Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 198: Earth Before the Apocalypse (Part 3)
A beam shot forth, piercing the ground and creating holes in the sky.
Taesan evaded all the attacks, severing the monster’s tentacles.
The tentacles writhed violently. When the ranged attacks failed, the monster tried to strike with its tentacles directly, but Taesan wouldn’t allow it. He swung his sword and fists, cutting off all the tentacles.
The monsters were weaker than they had been in his past life.
But so was he. He was still not at Lee Taeyeon’s level.
Both had weakened, leveling the playing field somewhat.
However, Taesan fought much better and more effortlessly than before.
It was only natural. If Lee Taeyeon, who only had multiplication, had Forced Duel, she could have defeated two S-rank monsters without much difficulty.
In his previous life, Taesan had struggled due to his peculiar build. With a more balanced set of abilities, things were much easier.
The monster’s tentacles gathered for one last desperate attack, forming a massive beam aimed at Taesan.
**[You have activated Random Blink.]**
Taesan’s body moved to the monster’s back.
He drove his sword into the ground and slashed quickly with his other sword.
The defense-oriented monster tried to block but was knocked back by Forced Duel.
Groaning…
Monster 5 died.
**[You have defeated Monster 5. The settlement will occur after the trial.]**
**[Your Soul Strike has activated. Twisted Soul Control’s proficiency increased by 11%.]**
Taesan immediately charged at Monster 7. The defense-oriented monster curled up and charged.
Like a tank, the monster rushed at Taesan, who calmly held out his sword.
**[You have activated Deflection.]**
Boom!
The monster’s charge veered off course, and it crashed into the ground.
There was nothing to fear from a defense-oriented monster. In his previous life, he had defeated a more troublesome attack-oriented monster without allowing a single hit over several days.
Taesan gripped his sword tightly.
From then on, it was a simple repetition. Dodging the monster’s attacks and counterattacking.
Even with his meager Easy Mode stats, he had dodged everything in his past life. There was no reason to struggle now.
After spending a whole day, Taesan defeated the defense-oriented monster.
Crack.
**[You have defeated Monster 7. The settlement will occur after the trial.]**
**[Your Soul Strike has activated. Twisted Soul Control’s proficiency increased by 8%.]**
“Ha.”
Taesan laughed.
He had defeated the monsters he had struggled with so much in his previous life with relative ease.
Though the monsters had weakened, he hadn’t even reached his full potential yet. After conquering the labyrinth, he would be able to defeat real S-rank monsters even more effortlessly.
“Not bad.”
Taesan murmured. His Soul Strike had significantly increased the proficiency of Twisted Soul Control. It was a satisfying result.
He had defeated two S-rank monsters.
But there were no signs of returning to the labyrinth.
Taesan stomped his foot and quickly returned to the city, where people were still fighting.
“Hold the line! We can do this!”
Joonggeun shouted desperately, swinging his weapon.
But it was clear they were overwhelmed by the hundreds of monsters. The barrier had been destroyed long ago, and people were falling one by one.
‘Everyone’s weakened too.’
The monsters were weaker. Normally, Hard Mode players would handle them with ease.
But the fact that they were struggling suggested that Aphrodia had imposed restrictions on the people as well.
“Damn it!”
Joonggeun rushed to help a fallen comrade. He succeeded in protecting him but couldn’t block the incoming monster’s attack.
As he closed his eyes, Taesan charged in.
**[You have activated Acceleration.]**
Crack.
He pierced the monster’s head with a massive claw and threw it. The monster flew off into the distant sky.
“Hyung?”
Joonggeun finally noticed Taesan.
“How did you get here? Weren’t you supposed to be fighting the monsters?”
“I took care of them all.”
“What?”
Joonggeun was flabbergasted. It had been two S-rank monsters. Beings they couldn’t be sure of defeating.
But Taesan had returned in a day, unscathed.
“Hyung?”
“Sorry, but we need to clean this up quickly.”
Hundreds of monsters charged at them.
Taesan placed his hand on the ground, looking at them.
**[You have activated Frozen World.]**
Crack!
A chill swept across the area. A vast icy world descended, freezing everything beyond the barrier.
“Aaah!”
“Oh, oh!”
People shrank back in fear. Even those who had survived so far felt the chill freezing their fingers, despite being outside the skill’s range.
Crack!
The ice continued to spread.
Monsters struggled to escape but were engulfed.
Taesan removed his hand from the ground.
Most of the hundreds of attacking monsters were frozen. A-rank monsters shattered some ice, but they staggered, clearly not unscathed.
‘This is good.’
General skills usually had limited targets, requiring him to deal with weaker enemies manually.
Magic allowed him to handle weak enemies all at once.
“Can you manage the rest?”
“Y-yes. We can, but…”
Joonggeun stammered. The monsters they had struggled against were taken out with a single skill.
“Hyung?”
“Let’s talk later.”
Taesan stomped his foot again. He ignored Joonggeun’s hurried calls. There was something more important to deal with.
Boom…
A wave of power had been resonating from afar.
Even in this weakened world, it was a collision of forces that couldn’t guarantee victory.
He reached the source of the clash and found Lee Taeyeon facing something unidentifiable.
“Damn it!”
Lee Taeyeon gritted her teeth and swung her weapon.
But she was barely defending herself, unable to properly counterattack and constantly pushed back.
She was flung far away by the monster’s power, rolling and barely standing up.
She clenched her fist, as if something important was there.
“…What am I doing?”
Lee Taeyeon laughed bitterly.
Even from a distance, it was clear her arm was trembling with fear.
The monster charged again.
She raised her weapon with a determined look, trying to suppress something.
Power surged.
Lee Taeyeon rolled on the ground again.
She looked at her fist with a terrified face, contemplating something.
But she gripped her weapon instead of opening her fist, glaring at the monster.
As the monster lunged again, Taesan intervened.
He stabbed his sword into the monster’s side.
Groan.
The formless monster resisted, trying to repel the blade. Taesan pushed harder, using his shoulder and foot for leverage.
Unable to withstand it, the monster flew far away.
Boom!
“Hello.”
“…What?”
Lee Taeyeon stared blankly at him.
“Taesan? How did you…”
“My side is done.”
“What? Oh?”
Lee Taeyeon was still confused. Taesan looked at her clenched fist.
Inside would be the Ouroboros Stone.
She had died clutching it without using it.
Taesan shook his head.
“I’ll handle this. Go help the others.”
“What? Oh?”
“Hurry.”
**[You have activated Amon’s Armor of Corruption.]**
Black power enveloped Taesan.
Lee Taeyeon’s eyes widened.
“…Dark magic?”
“Go.”
She looked at him with curiosity but glanced at the apostle and quickly retreated.
“Tell me everything later!”
“Sure.”
Taesan chuckled.
Lee Taeyeon left, and Taesan faced the apostle.
**[!#$!#’s Gaze.]**
**[You die instantly.]**
An absolute gaze without judgment. He brushed it off.
“Dismiss.”
**[Resisted successfully.]**
Groan.
A formless, twisted monster.
The first monster to defeat him. The direct cause of humanity’s extinction.
This was his despair.
Groan.
The monster growled, and something horrifying began to invade Taesan’s mind.
Apostles could break the mind and spirit of those who faced them.
Of course, it had no effect on Taesan. He shrugged it off and murmured.
“It’s easier than before.”
Like the other monsters, the apostle seemed weakened, possibly due to being a creation of the ancient gods.
Taesan looked at the formless creature with calm eyes.
Something beyond S-rank. People had named it an apostle.
‘It’s a fitting name.’
At the time, they called it that without much thought, but now he understood.
It was truly an apostle of the ancient gods.
The ancient gods, banished and forgotten, had twisted their apostles into distorted beings.
Groan.
The apostle’s formless body began to expand.
Like a tree spreading its branches, it grew larger, as if trying to engulf the world. Taesan tightened his grip on his sword.
The gelatinous, amorphous mass spread across the world. It started to dominate spaces one by one.
Taesan calmly assessed the situation.
He had fought an apostle before, so he knew how they attacked.
The apostle’s attacks involved dominating space itself.
It spread its formless body like tree branches, engulfing the entire space, making it impossible to evade, and finally consuming everything.
The formless body had already encased the apostle.
It looked like a tree that never stopped growing.
He needed to defeat it before it grew too much, but instead of charging, Taesan increased the distance.
The apostle extended its formless body further to target Taesan.
It resembled a world tree.
The formless body began to dominate spaces, creating a maze-like barrier around the apostle.
The situation seemed more challenging, but Taesan had planned for this.
The apostle used its formless body for both offense and defense.
Taesan moved quickly.
**[You have activated Marbas’s Tidal Wave.]**
Boom!
A black wave surged.
It cut through the extending formless bodies.
But the formless mass grew even more aggressively, quickly blocking Taesan.
And Taesan did nothing.
He merely fended off the approaching formless bodies, maintaining his distance.
“This won’t kill me.”
The apostle in that form had near-absolute defense. Even with his current strength, breaking through was uncertain.
But the same applied to the apostle. Spreading its formless body wouldn’t kill Taesan.
So, the apostle had to find another method.
Groan.
The formless body twisted.
The spreading mass began to retract towards the apostle. Its body slowly distorted.
Consolidating its form, it finally took shape.
The apostle’s form began to change.
Now, it was serious. Taesan gripped his sword with a determined face.
**[You have activated Apostle Transformation (Rakiratath).]**