Above Your Head

"Ahh, it's no big deal. I command you."

Wiiiiingggg--!

As I infused my words with power, a strange wave spreaded out. It was a fairly familiar state as I experienced it several times before.

I made eye contact with Ares and spoke, "Manifest into your complete state before me now!"

Instantly, a massive light spread out to the point where everything in front of me turned white. Fortunately, the light source came from behind my back. If it had exploded in front of my eyes, there might've been a risk of me going blind.

Keu…ucckkkk? This is…!

However, Ares' reaction was slightly different from that of other commands.

There weren't any reactions like "As per your command" or "Your order is my command", and he was just trembling. What was worse, the flashing light from my back sinked into his head and rays of light began shooting out from his eyes.

Krrragghhhhhh--!

And as all the light finally merged together and rose up into the air, it scattered all over the air and disappeared, and the intense light that seemed to be blinding for a moment disappeared like a facade, revealing the original room I was in.

"…"

…

Ares and I remained silent for a moment. However, I realized the unfolding situation to some extent, and came to my senses first.

I clicked my tongue, "Tchh, as expected, is it a failure? But then again, there's no way I can achieve everything just by giving an order."

In fact, I already knew it would turn out this way. If I could do anything by simply giving orders, it would then be possible to give a ridiculous order, such as "Be the God of the New World, conquer the Universe and dedicate it to me!"

Even so, just in case I might be able to, I issued a relatively easy order (compared to the conquest of the Universe), but it seemed that giving such far-fetched and unreasonable orders wasn't possible.

…But why is the failure effect so extravagant?

"I know right."

I expected something like a flash and steam-like effect, but I didn't know it would explode so fancily. Fortunately, this was an enclosed space that wasn't under surveillance. If this light had burst outside, people would have gathered from everywhere.

"I guess it's not going to work, huh?"

Of course! My body parts are scattered all over the universe now. How would it be conceivable to restore my body to its original state right this instant, when in the first place, I had to get on this ship that could do super-long distance travel just to find my body?

However, despite Ares' words, I could still see traces of disappointment in his expression. It felt as though he had a tiny shred of hope that it would actually happen. Well, I also felt that it was such a shame. If Ares had been in a fine condition, the war would have transpired in a completely different direction.

"Come to think of it, it'll be great if you can be restored to your original state, but would I be able to ride you? I've heard that only transcendents can ride on a God-rank Gigas."

If it's that… It doesn't matter. In fact, you don't need to have any qualifications to ride on a God-rank Gigas. No, in the first place, there's no such thing as a requirement.

"What did you say?"

I had read from various sources that only transcendents could ride on a God-rank Gigas. Hence, I stared at the dazed fellow that was reacting bewilderedly. No, wait, does that mean that all those sources are lies?

While I was flustered, Ares spoke.

Of course, it's not entirely wrong that only transcendents can ride us.

"…What do you mean? Didn't you say that there aren't any qualifications needed, so what do you mean that it's not entirely wrong?"

That's obviously because we, the control persona which can also be said to be the soul of a Gigas, don't recognize those who haven't reached the level of transcendents as our owners. We can display fighting power equal to a powerful transcendent by ourselves. Just like I did just now, it's also possible to activate an Ability on our own accord. But if a second-rate pilot synchronized with us, it would weaken our battle prowess instead.

No matter how powerful a Godly Sword was, it was better for it to have an owner. Because swords were originally weapons to be held and swung. Likewise, that applied to a bow, and a grimoire too. All kinds of weapons were made with the intention of them being owned by a user. So even if the weapons' capabilities would be weakened, it was still better for them to have a user. They were made for that purpose in the first place.

But when it came to a Gigas, it was a completely different story. For the God-rank Gigas, Ares, who had a close to perfect soul and could move on his own accord, as well as gain skills, a clumsy pilot would be nothing but a burden.

"Hmm. But because I'm excellent at piloting and have a lot of Abilities, it doesn't matter?"

No, it's not such a simple concept. It's just…

Ares hesitated for a moment and said cautiously.

You, if it's you, then it's fine.

"…"

I was puzzled at the sight of Ares avoiding my gaze. This guy, what is he being shy for? For a moment, I was at a loss for words due to the weird vibes in the air, but I deliberately ignored it and continued speaking.

"Well, anyways, being a transcendent is not a necessary condition, but a condition set by the control persona that controls the Gigas, right?"

I nodded as I muttered, "Just like when a company or organization opens recruitments for new employees, they require applicants with at least four years of experience or some crap like that."

But it was then.

Beep beep!

The communicator was ringing. As I lowered my head, Celestia's Super Deformation Character popped up above the communicator as a hologram (because it was a personal setting that she made), and an exclamation mark was seen above her head. It was a transmission request.

"At first, I was pretty taken aback because I didn't know what this was." I gently touched the communicator as I mumbled, and the call was connected.

Hey! Where the hell are you? Why can't I check your location… Hmm? What the, that head?

A beautiful girl with blue long hair appeared on the screen that was in the air. As always, she was a gorgeous beauty.

"What the, do you not know this fella?"

This fella, as in… Ahhhh, so that's the God of War.

Was it because she was royalty? She nodded as soon as she recognized Ares. However, she ignored Ares as though it wasn't surprising and continued.

More than that, some urgent matters popped up, so could you come to the Captain's Office as soon as possible?

"…Are you always there these days?"

I don't have a choice since I'm not in a position to go around as I please. And at any rate, that place is the safest to go to too.

Of course, the safety of the Captain's Office did not come from its structural position. What mattered wasn't the Captain's Office itself, but rather, the owner of the room - Major General Chun Hyun-il. In other words, the safest place on the ship was wherever he was at.

"But why should I go there? No matter how hard I think about it, I think I'm working much harder than the amount I get paid."

…Just come and listen first.

The communicator was cut off the moment she finished her sentence. It seemed like it wasn't something that could be said over the communicator since there could be the risk of information leakage.

"Why is she being like this again…"

Since Celestia couldn't explain the details of the operation herself as she was a Princess, she was probably calling me in for another matter. But do we have any kind of secret between us that couldn't be said through the communicator?

I was lost in dilemma, but Ares opened his mouth.

Dae-ha, do you remember what I just said?

I recalled that Ares said to not participate in the next battle, and that he felt that something wasn't right. He had the same spiritual nature as a transcendent, and his premonition wouldn't just end up as some simple hunch. Of course, it wasn't a foresight Ability as he didn't know the exact situation going on. But it was better to keep myself as safe as possible.

"Well, I only have one life, so I'll keep that in mind. I don't even like to meddle into things." I nodded and turned around.

I was thinking to reject participating if there was a battle, but that didn't mean that I should just stand by and do nothing as I needed to know about the situation that would unfold.

"No, wait, I just found out that you went into the workshop, but you're already out. Why are you walking around like this, Sunbae?"

I came out of the God of War's Treasure Trove and left the workshop again, but Bo-ram approached me. She was wearing a tight combat suit and, unlike usual, she tied her hair up to reveal her white nape.

"Because I keep having new things to do. But what's with that outfit?"

"I just came from learning how to shoot and pilot a Gigas. The damage to the pilots this time was so great that they're going to increase the number of combatants."

"Ohhhooo, piloting a Gigas."

"Fortunately, we were given armor-type Gigas, so it wasn't hard to control."

With a 'poof', the space distorted and even Dong-min showed up. As expected, he was also wearing a combat suit, with an assault rifle on his back and a lightsaber on his waist. We weren't part of the Leonhardt Imperial Army, so we weren't given such military equipment initially, but it seemed they gave weapons to all survivors since the situation called for it.

'But then again, even a civilian like me is riding on a Gigas.'

I stared at Dong-min while scoffing inwardly.

"By the way, are you alright? It hasn't been long since you woke up, but you're already training."

"I've already recovered completely, so there's nothing for you to worry about."

As Dong-min answered bluntly, he stuck his tongue out at Bo-ram who was standing behind me. I was classmates with Dong-min for quite a long time, but I felt like we weren't close at all. Unlike Bo-ram, who would make an effort to get along and even chat around, Dong-min was inflexible and carried out his guard duty like a soldier, which made me feel uncomfortable instead.

Anyways, we arrived in front of the Captain's Office after chitter-chattering.

As some time had passed, the holes in the wall and the destroyed Gigas parts rolling around on the floor were cleaned up, but still, only one soldier was guarding the Captain's Office.

Don't tell me it has always been just one soldier guarding here, regardless of whether there was a problem or not… 

"Stop. What lies ahead is… Ahhh, Dae-ha-nim, it's you. Please go in."

Perhaps because the soldier heard about it in advance, but I clicked my tongue at the former who easily moved out of the way. No matter how I looked at it, it wasn't acceptable for the guard to open the door to the Captain's Office just because he saw my face. Well, the Captain inside the room was someone capable of destroying a planet by himself, so I could somehow understand it…

"Oh, you're here. Ohhoooo, I see that's how it is. It's him."

"Hmm?"

But as I entered the Captain's Office, there was an unfamiliar face.

"Hmm? How did you accurately point him out among those three? Did you see something different in that guy?"

"I didn't see anything. To be exact… I couldn't see it. I couldn't see it at all."

"Right? I was very surprised because of that at first too."

In the Captain's Office, other than the familiar figures, Celestia and Major General Chun Hyun-il, there was also an old man who was about the height of my shoulder.

It was just that the unique thing about him was that he was wearing oriental-style clothes made from silk and held a white feather fan in one hand. He was a typical Westerner with sparkly blonde hair and blue eyes but was yet dressed in that outfit. So there was an indescribable sense of foreignity about him.

"Sunbae, be careful. There's something strange I sense from that old man."

"Be careful. All the surrounding coordinates around him are distorted and warped. I can't believe his existence alone is oppressing all the surrounding dimensions…"

Bo-ram and Dong-min blocked my way forward.

It might have been because I sensed something exuding from the old man standing before me, but I already knew that such actions were all meaningless the moment I laid my eyes on him.

"Hoho, nice to meet you. Cheong Won is thy name."

"Huh?"

"What the…!?"

Before I knew it, the old man passed by the two of them and stood right before me before he gently cupped his fists.

It was a different level from Dong-min's Teleportation, the latter could move between places at will, while the former was a movement method where he was just there before I knew it. And I realized the moment I met his eyes when he was politely expressing his respect towards me.

'Oh my God. He's a transcendent. And one who's a lot stronger than Major General Chun Hyun-il…' 

The old man, who introduced himself as Cheong Won, continued speaking to the still startled me.

"I came from Elohim."