Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 257: Those Who Believe in the Ancient Demon God (2)

‘Greed, is it?’

Why would an ancient god gaze upon him with such greed?

First things first—exploration. At a glance, the domain seemed vast. It was impossible to grasp everything by simply running around.

“I’ll handle the search.”

Annetsha struck her staff against the ground.

The staff resonated with her demonic energy, spreading out in every direction.

*Wuuung.*

The power amplified over and over. A level of detection that should have been impossible for Annetsha now unfolded.

The extended search energy brushed past the aura of the ancient gods, surveying the surroundings.

Annetsha infused more of her magic into it and spoke.

“This is a detection staff bestowed upon us directly by the Demon God. If I had the capacity, I could scan the entire demon realm in an instant.”

After sensing many things around them, Annetsha lifted her staff and pointed in one direction.

“There are five presences about thirty minutes away at my walking pace.”

‘Impressive.’

Perhaps because it was a staff given directly by the Demon God, its range of detection was vast. Even Taesan would have found it difficult to search such a distance so quickly.

Taesan stomped his foot.

“Follow slowly.”

“What?”

*Boom!*

With an explosive force, Taesan shot off in the direction Annetsha had indicated.

Within seconds, he reached his destination and came to a stop. There, five grotesquely distorted beings awaited him.

“Hello.”

“What the—!”

They were startled by Taesan’s appearance.

“I am your enemy.”

Taesan responded calmly, scanning them.

At their core, they were demons.

However, their essence had been so warped that they no longer resembled what could be called demons in either form or power.

They were closer to Arulia—the human who had formed a pact with the ancient gods in the spirit world. They bore a striking resemblance to him.

“What’s an outsider doing here?”

“And a human?”

They seemed perplexed by the unexpected encounter but quickly composed themselves, their eyes gleaming.

“Die!”

“Those who do not believe in the ancient Demon God shall—% O O 門 =『*=!”

They lunged at him.

Swinging the power of the ancient gods, they moved to kill Taesan. But he effortlessly swatted them away, analyzing them as he did so.

‘They’re much weaker.’

The humans who formed direct pacts with the ancient gods, like Arulia, were vastly different from these beings. These ones had merely absorbed the remnants of the ancient gods by residing in this land. While similar, their strength paled in comparison.

‘But they’re not weak.’

If judged objectively, they were as strong as beings on the 30th floor of the labyrinth. All five of them held that level of power.

The knights of the Demon King, by comparison, were only at the level of the 20th floor. These creatures were overwhelming in strength.

“This is getting interesting.”

“Die!”

With a crazed laugh, one of the men charged at Taesan.

“He’s mine!”

“Don’t interfere!”

The others shouted, trying to stop him, as if desperate to be the one to kill Taesan themselves.

Taesan moved his hand.

He shattered the energy of the ancient gods they wielded, crushing it completely, and pierced the man’s chest.

*Crack.*

“Guh…”

The man let out a choking sound as his body went limp.

It was a one-hit kill. The others, who had been charging, came to a halt.

[Your Soul Rank Enhancement has been activated.]

“Oh.”

Taesan’s eyes gleamed.

The black energy from the man’s body flowed into Taesan.

While it wasn’t enough to increase his proficiency, the activation of the Soul Rank Enhancement indicated the potential it held.

“Not bad.”

Taesan turned his gaze to the remaining enemies. Their reactions were strange—they were utterly terrified, retreating with trembling steps.

“Aah…”

“His soul has been stolen.”

“Run!”

They shrieked in fear and fled.

The fact that they ran without even looking back made Taesan scowl.

“Running away?”

[You have activated Mephisto’s Black Lightning.]

*Rumble!*

A bolt of lightning struck the one fleeing the fastest, paralyzing him momentarily.

“Kyaaah!”

Without hesitation, Taesan lunged forward.

He pierced the chests of the two remaining fugitives. They died with faces twisted in terror.

[Your Soul Rank Enhancement has been activated.]

*Crack.*

“Gah!”

Taesan leaped again, stomping on the head of the one who had just regained movement and tried to flee in a panic.

“Don’t kill me! Please, don’t kill me!”

“I’ll decide after seeing what you do.”

Taesan replied.

Soon after, Annetsha and Quanid arrived.

“Lord Taesan, you’re too fast…”

“Oh, is that one of the believers in the ancient Demon God?”

Quanid’s eyes sparkled. Minerva, too, looked curiously at the subdued creature.

“He’s been completely consumed by the power. Is this what happens after a long time?”

“Consumed?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. His mind and body have been twisted by the ancient gods’ power. Once they reach this state, they won’t even be able to die properly.”

“Hmmm.”

Taesan stared at the man struggling in his grasp.

The man screamed.

“Please, don’t kill me!”

“Quiet.”

Taesan tightened his grip on the man’s throat. A strangled noise escaped him.

“What will you do with him?”

“First, we get information.”

The quest he had received was to exterminate the believers in the ancient Demon God from the abandoned land.

But before that, he needed to gather some basic information.

When Taesan demanded answers, the man rolled his eyes wildly.

“If I answer, will you let me live?”

“I won’t kill you right away. You’re free to try escaping afterward.”

The man stammered as he began to speak.

“We’ve been here since the ancient Demon God was exiled.”

“Since the exile?”

Annetsha gasped in disbelief. The man appeared young, seemingly in his mid-twenties by human standards.

However, the exile of the ancient Demon God was an event so ancient that it had become the stuff of legends.

“We don’t worship the current Demon God. We follow the one who originally ruled this land. When the great Demon God was exiled, we migrated here.”

The ancient gods had been banished by the Demon God, rendering them powerless in the demon realm.

However, the demon realm itself was a creation of the ancient gods. The Demon God had been unable to erase all traces of their influence, and the remnants of that power persisted in the abandoned land.

“We have survived here by embracing the power of the ancient Demon God.”

They were slowly corrupted.

Their limbs twisted, and their minds began to crumble. Bit by bit, their bodies and spirits became bound to the land.

“We no longer die.”

“Say it properly. It’s not that you *don’t* die—you *can’t* die.”

Minerva corrected him. And she was right. Mortals warped and entangled by the power of the ancient gods became permanently tethered to this land.

Even if their limbs were torn apart or their heads split open, they would not die as long as the power of the land remained.

They had become part of this land itself.

Any attempt to escape would result in the annihilation of their very souls.

However, the man proclaimed proudly:

“This is immortality. It is a blessing bestowed upon us by the ancient god! It’s a power that no one from the outside could even imagine.”

The man suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted:

“Yes! It’s a blessing directly granted by the ancient god! We must embrace this grace and grow stronger—so much that we will be worthy of his call and assist the saint who guards the thorn!”

A fanatical belief in the ancient god.

Minerva clicked her tongue.

“His mind’s already broken. Maybe it’s warped from the passage of time—or maybe it was never intact to begin with.”

Taesan asked, “If that’s the case, why was he begging me not to kill him?”

“Because those you killed didn’t just die—they truly perished. Their power wasn’t simply taken from them. Their souls didn’t return.”

Fear flickered across the man’s face as he spoke.

Taesan could guess the reason easily enough.

The Soul Skill, **Soul Rank Enhancement**—a skill capable of even robbing the power of the ancient gods.

These beings, bound to the land, no longer lived in any meaningful sense.

But when their power was stolen, they experienced true death.

“Good.”

Having gathered the necessary information, Taesan released his grip on the man.

“Now, get lost.”

“…Really?”

“Or do you want me to kill you?”

“N-No, thank you.”

The man scrambled away in a panic.

Annetsha asked, “What will you do now?”

“I’m thinking.”

The man had claimed that they had been here since the ancient god was exiled.

If that were true, then his plans had been disrupted. Taesan looked at Annetsha’s staff.

“Can I use that?”

The staff’s detection range was far beyond what Annetsha could normally achieve with her power.

With Taesan’s abilities, it should have been possible to scan the entire area.

However, Annetsha shook her head.

“No. Only demons can use it. It’s not about possessing demonic energy; it’s about what you were born from. Even with your power, it wouldn’t work.”

“Then what if I synchronize with your energy and use it?”

Taesan suggested a method: channeling power through her energy—a technique Annetsha and Quanid had used with him before.

“Uh…”

Annetsha hesitated.

“If I’m the one using it, it should… probably work.”

“Good.”

Taesan approached Annetsha. She flinched at his proximity.

“Spread the search just like you did earlier.”

“Ah, y-yes.”

Annetsha clutched the staff with both hands, taking a moment to steady her breath, and then struck it against the ground.

*Wuuung.*

A wave of energy rippled outward.

As information from the surroundings began to flood in, Taesan placed his hand on her shoulder.

“W-Oh…”

Annetsha let out a soft gasp.

More energy than she could handle poured into her.

‘…There’s so much.’

Even her father, the Demon King of Vekeseta, had never wielded this much magic.

Taesan synchronized with her magic, opening a channel.

[You have activated Leraje’s Domain Detection.]

*Kiiing!*

The pulse of energy spread like waves. In an instant, it surged outward, gathering information from all directions.

The detection accelerated further, consuming the power of the ancient gods embedded in the land.

As the overwhelming influx of information flooded her mind, Annetsha’s face turned pale. It was far more than she could contain.

Realizing her limit, Taesan released her shoulder.

Annetsha collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

“Princess!”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes… yes…”

Annetsha steadied her breath and rose to her feet.

“…There’s no end to it.”

Even with Leraje’s Domain Detection, enhanced by the staff feeding off the power of the ancient gods, they had only managed to explore a small part of the abandoned land.

All they learned was that the further they extended their search, the more endless it became.

“It’s not just vast…”

Annetsha’s voice trembled as she spoke.

“…It feels like it’s connected to something beyond this place.”

It was a sensation of infinite depth—no matter how far they pushed, the end was unreachable.

“And… there are so many.”

She stared in disbelief.

“We only detected a fraction, and even that was beyond counting.”

“So it’s as I thought.”

Taesan frowned.

The demon realm was vast. And the man had claimed that they had been living here since the ancient god had reigned.

They hadn’t died. They had continued to exist. There was no way their numbers could have decreased.

An endless land.

And countless beings who worshipped the ancient god.

“What should we do?”

Taesan muttered to himself.

Killing them all was nearly impossible.

If he had unlimited time, it might be achievable. But that would be meaningless—it would take decades, if not longer. It would be more practical to abandon the effort and delve deeper into the labyrinth instead.

He needed another solution.

Taesan looked down at the ground.

A deep, dense flow of the ancient gods’ power coursed through it.

The man had said they were bound to the land.

If the power of the ancient gods vanished, their souls would be freed as well.

“Is there a way to erase this darkness?”

“No.”

Minerva spoke bluntly.

“That’s impossible. This is a domain created by an ancient god. Even the current Demon God couldn’t erase it, which is why she left it alone.”

To the Demon God, this land must have been a constant source of irritation.

But even with her transcendent power, she hadn’t interfered with the vast domain and its countless inhabitants.

This meant that not even a transcendent could meddle with the ancient gods’ realm.

There was no way Taesan’s power could succeed where hers had failed.

And yet, the Demon God must have believed there was a way, or she wouldn’t have given him this quest.

[You have activated Divinity.]

Light manifested above Taesan’s hand.

The light twisted and influenced the power of the ancient gods—but that was all. It couldn’t erase or purify it.

‘This won’t work.’

The rules governing this power were beyond what could be erased with conventional methods. Taesan extinguished the light.

What if he used power beyond those rules?

[You have activated Black.]