Ascension Through Skills

The Guides of Sin were at odds with each other.

Would they fight Taesan? Or would they hide and wait for Taesan to pass? Countless emotions clashed beyond that.

After a debate accompanied by physical force, a decision was made.

“Are you saying you’ll summon the demon god to speak directly?”

“Yes.”

The young man with platinum blonde hair and an arrogant expression nodded.

“It’s not hard to run from this guy named Taesan who’s coming down here. That’s not the main issue.”

One could use a secret key to jump floors or simply hide in the vast expanse of a floor. Hiding from Taesan wasn’t that difficult.

“But my pride won’t allow it.”

“I cannot flee from something so low. However, I must be realistic—I can’t beat him.”

“Will your pride allow you to rely on sheer numbers?”

“There’s no need to fight seriously against something so low. The advantage of numbers is clearly an advantage too.”

The young man spoke confidently.

“So, we summon the demon god to lift the restrictions.”

The restriction that only those blessed by the demon god could fight Taesan would be removed.

The Lion King gave him a hesitant look.

“Do you think the demon god will consider us?”

“You don’t know until you try.”

The young man spoke up.

“Even if she’s the demon god, she can’t kill us. We are adventurers descending through the labyrinth they created. There’s no harm in confirming our chances.”

It wasn’t incorrect. Although the gods despised them, they could descend through the labyrinth without major incidents because they were adventurers.

“Do as you wish. The decision has fallen to your side anyway.”

The majority sided with the young man. It was a clash between the pride of those who had reached the deepest levels and the reality that they could not defeat Taesan one-on-one.

They began preparing to summon the demon god.

With numerous offerings and equipment, the young man shouted into the air.

“Come forth! Great One! We offer tribute to you!”

Crack.

The space collapsed. A powerful entity descended, responding to the proper tribute and call.

The Guides bowed their heads.

“We greet the Great Demon God!”

A voice echoed. The manifested demon god waved her hand as if annoyed.

[Enough. I know why you called me. Speak your purpose.]

“…So you do.”

The young man swallowed and slowly began to speak.

“Demon God, you imposed a restriction between us and Taesan, the adventurer you favor.”

Unless each individual could kill the other, a battle could not be initiated.

Because of this restriction, they had to face Taesan one by one.

“But we can no longer confront him alone. Demon God, you’ve granted him numerous advantages through this restriction. Thus, we humbly beg of you. Please heed our plea.”

[You speak well. Go on.]

The demon god replied lazily. The young man took a breath before proceeding with his main point.

“We earnestly request that you lift the restriction between him and us, Demon God.”

[Hmm.]

The demon god looked at him, silent.

The young man’s chest tightened with growing tension.

The demon god spoke.

[Fine.]

“You… you’re granting it?”

The young man looked up, shocked. Although he’d proposed this, he never expected it to be accepted so easily. He had thought it would take countless tributes and desperate pleas to achieve it.

[If that’s all you’re asking, it’s not a big deal. It’s not that important anymore. Do as you please.]

With those words, the demon god vanished.

Relieved of his tension, the young man slumped, a twisted smile appearing on his lips.

“…It’s done.”

The restriction was lifted.

He sprang to his feet.

“It’s over. Now, we just need to kill him.”

At his words, several Guides’ eyes gleamed.

Yet there were those who objected.

“I have no intention of fighting him.”

It was the man who had previously clashed with the Lion King.

While the majority desired a confrontation with Taesan, there were also many who refused battle and opted for escape.

“He’s like a tidal wave. There’s no reason to choose confrontation. All we have to do is hide until the wave passes and then proceed through the labyrinth again.”

“Do as you like, cowards.”

The young man sneered at them.

“What will you do?”

He asked the Lion King. The Lion King frowned.

“…It’s strange. The demon god accepted too easily.”

The demon god favored Taesan.

If it were a battle where Taesan’s life was at stake, it would be one thing. But the demon god wouldn’t want him to die pointlessly under overwhelming force.

Yet the demon god agreed, which meant that Taesan, as he is now, could win even without the restriction.

“Who knows? She may have lost interest in that guy by now. Gods are all fickle, after all.”

“Perhaps.”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The Lion King took a step back.

“I will not participate in this battle.”

“Suit yourself. We’ll win regardless.”

The young man’s face showed not a hint of doubt.

This was a joint assault by multiple adventurers who had reached the deep levels. He believed that, no matter how strong Taesan was, he couldn’t win.

The Lion King looked at Societ.

“What will you do? Will you join them?”

“I’ll do the same as you.”

She replied curtly.

“I’ll prepare my own way.”

She quietly smiled. It was the first smile she had shown since the hero’s death.

“We’ve come this far.”

Murmuring in an excited tone, she asked the Lion King.

“What about you?”

“I suppose I should find my own method.”

The Lion King replied, clutching a gem in his hand.

Ambracia watched them with a contemplative expression.

Broken machinery began to activate, and the remains of the Immortal started to move.

[Why is that moving?]

The ghost was also shocked. The Immortal was clearly long dead. Taesan observed the Immortal calmly.

‘The black pillar that fell from the sky.’

As soon as it touched the Immortal, the Immortal’s eyes opened.

A strange power was emanating from the Immortal before him.

“High Gods…”

In the process of the power being retrieved, the High Gods had intervened, turning the Immortal’s corpse into their own puppet.

Taesan looked up at the sky. Beyond, transcendents and High Gods had begun clashing. They didn’t seem to be paying attention to this side.

The Immortal, who had opened his eyes, was now targeting Taesan.

But within it, there was no will.

[Uh…!]

The ghost groaned. The Immortal was an opponent Taesan couldn’t defeat at his current level.

[Maybe we should find a gap and escape to the labyrinth?]

It was a reasonable suggestion, but Taesan didn’t back down.

He silently watched the Immortal as it rose.

“There’s no will.”

It was already a dead being. The High Gods had simply forced power into it, using it as a puppet to hold Taesan.

“And it’s broken.”

The Immortal’s remains were literally half-destroyed.

Finding an intact part was difficult, and the energy it emitted was quite unstable.

Just seeing how the boundary shield around Taesan wavered but didn’t shatter proved this.

Against an opponent of this level, he could win.

“I won’t turn my back on those who only aim for openings.”

[You have activated Apostle Transformation [Darkness and Chaos].]

Taesan activated various buff skills.

He dismissed the boundary shield around him. In a head-on confrontation with the Immortal, Taesan’s skill level wasn’t yet high enough to manage it.

As he erased the boundary shield, a massive pressure threatened to engulf him.

Although the transcendents had retrieved the scattered fragments of the Immortal from this world, the Immortal before him was pressuring Taesan. He could hold out, but a prolonged fight would be difficult.

He had to finish this as quickly as possible.

Tap.

Taesan dashed toward the Immortal.

The connection High Gods had established with the damaged Immortal was very unstable. A single solid blow should be enough to bring it down.

Of course, a normal strike wouldn’t have any effect on the Immortal.

Only an attack on the level of divinity, darkness, or a boundary force would work.

Bzzzz.

The power within the Immortal, in a guarded state, activated to suppress Taesan.

The single command engraved by High Gods on the Immortal’s remains:

Defeat the enemy in front of it.

The power erupted.

Dozens of beams erased the earth and obliterated space.

The speed was so fast that Taesan couldn’t react in time. He threw himself aside as soon as he saw the explosion of power, but one of the beams pierced his leg.

[Your First Attack Nullification has been activated.]

“So, it’s this fast.”

Although the First Attack Nullification had been consumed, he managed to gauge the speed of the Immortal’s power.

‘It’s dangerously close.’

Even seeing the warning signs of the power didn’t guarantee he could evade it in time.

Beams began pouring down again, and Taesan spread his wings.

[You have activated Selfish Choice.]

[You have activated Perfect Fairy’s Wings.]

[You have activated Skill Acceleration.]

Taesan accelerated. His speed reached an extreme level, even the Guides of Sin couldn’t keep up.

But the opponent was the Immortal.

The power poured accurately toward Taesan. The earth trembled, rising like a tidal wave to block his path, and beams of rainbow light rained down.

[You have activated Distortion.]

He twisted space, bending the path of the beams in another direction.

Crrrrk.

The Immortal’s power pierced even the distorted space. The distortion shattered, and the beams rushed toward Taesan.

Taesan knew he couldn’t block it with Distortion alone. All he needed was a moment.

[You have activated Limited Blink.]

[You have activated Aerial Leap.]

[You have activated Acceleration.]

[You have activated Skill Acceleration.]

In an instant, Taesan’s body flew toward the Immortal.

The Immortal flinched slightly.

The power within the Immortal surged as a wave, sweeping across the surroundings.

[You have activated Aegis Shield, endowed with divinity, granting one second of immunity from all damage but blocking other actions during that time.]

Aegis Shield. With this immunity skill, he intended to ignore the Immortal’s power and approach it.

But as soon as he touched the wave, Taesan was flung backward.

“Ugh!”

Quickly retracting the shield, Taesan drew his sword downward. A sword gale erupted and collided with the wave.

Landing on the ground, Taesan frowned.

“So, it’s a wave meant only to repel.”

The Absolute Protection, Attack Nullification, and Aegis Shield—all skills activated only when attacked or damaged—wouldn’t activate against a simple, non-damaging repelling wave.

Bzzzz!

Beams poured down again.

Taesan moved his wings, dodging swiftly.

There was no room to approach. He had to put all his energy into evading the onslaught.

The Immortal’s entire body glowed.

Missiles poured from that place. Even as Taesan moved to dodge, they precisely aimed at him.

Taesan gathered power. Since the transcendents had retrieved the fragments of the Immortal scattered in the atmosphere, there was no problem with the manifestation of power.

[You have activated Magic Overlay.]

He overlapped Frozen World with Starlight Arrow and unleashed it.

Cold and light clashed with the missiles.

Light exploded, illuminating the world.

In the midst of the power clash, a red dot was marked on Taesan’s chest.

Instinctively, Taesan activated a skill.

[You have activated Random Blink.]

Taesan’s body leaped through space, and in the location where the red dot had been, an explosion erupted.

The explosion was immensely powerful. It even chased Taesan as he leaped through space.

[You have activated Seed of Calamity.]

A fiery spirit of doom erupted, colliding with the aftermath of the explosion, swallowing each other and disappearing.

Bzzzz.

Beams rushed in again. Gritting his teeth, Taesan moved.

Everything was being incinerated, and space began to twist.

A raw, overwhelming force that couldn’t be approached. He struggled not just to counterattack but even to evade.

There was indeed no will visible in the Immortal. It was moving only according to the reactions imprinted in its body.

But still, the opponent was an Immortal—a being that had transcended mortality.

But.

‘I can win.’

Only one Attack Nullification had been consumed.

He still had reserves of magic and mana.

The potential was sufficient.

Taesan spoke up.

“Stop.”

[You have activated Declaration of Stillness.]