Ascension Through Skills

Roots as big as a house shot up suddenly. Black magic became stronger the more magic power it consumed, and the roots filled up the space in an instant.

Kwoong!

The monster swung its arm, shattering the roots. The roots broke like straw in front of Taesan, who watched calmly.

He knew that these roots wouldn’t be able to stop the monster. The reason he used the roots was different.

Taesan stomped his foot.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

With a sound like the air tearing, Taesan’s body moved toward the monster. As he flew, he quickly manifested magic.

Jjeok.

Five Frost Arrows were drawn in the air. All of them accelerated and flew from Taesan.

Kwaang!

The monster, which had been breaking the tree roots, swung its fist towards the incoming Frost Arrows.

[You have activated Magic Explosion.]

Jjeojeong!

The Frost Arrows exploded, and fragments of ice pierced through the monster’s body.

Taken aback by the sudden turn of events, the monster paused for a moment but then swiftly moved its arm to deflect all the fragments. Thousands of ice fragments shattered.

And in that gap, Taesan arrived in front of the monster.

Taesan started attacking, and the monster blocked everything.

The monster was overwhelmingly faster than Taesan. No matter how much Taesan tried to find an opening or exploit a weakness, the monster could easily block him. After blocking all of Taesan’s attacks, the monster counterattacked. Four fists flew towards Taesan.

But Taesan, as if anticipating the monster’s counter, swiftly moved out of the way.

[You have activated Lightning Strike.]

Lightning Strike was an instant skill. It was unavoidable, but the monster dodged it anyway. The moment Lightning Strike manifested, the monster rolled out of range.

And by then, Taesan had already arrived at the spot the monster dodged to.

Taesan’s sword pierced the monster.

[Monster 48881 took 921 damage.] [Monster 48881 took 432 damage.] [Oh?]

The ghost, watching the series of actions unfold, couldn’t help but let out a sound.

The ghost, though dead, was once an adventurer who had gone to the deepest depths. For him, the current fight between the two seemed slow. That was why he noticed what Taesan had done.

Summoning tree roots to prevent the monster from moving towards him. Then, rushing in with Frost Arrows. Some of the arrows were accelerated to prevent the monster from reacting in time.

And once he was close, he attempted a surprise attack. But the monster had the strength to block it. So, after being blocked, Taesan immediately distanced himself and activated Lightning Strike.

The monster could dodge Lightning Strike, too. But Lightning Strike was an instant spell. No matter how much of a monster it was, it couldn’t easily react to it. It literally had to focus all its energy on dodging.

After that, it was hard to block the attack. So, Taesan went to the spot where the monster would dodge and landed an attack.

[This is interesting. Is it foresight or experience? It's a perfect strategy, isn't it?]

Each step in the process built up to create the result. Even the ghost had rarely created such a clean result.

“Strong, but that’s all.”

Taesan murmured in a languid tone.

B-grade monsters were indeed strong. Even if it was specialized, it didn’t lose much in strength compared to Taesan. It had an overwhelming advantage in speed, so if Taesan didn’t have information, winning would be near impossible.

But that was where the story changed.

“Compared to before, these conditions are very good.”

In the previous world, he was an Easy Mode player. No matter how much he used buff skills to increase his stats, his basic stats were terrible, so his limits were very low.

Whether it was by using addition or multiplication, damage could be dealt, but the stats that managed basic movements were worse than those in Hard Mode.

But he won. Against S-grade monsters, against apostles.

He knew the monsters’ movements and behavior patterns better than anyone. B-grade. Even specialization types were not a problem.

Crash.

The monster stomped the ground. Its speed was faster than ever before. It was a speed that couldn’t be followed with mere physical ability.

But Taesan didn’t panic and drew his sword.

“That’s not controlling its own speed.”

Specialization types lacked in every aspect except for speed. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that only their speed was abnormally developed.

Naturally, their judgment, cognitive abilities, and senses couldn’t keep up with their speed.

It was more like plotting a course and then moving the body accordingly.

So he could read it. He recalled the speeds and movements of the hundreds of specialization types he had faced, twisted his body, and pulled out his sword.

Clang!

A huge collision occurred. Dust and dirt exploded into the air.

The monster’s round face showed disturbance.

Boom.

The monster’s body disappeared again. Taesan moved his hand roughly.

[You have activated Particle Diffusion.]

Ice shards collided with each other, filling the space. At the same time, a loud noise rang out. The monster had collided with the scattered shards.

The monster was perplexed and stopped moving.

Taesan activated Acceleration and quickly closed the distance.

Clang!

His swords collided with the monster. In that situation, Taesan activated Invisibility. Instantly, Taesan’s body was hidden.

The monster’s arm that was about to counterattack hesitated. If the monster was smart, it would have known that Taesan hadn’t gone far and would have created some distance. But specialization types were below average in intelligence and sensing abilities. Perplexed, it stopped moving.

And it paid a big price.

Crack.

Taesan’s sword slashed the monster’s head. With one strike, the monster staggered, and Taesan thrust his sword into its chest.

The monster swung its arms wildly as it moved. The ground erupted, and the air exploded outwards.

“Is it moving in a random pattern?”

Counter couldn’t be used. Counter was a skill to see and counterattack, not predict. Using it would just be a vain attempt.

Just like before, Taesan activated Particle Diffusion. Even though it was beginner-level magic, specialization types had low health, so the spell wasn’t something that could be ignored.

The monster hesitated at the spreading ice shards, and Taesan didn’t miss the opportunity.

Clang!

Taesan pressured the monster with his sword. Then, he used magic, black magic, and skills to restrict the monster’s path.

Crack.

And he predicted where the monster would move and successfully attacked.

Now, the monster’s health was less than half.

The monster fought back desperately, but the limit was clear. The difference in health was too great, so Taesan just needed to respond and look for opportunities. Unavoidable attacks were just taken and countered, turning the fight into an exchange. That way, the monster’s health gradually dwindled.

“It’s been a while since I had fun.”

Taesan muttered as he watched the charging monster and stomped the ground, scattering fake flames to make the monster stop. He then used a mid-air jump and Acceleration to slam the monster into the ground.

The monster beneath Taesan resisted, but he firmly suppressed and ended it.

“Phew.”

Taesan takes a breath.

It was not too difficult, but it was still a strong monster. It took quite a bit of time because to succeed in attacking once, you had to go through a complex process.

Looking towards the city hall, everything had ended, and there was no sound.

Many must have died.

But they won.

Taesan plunged his sword into the monster’s face. The dormant power inside exploded and soared into the sky.

In an instant, the cracks in the sky shook.

A gigantic eye looked towards the ground.

Inside, it was filled with rage.

This rage had a god-like power that could crush the mind of the observer and make their heart submit.

Taesan taunted it.

“Next time, send down a stronger one.”

The monster’s power completely dissipated from the ground.

[Your Soul Ascension has activated. ??? 's proficiency has increased by 5%.]

And the system window popped up.

[Secret Quest Successful] [The God of Struggle and Death Descends.]

“Huff, huff.”

Kim Hwiyeon collapsed on the floor with a sweaty face. She grimaced at the intense pain she felt from behind her.

“Ouch…”

“Are you okay, sister?”

“I’m not okay.”

She managed to get up with difficulty, answering Junggeun’s question.

“We won, right?”

“Barely… but thanks to you, sister.”

E-grade monsters and D-grade monsters. The difference was clear even though they hadn’t been definitively graded yet.

D-grade monsters were impossible to handle properly, even if the Hard Mode players were involved. It was a monster that needed at least twenty of them to suppress.

But when nearly a hundred E-grade monsters ran amok, they panicked. The fear of death dominated them.

In that situation, Kim Hwiyeon shouted desperately.

She intuitively noticed the level of D-grade and sent Lee Taeyeon and Kang Junhyuk. She attached several Hard Modes as support and had them deal with E-grade monsters with Easy and Normal Mode players.

As long as players were protected by the system’s health rating, there was less risk of dying if they worked perfectly together.

With timely and neat responses, they were able to win.

But the damage was not small.

“How many died?”

“It’s hard to know exactly, but about half.”

Kim Hwiyeon bit her lip. It was a considerable sacrifice. If you thought about the fact that in war, if 20% died, it was considered annihilation; it was a terrible loss.

“How are Taeyeon and Junhyuk?”

“They were injured, but no serious wounds. Amazing. To be able to withstand such a monster…”

“That’s a relief.”

She grabbed her sword. Junggeun was surprised at her movement.

“What are you going to do now? You need to rest!”

“I can’t rest yet. Taesan is still there.”

“Ah…”

Junggeun’s face turned pale.

Taesan fought against a horrifically strong monster. Even though he was strong, it was hard to guarantee victory because the monster was unimaginably powerful.

Kim Hwiyeon endured the pain and said,

“Call the healthy people. We must assist Mr. Taesan…”

She couldn’t continue her words.

Her pupils shook. She felt a tremendous power from the direction where Taesan had gone.

This power seemed to envelop the entire Earth.

“Oh, oh.”

She stuttered. It was a power she couldn’t even properly comprehend. It was a wave of power that couldn’t be compared to even dust or bugs.

“Sister?”

“Wait!”

Only Lee Taeyeon and Kang Junhyuk realized what kind of power it was. Lee Taeyeon shouted in astonishment,

“Why do I feel the power of a god here!”

[Oh... uh... um.]

The ghost lost its words and stuttered. It was an unsightly scene for it, but the situation was significant enough to cause that.

Kwoong!

The ground split and a pitch-black throne rose. It was a chilling throne decorated with sharp thorns and blades.

The owner of the empty throne was an entity known to Taesan.

“Lakiratas…”

[Yes, mortal. I am Lakiratas, the entity that oversees struggle and death.]

A blunt voice resounded, and Taesan remembered hearing this voice before.

“Maria. The god that interfered when we were with the goddess was you.”

When Maria sent him down, her world had been invaded by some god.

His vague suspicions were now confirmed.

[That is in the past.]

Lakiratas’s voice carried a slight irritation. As the god’s emotions spread, the air twisted and died.

An entity that distorted the world and trampled concepts just by existing. That was a god.

Taesan was dumbfounded. The fact that the power was affecting the Earth like this meant that Lakiratas had truly descended. Even the ghost was speechless and trailed off.

[Why... why are you here? You, who have taken residence in the labyrinth, would need a great cost to descend here.] [Does such a cost seem meaningful to me?] [Well, no, but.]

After Taesan defeated the monster, Lakiratas suddenly descended. The timing was too abrupt.

Lakiratas answered,

[Because that was the contract.] [Contract?] [Let's start fulfilling the contract.]

Lakiratas’s power burst out. It reached towards the Earth, enveloping Taesan and all humans.

[The power of a God is manifested.] [Blessings descend.]