Chapter 498
Kuuuuung!
Gray and gold clashed.
In an instant, the golden radiance was swallowed by the gray. The world lost its color, turning monochrome. Remidaos gritted his teeth and gathered more power.
Kuuuuung!
Their forces collided again—and for the first time, Remidaos, who had never yielded a single step, was forced backward. Humiliation twisted his face.
[Don’t be ridiculous!]
Kiiiing!
Remidaos spread his hand. His compressed divinity shone pure white.
Kuguguk—
[I reached the realm you’ve just touched long, long ago! Do you think attaining it now means you can reach me?!]
‘…’
Taesan had indeed been a transcendent before. But among them, he had been at the very bottom.
Remidaos, on the other hand, stood at the very top among Faith Gods. Though their rank was equal, their proficiency within that rank had once differed. That difference was why Remidaos had been able to suppress Taesan.
But not anymore.
Even if Taesan had only recently reached this height, he was now a complete transcendent. Their ranks were equal.
And between equals—Taesan had no reason to lose.
He surged forward, cloaked in dense gray. Remidaos roared and swung his divinity.
Kugugugung!
Power collided.
The white divinity was dyed gray. It resisted desperately, but it was like a stag gasping with its throat torn open. The gray devoured it, carving a path.
[Khhhk!]
Remidaos was forced to retreat again, flailing wildly as he hurled divinity to cover his escape. Taesan pursued relentlessly.
But that was all Remidaos could do. He resisted and struggled, yet nothing he did left a meaningful mark on Taesan.
Kiiing!
Hundreds of white spears streaked through the void. Taesan reached out a hand.
[You have activated [Destroyer].]
A [Soul Skill]. Destroyer—the authority of the Immortal God, stolen from his Apostle.
Until now, Taesan hadn’t been able to control it. His mastery was lacking, and the Immortal’s authority wasn’t something one could wield easily.
But now, he could.
His elevated rank compensated for his lack of proficiency, forcing control through sheer divinity.
Kwa-duk—
Space, the world itself, cracked apart.
The white divinity shattered like glass, unable to withstand the authority’s pressure. Remidaos’s eyes widened.
[How—! How could the authority of an Immortal defy my divinity?!]
“Because I’m the one using it.”
Taesan’s reply was calm as he struck again. Remidaos resisted desperately, but Taesan’s blow still landed.
Kiiiiiing!
Divinity was sliced apart. Remidaos stumbled back, his divinity rapidly draining.
[Huff… huff…]
He struggled to breathe. His face, revealed beneath the peeling divinity, was filled with despair and fear.
The one who had once desired the fear of all now trembled before Taesan.
No trace of fear for Remidaos remained among the people—only faith directed at Taesan.
[…]
Remidaos thought desperately. How could he survive this?
He had crossed countless deathlines and limits to become a transcendent. Surely this was just another trial. He forced his thoughts, searching for a possibility.
But before long, realization struck.
There was no answer.
No possibility left. Despair crept across his face.
[That can’t be!]
He denied his own instincts and judgment—the same instincts that had never failed him.
[I won’t lose! I am destined for greatness! I won’t fall here!]
Kiiiing!
Divinity gathered.
It condensed beyond control, warping in color and form. The pressure tore through his body.
A final gamble. If he survived, his divinity would be drained dry—but he didn’t care. He would sacrifice everything to kill Taesan.
[Die!]
Murderous intent and desperation filled his voice. The twisted divinity roared toward Taesan.
Seeing the corrupted power, Taesan raised his hand.
Formless energy gathered above his palm.
He hurled [Worthlessness] toward it. The fist-sized cluster of null energy collided with the overwhelming divinity.
And Worthlessness began to spread.
The formless energy resonated with the divine power, expanding monstrously. It devoured faith itself, converting everything it touched into nothing of value.
[A-ah…]
Remidaos’s final strength—everything—was being turned meaningless.
Worthlessness swallowed his divinity whole. Taesan clenched his fist and drew it back, reclaiming the power.
He leapt. Remidaos, half-delirious, couldn’t react. It was already over.
Kwaduduk—
[Kuhk!]
The remnants of divinity clinging to his body were consumed as Taesan’s blade pierced his chest.
[N-no! I—I was meant to become great!]
Remidaos thrashed violently, burning the last of his strength to push Taesan away.
But even that was stolen.
Everything he had built was taken, absorbed into Taesan. Remidaos’s face twisted in horror.
He was dying. That realization crushed him. In despair, he cried into the void.
[Please! I beg you! Help me! Save—!]
Remidaos screamed to someone unseen.
And then—a massive gaze descended.
For a fleeting instant, hope lit his face—then turned to utter despair.
The gaze held only amusement and anticipation.
[You…]
The rest never came.
Gray consumed him completely.
[Your Soul Rank Ascension has activated. Divinity Mastery has increased by 14%.]
[Your Soul Rank Ascension has activated. You have stolen the Soul Skill [Divinity].]
[You have slain a god. You have acquired the passive skill [Godslayer].]
A portion of Remidaos’s towering divinity flowed into Taesan. Even a fragment of it far surpassed all the divinity Taesan had accumulated so far.
Taesan chuckled softly.
“This skill really makes no sense.”
To steal everything another had built over a lifetime—it was a grotesque ability.
He turned his gaze. As Remidaos fell, the sight and voice that had dominated the minds of the people vanished. And so they understood—
Remidaos was dead.
The being who tormented them was gone.
Their faith surged toward Taesan. Massive, unwavering faith that would never fade.
And Bardray and Akasha—both began to change as well.
Unlike the Old Gods, Remidaos was a being of this world. His power was absorbed in full according to their will.
[Mm…]
Bardray’s aura visibly grew stronger. The same was true for Akasha—but her transformation went even further.
Remidaos had been a monster of divinity.
Thus, most of what Akasha absorbed was divine power. The immense energy of a god stormed within her.
[Ah.]
Akasha trembled—her voice carried emotion, as though she had remembered something long forgotten.
Taesan wanted to analyze the change, but there was a more pressing matter. He turned his gaze upward.
There, he felt a colossal presence.
Within it—satisfaction, and joy.
“Still the same, huh.”
[And you’re still as insolent as ever.]
“After everything, do we really have any reason for politeness?”
Taesan spoke calmly. The being beyond laughed quietly.
Space split open.
Something twisted and formless manifested in the world.
At that moment, everyone who had been praying to Taesan shuddered. The entity did nothing—merely appearing was enough to make even those far away feel the chill of death.
[You have encountered the God of Fall – Essence.]
The God of Fall, Essence.
The god with whom Taesan shared the worst relationship of all.
A limb, resembling a finger, pointed at him.
A divine authority descended, aiming to cast Taesan down into the abyss.
Taesan detonated the Chaos surrounding his body, shoving the authority aside.
Kwaaaaang!
The forces clashed.
Chaos and authority canceled each other out, distorting space and time.
Taesan slid backward, regaining his stance, reforging his Chaos barrier.
[So now you can handle this much.]
The God of Fall murmured.
[I would’ve killed you right now as I declared before… but thanks to that damned one’s interference, I can’t act further.]
In that instant, space warped again.
A vast power enveloped Taesan, nullifying all interference from Essence and dragging him into another domain.
[We’ll meet again soon.]
With that amused voice, the world shifted.
When Taesan opened his eyes, he was greeted by a distorted, rainbow-hued space.
He had been here before.
Turning his head, he saw the Magician smiling at him.
“You’re here?”
—
“You were watching?”
“Not all of it, but I caught the end.”
The Magician clapped.
“Well done. You perfectly defeated the Faith God who’d received worship for eons, clearing the 92nd floor’s quest flawlessly. Now all that’s left is to get final confirmation from the Shopkeeper.”
Quest—complete.
Taesan spoke.
“So the transcendent backing Remidaos was the God of Fall.”
“You’d already guessed, hadn’t you?”
Taesan nodded silently.
A transcendent who knew of him, who harbored ill will.
One who knew of the [Boundary Line], but not of [Call of Chaos]. The list was short.
The God of Fall—or the God of Death. But the God of Death wouldn’t use such methods. That left only one possibility.
“The God of Fall. Fits his style, doesn’t it?”
“It does.”
The Immortals must have sought something from Remidaos—perhaps even their own path to transcendence through faith.
But to Remidaos, they were nothing more than tools. Even without Taesan, he would have discarded them eventually.
And Remidaos was no different. He tried to reach transcendence through fear—but whether that was truly possible was doubtful.
Even if it had been, Essence would’ve intervened directly, dragging him into the abyss. After all, that was what the God of Fall desired—descent.
“I blocked him this time, so he couldn’t interfere with you… but next time might be different.”
The God of Fall had acted with intent—not playfulness or curiosity.
Pure hostility. Genuine killing intent.
But Taesan was calm.
“It doesn’t matter.”
He would face that wall eventually—and he had no intention of losing.
The Magician smiled in satisfaction.
“So Balbamaba named them Faith Gods, huh? Not a bad title. Remidaos stopped at the seat of a Faith God.”
He must have tried every method, every path—and failed all the same. His last resort had been to turn faith into fear.
The gap between a Faith God and a Concept God was that vast.
The image of the Green Witch crossed Taesan’s mind.
“But you’ll be different. You won’t stagnate at that level.”
Taesan’s wall wasn’t a Faith God.
It lay beyond that—somewhere no one knew.
“Anyway, you did well. You’ve gained quite a lot—from this and from everything else.”
The Magician’s gaze shifted toward Akasha.
“The Hero’s changes are notable… but you, Akasha, especially draw my eye.”
There was a strange glimmer in his eyes.
“The aura I couldn’t grasp before suddenly feels closer now. Like a lost sense has returned.”
Neither the Magician who built the labyrinth nor any transcendent Taesan had met before had ever known of Akasha. It was as if she had been erased from existence.
But now, the Magician seemed to understand her essence.
His eyes narrowed.
“You. What exactly have you realized?”