Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 243: The Fourth Return. Earth (10)

“Hmm.”

Minerva swung her arm at the gigantic monster, as large as a giant. The wind whipped up, turning into a storm.

*Whooooosh!*

The giant brought its arm down. The storm was crushed under its force and exploded.

Minerva kicked off the ground, evading the attack.

*Boom!*

The earth shattered, and debris scattered in all directions.

“Strong.”

[Are you alright?]

“I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s strong, but not to the point where I should worry.”

*Whoosh!*

The monster moved its arm.

Just the act of swinging it stirred up a gale. Minerva stomped her foot.

*Bam!*

The wind shot out like a cannon and collided with the monster’s arm.

The wind broke apart, and the monster’s arm was knocked back. As the monster staggered, Varkaza clapped his hands.

*Bzzt!*

A rainbow-colored beam shot toward the monster. The monster steadied itself and opened its mouth.

*Roaaaar!*

A beast-like howl echoed out, swallowing the rainbow light and causing it to vanish.

Minerva and Varkaza. Even together, they couldn’t easily defeat this enemy.

This monster was among the strongest even within the A-rank. Minerva grumbled as she floated into the sky.

“Our master… Just how much hate is he attracting?”

[What do you plan to do, my king?]

“We’ll see.”

Minerva squinted her eyes.

The monster was strong.

It wasn’t just its physical strength, but it also possessed an immense power. Defeating it wouldn’t be easy.

“If I bring out all my strength, I could probably wound it severely, but… I’d get forcefully unsummoned.”

Minerva was the Spirit King. In terms of raw power, she was much stronger than Taesan.

But currently, she had been summoned by Taesan, which meant her power was limited to a level below his. Compared to the monster, she didn’t have a significant advantage.

Moreover, her descent into this world had been facilitated by Beatrice, the Goddess of Magic. The power Minerva used was not permanent, but a consumable resource. The more power she expended, the less time she could remain here.

“Let’s just take our time for now.”

The monster brought its arm down. The resulting wind gusted out in all directions.

Minerva flicked her finger.

She manipulated the wind generated by the monster’s movement. She condensed and rotated the wind, gathering it just under its arm.

And just before it could touch her, she detonated it.

*Boom!*

The monster was thrown back.

She was the Spirit King of Wind. The wind itself was her domain.

Without using her own strength, she had controlled the wind created by the monster’s own power to blow it away.

“Even if we win, nothing will change, right?”

[That’s correct. The main event lies elsewhere.]

Varkaza clapped his hands again. The monsters charging at them were struck by the rainbow-colored beam.

“In that case, let’s enjoy this. It’s quite fun to mess with these damned things.”

Minerva grinned and raised her hand. A small storm began to gather.

The situation for the players in Seoul was not looking good.

The majority of the monsters they were facing were C-rank or the weakest of B-rank. Given that even a hard-mode player could barely handle D-rank monsters, victory seemed impossible.

Yet, they didn’t give up.

Kim Hwiyeon swung her weapon and shouted.

“Shield-bearers! Forward! Hard-mode players, fall back!”

At her command, the people moved in unison. Easy-mode and normal-mode players stood at the front, while the hard-mode players fell back to catch their breath.

*Clang!*

“Ugh!”

“Aaagh!”

The easy-mode and normal-mode players coughed up blood.

But they didn’t die. Kim Hwiyeon quickly shouted.

“Hard-mode players, back to the front!”

The hard-mode players, who had recovered by using potions, moved forward again. The easy-mode and normal-mode players staggered back.

Seo Jangsahn, who was holding off the monsters, murmured.

“It really is a good strategy.”

The easy-mode and normal-mode players were not much use in direct combat.

Perhaps at the beginning, they had been helpful, but by this point, the gap between them and the hard-mode players was enormous. No matter how many gathered, they couldn’t take down even one hard-mode player.

Against the monsters, the situation was even worse. Easy-mode and normal-mode players could barely offer any meaningful help in battle.

So Kim Hwiyeon had changed tactics entirely.

They were protected by the system. No matter how severe the attack, as long as they had health remaining, they wouldn’t die.

Under normal circumstances, a C-rank monster’s attack would have killed them instantly.

But Taesan had reinforced the area with alchemy, creating a domain.

In this domain, the monsters were weakened, and the people were strengthened. This applied to both their health and defense.

Most of the easy-mode and normal-mode players had abandoned attack power and stats, opting instead for high-defense gear.

It was precarious, but they could survive one attack.

Thus, the easy-mode and normal-mode players were used as shields.

When the hard-mode players grew tired or needed to use potions, the others would step forward and take the monsters’ attacks. Then, once the hard-mode players had recovered, they would return to the front lines.

“You realized it too. They’re useless for anything else. The only thing we can use them for is as shields.”

“No.”

Kim Hwiyeon refuted Seo Jangsahn’s words.

“Everyone has their own role to play. They understand and accept it.”

She hadn’t forced them. The shield role was extremely dangerous. Though it wouldn’t kill them instantly, it was still a perilous job.

So she had left the decision to them, and the majority of the easy-mode and normal-mode players had accepted it.

They wanted to be useful of their own will. That was the difference between her approach and Seo Jangsahn’s.

*Clang!*

Lee Taeyeon weaved through the monsters. She swung her sword.

[You have activated Deflection.]

The moment the monsters’ attacks touched her sword, they were deflected.

She planted her foot firmly.

[You have activated Strong Strike.]

*Bam bam bam!*

She timed her attacks perfectly. Multiple Strong Strikes activated, pushing back the monsters.

Kang Junhyeok was the same. He moved through the monsters, using his Ability Sword and black magic, cutting them down one by one.

Both of them were undoubtedly strong.

Through their accumulated experience, they had become capable of defeating C-rank monsters.

But there were hundreds of monsters.

They began to be overwhelmed. Potions weren’t infinite, and their mana was also running low.

But they didn’t give up hope.

“Everyone, hold on!”

Kim Hwiyeon shouted with all her might.

“We can win this!”

***

*Crunch.*

Taesan crushed the monster’s head underfoot.

Its skull caved in.

He leaped and looked down.

Hundreds of monsters were charging toward him.

“Quite a lot of them.”

Frost gathered at Taesan’s fingertips.

[You have activated Frozen World.]

*Crack!*

Extreme cold spread in all directions. The charging monsters were frozen in an instant and shattered.

[You have activated Starlight Arrow.]

A light as bright as the sun formed in Taesan’s hand. He drew it back and shot it at the approaching monsters.

*Boom!*

The light exploded in the darkness.

In an instant, hundreds of monsters were wiped out.

The monsters were insignificant. They were at most C-rank or low-tier B-rank. Occasionally, there were lower-end A-rank monsters, but none of them posed a threat to Taesan.

He swung his arm at the charging monsters.

[You have activated Embers of Calamity.]

Flames erupted.

The crimson fire swept through and erased all the monsters.

But the darkness remained unchanged.

Even the sun-like light and the flames capable of destroying the world couldn’t dispel this darkness.

[You have activated Apostle Transformation: Twisted Spiritual Force Coordination.]

[You have activated King’s Vessel.]

*Thud!*

Power descended upon Taesan. The overwhelming force synchronized with his ring, making it his own.

[You have activated Perfect Fairy Wings.]

Wings sprouted from Taesan’s back.

He flapped his wings.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

He shot upward with incredible speed, reaching the ceiling. He gathered all his spiritual force and power at the tip of his sword.

*Kaang!*

He rebounded off.

Taesan flapped his wings to regain his balance.

[You dealt 43 damage to Monster 10.]

He was doing damage, but it was negligible.

That was only to be expected. No matter how much power Taesan gathered, it didn’t compare to his strength in his previous life. The force guarding the monster’s interior was at full S-rank. There was no way his current self could inflict meaningful damage.

‘If I had Essence Strike or Absolute Judgment, it might be different.’

Essence Strike required a higher proficiency in Essence Identification to obtain, and Absolute Judgment was a skill he hadn’t yet unlocked.

Taesan placed his hand on the ground.

In the endless darkness, he could sense an overwhelming power.

But that power was slowly weakening.

This monster existed solely to trap Taesan. It had devoted all its energy to its interior, and as time passed, it would slowly die.

In about a week, Taesan would be able to escape without any issue.

The problem was that the outside wouldn’t last until then.

Minerva and Varkaza were still there, but the ancient god was well aware of that. They would have made preparations to deal with it.

“They’re targeting my surroundings, not me. Clever.”

Taesan clenched his fist. He concentrated his mind, maintaining his sense of self, and summoned the darkness.

[You have activated Black.]

The dark shadows spread in all directions.

The monster’s darkness collided with Taesan’s, beginning to distort. The denser darkness consumed the weaker one.

*Crack.*

The monster’s interior started to split apart.

[Oh?]

The ghost made a sound. But just as the darkness was advancing, it suddenly stopped.

Taesan frowned.

“It’s not enough.”

It wasn’t that he lacked power. The Black he wielded was the power of the ancient god. There was no reason it should lose to an S-rank monster.

It was simply that he didn’t yet have the ability to fully control Black.

The uncontrolled power scattered in all directions. It wasn’t enough to create an opening.

[What will you do?]

“I need to search for another way.”

Taesan moved.

***

“Ugh!”

A hard-mode player, unable to withstand the barrage of the monsters, collapsed. Kim Hwiyeon ground her teeth as she rushed to help, only to realize he was already dead.

She shouted in frustration.

“Easy-mode and normal-mode players, forward!”

“Hwi-Hwiyeon-ssi…”

Someone grabbed her shoulder. It was the man who led the normal-mode players.

Seeing his panicked expression, Kim Hwiyeon understood.

She bit her lip.

“…Hard-mode players with enough stamina, step forward!”

The easy-mode and normal-mode players had run out of stamina. They had been holding on with potions, but now even that was at its limit.

Only the hard-mode players were left to survive.

But that was nearly impossible.

“Ahhh!”

“Screeech!”

One by one, people began to fall.

Unable to bear watching any longer, some of the easy-mode and normal-mode players stepped forward again. But they had no stamina left, so they couldn’t even function as proper shields.

Lee Taeyeon and Kang Junhyeok could hold their ground, but they were fully occupied dealing with the B-rank monsters.

The monster that had swallowed Taesan stood there, unmoving.

The monsters kept coming.

And the people kept falling.

The situation was dire, but the resolve on their faces hadn’t vanished.

“Hold on!”

They shouted, clinging to their belief.

“Taesan-nim is watching over us!”

Even as they risked their lives, fighting to the death, they didn’t lose faith in Taesan.

They grew even stronger. Believing in Taesan, they continued the battle.

That belief continued to resonate.

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

“Hmm?”

Taesan, who had been searching for the end of the space, suddenly stopped.

As his proficiency in Divine Power increased, a strange sensation washed over his body.

It wasn’t just power; something higher and more profound seemed to envelop his body. The ghost, sensing it too, asked in a surprised voice.

[You’ve… changed somehow.]

“I feel it too.”

*Crunch.*

As he crushed a charging monster, Taesan opened his skill window.

[Divine Power]

[Proficiency: 40%]

[The power of a god. It originally had no significance, but the belief of many people has turned it into divinity. Though it is small and weak, it is still a tangible power of belief.]

His proficiency had reached 40%.

With it came new information.

It explained that the belief of the people had gathered and formed divinity.

Taesan raised his hand.

*Vmm.*

A light appeared.

It was small and weak. Like a candle, it flickered as if it could be extinguished at any moment, but it was clearly shining through the darkness.

Taesan had seen this power before.

The Demon God had wielded such a power.

The ghost mumbled in astonishment.

[…Divinity? Wait, is this for real?]

“Belief, huh.”

The people of Korea believed in him. Quite literally, all of them did.

And so, his Divine Power had slowly increased.

Now, that belief had gathered to the point where it formed divinity.

[Oh… Do you think you can control it?]

The ghost’s voice trembled slightly as Taesan focused his mind.

He tried to manipulate the divinity and embed it into his body.

But the light wouldn’t move. Like before, it simply flickered above his hand.

The ghost, having regained some composure, summarized the situation.

[So it’s a combination of your tricks, your increasing spiritual force, and the people’s belief that allowed you to obtain divinity… This is unheard of. But considering your unique abilities, I guess it’s not impossible. Still, it seems you can’t control it.]

The divinity existed within Taesan, but it didn’t move. It was an exalted power that he couldn’t yet manipulate with his will.

[You’ve acquired it, but it doesn’t seem to have much practical use. Yeah, that makes sense.]

The ghost let out a relieved sigh. If a mortal had acquired divinity and could wield it, even the ghost who had once reached the depths of the labyrinth wouldn’t have been able to accept that.

But Taesan gazed at the light with a quiet expression.

It was a small light.

But it was unmistakably dispelling the darkness. Something that even the Embers of Calamity and the Starlight Arrow couldn’t achieve.

[Uh… You’re not thinking… Are you?]

“I can’t control this light because I lack the power and ability.”

He had tried to store it in his ring, but the ring couldn’t contain it and rejected it.

It was beyond him.

But what if it wasn’t his power?

What if it was the transcendent power he had received, but had yet to fully master?

[You have activated Black.]

The shadow swallowed the light.