Ubermensch – Chapter 177

Chapter 177

It was 6 hours later that Nymphassil launched.

It was a decision made after thoroughly searching every possible area for survivors.

A total of 24 hours had passed since Mason gathered the nanomachines.

As the Destroyer’s shadow covered the distant sky, they were already in the midst of dimensional travel.

The Destroyer’s roar seemed to be heard.

“Huh.”

It couldn’t be, but.

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“Kuaaaaaaaaaaa!”

The Destroyer roared.

Bang!

He slammed the floor of the Battlestar he was riding, and cracks appeared on the floor before it collapsed.

Thud!

Even after falling to the lower floor, the Destroyer’s anger did not subside. He smashed anything he could get his hands on.

Even an ordinary blow would have been a fatal blow that could not be repaired if it were not for the strength of the modified human Barbarian and the nanomachine material of the Battlestar.

However, the Battlestar, the culmination of advanced science, slowly regained its original form.

“Why!”

The Destroyer roared.

“Why do I keep missing him? Why!”

This was not the first trap aimed at Oztalon.

It was the same with Astartes, and the same with Cthulhu.

“Why does he escape from my grasp every time? Why does he keep messing up my plans?”

He was frustrated enough with the failures he had experienced so far. He failed on Astartes because of Nodens’ intervention, and he defeated Cthulhu purely by luck.

To be repeatedly humiliated by a puny god who wasn’t even a handful.

But this failure made him even more furious.

However, he couldn’t create a trap as elaborate as this one.

He had his avatar descend in advance, sealed the divine power, and actually killed him once.

But he resurrected in an instant and destroyed the nanomachines.

Not only did it damage his divinity as an evil god, it also deeply wounded the Destroyer’s pride.

“Why?”

The Destroyer growled, spewing out beastly rage.

“Why does he keep slipping out of my grasp? Why do I keep missing him by a hair’s breadth?”

Looking at the growling Destroyer, Red Girl opened her mouth.

“Because of the things you lost, Destroyer.”

“The things I threw away?”

The Destroyer scoffed.

“I only threw away useless things. Things of no value compared to the science and power I possess.”

“As long as you think that way, you will never catch Oztalon.”

The Destroyer lifted Red Girl by the collar with his silver arm. His enraged breath touched Red Girl’s face.

“Come to think of it, you were the one who created him.”

“Oztalon is not my creation. He is your natural enemy, forged by fate for you.”

“What did you do to him? What powers did you give him? What magic did you cast on him?”

“I gave him nothing.”

But Red Girl said with an expressionless face.

“Except for what the man named Mason had from the beginning.”

“…Hmph.”

Red Girl’s true form was a broken sword anyway. Her appearance as a human girl was just an avatar.

The Destroyer felt no particular guilt in throwing her away, and Red Girl quietly got up without any particular emotion.

“I prophesy.”

Red Girl pointed her broken greatsword at the Destroyer.

“One day, Oztalon will stand before you. With the things you threw away. And that day will be the day the nightmare called Destroyer ends in this universe.”

“You’ve become arrogant because you defeated one of my avatars.”

The Destroyer sneered.

“I’ll wait and see. How a weak god, who is struggling even with a piece of nanomachine containing only 10% of my divine power, will defeat me!”

The Destroyer’s gaze turned towards the universe.

Towards the infinite universes that would experience his wrath.

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Mason made Albert the representative of the survivors.

“I hope you will take good care of the survivors of this civilization. Pray to me anytime if you have any problems.”

But Albert hesitated. Mason said with a gentle smile.

“What’s wrong?”

“I am concerned about whether I can rule them.”

Albert said, looking at Mason.

“No, whether they can form a society again.”

Mason had experienced the monster outbreak. However, he had not experienced a zombie outbreak. In the monster outbreak, humans were all on the same side. Even if there were selfish people or freeloaders who only looked after their own interests, all of humanity was on the same side.

Whether it was Murim, Ulster, or the Cthulhu incident, they lived and died while maintaining their dignity as human beings.

But the zombie outbreak was different.

The zombie outbreak made people see the bottom of themselves. Whether they wanted to or not.

“Too many people have killed. And those who have eaten people.”

In particular, the zombie outbreak they experienced was caused by a special zombie plague imbued with the Destroyer’s malice. Once people were infiltrated by nanomachines, they could not be cured by any treatment, and could only delay zombification by consuming the flesh of other humans.

The million survivors inside Nymphassil were all zombies. But… it was impossible to know what they had done before they became zombies, and how much blood they had on their hands.

“I’m afraid.”

Albert said with an honest expression.

“That the soldiers who lived in the military base we saw might be mixed in with them.”

Albert had seen the bottom of people. The soldiers who enslaved the people who came to take refuge and ate them with drugs.

How many of the people here had blood on their hands?

Crisis tests humanity, and survival leads to crossing all lines that should not be crossed.

Albert survived because he was afraid of people, and he was still afraid of people.

That people who have crossed the line once will cross the line again.

That they will cross the line more easily than before.

“That’s…”

Mason made a serious face.

“…Certainly, it’s something to think about.”

Governing people’s hearts. It was a completely different issue from protecting them.

“Wouldn’t it be possible for Oztalon to put a restriction on people with his divine power?”

“It’s possible. But I won’t do it.”

“Why?”

“My restrictions are not meant to oppress people. They are meant to help those who repent and atone.”

“Then please put it on those who do not object to the procedure.”

“If any of my followers want to be restricted, I will gladly restrict them. If they need a stronger deterrent than their own self-control, I can help with that. But I cannot help someone who agrees to be restricted due to social pressure, not their own free will.”

Mason said firmly.

“I am on the side of the oppressed.”

“You don’t know what might happen.”

“That’s right. I don’t know.”

Mason said with a calm expression.

“But I will forgive them ten times even if they sin ten times.”

“What if the wicked exploit that mercy? What if they sin a hundred times, a thousand times?”

“…”

After a moment of silence, Mason made a sad face.

“I can only hope that there won’t be such people.”

Albert made a frustrated face. But only for a moment.

“I will also believe. What my God believes in.”

He said, bowing to his God.

“And… I will pray that the day will not come when I will regret this moment.”

After the meeting with Albert, Mason headed to Mars.

The people of the Murim world. They, who lived in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, were now living on the terraformed Mars of the solar system.

When Mason descended, they waved their hands in welcome.

“How long has it been, my God?”

The President greeted Mason with a good-natured smile.

Mason said in a calm voice.

“Shall we walk for a bit?”

Mason and the President walked on Mars. Even though it was a world where food was given if you just prayed, people were farming. Golden ears swaying in the wind. Mason felt a strange sense of awe at the abundance that filled the field.

“Is this what it means to live?”

“Doing nothing is surprisingly tiring.”

The President walked with his hands behind his back.

“You have something on your mind, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

“As a ruler?”

“…Yes.”

The President laughed heartily.

“You messed up my politics, and now you’re asking me about politics?”

“Well… I’m sorry about that.”

“No. It’s fine. The result was good.”

The President stopped. In the midst of the golden ears swaying in the wind, the king of the Murim people faced his God.

“I roughly understand what your concern is. You must be thinking about how to rule people, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t know much about zombies, but I understand that they are people who fought and even ate each other. And I also understand that you will be perplexed about how to rule them.”

Mason said honestly.

“How should I rule my people?”

“Don’t rule them.”

“Huh?”

“Ruling people is the king’s job. Leave it to the king, and if the king rules poorly, change the king.”

The President was not a god. But he was a king. A king who had ruled people for a long time.

He was saying.

“Establishing laws and rules, and giving rewards and punishments. This is something anyone can do. Anyone can do it if they are wise and calm. Benevolent rule is not something so great that even a god has to step in to do it. It is something that can be solved if there is only a wise ruler.”

“Then?”

“Stay where you are. While believing in people.”

The President said calmly.

“People are more sensitive than you think. No matter how good and right your words are, they will realize whether or not you believe in them.”

“…”

“A king should not trust people. Because he has to control their greed and distinguish between those who should be punished and those who should be rewarded. But… a god can believe in everyone.”

The President looked up at the sky.

“We, that is, ordinary Chinese people who are not members of the Demonic Cult, believed in heaven, the Mandate of Heaven. We worshipped heaven itself and used it as a measure in our hearts. We used heaven as a yardstick in our hearts, saying that heaven would forgive us, or that even heaven would not forgive us.”

The President looked at Mason.

“I think that’s what it means for a god to rule his people. Even a tired and exhausted person can gain new strength if they feel that God is watching over them. Even a sinner who has nothing left but to sin and be punished can repent at the last moment if they realize that God trusts them. You are like a parent to us who always believes in their children, no matter what terrible sin they have committed, a parent who will be on our side as long as we repent.”

“…”

“Be our father. Be our Mandate of Heaven. Be always right, always merciful, and always the hope and yardstick of the people. I think that’s what a god is.”

Mason asked quietly.

“Can those who have experienced the zombie outbreak live righteously if they think of me?”

“I believe they will.”

The President said calmly.

“They only wanted to live. They are just people who had to do anything to survive in a lawless world. Do they want to live like that again? Who knows the value of law and order better than those who have lived in a world where society has collapsed?”

“What about their greed? Their brutality? The bad blood between them?”

“Leave it to the law, to the king.”

The President tapped Mason’s chest.

“You just need to be in their hearts, not their brains. Our noble guardian deity.”

Mason smiled bitterly.

“I never thought I would learn how to be a god from a king.”

“Your honesty in saying you don’t know what you don’t know is your strength.”

The President said with a smile.

“More people than you think tend to see the world the way they want to believe it, not the way they should know it…”

“Is that from experience?”

“It is from experience.”

The President shrugged his shoulders.

“Do you know why old people look like sages? Because they’ve done that too!”

“Thank you, President.”

Mason smiled.

“I will… believe in my people too.”

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Albert ruled his people well.

As Mason trusted him to.