Ubermensch – Chapter 161

Chapter 161

Astartes was a planet with a civilization level similar to 21st century Earth. It was under attack by Soldiers and had sent out a distress call.

Mason received their plea for help and hastened to depart.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Teshub nodded.

“Nymphassil. Launch.”

Clang!

The dimension shattered, and the Nymphassil performed a dimensional jump.

The planet Astartes was in the midst of a fierce war.

A single Soldier was intercepting anti-air defenses and fighter jets one after another. The fight between the Soldier and the 21st-century weaponry was akin to a battle between cutting-edge fighter jets and archers.

With such an overwhelming difference in technology, strategy and tactics were meaningless.

Mason gave his usual orders.

“Land the Nymphassil! I’m going out with the Champion!”

“Yes, Oztalon.”

Thanks to not performing solo dimensional jumps, the Champion’s energy was fully charged. Mason accelerated, smashed the upper body of the Soldier with his hammer, and threw the remaining parts into the black hole.

“Now, let’s recover the people…”

At that moment, Mason felt something was amiss.

“…!”

There were none.

There were no people.

The weapons were moving, but there was no sign of any humans.

A cold sweat ran down Mason’s spine.

“Teshub! Activate the barrier and launch the Nymphassil! As fast as you can!”

“Yes.”

Teshub began preparing for takeoff while asking,

“What’s wrong, Oztalon?”

“It’s a trap!”

At that instant, silver liquid poured out from the weapons and buildings. It was nanites.

Simultaneously, the sky was getting darker.

The sun, which had been temporarily released from its frame, was starting to retreat back into it.

“Battlestar…!”

The wave of nanites surged towards the Nymphassil. Being engulfed by them meant instant disintegration.

“It’s dangerous!”

The moment Deroa shouted,

Crackle!

The Nymphassil’s barrier ground up the nanites.

But there was a limit to that.

The nanites were enveloping the Nymphassil from all sides, waiting for its barrier to deplete.

“There’s no reason to just stand here and take a beating.”

Teshub calmly spoke as he prepared for a dimensional jump.

Clang!

The dimension shattered, and a dimensional gate opened in front of the Nymphassil.

All they had to do was go straight through it to escape to another dimension.

Then, Mason shouted urgently,

“No! Stop!”

“What?”

At that moment,

Boooom!

A beam thicker and larger than a city-sized battleship descended from the sky like a sledgehammer.

The barrier was torn like paper, and the Nymphassil’s bow was instantly obliterated.

If they hadn’t stopped at Mason’s command, more than half of the Nymphassil would have been erased.

As the captain of the ship, Teshub was horrified.

“This is the Destroyer’s battleship, the Battlestar…!”

A 28th-century battleship that enveloped an entire star for its energy source, the Battlestar. The firepower of its main cannon was enough to penetrate and rupture a planet.

“If we stay still, we’ll get hit again! Evasive maneuvers!”

However, the true terror of the Battlestar wasn’t the power of its main cannon.

It was the fact that it could fire those cannons repeatedly.

Because it could utilize all the immense energy emanating from a star.

Boooom! Boooom!

Thanks to the advanced AI’s targeting, the Battlestar was predicting the Nymphassil’s evasive maneuvers, and damage was gradually accumulating. It was energy that surpassed its regenerative capabilities.

Attempting a dimensional jump was pointless, as the Battlestar would surely land a direct hit on the ship during the brief gap between dimensions.

The Nymphassil was trapped between the nanites and the Battlestar, taking a relentless beating.

Mason shouted,

“Teshub, hold on somehow! I’ll intercept the Battlestar!”

“Is that possible?”

“The structure shouldn’t have changed!”

The Battlestar was originally a toy. A toy made for the amusement of riding a Soldier and smashing it.

It had a few critical structural weaknesses.

And Mason was an expert at the game of riding a Soldier and taking down Battlestars.

With the upgraded Champion, he could definitely intercept it.

The problem was time. It was all about time.

He had to get close to exploit the Battlestar’s weaknesses, and the distance between Astartes and the Battlestar was by no means short.

“Just try to hold on!”

“But at this rate…”

At that moment, Deroa stepped forward.

“Hey, insect head! Try blocking at least the nanites with the ship’s barrier!”

“The bombardment is coming. What are your orders?”

“I’ll take care of the bombardment somehow!”

Deroa gathered her faith and created another shield on top of the barrier. Unlike the Nymphassil’s barrier that covered the entire ship, this was a shield that covered a limited area, like a buckler.

Vwooom!

The Battlestar’s main cannon fired. The beam, on a trajectory that would gouge out the Nymphassil’s side, was too fast to dodge completely.

However, at that moment, Deroa’s shield swiftly moved to block the beam.

Sizzle!

The shield completely neutralized the beam’s power.

Unlike the barrier, which defended against various types of attacks and damage, this shield was solely for blocking beams. If it could block them properly, it could do so more efficiently.

“Big guy! Hurry up and finish it! I can’t hold on for long!”

“Got it!”

Mason released the limiter and flew at full speed.

Sub-light speed flight, enhanced by his divine power.

“Ugh!”

The immense G-force crushed Mason’s body, but he endured it with his regenerative abilities and accelerated further.

Mason’s Champion flew towards the Battlestar, which was once the sun, in an instant.

“I know!”

Mason took out the chain blade.

“Haaaaaaa!”

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The chain blade pierced through the Battlestar’s barrier.

Mason took advantage of the opening and accelerated, circling around the Battlestar.

“There it is!”

The heat vent. The Battlestar’s structural weakness.

There were obstacles and interception turrets here and there, but it was a weakness that led directly to the engine room.

“Let’s go!”

Mason flew through the straight passage, evading obstacles and interceptions with dazzling maneuvers.

In the distance, he could see the engine room.

Mason unleashed all his weaponry.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the engines were destroyed, Mason turned around.

The Battlestar wouldn’t explode immediately even if its engines were destroyed. It would melt down because there was no way to vent the star’s heat.

The Battlestar was basically a toy. It was designed to give time to escape even after the engines were destroyed.

“You think I’ve only been doing this for a day or two?”

Mason escaped from the Battlestar with dazzling flight.

Simultaneously, the Battlestar melted from within…

Boom!

The mechanical parts exploded, and it regained the majestic appearance of the sun.

“Battlestar, interception complete.”

Mason smirked.

“Teshub, I’m coming back now!”

The interception of the Battlestar was over. All they had to do was return and perform a dimensional jump.

At that moment, Mason felt a chill.

‘I am the Destroyer.’

His intuition, which moved faster than his reason, was sending a warning.

‘Would I send such a meager force if I were to kill myself?’

Vwooom!

He dodged the bombardment that came flying in an instant, thanks to the warning from his intuition.

Sizzle!

The right leg part, grazed by the beam, melted away.

‘This can’t be right.’

Mason realized.

‘There’s no way they’d send just one Battlestar, and without any escort.’

In the distance, the other planets that made up the star system were shedding their camouflage.

That’s right.

They were all Battlestars…

And they were all spewing out Soldiers and Knights.

The sun was just an advance guard to tie down the Nymphassil.

The real force was approaching.

Mason gritted his teeth.

“This is Oztalon, to Nymphassil.”

The Champion blasted its boosters and dashed forward.

Not towards victory.

“…Abandon me and escape. That’s an order. Initiate dimensional jump immediately.”

To buy even a little bit of time.

Even if it meant his death.

๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑

Rumble… Rumble…

Booming sounds reverberated from everywhere.

The few crew members inside the ship couldn’t help but wear anxious expressions.

The Nymphassil’s barrier was being eroded with each passing moment. It wouldn’t be surprising if the wave of nanites breached the barrier at any time.

And that wasn’t all.

The bombardment raining down from the sky had already left the planet Astartes in tatters.

If it landed a direct hit on the planet’s core, the planet itself would surely explode.

To remain calm in this situation wouldn’t be bravery, but a paralysis of their sense of danger.

“…”

The Ghost Dragon stood in a dignified posture within the hangar.

‘Is this the end?’

This was a battle of gods. No matter how monstrous he was, the Ghost Dragon, a mere creation, was in no position to intervene.

He could soar into space.

But even if he did, could he take down even a single Soldier?

The Ghost Dragon growled.

‘Goddess, I… am a being utterly unworthy of your aspirations.’

At that moment, as he was lamenting his powerlessness,

A figure appeared before the Ghost Dragon.

“Ghost Dragon.”

The Ghost Dragon scoffed.

“Useless hero.”

It was Cú Chulainn.

Cú Chulainn was a master of ground combat. However, there was no such thing as ground combat in a battle of gods. No matter how divine his spear skills were, there was no way he could defeat the nanites.

“We are in a crisis right now.”

“I can see that.”

“And… the only last resort we can rely on is you.”

The Ghost Dragon sneered.

“Yes, I’m certain it’s not you. But shamefully, it seems I’m just as incompetent as you are.”

Teshub, Deroa, and Mason were all doing their part. Only the two of them were useless.

Cú Chulainn looked up at the Ghost Dragon.

“Why are you so cynical?”

“Don’t you find it laughable?”

“What are you laughing at?”

“I…”

Looking at the speechless Ghost Dragon, Cú Chulainn calmly said,

“You are a being full of contradictions, Ghost Dragon.”

A being of death created by the fallen goddess of life. A monstrous beast of death created to protect souls since she couldn’t protect life itself.

The Ghost Dragon was a contradiction from his very birth, and his life was also a contradiction.

He fought to kill, yet he avoided his own death. He was here now because he had submitted to Mason.

“What are you trying to say?”

Cú Chulainn extended his hand towards the Ghost Dragon.

“And our magic draws its power from contradictions.”

“…”

“It’s impossible for Oztalon. His life aligns with his purpose. It’s also impossible for High Priest Deroa. She doesn’t waver in her life. But it’s possible for you. Because you’re different on the inside and outside, a weak being like you who resorts to cynicism… it’s possible for you.”

Cú Chulainn revealed his chest.

There, a magical symbol was engraved.

“A Geas.”

The Ghost Dragon growled.

“Don’t pretend to know me so well, mortal. I’m different from you…”

“We are not different, Ghost Dragon.”

Cú Chulainn laughed weakly.

“I, too, was once like you.”

“…”

“Tell me, are you strong? Or are you weak?”