Chapter 524
[You have activated Call of Chaos.]
[Your title Enemy of the Outer God has been activated.]
[One who opposes your great will has been activated.]
Numerous skills activated at once. His body and mind rose to an even higher realm.
“Hoo.”
Taesan quietly faced his opponent.
The Gatekeeper faced him in return.
There was no emotion in its gaze—only an inorganic will to carry out its assigned role.
Whoong.
The Gatekeeper raised its hand.
Black poured from its entire body like a waterfall. The darkness gathering in the sky slowly took shape, forming hundreds of square blocks.
The Gatekeeper clenched its fist.
The jet-black blocks began to compress.
Kuguguguguguk.
Space and time warped under the pressure of that distorted power. Before long, the hundreds of blocks condensed into tiny beads.
The Gatekeeper lowered its arm.
Hundreds of beads shot toward Taesan.
Taesan drove strength into his legs. Every nerve in his body tensed as he moved.
Kagagagak!
He launched himself.
In an instant, he was on the far side of Greenland—and the beads tracked him perfectly.
Swish!
The fastest bead tore toward him.
Taesan infused the Boundary Line into his sword.
Kaaaang!
The bead collided with his blade.
And what Taesan felt was weight.
Kagagak!
His body was pushed back slightly—and in that opening, the remaining beads surged in, aiming for his entire body.
He couldn’t block them all.
He couldn’t evade them all.
Taesan made a snap judgment and gathered mana.
[You have activated Blink.]
His body shifted.
The beads followed immediately, without even a moment’s delay.
Taesan tightened his grip.
[You have activated Acceleration.]
[You have activated Strong Blow.]
Kagagagak!
He swung.
He knocked beads aside and slipped through the gaps.
But it was impossible to fully escape.
Kaaaang!
‘Heavy.’
Each bead carried crushing weight. Even Taesan struggled to knock them away cleanly.
Kagagak!
A gap inevitably opened, and the beads scraped across his body.
Immutable Self was consumed in an instant. Taesan forcefully gathered the Boundary Line and detonated it.
A storm of power burst outward, blowing the beads away all at once.
Taesan thrust out his hand.
He seized one of the beads as it flew and slammed it down with his sword.
Kagagak!
The Boundary Line was a distorted power that surpassed all compatibilities in the world.
But the bead didn’t break.
Taesan poured even more Boundary Line into his blade, making it denser, sharper.
Only then did the sword begin to pierce the bead—slowly.
Taesan put strength into his hand.
Kwaduk.
The bead shattered. The power packed inside exploded and scattered.
“Damn sturdy.”
Taesan clicked his tongue.
The Black compressed into a single bead lightly surpassed Taesan’s limits. Compressed to that extent, it could withstand even the Boundary Line.
Hundreds of beads.
Each one was sturdier and more powerful than an average Apostle. Even with Acceleration, Taesan was being pushed back in raw force.
An Ancient God simultaneously controlling hundreds of things stronger than Apostles.
Taesan focused his mind and moved again.
—
Kugugugugung!
The beads plunged down. The earth crumbled from the impact alone. If the Magician hadn’t deployed a barrier, Earth would have ceased to exist.
He couldn’t block this with a sword alone.
Then he would answer with quantity and size on his side as well.
[You have activated Magic Stacking.]
[You have activated Great Collapse [Chaos].]
He stacked Great Collapse—negative, high-level Magi—then mixed in the Boundary Line, one of the strongest cards he possessed.
[You have activated Magic Release.]
Kugugugugung!
The stacked, ashen Great Collapse shot forward.
The Gatekeeper waved its hand. The beads merged into one and thrust toward Great Collapse like a spear.
Kagagagagak!
A massive collision erupted. The barrier the Magician had deployed shook for a moment.
“Hmph.”
The Magician flicked his finger. The barrier surrounding the world hardened even further.
“I may have to get a little serious too.”
He swung both arms wide. The barrier became more solid, more absolute.
Kugugugugung!
Great Collapse and the beads collided, trying to devour one another.
Jjeojjeojeok!
And what broke was Great Collapse.
Taesan’s eyes wavered.
The condensed beads synchronized, amplifying their power. Great Collapse could no longer endure and burst apart.
Kuuuuuung!
An explosion of power roared outward.
The beads scattered—then immediately regrouped and surged toward Taesan again.
Kagagak!
Taesan widened the distance and activated a skill.
[You have activated Call of Ruin.]
A massive force that destroyed the world surged forward and crashed into the beads.
And the beads shattered Call of Ruin—without resistance.
Taesan detonated the Boundary Line to push the beads back, then raised a finger.
[You have activated Baal’s Designated Space Collapse.]
Magi directly bestowed by Baal. Its power rivaled high-level Magi.
The Gatekeeper’s body distorted under the effect.
Then it returned to normal, as if it had taken no damage at all. It casually waved its hand and wielded the beads again.
Taesan clicked his tongue.
‘An Ancient God really is an Ancient God.’
Until now, the only beings that had blocked the Boundary Line were Transcenders. The Boundary Line had easily pierced even a Fragment of the World Ender.
But these beads not only resisted the Boundary Line—they broke through it.
When the Magician responded by filling collapsed areas with the Boundary Line, the Gatekeeper simply compressed Black to an extreme, packing it so densely that even the Boundary Line couldn’t easily penetrate.
Strong. Stronger than Taesan as he was now.
The beads poured down. Taesan reached into the air.
[You have activated Sword of the World [Chaos].]
A massive ashen greatsword formed in his hand. He swung it hard.
The greatsword collided with the hundreds of beads.
Even if Black was packed densely, the Boundary Line was still a power above it. Several beads couldn’t withstand the load and shattered.
But the same was true for Sword of the World.
Cracks appeared from the tip, then spread across the entire blade.
Jjeojeojeojeong!
Sword of the World shattered.
Taesan raised his hand without pause.
[You have activated Rainbow Rush of Diverse Colors.]
Rainbow light manifested across the world. Hundreds—thousands—of streaks crashed into the jet-black beads.
Kagagak!
And the beads kept advancing.
They forced their way through the rainbow light and closed in on Taesan.
Not enough.
Taesan made the call instantly, canceled the skill, and activated Teleport.
[You have activated Teleport.]
He moved high into the sky, directly beneath the Rift.
The beads followed immediately, but he had bought a sliver of time. He used it to read the opponent.
‘He doesn’t move.’
Whether it was specialized control or something else, the Gatekeeper did nothing but move its hands. It remained rooted in place.
In the end, the only thing Taesan truly needed to watch for was the beads.
But the beads were solid and powerful. He could break them, but it would cost him heavily.
And even if he shattered a few, hundreds still remained.
Even incomplete, it was this overwhelming. It wasn’t hard to imagine what it would be like if the true body descended.
‘The exchange ratio is too bad.’
If he traded blows like this, he would lose.
The opponent was clearly stronger. If he endured, his skills would be consumed one by one, and eventually he would fall.
This wouldn’t work.
He couldn’t win honestly.
So he would burn everything and aim for a single strike—dangerous, but decisive.
And Taesan had a one-shot powerful enough to bet his life on.
He made his decision.
[You have activated Landing.]
[You have activated Acceleration.]
[You have activated Skill Acceleration.]
He dropped at explosive speed—straight toward the Gatekeeper.
As if waiting, the beads surged up to meet him.
Taesan raised his hand.
[You have activated Baal’s Shattered Fragment.]
The shattered fragment appeared before his eyes.
And there, he activated the Magician’s Magi.
[You have activated Rainbow Rush of Diverse Colors.]
Rainbow light touched Baal’s Fragment.
Jjeojeojeojeok!
It amplified.
Every color was dyed black, and thousands of streaks surged forth.
Kugugugugung!
They collided with the beads.
This time, the surge wasn’t pushed back easily. It resisted, carving out a path toward the Gatekeeper.
The Gatekeeper waved its hand.
Kiiiing!
The beads spun so fast they couldn’t be tracked by the eye, then rushed again.
Shing! Shing!
The jet-black surge was pushed back once more. Even combining Baal’s power with what the Magician of the Labyrinth originally possessed wasn’t enough.
But it was enough for Taesan’s goal.
He only needed a path.
He spat out everything.
[You have activated Fall of All Things.]
[You have activated Great Collapse [Chaos].]
He kept [Rainbow Rush of Diverse Colors] active, forcing the path open.
Kagagak!
But it was being pierced, little by little.
Several beads shot through the gaps and tore toward Taesan. He swung.
Kaaaang!
He knocked some away, forcing them back.
He couldn’t block them all. Some trajectories couldn’t be stopped—only avoided.
Taesan didn’t avoid them.
He pushed forward instead.
[Your First Attack Nullification has been activated.]
Thanks to the skill bestowed by the Magician, Attack Nullification activated properly even against an Ancient God’s strike.
Kagagak!
[Your Second Attack Nullification has been activated.]
He couldn’t approach the Ancient God without taking hits. The gap between them was that vast.
[Your Third Attack Nullification has been activated.]
Kagagagak!
And Taesan finally reached the Gatekeeper’s vicinity.
At that moment, the jet-black streaks ended. Baal’s Fragment vanished as well.
His mana and Magi were running low.
Taesan was exposed—bare.
But he didn’t stop. He stepped in even further.
Hundreds of beads rushed toward him.
He couldn’t evade them.
He couldn’t block them.
Then his body moved.
[Last Opportunity has been activated.]
Kagagagagak!
His body twisted and shifted along a physically impossible path.
Last Opportunity—an emergency defense against a fatal blow.
Taesan took a step.
The Gatekeeper was right in front of him.
He had consumed everything to get here. He had to gain something.
Taesan tightened his grip on his sword.
And the Gatekeeper lightly waved its hand.
The beads gathered in front of it, forming a massive barrier.
An absolute defense—every bead condensed into one wall.
He couldn’t break through it with the Boundary Line.
And with that degree of aggregation, [Multiplication] was impossible too.
4.4 billion Physical Force was tremendous, but the limit was clear. It wasn’t enough to break through the Gatekeeper’s full power.
So the solution was simple.
Taesan’s Attack Power was 33,223.
His Defense Power was 15,192.
[You have activated Conversion.]
Defense Power converted into Attack Power. An additional 20% was added by the Ability Sword’s effect.
His Attack Power reached 51,451.
[You have activated Addition.]
102,902.
[You have activated Blade of Fighting Spirit.]
Blade of Fighting Spirit tripled the damage.
308,706.
[You have activated Critical Point Designation.]
Critical Point Designation wasn’t limited to living beings. He designated the Critical Point of the bead barrier.
The effect doubled the damage.
[You have activated Strong Blow.]
[You have activated Acceleration.]
He activated and stacked every Attack Power-boosting skill he had.
Physical Force began to pool within his sword.
Kuguguguk.
Just from that, the world warped.
The Gatekeeper’s hand lifted.
Something was wrong. It had to stop him before it moved.
But it was too late.
Taesan raised his sword.
“If you block this too, I’ll die without complaint.”
[You have activated Multiplication.]
[You have activated Copy.]