Above Your Head

Chapter 36: The Great Battle of Seppard (1)

Seppard was a star system located between the Leonhardt Empire and the Tekea Federation — an undeveloped zone that wasn't considered a territory.

It might be hard to understand from an Earthling's point of view that the entire star system was barren, but in fact, most galaxies and star systems in the universe were often like this. Or rather, intelligent beings had claimed less than one percent of the entire universe's star systems as territory.

The universe was very wide. It was to the point that scholars concluded that the era of the Great Universe could not have started without the Star Gate created by transcendent-grade wizards or the Astral Drive of Kendler Saints who had attained peak of Stage IV Civilization.

There were hundreds of billions of galaxies in this vast universe, and even if one flew at light speed, it would take at least 100,000 years, at worst millions of years to traverse it, so how could one dominate and manage the entire universe? Therefore, most stars and galaxies in the universe had no civilization or intelligent beings.

Union Act was a status quo that came to light because of planets or stars that couldn't continuously maintain a certain number of residents for a certain period of time (10 to 10,000 years depending on size). Hence, they weren't recognized as a territory of influence which fell under the category of a planet or star. So even if a new star was discovered and a flag was inserted, if it couldn't be continuously managed, then it would not be recognized as a territory.

Without such a Union Act, most forces would have identified regions of the universe via probes and rovers, and claiming these regions as their own territory without the ability to manage them, which held no purpose other than increasing their territorial space.

"Have you figured out their location?"

"I can't pinpoint it exactly because they're hiding in the electric clouds on Planet Ella-3. But they had suffered major damages when we were breaching their defense line. They would need at least two months of repairs and regroup to be even skirmish-ready."

"What if they try to escape from there?"

"We have already set up surveillance over the entire Planet Ella-3, so the moment they try to get out of the atmosphere, we will know."

Morne, the powerful Arch-Sorcerer of the dinosaur tribe, a central force of the demi-humans, frowned at the Adjutant's report.

'But I still don't understand. How the hell did they free themselves from the Legion's spells?'

It was a really painful failure because Morne thought it was a fail-proof situation since all preparations were made. Thinking about all the points that led up to this failure, he felt like his internal injuries caused by the clash with Major General Chun Hyun-il were flaring up again. He never imagined that the Albatross ship would be restored to its original state after sending out the Legion.

Having gone through countless experiments and practices, they had perfected the usage of the ability of the Legion they captured. Yet, Albatross' system returned to normal without reason or rhyme. The damage that the demi-humans suffered was absolutely something not to be taken lightly as they were literally on the verge of destruction.

Morne had lingering regrets but he had escaped right away. If he had hesitated and the control persona activated the self-destructive code, it would literally be a dog's death.

"What's the condition of that machine bitch?"

"All signals are as usual and there are no changes. Maybe this situation is... Maybe it's not because of the machine bitch, but due to how well the Albatross ship reacted to it."

"They were able to stop the Legion's invasion. The Legion? Which even the Dragonian fleets couldn't withstand?"

"Of course, it's just speculation, so the likelihood isn't high."

"Hmph. I never thought such an easy thing would turn out this way."

Morne stared at the screen with his fists clenched to the bone.

Planet Ella-3, the seventh planet in the Seppard Star System was shown on the screen.

"Why must it be there of all places... No, maybe it wasn't a coincidence, but perhaps they purposely aimed for it. The Leonhardt Empire must have also been looking into the Seppard Star System."

With a radius of 50,000 kilometers, Planet Ella-3 was the heaviest planet in the Seppard Star System. Its atmospheric layer was covered with lightning clouds of enormous scale, making it difficult for any detection device to fully grasp the overall situation within. This explained why small-sized fighter jets and reconnaissance planes without their own powerful shield dared not enter the planet's atmosphere because there were always storms brewing hundreds of meters per second within.

"Maybe they could try mining."

"The damage to their fleet is severe, so that's fully possible."

Originally, the Seppard Star System was an undeveloped star system that didn't fall under the decree of the Leonhardt Empire or the Tekea Federation. Although it was located between the two major forces, no one could pinpoint its exact location and there was no Star Gate nearby, so it was an area with no potential for development. But the situation changed dramatically when the geological and geographical information of Planets Ella-1 and Ella-3 in the Seppard Star System were discovered and disseminated.

The two planets had huge reserves of Gallats.

It was no exaggeration to call Gallats the common currency of the Great Universe, and they were a rare metal that has received recognition. One could do anything for it when driven by evil motives. Of course, the downside of it was that it was very difficult to process Gallats. But once processing was made possible, the metal could be used in all sorts of ways, and most important of all, it was a must-have material for manufacturing core parts that could be transformed into Transcendence Weapons or large battleships.

Therefore, the undeveloped Seppard Star System had become a conflict zone between Leonhardt Empire and Tekea Federation, the two closest major forces. Each of them insisted they had ownership on the Seppard Star System.

Although Seppard was a remote star system without any Star Gate nearby, it was a totally different story when it came to the large amount of Gallats being buried under the grounds of its inhibiting planets. Even if there were limits to the installation of a new Star Gate, the Seppard Star System had become an area that must be conquered regardless.

"Damn it, this is going to take a while. For starters, pinpoint all the mining points and put them under surveillance. If you find anyone from the fleet, destroy them all."

"Roger that, Captain-nim."

He expressed etiquette and bowed, then left the Captain's room. And Morne, who was left alone, muttered, staring at the screen.

"You can't let the Union hear of this. You have to be sure, thorough, and make sure no one knows that you're involved. But if you can't get your hands on it...."

A malicious glint glowed in Morne's green eyes.

"I will destroy the entire planet, even if I have to."

*

"Arghhh…"

"What's wrong, Sunbae. Are you hurt?"

"No, it doesn't hurt much, but… it seems like I'm having a fever."

On the way back to the dormitory after consulting with Major General Chun Hyun-il, I was perplexed by the state of my body burning up. It wasn't as if I was having the chills or a headache, but my whole body was burning up as if I were in a sauna.

"If you have a fever, don't you have to go to the infirmary or something?"

"You want me to go to the infirmary that's full of patients with their arms blown off, their bones smashed, and their heads battered up?"

How could she say such things when she couldn't even bear to ask for a bed not too long ago despite being seriously injured with the bones in her body smashed?

I laughed in vain inwardly and slightly turned my head.

"Since we're on this topic, can you please bring Dong-min here? Rather than freezing indefinitely in the infirmary, it's better to be at the dormitory."

"Ughhh, I feel like I'm running an errand, but it doesn't sit right with me to abandon the pitiful Dong-min sunbae. I'll be right back so go and take a rest. It's a mess right now, so don't dawdle around for no reason."

The security of the Albatross ship was of course the best, but it couldn't be guaranteed during this chaotic situation. Since there were so many victims, the crewmates were in a state of anger and everyone was dominated by despair. It would only be my loss if I wandered around and died.

Maintenance Officer Kwan Dae-ha-nim… has been identified. Welcome.

Heeding Bo-ram's advice, I entered the dormitory without wandering around. Some of the accommodations in the residential area were destroyed due to the attack, but fortunately, the place we stayed at wasn't affected.

Baduummmp.

But then I froze. My body was once again sweltering with heat. Hot but painless heat was slowly spreading throughout my body.

"What is this? It's obviously not a cold."

But it felt real since I could feel my body temperature actually going up. It wasn't just 38 or 40 degrees. When I wiped down my body with water from the sink, it was enough to generate steam.

"What the heck, why is this happening? This is serious."

At this moment, I felt a sense of crisis. But it was only a rationalized sense of crisis, and there was nothing wrong with my senses. No, aside from having no problems, a pleasant feeling dominated my whole body. It was as if an unknown power was sweeping over my whole body.

Baduummmp, baduummmp.

My heart was beating like crazy and my senses ran wild. I wondered if I could feel the inside of my body as if I were looking at a human figure, but after a while, my consciousness transcended my body in a flash and got out of the room. I began to recognize the people moving around.

"This… What is this…?"

It was an unfamiliar sensation. A totally unknown, unprecedented sensation. I came to my senses and glanced around. The surrounding background was changing. The walls made of metal, the surrounding furniture, and the people who were walking outside the building begin to turn into rays of light, one after another.

'No, this can't be.'

I realized it instantly. It wasn't that the imagery of the world that changed. My viewpoint of the world had changed.

"...Letters?"

And before long, I realized that the rays of light were not just a simple beam of light, but a list of letters. People, things, everything in the world was made up of letters — letters that I've never seen before even in my memory, and letters that I couldn't read.

'No, this can't be. These are not letters.'

Indeed. Those weren't letters. I only understood them in the form of letters. Those were words, and everything that made up the world, as well as the final resort in passing on the revelation of God to mankind.

Flashhh!

The world turned back to normal in an instant. I instinctively tried to see what I had just seen, but the sacred sentences were no longer visible to me.

"What the hell is going on?"

It was at that moment that I realized I had changed. I gained a new sense on top of the existing five senses - namely sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. I recalled the tea that Major General Chun Hyun-il gave me.

Let's talk while we drink. It's Thousand Spirit Tea infused with precious sacred herbs.

It was a given, but the tea that the transcendent Major General Chun Hyun-il remarked to be precious couldn't have possibly been a common item. And it wouldn't be strange even if the tea that the superhumans drank were spiritual elixir.

"Holy crap, don't tell me... I'm awakening Mana so effortlessly? After drinking a cup of tea? No, since I drank Bo-ram's too, wouldn't that be two cups?"

Of course, I've never perceived Mana before, but the strange sensation I felt with every inch of my skin and the world's flow that I could see just by focusing for a while must undoubtedly be Mana.

If I had just lived a normal life, I wouldn't have been so sure. But while on the Albatross ship, I had been playing MMORPG and MOBA games dozens of times and virtually experienced this sensation so I was sure that I had made the correct deduction.

'Is it normal for it to be this easy? Was it just me that couldn't realize it?'

I often thought it was inconvenient without Mana, but I never really had much thought about learning it since the very beginning. Be it martial arts or magic, I never thought I'd be able to easily pick up any skills of those sort from the lineup of what Earthlings defined as supernatural powers. It was also because I had no one to impart all these to me, but it was ridiculous to be able to get it so effortlessly.

"And what was that just now? Why did I see the whole world as letters?"

It was a sight I had never seen before, but at the same time, it was a very familiar feeling. It was similar to the titles I see above people's heads…

Beep beep!

Suddenly an alarm rang from the communicator on my left wrist.

Before I knew it, the hot energy had already subsided, and once I calmed down, I confirmed the contents on the communicator. This text showed up on the communicator.

5 million Gallats have been deposited.