Chapter 522
CRACK, CRACK.
Their bodies were crushed. The immense Physical Force completely destroyed the Apostles’ original forms.
KIIIIING!
The Apostles manifested their power. They were Apostles—beings that had destroyed countless worlds, practically direct subordinates of the Old God. Their strength was unmatched, save for the Transcenders.
The two Apostles combined their powers. They generated Black energy and transformed their bodies, trying to resist the Physical Force bearing down on them.
But it didn’t work.
The Physical Force crushed their resistance like a road roller. Things of immense power—things that existed beyond concepts—were torn apart by simple Physical Force.
[Deals 4,561,159,434 damage to #@!!!!.]
[Deals 4,561,159,434 damage to #@!!!!.]
[Deals 4,112,111,688 damage to [system protected]%z&&&.]
[Deals 4,112,111,688 damage to [system protected]%s&&&.]
The Apostles’ resistance was completely breached, and the Physical Force threatened to spill into the world.
CRACKLE!
The crust collapsing under the clash with Physical Force gave way.
The mantle began to show. Earth’s foundation was exposed.
At this rate, the planet itself would collapse.
Taesan raised his hand.
[You have activated Inner World.]
A domain of power and Divinity expanded, capturing the Physical Force and preventing it from affecting the world.
KRAAAAANG!
The condensed Physical Force exploded.
It tore through the Inner World with a violent roar. Taesan lightly flicked his sword.
“Done.”
Before him, the two Apostles lay sprawled out.
Not dead. It was impossible to kill them with mere Physical Force.
But he could drive them to the brink.
Both Apostles were in a near-death state, unable to do anything more.
[…I’m getting goosebumps.]
Despite having no physical body, Bardray felt goosebumps rise.
He had always considered [Copy] a powerful skill.
Doubling a skill’s effect with no penalty. An excellent skill that could turn the tide of battle.
But he’d thought its value was below [Addition] or [Forced Duel]. The cooldown was long, and only magic or Magi could be copied—something that didn’t mean much for Taesan right now.
That had been a misconception.
[Copy] was a skill whose true power was unleashed when [Multiplication] existed.
It was far above [Addition] and [Forced Duel].
“Very good.”
Taesan hummed. The Old God wasn’t foolish enough to send down just any Apostles. These two were optimized to block Physical Force.
It was just that in the face of attack power amplified by [Multiplication] and [Copy], compatibility didn’t mean anything.
The Apostles were by no means weak. Even if Taesan had fought while manipulating the Boundary Line, it would have taken time. Yet he’d driven such enemies to near death with just two attacks.
Taesan manipulated the Boundary Line.
CRACK.
He finished off the Apostles. A massive power erupted and settled within Taesan.
[Your Divinity Boost has been activated. Proficiency in Black has increased by 3%.]
[Your Divinity Boost has been activated. Proficiency in Black has increased by 4%.]
He couldn’t confirm the one that had flown into space, but the Transcenders would have taken care of it. Taesan canceled [Inner World].
And what he saw was a sky packed with monsters, without a gap to be found.
“That’s a lot.”
It was a considerable number, as if they were determined to make a profit this time. Among them, several S-rank monsters were visible.
People were desperately holding them back, but with numbers that endless, they were slowly being pushed back.
Watching, Taesan raised his hand.
“This works out well.”
Mana flowed from his body.
[You have activated Rainbow Rush of Diverse Colors.]
The magic the Magician who created the Labyrinth had given him—now forgotten by everyone—was realized.
Seven streaks of light manifested in the world.
They shot toward the monsters.
“Huh?”
The people fighting paused for a moment.
A rainbow began to cover the world.
RRRRUMBLE!
Hundreds—thousands—of streaks of light pierced the monsters. Covering the entire sky, they erased the monsters falling toward Greenland in an instant.
CRACK.
[Uoooooh!]
[Ooooooh!]
S-rank monsters were among them. A handful tried to resist the pouring streaks of light, but hundreds of beams shattered their resistance, crushing their limbs.
Taesan canceled the magic.
“Useful.”
The sky, once filled with monsters, was now wide open.
Monsters poured down again to fill the void, but he had wiped out everything flooding into Greenland in less than three seconds.
It was powerful magic, with a wide range. The rainbow light easily covered all of Greenland and more.
The power was considerable as well. Within that range were dozens of S-rank monsters, and all of them vanished without putting up resistance.
‘And the mana cost is less than I expected.’
The mana consumed during those three seconds was 2,000. Considering the power, it wouldn’t have been strange for it to be triple that. It was a versatile skill, too—the rainbow streaks could be controlled and concentrated.
“Not bad.”
If he could mix it with the Boundary Line or Black, it would be more valuable than any other magic he possessed.
Satisfied, Taesan spoke.
“The rest is up to you.”
His quiet voice echoed across Greenland. The people’s faces filled with reverence and faith toward him.
“Ooooooh!”
They raised their weapons and roared.
“Taesan!”
His name shook the earth. A massive surge of faith exploded.
* *
The monsters were powerful and numerous.
But the people weren’t weak either. With faith in Taesan and their past experiences, they brought the monsters down one by one.
CRACK!
Finally, they managed to clear out the monsters to a degree.
“Ooooooh!”
“We won!”
People erupted into joyful cheers. Of course, the battle wasn’t over. Monsters were still descending from the Rift in the sky.
But it was at a level they could respond to by rotating shifts.
They had won once again. People began to ease the fatigue that had piled up from the battle.
And Lee Taeyeon, unable to bear it any longer, came to Taesan.
“Taesan. What is that?”
She knew him better than anyone here. Thinking it through, she arrived at a single answer.
“…Did you get [Multiplication]?”
“You figured it out. [Multiplication] doesn’t have Physical Force, though.”
“Well, besides that, something like this is impossible. You can’t give it influence.”
Lee Taeyeon could feel it—the Physical Force that could destroy even a planet.
It wasn’t power that could be produced with ordinary skills or items.
If there was any possibility, there was only one.
[Multiplication].
On top of that, he had acquired a skill that contained Physical Force. There was no other explanation. Taesan nodded.
“You’re right. You have a good sense.”
To reach the truth without any information—Lee Taeyeon certainly had the ability to clear Solo Mode.
“Geez…”
She let out a hollow laugh as her guess was confirmed.
“How did you get it? I thought you wouldn’t be able to get [Multiplication], even if you got anything else.”
Lee Taeyeon knew the conditions for [Multiplication]. Taesan hadn’t particularly hidden it, so most players understood them.
And Lee Taeyeon was a player who had cleared Solo Mode.
So she understood better than anyone.
That acquiring [Multiplication] in Solo Mode was impossible.
“Is there a floor in Solo Mode that satisfies those conditions? No. More than that, isn’t it at least 10,000? Is there any way to square that level of attack power?”
“It’s impossible in Solo Mode.”
So he turned back time.
Taesan took out the Fragment of Ouroboros. Lee Taeyeon’s pupils widened as she saw what he was holding.
“That’s…”
“I got the materials in the process of clearing a floor.”
She understood—what Taesan had done, and where he’d gotten it.
She laughed hollowly.
“You went back in time to get [Multiplication]. Geez.”
It was an absurd conclusion. But since there was no other way to obtain [Multiplication], it was the closest answer—and just as close to impossible.
Her expression filled with pure admiration and respect.
“You’re amazing as always. So you can go back as much as you want?”
“That’s not true.”
It took a considerable amount of power to go back even once. If time passed, the consumed power might recharge and make it possible again, but that was still a distant story.
“That’s a shame. Then how did you convert it to Physical Force?”
“I got a skill from Balbamaba.”
“A skill obtained with Administrator privileges. Considering the effect, it makes sense—there’s no way to obtain something like that otherwise.”
Having reached her conclusion, she looked at Taesan with fresh eyes.
“So that means your damage can go up to tens of billions—maybe even hundreds of billions.”
“That’s right.”
“Haha.”
She laughed, but her expression was oddly accepting.
“…Yeah. That figures.”
[Multiplication].
A skill that squared damage—a skill that went beyond the scope of an Irregular.
But Taesan hadn’t been able to properly use it. With weak stats, he couldn’t reach even tens of millions, no matter how hard he tried.
But that wasn’t the only value of [Multiplication].
Trapped in the body of Easy Mode, the skill couldn’t exert even one-hundredth of its effect. That fact had frustrated Lee Taeyeon endlessly.
Now, that great skill was finally revealing its true power under proper stats.
“Finally, everything’s going right.”
Lee Taeyeon muttered softly.
Time passed.
Monsters continued to appear, and the people continued to fight.
But nothing became a serious problem. The monsters were at a level the people could defeat on their own, even without Taesan.
Uneventful time flowed on. The pillar of light blocking the Rift grew larger and larger.
“What?”
Taesan frowned.
The Old God hadn’t made any moves since sending down the three Apostles. Even though the Rift would be blocked if this continued, it was too quiet.
[Isn’t it giving up? Honestly, now that you have [Multiplication], it doesn’t seem like those guys can do anything.]
The Old God had tried to make Taesan consume the Boundary Line.
He didn’t know what they intended to do with that, but they were likely aiming to destroy the Disc.
But thanks to the Physical Force from [Multiplication], Taesan could defeat Apostles without using the Boundary Line.
The Old God’s plan itself had been twisted. They had tried to seal Taesan’s legs, but he’d suddenly grown wings and flown free.
They couldn’t have predicted [Multiplication], so from the Old God’s perspective, it was complete betrayal. Bardray wasn’t wrong.
But something still felt off.
“That doesn’t mean it can’t send anything down.”
The Gatekeeper couldn’t descend. But below that, it could still send down at least a Fragment—or even a Splinter.
Yet even as the pillar of light widened and covered the Rift, the Old God showed no particular movement.
The larger the pillar became, the harder it became for the Old God to influence this world. It should have responded in advance, but ever since the three Apostles, there had been nothing.
Something was there.
It couldn’t end like this. The unease he’d felt since hearing Akrasian’s explanation only grew.
“Should we check?”
Taesan stomped his foot. His body transcended the void.
Taesan disappeared from Earth.