Chapter 424
They charged at him.
The first to strike was the one wielding a sword.
Clang!
Blades clashed.
Taesan exerted strength through his arm. The opponent, unable to withstand it, was knocked back.
But they quickly regained their stance and lunged again.
Taesan was clearly stronger than them.
But in terms of pure [rank], they were on equal footing. He couldn’t completely ignore them.
Clang!
He pushed back with his sword. A spear slipped into the opening.
Taesan didn’t block with his sword.
He quickly retrieved a spear from his inventory.
With a spin, he deflected the opponent’s spear and immediately thrust. The opponent didn’t retreat. They charged instead.
Their body moved naturally.
They dodged Taesan’s thrust and yanked the deflected spear toward themselves.
Effective, but devoid of personal intent.
That was a [counter skill].
Taesan responded in kind.
[You have activated Counter.]
Two identical [skills] triggered simultaneously. In such cases, the winner was determined by base stats and mastery.
“Grrgh!”
The opponent was pushed back.
There was no time to rest.
Magic and dark magic flew toward Taesan. A bright [Starlight Arrow] that blinded his sight. A pitch-black wave that devoured everything.
No skill window appeared, but he recognized the spells. They were [Starlight Arrow] and [Marbas’s Pitch-black Wave].
[You have activated Starlight Arrow.]
[You have activated Marbas’s Pitch-black Wave.]
Identical attacks were manifested.
They devoured the opponent’s power and surged toward them. In a panic, they deployed [defensive skills] to block.
“Ifrit!”
[Looks like we’re up against someone famous around here.]
Flames surged, and a handsome man appeared.
He held immense power.
‘Spirit King of Fire.’
Then he’d counter with a fellow Spirit King.
[You have summoned the Spirit King of Wind, Minerva.]
Wind gathered, and a beautiful woman appeared.
“Haha. I didn’t expect to fight another Spirit King.”
[We are nothing more than avatars formed according to our contractor’s will. Let us see, young Spirit King. I’ll show you the power of age.]
“I won’t lose!”
Wind and fire collided.
Minerva overwhelmed Ifrit with her pressure. Though Ifrit counterattacked, her overwhelming wind shut him down and erased him.
A Spirit King’s strength scaled with their contractor.
Minerva could use her full power.
And after absorbing Vishnu’s core, she was far stronger than other Spirit Kings.
Rumble!
A 1 vs. 5 battle.
The one held overwhelming superiority. The spear-user couldn’t parry Taesan’s strike and had their arm pierced.
Retreating swiftly, the opponent let out a bitter smile.
“…You’re monstrously strong. And yet even someone like you was deceived by the God of Fall?”
“Think whatever you want. I’m not explaining.”
Taesan stored his spear and drew his sword. He deflected a descending slash using [Strong Strike]. Then the [Frozen World] engulfed him.
Taesan responded with his own [Frozen World].
Crackle!
He instantly swallowed the opponent’s frozen world and blanketed everything in his own. The opponent barely escaped using [Restricted Blink] and grimaced.
“…What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you fighting us using the exact same skills?”
Taesan was matching every opponent’s fighting style.
Sword against sword.
Spear against spear.
Magic against magic, dark magic against dark magic, spirits against spirits.
And each time, he used the exact same [skills] they used. He was aiming for something.
“I told you—I had something to test.”
Taesan answered simply and swung his sword.
The opponent barely managed to hold on, but the battle was one-sided. The difference in mastery and base stats was immense. Even though Taesan limited himself to matching their skills, they began to fall one by one.
Boom!
At last, the final opponent fell. Taesan thrust his spear through their heart.
The dying opponent looked serene.
“I don’t know why someone like you came here. But… it doesn’t matter. This place was designed that way.”
“That’s not for you to judge. That’s my call.”
The last opponent vanished.
Their soul drifted toward the village.
Then a system window appeared.
[Your Soul Rank Ascension has activated. Counter’s mastery increased by 1%.]
[You used identical skills to defeat opponents with varying powers. You have acquired the passive skill [Perfect Supremacy].]
“It worked.”
[Skill acquisition] was impossible when the power gap was too wide.
So what if he intentionally lowered his [rank]?
The experiment was a success.
[Passive Skill: Perfect Supremacy]
[Mastery: 1%]
[When responding with the same skill as your opponent, its power and speed increase.]
A skill that could only be obtained by fighting Tower adventurers.
The condition was to fight five or more opponents, each using different types of power, and defeat them using identical skills.
Each of the five had to use a power Taesan already possessed, and he had to win even when limiting himself to that form. It was a difficult condition.
And unlike skills like [One Who Hides in the Shadows], this couldn’t be obtained if the power difference was too great.
“This opens up new possibilities.”
There were skills he had in his previous life that he hadn’t acquired in this one.
Ironically, he might not be able to obtain them now—because he was too powerful.
Reaching immortality made acquiring skills far more difficult.
He’d been thinking about how to resolve that—and now he had the answer. If he sealed his own power and [rank], he could still gain [skills].
But sealing his [rank] wasn’t easy.
At least, not by his own power. It would take a [transcendent-level contract]—and no god would just seal his power for no reason.
Even those who favored him among the transcendent beings wouldn’t do that. They didn’t like shortcuts.
“Still, it’s a start.”
One was enough. Now he just had to find ways to meet the other conditions.
With the test complete, Taesan kept moving to gather points.
And in less than two days, he had 100 [points].
Taesan stood before the pillar.
“O God of Fall. I have fulfilled the condition.”
Rumble!
The pillar activated.
The God of Fall’s gaze appeared.
“I request the Colosseum of Liberation.”
The God of Fall accepted—with laughter.
*
*
The colosseum opened once again.
The news reached everyone in the Model Garden. None expected it to open this quickly, and they gathered at the colosseum with surprise and anticipation.
“Mr. Taesan, what’s your plan?”
“I’m here to confirm something.”
Taesan replied to Diana.
The seats filled, space split, and the [Apostle] appeared.
“So it was you who triggered this so soon.”
The Apostle bared his teeth at Taesan.
“How dare a lowly being defy Essence. You’ve made a mistake. I’ll teach you what respect means.”
“You? To me?”
Taesan responded calmly.
The Apostle’s strength was on Diana’s level.
He had no chance of winning against Taesan. But his expression brimmed with confidence.
“I know I’m weaker than you. But in this place, I can still defeat you!”
The Apostle charged with a clenched fist.
Taesan swung his sword.
Crunch.
Fist and sword collided, and the Apostle’s body was crushed.
Taesan added power to his arm.
The Apostle flew back, crashing into the colosseum wall with a roar and a cloud of dust.
“Ooooh!”
After a brief silence, cheers erupted from the crowd.
None had ever seen the Apostle overwhelmed like this. Hope ignited in their eyes.
The Apostle staggered to his feet.
Taesan’s earlier strike couldn’t be blocked unscathed at the Apostle’s level.
And yet there were no major injuries on his body.
“You’ve probably analyzed all my powers.”
This was the God of Fall’s domain. He likely knew most of what Taesan could do.
There was no reason to hold back.
[You have activated Great Collapse.]
Crackle!
The power to destroy all things manifested. The crowd gasped. Among them, those who seemed to be mages widened their eyes.
“High-level magic!”
Taesan unleashed [Great Collapse].
The Apostle didn’t retreat. He raised his fist and hurled it at the incoming collapse.
Crackle!
But [Great Collapse] disrupted the very concept of existence.
It ignored the Apostle’s counter and consumed him.
“Raaahhh!”
The Apostle roared and exploded with power. His energy surged and intensified.
And Taesan saw it.
New power emerging within the Apostle.
“Aaaaaah!”
He gathered every ounce of strength and hurled it at the [Great Collapse].
Boom!
The explosion scattered debris across their vision.
“Did it end?”
The Apostle couldn’t possibly block that power.
Hope lit up in everyone’s faces.
As the debris faded, the Apostle appeared.
“Hahaha!”
He was covered in wounds, his body drenched in blood.
But he hadn’t fallen.
He glared at Taesan with a proud face.
“I will never lose!”
—
Taesan overwhelmed the Apostle.
The Apostle barely survived [Great Collapse], severely injured. He couldn’t respond properly to Taesan’s follow-up attacks and began taking more damage.
But he didn’t fall.
He roared, drew more power, and somehow kept defending.
The spectators believed Taesan would win—and visually, it looked like he was.
But Taesan’s expression remained cold.
[You have activated Baal’s Surge of the Sevenfold Black Space.]
The black space surged forward. It contained the power of the Archdemon Baal. The cornered Apostle shouldn’t have been able to block it.
“Ughhh!”
But he didn’t fall.
On the brink of death, he somehow drew on new power and barely blocked [Surge of the Sevenfold Black Space]. Just like with [Great Collapse].
Disappointed sighs echoed.
“I told you! I won’t lose!”
The Apostle grinned and charged again.
Taesan swung his sword.
Clang!
The Apostle wasn’t pushed back. Unlike before, he now responded to Taesan’s attacks, adapting with every move.
From the outside, it looked like he was countering Taesan.
But Taesan could tell.
The Apostle’s strength was forcibly adjusting to match his.
Like a typical unbeatable boss in a game.
Even at 1 HP, he regenerated endlessly. His strength and speed kept rising.
He was designed so that you would always lose.
They were just pretending to allow hope—but it was a rigged fight.
Taesan’s sword began to glow with black and gold.
The [Boundary Line].
The observers immediately stepped back. All ominous power gathered into his blade.
His immortal [rank] was sealed, so he couldn’t wield it fully—but this much was enough. Taesan swung the Boundary Line.
“Ooooooo!”
The Apostle didn’t retreat.
“My god!”
The power in the [Boundary Line] shook the laws of reality.
There was no way the Apostle could remain unharmed.
But Taesan saw it.
The Apostle was wielding something he couldn’t comprehend—an otherworldly power.
“Grant me your power! Let all who defy you fall into the abyss!”
And [Authority] descended on Taesan.
It began to affect all of Taesan’s manifested powers.
The [Boundary Line] crumbled. Like a fall from a cliff, the power and rank it held rapidly dropped.
The gray shattered, revealing hints of black and gold.
The Apostle clenched his fist and struck the oncoming Boundary Line.
Rumble!
The gray exploded and split into black and gold.
Taesan stared at the Apostle, his expression unchanged.
“Hahahaha!”
The Apostle laughed maniacally.
His body was wrecked.
One arm gone, his torso in tatters.
But he still hadn’t fallen.
He shouted at Taesan. His wounds regenerated in an instant.
“Your power is certainly strong! But! You didn’t think it was all-powerful, did you?!”
The old gods were beings beyond laws—contaminators of the world.
But they were ultimately defeated.
Driven away by the [transcendents], banished beyond the veil.
In other words, transcendents could stand against them.
“You can’t defeat me! You will never leave this place!”
The Apostle cried out with certainty.
He laughed—but Taesan muttered softly.
“Not bad.”
“…What?”
“It doesn’t erase or block power—it pulls it down. That’s an interesting ability. I’m intrigued.”
“You bastard?”
The Apostle had just forced Taesan to waste his trump card.
It was a despairing outcome. Yet Taesan’s face showed no change.
In fact, he even looked pleased.
“Why aren’t you panicking?”
“Why should I panic? This is exciting.”
Taesan replied flatly.
“Because I’m going to take that power for myself.”