Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 244: The Fourth Return. Earth (11)

The shadow and light collided.

As they mixed, distorted colors began to radiate in all directions.

“Ugh.”

Taesan let out a groan.

A massive pressure engulfed his entire body. Everything started to warp and twist. *Boom!*

Sensing danger, thousands of monsters charged at him at once. Each of them was at the level of a B-rank monster.

*Vmm.*

A faint wave radiated from the chaotic mixture, which resisted Taesan’s control.

*Crack!*

The thousands of charging monsters were instantly twisted and contorted like knots. Without even shattering into pieces, they were crushed all at once.

Taesan wrapped his body in spiritual force and power to shield himself.

Yet, it wasn’t enough to withstand the force.

With a creaking sound, his power began to tremble and shake.

“Tch.”

Clicking his tongue, Taesan tried to regain balance.

He attempted to condense the power and stabilize it.

But it resisted.

The power of the law. Divinity.

The force that distorts laws. Black.

Two opposing forces mixed, blended, and warped together.

*Boom!*

Cracks began to spread through the space. Fragments of the collapsing world began to fall.

The internal world was a domain created by the S-rank monster’s power, capable of holding an entire world on its own.

It was a small space, but it condensed all of the monster’s power into it.

In a way, it was like a world in and of itself.

And that world was now falling apart.

[This feels… really dangerous.]

That was only to be expected.

Taesan had obtained divinity, but he couldn’t control it.

He had also obtained Black, but he couldn’t control that either.

He had combined two forces he couldn’t fully manage and mixed them together. And these two powers were completely opposing forces, creating resistance as they clashed.

There was no way Taesan could maintain control.

*Crack.*

The mixed divinity and shadow began to turn into something gray.

‘What is this?’

The ghost, who had been watching nervously, paused.

The ghost had seen many kinds of power.

During its lifetime, as it ventured deep into the labyrinth, it had observed and analyzed almost all types of power, understanding their weaknesses, their nature, and their principles.

Without that level of insight, it would never have reached the deepest levels of the labyrinth.

That’s why it had immediately recognized the small light Taesan produced as divinity.

It also quickly realized that Black was the power of a god cast out from the laws of the world.

But now, the gray power forming in Taesan’s grasp was something it couldn’t comprehend.

No matter how hard it tried to analyze, it couldn’t decipher it. It was a force that transcended the realm of its understanding.

‘What… is this?’

While the ghost was confused, Taesan remained calm, analyzing the situation.

‘This is dangerous.’

*Crack.*

The space around him began to collapse.

It couldn’t withstand the wave of power emanating from the S-rank monster.

This wasn’t just about raw strength.

The very nature of the S-rank monster, a monster that even Taesan in his past life had barely defeated, couldn’t endure the gray power.

‘Opposing forces clashing, forced fusion.’

The instability caused the power to erupt explosively.

Taesan understood the principle. The issue was that the scale was far greater than he had anticipated.

*Creak!*

Taesan gathered all his power into the swirling mixture.

He could barely keep it from exploding at the last moment.

But that was all he could do.

It was an uncontrollable force.

[You have activated Mental Acceleration.]

He focused his mind even further.

How could he control this power? He had tried to store it in his ring, but the ring resisted desperately, as if it feared being destroyed.

Thoughts raced through his mind. Every possibility was considered and discarded in rapid succession.

And in the end, he concluded that none of them were feasible.

It was the right decision to combine only a small portion of these powers. If he had tried to use any more, the result would have been catastrophic, leading to an uncontrollable explosion.

It was impossible to control.

“No choice, then.”

Taesan made his decision.

He gave up on controlling it.

The ghost was horrified.

[You!]

It was a power he couldn’t control.

So he decided not to control it.

He would simply let it explode as it wished.

The gray power, barely restrained, now surged wildly. The distant monsters disintegrated into dust, and cracks spread throughout the entire space.

Just letting the power run wild was enough to kill the monsters.

*Boooooom!*

The space trembled.

A massive power from beyond began to flow into the monster. The crumbling space started to regenerate, and pitch-black darkness surged in.

The dying monster revived and focused its power on Taesan.

The darkness that swallowed light rushed toward him.

*Crack!*

But all of it shattered upon contact with the gray force.

The entire space collapsed as if an earthquake had struck.

A power so great that even the interference of the ancient god was rendered meaningless.

Taesan poured more power into the gray force.

The divinity and shadow mixed together.

Taesan grasped it in his hand.

It pulsed and resisted, as if trying to push back. Just holding it made his soul feel contaminated.

But he could swing it.

[Your Endurance has been activated. Damage that would have led to death has been nullified. All damage will be reduced to zero for one second.]

Taesan gripped the gray force and swung it.

The condensed gray light exploded.

“Eugh!”

*Crack!*

***

Kim Hwiyeon barely managed to bring down a monster. She gasped for breath, her stamina nearly depleted.

Many people had already died. Victory was no longer in sight.

Yet, Kim Hwiyeon refused to give up.

“Keep fighting!”

She raised her weapon.

“We can still win this!”

“O-okay!”

Inspired by her words, the people rose again.

In that moment, a small insect-like monster lunged at Kim Hwiyeon.

“Ah.”

She tried to react, but her exhausted body wouldn’t move properly.

Just as Kim Hwiyeon sensed her impending death…

*Thud!*

An axe struck down on the monster. It struggled under the weight of the axe but couldn’t escape.

The pale-faced man who had saved her asked,

“Are you alright?”

“…Lee Juhyuk. Thank you.”

Kim Hwiyeon thanked him and stood up, charging at the monsters once more. Lee Juhyuk watched her closely.

‘…Is this the difference?’

Having been completely denied by Taesan, Lee Juhyuk quietly observed Kim Hwiyeon. He wanted to see what made her different from him.

And he realized many things.

He had pursued power. He had desired the position of leadership.

The lives and feelings of others didn’t matter to him.

He had believed that, as a leader, that was natural. That only those who led without concern for others could become true leaders.

But Kim Hwiyeon was different.

She moved forward with others.

And she always confidently declared her beliefs without wavering.

She must have known the current situation was hopeless. Yet she continued to declare that they could win, putting herself forward as an example.

She had always been like that. Even in the labyrinth, she had faced people with a bright smile.

He had been different. To him, others were merely tools to gain power. He didn’t care about their thoughts or desires.

Perhaps that attitude had shown, even if unconsciously. People must have realized that he wouldn’t grieve for them if they died.

Whether one could be trusted and relied upon in dangerous situations—perhaps that was the immediate difference between him and Kim Hwiyeon. And if examined more closely, that gap would surely widen.

That was why people had chosen her over him.

Lee Juhyuk let out a bitter smile.

He still believed in his own methods. He still thought that a leader needed to act decisively.

But he no longer had any thoughts of denying Kim Hwiyeon.

He stepped forward, not as a leader, but as a hard-mode player who followed Kim Hwiyeon’s orders.

The battle continued.

The situation remained desperate. Though they fought valiantly under Kim Hwiyeon’s lead, the number of monsters didn’t decrease. It was only the people who continued to fall.

Kim Hwiyeon bit her lip.

The word “annihilation” flashed through her mind for a moment.

*Crack.*

“Huh?”

The monsters’ movements suddenly stopped.

The giant monster that had swallowed Taesan was splitting apart from within.

*Boom!*

Minerva, who had been battling the giant, also sensed it. As she sent the giant flying with a gust of wind, her face hardened.

“What…?”

[What is that power?]

Varkaza, too, gasped in shock.

Minerva stared at the S-rank monster.

“…What is that?”

She couldn’t understand it.

It wasn’t the power of the labyrinth’s law, nor was it the power of divinity.

Nor was it the power of the ancient gods beyond the laws.

It was something that existed between those forces.

From the cracks in the monster, gray light began to pour out and explode.

[Your Spiritual Force Enhancement has been activated. The proficiency of ??? has increased by 4%.]

[Your Spiritual Force Enhancement has been activated. The proficiency of the special always-active skill Twisted Spiritual Force Coordination has increased by 3%.]

[Your Spiritual Force Enhancement has been activated. You have acquired the special active skill Internal World.]

[The proficiency of Transcendence Black has increased by 1%.]

[You have acquired Boundary.]

[You are outside the labyrinth, so the skill cannot be acquired.]

The world came into view.

Taesan murmured calmly.

“It’s done.”

[What… are you?]

The ghost asked in disbelief.

[Whose idea was it to mix those two forces? You could have been torn to pieces.]

“It worked out, didn’t it?”

[…You.]

“Don’t overreact. I calculated everything.”

Taesan couldn’t have broken through the interior of the S-rank monster with his current strength.

Which meant he needed to draw on powers beyond his current abilities.

That was divinity and Black.

He had anticipated that mixing the two forces would cause a violent reaction. It was only natural for two conflicting powers of such magnitude to clash.

The important thing was whether or not he could control it.

And if he couldn’t control it, what then?

To manage uncontrollable power, Taesan had to gamble his life.

“That’s what Endurance is for.”

A skill that nullified any damage that would lead to death, making all damage zero for one second.

It had no limits. No matter how overwhelming the power, it would erase it once.

It had even allowed him to survive an attack from an Apostle in his past life.

That’s why Taesan had chosen not to control the gray power and instead let it loose.

[…You planned this all along?]

“I don’t make hopeless gambles.”

[You crazy bastard.]

The ghost muttered in disbelief.

Taesan looked around.

“Seems like all the monsters are gone.”

[The leading monster is dead, so the rest naturally disappeared.]

Taesan glanced at his hand. The gray power was dissipating like a mirage.

The S-rank monster had been incomplete from the beginning.

It had diverted all its power into trapping Taesan, to the point that it was like a balloon that would pop with just a prick of a needle.

With a burst of power from within, it couldn’t withstand the force and vanished.

But even then, to wipe it out in one blow… That was beyond Taesan’s expectations.

“Ooooh!”

The people, finally understanding the situation, cheered.

“Taesan-nim! Taesan-nim!”

“We knew you’d save us!”

They collapsed in relief, tears streaming down their faces. Kim Hwiyeon ran up to him, beaming.

“Taesan-ssi! You did it!”

“Somehow. What’s the situation?”

“It’s not good.”

Taesan glanced around at the people.

Their numbers were far smaller than before he had been swallowed by the monster. At least half of them were gone.

“But… we’re not destroyed. We survived.”

Though there had been significant losses, none of them were weak enough to falter over it now. They celebrated their survival and praised Taesan.

“Master.”

Minerva and Varkaza arrived shortly after.

Minerva’s face was mixed with confusion.

“What was that gray light just now?”

“I mixed divinity with the power of the ancient gods.”

“Divinity… and the power of the ancient gods?”

Minerva’s eyes widened in shock.

“Why do you have the power of the ancient gods?”

“That’s a long story. Just think of it as part of my power now.”

“…I don’t understand at all. But mixing them together… what is that?”

Minerva was the Spirit King.

She knew most things about the world. Transcendents, immortals, and even the power of the ancient gods.

But the gray light that had just appeared was something she didn’t know.

That meant it was a power even the guardians of the world didn’t understand.

“I don’t know either.”

Taesan shook his head. He had expected some kind of power to form due to the conflict.

But he didn’t know exactly what kind of power it was.

“But I know there’s someone who does.”

[Quest complete.]

[The conditions have been met. A descent is now permitted.]

The space began to crack. The people who had been shouting Taesan’s name suddenly froze. Kim Hwiyeon, standing next to him, went pale and took a step back.

“What…?”

Minerva’s face turned ashen.

From the cracked space, a massive being emerged.

[It’s been a long time since I’ve shown myself before so many mortals.]

With a languid voice, a man with black hair appeared.

“Ah…”

Unconsciously, the people bowed their heads.

There was no detectable presence coming from the man.

To be more precise, they weren’t capable of sensing it.

Yet they instinctively knew. The man before them was a being far beyond their comprehension.

[The God of Despair, Aphrodia, has appeared.]