Chapter 391
“An Immortal, huh.”
An existence clearly stronger than Taesan as he was now.
Taesan first observed his opponent. Charging in without any information was nothing short of gambling.
But before he could even do that, the Apostle’s four arms moved.
In that moment, Taesan realized it. An immense force was concentrating around him.
Kuuuuung!
Everything nearby collapsed. The earth vanished, the atmosphere was erased. Even space was breaking apart, with absolute destruction engulfing everything, swallowing Taesan whole.
Taesan couldn’t dodge and was struck by the Apostle’s attack.
[Your First Absolute Attack Nullification has activated.]
Taesan immediately pulled back, clicking his tongue as he looked at the Apostle.
“What was that?”
He had been watching the Apostle’s every move, on full alert.
He was fully prepared to respond to any attack.
But he hadn’t managed to dodge the Apostle’s attack. More precisely, the very thought of dodging hadn’t even crossed his mind.
The four arms moved again. Taesan took a shield from his inventory.
[You used Aegis Shield. You are immune to all damage for 1 second, but cannot move.]
At the same time, a tremendous force pressed down on Taesan.
Aegis Shield granted total immunity to damage. There was no way any harm could get through.
But Taesan still felt the crushing pressure of the destructive force.
Kugugugung!
Matter was breaking apart at the atomic level. A single blow could have easily defeated Taesan. As the shield’s duration ended, Taesan used Restricted Blink to leap through space.
“Unbelievable.”
It was a monstrous level of destruction. The Apostle was wielding such power repeatedly, as if these were just ordinary attacks, not even his trump card.
[You activated Focused Detection.]
[You activated Essence Identification.]
[You activated Reconnaissance.]
[Destroyer.]
Only a single piece of information appeared.
The people of India watching the battle cried out.
“Ooooooh!”
“O Lord Shiva! Please, forgive us!”
They cowered in fear of the Apostle, bowing their heads. Their emotions flowed toward the Apostle.
“Shiva?”
Taesan looked at the Apostle. Blue skin. Four arms. An unusual smile.
He certainly looked like the images of Shiva Taesan had seen online before.
He wondered if it was just a coincidence or if there was a real connection, but it wasn’t important right now.
The Apostle’s arms moved. Taesan unleashed divine power. Golden light enveloped his whole body as he threw himself forward.
[You activated Perfect Fairy Wings.]
He tried to evade first. Since the Apostle’s arms moved before every attack, it wasn’t difficult to understand the conditions of the attack. Taesan’s body moved rapidly through the air.
Jjeojeojeojeok!
But the Apostle’s power targeted Taesan precisely, even as he made evasive maneuvers.
Cracks spread instantly across the golden light enveloping his body.
On Earth, where he received direct faith, his divine power could regenerate infinitely, but the total amount he could wield at once was fixed. If the opponent’s power surpassed that total, not even divine power could withstand it.
[You activated Magic Stacking.]
[You activated White Rune Shield.]
He layered defensive spells and released them. But even so, he couldn’t endure it. The force that destroyed all things pierced through his defenses and reached Taesan.
[Your Second Absolute Attack Nullification has activated.]
The second nullification was used up.
But he had gathered rough information.
‘It can’t be dodged.’
He didn’t know the principle, but the Apostle’s power targeted Taesan with perfect precision.
Rather than being hit by force, it was closer to things simply going that way. At least, Taesan in his current state had no way to avoid it.
And blocking the destructive force was also useless. The opponent was an Immortal—an existence on a clearly higher level, making defense impossible.
How to respond? Taesan quickly reached a conclusion.
Head-on, with force, break through it.
The Apostle’s four arms moved. Taesan gathered his strength.
[You activated Call of Ruin.]
The force of ruin surged out. It collided with the destructive power attempting to crush Taesan.
Kiiiiiiiik!
But even the force of ruin could not reach. The thick, deep energy simply collapsed and vanished.
Taesan gathered even more strength.
[You activated Small Ember of Calamity.]
[You activated Light of the World.]
Light and flame burst forth. Taesan followed up by unleashing both magic and black magic in succession. As the immense forces clashed, space began to warp.
Jjeojeojeojeok!
The destructive power couldn’t reach Taesan and shattered.
The Apostle, however, was using his attacks with no cost. In contrast, Taesan was using Call of Ruin, Small Ember of Calamity, Light of the World—all with cooldowns—and was consuming large amounts of mana and Magi. At this rate, he would eventually lose out in stamina.
“I didn’t want to use this so soon.”
[You activated Partial World Alteration.]
The laws of the world changed. A world disadvantageous to the Apostle and favorable to Taesan began to form.
The Apostle brought all four hands together.
Kkigigijik!
The world’s laws twisted.
The world that had been altered by Partial World Alteration became warped and distorted as the laws clashed.
The Apostle once again wielded the power of destruction. Taesan gathered mana and Magi.
Kuuuuung!
The collision of forces darkened the world.
—
“Aaah!”
“O Taesan!”
The players of Korea offered fervent prayers to Taesan. Even Russian players, hesitating, began to pray as well.
But India was different.
They were praying to the Apostle, not Taesan.
“O Lord Shiva! Please! Please! Have mercy on us!”
“Please do not forsake us!”
They were still devout Hindus.
And right now, the Apostle looked extremely similar to the Shiva from their legends.
As a result, they began to believe the Apostle was the incarnation of Shiva, the god of destruction, who had come down to wipe them out.
As a result, they began to offer up their faith to the Apostle in terror.
And the faith they offered was making the Apostle even stronger. With the equilibrium created by Partial World Alteration, Taesan slowly began to be pushed back.
Maria quietly watched them.
An existence approached her.
[……O God.]
[A child bound in the labyrinth. What brings you here?]
The ghost steeled their resolve.
[Please, help Taesan. O great God.]
[Hmm.]
A languid voice echoed. The ghost tensed up.
To ask for something from a god without their permission—if it were a god with a bad temper, they might erase her on the spot.
But the ghost did not back down.
Maria looked at her for a moment and murmured.
[Speak. Why do you ask me to help him?]
[……Because he will lose.]
Taesan had won many battles before, battles where victory seemed impossible.
But this time was different.
[His opponent is an Immortal.]
An Immortal.
One who has completely transcended mortality.
Taesan could reach immortality in his current state, but only with conditional and limited power. He could hold out and face the opponent for a time, but the longer the battle went, the more certain Taesan’s defeat became.
[He has defeated an Immortal before, but only because the opponent was in a broken state, without reason or intellect. This time is different.]
The Apostle was in the position of a true Immortal.
Though the power was somewhat degraded by having been devoured, an Immortal was still an Immortal. Even with degraded power, a mortal could not hope to reach them.
In the end, Taesan would be defeated by the Apostle. That was an unchangeable result.
[If it is you, you could help Taesan win. The fact that the Apostle descended means your side was permitted to exert that much influence.]
[I won’t deny it. That is true. But why should I do so?]
Maria giggled.
The ghost swallowed.
Gods expect equivalent compensation from mortals who make wishes.
The ghost braced herself.
[I will offer myself.]
[That’s not a very attractive proposal. You don’t have much value to me…]
[I mean it literally. I will give everything of myself.]
Maria fell silent.
In the silence, her voice rang quietly.
[You understand what that means, don’t you? Offering yourself means your existence will disappear. None of your wishes will ever come true.]
[I understand.]
The ghost replied calmly, as if she had already accepted everything and reached her conclusion.
Maria looked at her for a moment and murmured.
[That is your choice, then.]
[Huh?]
[That’s a matter for later. You want me to help him?]
[……Yes.]
[I’m sorry, but I refuse.]
[What?]
The ghost was taken aback.
[You don’t want him to die, do you? Are you really going to just let this happen…?]
[You’re misunderstanding something. My help isn’t necessary.]
[But…]
[Just watch for now. You’ll understand too.]
Maria spoke leisurely. There was a certain confidence in her words that left the ghost unable to say anything more.
—
“Ooooh…”
“Aaah…”
The people of India offered prayers to the Apostle.
They begged the very being who sought to kill them to save them.
Only Hasan remained calm and assessed the situation.
‘What must I do to change this situation?’
He couldn’t intervene in the battle unfolding before him. It was a fight far beyond his perception and understanding.
But he couldn’t just sit and do nothing. He had to find a way to change the tide of battle.
After much thought, Hasan arrived at a solution.
The golden light surrounding Taesan.
Hasan didn’t know exactly what it was. It was far too advanced for him to comprehend.
But he could tell it was a power related to worship and faith.
Worship and belief.
Hasan looked at Korea’s’ players. They were praying to Taesan.
He couldn’t be sure. Gaining power from worship—just like a true god.
But it was possible.
Certain that this was the only thing he could do, Hasan quickly collected his thoughts and spoke.
[Hasan activated Shout.]
“Wake up!”
His booming voice rang out. The people of India, who had been praying to the Apostle, snapped back to their senses.
With a twisted expression, Hasan shouted.
“That is not our god!”
“But…”
“I know! The god of destruction—he looks like Shiva! But you all saw it!”
Hasan pointed at the Apostle.
“He kept changing his appearance! He transformed into the god we believe in to deceive us!”
Whether or not it was true, Hasan didn’t know.
He was simply declaring his own belief as truth. But that was enough. The fear that had clouded everyone’s faces began to fade.
“He is trying to kill us! So there’s someone else we should believe in!”
Kugugugung!
A thunderous roar erupted.
All eyes turned to Taesan.
“He’s fighting for us! He’s protecting us from the one you believed was Shiva!”
“O-oooh…”
Space twisted, and everything was collapsing.
Everything visible was falling apart from the aftermath of the battle.
Amid it all, Taesan was fighting the Apostle alone.
That power did not seem human.
It was like that of a god.
Hasan spoke softly.
“A god who doesn’t exist won’t protect us. What protects us is a real being. Now you all know who we should believe in.”
No one looked at the Apostle anymore. Every gaze was fixed on Taesan.
While continuing his battle with the Apostle, Taesan realized something.
At some point, the faith directed at him had grown even stronger.
As he blocked the Apostle’s attacks and glanced around, he saw a few Indians praying to him.
‘This is…’
As the faith amplified, the threshold to the next realm drew closer.
The faith from India was still weak. Not many people were praying to him yet.
He needed to make their faith stronger, to make more people believe in him. The method was simple.
Kaaaaang!
He repelled the force of destruction. Cracks spread through space.
The duration of Partial World Alteration was nearly over. Through the battle so far, he had sufficiently analyzed the Apostle’s power.
Now it was time to make the decisive move.
Taesan braced his whole body. As the Apostle’s hands moved, the force of destruction engulfed Taesan.
Taesan did not resist.
[Your Third Absolute Attack Nullification has activated.]
Time rewound.
And Taesan moved.
[You activated Beyond the Boundary.]
[You activated Undying Firebird.]
[You activated Forced Amplification.]
The phoenix manifested in the world. Flames enveloped his entire body, seizing the surroundings. The Apostle wielded the force of destruction with his four arms.
In the clash of power, Taesan activated yet another skill.
[You activated Eternal and Undying Faith.]
[You activated Mental Burden Substitution.]
His level briefly surpassed mortality.
Taesan gripped his sword and charged. The duration of Eternal and Undying Faith was very short. He had to end it before it ran out.
He spread his divinity. Golden light swept over the collapsing world. People cried out.
The Apostle brought his four hands together in prayer.
At the same time, an unprecedented pressure engulfed Taesan.
It was a force that twisted the concept itself—a power no being within the laws could resist.
But Taesan charged in even harder.
Taesan’s golden light mingled with black and turned ashen.
Taesan swung the ashen blade. The pressure shattered, opening a path to the Apostle.
Taesan charged at the Apostle and poured everything into his sword. The Apostle swung his four arms wildly.
Kugugugung…….
A light as if the world was ending enveloped the people. Maria’s barrier wavered for a moment.
When everything settled and people regained their sight, Taesan was still standing.
But only his outward appearance was unscathed.
[Your Last Opportunity has activated.]
[You received ©曲!!! damage.]
[Your Endurance has activated.]
Even though he survived thanks to Last Opportunity, the aftermath alone triggered Endurance. He had forcibly wielded power he could not handle with Eternal and Undying Faith, and this was the result.
The duration of Partial World Alteration ended.
So did Eternal and Undying Faith.
Taesan looked at the Apostle.
“Didn’t manage to kill him.”
The Apostle hadn’t fallen. In the end, he endured by borrowing the power of the Old gods.
Two of his four arms had been severed, and his lower half was half-destroyed, but he was still alive.
Taesan had no chance of victory left.
But this was enough.
“O-ooh…”
As everything settled, what the people saw was Taesan standing unscathed and the Apostle half-destroyed.
It was a dramatic scene.
The absolute being they had believed to be the god of destruction had been half-destroyed by Taesan.
In that instant, the people’s faith exploded.
It was the faith of over a hundred million lives.
The belief sent by all the lives occupying a vast continent.
A faith so thick it was visible to the naked eye reached Taesan.
At the same time, Taesan transcended mortality.
He reached a realm he had only been able to touch in limited, incomplete ways until now. A qualitatively different sensation enveloped his entire body.
It was a realm beyond mortality.
[Divine Power Mastery increased by 3%.]
[You have acquired [Immortality].]
