Above Your Head

Everyone, welcome to 2021!  2020 has been an absolutely horrid year for many people on many levels, and I think many (most? all?) of us are glad to leave it behind.  With that said, I wanted to give everyone a preview for some of the things that are coming up in the coming few months for Wuxiaworld.

Front-End Site Redesign - This one has been a long time coming!  Historically, we've focused more on incremental changes and feature build-out rather than overhauling the site itself, but for quite a few months now...

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I can see it! I see it! Dae-ha! Can you hear my voice, Dae-ha? No, putting that aside, are you alright?

A worried voice resounded in my head. Needless to say, it wasn't that girl's voice. It was the voice of the God-rank Gigas, which was in the Albatross ship far away from here.

It was Ares' voice.

'I'm okay. No, to be exact, I'm not okay, but it's not to the point where I'd die. Where are you, Ares?'

I almost cried out with joy, but I barely managed to restrain myself and replied inwardly. There was no one around here, but even so, it was hard to believe that the demi-humans wouldn't have any ways to monitor my actions.

If it was known that I could communicate with the outside world, the demi-humans would never stay still about it. Of course, the reason I could communicate with Ares was not because I had a communicator or something of the like. Also due to Ares' Ability, the demi-humans wouldn't discover our communication that easily. But I didn't know what these demi-human bastards would do to me if they were the slightest bit suspicious of me.

But then, I heard a low voice coming from in front of me, "Ares? Is that your friend?"

I was taken aback for a moment and froze. Pretending to be as calm as possible, I looked up and I saw the black-haired girl bound in chains approaching the steel bars. She should've been completely tied up and unable to move, but she crawled on the floor like a snail and came close enough for me to see her face closely through the steel bars.

"What do you mean by Ares? Who's Ares?"

Startled, I looked at the Legion girl with a straight face, but the she stared at me with her pale violet eyes, and continued, "The guy you just talked to."

"..." I broke out in a cold sweat. How did she hear that?

I didn't know the reason for it, but even the mental-type ability users among the demi-humans couldn't read my mind. However, I also couldn't bring myself to believe that she could read my mind as though it was second nature to her.

'No.'

I came up with a new speculation instantly.

'It's not my mind that she read. It's Ares'.'

Legions were mechanical life forms which lived as a collection of information. Needless to say, cracking was possible for computer-like machine-based civilizations; it was even possible for them to instantly crack the defensive walls of the magical-based civilizations as long as they managed to come into contact with the walls. And so…

"There he is."

This shitty.

It was also possible to see Ares' point of view, just like what Major General Chun Hyun-il did on the Albatross ship. Ares popped up in front of me in an Astral state. But he appeared flustered, perhaps because he discovered the girl's presence.

What the hell, Dae-ha. Why are you with a Legion?

'Beats me. They locked us up together.'

Realizing that there was no need for me to speak out, I leaned my back against the wall and slouched my head down. It was clear that Ares would be worried, but I couldn't pretend to be alright because I was in such a bad state.

"You."

'Can you talk without making a sound?'

If anyone were being asked this question on Earth, they would have probably told me off with "What bullshit are you spouting? How can I talk without making a sound?". Fortunately, the Legion girl nodded without appearing to be defensive in particular.

'Mmmhmm. You.'

The girl paused and tilted her head for a moment. She looked as if something didn't make sense to her. And after pondering for a moment, the girl thought, 'Mmmhmm. You. I like you.' 

'What do you like about me?'

'I just like you.'

'...?'

I tilted my head at the sight of her staring at me while blinking her purple eyes. She liked me? What is there that she likes?

"Ahhh, come to think of it..." I casually muttered and looked at the girl who was staring at me.

'I see. There's not a single artificial intelligence nearby because of her.'

It goes without saying that it was possible for a Legion like her to dominate the computer-like machine-based civilizations, but it was also possible for them to instantly take control of the defensive walls of the magical-based civilizations. Hence, it seemed like this was why the demi-humans couldn't put a mechanical device nearby. Even though the demi-humans were using her as a tool, there was no way they weren't aware of the dangers a single Legion could bring about. If Legion seized the Space Carrier that was cruising through space, the consequences wouldn't be beautiful, to say the least.

Of course, if the Arch-Sorcerer Morne, a transcendent, were keeping tabs from the side, it would be difficult for even the Legions to recklessly make a move. But Morne was swamped with work since he was the Captain of Great Sky, so he wouldn't be able to keep an eye out for Legion 24/7, and so that was why the demi-humans came up with this structure.

'But why was I locked up here? No way.'

I instantly speculated that there wouldn't be many prisons in Great Sky. In the first place, the demi-humans enjoyed and advocated for cannibalism, so they were a well-known bunch for not keeping prisoners. Since there were no prisoners to begin with, there wouldn't be many prisons in Great Sky.

But it only annoyed me as I thought about it, so I shook off my thoughts and stared at the girl that was on the other side of the steel bars.

'Hey, you. Can I ask you something?' 

'Mmmhmm.'

'...You're weirdly amenable.'

If we were to talk about Legion, they were a force that even the terrifying Union restricted others from coming into contact with them. But, this little girl in front of me was just a pretty girl who looked nothing more than a dumb woman. In the first place, they were all machine life-forms, so I didn't know why they'd go out of their way to make their appearances look so beautiful. However, it wasn't just their looks, even the overall vibes they emanated was extremely chill and stable. The sad and mournful vibe that I felt from her the first time I saw her was nowhere to be found. No, wait, putting that aside, she looked very happy.

Sure enough, she said with a big grin.

'Feels good.'

'...I don't know what you're on about. But, are you on the same side with the demi-humans?' 

'Nope, I'm not.'

'Then is there any possibility of you being on the same side as them?'

I asked the girl just in case, but she replied back with a question.

'Do you want me to be on the same side with the demi-humans?'

'No, that'd be a problem.'

'Then I won't do it.'

'…?'

I stared blankly at her for a moment while we had the half-hearted conversation. But anyways, I was relieved because she was not on the same side as the demi-humans. Of course, she could also be lying, but I could easily see whether her words were the truth because I could check her title.

'By the way, is Albatross nearby, Ares?'

No. The Albatross ship is still amongst the lightning clouds. This carrier is a little far away in the atmosphere. But I don't think the demi-humans have any intention of leaving here. The repairs of Astral Drive is slowly coming to an end, and as soon as we break the encirclement, we can immediately make a getaway. When Albatross escapes from here, the Union will hear of the fact that the demi-humans are employing the help of Legion. These demi-humans will be biting the bullet soon.

The Astral Drive had given battleships a formidable flight speed that exceeded the speed of light, but the problem was that, to achieve such a tremendous speed, a suitable process of accelerating was necessary. It wasn't just a few seconds or a few minutes, it had to accelerate for tens of hours and more, so if the demi-humans were to set up a detection radar, Albatross wouldn't be able to escape from here.

'But once the battleship accelerates, it would never get caught up. The pursuers would have to also go through the accelerating process to speed up. So, if they didn't have an engine with overwhelming performance, the pursuers wouldn't be able to catch up to their targets that departed first.' 

And so, that was why the demi-humans couldn't relax either. If they thinned out the layers of soldiers surrounding Planet Ella-3 now, Albatross could take advantage of that to break through the demi-humans' defensive lines and gain a few days' time because of Astral Drive's acceleration. By then, the demi-humans' Achilles' heel, the existence of Legion, would be revealed to the whole world.

'Hmmm, then... Are they preparing for a rescue mission?'

They're prepared, but they still can't bring themselves to carry it out. Everyone's anxious because of the Imperial Princess rather than you. And most of all... The Saint's betrayal had everyone drowning in confusion. Why the hell did he hand over the Imperial Princess to the demi-humans?

I was bewildered by Ares' words as the Albatross cew couldn't have known about that.

'What the, you. How did you know he sold us out? Did you speculate it after seeing me being held captive here?'

Of course not. Those demi-human bastards started threatening to hurt and kill her if we didn't reveal ourselves. We obviously didn't believe their words, so we didn't show ourselves, but internally, our opinions are divided. 

'They probably tried giving it a shot.'

The demi-humans couldn't harm Celestia anyways. Albatross might be wondering if that was true, but on the other hand, the demi-humans had to announce the official marriage between Arch-Sorcerer Morne and Celestia to the whole world, so they couldn't possibly hurt Celestia. Therefore, I briefly explained to Ares what Cheong Won had done, as well as the current situation.

I see… but I can't believe he took advantage of a loophole in his mission that way. It seems that Cheong Won dude must be particularly strong even among the Saints. 

'Other Saints can't do that?'

Haha. If the Saints could distort their missions recklessly like that, there would be no room for Noblesse to stand. The missions are a strong restriction, but at the same time, it is also the reason why the Saints are given the power they possess. It's a rule that the Saints must absolutely adhere to.

I talked about all kinds of things with Ares. It was to communicate the necessary information to each other and to prepare for any kind of situation that would unfold. Needless to say, the situation was still bleak.

Objectively or subjectively, the difference in power between the demi-humans' mother ship, Great Sky, and Albatross was considerably huge. The number of Gigas the demi-humans possessed were a few times that of what Albatross had, and the demi-humans possessed an even greater amount of fighter jets. If we were to fight the demi-humans head on, we wouldn't last a second. In addition, it was important to note that the Tekea Federation would come to an end if they lost us and we escaped. They would never let their guards down. As such, with their nation's fate on the line, they would do everything to catch us.

'But still... Thank you.'

Nevertheless, there was hope, and that by itself was significant. I pretended to be calm, but the torture I received after being taken captive here was devastating my mind. If I had to continue this life of captivity without any hope, I wasn't sure if I could really bear with it. If I had to die after being tortured, wouldn't it be better to die sooner and not receive anymore pain?

What, what are you talking about, you idiot. Stop spouting nonsense and just connect your brainwaves with me. You have to save yourself!

"What?" I was so surprised that I exclaimed out loud. Ares continued explaining to a stumped me.

Connect with me. Use the Brainwave Control and control all the Gigas around you. There's no way these guys here will do anything. You have to save your own ass.

'But... Is that even possible?'

The reason I could use Ares' King of All Armaments was because I was riding on him. His cockpit was in his head, and I boarded it and controlled the other Gigas from a long distance. But was it even possible to synchronize from this distance?

Ares' reply caught me off guard.

What kind of stupid thing are you saying? Of course it's impossible. In the first place, the distance between us is close to hundreds of thousands of kilometers apart, so do you think it's even possible to synchronize your brainwaves with me? Above all, it's futile to activate the King of All Armaments from that distance.

'...'

I was truly about to go ballistic, and in that instant, Ares explained.

That's if we're talking about other people.

'That means... If it's me, it's possible?'

That's right. So say it. Order me. Though this is something that's absolutely impossible and unimaginable.

Ares continued with a voice full of anticipation and a little excitement.

If you order me... I think I might be able to do it. 

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Holy crap. Why does it seem like Dae-ha can literally do anything if he puts his mind to it. I thought he was just supposed to y'know, see stuff above people's head and read stuff, but it keeps progressing into something much much more. I had a fun time translating this arc, hope you all enjoy and thanks for the continuous support!!