Chapter 476
“You’re growing stronger at an incredible rate. Honestly, even across the entire universe, there’s hardly any precedent for such speed.”
It hadn’t even been ten years since Kang Taesan had entered the labyrinth.
Yet he had already surpassed the Immortals and reached the realm of the Transcendents.
“Except for a few very special cases, no one has ever grown this fast. You’re extraordinary. But… from this point on, strength alone won’t be enough.”
Taesan looked at the Magician.
The Magician shrugged.
“Well, try it anyway.”
The Magician’s authority wrapped around Taesan.
His stamina, mana, and magi were completely restored.
Taesan steadied his sword.
“What’s the time limit?”
“There isn’t one. Challenge me as much as you want and use every means you have. Even if it’s underhanded, even if it’s the wrong way—it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is breaking through me.”
The Magician revealed himself.
An immense presence and domain manifested in the world.
Taesan had stepped into the Magician’s domain before.
But back then, his level hadn’t been high enough to perceive the essence of it.
Now, he could understand.
The Magician’s domain was the labyrinth itself.
He had mixed his own realm with the powers of the gods, fusing them together to create countless devices and systems, forming this place known as the labyrinth.
“I am the Magician of the Labyrinth—the one and only being who created and governs this world.”
The Magician smiled and spread his arms.
“Show me everything you have.”
Taesan clicked his tongue.
His eyes turned deadly serious.
He kicked off the ground.
—
A desperate battle followed.
Since the first strike had failed, he needed to try as many methods as possible to find a way through.
Taesan poured everything into breaking through the Magician, while the Magician countered his every move with ease.
[You have activated Addition.]
[You have activated Blade of Fighting Spirit.]
[You have activated Replication.]
An attack containing all his power. The damage reached into the hundreds of thousands.
Yet the Magician calmly waved his hand.
“Those who reach transcendence alone govern the laws themselves. You must understand the true meaning within that.”
A strange wave spread out from the Magician.
Taesan’s sword collided with it and instantly lost its power.
The amplified force from Addition, Replication, and Blade of Fighting Spirit reverted to normal.
The Magician flicked his finger.
Bricks from the labyrinth were summoned and shot toward Taesan like meteors.
They moved too fast to dodge completely. Even as Taesan leapt away, shards struck his body.
[You have taken 111 damage.]
[You have taken 111 damage.]
Seeing the damage window appear, Taesan frowned.
His attack nullification hadn’t triggered at all.
The Magician spoke leisurely.
“To govern laws and concepts means to manipulate everything according to one’s will.”
The labyrinth was the Magician’s domain—his very world.
Everything governed by the labyrinth’s laws bowed to his will.
“Unless you defend yourself with your own domain, the labyrinth’s skills won’t work against me.”
“Seems that way.”
If this were Earth, things would be different. Earth was his domain, his world. There, he could resist the Magician’s interference to some extent.
But this was the labyrinth—the Magician’s realm.
Anything created based on its system would not work here.
Then he would attack with something else.
[You have activated Asmodeus’s Chains of Decay.]
Chains shot forth. Taesan layered spells over them.
Magic and black magic weren’t born from the labyrinth’s system but from the Demon Gods and Zervand—forces beyond the Magician’s control.
[You have activated Blade of the World.]
A massive sword appeared within the labyrinth.
Though slightly reduced in size to fit the space, its immense presence remained.
Taesan swung it. The Magician nodded.
“That’s correct. Powers detached from my domain can’t be easily erased.”
The Magician stomped his foot.
That alone shattered and crushed the countless powers Taesan had unleashed.
The Blade of the World broke into pieces in an instant.
“But when there’s a pure difference in strength and level, it hardly matters.”
“Damn it.”
Taesan clicked his tongue. He had expected this.
Harmon, the god who ruled over Vekeseta, had been a Transcendent.
Yet when a Demon God clenched his fist lightly, Harmon and his domain vanished together.
A Transcendent who governed the laws stood at an unimaginable height.
Even if this was merely a puppet, the difference in power wasn’t something that could be bridged.
Ordinary labyrinth powers, magic, or black magic wouldn’t work.
What he needed to use was divinity—and the color black.
“This will take some time.”
Taesan muttered quietly, gathering his strength.
The recovery of divinity and black energy was painfully slow.
Even the Magician couldn’t restore them for him.
He had no choice but to wait.
The Magician waited in silence.
Clack.
After some time, Taesan rose with his sword in hand.
The Magician greeted him with a smile.
Taesan stomped his foot.
His entire body was surrounded by a boundary line.
The Magician flicked his hand, and overwhelming power and presence surged toward Taesan.
Taesan gritted his teeth and endured.
The boundary line around him burst violently, pushing back the Magician’s power.
The Magician didn’t counterattack.
He simply watched, as if curious to see what Taesan would do next.
Finally, after closing the distance, Taesan spoke an incantation.
“Stop.”
Kiiing!
Darkness swallowed the world.
Time across the world came to a halt.
The flying brick fragments.
The spreading waves of explosion.
Everything stopped.
Even the Magician stood frozen within that stillness.
Taesan dashed forward.
The duration wasn’t long—he had to end it within that moment.
Just as he was about to pierce the puppet with his sword—
The puppet’s body trembled.
It shimmered, leaving faint traces behind as if resisting the stopped time.
Taesan thrust his sword forward.
Kaaang!
With a shattering sound, the Magician moved.
“You’re too late.”
Grab.
The Magician caught Taesan’s sword.
The bursting boundary line tried to eat away at him, but the domain surrounding the Magician instantly filled the gaps.
“You possess the power of the Old God—the authority to halt the world’s time.”
The Magician exerted force.
Taesan was flung backward.
“But I’ve fought the master of that authority directly.”
A very long time ago—
There was a war between the Transcendents and the Old Gods.
And the victors were the Transcendents.
“The One Who Walks Through Time—around that god, the concept of time itself didn’t exist. They interfered by breaking past and future alike. The level you wield now is impressive, but to us, it’s nothing remarkable.”
“That’s unsettling.”
Taesan muttered, adjusting his stance.
The boundary line and the Domain of Chaos had no effect.
Even time stop was useless.
None of his other powers worked either.
The Magician said calmly, “Keep going.”
—
Taesan didn’t give up.
He unleashed every method he had, combining countless abilities to try to break through the Magician’s defenses.
It was a truly endless struggle.
For over a week, Taesan fought, clinging to even the faintest hope of victory.
And in the end, he reached a conclusion.
‘It’s impossible.’
He had thought there would be some kind of opening.
After all, no trial could be entirely unwinnable. So he had tried every possible means.
But no answer emerged.
Up to now, Taesan had overcome trials that seemed impossible and achieved incredible feats.
He had always believed that no matter the challenge, he could overcome it.
If victory wasn’t possible, he would find another path—or create a new outcome altogether.
But this time was different.
Though this was a puppet, unlike the seventh fragment of the World Breaker, it was directly connected to the Magician.
Even if it was slightly diminished, it was still essentially the Magician’s own power.
In other words, the one blocking Taesan now was one of the strongest beings in the universe.
With his current strength, there was no way to win.
Taesan closed his eyes.
How could he win? No—how could he even reach that level?
‘This isn’t a quest I can clear through combat alone.’
Still, it couldn’t be truly impossible. The labyrinth had to be designed with at least a faint chance of success.
Taesan looked at the Magician.
The Magician didn’t say anything to the Taesan who had stopped fighting. He simply smiled quietly.
He was waiting for something from Taesan.
‘What is it he wants from me?’
Taesan recalled the Magician’s words.
He had said that from this point onward, Old Gods and Transcendents would appear, and that Taesan needed to surpass a certain threshold.
Taesan agreed.
He was strong and skilled—but there were always higher beings.
Those who could influence the universe itself stood on a different level entirely.
The Magician had also said that although Taesan’s rapid growth was extraordinary, it alone wouldn’t be enough to reach their realm.
It wasn’t just about needing the color black or the boundary line.
Taesan thought.
If he continued on this same path—growing through Soul Rank Ascension, stealing strength, and relying on the labyrinth’s system—could he ever reach that realm?
The answer came easily.
He could.
Soul Rank Ascension and the boundary line were irregular powers.
If he defeated countless strong beings, absorbed their strength through Soul Rank Ascension, and expanded his total boundary line massively—then perhaps, even the Magician who created the labyrinth could be challenged.
But the conclusion came just as quickly.
It was far too inefficient.
The Magician’s level was unimaginably high.
To reach that realm by devouring countless powers would take an eternity—far longer than all his descent through the labyrinth so far.
Sure, it was a viable path to eventually reach that height, but it was horribly inefficient.
Now that he had seen the Magician’s power firsthand, he could understand.
Taesan opened his eyes. The Magician quietly watched him.
‘So this is what he wanted to show me.’
That from here onward, the old methods would no longer be enough.
‘He wants me to realize something.’
And that realization wasn’t physical.
Taesan closed his eyes again.
The Magician smiled softly as he watched him.