Chapter 410
Taesan accepted Haphran’s quest.
As a result, he now stood in Haphran’s destroyed world.
The world was not much different from before. It was still an ashen world, with no sense of anything living. It was, quite literally, a world filled only with death.
And in the midst of it, he felt a gaze upon him.
Intense hostility and killing intent.
The will of the world was acutely aware of him.
But unlike last time, there was no movement. The world didn’t stir up a storm or collapse the earth to crush him.
As if showing off its strength, it quietly waited for Taesan.
Taesan responded by heading toward the place where power was gathering.
Though the distance was considerable, to Taesan now, it was not a problem.
After a brief journey, Taesan once again arrived at the cave where the world’s will resided.
Taesan stamped his foot.
With that simple movement, the floor of the cave collapsed.
His body fell endlessly into an abyss. Taesan activated landing. His body landed at the bottom of the earth’s depths.
Taesan walked down a long corridor.
His steps were natural—almost like strolling down a familiar path.
At the end of the corridor, he reached a vast hall, where there was a pure white sphere.
A sphere that radiated light like the sun itself. What emanated from it was the will and power that had engulfed the entire planet.
[You have encountered the World.]
“The second time, huh.”
Taesan muttered. The world’s killing intent toward him was overwhelming.
Die.
It was the world’s proclamation. An absolute will, a word of command, fell upon Taesan.
[Instant death check in progress…]
[Check succeeded!]
He didn’t even need to use a word of command. At his current level, an instant death check was meaningless.
“Nice to see you again.”
Taesan spoke leisurely, raising his sword.
The world’s hostility grew even stronger.
When he first encountered the world’s will, he couldn’t even withstand a single strike. If not for the boundary, he would have truly died then.
But now, it was different.
Taesan braced his whole body. Countless buffs were activated throughout him.
[You have activated Apostle Transformation [Darkness and Chaos].]
[You have activated King’s Vessel.]
[You have activated Avatar of Nature.]
[Your Adversary of the World has activated.]
There was no judgment that victory was impossible, or even difficult.
Taesan now stood on equal footing with the being that had once destroyed Haphran and nearly killed him in a single blow.
“Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Taesan unleashed his aura. The world responded, unleashing its emotions.
Crack!
The plaza shattered and collapsed with a crunch. Amid the falling debris, Taesan leapt away.
Boom!
The world itself struck.
The power was in a completely different class from the wandering planet he had seen on the 75th floor. The falling fragments gathered and charged at Taesan.
[You have activated Forced Expulsion.]
An intangible shockwave burst outward from Taesan.
The fragments were shattered and scattered in every direction, unable to withstand the shockwave.
“This place is too cramped. Let’s move outside.”
[You have activated Random Blink.]
He had marked the way in.
Thanks to that, Taesan used Random Blink to move to the surface.
Boom!
Before long, the cave was obliterated.
The will of the planet, radiant as the sun, revealed itself above ground.
Nature responded to the will. The air sank, and the earth roared. The sky began to rumble with rage.
Ziiiiing!
Taesan activated divinity to shield his body. The world willed, and nature obeyed.
Crack!
The distant mountains collapsed.
Countless rocks and earth gathered to form a gigantic spike.
That spike, containing the mass of an entire mountain range, shot straight at Taesan.
If it wished, it could pierce an entire planet.
And it was more than just physical force. Inside was the will of the world—the power that had once driven Taesan to the brink of death.
But Taesan didn’t use the boundary.
He simply watched the spike fly at him, gripped his sword with both hands, and raised it high.
Then, as the spike approached, he swung down.
Rumble!
His body was pushed back by the force, but he didn’t fall. He braced his legs and held his ground. He strengthened his grip on the sword.
Boom!
The spike, made from the compressed mass of mountains, shattered and scattered in all directions.
He had broken the world’s force with nothing but raw power—no skills.
“You can’t kill me with brute force like that.”
Taesan flicked his sword. After a moment, the world began to move.
The giant core, bright as the sun, broke apart.
From the debris, something in human form arose.
A being of pure white, almost like a spirit.
That was the will of the world.
[Pure, condensed power itself.]
The core’s form wasn’t suitable for facing the tiny Taesan. So, the world changed form to match him.
The world raised its hand. At the same time, power focused. No longer just using size, but focusing its force precisely on Taesan.
Taesan responded. The power of destruction roared all around.
[You have activated Call of Ruin.]
Black power greedily filled the world.
The world grew angry. As if such a force could not be tolerated here, it once again unleashed its might.
Matter collapsed and space distorted.
But Taesan didn’t stop moving. He stamped his foot at the ground that tried to swallow him.
[You have activated Magic Stacking.]
[You have activated Earthquake.]
The earth exploded. Then, Taesan surrounded himself with three shields he had memorized and activated Mana Storm. The rampaging storm surged toward the world.
The world brought its hands together.
At the same time, the air, the earth—everything that made up the world—gathered and swirled together. Another storm clashed against Mana Storm.
Clack clack clack!
[Whoa.]
The ghost groaned at the tempest raging before them. The quality, quantity, and level of power were in a different league from a wandering planet.
This was the world itself.
And Taesan was not being pushed back at all.
[You have activated Decarabia’s Twisted Vegetation.]
[You have activated Skill Acceleration.]
Rumble!
Roots were summoned. The world immediately smashed them with its power, but the roots that swallowed space didn’t retreat easily.
[You have activated Limited Blink.]
Taesan aimed for the moment the world’s power was focused. In an instant, he moved right before the world’s human form.
[You have activated Acceleration.]
[You have activated Skill Acceleration.]
He poured power into his sword and thrust forward.
The world gathered power. A willful defense was manifested.
But it didn’t matter.
[You have activated Absolute Judgment.]
The defense itself was erased.
The white body trembled for a moment. It almost looked surprised.
As Taesan’s sword was about to strike, the body scattered.
It appeared elsewhere.
The evasion itself wasn’t surprising. This was literally the opponent’s domain, so it could move through space as it pleased.
What mattered was that it dodged.
It didn’t ignore his attack—it avoided it.
If he landed a hit, it would do meaningful damage.
He worked to break down the world, bit by bit.
The world realized something as well. At this rate, it could not win against Taesan.
So, it made a decision.
The world raised its hand. At the tip, a small blue light condensed into a bead.
An unfamiliar, powerful energy radiated from the small bead.
The world hurled the bead.
The bead flew toward Taesan and exploded just as it reached him.
It was the power of wind.
A blast of wind, condensed to its limit, swept everything away. As the bead flew at him, Taesan responded. He used defensive magic and activated Embers of Calamity to neutralize the force.
Clack clack clack!
But the wind forcibly snuffed out the embers and shredded his defenses.
Even with preparation, the force was so great he couldn’t block it.
He was hit by the sweeping blades.
[Your first Absolute Attack Nullification has activated.]
Taesan quickly put distance between himself and quietly observed the remnants of wind.
The power inside was greater than anything the world had shown so far.
It was not simply strength.
Taesan realized what kind of force it was.
‘Authority.’
The unique power possessed by those who have transcended mortality.
Ziiiiing!
Another bead appeared, this time brown. It flew at Taesan and exploded.
Boom!
At the same time, countless rocks poured out.
Taesan raised his sword.
[You have activated Collapse.]
A skill earned by passing the trial of the God of Collapse. Its effect was the destruction of anything the sword touched.
[You have activated Raging Gale Dash.]
He swung his sword like a storm. The flying rocks collapsed and never reached him.
Ziiiiing!
As the bead’s effect disappeared, another bead flew at Taesan.
But Taesan instead rushed at the bead.
Before the power could even activate, Taesan collided with the bead, and it exploded with a roar.
[Your second Absolute Attack Nullification has activated.]
His attack nullification activated. In that brief moment, Taesan analyzed the power within the bead.
‘So that’s it.’
It condensed the world itself into bead form and detonated it.
That was the world’s authority.
It was an incredibly powerful force. Taesan didn’t have many skills that could block it without harm.
But there were ways.
“If this is all you’ve got, you can’t beat me.”
Many strategies ran through Taesan’s mind.
He couldn’t use Partial World Alteration. Nor negation magic. He didn’t have the materials left.
The boundary was also not for this situation.
The enemy could use spatial movement to evade.
And, seeing it use only one bead at a time, it seemed unable to use more simultaneously.
So, what was the optimal move?
Neutralize the bead’s power and strike the world with overwhelming force.
As the answer came, Taesan acted.
[You have activated Astaroth’s Darkness Infiltration.]
[You have activated the Magic Circle of Brilliant Blue Barrier.]
He shrouded himself in darkness to reduce incoming damage, and protected his body with a barrier magic circle.
[You have activated Magic Stacking.]
The spell for stacking was decided.
[You have activated Great Collapse.]
Rumble!
Mana condensed and the sphere of collapse appeared in the world.
The world swiftly manipulated another bead. Once again, Taesan didn’t try to block it.
[Your third Absolute Attack Nullification has activated.]
[You have activated Great Collapse.]
Rumble!
Power condensed again.
A heavy strain began to weigh on Taesan’s body.
[You have taken 1,233 damage.]
[You have taken 2,312 damage.]
Even though he protected his body with magic and black magic, and partially mitigated sustained damage with Absolute Blessing, the damage still came through.
And one more time.
[You have activated Great Collapse.]
Crack.
Space itself shattered.
A sphere of collapse, darker and deeper than anything, appeared in the world.
“Whew.”
Taesan caught his breath.
Even now, the aftereffects of collapse were eating away at his health, but it wasn’t enough to make him falter.
And as the collapses stacked, the world sensed something was wrong.
The power within was enough to destroy this world. The world instinctively realized this.
It had to be stopped. The world gathered all its strength into a bead.
Ziiiiing!
The bead shimmered with rainbow colors.
The very essence of the world—every power concentrated.
With this, it could block even the power Taesan now wielded. Just as the world tried to hurl the bead at Taesan—
[You have activated Replication.]
Another sphere appeared.
With no warning or fluctuation, another sphere of collapse—capable of destroying all things—was manifested.
The world faltered, faced with an unbelievable sight.
And that was not all.
[You have activated the Distorted Ring of Regret. Replication cooldown has been reset.]
[You have activated Replication.]
Another sphere appeared.
Now three spheres of collapse existed in the world.
[…What is this.]
The ghost was speechless.
“Now, try to block it.”
[You have activated Magic Liberation.]
[You have activated Absolute Judgment.]
[You have activated Aegis Shield, now imbued with divinity.]
Three spheres of collapse, capable of destroying all, advanced to annihilate everything.