was there in talking to someone who would be dead, anyway? Flip. A book popped up next to Dae-ha, who was on board of Ares, and the page flipped open by itself.
On the page, the current Abilities he possessed were written down. Dae-ha looked through them for a moment and waved his hand.
The four abilities were filled with amplification capabilities. The current him could choose the Ability as he pleased, from among all the Ability he currently possessed and needed. Of course, some of them overlapped and some of them were contradicting, but at least these four Abilities that simultaneously appeared were those that could be combined without a problem.
"Ra."
historical
My King... They are your subjects.
"They're the subjects who tried to kill me."
But...
"Do it."
Needless to say, the original Ra would never have listened to this order. This was because the fundamental ideology of Ra, whom Leonhardt created through gathering all the Empire’s power to fight against the outside world, was the protection of the Empire. However... Even Hawa, who had reached the position of a High-rank God, could not withstand the existence that had spoken God's order. It was the same for Ra, even though he was ranked 92nd in the Numbering.. Whoooosh--!
"Keuk! Prepare for battle!"
"Kill him!"
Howard's Duchy settled on a planet with abundant resources, making it their own kingdom. Everyone who lived there belonged to Howard's Duchy, so the entire planet moved in perfect synchronicity under the orders of Duke Howard. Furthermore, the entire planet was equipped with a massive military force and defense system, which possessed power great enough to withstand a swarm of Terra-class battleships.
On top of that, there were as many as three transcendents who were affiliated with Howard's Duchy. Besides Duke Howard, the other two did not come from Howard's Duchy, but were living in Illuminati under a marriage alliance. All of them stood in front of Dae-ha, who intentionally attacked them. That was an action that induced the core forces of Illuminati to all gather in one place.
Flash! A light exploded forth. It was the Light of Punishment that had been used a few times thus far. However, the power displayed was quite different from what it had been so far, since it was being amplified by the four Abilities.
Shiaaaang----! The storm of light exploded like a nuclear explosion, gradually destroying everything. The people of Howard's Duchy, who were prepared for battle, stepped forward to block it. It was an unfortunate and pointless act, akin to blocking the incoming sunlight. Everyone collapsed without the possibility of even screaming. The more powerful they were, and the higher their level was, the greater the damage they received.
Booooom! Ares, who was floating in mid-air, descended. However, just then, Dae-ha suddenly frowned. "This shitty..." He concentrated his mind as he grimaced. However, his will instantly wavered.
Clack. The door was closed and, at the same time, Ares' body stopped moving. "Ughhhh...!" Dae-ha, who was sitting inside Ares' cockpit, suddenly began retching. The whole process that just happened came to mind. "This is crazy..." He groaned with a pale face. He could not even begin to fathom how many people he had killed. 10,000? 100,000? Or perhaps 1,000,000? 10,000,000?
Dae-ha! Are you alright? Dae-ha could hear Ares' voice, but he was not in any state to answer. He thought that his mental fortitude was tempered like metal, after going through the nightmares for a long time. However, this was not something that a good mental fortitude could endure. He committed a massacre.
"Bleuuuuwrkkkk!" Dae-ha retched. However, he did not vomit anything at all. He wanted to forget the disaster he had caused with his own hands because it was so gruesome, but he could not do so. The whole process was just so vivid.
"He stopped moving!"
"Move now!"
The High-rank ability users, including the transcendents that survived, began to move upon seeing Ares freeze after the intense attack.
Even though Dae-ha was riding on a Gigas and he was up against humans, this was not a situation where he could be relieved. The battle prowess of the High-rank ability users was comparable to that of a decent Gigas, so.. Baaaang! As a man with an enveloping and scorching Aura struck Ares, the large metal body staggered.
This fucker! Dae-ha! Get yourself together! As Dae-ha's control stopped, the surprised Ares controlled his own body arbitrarily to defend against the enemy's attack. Unfortunately, the enemy was too strong to defend against without the help of a pilot. Even if he was a God-rank Gigas, it was not great enough to deal with three fully-armed transcendents by himself.
Kwakkkkk! Duke Howard was in a bad condition, but surprisingly, his bare fist was able to penetrate through Ares' armor, which was made by merging all kinds of rare metals. From the very beginning, he was not aiming for Ares but for Dae-ha, who was riding inside him. Ares resisted it, but Howard was being assisted by the other two transcendents. Soon, both of Ares' arms were shattered to pieces.
Come to your senses, Dae-ha! It will be dangerous if it goes on like this! Ares warned him, but Dae-ha could not come back to his senses. Although it might seem like a long time, Howard and the other transcendents had only started attacking for a few seconds. It was too short a time for Dae-ha to come back to his senses, as he succumbed into an instant state of panic. Just then..
Rattle. The door shook. Dae-ha, who was momentarily in a chaotic state, was taken by surprise. He imagined the form of the door by focusing his mind. Then, he stood in front of it and blocked it. "Not a chance."
Rattle, rattle. However, he could feel a tremendous amount of power from inside the door. Even though he was holding on to the door with a firm grip, it felt like white steam was leaking out of the gaps.
Rattle! Rattle! Rattle! Dae-ha's face turned pale. He blocked the door with all his might, but his mind was growing fuzzy. He was just like someone who was distraught after drinking continuously. Rattle! Rattle! Boooom! Then, the door was forced open.