Chapter 356
One. Two. Three. Four.
A total of eight Guides stood before Taesan.
[Well, well. Familiar faces.]
The Ghost muttered. The Guides looked at the Ghost.
“Hello.”
“Hero.”
Two women spoke. Other than the fact that their hair and eye colors were black and white, they had exactly the same face.
[The Black and White Twins, Cliff… quite a crowd.]
The Ghost scanned each of them and soon spoke in a cold voice.
[So Sociét isn’t here.]
“She refused.”
As if he were their representative, a platinum-haired young man stepped forward confidently.
“She said she would find her own way.”
[Helia. So you led them?]
“I couldn’t bear to watch that lowly thing run amok anymore.”
Helia cast a scornful gaze at Taesan.
“Even you, who once inherited a noble bloodline, have fallen completely. Clinging to someone whose origin is unknown just to pursue revenge.”
[Sociét isn’t here, Ambresia isn’t here, the Lion King isn’t here… all the ones I wanted to see are missing. Do as you wish, Taesan.]
The Ghost muttered. He didn’t seem to care about Helia’s words.
Helia frowned and tried to say something, but a muscular man stepped forward.
“Enough. As he said, he’s already a dead man. No need to mind him.”
“…Hmph.”
Helia collected herself and looked back at Taesan.
“Then die, lowly one.”
At Helia’s signal, the Guides leapt to surround Taesan. It was a perfect encirclement—there was nowhere to run.
The muscular man—Fist Saint Altair—spoke.
“Gods are fickle by nature. Try not to be too disheartened. I’ve been there myself. To the gods, mortals are nothing more than toys.”
Taesan realized something.
The Guides of Sin believed that the Demon God had abandoned him.
The reason was easy to guess. Altair spoke with a face that showed no sympathy, despite sounding like he did.
“Restrictions on recovery… Honestly, it seems a bit too much.”
The Demon God had appeared before them. At first, when he suddenly showed up, they thought he might retract his decision and were startled. But his next words left them wide-eyed.
The Demon God told them that while Taesan fought them, even if he defeated them, the recovery effect from leveling up would not apply.
They couldn’t understand it.
In battles between adventurers—especially in a one-versus-many fight—leveling up was essential.
You’d somehow take one down, level up, reach peak condition again, then take down another and level up again. Without that method, victory was impossible.
And yet, the Demon God had blocked it.
At that moment, they became certain. The Demon God had abandoned Taesan.
There was no other reason to place such a restriction.
Confidence filled the Guides’ faces.
They believed they could surely win against Taesan.
“Don’t resent us. If you must resent someone, resent the Demon God.”
With those words, the various powers of the Guides surged forward.
“I won’t resent anyone.”
Taesan muttered.
“There’s no point.”
The power contained within their attacks was enough to be difficult even for Taesan to block. If he fought them head-on, defeat was likely.
But Taesan didn’t care.
He watched the incoming power and raised his sword.
[You have activated Forced Duel. For 12 seconds, no one but Floria can deal damage to you.]
The incoming powers vanished the moment they touched Taesan.
“…What?”
“Huh?”
The Guides, who had predicted Taesan’s moves and were about to respond, hesitated.
Their powers had been erased.
Taesan had responded to only one attack—Floria’s.
“Forced Duel?”
“Let’s see then.”
[You have activated Apostle Transformation [Darkness and Chaos].]
[You have activated Avatar of Nature.]
[You have activated King’s Vessel.]
[Enemy of Those Who Have Reached the Depths has been activated.]
Taesan stomped the ground. The Guides panicked and leapt away.
“Y-You!”
A tall man with blue hair—Floria—leapt back in shock. His body accelerated as he widened the distance from Taesan.
And Taesan followed Floria.
Floria was indeed fast, but not enough to shake off Taesan.
[You have activated Strong Strike.]
Clang!
“Gah!”
Their swords clashed, and Floria let out a groan. An unbearable weight was felt through the blade.
Floria shouted desperately.
“Try anything you want!”
“Even if you say that—!”
The other Guides were desperate too.
A storm of power surged throughout the 76th Floor.
But none of it reached Taesan.
[You have activated Forced Duel. For 12 seconds, no one but Floria can deal damage to you.]
Forced Duel activated again, and all the powers of the other Guides were erased. Only Floria’s power could touch Taesan.
“What kind of ridiculous skill is that?!”
Altair shouted in disbelief. The effect of Forced Duel appeared on the system window. Even they could see what was happening.
“Impossible! How could such a skill even exist?!”
Damage nullification, absolute judgment, endurance… they already knew about Taesan’s unreasonable skills.
But they had never even imagined something like Forced Duel. What even was that skill? It rendered their numerical advantage completely meaningless.
Altair, filled with denial, threw a punch. The Fist Wind rushed toward Taesan. It was an attack Taesan should’ve had to block by moving his body.
But it vanished upon contact.
Altair let out a hollow laugh.
“…I see.”
Helia barely calmed herself and distorted her face.
“So the Demon God didn’t abandon him.”
It was because Taesan had a skill like Forced Duel that even with the restriction on recovery, he could still win.
They had planned to take Taesan down with group force.
But because of [Forced Duel], their entire plan had collapsed.
“We change the plan.”
Helia made a swift judgment.
They were adventurers of the Abyss. They were people who had descended through countless variables and unfairness. Even in confusion, they could find answers.
“Group attacks are impossible. Fight him one by one and drag it out as long as you can.”
“Drag it out?”
“We’re creating attrition.”
The other Guides understood as well.
Taesan couldn’t recover the strength he used during battle.
They wouldn’t give him time to drink a potion.
In other words, by maintaining constant attacks, they could drain his stamina, mana, or force him to use skills with cooldowns.
By making him exhaust his cards one by one, they could increase the chances of victory for whoever fought him next.
They realized this was the correct answer, but no one was pleased.
“…How empty this feels.”
Altair gave a bitter laugh.
They had come all the way up with eight people, throwing away their pride to kill Taesan.
And now they had to throw that pride away again, practically give up on winning, and focus on wasting time?
The pride of one who had reached the Abyss crumbled.
Helia curled her lips.
“Victory is more important than pride. You don’t have to follow my orders. Fight however you wish.”
While they were drawing their conclusions, Taesan and Floria continued fighting.
“Damn it!”
Floria also realized that no one other than Taesan and himself could interfere. He gritted his teeth and gripped his dagger tightly.
“Don’t mess with me!”
Taesan was undeniably strong.
But Floria was also an adventurer who had reached the Abyss.
He had overcome countless unreasonable and unwinnable situations to get here.
A system window appeared before Floria.
[Your opponent is an impossible foe to defeat.]
[Your Honorable Duel has been activated.]
[Your Desire for Battle has been activated.]
[Your Unyielding Spirit has been activated.]
As the difficult-enemy detection skills activated, Floria’s entire body accelerated.
Floria placed his hand on the ground. It was the moment Taesan accelerated, intending to thrust his sword into Floria’s neck.
[Floria has activated Designated Mark Acceleration.]
Floria’s body vanished.
Literally, without any sign or buildup of power.
He appeared behind Taesan and stabbed him.
[Your First Absolute Attack Nullification has been activated.]
Taesan quickly turned and swung his sword. But Floria wasn’t there.
[Floria has activated Designated Mark Acceleration.]
Floria again moved behind Taesan.
This time, Taesan didn’t take the hit. He twisted his waist and swung his sword at Floria, who was thrusting with his dagger.
Floria’s body blurred like an afterimage.
[Floria has activated Erased Shadow.]
The sword grazed past Floria.
But Floria’s blade pierced through Taesan.
[Your Second Absolute Attack Nullification has been activated.]
[Floria has activated Designated Mark Acceleration.]
But in the end, Taesan allowed a strike.
Floria backed off, baring his teeth.
“You’re strong, no doubt… but that alone doesn’t decide a battle.”
Floria knew Taesan’s information. Taesan didn’t know Floria’s.
That difference was significant. Since those who reached the Abyss each had their own unique powers, Taesan couldn’t completely counter them.
But that was all.
Taesan stomped forward. Floria grit his teeth and responded.
Clang-clang-clang!
He barely blocked the swinging sword.
Floria was slower than Taesan.
With an overwhelming stat difference, it was only natural. But Floria didn’t get easily pushed back.
[Floria has activated Designated Mark Acceleration.]
Floria moved to the far end of the room. Taesan kicked off and soared to catch up, and Floria reappeared right beneath him.
[Your Third Absolute Attack Nullification has been activated.]
Floria quickly widened the distance again.
‘Nice!’
He had exhausted all of Taesan’s [Attack Nullification].
Taesan didn’t fully understand his own power.
He could win.
It was the moment Floria began to believe.
“Got it now.”
Taesan hadn’t used the three [Attack Nullifications] carelessly. He had been analyzing Floria’s [Designated Mark Acceleration] skill.
‘It’s not teleportation.’
There’s no cooldown for his movements. It didn’t seem to cost much either.
Even [Restricted Blink], a mid-tier spell, has a 10-minute cooldown. That meant spatial movement was extremely difficult. He couldn’t be using something that advanced so easily.
And Floria only moved along the ground. Even when Taesan was airborne, he had purposely shifted to appear beneath his feet—that much was clear.
As Floria charged in again, Taesan continued to analyze while blocking the attack.
[You have activated Focused Detection.]
[You have activated Reconnaissance.]
The power of detection spread out.
As a result, Taesan discovered that something was etched into the labyrinth floor.
‘Position markers.’
He could only move to preset locations.
Taesan gathered his Magi.
[You have activated Decarabia’s Twisted Vegetation.]
Rumble!
Roots burst through the space and appeared.
They engulfed the entire area, creating a restriction on movement.
Floria’s expression stiffened. Taesan charged at him in an instant.
Claaang!
“Guh!”
Floria could no longer use [Designated Mark Acceleration] to escape.
‘Just as I thought.’
It was movement toward designated marks. But it wasn’t spatial teleportation. It only appeared that way because of how fast it was.
In other words, it was still physical movement.
So, if the space itself was filled, it could be restricted.
Clang-clang-clang!
Floria was overwhelmed in an instant.
Taesan had also predicted the Guides’ thoughts. They were planning to drag things out and make him exhaust his cards.
So Taesan would identify the opponent’s hand quickly, counter it, and win with minimal cost.
Taesan had many cards.
Enough to respond no matter what the enemy used.
There was nothing to worry about.
Taesan gripped his sword tightly. Floria was blown far into the distance.
