Chapter 392
And at that moment, the people could sense it too.
They felt that something about Taesan had changed.
They couldn’t explain it exactly, but a transformation had taken place. Taesan no longer seemed like a being of the same kind as themselves.
Those who had been praying simply stared blankly at Taesan. Maria quietly smiled.
[He’s made it.]
[Ah…….]
The ghost let out a groan.
He stared at Taesan with a blank expression.
[That is…….]
Taesan looked at his own hand. He could easily tell that everything about himself had changed, starting from the most fundamental concept.
Guruk.
The Apostle’s shattered body began to regenerate.
Four arms moved, and power manifested.
Kururung!
The force of destruction engulfed Taesan. An attack from an Immortal that could not be blocked, even with all his strength.
Taesan gripped his sword tightly.
He stepped forward, twisted his waist, and swung his arm. The sword and the force of destruction collided.
Kuuuuuung!
A deafening roar erupted. The force of destruction shattered like glass and scattered.
He had not used the power of ruin, nor activated Beyond the Boundary, nor manipulated the boundary, nor used Partial World Alteration.
He had simply swung his sword with strength, and it had blocked the force of destruction.
“So this is what it’s like.”
This was truly a lofty realm.
Taesan now stood on the same level as the Apostle. Taesan bared his teeth.
“Let’s try again.”
Taesan kicked off the ground. The Apostle’s four arms moved violently.
The battle began again.
The force of destruction surged at Taesan. Taesan kicked off and launched himself into the air.
Until now, he hadn’t been able to evade the force of destruction. It had always hit as if it were destined to.
But not anymore. The force of destruction could no longer reach Taesan.
The Apostle raised all four arms high toward the sky.
The force of destruction poured down, as if to crush the entire world. It was an attack so wide there was no space to dodge.
Taesan gathered mana.
[You activated Magic Stacking.]
He condensed cold, light, and flame, then unleashed them all at once.
[You activated Magic Liberation.]
[You activated Forced Amplification.]
The fused power spread in all directions. The power itself was not so different from before, but the realm was different. The magic clashed with the force of destruction.
Now, he was certain—he could break through with force.
[You activated Acceleration.]
[You activated Skill Acceleration.]
He gathered strength in his legs and leapt. In an instant, his body reached the Apostle’s side.
The Apostle began to react, actively moving his body to evade Taesan—unlike before.
Kwadudeuk.
Swinging his sword, he shattered the force of destruction and used magic and black magic to carve a path. He chased after the Apostle, who tried to widen the distance and unleash his power.
As everything was collapsing, Taesan slowly drew closer to the Apostle.
The Apostle hurriedly moved all four hands, forcibly gathering the force of destruction and striking down like a pillar.
That power had neither shockwave nor impact. It was an absolute force that erased everything it touched.
But Taesan didn’t back down. He and the Apostle now stood at the same level. There was no reason to avoid it.
[You activated Blade of Fighting Spirit.]
He channeled strength into his sword and swung. The pillar and the blade collided, and space itself shattered in that moment.
Kiiiiiiing!
As space collapsed, it began to eat away at Taesan’s body.
[You received [system protected]#[system protected]@ damage.]
[You received @#### damage.]
[You received s$%%[system protected] damage.]
A twist in space that not even absolute protection could stop.
But he did not fall.
He might take damage, but he would not die. He could endure it.
Taesan protected his body with divine power and imbued his blade with his realm. He gathered all his strength and swung his sword.
With a noise, the pillar of destruction shattered.
The twisted space returned to normal.
“You try stopping this.”
He gathered Magi, opened a channel toward the demon, and drew out the true power of black magic. The process was faster than ever before.
[You activated Gaf’s Massive Boulder.]
A massive boulder fell from the sky onto the Apostle.
The Apostle wielded the force of destruction, but the boulder did not break easily.
In the end, the Apostle swung all four arms roughly and smashed the boulder, shattering it like a meteor shower.
During that moment, Taesan drove his sword into the Apostle’s chest.
[!#$!# received [system protected]@ damage.]
He swung his sword, splitting the upper body in two.
The Apostle tried to respond by swinging his arms, but Taesan didn’t allow it. He grabbed the arms and twisted. The Apostle’s body staggered and fell. Taesan kicked him and brought his sword down.
In an instant, the Apostle’s body was split apart.
And this attack was very meaningful. The Apostle’s entire form was starting to distort dangerously.
Kwajik.
Taesan drove his sword into the Apostle’s neck, then swung with force. It was the moment he tried to press the attack even harder.
The Apostle’s form collapsed.
The shape twisted, turning into an undefined form. At the same time, a dark color began to spread in all directions.
Danger. Taesan’s instincts warned him. He used Restricted Blink to escape the gathering darkness.
Gururuk.
Putting distance between himself and the Apostle, Taesan watched his opponent.
The Apostle had become a formless, vaguely human shape.
A black power engulfed the space around the Apostle.
Taesan could sense it. This was the end.
The Apostle, finding that Immortal power could no longer stop Taesan, had abandoned everything and returned to his original form.
The blackness condensed. The power inside, if unleashed, could destroy the entire world.
Taesan raised his sword. Divinity began to concentrate in the blade.
Kiiiiiiiiing!
It was dazzlingly bright.
If the divinity he had wielded until now was like a firefly, this was truly a light as bright as the sun itself. Having obtained the qualifications and rights, he could now handle divinity much more directly.
People shielded their eyes and bowed low. The ghost watched the scene in a daze.
And the golden light gradually turned darker.
It became ashen.
The Apostle swung the condensed blackness. Taesan infused ashen light into his sword and charged straight in.
The blackness was the power of the Old gods.
A force that twisted the laws and destroyed reality. For any being within the laws, blocking it was almost impossible.
But it didn’t matter to Taesan.
Kagagagak!
Ashen and black clashed, trying to devour each other.
And the victor was the ashen light.
Taesan advanced, devouring the blackness that sought to consume the world. The Apostle desperately drew out more power, but it was useless.
Kwadudeuk.
And the path was opened.
Taesan lifted his sword and murmured.
“Farewell.”
The Apostle tried to move his body to resist. But Taesan’s sword was faster. He activated Transformation, Addition, and every other skill. Ashen light sliced the Apostle in half.
[(Stab!!!)]
With an incomprehensible scream, the Apostle’s body disintegrated.
And the power within seeped into Taesan.
It was foreign. It raged, as if unwilling to be consumed by Taesan. The force alone could have felled tens of thousands of mortals.
But in the end, it was swallowed by Taesan and quietly subsided.
[You have defeated !#$!.]
[Your Soul Rank Ascension has activated.]
[Proficiency in Twisted Soul Rank Calibration increased by 5%.]
[Proficiency in Blackness increased by %$#$%.]
[Proficiency in Boundary Line increased by 1#%.]
[Proficiency in Word of Command increased by 3%.]
[Proficiency in ??? increased by 4%.]
[Proficiency in Seed of Life increased by 13%.]
[Proficiency in Apostle Slayer increased by 7%.]
[Soul Skill [Destroyer] acquired.]
[You have defeated the minion of the Old gods. Special passive skill [Enemy of the Old gods] acquired.]
[You have defeated the being of ruin and saved the world. Title [Savior] acquired.]
Taesan sheathed his sword. As the ashen light faded, everything became visible.
At last, the people could see it.
Taesan standing alone.
A thunderous cheer erupted. Deep and fervent faith flowed toward Taesan.
—
[One week later.]
Return to the labyrinth.
A single system message appeared.
It meant everything was over.
Taesan was in a place far away from the people. He had escaped because their cries were so loud.
He had won. And this victory brought him significant gains—his essential rank had risen. There was so much to check.
[Immortality]
One who has transcended mortality. A state beyond the cycle of life and death, standing alone and whole. One who has drawn closer to the laws.
The skill he obtained through the faith of the people—Immortality.
[Do you feel anything different?]
The ghost quietly asked. Taesan replied.
“A few things have changed.”
First of all, his very concept of self had changed.
Until now, he had barely been clinging to the category of the human race, but now he truly felt he had stepped beyond that category.
“And… my perspective has changed.”
[You can see it?]
“I can’t quite express it in words, but I feel like I can see something more fundamental. Other than that, there’s not much difference.”
The ghost spoke as if half understanding, half unsure.
[It’s the first time I’ve seen someone become immortal directly. I can’t really say.]
Though the ghost knew many things, he naturally didn’t know the precise differences that occurred the moment a mortal became immortal.
“I’m sure I’ll understand it naturally as time goes by. But there’s one thing I know for certain: I’m still me.”
He was Taesan.
His concept had changed, and his perspective had shifted, but he was still himself. That hadn’t changed.
Reaching the realm of immortality hadn’t changed much. Only his power and rank had risen.
The ghost let out an admiring sigh.
[You’re… truly incredible.]
To reach the realm of immortality—especially in such a short time. Compared to the time the Guides of Sin had invested in the labyrinth, it was nearly an instant.
“It’s just one of the places I would have reached anyway.”
But Taesan summarized it calmly.
It was a realm he would have reached eventually. Considering his goal, he couldn’t afford to be satisfied with just immortality.
The Old gods were beings that even transcendents found troublesome—those who were beyond even that.
If anything, this was just finally reaching the starting line.
The important thing was what he could do now that he had reached immortality.
There was so much to confirm: soul skills, divinity, the crystallized divine blood and essence of the world he had obtained, and the flower ornament Maria had given him.
Taesan was about to check them one by one.
[You look quite busy.]
Maria quietly descended beside Taesan. She smiled and asked,
[How do you feel?]
“It’s not bad. Closer to good, I’d say.”
Taesan answered calmly, looking at Maria.
‘…It’s unbelievable.’
Perhaps because he had reached the realm of immortality, he could perceive Maria’s power at a much more fundamental level than before.
That power was endless.
If Taesan was a river, Maria was an entire ocean. The difference between them was vast.
And even that wasn’t the full extent. Taesan still didn’t have nearly enough rank or strength to comprehend Maria.
That was a transcendent.
She was a being on par with Rakiratas, who possessed two domains.
[You have reached immortality, but… this is only the beginning. I have been in this place for an incomprehensibly long time.]
Maria spoke quietly.
[Normally, you would have stayed there forever, but that’s not your story. In any case, congratulations. You have reached the place of true solitude.]
“Thank you.”
[Then I should give you a gift to celebrate.]
Maria’s power spread, beginning to envelop the entire world.
[You thwarted the Old gods’ plan. And you perfectly dealt with their Apostle, who had been a long-standing nuisance to us. This is your reward.]
And the deepest part of that power sank into Taesan.