Chapter 458
The ashen domain spread across the entire United States. At the same time, the screen Zervand had been showing the people was cut off.
“Uh, what?”
“What’s going on?”
People panicked. Lee Taeyeon instinctively looked at Zervand, but he shook his head.
“That wasn’t me. That was him.”
“Pardon?”
“This is interesting.”
Zervand watched the ashen domain with fascination.
His magic had been forcibly canceled within the ashen domain—it hadn’t been granted permission to exist there.
Even through his vision, he couldn’t identify the power contained inside the ash.
It was truly alien. That space couldn’t be considered part of this world.
Yet it didn’t belong to the Old god either.
It was a space meant solely for Taesan.
BOOM!
Battle continued within the ashen domain. Taesan, cloaked in ash, pressed forward against the Old god.
The giant raised its arm and brought it crashing down. Taesan didn’t retreat—he leapt upward and swung his sword infused with ash.
BOOM!
Taesan was pushed back. But he wasn’t the only one.
The giant was also forced backward.
He had successfully parried an attack that had once driven him to death.
The giant straightened its stance with irritation and extended its arm. Taesan activated [Great Collapse].
[You have activated [Great Collapse – Chaos].]
The ashen [Great Collapse] collided with the giant.
With a thunderous roar, the giant’s arm was pushed back.
[!!!!!]
A voiceless scream burst forth. The power contained in it was immense. Had it retained its original strength, this alone would have shredded the atmosphere.
But not here.
Taesan raised a wave of ash that swallowed the howl, then kicked off the ground and charged at the giant.
CRACK!
He cloaked his body in [Boundary Line], enhancing his physical strength as he swung. The massive fist and the sword clashed, and space shook violently.
BOOM!
This was Taesan’s domain.
Everything within it was in his grasp.
The giant began to fall back. It shifted its focus from attack to defense.
Ash engulfed the giant’s foot and climbed upward. It stomped in an attempt to shake it off, but the ash steadily crept up and enveloped the entire body.
CRACK!
A mark formed on the giant’s wrist where Taesan’s sword struck. Blood poured out like a waterfall.
In this ashen world, the divine authority surrounding the giant’s body distorted and shattered.
CRAACK!
He blew off the giant’s fingers. Flesh burst in every direction.
Taesan gripped his sword and slammed it into the chest.
BOOM!
The giant couldn’t withstand it and collapsed. Taesan climbed onto its chest.
“Devour it.”
SPLAAASH!
At Taesan’s command, the ash surged forth and latched onto the giant’s body.
It restrained the limbs and ripped open the chest. In an instant, the giant’s inner flesh was exposed. The giant struggled, but couldn’t easily shake off the ash wrapping around its entire body.
And within the chest—he saw the giant’s core.
Taesan reached into the air. Space split open.
[You have activated [Blade of the World – Chaos].]
It was the broken [Blade of the World].
Once used, the [Blade of the World] took a long time to recover. And since it had been shattered by the giant’s attack, it shouldn’t be usable for a while.
But it didn’t matter.
The ash crept in. The fragments of the broken blade were filled with [Boundary Line].
He took up the blade now blended with ash and brought it down toward the giant’s core.
CRAACK!
The giant’s core let out a silent scream. It thrashed violently, but the ash didn’t budge.
Cracks spread across the core like spiderwebs. Taesan gathered the essence of the world into the blade and poured in all his strength.
KLANG!
Like a glass orb, the core shattered. The power contained inside surged outward. It tried to escape beyond this world—returning to its original master.
But the [Boundary Line] forcibly blocked its escape. As Taesan’s [Spirit Rank Ascension] activated, the power trying to return to its owner was forcefully stolen.
[You have defeated the seventh fragment of the World Destroyer.]
[You have activated [Spirit Rank Ascension].]
[Your proficiency in [Twisted Spirit Coordination] has increased by 6%.]
[Your proficiency in [Black] has increased by 6%.]
[Your proficiency in [Boundary Line] has increased by !%@#%.]
[Your proficiency in [Will of All Things] has increased by 5%.]
[Your proficiency in [Domain of Chaos] has increased by #%[system protected]%]
[You have stolen the transcendental trait [Immutable Self].]
[You have obtained the special passive skill [Resistance to the Beyond] for maintaining your will and emerging victorious against an Old god.]
System windows filled his vision. And within the shattered core, he saw a tiny droplet of blood.
Taesan reached out and grasped the droplet.
[You have obtained the Blood of the World Destroyer.]
It was over.
Taesan deactivated the [Domain of Chaos]. Intense fatigue and weakness immediately consumed him. His body, which normally never felt exhaustion, was now in a state of total depletion.
‘That was closer than I thought.’
As the ash faded, Zervand’s magic reactivated.
What the people saw was Taesan, standing alone in a ruined world.
Taesan was the victor.
A thunderous cheer erupted. Loud enough to shake the entire United States.
They had survived.
They had won.
[Quest complete.]
[Returning to the Labyrinth in one week.]
—
A grand feast broke out. Normally, when an Earth quest ended, people didn’t feel much joy. They had survived, yes, but the damage was always immense.
But this time was different.
Thanks to Taesan, the quest to protect the pillars resulted in minimal casualties, and not a single person died during the final quest.
It was a perfect clear—flawless and more successful than anyone could have hoped.
And then, there was the power and authority Taesan had shown.
He had won against a monster they couldn’t even describe. The mood couldn’t possibly be anything but elated.
Taesan was satisfied, too. He had achieved all the goals he had set.
[Divinity]
[Proficiency: ???]
[A mark received by one who holds the world’s faith. One of the qualifications to be called a god.]
His [Divine Power] had evolved into full-fledged [Divinity].
And the transformation it brought was immense.
Taesan lightly released his power. Golden light spread across the world, wrapping around the entirety of the United States.
Yet it consumed no significant energy or mental strain.
Until now, there had been limits to how much [Divine Power] he could use. It felt like something was blocking him from going further.
Now, that restriction was gone.
As long as he had enough total energy, he could theoretically cover the entire world in [Divinity].
And the quality and nature of his [Divinity] had changed. Previously, it had been mostly about healing and defense—but now, he could wield it as an offensive weapon.
That was why he had been able to block the Old god’s attacks using only [Divinity].
He could now imbue even magic or black magic with [Divinity].
He could enhance his entire body or pressure his opponent. As a support skill, its versatility bordered on omnipotent.
As such, the [Boundary Line] skill—now mixing black and divine energy—could be used in much more advanced ways. It wasn’t just a protective shell anymore; it could shape an entire domain.
[Domain of Chaos]
[Proficiency: ???]
[A domain created by mixing Divinity and Black. Everything within the domain is subject to the caster’s will.]
Taesan looked at the skill for a moment and activated [Domain of Chaos].
He deployed it in a very small area—about the size of a building.
It was an ashen domain.
As the domain’s master, Taesan could sense it clearly.
The laws of the world did not apply here.
If he wished, even the concept of death could be erased in this space.
Of course, there were limits.
On Earth, since he received direct faith, his [Divinity] was infinite. And now that he had acquired proper [Divinity], those restrictions were essentially gone.
However, even with all the faith he received, the consumption rate of [Domain of Chaos] exceeded it.
It was unclear whether he could sustain it in places other than Earth.
As he examined the domain’s effects and limitations—
Someone stepped into his world.
“How do you feel?”
“Not bad.”
Taesan replied.
Zervand entered the ashen domain with a cheerful smile.
Taesan looked at him. This was his world. He could read Zervand’s power and rank.
But at the same time, he realized—
He still couldn’t read everything.
He could sense the surface, but not the depths of Zervand’s being.
“I still have a long way to go.”
“Really? I’d say it’s the opposite.”
Zervand extended his hand. A spell tried to materialize, but the ashen space denied him.
“The realm you’ve reached only applies here. In the grand scheme of the universe, it’s not that rare. It’s not unheard of. Here, maybe it’s something. But by my standards? It’s not impressive. It’s a position that becomes limited once you leave your own world.”
Just like Hamon and Levinenov, it was a realm attained through faith.
And such gods were fundamentally far below true transcendents who governed concepts.
One only had to recall how a Demon God casually crushed Hamon.
“But even I, the God of Magic, can’t freely use magic in your domain. Of course, if I seriously tried to kill you, it’d be a different story… but even that is hard to believe.”
Taesan, having ascended to a limited form of transcendence, created a domain that could restrict the magic wielded by the one who ruled over the concept of magic.
That alone revealed the uniqueness of [Domain of Chaos].
“Of course, you’re still lacking. You’ve reached an unstable place based only on faith. That alone won’t get you to our level. But… what if you did reach the same level as us?”
Zervand’s expression held genuine curiosity.
Taesan shook his head.
“I don’t know how to reach that place yet.”
He was twisted.
Even the labyrinth’s creator—the magician—didn’t understand what Taesan had become. And Taesan himself didn’t know what path he should take to reach the level of the transcendents.
Zervand laughed.
“Take your time and find it. We’ll help you along the way.”
Zervand revealed his power. Taesan deactivated [Domain of Chaos].
“There’s a lot more we could talk about… but first, I need to do my job. You defeated an Old god. That deserves a proper reward.”
[Manifestation of Divine Authority.]
[A blessing descends.]
[You have received the Divine Blessing: [Talent for Magic].]
A blessing descended upon all of humanity.
People enjoying the festival were taken aback.
They began to sense something they had never felt before.
[Divine Blessing: Talent for Magic]
[A blessing from a god. You are granted talent for magic. If you offer tributes to the God of Magic, you may also receive spells.]
“…Is this okay?”
Magic, except for a rare few geniuses, couldn’t be learned.
Even Bardray had given up on it after failing to wield it properly.
And now, all of Earth’s people could use magic.
“It’s a considerable expenditure, but you’ve shown more than enough to deserve it. Though honestly, that blessing isn’t of much use to you. So, I’ll give you something just for you.”
The God of Magic smiled.
“You defeated an Old god with your own power, without my help. I’ve got plenty of allowance left.”
More power flowed from him.
It wasn’t for anyone else—it was for Taesan.
[You have obtained the advanced spell [Teleport].]
[You have obtained the title [Archmage].]