Chapter 197: One Punch
(3rd person perspective)
Thirty large airships moved in the skies, which even on Gaia could be considered massive vehicles...…..
.........…..
...…
......….
....
[System Notification: A barrier has been detected to block divination, clairvoyance, observation, precognition, espionage, and preview skills. The energy 'Rasen' and the skill 'Stand: Libera Me From Hell' have broken through the barrier. The skill 'Mythomania' has hidden the traces of the skill 'Reader's Perspective']
...….
Each airship carried two hundred magic artillery tanks, a thousand anti-magic combat robots, five thousand magic knights with magic weaponry capable of destroying most magic spells, two magic cannons with the power to hurt gods, and enough explosives to destroy the entire Elven Forest should the forest show more resistance than expected.
...............
............
The leaders of the human nations had decided that the hero Seiji was too dangerous, so after a discussion with the sponsors who have been giving resources to humanity, the king of the Human Empire decided to send his elite troops to eliminate the plague who has been protecting the Inhumans...
To ensure victory, the agents of the racist faction of the P■■■ decided to send the greatest trump card they had in this world, a combat-type Higher Entity specialized in combat within worlds with strong restrictive laws…..
The agents of the racist P■■■ faction had obtained information about the identity of the hero Seiji and at first, it seemed unheard of that a newborn hero could face an army of heroes even if those heroes were defective products.
....
The agents of the racist faction of the P■■■ had at first theorized that the hero Seiji was the agent of another high-level organization comparable to the P■■■ and that is why the hero's strength was so abnormally high, but after discovering that the hero Seiji was the descendant of the 'Unbeatable Hero' they understood that the hero Seiji was a tool that they had to obtain or destroy...
The Higher Entity that was sent to confront Seiji had two purposes.
If Seiji was weak and was killed then that was the end of the problem, but if Seiji managed to confront and kill the entity then the agents of the P■■■ racist faction would start creating plans to lure the hero into the racist faction which he would be an excellent weapon to completely overcome the idealist faction as the idealist faction would be unable to hurt a hero with lofty ideals....
....
......…..
.........….
.....
......
Inside the main airship was a beautiful little girl who was sighing in boredom….
Next to the girl was a serene-looking man who exuded a sense of intimidating authority…..
This man was ■■■, the main representative of the racist faction within the Human Empire, and even though his body was just a puppet, his combat skills were comparable to a veteran hero.....
...…..
...…
Behind the man was a group consisting of a muscular man, a beautiful girl with pink hair, a woman in men's clothing, a chained man who seemed to be on drugs, and a cute little girl with an arrogant face.....
This group was the royal heroes of the Human Empire.
Originally this group would not be that strong, but due to the intervention of the P■■■ an unexpected mutation occurred in the abilities of this group so now this group had enough combat power to match the Champions.
.....
In addition to this group, there were three people who were sitting with expressions full of hate, excitement, cruelty, and contempt...
The three surviving Champions had joined this extermination mission since revenge against God Orthus and the Traitor Hero was the only thing on the minds of these three people.....
"Your Holiness…" – The man spoke respectfully towards the girl who seemed to be bored. – "When the combat begins you must face the deity that protects the hero while we deal with the hero"
The girl sighed and nodded. She was aware that her position was a sham and she was just being used as an experiment to test the hero's strength, she was even aware that her own life was irrelevant to her so-called allies...
The girl did not complain about this as she had no choice either, she was an entity with low levels of holy energy to the point of being no different from a low-ranking human magician in a lower world, in fact, if it weren't for the fact that she was born in the P■■■ then she would never have become a Higher Entity.....
......…..
...….
As the airships approached the new coordinates provided by the Northern Kingdom soldiers, the serene man frowned…
There was an unpleasant feeling that someone was watching him which should be impossible since the barrier that protected the airship was created with P■■■ technology and no entity in this small world should be able to pass through said barrier...
......
...
......
...…
…..
....
...
...….
Proving that a lifetime of experience was not in vain, the man concentrated his energy in his right hand and launched a blow into the air causing a beam of light to pass through the armor of the airship and out beyond the barrier… ..
The man frowned as he noticed that there was no enemy at the place where he attacked, but the feeling of being watched lingered over his body making him furious.....
...…..
"Lord Archon, what happen?" – The girl with pink hair and big breasts asked her with anxiety and fear about the man's behavior.
She was a royal so she knew the terrifying identity of the man, an entity above the gods....
Ar..Ar...….Arc....Arch....Archo... Archon frowned as he felt that the gaze on his body had begun to explore its secrets and even though this body was just a puppet, it had a trace of his true consciousness, name, and appearance so some of his secrets were linked to this body, that was the risk of using a puppet.
Archon was unable to respond as something beyond his wildest thoughts occurred ........................ ..............................….
..........
Before any entity in the airship could react, a man appeared in the center of the airship...
Archon and the girl with great strength were about to attack him, but then they noticed a big problem...
In the boy's hands were two small steel spheres that were emitting an intense light.....
Archon didn't have to think too much and immediately formed a light barrier in front of him. The girl ran in front of the group of heroes and stretched out her arms to protect them...…..
In a fraction of a second, the two spheres emitted opposing energies. One energy was a sea of blue flames capable of destroying everything in its path, the other energy was purple flames that restricted everything they touched...…
...…
When both energies collided, an incompatibility occurred between the energies which caused matter, magic, and space to become unstable creating an implosion that absorbed all matter from the airship....
Archon extended his hand and released a beam of light to hit the vortex of destruction....
....
Even though his light manipulation abilities were being limited by the Laws of the world, Archon's power was enough to stabilize the chaotic vortex inside the airship…..
The light covered the vortex and turned it into particles of holy light that were totally harmless….
No one on the aircraft had been injured, but the man had disappeared during the chaos...
Archon couldn't relax as his instincts warned him of an impending attack….
Without anyone noticing, a gigantic dragon the size of a mountain had appeared, which was strange since the dragon was right above the main airship...
...….
The dragon concentrated a dangerous amount of magical energy in its mouth while next to it a cute, green-haired flat-chested girl was performing a gloomy chant filled with pain, suffering, and loneliness...…
Both attacks rushed towards the 29 aircraft that were intact…..
When the attacks of both deities were about to be intercepted by the airships barriers, a command from the main aircraft caused the barriers to be deactivated allowing the combined attack of the two deities to destroy most of the airships.....
"What's going on?!" -Archon shouted with hatred when noticing that his troops were destroyed.
He did not care about the military and human resources that had been lost since in his eyes all that was rubbish, but he was infuriated that someone dared to attack his belongings ....
...
One of the pilots was pale with fear as he pointed to the airship's digital panel. – "Lord, someone has infiltrated the private communication system!"
On the screen could see the chibi version of a brown-haired girl with a white bow that tied her hair in a ponytail. The girl had an innocent smile as she stuck out her tongue and put in the message {We are experiencing technical difficulties, tehee~}
The defense and weapon control systems were intact, but the soldiers were instructed to blindly follow the orders of the gods' envoys so taking control of the main communication system was the same as taking control of the soldiers.... .
Archon had a bad feeling when he noticed that the weapons of the surviving airships were not aimed at the two deities but at the main airship .......
............…
......….
...…
"BASTARD!" - Archon yelled furiously as he used his saint energy to protect the airship....
The cannons that had originally been prepared to face the gods were now being used against Archon.
The worst thing is that an emergency signal could not be sent since the communication system kept showing the chibi girl who was now having tea...
"Be useful and block these attacks!" - Archon yelled furiously in the direction where the angel girl was.
To Archon, that girl was just a disposable pawn so even if she was destroyed there was no loss to the racist faction...
....
Archon was furious as he received no response and even though he was already concentrating on blocking the magic cannons attack, he directed his gaze to the angel girl's location only to notice that both the girl and the group of royal heroes had missing....
...…..
Archon lost concentration due to rage so the magical bolts managed to destroy the light barrier.
The Champions quickly used magic, magical artifacts, and unique abilities to block magic attacks but these weapons were specially designed to nullify unique skills and Laws so the champions' efforts were in vain….
The airship was covered by the light of the anti divine magic....
.....
.......
...…
[System Notification: The user's mind is close to exceeding the tolerance limit. The skill 'Reader's Perspective' has been disabled]
---
---
(Luis perspective)
Dammit! My fucking head!
I used [Mythomania] to full power to make myself believe that the migraine isn't killing me, but it only managed to lessen the headache a bit.
I overdid it and now I'm kneeling on the floor gasping for breath.
Because my actions consisted of fighting an enemy much stronger than me in order to protect innocent people, the Heroic Meter was filled immediately so my defensive stats reached the top of what the Laws of this world allow.
If it wasn't for Auriel's blessing that improved my mental and spiritual stamina, I would be throwing up my intestines while my body convulses.
I was too ambitious wanting to discover the secrets of two Higher Entities, but it was worth it.
"Are you okay?" – A silver-haired girl approached me with concern.
A woman who is nice to her kidnapper… I don't know what to say.
I sighed. – "I'm fine… So, what do you think of the contract?"
The girl scratched her cheek and looked at me doubtfully. – "Are you sure it is okay to accept someone like me? I am not very strong, nor intelligent, nor skillful…"
Through [Reader's Madness] I understood the situation of the combat angel sent by Paradise.
Basically, this girl is a victim of psychological abuse within Paradise.
Since she does not belong to the racist or idealistic faction, she does not have a support group to protect her since the neutral faction is not really a faction, they are just entities that do not want to get involved in any conflict, but this is precisely what makes them the target of abuse and ridicule from both factions.
This girl is not only mistreated by the racists, but many members of the idealistic faction also look at her with contempt for being a False Higher Entity that could only ascend through her inheritance and not through her own efforts, which is stupid since there are many entities that they are sons and daughters of powerful entities and that is why they have managed to ascend.
In short, hypocrisy is multiversal.
After understanding the extent of the racist puppet's strength and knowing about the angel girl's emotional problems, I made a plan of action.
I first used [Reader's Perspective] to mark the spatial coordinates inside the ship. I then used 'Prankster's Escape' which is a BB skill to enter the ship without being noticed by the barrier or the puppet. Although BB lost most of her powers and energy, with Tsubaki's 'Resonance' I can temporarily use some of her skills at the cost of increasing my migraine.
When I was on the ship I used two magic energy bombs to cover up my [Rasen] and [Anti-Rasen] so Heaven will think that I used special weapons from another world which will cover up my true skills.
While the energy storm blocked the puppet's spiritual senses, I had Monika hack into the airship's main computer to control the communication system.
I then approached the angel girl and before she could attack me I used the contract I made with Seraph to show that I am Auriel's knight, then I made a temporary contract using Auriel's name to invite the girl to the idealist faction.
When the girl saw this contract she decided to follow me through a spiral portal since Auriel is famous for being one of the most honest and noble entities in the multiverse so it would be impossible for a knight of that woman to be a swindler. Ironies of life.
Being Ariel's knight allows me to recruit allies for the idealist faction. These recruits will be supervised by Seraph and after a long time of observation, they can be officially included in the idealist faction as my subordinates.
I must be careful about the entities I am recruiting as the actions of the recruit will be my responsibility so if I bring in a troublesome entity it will be my responsibility to compensate for the damages.
I put my hand on the girl's shoulder as the magic cannons continued to obstruct the puppet and reincarnates' progress.
"It hurts me to have to attack weak people, but in a war, there will always be collateral damage" - I sighed with regret and then smiled with appreciation. – "Your first reaction was not to escape or defend yourself, but to protect the weakest people…"
My smile was softer and kinder like a father speaking proudly to his daughter. – "Your desire to protect the weak, your kindness to sacrifice yourself for the good of others, your desire to fight for justice even though others do not give you the respect you deserve… You are a wonderful girl and it would be an honor for me to fight by your side"
The girl's eyes filled with tears and she hugged me while she cried, I am the first person who treats her with dignity and respect, which was a direct blow to her emotional weakness, causing us to go from being complete strangers to trusted friends in an instant and and in the future something more.
Organizations that treat weak members like trash are idiots as they are only creating people in need of affection or enemies filled with resentment.
This girl is too kind and doesn't feel hate despite all the mistreatment she suffered, she just wants friends.
[System Notification: The entity 'Kanata Amane' has signed the 'Welcome to Harmonic Paradise' contract.
The user will now be in charge of the 'Kanata Amane' entity for a period of 10 years. If the 'Kanata Amane' entity performs well in that time, she will be the user's subordinate.
As long as the entity 'Kanata Amane' does not break the rules of the Harmonic Paradise, the user will receive a bonus of Positive Karma and merit points for the achievements made by the entity 'Kanata Amane']
[System Notification: The user has been awarded 1000 merit points for recruiting an entity with Positive Karma. Merit Points can be exchanged for Harmonic Paradise rewards. Current Merit Points: 1000]
(Author's Note: Kanata Amane from Hololive)
As Kanata continued to cry with happiness, my eyes met the royal heroes of the Human Empire.
When I kidnapped Kanata, she insisted on bringing the royal heroes. A dark-skinned man with big muscles, a girl pretending to be a man, a pink-haired girl with big breasts, a pink-haired brat, and a chain-bound boy pretending to be brain-dead.
Apparently, this group has treated Kanata with respect since Paradise passed Kanata off as a deity so she wanted to protect them both out of kindness and gratitude.
The group of heroes looked at me warily and aside from the one pretending to be a vegetable, the other heroes seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to attack me.
Without Kanata seeing me, I smiled at the heroes as my eyes turned black as the abyss due to using an inferior version of [Reader's Madness]'s mind-shattering effects.
The muscular man began to sweat as if a beast was about to devour him, the girl who pretended to be a man knelt down in fearful submission, the girl with big breasts fell to her knees while urinating, the brat directly fainted, and the boy who pretended to be a vegetable seemed to want to laugh out of desperation and amusement.
A group of strange people...
If I'm not mistaken this boy is the Healer Hero and the culprit that the heroes are being reprogrammed at the neural level.
I can see a lot of hatred, insanity, and desire for revenge choking his mind… With a little training, he will be a good pawn.
I had to push Kanata aside since I still have an idiot to deal with.
Even if Archon's current body is just a disposable puppet, that puppet still has the power to defeat me in direct combat so I need to take advantage of him being hit by the magic cannons.
I took out a slave scroll and forced the heroes to sign it. Kanata didn't complain as even though she has some gratitude towards the heroes, she understands that they are part of the enemy group.
After signing the contract, the Healer Hero stopped pretending to be a vegetable and started smiling like a mental patient as he glared at the other heroes with hatred.
I hit his head and sighed. – "Don't do stupid things, but if you really need to hit someone, hit the muscular idiot"
The boy kept looking at what should be the princess of the Human Kingdom to which I sighed and put my hand on her shoulder while activating [Sadism].
Using acupuncture I forced his body to stay still so Kanata wouldn't notice the torture method.
After two seconds I removed my hand from his shoulder and smiled. – "Don't cause trouble"
The boy looked at me with resentment, but nodded, although he is already starting to plan how to get back at me.
I sighed internally, revenge-obsessed idiots are a nuisance.
I opened a Rasen portal and had the group of rescued heroes led by Kaito take the heroes away, then I will interrogate them.
I also wanted Kanata to enter the portal, but she insisted on helping me.
"I'll prove myself useful" – Kanata clenched her small fists as she looked at me determinedly.
She looks like a hamster that wants to fight with a cat...
Well, she won't die easily and even though she lacks special skills or powerful spells, her physical strength is no joke.
Kanata had small white wings on her back which grew to help her fly as her low energy level prevents her from using levitation techniques.
I had Ortro form a pair of wings on my back and we both headed towards the racist puppet.
Before facing the puppet, I told Kanata that she should keep it a secret that we are working for Auriel to which she nodded seriously, this girl is kind of adorable.
My brain keeps regenerating from the damage caused by [Reader's Perspective] so I'll have to finish this quickly.
"Kanata" – As we approached the target I spoke to the girl using telepathy as the wind pressure blocked the sound. – "When the magic cannon attacks stop, hits Archon with all your might"
Kanata could only nod as she doesn't know how to use telepathy.
My arms were covered by two steel gloves with sharp points on the fingers, weapons suitable for using hand stabbing techniques.
I prepared the same combination of skills and energies that I used to destroy the system user.
The power of the magic cannons was limited so they stopped attacking Archon.
Although the puppet had expended a lot of energy, his body remained intact while the three reincarnated were covered in magical burns that were being healed by the 'The Fallen Goddess'.
I used more power to increase my speed and attacked the puppet head-on while using energy to make my voice reach his ears. – "Stupid firefly! I'm going to kick your ass!"
With [Reader's Perspective] I saw that Archon's weakness was his pride.
Archon was so furious that when he saw me he didn't even try to use a defensive skill and directly rushed to attack me with a sword of light.
I prepared myself to pretend to die to hide that I am a Higher Entity. In this way I allowed the sword to pierce my chest destroying my heart and letting the light energy invade my body which destroyed all my internal organs in a fraction of a second.
[System Notification: The skill 'Heroes Never Die' has been activated. User has lost 0.1% Positive Karma]
My body was covered in holy light causing my injuries to recover instantly as the lightsaber shattered into thousands of light particles.
Archon's eyes widened in surprise and hatred. – "Auriel damn bitch!"
The skill combination I prepared activated in my hands as my fingers acted like stakes to pierce through Archon's chest.
The puppet has a few seconds delay when communicating with the main body so I used my mind-eating ability to destroy the memories of my skills so Archon won't know that I have the power to restrict the consciousness of a Higher Entity, he will get information about Auriel's presence but he will not know that Seiji Ichijo was the one who explored his secrets and true name, Archon Lucien.
As Kanata approached us, I crouched down as my hands continued to traverse the puppet's chest.
Kanata didn't slow down her own speed and directly hit Archon's head.
Because I left the last few seconds of the puppet's life intact, Archon will have a severe headache from the sensation of his head being totally destroyed on a molecular level.
The sound barrier was destroyed, there was an explosion of air, and the clouds in the skies were dispersed.
Since the use of special energies is indispensable in the larger context, Kanata is seen as a useless entity, but her strength is enough to destroy the physical body of Higher Entities with low combat power. That blow would have been enough to destroy System Goddess's body.
The puppet was totally destroyed by Kanata's blow and the shock wave destroyed the surviving airships.
Considering that the blast wave was enough to destroy my bones and most of my internal organs, I'm glad I didn't fight this girl since even if I'm sure I can kill her with various tricks and traps, one hit from her will give me a terrible migraine.
I smiled and patted Kanata's shoulder. – "Good job, I feel calmer with you by my side"
Kanata flashed a bright smile at my praise. It's hard to imagine that this pretty girl could sink Japan with one hit.
Good, one down, two targets to go.
My organs and bones finished regenerating so I took Kanata, Coco, and Rushia to destroy the rest of the enemy reinforcements, I can't wait to see Seraph's face when she knows I recruited the angel that was supposed to kill me.
---
---
Author's Note:
Archon Lucien from the video game Darksiders II