Ascension Through Skills

Kiiing!

A beam was fired, piercing the earth and creating a hole in the sky.

Taesan dodged all the attacks and severed the monster’s tentacles.

The tentacles thrashed wildly. It seemed they were attempting to strike him by maneuvering the tentacles themselves, as the long-range attacks weren’t effective. However, Taesan didn’t allow them to. He swung his sword and fist, repelling all the tentacles.

The monsters have become weaker than in his previous life.

But the same was true for him. He still hasn’t reached Lee Taeyeon’s level.

Since they both weakened, their levels became somewhat similar.

However, Taesan was fighting much more efficiently and effortlessly than in his previous life.

It was to be expected. Even Lee Taeyeon, who possessed only the Addition skill, would have easily triumphed against two S-rank opponents in a forced duel.

It was difficult in the previous life because Taesan was abnormally strong, but with this normal strength, the battle became much easier.

The monster appeared to be making a final stand, gathering its tentacles. The beam merged into a massive one, attempting to pierce Taesan.

[You have activated Random Blink.]

Taesan’s body instantly moved right behind the monster.

He thrust his sword into it and slammed it to the ground. He quickly drew another sword and sliced through.

The defensive monster tried to block but was thrown off by the forced duel.

Gururuk…

Thus, Monster 5 perished.

[You have defeated Monster 5. It will be settled after the trial ends.] [Your Soul Ascension has activated. Your proficiency in Twisted Soul Tuning has increased by 11%.]

Taesan immediately rushed towards Monster 7. The defensive monster hunched over and charged.

Since it was like a tank, Taesan simply extended his sword.

[You have activated Flow.]

Kwaang!

The charge’s direction shifted, and the monster crashed into the ground.

There was nothing to fear from a defensive type, unlike an offensive type. In his previous life, he had spent days countering more challenging offensive types without allowing a single attack to take him down.

Taesan tightened his grip on the sword.

What followed was a simple repetition. He avoided the monster’s attacks and retaliated.

Even with those poor Easy Mode stats in his previous life, he had avoided them all. There was no reason to struggle now.

After investing a whole day, Taesan was able to take down even the defensive monster.

Kwajik.

[You have defeated Monster 7. It will be settled after the trial ends.] [Your Soul Ascension has activated. Your proficiency in Twisted Soul Tuning has increased by 8%.]

“Ha.”

Taesan laughed.

He had taken down the monster he struggled with in his previous life so easily.

The monsters might have weakened, but since he hasn’t yet gathered everything, he believed that after conquering the labyrinth, he could take down real S-rank monsters much more easily.

“Good.”

Taesan muttered. His proficiency in Twisted Soul Tuning through Soul Ascension had also risen quite high. It was a satisfying outcome.

He had defeated two S-ranks.

However, there were no signs of returning to the labyrinth.

Taesan stamped his foot and quickly returned to the city, where people were still fighting.

“Block everything! We can do this!”

Junggeun desperately shouted and swung his weapon.

But it seemed insufficient to block hundreds of monsters. The barrier had been shattered long ago, and people were falling one by one.

‘Have we all weakened together?’

The monsters were weakened. Originally, a Hard Mode player would have been able to win without any problem.

Yet, the fact that they were being pushed back meant that Aphrodia had imposed restrictions on people as well while materializing.

“Eeeek!”

Junggeun rushed to a person who was falling. He succeeded in protecting him, but he couldn’t block the monster’s attack anymore.

When he tightly closed his eyes, Taesan charged in.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

Kwajik.

He pierced the head of a monster trying to strike with its huge claw and blew it away. The monster disappeared into the distant sky.

“Br, Brother?”

Junggeun belatedly realized Taesan’s presence.

“How did you get here? Aren’t you supposed to be fighting the S-rank monsters?”

“I’ve dealt with them all.”

“What?”

Junggeun was flustered. There were two S-ranks. Entities that he couldn’t confidently claim would be defeated.

However, Taesan, who returned in just a day, had no visible injuries.

“Brother?”

“Sorry, but we need to clean up here quickly.”

Hundreds of monsters were charging.

Taesan touched the ground as he looked at them.

[You have activated Frozen World.]

Jjeojeojeong!

A chill swept through. A vast world of ice descended, beginning to freeze everything beyond the barrier.

“Woahhh!”

“Uh, uhh!”

People screamed and retreated. Even though they were outside the skill’s range, the strong survivors felt their fingers freeze from the cold.

Jjeojeojeok!

The ice kept spreading.

The monsters struggled to escape but were all swallowed up.

Taesan lifted his hand from the ground.

Most of the hundreds of monsters attacking them were frozen. A-rank monsters showed up, breaking some ice, but they kept staggering, not being okay.

‘As expected, good.’

Most commonly activated skills targeted specific entities. Hence, weak enemies had to be dealt with manually,

But magic could handle weak enemies all at once.

“Can you handle them now?”

“Yes, yes. It’s possible but…”

Junggeun stammered. The monsters they were desperately fighting were all cleared with just one skill.

“Brother?”

“Let’s talk later.”

Taesan stamped his foot again. He ignored Junggeun’s urgent voice calling from behind. There was something more important now.

Kuuuuung…

A wave of power had been resonating from afar.

Despite the world being weakened, it was a clash of forces where victory couldn’t be assured.

Upon reaching the site of the collision, Lee Taeyeon and an unidentifiable entity were present.

“Eeeek!”

Lee Taeyeon, gritting her teeth, swung her weapon.

However, she was too preoccupied with blocking the attacks.

Unable to counterattack effectively, she was continuously pushed back by the monster.

Thrown far away by the clash of forces, she rolled on the ground and barely managed to stand up.

Her fist was clenched tightly, as if holding onto something precious.

“…Haha. What am I doing?”

Lee Taeyeon let out a hollow laugh.

Her arm trembled with fear, visible even from a distance.

The monster charged again.

She gripped her weapon with a face that seemed to bear a heavy burden.

A wave of power surged.

Lee Taeyeon rolled on the ground once more.

She looked at her fist. With a face filled with fear, she pondered over something.

But, just like before, instead of opening her fist, she gripped her weapon tighter and glared at the monster.

When the monster sluggishly charged again, Taesan intervened.

He thrust his sword into the side of the monster that was focusing on Lee Taeyeon.

Kuuuk.

The formless monster’s body seemed to repel the blade. Taesan exerted more force into his shoulder and foot, driving it further in.

Eventually, the monster couldn’t withstand the pressure and was thrown far away.

Kwaaaaang!

“Hello.”

“…Eh, what?”

Lee Taeyeon looked up at him blankly.

“…Taesan? How……

“I’m finished on my side.”

“Eh, uh?”

Lee Taeyeon continued to be flustered. Taesan glanced at her still clenched fist.

Inside, there would be the Ouroboros’s stone.

She had clung to it until death, without using it.

Taesan shook his head.

“I’ll handle things here; you go help the others.”

“Eh, what?”

“Hurry and go.”

[You have activated Amon's Formless Armor.]

A pitch-black power envelops Taesan.

Lee Taeyeon’s pupils dilated.

“…Black Magic?”

“I told you to go, didn’t I?”

She looked very curious but glanced at the path and quickly created distance.

“Make sure to tell me later!”

“Sure.”

Taesan chuckled.

After Lee Taeyeon left, Taesan looked at the path.

[The Gaze of !#$!#.] [You are instantly killed.]

An absolute gaze without judgment. Taesan countered the gaze that had been directed at him in his previous life.

“Dismiss.”

[Resistance successful.]

Kuruk.

A formless monster, its shape distorted beyond recognition.

And the first monster to defeat Taesan. The direct cause of humanity’s destruction.

This was the source of his despair.

Kururuk.

The monster let out a small cry. Then something terrifying began to burrow into Taesan’s mind.

Merely facing the Apostle was enough to break one’s spirit and shatter their heart.

Of course, it didn’t work on Taesan. He shrugged it off with ease and muttered.

“It’s easier than my previous life.”

Like other monsters, the Apostle, being a divine entity, had weakened significantly.

Taesan looked at the formless entity with sunken eyes.

Something beyond S-rank. People had named this monster the Apostle.

‘They named it well.’

At the time, it was called so without much thought, but now it was clear.

It was truly an Apostle of the High Gods.

And the High Gods were ancient beings expelled and forgotten by the world. Perhaps that’s why their Apostles were also distorted entities.

Kururuk.

The Apostle’s formless body began to expand.

It seemed to grow larger as if to swallow the world itself. Taesan tightened his grip on his sword.

The formless, slime-like solid began to seep into the world. One by one, they started to dominate the space.

Taesan coolly assessed the situation.

Despite his defeat after having faced an Apostle in his previous life, he knew what kind of attacks the entity made.

The Apostle’s attacks involved dominating the space itself.

Like a tree spreading its branches, the Apostle extended its formless body into the world. Its goal was to engulf the entire space, making evasion impossible, and ultimately to consume everything.

Soon, the Apostle’s entire body was enveloped by the formless entity.

It resembled a tree in perpetual growth.

It seemed necessary to eliminate it before it expanded further, but instead of charging in, Taesan maintained his distance.

The Apostle, targeting Taesan, stretched its formless body even wider and farther.

It resembled the World Tree.

The spreading formless entities began to encroach upon the space one by one, turning the path to the Apostle into a maze.

This situation made defeating the Apostle more challenging, but Taesan was counting on this complexity.

The Apostle utilized its surrounding formless body for both offense and defense.

Taesan moved his hand abruptly.

[You have activated Marbas' Pitch-Black Wave.]

Kuuuung!

A black wave surged forth.

It gradually eroded the spreading formless entities.

However, the formless entity grew more vigorously, suddenly expanding to block Taesan’s path.

Yet, Taesan remained unfazed.

He simply repelled the approaching formless entities, keeping his distance.

“You can’t kill me with this.”

In that form, the Apostle possessed nearly absolute defense. Even with more power than in his previous life, piercing through the Apostle’s defense remained uncertain.

But the same was true for the Apostle. Witnessing its formless body being scattered and blocked by Taesan meant the Apostle had to devise another strategy.

Kukuk.

The Apostle’s formless body twisted momentarily.

The spreading entities began to retract towards the Apostle. Simultaneously, the Apostle’s body slowly distorted and shifted.

Forces converged and eventually unified.

The Apostle’s form began to transform.

Now the real battle began. Taesan gripped his sword with a grave expression.

[You have activated Apostle Transformation [Lakiratas].]