Above Your Head

Chapter 73: Advent of the God of War (4)

"Captain-nim."

"Yes? What's up?"

I looked up at Hyun-il who was controlling the ship again while exuding a blue Aura.

"Move away for a second."

"...What did you say?"

For a moment, he tilted his head as if he didn't understand what I was saying. He was quite cute despite his sheer size because of his white, rich fur, but it was not time to appreciate this polar bear, so I explained calmly.

"I think there's a way out of this if you could give me the right to control the Albatross battleship for a moment."

"...Hey, what is this bastard talking about?"

Hyun-il looked at Celestia with a baffled expression. Celestia shook her head and said, "...Dae-ha, you fool. I know your piloting skills are excellent, but the Albatross battleship is a mass-produced Transcendence Weapon. The situation is completely different."

"That's right. Above all, you can't use Transcendence Weapon properly without Absolute Mana Control and Basic Mana Control. The barrier will weaken immediately if you do that, so what kind of foolish thing are you spouting?" Hyun-il said in a condescending tone.

I was well aware of what they just said. Of course, the control of warships was not implemented in The Great War. However, I had played a lot of similar games, so I would definitely know the singularity in such a situation. Everything I said obviously took into consideration all these factors. "Continue to maintain the barrier as it is. Anyway, all you're doing right now is blocking the incoming attacks, right?"

"What? Then what the hell are you trying to control?"

It was a reasonable question, but before I couldn't answer Hyun-il, a crew member looking at the panel controls screamed.

"The Rising Storm just fired 30 Despair shots!"

"What?! Track their trajectory!"

Hyun-il ignored me and shouted in shock before he went back to controlling Albatross again. I looked back at Celestia in the tense atmosphere of the bridge deck.

"What did he mean by 30 Despair shots?"

"It's a Soul Energy Bomb. He's referring to Artein's Despair. It's well known for being one of the more powerful models."

"Oh."

Come to think of it, I had heard of that name before. Not long ago, when I was working as a Maintenance Officer, Genie, the control persona of the Albatross battleship informed me about the bomb installed on the Beast-rank Gigas, Thunder Dragon. At that time, the bomb that was installed on Thunder Dragon's arm was Artein's Despair.

"Down with the artillery barrage! Fire all the photons cannon and intercept them in midair! Fire off an aerial torpedo too! Just do whatever you can to stop it! If the Despairs clashes with the barrier, it'll be the end for all of us!"

Following the energy-filled roar of Hyun-il, the crew hurriedly controlled the steering panel to begin intercepting the Despair shots. However, based on the battlefield information, only 8 out of the 30 Despair shots were intercepted. Perhaps because they expected Albatross to be loaded with missiles, the Soul Energy Bombs scattered in all directions and flew towards Albatross.

"Is it still impossible to invoke Fenrir's Howl?"

"It would be of no use even if it was possible. The Artein's Despair are flying while spreading their own soul energy waves, and they would be able to pierce through just with the scattered shock waves. We have to intercept it with concentrated attacks."

But even with continuous interceptions, Artein's Despair didn't even dwindle in numbers. Although the distance from the battlefield information was already in front of our noses, we had only intercepted five more shots. There were still 17 Despair shots left.

"It's not working! We've tried jamming with the tracking system, but it's not working, and they are avoiding most of our attacks with evasive maneuvers! We can't land a shot at all!"

As the crew shouted, the Despair Shots flew in, avoiding all the bullets and photons beams that were trying to shoot them down. It was flying like a missile, but its structure was technically no different from a fighter jet, so it was able to evade all the artillery fire easily by activating the evasive maneuvers.

And looking at the crew members in such panic, I…

"This is so frustrating! God damn it!"

"Huh?"

I pushed Hyun-il's thick arm away and sat in the Captain's seat. The seat that was adjusted for Hyun Il's size was too large for me to sit on, but it didn't matter as long as I could just put my hands on the bead that was on the armrest of the Captain's seat. So, I sat closer to one side.

"Genie! Bring me all your artillery power!"

Copy that, Dae-ha-nim.

Along with Genie's answer, a great deal of information was drilled into my head. Of course, the reason I asked for the control rights of Albatross was not because I had some hidden Transcendence Skill. I asked for it because I needed the control rights so I could control the overall system of the Albatross battleship on the Captain's seat I was sitting on.

Kriekkkkkk...

"Holy shit. All the artillery systems are down!"

"The torpedo ballista has also stopped! It's become impossible for us to intercept!"

Screams came from all over the place, perhaps because they didn't know the situation at the Captain's seat. It was natural for them to feel fearful because the enemy's attack was already within vicinity and the means to resist it had disappeared. But I had no intention of being considerate to them.

"You guys are talking as if you could have intercepted it if the system remained as it was."

They really were stupid beyond saving. They were basically praying that what they shot towards the air with all their might would crash with the enemy's missiles.

Of course, it was possible to intercept the missiles flying toward the battleships if they fired their artillery by blasting out overwhelming firepower in the shape of a cotton rather than a straight line or towards a point, blocking a certain amount of space. That was probably the concept of the common artillery barrage.

However, it would take a much more overwhelming amount of firepower to go against a target that moved freely and was even sturdy. If the formation wasn't dense enough, it would just be an ordinary barrage. In fact, didn't I also avoid the demi-human's Maximum Annihilation Bombs, broke through their formation and destroyed the enemy?

Of course, I didn't believe all those missiles could move like me. However, we should also take into account that Albatross was not in perfect condition. I knew they were panicking, but my life was on the line. Seeing that they were defending in a sloppy manner, it would be better if I just did it myself.

"Genie, The first to fourth Artillery Corps… 21st, 35th, and... 70th to 77th Artillery Corps Booster… Get all of them to charge their soul energy."

Understood, Dae-ha-nim.

I closed my eyes after listening to Genie's obedient answer. As I did that, I drew the trajectory of the missiles flying through the vast space.

'This flight path... It's not a machine huh. Is it controlled remotely? Or is it perhaps a self-destruct missile with a person on board?'

But it didn't matter which one it was among the two. What was important was that the enemy made a conscious decision for its every movement rather than it being a set route.

Then, if so, it would be a psychological warfare. I checked all their flight paths and their evasive maneuvers. It didn't take long. As soon as I realized what was necessary, I quickly sent the information through the beads installed on the Captain's seat.

The soul energy has been charged completely.

"Open fire."

Along with the command, all the trajectory was set at the same time.

'Brainwave Control is pretty convenient huh.'

If I had done it with Magic Hand, I wouldn't have been able to set all these trajectories at once. Of course, it would be possible with time, but if I did it that way, we would have been hit by a missile half way through the setup.

"No, wait, this is..."

Groans could be heard coming from the crew members who saw the updated battlefield information at the same time the firing began.

"All, all the bullets hit the target?"

"Hit the target? What do you mean by hitting the target? Do you think all the bullets will be able to hit their targets under this situation?"

"We didn't even have an artillery barrage or a vast firing net spread out... Are you saying he fired each shot to match the enemy's attack?"

"...That's insane."

There was a commotion on the bridge deck. An atmosphere of disbelief hung in the air. However, it was not a situation where I could afford to be concerned about the crew's reactions. Even if I had blocked all of the Artein's Despair, the enemy forces surrounding us remained the same and I didn't cause any damage to Rising Storm in front of us. Because of that, I immediately piloted the Albatross.

"What the hell, you want to move? There's too much of a difference in speed to start now..."

"Just focus on maintaining the barrier!"

"Ah, got it."

I ignored Hyun-il who made a sullen face and focused my mind. Then, accordingly, Albatross began to advance forward at full speed.

Boom! Kaboooom!

As the giant bird-shaped Albatross battleship began to move forward, the Gigas and fighter jets, which were hovering around like a swarm of insects, fired at us recklessly. But it was a really foolish move. Was it because they didn't sense anything after seeing the previous situation where I intercepted all the Despair shots?

"14th, 27th, 48th, and the 70th to 77th Artillery Corps Booster. What a stubborn bunch they are, sticking to our tails like this."

Completed.

"Open fire."

11 rounds of artillery fire were fired centering around the Albatross ship. Since I started using the Brainwave Control, the artillery fire from the Albatross battleship seemed to be visible.

"All, all the bullets are on target! Eight enemy fighter jets and five Gigas have been completely crushed!"

"Oh my God! Captain-nim! This is...!"

"Are you trying to tell me that one man is firing all those artillery shots?"

"Be quiet, everyone! Stay where you are!"

I was able to move the Albatross without any interruption thanks to the heavy airwaves pressing down on the excited crew members. The enemy wasn't stupid. As I wiped out a few more enemy fighter jets and Gigas in the same way, the small forces retreated back and only Rising Storm was firing a series of artillery shots.

"Captain-nim, is the barrier holding out well?"

"Thanks to you, it's become much more comfortable. But even if I can maintain it for an increased timespan, I will reach my limit eventually."

Of course, even if I moved Albatross, I wouldn't be able to shake off Rising Storm. Basically, Albatross' flight speed in peak condition fell behind that of the Rising Storm's; so, how would I be able to outrun the Rising Storm with Albatross in a half-destroyed state? The ship's performance wouldn't increase just because I was controlling it, so we had to find another way in the end.

"Hmm? Great Sky? Dae-ha, did you lead Albatross here on purpose?"

I nodded my head to Celestia's question. She was standing quietly because she could not offer much help with controlling the battleship.

"Yes. That's our only hope."

I turned my head and looked at Great Sky that appeared on the screen that showed the battlefield information. We dropped down far away in the fight against Rising Storm, but we came nearby again. But perhaps because the enemy realized I was after something, light began to focus at the front of the Rising Storm, which was closely following behind us until now.

Warning! Warning! The operation of Rising Sun has been detected!

"Ugh, oh my God."

I shook my head at the familiar name. I was familiar with it as I have seen it from The Great War, so I knew the mighty power of Rising Storm's main armament, Rising Sun, all too well.

"Rising Sun…"

"It's over."

I was not the only one who knew of its mighty power as despair began to sink down on the bridge deck. Several screens on the battlefield information showed a light gathering at the front of Rising Storm.

"The Sixth Imperial Prince is determined to do this huh. If he uses Rising Sun, which employs the light of the Emperor, it'll be hard for him to handle the consequences though... Oh, I'm telling you in advance -- I can't stop that."

I tilted my head at Hyun-il who spoke conclusively.

"No, wait, why would we even block that? Obviously, we should avoid it."

"What? No, how can we avoid Rising Sun at this speed?"

"What do you mean how? Lightly..."

I smiled and concentrated fully on my mind. The whole Albatross appeared in my mind at an astonishing speed.

I said, "Jump."

At the same time as I uttered those words, a dazzling light cut across the universe.

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