Above Your Head

"Damn, I don't know if this situation is any better or worse!"

"...Aren't you looking too excited despite that?"

"Oh my, really?" I gushed with a smile. I had no choice but to grab on to Celestia's neck tightly and hang on in an unsightly manner.

Bang bang!

Celestia charged forward with the continuous explosions behind her. Her speed was so fast that both her legs seemed to be floating in mid air.

Feeling the strain it was putting on my body, I shouted, "Heyyy! I'm going to fall at this rate!"

"I'm in a hurry, so just hold on as if your life is depending on it! If we can't find a weapon first, we'll be captured and locked up again!"

She stepped on a four-legged demi-human that was running towards her and jumped up. No, to be precise, she didn't step on him, rather, she dodged him and kicked against the ground.

Kwaaaaaatatang! Bang! Bang bang bang!

I didn't know what to do anymore. I was out of my mind. My vision was spinning round and round and my arm was in so much pain that it felt like it was going to break. Even though my whole body was enveloped in the Golden Lion Aura, the motion still strained my body considerably. That was a given of course. Because even though I was the Specter of Albatross, who was also known as the slayer of the battlefield, I was just an ordinary person the moment I got off from a Gigas.

"Kuwaackkkk!"

"Ackkkk--!"

"Damn-, damn it! Shoot! I'm telling you to shoot! Just kill them!"

"Ackkkk! You crazy bastard!"

One of the demi-humans, who terribly suffered, burst into anger and pointed his heavy firearm around at his allies which caused the other demi-humans to freak out and strike him down. In the midst of this confusion, dozens of demi-humans formed an encirclement formation, but nonetheless, Celestia could freely plow through the enemies. The restriction against hurting her still existed, so they couldn't really attack her.

-Come out, Morne! Before I kill all these bugs!

And in the midst of all of that, the First-Tier Demon, Hell's Hand was still on a rampage like a madman. Many Beast-rank and Tool-rank Gigas were charging at him, but whenever Hell's Hand swung his humongous arms, they flung with a boom and the surrounding buildings collapsed. However, that was all there was to it and it didn't stop the demi-humans in their tracks.

'Wow, that thing's a real monster.'

Hell's Hand was basically similar to a human being, but his torso made up a big part of his body. It wasn't that he didn't have legs, but they were so short that he could pass off as having no legs; and they were even a little bloated. Furthermore, I couldn't even see it well because his legs were covered with his oversized belly fat.

To be honest, he had a body shape that seemed like he would have trouble moving, but surprisingly, he displayed a formidable fighting capability. His fat belly only rippled when hit by laser cannons and missiles, and even if it tore after being struck by a powerful attack at times, it would recover soon enough. His sluggish-looking body moved so fiercely that one could hear the air bursting from afar. And when he jumped, he would easily jump a hundred meters.

Boom! Roaaarrr!

As Hell's Hand jumped up high into the sky and dived down, the ground shook and the buildings collapsed as if an earthquake had occurred. The area was designed like a city, but this was the inside of the spaceship after all. As the ground cracked, the ship's insides, which were intricately intertwined with mechanical parts appeared. And as I saw that, an idea sparked and came to my mind.

"Cel! Jump down!"

"What? What are you trying to do by going further inside from here?"

"It's better than being surrounded by the demi-humans! And did you forget the three-dimensional map that the Legion kid showed you earlier? Right down here, there's... Ack!!"

I turned my head again and looked at Hell's Head because I thought of the Legion girl who gave us a hand. I was the only one who escaped with Celestia. I saw the handcuffs and chains that were part of the Hell's Hand were unlocked, but would she even be safe in the stomach of the completely awakened Hell's Hand?

It was a natural course of thought and Celestia shook her head lightly as if she guessed what I was thinking about.

"I couldn't bring you two both out. It would be great if we could get help from the Legion inside this battleship, but... We can't miss the chance to get out of that monster's stomach."

"…You're right."

Even when Hell's Hand was asleep, Celestia couldn't pierce a hole in his body. What would have happened if the main armaments of the demi-humans hadn't made a hole in the body of Hell's Hand? Perhaps we would have been digested nicely in his stomach by now.

Thud!

At this moment, we didn't have the leisure of thinking about the Legion girl any further, Celestia jumped down through the cracked ground. Of course, I fell with her as she carried me on her back.

"Ahhhhhh! Those shitheads jumped down!"

"Get them!"

The demi-humans chased after us as they were out of their wits and jumped at Celestia with their bodies to try and somehow subdue her. The problem, however, was that the situation on the ship was not carefree enough for so many of them to move in perfect order.

Kabooom! Bang!

Along with the sound of something exploding, the ground shook again and most of the demi-humans who jumped into the narrow crack bounced somewhere else. Of course, some of the nimble ones among them were able to properly catch after us…

"Welcome, you idiots---!"

Celestia covered her whole body in a golden Aura and greeted the demi-humans with her fist.

Kapoooow! Kwakkkkk!

Their bones were smashed into smithereens and the flesh on their body exploded. Though she appeared pure and demure, her savageness was greater than that of a decent predator! Celestia dug into the crocodile-headed demi-human who was swinging his arms violently and cracked his defense with her left arm. Then, she smoothly shoved her right arm into his chest. The opponent was a monster with a height of nearly three meters and his leather was no different from an armor, but still, he couldn't get up again after a blow from Celestia as his head was snapped.

Kwakkkkk!

That was not all. The spaghetti-type demi-human tried to hold Celestia down by untangling his body like a thread. However, Celestia avoided it and did a roundhouse kick which burst apart his eye which was as big as his head.

"Nice, next!" Celestia exclaimed excitedly. But fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there was a loud bang coming from above again.

Krieeekkk-!

As the ground trembled accompanied by a loud bang, the cracked floor closed up along the tremor.

"Keuk! No-, nooooo!"

"Ackkkkkk!!"

Along with the screams, the demi-humans were crushed between the cracks, and their bodily fluid dribbled like raindrops. Fortunately, I was able to avoid being covered by their bodily fluids because I had already slipped away, but the situation was a little different for Celestia who was fighting with the demi-humans.

"Ah shit, are you okay?"

"Ahh, of course. There were quite a few demi-humans with poison flowing as their blood, but these didn't have that."

"No, putting that aside... Whew, there we go. Wait a bit."

It was normal for there to be a black-out since the facility was destroyed, but the surrounding area was bright. It was because though all the light sources inside the ship had disappeared, Celestia's body was covered with a golden light which illuminated the area.

I looked at Celestia, who used her body as a substitute for a light source, and continued, "By the way, you really fight fearlessly huh."

"I can't help it, I'm bare-handed. If I had the equipment, I could have wiped the floor with them in a more graceful manner."

I was puzzled at the sight of Celestia interpreting my words in a completely different way.

"No, what kind of idol acts like this? Did you get popular on a show like 'Girl vs Demi-Human' or something?"

"Huh? Of course not. I'm popular because of my looks, duh."

"..."

I was lost for words. I was annoyed at the fact that I couldn't deny her statement. But it seemed like she didn't care whether I was irritated or not and shook off the bodily fluids of the demi-humans from her body.

"By the way, where are we after all? I came down just like what you asked me to."

"It's a warehouse. And... As expected, it's here."

I opened a box that was lying around and found some familiar luggages. A thick-rimmed glasses and communicators, as well as a lightweight and sturdy combat suit.

"Oh? No way... Oooooh! Mine's here too!! My gun!!"

Celestia glanced around and when she discovered the box that stored her equipment, she ran towards it. She was so happy that I thought hearts were about to shoot out from her eyes. Fortunately, her equipment wasn't stolen by anyone and the box opened smoothly. Celestia immediately undressed the piece of cloth she was wearing and threw it aside.

Plop!

A 'volume' that was unexpected and beyond my expectations literally got imprinted on my mind like a brand. It was already bright because of the golden light hovering around her, but I felt like it was getting brighter for a moment.

'Ooh, some people really look skinnier after wearing clothes... Huh?'

But then, I spotted scars all over her body. They weren't deep scars. They were all faint scars. But nevertheless... The number of scars on her body wasn't normal. Dozens of scars... It wasn't something that should be on the body of an Imperial Princess who grew up beautifully. Furthermore, didn't she possess amazing healing capabilities?

"Nice. We're completely armed!"

But regardless of whether I was watching or not, Celestia threw the piece of cloth that had been covered with the bodily fluids of the demi-humans aside, changed into her combat suit and equipped a golden revolver around her waist. Because she had no hesitation in her actions, I shook my head and came to my senses. Then, I took out the combat suit that was in the box and wore it. Just in case of an emergency situation, I wore the glasses that I extorted from Hye-ran and took one of the guns that was nearby.

Needless to say, I had no intention of fighting with these things at all.

"Okay. Let's go hide in the crack over there."

"Aren't we going out to fight?"

"What's the point of getting out of here and defeating the demi-humans? We have to escape. I'll connect with Ares to tell him what's going on on our side, and tell him to come save us, so protect my body in the meantime."

"Hmmm, then... We need to quickly fortify the vicinity."

After understanding the situation, Celestia nodded and began to rummage through the surroundings at random. She most probably planned to use everything or anything that was in the warehouse. I looked at that scene for a moment, then leaned in one corner and closed my eyes.

"…"

I called for Ares. I tried to expand my senses by concentrating on my consciousness.

The situation was not that bad. We escaped from a situation where we were held captive by the enemies, and the First-Tier Demon, Hell's Hand, was making a mess in Great Sky. Morne would have to step forward to stop Hell's Hand, but Morne was currently engaged in a fleet battle with Major General Chun Hyun-il, so he couldn't step away.

Compared to the beginning when there was considerable difficulty and interference, the current situation was truly nothing in comparison. If I could control Napoleon under such circumstances and invade our current location, we could escape without any problems.

'Ares. Answer me, Ares.' 

I concentrated. I concentrated even more.

But there was no reply.

'…Ares?'

I was flustered because I didn't know what was wrong. Of course, being in Great Sky which was enveloped with a defense system, it was almost impossible to communicate with the outside. But then, haven't I been doing it all this time?

But I soon realized a serious problem.

"Oh, I'll be damned..."

Right. The Legion girl wasn't here. I could no longer control Napoleon remotely.