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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Napoleon dived down with two white beams of light accompanying him on each side. The beams of light looked as though they formed Napoleon's wide open arms. But in fact, they were photon beams that Napoleon had fired in advance. Surprisingly, Napoleon's diving charge was so fast that he stormed the enemy at the same time as the photon beams.

Kabooom!

Two fighter jets were destroyed. They already focused hundred percent energy into their shields due to the previous fight with Dae-ha's R-13. But there was a huge gap between R-13 and Napoleon that it was rude to even compare them. Even if they had the same Iron Heart or if they were controlled by the same pilot, the two Gigas were totally different in every dimension, from their demonstrated power output down to the Abilities they had. In the same sense, Napoleon's attacks weren't something the enemies could possibly block.

Even if the both of them fired the same photon beam, R-13's attacks were imbued with only <Penetration> while Napoleon's attacks were imbued with the norm, <Penetration>, and amplified by <The Word Impossible Doesn't Exist In My Dictionary>. Hence Napoleon's attacks were a world's apart from R-13's. More than anything else, there was an overwhelming difference between the basic power output of the two Gigas, so the enemy had to avoid Napoleon's attacks at all costs.

Kwakkkkk!

However, the problem was that no one had succeeded in avoiding it so far.

"It's a direct hit! Enemy aircraft No.8 and No.9 are out!"

"No, wait, what is this? Sunny, what is Specter's accuracy rate so far?"

"So far... It's a hundred percent."

"What the hell is with that number? He's just shooting direct hits without any warning shots? What's the number of enemies defeated?"

"21 machines. Ahh, now it's 22 machines. Ah, 23 machines..."

All the crew members, who were shouting loudly and fighting just minutes ago, were now looking at the battlefield information shown on the display with an aloof expression. In that short instant when the crew members were looking, Napoleon had eliminated another two enemies, unsheathed his lightsaber as fast as lightning, then proceeded to easily cut apart the photon beam aimed in his direction.

Everything happened in a flash.

The originally formidable demi-human's Gigas were being swept off by Napoleon, as though they were stationary scarecrows. Napoleon then plunged straight into the middle of the enemy ground and engaged the enemies, without dwelling too much about keeping the distance to make the best use of his skills. The demi-humans rallied their troops together and surrounded Napoleon, but he didn't allow them to even pull off a single attack. I couldn't even begin to imagine how it would've felt if I was in the enemy's shoes.

"How on earth was it possible for Napoleon to slaughter the enemies while being stranded in the midst of the enemies alone? Has Napoleon always been that powerful of a machine?"

Basically, space warfare was always a war of attrition. Unless there was a pretty overwhelming difference in strength, it was common for the battles to draw out for a long period of time.

If a person was hit by a bullet, it would take less than a second for them to die, but if a gunfight were to actually take place, the battle would stretch out for a much longer time. That was because people would either hide behind a cover or seek all sorts of means to avoid being hit by a bullet.

Hence, it would be even more intense in the Universe with the presence of <Barriers>.

In general, the Iron Heart's soul energy would be evenly split between attack and defence, each taking up fifty percent of the overall soul energy; such energy distribution would be maintained throughout the battle. In other words, unlike the battles on Earth where a single bullet could take a person's life, such a situation did not generally happen in space warfare.

"I've always wondered... How many Abilities do you actually have? Flash, Penetration, Speed Dash... You even have amplification skills that I know nothing of. Are you a Noblesse half-blood? Or were you born with a Godly bloodline?"

"No, wait, is the problem at hand right now the number of Abilities he has? Look at the technique he has! Holy shit, he plunged his hand into the enemy's barrier by enveloping his hand with the Penetration Ability! His skills to change his barrier's quality is even more proficient than Brigade Commander Tuck's, and he could control the precision of his Flash Ability accurately down to the meters! I can't possibly imagine how many battles he had to go through to achieve that level of skill!"

An Ability's power varied depending on the soul energy of the pilot. Even if it was the same Penetration Ability, there was a big difference in the difficulty and efficiency when it came to applying the Ability to energy weapons such as photon cannons and applying it to mass-made weapons such as cannons and missiles. What more so for applying the Penetration Ability on the user's body itself and using it against the enemy? That level of technique was something that could only be found in historical records.

"What are you spacing out for! Back him up right this instant!"

"Affirmative, Captain-nim!"

At the instructions of Major General Chun Hyun-il, the Captain of Albatross leading the battle, the crew members jolted and began to focus on what they had to do again. Major General Chun Hyun-il also synchronized with Albatross' Iron Heart and strengthened the battleship's barrier, then he fired off his Ability towards the enemies that were surging forward. However, the opponent was a Space Carrier under the direct control of Arch-Sorcerer Morne, so Hyun-il couldn't easily do anything to the enemies.

"But, the situation will be different now."

"Yes, Captain-nim. Dae-, no, I mean, Specter's fighting power is beyond our expectations. This… it's actually more powerful than usual. How can someone from a planet with an inferior civilization be capable of this level of piloting skill?"

"No idea. I have a hunch that his lineage is by no means ordinary, but… there's a possibility that he was born with a Primordial God bloodline."

"…Has there ever been such a case?"

"It's very rare, but it has appeared every now and then. Though we say Primordial Gods, not all of them had an immaculate disposition."

Hyun-il exuded streams of deep-blue Aura while he was conversing. It was a destructive Aura that pressured and weighed down everything in his surroundings. It was a power so strong that he could decimate an inferior being just by the thought of it if he harbored malice. But as a skilled pilot, he used all that power to clash with Morne who was aboard the far away Space Carrier.

"By the way, that guy... he's angry."

Hyun-il thoughtlessly muttered. The might of Dae-ha, codename Specter, was known to everyone aboard the Albatross ship after he exhibited it in a few battles, but today's battle was overwhelming even among all the other battles. The demi-humans maintained the encirclement the best they could, but the situation was no different from a wolf pouncing onto a fray of sheeps, no, it was closer to a tiger, so everything the demi-humans did was meaningless. The Tekea Federation's pilots controlling the Gigas were also specialists who possessed capabilities that were more than good enough, but Specter anticipated all their actions and trampled on them. He was literally putting them to shame.

Kwakkkkk!

As Napoleon swung the lightsaber, an explosion erupted in the empty open air. The enemy Gigas had tried to approach him with their <Stealth> Ability activated, but obviously, they were cut apart. Back when Specter first entered the battlefield, though it was his first time, he had moved in a calm and composed manner and had never shown this level of aggressiveness before.

'He probably had it pretty rough. No, if it's true that he was kidnapped by the demi-humans, the fact that he is still alive is already surprising.'

To be exact, apart from it being surprising, it was something that was beyond comprehension. The demi-humans were famous for not leaving any prisoners of war alive. It would be understandable if they kept the Imperial Princess alive, but why would they intentionally leave Dae-ha alive?

"But, Captain-nim, even if it's a God-rank Gigas, is it possible for him to exert its influence on others from this distance?"

It wasn't such a simple thing to accomplish. It was already an amazing feat to simply control another Gigas, but to be able to pull out such piloting skills as a prisoner of war inside the far away, and obviously heavily guarded Space Carrier, that in itself was something that broke all common sense. Of course, it might be because the God-rank Gigas possessed godly powers, but that would be the case if he was in his original condition, but how could he pull it off with just a head? [1]

"I'm not sure about that. Even if it's me, I've never actually seen a God-rank Gigas. I've only ever seen a few transcendence skills in action."

Although it was Hyun-il who instructed Alex to deploy Napoleon upon hearing about the situation Specter, aka Dae-ha was in - that is, he was kidnapped alongside Celestia (the Imperial Princess), Hyun-il had instructed Alex based on his intuition as a transcendent and it wasn't a decision Hyun-il had made based on concrete grounds. And needless to say, Deputy Captain Natalie questioned such an instruction because Alex wasn't able to disclose to her the fact that it was Hyun-il's intuition.

"It's definitely odd. He has clearly performed beyond the capabilities of Ares that we've been aware of. Though King of All Armaments is an astonishing skill, it isn't a transcendence skill. It is nothing more than an Ability, so it shouldn't be possible for him to exhibit such capabilities that throw all common sense..."

Just when Natalie was about to finish her sentence, Major General Chun Hyun-il frowned, "No, wait a minute... This crazy motherfu-?"

Hyun-il freaked out and emitted a tremendous amount of soul energy.

Roarrrrrrrrr---------!!!!!

Natalie was relatively close by because she was giving a report, and the sudden howl blew her towards the wall, like a leaf swept away by a storm. Of course, since she also possessed superpowers, she was able to swiftly regain her balance and stepped on the wall to safely land on the ground, but she still received a huge shock enough to turn her insides into a mess.

A crew member who was in charge of the radar screamed, "Captain-nim! Back-, it's the backup forces! The enemy's reinforcements are here! Three Mega-class battleships! And fifty fighter jets!"

"Seems they're determined to go all the way, these sons of bitches!!"

Although it was a desperate measure, the transcendence skill <Fenrir's Howl> was effective. It tore open the camouflage layer of the Mega-class covert battleships, preventing them from getting closer and also dealing huge damage to all of them. But the problem was the fighter jets hiding behind the battleships, numbering around the fifties.

"Al-, all of them are Warp Ray Fighter Jets![2] All fifty jets are generating high energy levels!"

Warp Ray Fighter Jets were artillery-specialized fighter jets designed to counter giant battleships. Although their flight speed was not that fast and it took a long time to charge, its attack capability was something that should never be belittled. The structure of large battleships made it difficult for them to avoid incoming enemy attacks, and hence they feared the Warp Ray Fighter Jets the most. For the Leonhardt Imperial Army that was preparing to make room for their escape after damaging the demi-human's Space Carrier, Great Sky, the Warp Ray Fighter Jets were existences that were literally lightning under a clear sky [3] and the Warp Ray Fighter Jets' appearance took them by surprise.

"The first round of bombardment is incoming! Everyone, brace for impact!"

Hyun-il shouted and prepared the transcendence skill <The Shield of White Cross>. Fortunately, it was possible to avoid the pre-emptive strike, but it was too late to retreat safely. They had to resist the attacks at least once, one way or another.

But it was then.

"It… it's Specter! He's charging towards the Warp Ray Fighter Jets! He's charging at a fast speed!"

"What? No! Stop him!"

The red ray of light emitted by a Warp Ray Fighter Jet was otherwise referred to as the Maximum Annihilation Bomb. It had a short attack range but fast attack speed. Once the attack landed, it was a devastating destructive weapon that would suck up all the surrounding matter and literally annihilate them!

Once anything was pulled into it, even if it was Dae-ha who was in an astral state while on board of Napoleon, it would be game over for good. The Maximum Annihilation Bomb would not only decimate physical matter, but also spiritual matters. Even if Ares hadn't summoned Dae-ha's whole soul, but just the latter's vision, part of the Dae-ha soul would also be shattered to smithereens.

"Ring Napoleon right away! Tell him to come back!"

'Yes, roger that! Right away."

Whooooosh----!

However, before they had the time to do anything, destructive warp rays flared up in the surroundings; it was so intense that even ordinary people could feel it. The Warp Ray Fighter Jets which were weak at close-range combat had fired at the swiftly approaching Napoleon; each shot 200 rounds of Maximum Annihilation Bomb, totalling up to ten thousand shots.

Krieeekkk---!

The display turned red instantly. It looked like countless red beads were scattered through the air. And that implied that the Maximum Annihilation Bombs would blow away Napoleon, who was charging towards the Warp Ray Fighter Jets, as well as a part of the universe.

"…Holy shit." Everyone groaned. The reason was that the unbelievably powerful being, who could've been a new General of the Leonhardt Empire, would die in vain. But it was a prediction that was too hasty.

"Huh?"

The crew members gasped after confirming the newly updated battlefield information. The blue dot that reappeared on the display was flying toward the Warp Ray Fighter Jets at a tremendous speed.

"What the hell? What happened?"

"Well, what happened is..." The crew member said after gasping for a while. "All the bullets… He avoided all of them."

"..."

For a moment, the surrounding turned silent. And among them, one of them wore a look of disbelief.

"…What the hell is that?" [4]

*

'What do you mean what the hell am I? I just avoided it. Is this that amazing of a thing?'

As I stared at the bewildered Ares, I laughed while thinking 'This dude, he must've never played shooting games.'

'If it's something of this level, everyone would be able to dodge.'

---

1. This refers to Ares' current condition with only his head left.

2. Warp Ray is a kind of laser/beam weapon that warps space itself and tears it up. Something like Oonoki's Particle-style jutsu. If you don't know who Oonoki is, you are an uncultured swine. :(

3. it's a Korean idiom for something bad that happens suddenly and unexpectedly.

4. That in this case is referring to Dae-ha. Why the pronoun "he" "that guy" wasn't used was because that was how incredible the feat he just did was. It's as if Dae-ha isn't human.

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