Chapter 155: Secret Ruins, Ruins of the Forgotten Goddess (3)

The types of traps.

And their patterns.

Solutions and strategies based on those patterns and types.

Taesan analyzed all of them and executed his moves flawlessly, without a single mistake.

He moved like a seasoned thief.

Especially in the ruins of the forgotten goddess where even scouting didn’t work.

Everything was based on his experience and analysis.

“It was easier than I thought.”

Taesan was also surprised. Previously, he hadn’t been able to clear it this quickly. There were errors, it took longer, and he occasionally made mistakes.

But this time, it was a perfect strategy, literally.

“Is it thanks to this skill?”

A skill that could sense the will of everything, ???.

It was hard to describe, but he could feel something from the traps. Because of that, he could intuitively grasp the strategy.

“Not bad at all.”

He had expected it to take a long time to see proper results from this skill, so this unexpected help felt good.

Taesan checked the traps he had gathered while breaking through.

[Strong Net Blessed by the Goddess]

[A net once used by the goddess herself. Now, as a relic of a forgotten goddess, its worth has significantly diminished.]

“This could be useful.”

This net was barely cut using half of Mephisto’s magic power in his lightning.

It seemed like it could be useful in various situations.

Taesan moved forward.

There were no more traps in sight. After walking down the endless corridor, he found a small door.

Opening it, he saw a statue of the goddess worn by time and a gray knight.

[You have encountered the Apostle of the Forgotten Goddess.]

“Apostle?”

Taesan frowned.

As if to confirm what he saw was real, a system window popped up.

[The opponent is an enemy against whom victory is difficult.]

[The Desire for Battle has been activated.]

[Honorable Duel has been activated.]

[Proof of Limits has been activated.]

[Contempt for the Strong has been activated.]

[Anti-Divinity has been activated.]

[Giant Killer has been activated.]

Power surged through his body. All his stats increased, and his attack power and defense improved.

“Why do apostles appear so frequently?”

Taesan muttered as he drew his two swords.

[You have activated Scout.]

As with everything related to the forgotten goddess, no information appeared.

The apostle of the forgotten goddess had decayed and was crumbling.

The knight, who looked like he would collapse at a touch, drew his sword.

Clang.

The sword, like the knight, was completely corroded.

Watching this, Taesan narrowed his eyes.

“Does it lack intelligence?”

The knight, silently raising his sword, seemed to have only the will to protect the goddess.

Boom!

The knight stomped his foot and swung his corroded sword at Taesan.

Clang!

Taesan’s knees bent under the strong pressure on his arms.

‘Strong.’

Even with his stats greatly increased by skills for dealing with difficult enemies, there was a clear difference.

It had strength and presence incomparable to the previous Kain.

It must have been an elite that conquered the deeper layers during its life.

There was no time to hesitate. Taesan immediately activated Apostolic Transformation. Since he had rested after returning from the battlefield of the gods, the daily cooldown had passed.

[You have activated Apostolic Transformation [Lakiratas].]

Divine power surged through his body.

Information flooded Taesan’s mind, and his entire body strengthened.

Clang!

Taesan pushed the knight back a step with his sword.

He frowned slightly.

‘There’s nothing?’

In the sea of information, there was nothing about the forgotten goddess.

But there was no time to ponder this. Taesan raised his sword.

[You have activated Apostle Slayer.]

The skill to degrade the status of an apostle activated. The aura surrounding the corroded knight weakened slightly.

Crack!

But it did not yield.

The knight calmly, without any disruption, pressured Taesan. Despite using Apostolic Transformation and Apostle Slayer to lower its status, Taesan was being pushed back. He clicked his tongue.

“This is what a true apostle is like.”

[It’s fortunate that it’s extremely weakened. If it were a proper apostle, you wouldn’t even be able to resist and would just die.]

As the ghost said, fortunately, Taesan was not only holding out but also occasionally counterattacking.

It seemed that the apostle’s power had significantly weakened due to the passage of time and the goddess being forgotten.

‘At this level, it’s manageable.’

Four arrows shot out from Taesan’s body.

They moved erratically, targeting the knight from all directions.

The knight didn’t react.

It just held its sword and stomped.

Boom!

A tremendous shockwave swept through the room. The flying arrows wobbled and were pushed back.

The corroded knight dealt with the arrows without even lifting a finger.

But this was exactly what Taesan had expected.

The arrows that Taesan had captured wouldn’t work against the knight of higher status.

He aimed for a very small gap.

Taesan dove beneath the knight.

[You have activated Leap.]

Clang!

Thanks to learning the ability sword, the effect of Leap had also changed. When using Leap to strike upward, it could add significant impact and damage. The corroded knight’s feet slightly lifted from the floor.

Taesan swung his swords. He aimed to stab with the left sword into the shoulder and slash the thigh with the right sword.

The knight, still in mid-air, swung its sword down.

It was an attack with the momentum to crush him by weight. Taesan, who initially intended to ignore and attack, sensed a bad premonition and hurriedly retreated.

[The Apostle of the Forgotten Goddess has activated Weight of Will.]

Clang!

The sword struck the labyrinth floor. A small crack appeared on the floor.

Taesan let out a hollow laugh.

“It made a crack in the labyrinth?”

Boom.

The knight immediately got up and charged at Taesan. The bulldozer-like momentum made Taesan click his tongue.

[You have activated Random Blink.]

Taesan’s body moved behind the charging knight.

He had placed a Brand during the attack, making this possible.

From behind, he thrust his sword into the knight’s nape. The armor scratched, and gray powder scattered.

[You have dealt 345 damage to the Apostle of the Forgotten Goddess.]

Though the knight twisted its body at the last moment to reduce the damage, the effect of the additional ability was activated, resulting in just this number. This meant the knight’s defense was incredibly high.

Despite being classified as an overwhelmingly difficult enemy like Kain, this opponent was entirely different. He had known that there could be vast differences even among those similarly categorized, so he calmly sorted his thoughts.

The battle was likely to be a long one.

Taesan took a deep breath and activated his skills.

[You have activated Non-Breathing Attack.]

[You have activated Wind Walk.]

[You have activated Small Flame.]

He charged at the corroded knight.

First was attack nullification. Taesan stepped forward, activating acceleration to rush forward at high speed.

[You have activated Blade of Determination.]

[You have activated Addition.]

[You have activated Force Strike.]

The knight did not dodge the reckless charge. It raised its sword with both hands and charged.

Their swords pierced each other’s chests.

[You have dealt 4130 damage to the Apostle of the Forgotten Goddess.]

Three times the Blade of Determination. Twice the Addition. And the extra attack power of Force Strike.

All combined to produce staggering damage.

[Your first attack nullification has activated.]

The knight’s body reverted to its pre-attack state. Despite the high damage and sudden change, the knight swung its sword again as if nothing had happened.

Taesan did not dodge and continued to attack. Although he couldn’t use Blade of Determination again due to its cooldown, the knight’s counterattack activated another attack nullification after significant damage.

After repeating this process once more, Taesan widened the distance.

Although three attack nullifications had been activated, the knight’s movements showed no hesitation.

This confirmed it.

The corroded knight had no emotions.

It would move without any disturbance.

‘This is troublesome.’

Taesan clicked his tongue and activated magic.

[You have activated Lightning Strike.] A bolt of lightning pierced the knight’s body, but the damage was only 10. It wasn’t worth the mana.

Boom!

The knight charged. Taesan waved his hand.

A small flame ignited.

The flame grew larger upon contact with the wind. Soon, a massive storm of fire engulfed the room.

The knight charged through the storm and struck with its sword.

Boom!

The storm exploded and dissipated.

Through the lingering flames, the knight attacked Taesan.

Crack!

Blocking the attack, Taesan calmly analyzed.

‘Spirits and magic, neither work.’

They were powerful skills, but insufficient against an apostle.

‘What about this then?’

Having moved around, his magic had slightly recovered.

[You have activated Mephisto’s Black Lightning.]

Black lightning pierced the knight.

The knight’s movement briefly hesitated.

It was a very small gap, but Taesan clearly saw it.

The damage was also 200, not insignificant.

Black magic worked against the Apostle of the Forgotten Goddess.

Confirming this, Taesan charged forward.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

The sword’s speed accelerated momentarily. It skimmed past, cutting the knight’s arm.

Boom!

The knight ignored the attack and thrust its sword.

[You have activated Distortion.]

Just as Taesan’s sword and the knight’s sword were about to clash, the knight’s sword veered off course.

The knight continued to swing its sword without caring. And Taesan deflected all those attacks.

He adjusted his sword movements to match the attack timing.

And when the knight’s gaps were the largest, Taesan plunged into the knight’s chest.

Crack.

Taesan’s sword pierced the knight again.

The knight struck Taesan’s chest with its knee.

[You have taken 743 damage.]

Even with Fortitude activated, which halves damage, it was considerable.

But it wasn’t unbearable. This level of damage was manageable.

[You have activated Force Strike.]

Clang!

The clash pushed the knight’s body slightly. Taesan continued to time his attacks. He deflected the knight’s sword and succeeded in attacking.

As he plunged into the knight, he activated black lightning. The knight’s body twitched, and Taesan stabbed the knight’s thigh.

[You have dealt 564 damage to the Apostle of the Forgotten Goddess.]

He lowered his stance and slashed upwards.

[You have activated Leap.]

Clang!

The knight’s body lifted. The knight raised its sword as before. But this time, Taesan charged before the knight could activate its skill.

[You have activated Continuous Attack.]

A strong impact overwhelmed the knight’s sword. The knight’s grip loosened, creating an opening.

Crack.

Taesan’s sword pierced the knight again.

He poured everything into the attack.

Though Taesan also received several attacks, he avoided direct hits as much as possible, making the damage bearable.

As the battle continued, Taesan’s attacks became faster and sharper.

This was thanks to the frenzy of combat granted by Lakiratas.

Crack.

Taesan pushed the knight forcefully. The knight staggered and knelt.

“Is it over?”

[It seems so.]

It wasn’t too difficult.

Losing its intelligence meant it was easier to predict its moves.

Simply put, the knight never figured out his sword techniques.

Ordinary opponents would recognize patterns in Taesan’s actions and counter them, but the knight showed no such awareness due to its lack of intelligence.

But it was a very close result.

Apostolic Transformation had ended a while ago. Despite relentless attacks, the apostle’s ridiculously high endurance meant it took a long time.

Thanks to Apostle Slayer, he managed to deal some damage. Otherwise, he would have had to give up and wait for another opportunity.

Just when Taesan was convinced of his victory.

Clang.

The knight’s armor crumbled.

The sword corroded into dust.

The helmet broke, revealing the knight’s figure.

Taesan hesitated.

Inside the armor was only a gray aura.

The aura from the crumbling armor coalesced into a massive form.

[The Apostle of the Forgotten Goddess has activated Spiritual Fall.]