Chapter 156: Secret Ruins, Ruins of the Forgotten Goddess (4)

[Uwooooo!]

The gray monster roared, causing the entire room to tremble. Taesan quickly ducked.

[You have activated Fortitude.]

The howl hit Taesan, making his body shake violently.

[You have taken 45 damage.]

“Ha.”

Just from the roar, he suffered physical damage.

Taesan clicked his tongue and lifted his head.

The monster filling the room had no definite shape. It was just a mass of writhing gray energy.

[This… This is insane.]

The ghost was horrified, and a notification window appeared.

[A Fallen Apostle has appeared.]

[Uwooooo!]

The monster kept roaring.

At least for now, it didn’t seem intent on attacking, so Taesan quickly drank a recovery potion.

“What is that?”

[Uwooooo!]

From the roaring monster, Taesan felt a terrifying power.

But despite its overwhelming, almost violent power that filled the space, there was no sense of dignity.

[An apostle. Only those with an even greater level can do something like this. But this… this…]

“You mentioned it’s called Spiritual Fall.”

It drags down the level of the soul. Just hearing the name, it was clear it wasn’t a normal skill.

The ghost swallowed nervously.

[I told you that apostles offer their souls to the gods to reach a high state. You’ve encountered them, so you know.]

“I know well enough.”

For those who have risen to the level of apostles, attacks from lesser beings hardly affected them.

It was a level that had slightly transcended the wall of mortality. That was an apostle.

[That thing forcibly drags down its own level. It pulls the soul, which had risen to a high state, down to the level of a mortal. And then, it forcibly converts that lowered level into power.]

[O! O! O!]

The monster kept roaring.

[But this… This is…]

“Does it mean death?”

[It’s worse than that. The soul itself is destroyed. If the soul remains intact, it can exist as a spiritual being like me, or, like Malleasten borrowing a body according to Fapsya’s will, resurrection is possible. But that thing… It’s just the end.]

And it was using such a thing to try to kill Taesan.

[A victory against this opponent is impossible.]

A new notification appeared.

It was stronger now in its fallen state than when it had a proper form.

Taesan laughed bitterly.

“They really pull out all the stops.”

[Oooo….]

The roaring began to subside.

The monster gestured with its gray hand. The only passage screamed and was sealed off.

Escape was impossible.

Taesan gripped his sword tightly.

“What’s its duration?”

[I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before. But since it’s in the process of collapsing, it probably can’t last long…]

The situation was dire.

He couldn’t activate Apostolic Transformation due to its cooldown.

Though he had recovered his health and mana with potions, his magic power was completely exhausted. His shield was also depleted.

Facing an unbeatable opponent in such a state was akin to suicide, but Taesan laughed. It had been a long time since he was pushed to such an extent.

His excitement rose.

Taesan launched himself at the apostle.

He had no intention of waiting for the opponent to attack. He rushed toward the monster.

The monster slightly moved its head and swung its enormous claws.

Taesan thrust his sword.

[You have activated Distortion.]

Distortion was a skill that altered the trajectory of anything it touched. When the sword met the claws, the trajectory of the claws twisted.

[Uwooo!]

The monster roared.

The twisted trajectory forcibly corrected itself with overwhelming power.

Taesan hurriedly twisted his arm.

Boom!

The claws struck the wall. Taesan narrowly avoided it, shaking his arm.

[You have taken 1130 damage.]

It was only a glancing blow, yet it dealt significant damage.

“It crushes even Distortion with its strength.”

It wasn’t impossible. Distortion was a skill that altered trajectories.

In other words, if one had the strength to correct even a twisted trajectory, they could attack.

But until now, there hadn’t been an existence with such overwhelming stats.

[Uwooo!]

The monster roared and swung its claws.

Taesan moved his body.

[You have activated Mental Acceleration.]

The claws barely missed Taesan.

But he didn’t completely avoid the attack.

[You have taken 123 damage.]

Even the aftermath of the attack was accumulating damage.

‘I can’t go on like this.’

He couldn’t afford to wait for the collapse. Taesan would likely die first.

He made a decision. He would try to attack.

Taesan rushed.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

The monster met Taesan with its claws. The claws, filling the entire room, came at him with a rough sound.

Crunch.

Taesan leapt.

He dodged the claws in mid-air.

[Uwooo!]

The monster pulled back its arm. The claws came from behind Taesan.

Taesan kicked off the air again.

[You have activated Air Step.]

He dodged the claws while flying through the air.

The monster lifted its head. Gray energy turned into blades and rushed at Taesan.

[You have activated Grounding.]

His body forcibly landed on the ground. The gray blades hit the wall.

But there was still a considerable distance to the monster.

‘Is this it?’

Taesan eventually retreated.

[Uwooooo!]

The monster swung its claws again.

Just as the claws were about to hit, Taesan activated a skill.

[You have activated Random Blink.]

Taesan’s body moved to his previous position before he had retreated.

After getting as close as possible, he left a mark. Then, he widened the distance, waited for the monster’s attack, and activated Blink.

The plan succeeded.

Taesan’s body closed in on the monster, and he plunged his sword.

[You have dealt 102 damage to the Fallen Apostle.]

Taesan’s eyes shook.

Although Apostolic Transformation had ended, the monster had also lost its apostolic status due to Spiritual Fall. It couldn’t completely block the damage.

However, despite using all his attack-boosting skills like Aura, Addition, Acceleration, and Force Strike, this was the damage he inflicted.

It meant the monster’s defense was incredibly high.

[Uwooo!]

The monster moved violently. For Taesan, who was in close proximity, it was a disaster.

He swung his sword desperately and widened the distance. But he couldn’t completely avoid the swinging claws.

Boom!

“Guh!”

Taesan, hit by the claws, crashed into the labyrinth wall.

[You have taken 3012 damage.]

[What is this…!]

The ghost was horrified. Taesan gritted his teeth, recovered his posture, and avoided the follow-up attack.

The monster didn’t give him time to use a potion.

Taesan focused his mind.

He tried to avoid as many attacks as possible and seize counterattack opportunities.

But the situation was dire.

Even if he avoided the attacks, the aftermath alone was accumulating damage. And even if he managed to land an attack, it didn’t significantly harm the monster.

The ghost watched anxiously.

‘This…’

No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t find a solution. The monster was slowly collapsing, but compared to Taesan’s stamina consumption, it was much slower.

The ghost began to think of ways to save Taesan’s soul at least.

But Taesan hadn’t given up.

He had faced countless hopeless situations.

Before he even cleared the labyrinth, he had fought a B-rank monster alone.

Everyone said it was an impossible victory, yet he won.

Even when facing two S-rank monsters at the end, it was an unwinnable situation, but he didn’t give up and won again.

He had overcome all kinds of despair and unfairness to get here.

If he were to give up on something like this, he wouldn’t have made it this far in the first place.

‘In situations like this, I need to stay calm.’

From his experiences, Taesan knew that panicking in such situations would be the end.

Taesan calmed his heart. He settled his agitated mind and started to focus on each detail.

First, he needed information about the opponent.

‘Swordsmanship doesn’t work.’

The opponent crushed even Distortion with strength. Counterattacks or continuous attacks naturally wouldn’t work.

‘No attack nullification either.’

But he had Fortitude. He could endure a single attack.

‘The damage… is pathetic.’

But it’s not bad.

If damage could be inflicted, it meant the monster could be killed. Just like he did against S-rank monsters in his previous life.

He methodically organized his thoughts and began to pave the way to victory.

‘First.’

What should he do first?

It didn’t take long to decide. Taesan twisted his body to avoid the swung claws.

Boom!

[You have taken 105 damage.]

Even though he had avoided it perfectly, he still took damage from the aftermath.

‘Perfect evasion.’

He didn’t know how much health the apostle had, but it wasn’t an opponent he could defeat in a short time. To win in a long battle, he first needed to avoid taking damage.

[Uwooo!]

The monster lifted its arm.

Taesan focused his mind.

He read the trajectory of the claws. He analyzed the direction they would swing and the range of the resulting aftermath.

Taesan kicked off the ground.

Boom!

The claws struck the ground. The aftermath affected Taesan.

[You have taken 88 damage.]

The damage had slightly reduced.

Taesan wasn’t satisfied.

To win, he needed to evade perfectly.

[Uwooooo!]

He concentrated even more. He observed the monster’s movements and the direction of its power.

Seeing the arm sweeping across the ground, he kicked off the ground.

[You have activated Air Step.]

He soared to the ceiling. Then he immediately activated Grounding to land on the ground.

Boom!

The claws struck the ceiling. Debris fell.

[You have taken 54 damage.]

[??? proficiency has increased by 1%.]

[Huh?]

The ghost realized. The inflicted damage was gradually decreasing.

While the ghost realized this, Taesan focused all his attention.

He observed the writhing energy.

He read the trajectory of the swinging claws.

And he analyzed the range of the bursting aftermath.

Boom!

[You have taken 28 damage.]

[??? proficiency has increased by 1%.]

The information about increased proficiency and reduced damage didn’t reach Taesan’s mind.

He only focused on evading the attacks.

Boom!

[You have taken 9 damage.]

[??? proficiency has increased by 1%.]

The damage had decreased to single digits. The ghost shouted in excitement.

“Good!”

Despite the loud voice, Taesan didn’t hear it.

He was so focused that he didn’t even notice the increase in proficiency.

But he instinctively realized.

The monster’s movements were becoming clearer.

No, more precisely, he was sensing the movements before they happened.

He could feel the monster’s intent.

[Uwooo!]

The monster roared.

Before its arm even moved properly, Taesan kicked off the ground.

Boom!

The swung arm struck a completely different direction from Taesan. This time, he evaded the aftermath perfectly.

“Good.”

Taesan smiled faintly.

He had cleared the first condition.

Now it was time to meet the next condition.

Taesan gradually reduced the distance between his evasions. After slowly adjusting his movements, he finally evaded the aftermath perfectly by a paper-thin margin.

Having avoided the attack, Taesan stabbed his sword into the monster’s arm.

[You have dealt 86 damage to the Fallen Apostle.]

[Uwo!]

The monster flailed its arm. Taesan, having anticipated this, was already out of the attack range.

Boom!

Taesan continued to repeat evasion and attack.

It was a tightrope fight where a single misstep or mistake in judgment would cost his life.

This was familiar to Taesan. His battles had always been like this, and as always, he focused and moved.

[Uwooooo!]

Due to accumulated damage or the passage of time, contrary to the ghost’s expectations, the monster’s collapse was accelerating before Taesan fell.

And Taesan saw it.

The dark energy flickering at the monster’s head.

And he felt it. That energy was suppressing the monster’s collapse.

He found the answer to victory.

But there was a problem. How could he approach the monster?

The monster, sensing the crisis, was swinging its body more violently and powerfully. It seemed impossible to approach, let alone avoid its attacks and get close.

Taesan took a deep breath.

Gathering the remaining strength in his body, he charged.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

[Uwooooo!]

The monster swung its arm roughly. The speed was twice as fast as before. It lashed through the room like a whip.

And Taesan avoided all of it.

He twisted his arm, bent his body, and kicked off the ground.

[Uwooo!]

The monster brought both claws together to stab.

It was an unavoidable speed.

And it didn’t need to be avoided.

Earlier, when he had attacked the monster, he had left a mark at the attack point.

[You have activated Random Blink.]

Taesan’s body moved right in front of the monster.

He raised his sword, and the monster didn’t just watch.

[Uwooo!]

Gray blades erupted from the monster’s body. Hundreds of blades simultaneously targeted Taesan.

And Taesan avoided them all.

As if he had foreseen the future, he didn’t allow a single scratch.

The ghost swallowed hard, and Taesan plunged his sword into the monster’s core.

[Oooo!]

The monster’s body shuddered. Its entire body twisted momentarily, and the gray energy began to disperse.

But the monster didn’t disappear quietly.

It thrust both claws at Taesan’s body.

Taesan didn’t dodge.

[You have taken 8975 damage.]

[Your Fortitude has activated. The lethal attack was nullified. All damage will be zero for 1 second.]

Taesan put all his strength into his feet.

The monster’s core engulfed Taesan’s sword.

[O, Ooo….]

The monster hesitated. Then the gray energy exploded and scattered in all directions.

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[You have defeated an impossible opponent. Permanently increases health by 1000, mana by 300, strength by 120, agility by 100, and intelligence by 90.]

[Your Spiritual Ascension has activated. Permanently increases health by 1200, mana by 200, strength by 140, agility by 130, and intelligence by 74.]

[Your Spiritual Ascension has activated. ??? proficiency has increased by 6%. Divine power proficiency has increased by 5%. The rank of Apostolic Transformation [Lakiratas] has increased by one stage.]

[Your Spiritual Ascension has activated. Acquired special activation skill [Spiritual Fall].]

[Special activation skill [Spiritual Fall] has evolved due to Spiritual Ascension. Learned special activation skill [Spiritual Conversion].]

[You have obtained the essence of the apostle.]