Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 192

King’s Game (3)

Everyone at the scene, except for Isaac, was struck with astonishment. The same went for the trio belonging to the “Celestial Soldiers” he had specified.

Even Gabriel’s avatar, who had stepped in as a mediator, was on the verge of a headache.

This was like a microorganism, less significant than a cockroach stuck somewhere in a house, confronting the homeowner.

The Celestial Realm is a higher world to which the Middle Realm belongs as a lower classification. If we were to compare Terraria to a small town on Earth, the relative size of the Celestial Realm would be about that of the solar system.

Even in administrative classification, it’s a ‘land under the rule’ of cosmic beings.

These weren’t even representatives of the major races of Terraria in the Middle Realm, let alone beings from a tiny adjacent realm attached to a small world. Such creatures aren’t even considered sentient beings.

They are, quite literally, ‘insignificant beings’ that no one cares about whether they go extinct or not, unknown to the majority of the Celestial Realm.

‘What on earth is he relying on?’

As a high-ranking official of the Celestial Realm, Gabriel felt a sense of discomfort. It was because the Mark bearer, who was merely at the late 6-star level, didn’t seem like a lunatic who was just putting on airs recklessly.

The decree of the great Tetragrammaton, who exists beyond the three-dimensional space-time, was a simple request: ‘Protect the bearer of the Mark.’

There was no mention of why the subject should be protected, or what potential they might possess.

They too were merely pieces on a chessboard, moving according to the fate arranged by the transcendent being.

“What the hell is this guy?”

Whoosh.

On the other hand, the simpler-minded brute from the Celestial Realm had already shouldered his Ruyi Jingu Bang, which he had previously shrunk.

He was dumbfounded that an untouchable of such low status, who should be bowing down in respect, was making threats that wouldn’t even make a dent.

“Gabriel. Isn’t our mission just to protect that thing? Isn’t it enough to keep it alive?”

The suggestion was to control such a rebellious troublemaker with a powerful mental domination technique.

While it might seem like an impulsive statement at first glance, it was quite reasonable.

Judging by the Mark bearer’s attitude, he was clearly showing considerable antipathy towards the will of the Celestial Realm.

The request not to destroy this adjacent realm called Earth was an excessive and unrealistic armchair theory.

After all, once Terraria, a realm in the Middle World, was chosen as a battlefield for cosmic beings, its doom was all but sealed.

Gabriel was taken aback simply because he never dreamed that the Mark bearer would directly resist the utilitarianism of the Celestial Realm.

“Don’t do something you’ll regret. You drag me here forcibly without any notice, and you can’t even make that level of promise?”

The predicted end of Terraria.

That was also the reason why Isaac, with his heart shrinking, crossed the line once more.

While the high and mighty of the Celestial Realm might aim to win the great war that stakes the fate of the multiverse, from the perspective of someone forcibly conscripted without knowing why, it was impossible not to suspect their intentions.

Not only the end of Earth, a peripheral human world, but wasn’t there also a high possibility that they viewed Isaac as a ‘self-destructing weapon’?

Whether his mental barriers crumble or his core ideational body shatters, they might intend to use him to unleash ‘Final Finish’ at maximum output to perish together with the enemy commander, that is, the leader of the legion, Satanael.

And in the words that followed, Isaac could indirectly sense the inhumanity of the Tetragrammaton.

“Drag him here? What nonsense is he spouting? Anyway, Gabriel. It looks like he’s going to keep this up, so shall we go ahead and subdue and control him? Isn’t this the situation the great Tetragrammaton created for us to do just that?”

The hot-tempered stone monkey sincerely wagged his tongue. The Ruyi Jingu Bang he casually shouldered looked ready to elongate at any moment and strike down towards Earth.

The Tetragrammaton, who had prepared everything from outside the timeline of the universe, apparently hadn’t given them specific instructions.

It seemed that courtesies for the possessed, such as treating them as carefully as possible or paying attention to prevent Earth’s destruction, had been thrown to the dogs.

How much attention would the omnipotent transcendent being who oversees the entire multiverse pay to a mere office worker-turned-possessed person…

‘That statement is partly correct.’

Even the bored genius’s brain partly agreed with the stone-headed primate’s inference that the Tetragrammaton had deliberately created this situation.

Furthermore, the system even encouraged him to fight and win against the Celestial soldiers.

Wasn’t this an unkind advice to seize the initiative in various ways and grasp an equal relationship?

Perhaps due to that infamous ‘resource shortage’ problem, they couldn’t pay as much attention to this side.

‘I’ve confirmed that Gabriel is a sensible angel.’

Another reason Isaac took courage was Gabriel’s mediation. Hadn’t that relatively humanitarian archangel not only stopped Sun Wukong but also made the excellent judgment to cherish the Earthlings?

Although the impartial scales might tip towards the defendant’s side due to his outrageous remarks, he wanted to clearly state his position on this occasion.

Because the genius’s brain urged a precarious tightrope walk to the final boundary.

[Combat Gauge: 25%]

As the uneasy staredown continued, 1 minute and 13 seconds passed, and Isaac’s realm dropped back to 5 stars.

Regardless, the two Celestial soldiers maintained a look that said, ‘How should we deal with this troublemaker?’

Whether his realm was 5 stars or 6 stars, in their eyes, he looked like a day-old puppy unaware of a tiger’s ferocity.

“Well…”

Rumble…!

As he tried to continue his defense to score points with Judge Gabriel, a faint vibration was heard from a distant place.

In the lingering waves, traces of high-concentration magical power and dark energy colliding could be felt. It seemed that the full-scale cosmic war had already begun.

‘It didn’t happen somewhere on Earth. It must be someone clashing much farther away.’

Isaac’s prediction, absorbed in deduction, was confirmed as fact half a beat later by Noah’s voice message.

“Outer region of the small world, 800,000 km to the northeast. A collision of powerful magical force and dark energy has been detected.”

“Five additional Ethereals have appeared in the small world.”

“Two Ethereals are approaching the Vice Commander at ultra-high speed, their class unconfirmable.”

Along with this, news he didn’t particularly want to hear was also delivered.

It was as if there was a huge, long pillar of light floating above his head, visible only to those from the Celestial Realm.

The Celestial soldiers who had descended near the small world were all converging around Isaac.

Realizing that he himself was acting as a gathering point for cosmic thugs, Isaac seriously considered moving from Earth to a corner of the small world, but he had already thrown the dice in a life-or-death gamble.

He had to negotiate a defense treaty right here and now with these Celestial supremacists whose temperamental nature made their actions unpredictable. To designate Earth as a cosmic protected observation zone.

“What’s going on here…”

“Are my ears deceiving me? Is Isaac really threatening those aliens right now?”

Having barely blocked the ultra-high-speed shockwave, what they saw next were super-powerful alien species floating in the sky.

Even incomprehensible fear has its limits. The number of beings whose realm they couldn’t gauge was increasing one by one.

The S-class heroes, seasoned as they were, could instinctively sense just how powerful these entities were.

‘Confronting such unknown beings is just…’

The honest instinct was to run away immediately and hide in an underground bunker, hero’s honor be damned.

Yet the Earth’s representative was not only facing these incarnations of terror, but also continuing a conversation that left everyone astounded.

Judging by the unyielding attitude of the SS-class hero, it seemed the power of these alien beings was enough to split the Earth in half and then some. How had the world come to this state?

In this grim reality where even S-class heroes representing various countries couldn’t hold a candle, some heroes were seriously considering retirement.

This wasn’t even a case of children getting caught up in adults’ fights. They thought it might be more meaningful to just watch TV at home and await the end, rather than die a pointless death.

Whoooosh!

“It’s coming!”

“Prepare yourselves!”

Another of those ultra-high-speed flying objects came hurtling in.

The S-class heroes, cursing under their breath, swiftly took their designated positions. Following the faint magic circle drawn on the ground, a massive amount of magical power was shared. What one person manifested with that power was…

Rumble rumble rumble—

A miniature black hole, like a round shield.

The controller of this magical technique was The One, master of gravity. Despite having been replaced by a new generation, he was living up to his title of ‘World’s Strongest Hero of the Previous Era’.

Boom!

At the moment when two more cosmic horrors, whose mere presence was a threat to life, arrived, it was the stone monkey Sun Wukong who made a bold decision first.

He intended to act before the troublemakers could voice any objections.

—You brought this upon yourself!

Whoosh!

Three strands of monkey hair, plucked with graceful hand movements, were blown towards Isaac by Sun Wukong’s fierce breath, unconcerned about baldness.

Fwoom!

The brown body hair transformed into large chains and wooden restraints used to bind a criminal’s neck and ankles.

Seeing this choice as appropriate, Gabriel’s fierce gaze calmed. He had tacitly agreed to the ‘restraining punishment’ for the troublesome mark bearer.

It was truly a chilling sight.

‘This is what it comes down to, after all.’

Whoosh—

[‘Final Finish – Unlimited Mode’ has been activated.]

A writhing shadow emerged from Isaac.

Instinctively, he ruled out a ‘berserk state’. He had an inexplicable certainty that his mental barriers wouldn’t crumble.

Crunch!

As if devoured by a monster’s maw, Sun Wukong’s prisoner restraints crumbled like dried cornstalks upon touching the undulating shadow.

—Huh?

Sun Wukong, who had been treating his opponent as a mere 6-star late-stage microorganism at best, was dumbfounded.

He hadn’t expected this ill-tempered mark bearer to actually have an ace up his sleeve.

—What’s this!

Pop pop pop pop pop!

Sun Wukong’s numbers increased in an instant. It was the monkey’s signature celestial technique, the art of creating clones.

Hundreds of Sun Wukongs gripped hundreds of Ruyi Jingu Bang staffs with both hands, preparing for an unexpected counterattack.

Since Gabriel, who was a notch above in both fame and realm, was glaring at them, they couldn’t recklessly attack the mark bearer.

As the monkey’s heart soured at the check from a supposed ally, Isaac, who was also mindful of Gabriel, opened his mouth.

“I’ll make an example of this. Please don’t interfere.”

—Interesting situation. But even if it’s possible, please don’t annihilate Sun Wukong.

The implication was that anything short of killing him was fine.

〈Quest – Sub〉

▷ Content: Fight and win against a Celestial soldier within 10 hours.

▷ Reward: 2 million points

▷ Failure Penalty: 6 months reduction in lifespan

The quest’s clear condition was victory in battle. Gabriel, who had been the people’s judge, had officially approved. He said it was okay to make an example.

Wasn’t this perfectly suited for clearing the quest?

‘Moreover, Gabriel is in a position where he has to protect my life.’

This meant he could receive help even if he faced a life-threatening crisis.

Whoosh!

As Isaac, now confident, waved his hand, the shadow’s domain expanded, attempting to envelop the hundreds of Sun Wukongs.

[Your mental barrier is dangerously shaking.]

The Unlimited Mode’s duration was 1 minute at most. Within that time, he had to defeat this celestial being specialized in brawling.

‘It’s my first time against a Tier 3.’

In the midst of this historic moment where the output limit of Final Finish – Unlimited Mode could be tested, Isaac’s dull fish eyes flashed ominously.