Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 262: The Old Demon God (1)

A colossal being.

With its emergence, space distorted. The laws of the world crumpled, and everything began to twist.

[Gasp.]

The spirit momentarily held its breath before disappearing soon after.

The link hadn’t been severed. Most likely, it had been temporarily expelled due to its inability to withstand the presence.

Taesan gazed at the Demon God.

It, too, directed its attention toward Taesan.

Even without a head or visible eyes, Taesan could feel its gaze.

Along with the sense of that gaze, its overwhelming presence rushed in.

Boom!

The weight of an overwhelming existence.

It felt as vast as seeing the ocean for the first time—an unreachable power, no matter how one risked life and gave everything.

Simultaneously, every emotion of despair a human could feel surged forth. A torrent that could render even the most enlightened, ascetic individual into a mindless state in an instant.

“Shut up.”

He ground his teeth.

He gathered his spiritual force.

Rising, he shook off the crushing presence and will.

A peculiar light shone in the gaze directed at Taesan.

He gripped his sword tighter.

Enduring the sensation of his body threatening to collapse, he stared at the Old Demon God.

[You.]

It was not speech. Speech was created to converse with others, something the Old Demon God had no need for.

It was simply a declaration of will.

[Are mine.]

Boom.

Reality distorted. Space itself twisted and shifted as power moved to fulfill the will of the great being.

It was a kind of law. Reality itself was altered to bring forth the will of the Old Demon God.

Taesan’s body was drawn closer to the Old Demon God. Space opened up, trying to swallow him and erode his mind.

“Get lost.”

Taesan stomped the ground harshly.

The force gathered within his body exploded.

Like a rampaging beast, it shattered the distorted reality around him. The storm of spiritual force settled the twisted reality.

“Just exerting your will isn’t enough to subdue me.”

He had overcome countless trials and obtained immeasurable power. Even an Old God, imperfect as it was, couldn’t subdue him with mere will alone.

“If you intended to kill me, it’d be a different story… But you don’t, do you?”

Taesan smirked. The Old God wanted to subdue him.

“Then this won’t work. I won’t submit to you.”

A mortal declared this confidently before an entity of transcendence.

There was no change in the Old Demon God’s gaze.

[Then fall.]

With those words, reality twisted.

The altered laws moved to kill Taesan. The distorted space turned into thorns, aiming to impale him, while the air itself turned venomous, attempting to seep into his lungs.

Taesan waved his hand sharply.

[You have activated Small Ember.]

The flame of a beast that could annihilate the world erupted.

It rushed to burn everything it touched.

But before the being that embodied a universe-crushing presence, the surging flame was crushed and extinguished like a small ember.

But it had bought time. Taesan gathered his spiritual force into his sword. With a fierce sweep, he cleared the approaching pressure.

Just as Taesan was about to launch himself forward—

Rumble!

The ground collapsed.

The platform crumbled, and his body began to fall. Taesan clicked his tongue and looked down.

His pupils widened.

The collapsing ground revealed no end.

An abyss without a bottom began to pull his body down.

“Damn it.”

He clicked his tongue and encased himself with energy.

“Agh…!”

The bond between a spirit and a human was a type of link.

Humans could perceive the spirit’s vision and power and detect its movements.

The same was true for the spirits. They could glimpse the rough power and vision of the human they contracted with.

This was why Minerva could see now.

The colossal being before Taesan.

“No!”

When power first gathered on the abandoned land, she thought the being in front of the thorn was merely enhancing its own strength. Dangerous, but within the realm of mortals.

But this was different.

The Old Demon God. A transcendent being. It had descended in its true form.

Minerva gathered the wind. It wasn’t for a reverse summoning or anything considered; it was a rough concentration of power. She struck the black barrier surrounding the thorn with it.

Bang!

But only the wind scattered. The Demon God, placing its foot on the ground, spoke.

[It’s futile, child of the spirits. That is a concentration of power. Your strength cannot even scratch it.]

“Aaah!”

Minerva tangled her hair in frustration.

Her master, the person who had helped her, was now facing an Old God. The realization was enough to turn her mind upside down.

“O Demon God!”

She cried out, looking at the Demon God.

“Please, save my master! Don’t You also cherish him?!”

[Indeed, I do cherish him.]

The Demon God nodded.

[But I will not save him.]

“Why?!”

Minerva’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Why would You let my master die?!”

[Calm yourself.]

The Demon God placed a finger on Minerva’s forehead.

In an instant, her body collapsed. Varkaza hurriedly caught her.

[O Demon God…]

[I have merely put her to sleep. I admire her devotion to him, so I shall overlook her rudeness.]

She had shouted directly at a transcendent being.

Had it been a more temperamental entity, she would have been reduced to dust instantly.

[…I thank You for Your mercy.]

[You, too, seem uneasy about him.]

[…Yes.]

“Lord Demon God, can You really not help him?”

Annetsha also asked with trembling eyes. She was only able to maintain her composure because she stood before the Demon God she revered. Otherwise, she might have been as frenzied as Minerva.

[First, let Me clarify.]

The Demon God placed a hand on the black barrier.

[I am not choosing not to save him; I cannot save him.]

“You cannot?”

[This black space is the concentrated energy from the entire abandoned land. Beyond this is the domain of the Old God. It is no longer part of the demonic realm.]

The Demon God clicked His tongue.

[Of course, unlike the abandoned land, it is a temporary concentration, so it could be forced apart… But doing so would erase everyone inside.]

“Ah…”

If the Demon God interfered with the space, Taesan would die too. The realization left Annetsha speechless.

[The rest must be left to him. And even if I could save him, I would not do so.]

“W-what?”

[You need to trust him more.]

The Demon God smiled.

She could not see beyond the space. But from the energy she sensed, she could guess what was happening inside.

[It is not a proper descent but a trick. He barely managed to place his body within. Do you think he would die to something like this?]

She spoke with the assured tone of a princess awaiting the return of her hero.

[He will come back victorious, as he always has.]

Falling, Taesan spread his wings.

He did not know what awaited at the bottom, but his instincts warned him. He must not reach it. If he did, everything would be lost.

As he tried to ascend, something leaped from the abyss.

Taesan reflexively raised his sword.

[You have activated Repulsion.]

Thunk.

The thing that leapt was deflected, revealing itself.

Taesan’s expression twisted.

“A hand?”

It was a black hand.

Like a curse, countless hands rose up. They stretched out toward his limbs, attempting to grab him.

Taesan twisted his body.

He imbued his sword with aura and swung.

A wave of aura burst forth. The approaching hands moved to dodge it.

“Click.”

He clicked his tongue, focused his mind, and swung his sword.

Crack!

One by one, the hands were cut down. He kicked the hands trying to grab his legs and punched. He gathered wind and flame and blasted it downward.

Taesan glanced upward.

The Old Demon God was silently watching him.

[You have activated Frost Arrow.]

The Frost Arrow shot toward the Old Demon God. But before it could reach, it disappeared, as if the space would not allow such an attack from below.

He cut down the hands targeting his limbs.

‘…Weaker than I thought.’

Power to shatter space and warp reality. Strong indeed, but not the power of a true transcendent.

This meant that the Old Demon God, having crossed the boundary, was significantly weakened.

The Old Demon God had descended using Ilraine’s power.

There must be a time limit. In other words, surviving until then would ensure Taesan’s victory.

But.

“I don’t like it.”

Taesan muttered.

He wanted to land a hit on the Old Demon God that was watching him from above.

The decision was quick, almost instinctive. While falling, Taesan twisted his body to face upward. Dozens of hands rose simultaneously.

His arms and legs were grabbed. A fierce force pulled him deeper into the abyss.

[You have activated Frozen World.]

Crackle!

An intense cold surged. The hands were coated with frost.

But they did not stop.

Breaking through the ice, they held onto Taesan.

[You have activated Frozen World.]

The cold surged once more.

The grip of the hands weakened compared to before.

Taesan didn’t stop.

He kept activating Frozen World. He poured all the mana he had left into it.

“Hah.”

He exhaled heavily.

The breath he released froze and fell.

The surroundings were covered with transparent ice.

Crack.

The ice slowly began to sh

atter. The hands moved, creeping towards Taesan.

He summoned Aegis’ Shield and clenched his fist.

[You have activated Aegis’ Shield. You are immune to all damage for 1 second but cannot move.]

[You have activated Magic Explosion.]

The ice shattered. The Frozen World, stacked in double digits, burst simultaneously and spread everywhere. The approaching hands couldn’t withstand the explosion imbued with all his mana and shattered.

But from the depths, more hands rose again.

Not only from the bottom; now, hands emerged stealthily from the walls. They rushed at Taesan from all sides, aiming to grab him.

Taesan put away the shield and gathered all his remaining magical energy.

Due to the Magic Explosion, the spreading cold slowed the advance of the hands.

He channeled all his remaining energy into the path.

He saw the gaze from beyond.

It was watching him, grinning. As he reached the bottom of his power, Taesan drew out the force from the path.

[You have activated Decarabia’s Twisted Vegetation.]

Roots rose from the opened path.

These were thicker than any root Taesan had summoned before.

They were solid and strong. Taesan instinctively knew. The roots he had summoned until now were only parts of the whole. This was the true root, piercing through the very world.

Rumble!

The roots surged upward.

Taesan rode the roots. The advancing hands were crushed under the momentum of the roots and flattened.

Energy surged from the Old Demon God, who was quietly watching from above.

The slight energy that leaked out instantly amplified, becoming a massive wave.

The wave, ferocious like a beast, shattered the roots. The true roots that pierced the world were crushed like toothpicks and twisted apart.

An overwhelming force and presence. A wall that mortals could never surmount.

The wave advanced, ready to consume Taesan.

Taesan didn’t run. He neither retreated nor attempted to dodge but moved forward.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

He spread his wings and charged at the Old Demon God.

He pulled back his sword.

He poured everything he had into its tip. Spiritual force, strength, aura—everything he could muster.

[You have activated Black.]

A color as dark as night extended. Bright light began to mix with it.

Gray light gathered into his sword.

He endured the twisting sensation in his limbs and swung.

The wave from the Old Demon God clashed with the gray light and was erased.

Taesan pushed forward, putting all his strength into his body.

The wave twisted his body simply by proximity. The intensity and power made him feel nauseous, shaking his consciousness.

But Taesan pressed on.

He crushed and overcame the force of the transcendent as he moved.

He erased the oncoming wave and shattered it. The transcendent power began to dwindle under the gray light.

Rumble!

The space collapsed. The abandoned land—this realm created by the collected energy—couldn’t withstand the clash of forces and began to break apart.

And at the end of it all.

Taesan reached the Old Demon God.

Clang.

A small sound rang out.

Taesan’s sword touched the body of the Old Demon God.

Taesan smiled.

“I won.”