Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 261: The Saint of the Old Demon God (2)

“Your power is anomalous. To think that an inner being could seize the power of those beings… It’s inconceivable.”

Minerva had said something similar. Stealing the power of the Old Gods—not just some monstrous force, but the very power of the Old Gods themselves. Even the gods spoke of it as being foreign.

Ilraine continued.

“The gods are near-omniscient but do not know everything. They likely did not anticipate that your abilities would reach this level.”

Ilraine smiled.

It was a smile that seemed to come from the depths of his heart, as if this situation delighted him.

“I do not know everything, either. Even though the Great One imparted all knowledge to me, my mind was not perfect enough to absorb it all. I am, after all, just a mortal.”

Ilraine looked regretful, as if it truly pained him.

“But even someone as lowly as I knows one thing.”

Ilraine spread his twisted smile and raised a hand. Darkness twisted and a staff appeared in his grasp.

“The Great One wishes something from you. And that wish, it is to set Him free.”

Freedom.

To Taesan, it did not sound like a pleasant notion.

“I am His Saint.”

Ilraine raised the staff.

The dark energy spread across the abandoned land and began to gather into the staff.

“For Him, I exist, for the fulfillment of His desires.”

A low hum echoed.

The dark energy spread out. Outside, Minerva, who had been waiting for the demons to arrive, shuddered.

A sense of foreboding emanated. She had seen an aura like that in Arulia.

“Master, stay strong.”

She whispered softly.

Taesan drew his sword. Responding to Ilraine, he too began gathering his strength.

[You have activated Apostle Transformation [Blended Spiritual Force].]

[You have activated King’s Vessel.]

[You have activated Small Ember.]

[You have activated Deer Walking the Wind.]

The power of the apostle descended upon Taesan. The vessel of the Spirit King resonated with the ring, imparting power to Taesan.

Dominion over flame formed, and wind enveloped his body.

And then beyond that.

[Your opponent is a formidable foe.]

[Battle Lust has been activated.]

[Honorable Duel has been activated.]

[Proof of Limits has been activated.]

[Contempt for the Strong has been activated.]

[Anti-Divine Theory has been activated.]

[Giant Killer has been activated.]

[Defiance Against a Colossal Will has been activated.]

Every possible buff imbued Taesan’s body. With newfound strength, Taesan gripped his sword tighter.

Ilraine smiled.

“Come forth, you who have arrived here by the power of the Demon God, Lucifer. Let me show you who the true master of this land is.”

Thunk.

Taesan kicked off the ground.

Ilraine felt, for a moment, as if Taesan had vanished.

A speed so fast it defied recognition. Ilraine waved his staff.

A rush of darkness burst out, blocking Taesan’s sword, which had approached Ilraine’s back.

“As expected, you’re fast. Fighting you physically would be a lost cause.”

Ilraine marveled. Even the combined strength of all the fingers here would not compare to this speed.

“But my strength does not come from mere flesh.”

He struck the earth with his staff. Power gathered at the tip of the staff and soon brought forth a phenomenon.

Sssshhhk!

A dark rain began to fall.

Rain that corroded the body and dyed it in its hue upon contact. Taesan gathered his power. The flame intertwined with the wind, causing chaos everywhere. The dark rain scattered in all directions.

During that moment, power gathered once again atop Ilraine’s staff.

Squelch.

The energy solidified, and a wave of darkness surged forth.

A deep, pervasive energy spread across the entire land and coalesced in the staff, ready to crush Taesan. Taesan spread the wings of the fairy and soared into the air.

“Hm.”

Taesan observed the power Ilraine wielded.

‘Similar.’

Like that fool who contracted directly with an Old God, whom he fought in Arulia. The sensation of that power was similar.

But this was much stronger. In magnitude, quality, and sheer strength, it was beyond comparison.

The staff gathered power again.

From the earth, stakes of an ominous hue shot up, aiming to impale Taesan.

He swung his sword to deflect them, but the stakes seemed to possess a will of their own and dodged the blade, advancing.

Crash.

Taesan fiercely kicked, scattering the stakes.

“When the Great One ruled the demonic realm, His magic existed here.”

Ilraine bared his teeth.

“Now, behold the forgotten magic of the Great One, once spread across the entire demonic realm.”

The staff resonated.

Boom!

The earth collapsed, and pillars rose like dominos to skewer Taesan. He leapt away, but the pillars pursued him relentlessly.

Clicking his tongue, Taesan flew higher into the sky, where the pillars couldn’t reach.

Boom!

Suddenly, a massive pillar shot up. It was high enough to impale Taesan even in flight.

Taesan swung his sword down.

The pillar shattered and split apart.

With that, the pillars ceased to rise, as if their purpose was fulfilled.

The essence was similar to black magic, but it was more sinister and alien.

Ilraine grinned.

“Thank you. Your flustered reaction bought me time. Thanks to that, I’ve managed to remove the most troublesome thing.”

Power gathered on his staff.

The atmosphere changed.

The air thickened like slime, pressing down on Taesan. Ilraine murmured.

“A power that erases attacks themselves. It’s quite annoying.”

Ilraine knew about the attack nullification. He had seen it during battles with the Old Gods and was ready to counter it by now.

As the air tried to cling to Taesan, an intangible aura around him moved. It shattered the approaching air, disallowing any further advance.

“I never heard of such power.”

“I’m not stupid enough to leave a glaring weakness unaddressed.”

It was an Absolute Blessing gained for this purpose.

“This is becoming difficult.”

Ilraine struck the ground with his staff, power starting to envelop his body.

‘A flute that calls for silence… Is it a gamble?’

A flute that banned the use of all magic for ten minutes, including Taesan.

Ilraine had mentioned it was magic of the Old Demon God, but whether it would apply to the flute was uncertain.

If used poorly, Taesan could end up handicapping himself. He didn’t draw the flute.

From the battle so far, Taesan had roughly grasped Ilraine’s powers.

‘There’s a delay.’

Ilraine was using the power borrowed from the Old Gods to manifest various hues of energy. And the stronger the power, the longer it took to materialize.

Taesan’s expression twisted as if displeased.

He extended his arms.

[You have activated Star Arrow.]

[You have activated Magic Acceleration.]

Arrows of light materialized in Taesan’s hand and shot toward Ilraine.

Ilraine’s face hardened as he gathered his power.

Boom!

Light and darkness collided and extinguished each other. Taesan sent another Star Arrow toward the airborne Ilraine.

Boom!

The light seared through the darkness.

Taesan raised his hand again.

[You have activated Star Arrow.]

[You have activated Magic Acceleration.]

Boom!

“Ugh!”

“If it were the old me, this would’ve been more troublesome.”

Back then, he couldn’t harness the effects of Absolute Blessing fully. The changing air would have rendered the attack nullification meaningless. Moreover, he would have struggled to avoid the barrage of attacks.

Even if he had somehow managed to win, it would have been after revealing all his cards.

But not now.

Now, Taesan possessed exceptionally high mana levels. His intelligence was also high, greatly reducing the mana consumption of his spells.

Thus, intermediate-level magic, like Star Arrow, could be cast without burden.

Ilraine would gather power with his staff and then move on to materializing magic.

In contrast, Star Arrow manifested the moment it was used.

Taesan naturally had the advantage in speed.

Zzzt!

The barrage of arrows made Ilraine’s movements erratic. Eventually, Ilraine failed to block a Star Arrow and couldn’t gather power.

Taesan didn’t miss the chance.

[You have activated Star Arrow.]

[You have activated Stealth.]

[You have activated Acceleration.]

The burst of Star Arrows obscured Ilraine’s vision. Taesan activated Stealth, concealing himself, and surged forward with Acceleration.

Distracted by defending against the Star Arrows, Ilraine couldn’t focus elsewhere and was struck in the side.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

It wasn’t the sensation of flesh being pierced; rather, it was the sound of an impact.

A crack formed on Ilraine’s side, from which dark energy trickled.

It appeared to be a dark defense shrouding his body.

Taesan closed in on Ilraine. Ilraine swung his staff, and dark blades burst forth in all directions.

Taesan moved his hands.

[You have activated Continuous Strike.]

A flurry of phantom slashes appeared, deflecting and shattering the incoming dark energy.

As Ilraine tried to unleash the staff’s power, Taesan grabbed the hand holding the staff.

Crunch.

He twisted the arm and kneed Ilraine’s temple. Ilraine’s eyes wavered.

Then, Taesan drove his sword in.

[You have activated Blade of Resolve.]

Crack.

It pierced through the dark defense and sank deep into Ilraine’s chest. With a deafening sound, Ilraine’s body was slammed into the ground.

“Cough.”

Ilraine spat blood.

His body was falling apart.

“You’re strong.”

“Stop the nonsense and just call it.”

Taesan twisted the sword embedded in Ilraine’s chest. His face was devoid of any joy from victory or satisfaction from survival.

Ilraine smirked.

“Did you realize it?”

“I’m not foolish enough to miss that.”

Ilraine wasn’t simply channeling the power of the Old Gods or borrowing it from someone else; he was using his own power to materialize the magic of the Old Demon God.

And it functioned similarly to magic. Drawing on the internal power within his body, it didn’t require a long casting time.

There was no reason for Ilraine to be slower than Taesan’s Star Arrow.

Yet Ilraine’s casting time was abnormally long.

This meant Ilraine had been using double-casting to prepare something else simultaneously during the battle.

A skill that allowed for the simultaneous casting of two spells, seen before in battles with S-class monsters.

“I’m sorry, Great One. This wretched body could not fulfill your will.”

Ilraine’s voice carried an apology.

Darkness began to condense within his body.

“So please forgive me! For allowing You, the Great One, to descend upon this tainted land!”

Boom!

Darkness erupted.

Taesan leapt back to create distance.

Outside, the demons approaching prepared for battle, with Annetsha and Quanid drawing their weapons with tense faces.

“…What?”

Minerva’s face hardened.

A colossal wave of power was sweeping across the entire abandoned land from the direction of the thorn.

“Ah… so this is it. This is dangerous.”

Minerva scratched her cheek, and the power of the Old Gods that had spread throughout the abandoned land was being retracted.

[Hmm. Is it like this?]

“What?”

“Oh, Demon God!”

[Greetings, my children.]

The Demon God smiled as He spoke. Annetsha and Quanid bowed in awe.

The Demon God shifted His gaze.

The charging demons fell lifelessly. Bound by the power of the earth, when that power was withdrawn, their bodies naturally separated from their souls.

The vast expanse of the abandoned land.

The domain that covered it was being retrieved, gathering into the thorn.

[Are you that desperate to hold on, even at the cost of everything?]

The Old Demon God couldn’t interfere in the demonic realm. He had been banished.

But the abandoned land was still His domain. Therefore, the Demon God could interfere only here.

The only way for Him to interfere beyond that was through a divine revelation via the thorn.

But there was one way for Him to go beyond that level of interference.

To abandon everything.

Then, even if it was just a minuscule space, the Old Demon God’s domain could manifest for a brief period.

It was to seize Taesan.

[But it won’t be easy.]

She chuckled softly.

Boom!

A tremendous power condensed around the thorn. Taesan fortified the aura enveloping his body. Without doing so, even his physical form would crumble under the concentrated force.

A massive black barrier had formed around the thorn before anyone realized it.

“There’s no way out.”

Taesan knocked on the barrier, but it was sturdy. It wouldn’t open without using the gray power.

This place was no longer the demonic realm.

It was another dimension.

The thorn warped space, opening a passage.

From there, a massive being emerged.

It had a human-like shape but lacked a head. Its entire body was matte black, and it possessed eight arms.

‘It’s smaller than the Old God I saw in Arulia.’

But Taesan could sense it. This being was equal to him in status, an existence capable of taking life merely by existing.

“Greetings, Old Demon God.”