Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 242: The Fourth Return. Earth (9)

The battle continued for a full week.

They continuously eliminated the monsters that appeared and closed the rifts. Though there were casualties, the number was not significant.

They believed they could win.

And after a week, the creation of the rifts suddenly stopped.

The people believed they had won. They celebrated with a simple feast made from the meager ingredients they had.

But Taesan knew it wasn’t over.

He quietly waited for the right moment.

And three days later.

As Taesan sat in his room, he stood up.

“Master?”

[Oh ho. Has it finally arrived?]

Minerva and Varkaza, sensing something was amiss, also stood.

Taesan stepped out of the room and went outside.

A massive force was emanating from the east.

It seemed others had felt it too, as they were all looking toward the east. Taesan was the first to arrive where the energy was strongest.

There was a rift there.

But it wasn’t the usual violet color.

It was a deep crimson, like the color of blood.

And the shape of the rift was also strange. Unlike the previous rifts, which were condensations of power, this one rippled like a blob of thick liquid.

“Hmm.”

Minerva swung her arm.

The wind became a blade and surged toward the rift.

*Kaang!*

The blade struck the rift and bounced off.

“…It didn’t work.”

Even Minerva’s genuine attack had no effect.

Taesan approached the rift and placed his hand on it.

The rift throbbed like a beating heart.

Taesan applied force to his hand.

*Boom!*

A massive wave of energy erupted. Though he didn’t use his Apostle Transformation or King’s Vessel, he still gathered and unleashed a tremendous amount of power.

But the rift didn’t budge.

“It’s just buying time.”

[Quest start]

[In one hour, the final rift will open.]

[Fight and claim victory.]

[Objective: Defeat the monsters that emerge from the rift.]

[A reward will be given upon your return to the labyrinth.]

The quest appeared before them. People who had sensed the anomaly began to gather one by one.

“Ah, Hyung-nim.”

Geum Jung-geun, who had arrived, called out to Taesan with a bright expression. Kim Hwiyeon, Lee Taeyeon, and Kang Jun-hyuk also appeared.

They swallowed nervously as they looked at the rift.

“It seems… dangerous.”

“What will you do?”

“It doesn’t look like something we can handle, but…”

The people of Seoul, having experienced it many times, knew. At the end of every return, an invincible monster would appear, and Taesan was the one who always dealt with it.

Kim Hwiyeon calmly spoke.

“We’ll stand by and prepare in case anything happens.”

“Do as you wish.”

Kim Hwiyeon quickly gave orders to the people. They formed ranks and surrounded the rift at a distance.

*Ripple.*

The rift gradually expanded.

And the passageway opened.

A pitch-black space lay beyond the crimson passage.

From that darkness, a monster began to appear.

“Ah…”

Even though the monster hadn’t fully emerged, people let out groans. Their skin crawled, and cold sweat began to drip. Instinct screamed danger.

*Creeaak.*

The monster forced its body through the narrow passage.

Though the passage was the size of a house, it was still too small for the monster to pass through. Its body began to crush itself in the process.

Yet the monster kept pushing itself through.

*Squelch.*

Eventually, the monster fully emerged from the rift.

It was in the form of a sphere, but it was mangled.

Half of its body had been crushed and destroyed while passing through the passage. Even its power seemed damaged, as it was horrifically distorted.

But despite that, an overwhelming presence engulfed them.

“A… Ah…”

People’s teeth chattered. Their skin broke out in goosebumps.

*Swish.*

The monster’s gaze turned toward them.

In that instant, they all stopped breathing.

[Instant Death Determination in progress…]

“Gah! Huff!”

“Ah, gah!”

The people writhed in agony as their souls and bodies began to separate.

“Minerva.”

“I know. This is going to be tough.”

Minerva, wearing a serious expression, activated her power. The Spirit King’s energy enveloped the people.

[Determination Success!]

“Huff!”

“Haah! Haah!”

Those who survived thanks to Minerva’s power gasped for breath.

“Ah…”

Fear was etched into their faces.

Instant death judgment. Failing the check meant immediate death. Defense and health were meaningless.

And only monsters of S-rank and above were capable of such things.

[Monster 10 has appeared.]

“Hoo.”

Taesan’s lips curled upward.

He had thought it was possible, but to actually face an S-rank. This was beyond his expectations.

[What… is that?]

The ghost swallowed nervously.

“We encountered something similar during the God of Despair’s trial, remember? It’s like that.”

[It’s nowhere near comparable.]

“Well, those trials were incomplete manifestations of divine power.”

“The most formidable of the ancient god’s toys.”

Minerva’s eyes narrowed.

“A being that can suppress an entire world on its own. Simply confronting it would be enough to cause mortal beings to collapse. Without the protection of a god, it could destroy the world.”

Minerva’s assessment wasn’t exaggerated. After all, no one except Taesan and Lee Taeyeon had survived the instant death check.

Even players who had cleared hard mode were monstrously strong. The fact that even they couldn’t withstand the check meant it was a foe beyond ordinary comprehension.

*S-rank.*

In his previous life, he had risked everything to bring down a monster of this level.

Now, he was weaker than he had been back then. There was no way he could win in a fight.

Yet there was no fear on Taesan’s face.

“You must really want me dead, sending down something that’s not even whole.”

The monster had been crushed and damaged as it emerged from the rift. It wouldn’t normally have been able to come through.

It meant they had intentionally sent it down, despite the losses.

The S-rank monster was weakened. If it had been in perfect condition, not even Minerva could have blocked all of its instant death checks.

But Taesan, as he was now, could handle it.

[You have activated Scout.]

[You have activated Essence Identification.]

[Monster 10]

[Summoner type, Special type.]

[The tenth toy of a great being.]

[It is damaged after passing through a narrow space.]

“Watch over things.”

“Alright. Good luck.”

[I understand.]

*Crunch.*

Taesan gripped his sword tightly and leapt.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

The ground shattered, sending debris flying toward the people.

Minerva created a barrier to protect them.

In an instant, Taesan was in front of the monster.

The people gasped in shock at his blinding speed.

Taesan’s sword struck down.

*Clang!*

The monster’s body shook violently. Black liquid oozed from its mangled parts.

[You dealt 3,403 damage to Monster 10.]

Because of the difference in power, the damage had been halved.

But it was still effective. Had it been a normal S-rank monster, his attacks wouldn’t have dealt any damage at all.

The sphere shook.

Monsters began to pour out from within it. Tentacles, beasts—dozens of monsters appeared and charged at Taesan.

‘So, it’s a summoner.’

Taesan’s sword moved.

He slashed through the monsters, piercing their heads. He activated Frost Arrow to blow them away and used Ability Sword to deflect the incoming swarm.

*Slash!*

Dozens of monsters fell all at once.

The onlookers gasped in amazement.

“Oooh!”

“As expected!”

Seeing Taesan’s overwhelming performance, they were certain of their victory.

But Taesan’s expression was not bright.

It wasn’t a monster he couldn’t defeat.

If that were the case, the gods would not have let it happen.

But this was too weak.

The summoned monsters were at most B-rank. Even thousands of them couldn’t pose a real threat to Taesan.

Taesan realized it then.

This monster wasn’t here to kill him.

It was here to capture him.

*Rip.*

The monster’s spherical mouth opened.

[The Internal World has been activated.]

Endless darkness poured out of the mouth. The darkness rapidly spread across the ground, engulfing everything around it.

The dispersed darkness began pulling Taesan in.

Taesan planted his feet firmly. He gathered his power and resisted the suction.

But the darkness relentlessly tried to swallow him whole.

‘As expected.’

He could probably endure by using Apostle Transformation.

But it was only a matter of time.

Despite being crushed and damaged, the monster’s suction power was still at full S-rank strength.

“Taesan-ssi!”

Seeing Taesan being pulled in, Kim Hwiyeon rushed forward in panic.

As he was about to be swallowed by the darkness, Taesan spoke.

“I leave the rest to you.”

The darkness consumed Taesan.

The first thing Taesan did was check his senses. Once he confirmed there were no problems, he looked around.

All he saw was endless darkness.

A truly eternal darkness with no visible end.

“This is the first time I’ve been inside a monster.”

[Are you alright?]

“What do you mean?”

[Your mind. Since you’ve entered the presence of a god, it might affect your mental state… but you seem fine.]

He could feel a slight pressure, but it was easily ignorable. Taesan pressed his foot against the ground.

It was solid.

He raised his sword and struck down, but not even a scratch appeared.

[You dealt 1 damage to Monster 10.]

“Just as I thought.”

The monster had been crushed and damaged while passing through the narrow passage, far more than necessary.

It had likely sacrificed its outer appearance to preserve its inner core.

To trap Taesan.

Taesan turned his gaze.

Beyond the darkness, he saw thousands of monsters.

He kicked off the ground.

Meanwhile, outside, chaos had erupted.

“Huh, huh?”

Taesan had disappeared.

The people were panicking at the realization. Minerva grimaced.

“Ah. So that’s what they were aiming for. Not a bad plan.”

“Minerva-nim? What exactly is going on…?”

“It’s simple.”

Minerva pointed her finger at the monster. The massive creature was anchored to the ground like a pillar.

“They realized they couldn’t kill my master. So, they chose a much easier method.”

*Squelch.*

Small monsters began to pour out from the main monster.

The number easily exceeded several hundred. The people’s faces turned pale.

“They’ve trapped my master inside and plan to kill you all in the meantime.”

The monsters began to move.

Minerva and Varkaza activated their powers. Light and wind rose simultaneously, sweeping through the monsters.

Hundreds were swept away at once, but then a massive monster charged at them.

It swung its heavy arm.

*Kaang!*

The wind and light collided with its immense strength and exploded, scattering in all directions.

The massive monster glared with murderous intent.

Feeling the sheer power from it, Minerva whistled.

“This is going to be fun.”

Even Minerva couldn’t dismiss the strength emanating from this monster.

“You can handle it, right? Varkaza and I will have to step aside for a bit.”

[I will stand with you, my King.]

Varkaza and Minerva flew toward the massive monster.

Taesan, Minerva, and Varkaza. The protectors were now gone. The people panicked at the realization.

“Ah, ahhh!”

“Help!”

“Everyone, calm down!”

Kim Hwiyeon shouted as she charged at a monster. The monster’s attack swung toward her.

*Clang!*

“Ugh!”

She groaned as she was pushed back.

‘…It’s strong.’

It was stronger than any monster she had ever faced.

And there were hundreds of them.

For a moment, her resolve wavered. But she quickly gathered her courage and shouted.

“We can win!”

Geum Jung-geun also stepped forward. Lee Taeyeon and Kang Jun-hyuk swiftly attacked the monsters.

*Slash!*

Unlike Kim Hwiyeon, the two did not falter. Their relentless attacks against the monsters calmed the people’s panic somewhat.

In that moment, Kim Hwiyeon shouted with determination.

“Stay in formation!”

“Yes, yes!”

The people hurriedly moved. Kim Hwiyeon bit her lip.

Taesan had trusted her with this. She couldn’t afford to disappoint him.

“Taesan-ssi will come out soon and help us! Hold on until then!”

“Yes!”

The people steadied their weapons. Kim Hwiyeon braced herself, gathering her strength.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

She charged forward. The others followed her.

“Watch over me!”

“Give me strength!”

As they charged at the monsters, they shouted as if in prayer. Like knights embarking on a holy war.

Their belief turned into strength, which resonated with something beyond.

[Your proficiency in Divine Power has increased by 1%.]