Chapter 342
Shayan was in shock at Taesan’s words.
Mantejac. A name long buried, forgotten even by the highest-ranking members.
And yet, it was Taesan—not a hero—who had spoken it.
And he mentioned Akysha.
‘…Could it be?!’
A contract with the mage who created the labyrinth. That thought raced through his mind.
‘You should have just died quietly!’
Shayan gritted his teeth and tried to gather mana.
But then—he realized something.
The flow of mana had changed.
The mana that had once seeped into him, allowing him to wield infinite magic, had suddenly dispersed, scattering in all directions.
‘This is…!’
Shayan instinctively understood.
This was Akysha’s magic, created for revenge.
“This will do.”
Taesan nodded. The One-Sided Mana Barrier didn’t last long. That’s why he had saved it until now.
This time, he would finish it.
Taesan gathered his power—not mana, but darkness.
[You have activated Call of Ruin.]
The darkness of destruction began to seep into the world. And from within that darkness, something emerged.
“Ah…”
Shayan, frozen in shock, trembled.
An ominous presence—one that all living beings instinctively feared—radiated from that darkness.
It was the power of destruction.
Kuuuuung!
The darkness took shape.
A force that devoured matter and sought to annihilate the world lunged at Shayan.
Shayan frantically swung his staff. A wave of flames surged toward the darkness.
Kuuuuung!
The forces clashed, rippling through the space.
But the darkness of ruin did not retreat; it only grew more voracious.
“This is insane!”
Shayan cursed.
Even in his bones, he could feel what this darkness was.
“How could you wield such power?!”
Even if it was weakened, it was still the power of ruin.
And it wasn’t just a fragment—it was its true form.
Unlike himself, who wielded magic through tools, Taesan was using this power as his own.
Shayan desperately gathered his strength, pushing back the darkness. It scattered in all directions.
“Ugh…”
Taesan let out a low grunt and swung his sword.
The darkness wasn’t just swallowing Shayan—it was trying to consume him as well.
[Call of Ruin] moved independently of Taesan’s will.
The raging darkness sought to devour everything.
Taesan gathered his energy, covering himself, and spoke.
“Back.”
[You have activated Word of Exclusion.]
The moment the Word of Exclusion was invoked, the darkness recoiled, repelled away from Taesan.
The power of ruin sought to consume the world, but it had no will of its own.
With a simple command, it was pushed back effortlessly.
“You pest…!”
[Shayan has activated Magic Stacking.]
Chaotic magical energy condensed atop his staff.
Shayan swung.
[Shayan has activated Magic Liberation.]
Kugugugugugung!
Frost, light, and flames merged into one and manifested.
The intense wave of power pushed back the darkness of ruin.
Taesan gripped his sword tightly.
As he forced the darkness away, he charged at Shayan.
Shayan frantically swung his staff.
[Shayan has activated Countless Remnants of Light.]
Light rained down upon the entire floor, aiming to pierce Taesan from all directions.
‘Even so!’
Shayan gritted his teeth.
The Five Arrows of Ruin were spent.
The infinite mana flow had been cut off.
But his magic circles still remained, supporting him.
The darkness of ruin was indeed powerful—
But not unstoppable.
If he could take down Taesan before exhausting his mana, he could still win.
Shayan made his decision.
And Taesan thought the same.
Until now, Shayan had been in control.
Taesan had lacked information on him, whereas Shayan had studied Taesan through his battle with the Fire Spirit King.
But by now, they had fought long enough.
Taesan had seen enough.
Now, it was his turn.
[You have activated Marbas’s Pitch-Black Wave.]
Darkness converged and erupted.
The descending light was swallowed whole by the wave of darkness.
[Shayan has activated Frozen World.]
[You have activated Frozen World.]
[You have activated Forced Amplification.]
The two Frozen Worlds clashed.
Naturally, Shayan’s was stronger.
Taesan’s was engulfed by the greater frost and shattered.
He had never intended to block it.
All he needed was to slow it down.
[You have activated Embers of Calamity.]
A raging inferno spread, consuming the entire space.
Taesan immediately activated Stealth.
As he erased his presence, Shayan attempted to track him down.
[You have activated Acceleration.]
[You have activated Skill Acceleration.]
Taesan emerged from the flames.
He moved a step ahead of Shayan’s reaction.
Shayan hastily slammed his staff into the ground.
[Shayan has activated Distortion.]
Space twisted.
Taesan instantly responded.
[You have activated Perfect Fairy Wings.]
Until now, Shayan had blocked Taesan’s approach by distorting space.
But after fighting for so long, Taesan had learned when and how he used Distortion.
Paang!
He spread his wings.
Taesan soared—not where Shayan had distorted space, but elsewhere.
Yet somehow—
He was flying directly toward Shayan.
His understanding of spatial distortion had allowed him to use it against Shayan himself.
Shayan’s eyes widened.
His body teleported.
Limited Blink.
Taesan activated the same skill.
[You have activated Restricted Blink.]
The distance between them instantly closed.
“N-No…!”
[Shayan has activated Frozen World.]
[Shayan has activated Forced Magic Calibration.]
Frost enveloped Shayan’s body.
Since Frozen World was an offensive spell, it possessed absolute defense properties.
It couldn’t be pierced through sheer force alone.
But absolute defense did not mean invincibility.
From their previous clashes, Taesan had already gauged the limits of Shayan’s defense.
[You have activated Naberius’s Golden Sword.]
[You have activated Amon’s Jet-Black Spike.]
[You have activated Sabnac’s Jet-Black Thread.]
Taesan unleashed all his mid-tier black magic at once and detonated them simultaneously.
Kugugugugung!
“Urgh…!”
Shayan’s Frozen World shattered.
Taesan also suffered damage from [Sabnac’s Jet-Black Thread], but he ignored it and charged forward.
There was nothing left to stand between them.
Taesan plunged his sword into Shayan.
[You have activated Conversion.]
[You have activated Addition.]
[You have activated Ring of the Distorted Regretful One.]
[Blade of Fighting Spirit’s cooldown has been reset.]
[You have activated Blade of Fighting Spirit.]
[You have activated Absolute Judgment.]
Kwaaak!
The blade pierced through Shayan’s chest.
[Shayan has taken 112,323 damage.]
“Gah…!”
Shayan coughed up blood, his face rapidly losing color.
Yet, with the last of his strength, he grabbed Taesan’s arm.
“Let’s go together!”
[Shayan’s HP has reached 0.]
[Final Blaze has been activated.]
A pillar of flames erupted, engulfing Taesan.
Shayan grinned wickedly—
But then his eyes widened in shock.
[Your Endurance has activated.]
[The fatal attack has been nullified.]
[For 1 second, all incoming damage is reduced to 0.]
Taesan pulled his sword free.
Shayan, his body failing, let out a hollow laugh.
“Hah… haha… So you saved it for the very end…”
This battle had been overwhelmingly in Shayan’s favor from the start.
He had known everything about Taesan. Taesan had known nothing about him.
Shayan had pulled out every trick he had, believing he could completely suppress Taesan.
But as the battle continued—
He was the one being countered.
His trump card was neutralized.
Even his last-resort suicide attack was predicted and blocked.
It was a total, indisputable defeat.
“…Damn you, Akysha. Even in the end, you stand in my way.”
He muttered bitterly, closing his eyes.
“So this is the fate of a traitor…”
With those final words, his soul began to separate from his body.
—
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your Soul Power has increased.]
[Your permanent stats have increased: HP +2,481, MP +2,342, STR +489, AGI +362, INT +1,243.]
[Seed of Life has activated.]
[Your permanent stats have increased: HP +366, MP +743, STR +258, AGI +103, INT +677.]
[Your Soul Power has increased.]
[Your magic proficiency has increased by 6%.]
[Your Frozen World has been enhanced.]
[You have acquired Forced Magic Calibration.]
[You have acquired Mid-Tier Magic: Distortion.]
[Through careful analysis and decisive action, you have reached the correct answer.]
[You have acquired the Passive Skill: Rapid Judgment.]
—
The battle was over.
System notifications flooded in, confirming Taesan’s complete victory.
Taesan sheathed his sword.
“That wasn’t easy.”
Honestly, he hadn’t expected it to be this difficult.
After defeating Shaman and the Fire Spirit King, he had grown much stronger.
But this was different.
Every previous opponent had failed to counter his unique skills, leaving fatal openings.
Shayan, however, had studied Taesan thoroughly and sought to overcome him.
He had more than enough power to kill Taesan.
This fight had reminded him—
His greatest strength lay in his unpredictable skills, forcing his enemies to underestimate him.
But in the end, Taesan had won.
—
A voice rang out.
[So you’ve made it this far.]
The ghost spoke, its tone indifferent.
[As Shayan said, the remaining ones will be a much bigger headache now.]
Shayan had meticulously planned and prepared—
He had deployed domain magic, elaborate magic circles, and fought at a far greater strength than usual.
And he still lost.
This meant the higher-ups had almost no chance left.
[They’ll deal with it on their own.]
The ghost murmured, though it sounded like it no longer cared.
Even though it had always despised Shayan—or Mantejac—it had never spoken of it.
To the ghost, the higher-ups no longer mattered.
—
Regardless, Taesan had won.
And now, it was time to claim his rewards.
—
The space cracked open.
With the quest completed, the promised entity revealed itself.
What appeared wasn’t a rotting skeleton—
It was a man.
A handsome, middle-aged figure with silver-white hair.
He wore a luxurious robe embroidered with golden patterns and held a beautifully adorned staff.
He descended into the labyrinth.
[…So the time has come.]
The skeleton who had given the quest to slay Mantejac.
Akysha.
He gazed at Shayan’s lifeless body and let out a quiet laugh.
[Mantejac… So this is how it ends.]
[Even though the labyrinth’s time is nearly infinite… You had the potential to reach greatness one day.]
[And yet, your twisted inferiority complex led us both to this outcome.]
For a moment, he fell silent.
[…I wanted to settle this myself, but I suppose that was never meant to be.]
[Still, I am satisfied. Thank you.]
Akysha spun his staff.
His robe swayed with the motion.
[Since you have fulfilled my wish, I shall grant you your reward.]
The revenge against the higher-ups and Akysha’s personal quest had come to an end.
Akysha had promised—
His greatest magic and the legendary equipment he once wielded.
Light surged toward Taesan.
His power began to rise.
