Chapter 488
The skill he had gained after striking the Magician of the Labyrinth—[Absolute Resistance].
When facing an opponent whose rank surpassed his own, it forcibly elevated his rank to match theirs.
His rank rose.
The staircase he had been climbing step by step was now leapt in an instant. The tightly sealed door was struck with force.
Kwoom.
The door trembled.
Cracks spread across it with a screeching sound. Through the gaps, he saw what lay beyond—
A realm of height and divinity. The threshold reached only by ancient gods and the highest transcendents who ruled worlds.
Taesan’s rank was pushing against that boundary.
And in that moment, the strain of that forced ascension creaked through his mind.
If this much pressure came just from knocking on the entrance, he could easily imagine the burden that would come from stepping through it.
That was why he had his new skill—[One’s Essence].
Essential’s bestowed power was simple.
By perceiving one’s own essence and observing oneself, it temporarily allowed the self to become a vessel capable of holding far more than before.
Taesan focused.
Kwoooong!
The cracks across the door deepened. It shuddered as though about to break apart, yet it did not collapse.
As if declaring that the realm beyond was not yet permitted to him, it remained unmoving and proud.
But Taesan wasn’t looking at the door.
What filled his vision now was a world drowned in black—twisted, broken, and indistinguishable from chaos.
It was his [mental world].
Taesan had tried many times to read his own inner world, but every attempt had failed.
Even though it was his own mind, he could never grasp or interpret it.
But this time was different.
He concentrated.
The power to perceive one’s own essence—this authority allowed him to see deeper than ever before.
He plunged inward—into the deepest layer of his psyche, observing himself.
He entered the distorted world, deeper and deeper, until he finally saw what lay at the very center.
Something existed within him.
‘So that’s it.’
The being Amelia and Haphran had spoken of—the presence hidden inside him.
It appeared before his eyes.
He couldn’t tell whether it was human, beast, or something else entirely.
Its nature defied comprehension—its form veiled, its presence impossible to define.
But one thing was clear:
It was looking at him.
From its gaze, he felt something.
He couldn’t tell whether it was hostility or goodwill.
Their eyes met.
After a brief moment of silence, the unknown being slowly moved—
As if stepping aside for him, it withdrew.
Then, it vanished into an unseen force.
Kwaaaaang!
At that instant, the door shattered.
The barrier that had been holding firm could no longer withstand the pressure—it exploded, completely opening the path beyond.
Taesan’s rank ascended in an instant to that higher realm.
It all happened within the blink of an eye.
The [Worthless One], realizing something was wrong, began to move.
Abandoning its gradual domination of space, it attempted to devour Taesan directly.
If it had been the old Taesan, even with [Boundary], he would’ve had to risk his life to resist.
But not now.
Taesan drew his sword. The [Boundary] rose.
It was different from before—
Darker, deeper gray, almost pitch-black.
He swung his blade. It collided with the onrushing Worthless One.
Kagagagak!
With a violent recoil, the Worthless One was thrown back.
The [Boundary] did not stop there—it clung to the god’s body, trying to stain it all in ash.
The Worthless One swung its arm.
Kwoooong!
With immense force, the gray energy burst outward, shaking the entire dome.
“Ha.”
Taesan laughed.
He had reached the threshold of a higher realm.
Temporary and unconventional as it was, the fact remained—he had arrived.
A rank far greater than anything he had ever felt now coursed through him.
“Let’s do this again.”
Taesan kicked off the ground.
His speed was beyond comparison to before. The Worthless One gathered its energy, flooding the world.
Kwahhhhh!
Taesan raised the [Boundary]. It spread from his sword into the world, swallowing it, expanding larger and larger.
Kwagagang!
Energy erupted violently. Taesan swung his hand.
[You have activated [Great Collapse – Chaos].]
The Great Collapse manifested in the world and charged forward.
Before, it would’ve been erased by the formless power.
But not now.
The Collapse clashed evenly against the shapeless force, consuming its strength.
Taesan bared his teeth and gathered more power.
Watching from outside the dome, Essential let out a low whistle.
“Ho…”
His eyes couldn’t hide their astonishment.
“The authority I gave him shouldn’t allow for that level of power.”
He could tell.
Taesan had used some other force to elevate his rank equal to the Worthless One’s, then used Essential’s gift to stabilize it.
But that was strange.
The authority he granted provided stability in perceiving essence and balance of rank—but only within limits.
It wasn’t supposed to sustain a rank at such unreachable heights.
“He really is twisted.”
And that distortion—what exactly was it?
Essential could guess. He grinned broadly.
“To think something like this exists. The world really has changed. Show me what you’ve got, distorted one.”
—
[You have activated [Mental Acceleration].]
[You have activated [Acceleration].]
[You have activated [Strong Strike].]
Kwaaaaang!
The sword came down.
Shapeless energy burst apart and recoiled.
But as much as it dispersed, it immediately flowed again from the Worthless One.
“Endless.”
Taesan clicked his tongue.
He was now equal in rank to the Worthless One. He wasn’t being pushed back—in fact, [Boundary]’s superiority gave him an advantage.
So he planned to clear the shapeless energy and close in—but no matter how much he erased, it kept returning.
Even faster than he could destroy it.
Gods were immutable—their power never diminished.
Now he understood that truth.
‘This won’t work.’
The [Boundary]’s true nature was to distort and interfere with laws.
But it required precise control—something impossible in his current overextended state.
Even aside from that, he didn’t yet know how to tamper with or corrupt a god’s essence.
All he could do was fight with raw strength.
‘A prolonged battle won’t do.’
His ascended rank was beginning to waver—as if the power beyond the gate was slowly being pushed back.
Something unknown sustained it, but even that was nearing its limit.
So he changed his plan.
A god’s power never runs out.
But a small fragment could only output a limited amount at once.
If that was true, he’d crush it with overwhelming power beyond its limit.
[You have activated [Fall of All Things].]
[You have activated [Purification of the Unclean].]
[You have activated [Law of Discipline].]
Kiiiiiing—
A massive divine power engulfed the world.
The Worthless One’s form warped; the energy spilling from it suddenly thinned.
Taesan didn’t miss the opening.
Now, he could mix the [Boundary] into every power he possessed.
[You have activated [Call of Ruin – Chaos].]
Gray, ruinous power appeared in the world—rushing greedily toward the god, intent on devouring it.
Kwoooong!
Forces collided. Taesan reached into the air.
[You have activated [Sword of the World – Chaos].]
A gigantic gray greatsword materialized.
He swung it down violently—the sword scraped across the dome, driving toward the Worthless One.
The god condensed its power, clashing with it head-on.
Kwoooong!
[You have activated [Great Collapse – Chaos].]
[You have activated [Baal’s Designated Space Collapse].]
Taesan was fighting a god’s fragment with pure force.
And he wasn’t losing.
Kagagagak!
He crushed the surging energy bit by bit.
The Worthless One’s influence over space gradually diminished.
And at its peak—Taesan unleashed everything.
[You have activated [Memorize].]
He poured out all the power he possessed.
In an instant, his strength ripped through the space, opening a path.
He didn’t hesitate.
Clad in [Boundary], he charged at the Worthless One.
[You have activated [Conversion].]
[You have activated [Blade of Fighting Spirit].]
[You have activated [Addition].]
[You have activated [Absolute Judgement].]
[You have activated [Acceleration].]
[You have activated [Skill Acceleration].]
He poured everything into his sword and sprinted forward.
Before the Worthless One could react, he was upon it.
Its form collapsed as it lunged toward him—
An endlessly condensed, valueless energy that, by sheer density, had gained “value.”
That was its ultimate power—
The authority to consume the world using its own being as fuel.
Even Taesan’s [Boundary] might have been overwhelmed by that force.
So he didn’t plan to block it.
He knew the moment he closed in, the Worthless One would go all out.
He didn’t dodge.
He charged straight ahead.
The Worthless One’s energy swallowed him whole.
And in that moment—Taesan’s authority activated.
“Stop.”
With that declaration, the world’s time froze.
The power of the monster that walked through time—[Time Interference].
Could a god’s authority be met with another god’s authority?
Even with [Resistance to the Beyond], Taesan couldn’t disregard the power that the servant of that time-walking monster once used.
He had already confirmed that [Time Interference] could affect even divine powers.
Crackkk—
For a brief instant, the Worthless One’s movements stopped.
Only for a heartbeat—but it was enough.
It shattered the temporal bind immediately after, but Taesan had already moved.
He thrust his sword, wrapped in [Boundary].
The Worthless One tried to defend itself, but Taesan didn’t stop.
He detonated the [Boundary], amplifying it further.
Kwoooong!
He broke through its defense by force.
The blade pierced the [Core].
Sword and core collided.
Kwadduk!
Cracks spread instantly.
The core—the source of the Worthless One’s power—was immensely durable, but the fusion of Taesan’s strength and [Boundary] was enough to pierce it.
A massive explosion followed.
The valueless power, having gained “value,” surged outward violently.
[You have activated [Domain of Chaos].]
[You have activated [Replication].]
[You have activated [Ring of Distorted Regret].]
[You have activated [Replication].]
He devoured even its final struggle.
Now, even within the [Domain of Chaos], he could activate [Replication].
The gray space multiplied instantly, quadrupling in magnitude.
The power far exceeded what even he could control—
So he didn’t restrain it.
[You have activated [Denial of Possibility].]
The chaotic domain’s rampaging power was cut off from the possibility of harming him.
All of the Worthless One’s resistance shattered and broke apart.
Taesan reached out and grasped the fractured core.
Kwaduduk!
The Worthless One’s core lost all power and disintegrated.
The being that had distorted Ouroboros for countless eons was erased from the universe.
The dome lost its shape and began to collapse.
And as its energy scattered, Taesan forcibly seized it.
“Give it to me.”
Kagagak!
The fragment of the god—its power—was absorbed into him, transforming completely into his own without resistance.
[You have defeated the Fragment of the Worthless One.]
[Proficiency of [Distorted Soul Rank Synchronization] has increased by 5%.]
[Proficiency of [Black] has increased by 4%.]
[Proficiency of [Boundary] has increased by @#!!!%.]
[Proficiency of [Will of All Things] has increased by 3%.]
[Proficiency of [Domain of Chaos] has increased by s%.”]
[Your Soul Rank has increased. You have plundered [Transcendence – Worthless].]