Enormous roots surged forth like a rapid growth of bamboo shoots. Black magic, which grows stronger with the consumption of mana, quickly filled the space.

Boom!

The monster moved its arms, shattering the roots. Taesan watched calmly as the roots snapped like dry reeds.

He knew these roots wouldn’t be enough to stop the monster; his use of them had a different purpose.

Taesan stomped the ground.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

His body surged towards the monster, breaking the air as he unleashed his magic rapidly.

Crack.

Five frost arrows formed in mid-air, all accelerated towards the monster.

Boom!

As the monster was smashing the roots, it swung its fist towards the incoming frost arrows.

[You have activated Magical Explosion.]

Crash!

The frost arrows exploded, sending shards of ice piercing through the monster’s body.

Caught off-guard, the monster hesitated momentarily but quickly swept away the fragments with its arms, shattering thousands of ice shards.

In that brief moment, Taesan had closed the distance to the monster.

He launched an attack, but the monster blocked everything.

The monster was overwhelmingly faster than Taesan. It effortlessly blocked every gap and exploit Taesan attempted. After deflecting all attacks, the monster counterattacked with its four fists aiming at Taesan.

However, Taesan, anticipating the counter, moved swiftly.

[You have activated Thunder Strike.]

Thunder Strike was an instant-cast skill. Although inescapable, the monster dodged it by rolling out of the area the instant Thunder Strike materialized.

And Taesan was already at the spot where the monster had evaded to.

His sword pierced the monster.

[Monster 48881 takes 921 damage.]

[Monster 48881 takes 432 damage.]

[Oh?]

The specter, observing the sequence, involuntarily made a noise.

The specter was once an adventurer who had ventured deep into the labyrinth. To him, the current fight seemed slow enough to yawn through. That’s why he noticed the tactic Taesan used.

Taesan summoned roots to block the monster’s path, ran alongside the frost arrows, and increased their speed to prevent any preemptive counter. He closed in for a surprise attack, but the monster had the power to block even that. Simultaneously blocked, he quickly created distance and launched Thunder Strike.

The monster could dodge Thunder Strike too. But as an instant-cast spell, it was nearly impossible for even a monster to react promptly. It had to focus all its energy on evasion.

That made it difficult to block the following attacks. So, Taesan anticipated where the monster would dodge and struck it there.

[Is this foresight or experience? A perfect strategy.]

The culmination of each action produced the result. The specter had rarely seen such a clean execution.

“Strong, but that’s all.”

Taesan muttered in a languid tone.

The Grade B monster was indeed strong. Even if it was specialized, its strength was almost on par with Taesan’s. Given its overwhelming speed advantage, fighting it unawares would be near impossible.

But the scenario was different for him.

“Compared to before, this is a much better situation.”

In his past life in the previous world, he was an Easy Mode player. No matter how much he buffed his skills, his base stats were terribly low, setting a very low limit.

Damage could be adjusted with additions or multiplications, but the basic stats managing his movements were worse than Hard Mode.

Yet, he had won. Against Grade S monsters, against Apostles.

He knew monster movements and behavior patterns better than anyone. Grade B, even specialized types, were hardly an issue.

Whoosh.

The monster stomped the ground, faster than before. Its speed was unmatchable even with visual tracking.

But Taesan wasn’t flustered and raised his sword.

“That’s not controlling its own speed.”

Specialized types lacked everything except their speed. It was no exaggeration to say that their speed was abnormally developed.

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

It was almost like pre-planning its path and mechanically moving along it.

Thus, it could be read. He recalled the speed and movement of hundreds of specialized types he had faced and twisted his body, pulling his sword.

Clang!

A massive collision occurred. Dust exploded around them.

A flicker of disturbance crossed the monster’s spherical face.

Snap.

The monster disappeared again. Taesan moved his hands roughly.

[You have activated Particle Dispersion.]

Ice shards collided and filled the space. At the same time, a loud noise rang out. The monster had collided with the spreading fragments.

Confused, the monster paused its movements.

Taesan, activating Acceleration, quickly closed in.

Clash!

Their swords met. In that moment, Taesan activated Invisibility. His body momentarily vanished from sight.

The monster’s arm hesitated as it was about to counterattack. If the monster were smarter, it would have realized Taesan hadn’t gone far and created distance, but as a specialized type, its intelligence and perception were below average. Panicked, it froze.

And that hesitation cost it dearly.

Crunch.

Taesan’s sword brutally swept through the monster’s head. With a swing, he plunged his sword into the staggering monster’s chest.

The monster flailed its arms and moved violently. The ground burst apart, and air exploded from the impact.

“Moving in a random pattern, huh?”

Counters weren’t an option. Countering was about seeing and reacting, not predicting. Using it would just lead to empty swings.

Like before, Taesan activated Particle Dispersion. No matter how basic the spell, a speed-specialized monster couldn’t ignore the damage due to its low health.

The ice shards made the monster hesitate, and Taesan didn’t miss the opportunity.

Clash!

He pressured the monster with his sword. Then, using magic and black magic, he restricted the paths the monster could move.

Crunch.

Predicting where the monster would go, he landed another hit.

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

It attacked desperately, but its limitations were clear. The disparity in stamina meant that as long as Taesan only waited for opportunities, it was his victory. He took unavoidable hits and exchanged blows, further depleting the monster’s health.

“It’s been a while since I had this much fun.”

Watching the approaching monster, Taesan muttered and stomped the ground. He scattered fake flames beneath him to stop the monster, then using a leap and Acceleration, he slammed the monster to the ground.

The monster under Taesan resisted but was firmly subdued.

“Phew.”

Taesan exhaled.

It wasn’t difficult, but the monster was strong. Successfully landing an attack required a complex process, taking quite some time.

Looking towards City Hall, he heard no noise. It seemed it was all over.

Many must have died.

But they had won.

Taesan plunged his sword into the monster’s face. The latent power burst skyward.

Suddenly, the sky’s rift trembled.

A massive eye turned towards the earth.

Anger was evident in that eye.

That anger contained a god-like power capable of crushing the observer’s mind and subduing their heart.

Taesan taunted it.

“Send someone stronger next time.”

The monster’s power completely dissipated from the earth.

[Your Heroic Strike has been activated. ??? proficiency has increased by 5%.]

Then, the system window appeared.

[Secret Quest Successful]

[The God of Struggle and Death Descends.]

“Ha, ha.”

Kim Hwihyun, sweaty and exhausted, collapsed to the ground. She grimaced from the intense pain she felt from behind.

“It hurts…”

“Are you okay, ma’am?”

“I’m not okay.”

She struggled to her feet with Jungkeun’s help despite the pain.

“We won, right?”

“Barely… but yes, thanks to you.”

Grade E and D monsters. Although they hadn’t officially classified them yet, the difference was clear.

Grade D monsters couldn’t be properly handled even by a group of ten from Hard Mode. It took at least twenty to restrain such a beast.

But with nearly a hundred Grade E monsters rampaging, they were in panic. The fear of death dominated them.

In that crisis, Kim Hwihyun shouted desperately.

She intuitively recognized the level of Grade D and had Lee Taeyeon and Kang Junhyuk handle them, assigning several Hard Mode players as support, while Grade E monsters were rotated among Easy and Normal Modes.

As players are protected by a health system, there was less risk of death if they perfectly coordinated their attacks.

Their timely and neat response allowed them to win.

But the casualties were not minor.

“How many died?”

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

Kim Hwihyun bit her lip. The loss was significant. Considering that a 20% fatality rate in war is considered a total loss, the damage was horrific.

“How are Taeyeon and Junhyuk?”

“They’re injured but no serious wounds. It’s impressive they held up against such monsters…”

“That’s a relief.”

She grabbed her sword. Seeing her attempt to move, Jungkeun was alarmed.

“What are you doing? You need to rest!”

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

“Oh…”

Jungkeun’s face paled.

Taesan had gone to fight a terribly strong monster. While he was known to be powerful, the monster was unimaginably so, and there was no guarantee he had survived.

Kim Hwihyun, enduring her pain, said,

“Call the able-bodied. We need to help Taesan…”

Her voice trailed off.

Her pupils shook. A mighty force was felt from the direction Taesan had gone.

This power enveloped the entire earth.

“Uh, uh.”

She stuttered, unable to fully comprehend the immense force. It was like comparing an insect to dust in terms of power.

“Sister?”

“Wait!”

Lee Taeyeon and Kang Junhyuk were the only ones who realized what kind of power it was. Lee Taeyeon cried out in astonishment.

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

[Oh… um…]

The specter lost its words. It was uncharacteristic, but the situation warranted it.

Boom!

The ground split open as a throne of pitch-black, adorned with sharp spikes and blades giving off a chilling vibe, ascended. The owner of the empty throne was a being Taesan knew.

“Lakiratas…”

[Yes, mortal. I am Lakiratas, the overseer of Struggle and Death.]

A blunt voice sounded, and Taesan remembered hearing this voice when he was with the goddess Maria.

“Maria. The god who interfered when you were with the goddess was indeed you.”

When Maria had sent him down, a god had invaded her world.

It had been a vague guess, now confirmed.

[That matter is done.]

Lakiratas’s voice carried a slight annoyance. As divine emotion spread, the air twisted and died.

A being whose mere presence distorted matter and trampled concepts. That was a god.

Taesan was incredulous. That such power was influencing Earth meant that Lakiratas had truly descended. The specter, equally incredulous, trailed off.

[Why… are you here? For you to descend from the labyrinth, a price must be needed.]

[Do you think such a price matters to me?]

[Well, no, but…]

The timing of Lakiratas’s descent was too sudden, following the defeat of the monster.

Lakiratas replied.

[Because that was the agreement.]

[An agreement?]

[Let’s start fulfilling the contract.]

Lakiratas’s power burst forth. It spread toward the earth, enveloping Taesan and all humans.

[Divine Authority Manifests.]

[Blessings descend.]