Above Your Head

"Wow…They-, they're really here. This effect is really amazing…"

In front of them, Dae-ha was standing aloof with a torn talisman in his hands.

"What the hell, was that a summon? Then you should've just briefly explained the situation to us before teleporting us here."

The amulet torn by Dae-ha was an item that Bo-ram recognized. The moment Dae-ha tore it at will, a technique would be invoked to summon pre-designated characters. With the battle unfolding, Dong-min had left the amulet with Dae-ha for emergency purposes in the off chance that it became impossible to protect the latter by his side.

"The talisman is for one-time use only. You can invoke the right to refuse to be summoned, but then you wouldn't be able to reach here."

"But... oh, dear. Hold on for a second." Bo-ram grumbled and took out the thing she had packed in advance. It was a military-use communicator that can send powerful radio waves and communicate with specific frequencies anywhere.

"Unnie! Can you hear my voice?"

I can hear you! Where did you go all of a sudden? Even if you are a civilian, you must always report during an operation…

"I found the Imperial Princess!"

What!?

Mi-young was about to reprimand Bo-ram but stopped as soon as she heard the sudden good news. Naturally, they would have to search for a substantial amount of time and it was a desperate search operation that might lead to only fights against the enemy without being able to find the Imperial Princess and Dae-ha. But the situation had changed rapidly with this news.

"This is Celestia Ra Leonhardt. These two flew in after Dae-ha tore up some sort of talisman. I don't think they crossed the universe to reach here, so you've probably invaded Great Sky, right?"

For the glory of Your Majesty the Emperor! I'm Lieutenant Shin Mi-young, Leader of the First Armored Infantry Squadron! As you said, I led the troops and we've successfully infiltrated Great Sky and we are currently building a temporary fort. How is your royal body faring?

"Yes, I'm fine. But I don't know whether my body will keep staying intact."

Krieeekkk!!

The sound of an explosion resonated as soon as Celestia completed her sentence. The demi-humans troops had already identified the location of Celestia and Dae-ha, and that was the sound of the demi-humans breaking through the crumbling corridors and advancing towards them.

We'll confirm your location immediately and move out! Dong-min! Is it possible for you to teleport back here again and move our personnel to where you currently are?

"Unfortunately, it is impossible because there is a power in place here preventing teleportation. I gave a magical instrument to my target of protection, so it can only be done once."

Well, I expected that it was impossible too… Understood. Use the Transmit Position function on the communicator.

"Yes, unnie! I'll stall for as much time as I can!"

...Bo-ram, I've said this over and over again, don't call me unnie, call me Squadron Leader.

The communication was cut off after Mi-young finished her sentence. Bo-ram clicked her tongue with the communicator in hand, "My God, I'm not even a soldier, so why is she so obsessed with how I address her? By the way, are you all right, Sunbae? Your complexion doesn't look good."

"I've been through quite a lot of hardship. No, more than that."

"Hmm? What's up?"

Dae-ha looked at Bo-ram who was questioning him with a strange expression. He stared above her head for a moment and then looked at the key with a strange design on his hand. And then, he asked, "Did you perhaps get sealed or something?"

"Huh? A seal?"

Dae-ha tilted his head when he saw Bo-ram's expression - an indication that she couldn't understand what he was asking.

"Mmm? Your body didn't get sealed? Did that thing on your arm get sealed then?"

"...Wait a minute, Sunbae."

Bo-ram's expression turned stiff, and she dragged Dae-ha to a corner in a hurry. Even though she looked like a young girl, she possessed a power equivalent to thirty people. Even Dae-ha, who was relatively on the sturdier side, wasn't able to resist being dragged along by her.

"Ughhh. It hurts, you punk."

"Ehem, I'm sorry. I was surprised, so... no, that aside!" Bo-ram's expression became serious. "Where did you hear about the seal?"

"I just knew."

"No, that's ridiculous. What kind of nonsense is that? It's the second stage… ah, it's nothing."

Bo-ram thoughtlessly blurted it out, but paused. Of course, it wasn't a very big mistake. It wouldn't be easy to figure anything out just from that slip of the tongue.

However, Dae-ha was proud of himself as the king of wits.

"Second stage? Second stage… Second stage! I see! It's a two-stage transformation! There's a seal on the second stage of the transformation! Come to think of it, my father said that all the seals were lifted, including the first-stage transformation!"

"Do-, don't yell!!"

Dae-ha was puzzled at the sight of her freaking out.

"Hmm? Is there a problem with it? Is the two-stage transformation a secret that shouldn't be revealed?"

"Of course that's... not it, but... Anyway, just don't pay any heed to this! It's a seal that can't be undone anyways."

It was a conclusive remark, and it was also true. Bo-ram was born with a two-stage transformation and only experienced it once. It was something that didn't belong to the Physical Realm but another dimension.

The irresponsible golden dragon that gave her power had told her that she would not be able to release the seal until she reached the state of transcendence. And of course, attaining transcendence was impossible.

Although her powers reached an excellent level despite her age, the current level she was at was no more and no less than a skilled master. In fact, the power she can exert was more overwhelming than that. However, it wasn't because her level was high, but because of her inherent bloodline and the power of her transformation.

"But what if you could release the seal?"

"I-, I refuse!"

"... It's not as if it's impossible to unseal, but you refuse?"

"…"

"What the hell?"

Dae-ha looked as if he didn't understand the rationale behind her words. Just then, Dong-min butted into their conversation, "Hmm, so that's what it was."

"What are you talking about again?"

Dong-min nodded his head while looking at the bewildered Dae-ha. He recalled what he had heard from his teacher before leaving Earth.

According to the prophecy, one will be able to release the Seal of Jeseokcheon on their own. 

He thought of the Jeseokcheon's Vajra Scepter that was with him. It was an unprecedented Godly Artifact that possessed Jeseokcheon's origins.

'Maybe… He expected this and sent me here?'

To be honest, there were many things that Dong-min couldn't understand about this journey from the very beginning. He personally respected Il-han a lot and he knew that his origins caused him to be greatly indebted to Il-han, but it wasn't possible for Il-han to send him Jeseokcheon's Vajra Scepter, a treasure with the greatest origin. How could Il-han send that sort of treasure into space when he didn't know what would've unfolded here? It was a treasure that must be protected even at the expense of all the lives of the clan if an enemy came for it.

'And that… Magical Girl too.'

It was classified, but he knew something about the power Bo-ram possessed. It was a mighty power that she received from a Dragon God of an Alternate Realm. In fact, now that they had come this far, they knew that this wasn't an Alternate Realm but an Outer Realm. Most importantly, he himself as well as Bo-ram was carrying a bomb that went beyond the standards of Another Plane which exists in a small realm called Earth.

What if Dae-ha was an existence who could set the bomb on fire?

Booooom--!!

At that moment, another explosion went off. It meant that the enemies were coming close.

"Hmm. For now, it means that Bo-ram can't do it, right?"

"What? Oh, well, rather than saying she can't… "

"No, then it's okay. Then what about you, Dong-min?""

"...That sounds interesting. I'll try." said Dong-min as he took out the Vajra Scepter. Dae-ha inserted his key on the Vajra Scepter.

Kigik!

Dae-ha stayed still for a while after the key easily stuck on the body of the Vajra Scepter which wouldn't even be scratched by any attack. Celestia also took interest in it and approached them.

"Do you finally know how to use that Transcendence Weapon perfectly now?"

"I'm not sure, but... roughly."

"Huh? Wait a minute. What are you two talking about? What Transcendence Weapon?"

"You're saying that this key is a Transcendence Weapon?" Bo-ram and Dong-min asked almost simultaneously. But nonetheless…

Click.

The key opened the Vajra Scepter of Jeseokcheon.

————————————

Kabooom!

With the sound of an explosion, debris from the collapsed corridor scattered and the sponge melted away in the heat. If they were determined to kill us from the very beginning, they would've controlled the direction of the explosion and made it explode inwards. However, they had no choice but to choose this method because of the restriction that they couldn't harm Celestia.

"Charge! We must subdue the Imperial Princess before any variables appear!"

"Activate the Suppression Technique and put pressure on the soul energy itself!"

Their intrusion was faster than I thought. It seemed that the demi-humans realized the seriousness of the situation and put their utmost effort into it. But as a result, they made a mistake.

Thuck... Thud thuck…

Dong-min stood in the middle of the collapsed corridor.

His stone-like eyes were so calm and silent that it seemed as if he wouldn't care about any flow of the world. However, contrary to such a calmness, an intense Aura flowed through his whole body.

"A human?"

"There's a new intruder! He's not one of the two we caught before!"

"Kill him!"

I've always felt this way, but the demi-humans really found pleasure in killing. They weren't only like this when they were going against humans. Generally speaking, they tended to fight and they also had murderous tendencies.

They were antsy because they couldn't eat me even when they saw me. But from what I've seen so far, if two demi-humans fought, they would still eat each other regardless of being the same species. The law of the jungle had continued as their culture for a long time throughout the years. The strong were respected, and the weak would be eliminated. On the same token, the weak would become prey to the strong and this culture was no different from heaven for the strong, and hell for the weak.

And because they were beings like that… The bloodlust they exhibited was by no means normal. The intense bloodlust would instill fear in their opponents the moment they came face-to-face with them, and it led the other species to recognize the demi-humans as predators in the hierarchy. However, such bloodlust meant nothing to inanimate objects such as stones or rocks, as well as thunder or lightning.

Kwareukkkkkkk!

A deafening roar weighed down on everything in the surrounding. I hid behind the wall and blocked my ears while groaning.

"That's brutal."

Despite the overwhelming Aura, the demi-humans were screaming and charging forward, but it was all useless in the face of the raging thunder and lightning. Those who had faith in their sturdy body and charged forward were roasted black, and those that formed a barrier to block the incoming lightning were roasted along their barrier into a lump of charcoal and rolled on the floor.

"Mmhmm. His power is beyond my imagination. If it goes on like this, maybe we can really escape without any problems."

Celestia looked surprised as she stared at Dong-min who was shooting sparks from beyond the wall. She was worried because he suddenly stepped forward, but he was wiping out the enemy overwhelmingly.

But at that moment, Bo-ram said, "Over... it's over."

"What?"

As I turned my head in bewilderment, I saw Bo-ram looking Dong-min with a pale expression. Celestia squinted her eyes as if she had an idea about what was going on.

"Don't tell me, he's being eaten?"

"That's a given of course! It's true that Dong-min sunbae has a pretty strong mental power, but there's no way he can overcome the power contained in a Godly Artifact!"

Kwareureukkk! Bzzzappp!

There was lightning and thunder raging around. The demi-humans, who flocked together to subdue us, finally tried to retreat as they were almost totally annihilated. However, even doing that was impossible.

Bzzzappp!

A lightning that literally shot like a flash of light struck the bodies of the retreating demi-humans. They wouldn't be able to run away from Dong-min if they couldn't stop the thunderbolt, or retreat faster than the lightning could reach.

I asked hastily, "What do you mean by he's being eaten? Is there a problem with Dong-min's body?"

"There's going to be a problem with his consciousness! The power of the weapon will take away its user's body! Dong-min sunbae has already lost consciousness. That power is going to keep activating until his body ends up breaking down… And most importantly, it's impossible to control his movement! If it goes on like this, going up there and fighting with the demi-humans will pose a problem, but, maybe, just maybe…" Boram gritted her teeth at the sight of Dong-min who killed all the demi-humans before turning to us.

"He might harm us too." Bo-ram continued.

Dong-min was holding the Vajra Scepter which was surrounded by bright-blue lightning and had turned into a lightning spear. He faced us with his eyes open, and his pupils were nowhere to be seen. There was no bloodlust. Nature had neither bloodlust, nor any killing intent. A raging typhoon was not formed for the purpose of killing people, nor did it have any malice. The eruption of a volcano and the foreboding of a tsunami, too, were all natural phenomenons.

"This... is troubling."

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Celestia readied herself to battle and released her Golden Lion Aura. Bo-ram was also ready to immediately transform if needed. But all I did was tilt my head.

"We just have to negate it, right?" I said and raised my right hand which was holding the key. Then, I thrusted it into the empty air that had nothing. I felt as if I started to know how to use this key.

[Would you like to reseal?]

Was there any need for answers? I turned my wrist without hesitation.

Click.