Above Your Head

It's a primitive form of a Gigas. It's almost a cultural heritage, you know? Do you see the core storage section on the chest? It's not even an Iron Heart but a nuclear fusion core. It's giving me goosebumps.

"..."

Iron Heart was a state-of-the-art technology that had only been invented a few hundred years ago. Even so, it didn’t mean that the history of Gigas only spanned across that period of time. Without a need of looking far, Earth itself was a Stage II Civilization with a Power Suit that strengthened the users. In broader terms, that was also a primitive form of a Gigas, which was a common term used to refer to human-controlled Giants.

I had been working on the production which used Aura in the Unique World, while Ares was training my body in reality. At first, I wanted to create a Human-rank like Napoleon, or a Beast-rank like Thunder Dragon if I couldn’t do that much. However, that was just wishful thinking on my part, since even thoughtlessly desiring for a Tool-rank was difficult. Even if Albatross had hundreds and thousands of blueprints, I was not at the level that would dare to challenge it. I had just gotten into trying out production, after all.

That was why I made P-1 while referring to the Gigas of the past, which had the simplest structure possible. In my opinion, it was the best choice I had, so for it to be dismissed in such a way… ‘Even if P-1 is being criticized like that, I am sure it must seem quite fascinating to some others.’

"A Metal-attribute Spirit Master who just contracted a spirit is able to control a metal that can cover the whole body...?"

"This is not a matter of talent. I can't believe you're already able to gather that much spiritual energy... It's normal if you can't handle 500 grams of metal, let alone 1 kilogram."

"That form... Is it armor? It also looks like some sort of robot."

It felt pretty good when the senior members of the Lee Family were admiring me, but on the other hand, it was dumbfounding. They couldn’t necessarily control their reactions, but what were they doing? I wasn’t even fighting for the sake of the Lee Family, nor was I causing a revolt. I just stood in place to watch over the situation when the war happened. As not all of them were fools, one senior member of the Lee Family spoke up, "What are you all doing right now?!! Why are you all standing there like idiots while the enemies of the Lee Family are swarming towards us?!"

"B-But Elder Heavenly Sword! We can't fight against the Zhu Family!"

"This goes against the relationship between the two families. This is also something that we have brought upon ourselves. We’ve established a good enough relationship, so if we just negotiate with them on good terms…”

At the sight of them blabbering, I let out an exclamation, "Wow." I found it incredible. Were they stupid fools? It was unbelievable that they would say such things even in this situation. At this point, it was fascinating that their betrayal was not immediate after pledging loyalty to the Zhu Family. 

To be exact, they can't betray the Zhu Family.

There are a considerable number of troops concentrated on the pavilion at Gwanghwamun Gate.

I slightly moved and looked into Gyeongbokgung Palace. As the two control persons said, the Lee Family's forces had completely gathered inside before I even realized. Wizards in robes, warriors in heavy armor, Were Beasts that had bestial heads, and martial artists carrying only one weapon without wearing any armor… Those numbers weren’t even the entire force. 

The gray-haired old man, who told the senior members of the Lee Family off, shouted, "I command you in the name of the Heavenly Sword! The Demons of Jirisan are to return back to their natural appearances!"

There was a loud ringing sound and, soon, bestial cries resonated from the inside of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Kruuuwangggg---! Grooarrr!!! Were Beasts, half-human half-beasts with the heads of a wolf, wildcat, tiger, and bear, gathered towards Gwanghwamun Gate. The beasts boasted an enormous size of close to 2.5 meters tall and they exuded a violent aura just by standing there. 

Were Beasts were beings I had seen a lot within the Lee Family, but I could feel that they were on a different level compared to those I had seen before. Moreover, I could feel a strangely familiar energy… 'Ah, that's right. Synthetic Magical Beast.' That was a word that I had seen in the title of Seon-ae, a classmate and desk partner whom I had become awkward around now. To be honest, I did not really know what it was because I just overlooked it. It seemed a minute detail, after all.

They are half-human half-beasts that are widely spread around Gyeongbokgung Palace. They number around 108, to be exact.

As I listened to Genie's explanation, I stared at the old man called Heavenly Sword. He had a firm expression, as if he said what had to be said, but I could tell what he was thinking just by slightly breaking down his title.

Lee Family

Level 11

Standing at a crossroad, Lee Jong-woo

I momentarily pondered over what that meant, but soon figured out his situation, which was now obvious to me. In the first place, why were 108 Synthetic Magical Beasts scattered all around inside Gyeongbokgung Palace when they were fighting against external existences? Gyeongbokgung Palace was equipped with an absolute barrier, entry restriction, to defend against any intrusion from places other than the entrance. 

'They're thinking about which side to take, huh?' As I found out about the situation, I could grasp the worries in the eyes of Heavenly Sword. The pro-China faction—which was connected to the Zhu Family, the strongest force in the parallel world—and the Imperial Princess Min-kyung’s faction—which saved the entire Lee Family and obviously stepped on the Zhu Family's pride with Hyung's existence. Between these two forces, he wasn't sure who to side with.

'It's a choice where even the few Master-level strong beings of the Lee Family would be destroyed if things went wrong.' The situation was so critical that it was not possible for him to move rashly even though he was number one among the strongest in the Lee Family, the Six Swords (Heavenly-Earth-Human-Wind-Cloud-Rain). What would happen if he betrayed at this moment and the Lee Family won against the Zhu Family? Then again, what would happen after if he participated in the war and damaged the Zhu Family greatly? 

Rather, if it was a situation where he could properly betray the Lee Family, he might have already committed a betrayal. However, Hyung's Captain's War was still in progress, so it was hard to properly betray the Lee Family because fighting among allies was banned. Everything would only be possible after the Captain's War, but this was a rapidly changing situation that he couldn’t just hold out forever. As long as Kyung-eun, who did not join the system as she was a branch-member of the Lee Family, had started the punishment next to Min-kyung, the options he could choose from were extremely limited. 

"What."

Cluuuunk. A heavy metallic sound was heard as I lightly jumped onto the railing. 

"Wow!!!"

"Die!!!"

A battlefield filled with blood and flesh entered my eyes as I murmured, "Although this war is actually none of my concern..."

Min-kyung, who had an ice-cold expression on her face, turned her head toward me and shouted, "Dae-ha! What are you doing right now!"

"I'll be right back."

"What! You're a Selected One too! You can't be involved in the battle right now!"

"We'll see." I chuckled and jumped off the railing. For a moment, my body floated and fell… It wouldn't be like this if I had trained my Life Energy differently. I could jump tens of meters just by jumping in place, so I dropped like a cannonball and smashed everything I crashed against. A Life Energy practitioner with high stats was basically no different from a living tank, since they were the incarnation of destruction that crushed and shattered everything that approached. However, as a practitioner of the Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights, things were a little different in my case. Thuuud. It was a very soft landing, despite the fact that I jumped down from the fairly high pavilion in Gwanghwamun Gate while wearing a heavy-looking full-body armor. 

"That Joseon man came down!" 

"What is this? Armor?"

"Hmph, he's a ssaurabi[1]!" 

Swhhooook. As I landed on the ground, the warriors who stood under the wall approached me. They came close, as if trying to hug me or something. As if we had planned to do so beforehand, their natural moves were literally like flowing water, and a series of attacks ensued. Thuckkk! A Penetrating Jin which got through the armor and destroyed the insides, followed by a Leg Throw which broke down my body's center of gravity... 

The Chinese warrior with an arrow-mark on his head twisted and grabbed the front of my gloves, which fell. He lifted them as they were. Seeing that he instantly overpowered me, it showed that he was a considerably strong master. 

'I came down while purposely aiming for the one who had the highest level, but this is no joke, though?'

The Martial Essence[2] contained in the single movement that caught my body was not something that I could resist. How could I resist the single stroke that contained tens of thousands of training and learning when I had never learned martial arts properly? Just because I was well-versed in martial arts did not mean that I could deal with all sorts of situations. 

Thuuck thud thuck.

"…What's this sound?"

"The shock energy is being stored.”

The Chinese warrior who used my body as an arrow shield wriggled his eyebrows. It was most probably because my voice sounded fine, when I should have lost my mind after being hit by the Penetrating Jin. 

"You bastard!"

Taaaaang! A single attack which was like lightning struck my armor. His attitude of unquestioningly giving his all in this unexpected situation was not a bad choice. However, he did not get a good grasp of me. 

Whooooosh!

"Keuuu...uckkkk?" The warrior trembled greatly once as he was holding on to my armor, and he soon collapsed while vomiting blood. His training, which reached a realm close to Master-level, was amazing, but he still couldn’t stop the attack that existed beyond his comprehension. 

"Commander-nim!!! You bastard! You Lee Family fucker! Joseon brute!! How dare you?!!" A pounce followed after the charge. The warrior who approached in an instant struck me on the head in a great stance. It was a domineering spirit which felt like he wanted to deal with me in a single stroke! However... Claaank.

"W-What the…? Why is the point of contact like this?!" No one was perplexed by the fact that I had steel covering my entire body, since they were masters who could shatter rocks with their bare hands and cut down the composite armor of a tank with knives. Every single attack of theirs could inflict an impact greater than a traffic accident to their enemies, so the defensive power of an armor was meaningless in the first place. Given the circumstances, they must have been flustered by the fact that I did not block their attacks with any sort of mysterious powers despite the armor being crushed by their attack. That was clearly a phenomenon that was beyond their comprehension. 

Are you alright?

'It feels like being hit by a cotton ball.' As I responded to Genie's question, I grabbed the Chinese warrior's sword by hand, and then... Wiiinggg!

"Keokk!" He fell along with a groan. 

"That-! What's with that armored fucker?!"

"Don't get close to him! Something's weird about him!"

I slightly warmed up while ignoring the flustered enemies. 'It's as I thought.' I trained in the Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights, which had an extreme compatibility with being damaged, and I also wore armor that could block against acute spirit[3], so I was practically immune to physical attacks. If they did not have the power to cut down the armor, which was imbued with aura, without a hint of resistance, the moment the attack power converted into impulsive force, the impact would turn into vibrations and become absorbed by my body. 

"Book." Flap flap! As I said the words, a book appeared in mid air. It was already past midnight, so the Abilities of the Day would be renewed.

*Abilities of the Day!

*Summons

Ares

I froze as I confirmed the contents written in the book. "No, wait? A Legend-grade Ability in this situation?" It was also a pretty brutal kind of attack too. 

1. Ssaurabi (싸울아비) is a modern Korean compound which literally means "a father who fights"."Ssaurabi" would be the literal Korean expression for "a man who fights."

2. In this context, Martial Essence refers to the logic or natural law behind the martial art.

3. In this context, it refers to highly trained and sharp energy or aura.