Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 2: A Transcendent at the Minimum? (2)

Perhaps the Evil Spirits were strong, but it seemed they did not possess a good head, seeing as they were being taken advantage of so frequently.

“Anyways, is there something going on?”

“What do you mean?”

The fat lady responded with wide eyes. It was truly astonishing that she was actually a demon. No matter how hard I tried, I could only see a generous woman with a good personality.

“The atmosphere seems to be a little strange.”

“The atmosphere… Well, it’s quite obvious. Kekeke…”

In an instant, the ends of her lips curled up towards the sky, and her mouth opened wide in delight. The pointed teeth inside of her mouth seemed sharp enough to chew up steel. It was a sight that one would only see in horror movies. If it was not me, but any other ordinary person, surely they would have collapsed on the spot.

“…ma’am?”

“Heut!”

The cafeteria lady came back to her senses, then covered her mouth with a shocked expression. She continued after coughing a few times.

“Ehem! Well, today’s a day when heaven and earth are opening. There are sad people, happy people, hopeless people, and hopeful people. This calmness is actually quite surprising.”

She smiled and poured soup into a bowl before holding it out.

“Now, enjoy your meal.”

“Yes, thank you.”

I picked up the plate and checked the title of the food out of habit.

Sky Evil Spirit

For Decontamination, Hamburg Steak

Sky Evil Spirit

For Decontamination, Mushroom Soup

‘For decontamination?’

I didn’t think she had messed with the food, but it was still a unique effect. Removing contamination? Did it mean that people who lived here had to worry about something called contamination?

I took a bite while tilting my head in confusion. Just as Genie recommended, the taste was excellent. But since I was already used to the food served on Albatross, it was not half bad.

Genie’s voice suddenly rang inside my head.

Captain, target number 3 has arrived at Gwanhwamun[1]

Target number 3 was Kyeung-eun, the one who brought me here, and my only connection left. For your information, target number 1 was my dad, whereabouts unknown, and number 2 was my brother Yeong-min, who was currently somewhere else.

”What about her movement?”

North… She stopped by the place called “tower”: and came back. It was impossible to observe what was happening inside due to the nature of the place, since it was supposedly created by a transcendent wizard, but I detected that hundreds of ability holders gathered in that place.

‘Hundreds of ability holders?’

Such a number was rarely found, even in the Leonhardt Empire, which was a Stage III civilization. Obviously, there was a difference in quality, as they would barely match up to a single transcendent, but to think such a large number of powerful figures were gathering in this small planet… What was going on?

‘And I had finally gotten back to Earth…’

I could not help but frown. Why had I returned to Earth after abandoning immeasurable riches and fame? Wasn’t it because I wanted to return to a familiar, peaceful, normal life?

But to think even Earth wasn’t letting me off the hook.

‘Of course, I can just choose to ignore it…’

However, my instincts were strongly predicting that I could not do so. After awakening my Divine Spirit, my hunch had developed to a whole new level. I wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen, but I knew I would not be able to live out my life the way I wanted to.

I laughed in vain and took another bite of the hamburg steak. Perhaps I had finished about half of it. The outside started to bustle with noise, and Kyung-eun entered dressed in a modernized hanbok[2].

‘No, why would you even bother calling it hanbok if you’re going to change it like that?’

When it came to hanbok, it was best described as elegantly beautiful. However, elegance definitely was not the word that came to my mind when I saw Kyung-eun. The combination of white and brown stuck tightly to her slim body, displaying her figure and curves. It wasn’t just glamorous, it was decadent.

In addition, even though it was just a hanbok, her clothes were quite revealing. I could slightly see her belly button as well! The men occupying the cafeteria could not take their eyes off of her as if they were mesmerized by her looks. The idol-like woman looked straight towards me and raised her hand.

“Ah, Dae-ha!”

“Ah… yes.”

I answered reflexively, and all the eyes in the cafeteria jerked towards me.

“Hmm.”

Will you be all right?

‘Of course, I’ll be all right.’

Well, I guess that was quite obvious.

It was as Genie said. Although they were exuding quite a fierce spirit, it could be considered cute compared to the blazing gazes of Cel’s fan club. Even the name Starlight Knights was terrifying to me.

“How has your stay been so far? People from the surface world tend to be shocked when they come to places like this.”

The surface world was referring to the Earth that I knew of. It was a world that referred to the other side of Another Plane, the world that regular humans lived in. It was also referred to as “the front” or “the inside”, but the term surface world was commonly used as well.

“I think I exhausted my supply of shock when I saw my house was gone.”

I answered in a grumpy voice, and Kyung-eun’s expression underwent a subtle change.

“Hmm, are you saying you have been to the parallel world before?”

“No way. I lived a normal life as you know.”

I wasn’t lying. At least, I lived a normal life on Earth. However, Kyeung-eun seemed to have some doubts about my answer.

“But you seem way too calm…”

“That’s just my personality. Anyway, is there something going on? The atmosphere is strange.”

“Something going on? Ah, yes, there is something going on. The announcement should come out soon.”

“Announcement?”

I was puzzled by her words.

Boooooooo~

The sound of a large trumpet resonated. It was no ordinary sound, but an expression of soul energy. I wasn’t completely sure, but I guessed that the sound was resonating throughout the entire Earth. Anyone who had soul energy power would be able to hear the sound.

The revered, magnificent great wizard has risen to heaven! He was our father, our guardian, an advocate for humanity, and the savior of civilization. According to his will as the guardian of order, we will continue fighting! We will persevere! We will survive! Everyone, lower your heads and pray for his peace!

“Oh my god, he really…”

“It has been brought up since a while ago… But he finally died.”

The people started to murmur. Some even trembled as if they could not believe it.

“Hmph, that dictator scum.”

“Father, huh? Yes, he was definitely a father, a father who tore his child to death when he was bored.”

“Do you know how many were sacrificed in his experiments? If we gather all of the victims together, we could build a whole country.”

Some people were condemning him.

“Little scoundrels who don’t know grace. Who do they think protected humanity until now…?”

“On the contrary, don’t pretend you don’t know the number of people he’s saved! He guarded the whole Earth!”

Some people were angry.

“The Great Wizard…”

“What will happen to Another Plane now…?”

Some were sad and anxious. But the whispers only lasted for a moment.

Booooooo~

Everyone bowed their heads as the sound resonated once more. Some were saddened by his death, some were happy, some were unconvinced, but everyone maintained their courtesy and showed respect.

“What is a Great Wizard?”

Kyeung-eun became wide-eyed when I asked her.

“So you’ve awakened soul energy power, huh? I heard that you were somewhat involved with the Supreme Magic Tower before.”

“Well, I haven’t really learned anything though.”

It was true. I could not strengthen my body with martial arts or use magic. In Albatross, I had tried many methods to use mana, but the end result was always the same. I could sense mana, but I could not use it.

‘Will it be different now?’

I had awakened the Divine Spirit and wiped out an entire duchy of the Leonhardt Empire. And I was certain that… I had effortlessly used all sorts of authorities and abilities at the time. Of course, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to utilize them to such a degree without the help of Ares, but I was sure that something changed within me.

“Hmm~ So you awakened your soul energy power but you haven’t received proper education, hmm… Well, I already sent in a report to the family, so wait for a little while. I might teach you when I receive permission.”

“You will?”

“What, you don’t trust me?”

“Well, it’s not that…”

I glanced around while blurting the end of my words. Just having a conversation with Kyung-eun was provoking glares from all around. If I were to receive direct training from her, what would happen? I wasn’t sure whether she was aware of my predicament or not, but she asked with an innocent expression.

“Then?”

“Hmm.”

If it were in the past, I would have turned her down without hesitation. Had I not turned down even Celestia’s proposal? Cel was an unfathomable, incomparable beauty as well as an idol of the universe. It was true that Kyung-eun was pretty, but she just couldn’t measure up to Celestia.

But now, I didn’t even feel the need to turn her down. Her appearance, the envy she received from people, and her significant background in Another Plane, the so-called Outside were of no value to me. I couldn’t possibly be envious of her or be intimidated by her.

‘Well, maybe I’m being a little arrogant, seeing as I can’t even properly any powers.’

A high-rank Divine Spirit, a high-rank Status of God, and a low-rank Divinity. It was truly the epitome of imbalance that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the universe, but it allowed me to have a power equivalent to an intermediate-rank God.

There were only a limited number of mid-level transcendents in the Great Universe. I had a power capable of destroying entire stars and planets by using my powers. I could fly around the universe while invoking all sorts of authority as an emperor class being.

But the power was already gone.

From the moment I fully transferred Divine Spirit to Ra, the God-rank gigas of the Leonhardt Empire, I was nothing more than an outstanding, average Joe. In terms of level, I was only level 2, a little bit weaker than the court ladies. I could not utilize martial arts, and my physical abilities were ‘only’ at the level of a national athlete.

But nevertheless.

‘I don’t feel threatened at all.’

I called myself an average person, but that may only apply to my physical body. The Terra-class ship, Albatross, represented the apex of the technology of a Stage III civilization. There were only around 20 ships of such caliber in the Leonhardt Empire. The fruit of a Stage IV civilization, Shadow Stalker.

And most importantly.

How long has it been since you dumped Cel? Girls are already being drawn to you like flies.

‘Don’t get the wrong idea, idiot.’

What? Idiot? You better watch your mouth around the Great God of War!

‘Stop goofing around.’

Yes, I still had him.

Numbering 613. Transcendental Weapon.

Ares, the God of War.

“Well.”

I smirked. I could feel the glares around me becoming more intense, but I didn’t care. No, rather, their gazes provoked me to aggravate them even more.

“I guess it doesn’t matter. I will be in your care.”

“Hoohoo. Good. Well, there might be some problems because of my family’s inheritance, so I will bring along the teachers! Aah! I’m supposed to be somewhere else. Bye!”

Kyung-eun got up and waved, then quickly left the cafeteria.

“She’s still quite loud, huh.”

She had appeared and disappeared like the wind. I smiled bitterly. Only a few minutes had passed since I had a conversation with her, but the atmosphere of the entire cafeteria had changed completely. I was rather thankful that there was another pressing issue with the Great Wizard or whatever. I was certain that the situation could have been worse.

Well, unfortunately for them, I really didn’t care much for the mood and atmosphere...

Thud.

I cleaned up my dishes and started to leave the cafeteria when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Wait a minute.”

“…Who might you be?”

At the sudden sensation, I turned around to see three men with unusual appearances. One of them looked to be around two meters tall, but he was so skinny that he resembled a stick. On the other hand, the short one looked less than 1.5 meters tall, and he was pretty fat. He looked like he would roll on the ground if I kicked him. Finally, the one who had called out to me.

‘What the hell is this guy?’

His entire body was covered with bandages. It didn’t seem like he covered himself due to injuries. His full body was covered, literally his entire body. This included his nostrils and even his eyes. I couldn’t spot any skin at all.

I looked up at his head.

1. the main, largest gate of the Gyeonbokgung palace, which is where the royal family used to reside.

2. a traditional Korean attire.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanbok