Leveling Up With Skills – Chapter 532

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Countless skills, countless powers changed and evolved.

And Taesan reached it.

A complete domain—his own realm.

“Hoo.”

Taesan let out a short breath. The Divinity he had just reached, which had been shaking unsteadily, stabilized in an instant.

Taesan looked around.

The mental image had completely changed. The distorted form he had destroyed with his own hands was dyed and transformed into something new, becoming incredibly vast and solid.

Rather than a simple mental image, it was a perfect world.

“Good.”

[……You.]

The Usurper stiffened. He spoke in denial.

[Don’t be ridiculous.]

Crack!

The [Boundary Line] rose. Gray ash, disrupting the balance, surged toward Taesan.

[You are me. You are mine.]

“That was true before.”

Taesan snapped his fingers.

“But not anymore.”

Kaaaang!

The [Boundary Line] drawn by the Usurper vanished. Unapproved power was excluded from Taesan’s mental image.

The Usurper was no longer his alter ego. The foundation that was [Divinity Boost] had collapsed and become something entirely new, and the pollution covering the mental image was completely covered by Kang Taesan himself.

It was nothing more than a foreign substance.

Then the foreign substance had to be removed.

Taesan grabbed Bardray.

Ripple.

The [Boundary Line] wrapped around Bardray.

Originally, the [Boundary Line] was a power created by mixing [Divinity] and [Black]. Naturally, it required first summoning [Divinity] and [Black] into the world, then mixing them.

But this time was different.

The [Boundary Line] sprang directly from Taesan’s body.

As if it no longer needed to be mixed. As if it were Taesan’s own power.

The quality and Divinity of the [Boundary Line] itself were distinctly different from before. The [Boundary Line] he had handled until now seemed like a mere imitation.

And above all, it was natural.

As if handling his own limbs, manifesting the [Boundary Line] was smooth.

The [Boundary Line] that manifested like this flew toward the Usurper like a sword.

The Usurper quickly drew out his own [Boundary Line]. But its color and quality were completely different from Taesan’s. The two [Boundary Line]s collided.

Crack!

And what shattered was the Usurper’s [Boundary Line].

Without any resistance or pause, Taesan’s [Boundary Line] trampled, crushed, and charged forward.

And it swallowed the Usurper whole.

The Usurper’s entire body was dyed gray and buried.

Taesan watched the scene for a moment, then lifted his foot. Gray ash rippled beneath it.

When he stepped down, Taesan’s body momentarily turned gray.

His figure reappeared right above the Usurper.

[Huh?]

Bardray was startled by the instantaneous shift of space. Taesan ignored him and stomped down on the fallen Usurper.

The [Boundary Line] rose.

Very naturally—yet abundant and dense.

It burst out in hundreds, thousands of strands, striking the Usurper’s entire body.

It tried to resist, but everything was trampled and crushed.

Crack.

In less than a few seconds, the Usurper was completely subdued.

“I can’t let you disappear like this. There are still many things I’m curious about.”

Since when had the Usurper been targeting him?

How had the contamination been carried out?

Since when had it been fully aware of Taesan?

He could make guesses, but there were still too many things he couldn’t confirm. This time, Taesan intended to hear the answers.

[……How unfortunate.]

The Usurper suddenly grew quiet. The agitation and confusion subsided, leaving only regret.

[I thought I could finally fulfill my long-cherished wish…… It’s not that easy after all. It can’t be helped. How unfortunate.]

“Enough with the nonsense.”

Taesan put strength into his foot. The Usurper’s body shattered, and power scattered like fog.

“I want you to just answer me.”

But the Usurper didn’t answer. It simply continued saying what it wanted to say.

[Unfortunately, I’ll have to go with the orthodox method now.]

The Usurper smiled. It had the same face as Taesan, but that smile was infinitely twisted.

[I will directly trample your body and annihilate your mind to usurp you.]

At the same time, the Usurper exploded. The remnants inside it burst outward in every direction.

Taesan raised his mental image. Following the will of its master, it tried to capture the scattering thoughts.

But it couldn’t block everything. They dodged, pierced through, and spread out.

Taesan swung his hand.

The [Boundary Line] rose. Unlike anything before, it perfectly followed Taesan’s control, grabbing the bursting concepts like hunting dogs chasing prey.

Kuaaaaang!

But the remnants broke through the [Boundary Line] and charged forward. Taesan frowned.

‘Descent, huh.’

Unlike before, a lofty Divinity and distorted power could be felt. He didn’t know what method it had used, but it seemed the Usurper had temporarily descended directly.

Taesan drew out the [Boundary Line] properly and tried to capture the Usurper.

And at that moment, Taesan felt it.

That what he was holding was truly trying to reveal itself to the world.

Clatter.

A beast cried out—howling as if to escape its cage.

It was huge and dense.

More than anything Taesan had ever seen.

“Ugh…”

Sss—

Taesan unconsciously suppressed his power.

The remnants that had scattered without interference gathered into one and charged wildly.

Crackle!

The walls of the mental image began to break.

There was a will to escape from this place and scatter its filth throughout the universe.

And outside, Essential was waiting. He sat perched and stared blankly at the mirror.

“What will happen?”

A quiet voice echoed.

Frankly, he was also half in doubt.

There was something inside Taesan. And that thing was equal to him—or higher.

Normally, there would be no problem. That place was Taesan’s mental image. Within his own mental image, he could wield nearly absolute power.

But Taesan was a distorted being that Essential couldn’t even grasp.

Because of that peculiarity, Essential couldn’t be sure of Taesan’s victory.

‘I hope there are no problems.’

Just as he waited anxiously for it to be resolved—

Crack.

“……Hmm?”

Cracks spread across the mirror.

Essential, who had believed Taesan would sort everything out and come out, realized something was wrong.

From what was forcing its way out, he felt the clear aura of an Ancient God.

“How dare you!”

Essential hurriedly activated the Authority of Essence. He began to suppress and seal the mirror firmly.

But the cracks didn’t stop.

Crack!

It twisted all that Divine Power and control, and finally pushed its way out of the mirror.

Kwagagagang!

And it revealed its form.

Essential bared his teeth.

“Usurper!”

[It’s been a while.]

The Usurper replied in a quiet voice. Chuckling, it passed Essential and flew beyond the universe.

Essential activated his Divine Power. The Divine Power that grasped Essence itself tried to seize the Usurper.

But the Usurper lightly raised its hand toward that Divine Power.

Kaaaang!

Essential’s power was usurped and shattered. Essential ground his teeth.

“Damn it!”

And the Usurper, moving on as if nothing had happened, eventually arrived at the boundary of the universe.

[Then please take care of me.]

[Shut up.]

An irritable voice echoed. The Usurper burst into laughter.

And a sound erupted.

A huge sound that those of low Divinity couldn’t even perceive—yet a sound that those of high Divinity could definitely hear, no matter where they were in the universe.

The [Boundary] struck the universe. At the same time, it left a massive mark upon it.

There, along with the [Boundary Line], the concept of this world was also mixed in.

With the permission of the concept, a massive Rift began to form in the universe.

Kigigigigigigik!

Along with the indelible mark, the other side revealed itself.

A huge mark was carved into the barrier toward the Old Gods.

Crack!

Cracks spread, and a gap opened.

And beyond it, twisted beings turned their gazes toward this side.

“……Damn Essence!”

Essential, grasping the situation in an instant, spat out a curse.

The balance of the universe began to shake.

—

Crack.

Taesan, having sorted everything out, stepped out of the mirror.

And what he saw was a ruined universe.

A [Boundary] twisted and collapsing. Beyond it, the presence of what seemed to be Old Gods could be felt.

“What a mess.”

“You’re out.”

“What happened?”

“Well…… it seems like you and I both have a lot to talk about.”

Essential sat perched with a bitter smile.

“First, let’s hear it. What happened?”

“It’s nothing much.”

Taesan calmly explained what had happened inside his mental image.

After hearing it, Essential stroked his chin.

“So that’s what happened…… I knew there was something inside you, but I didn’t know it was involved so deeply.”

Then Essential narrowed his eyes.

“But it’s strange. How did you win?”

“Because I threw it away.”

“Threw it away?”

Essential asked back, his expression incomprehensible.

“The realm I had reached.”

“……Ha.”

Essential let out a sound of admiration.

“That’s…… amazing.”

Essential was a Transcender who governed the concept of Essence.

To him, Essence was more important than his own life. He would rather choose death than throw it away.

Taesan had thrown it away without hesitation. To Essential, that was purely admirable.

“But thanks to that, you’ve changed quite a bit.”

“Many things have changed.”

Only then did Essential properly look at Taesan.

He was the God of Essence. He could grasp the concept of Essence more deeply and broadly than anyone else.

“You are……”

But even Essential couldn’t grasp Taesan.

“It’s stabilized.”

That was the first sensation he felt.

“Before, there was distortion. A twist broken from your roots—an untraceable twist. But now, that distortion isn’t even visible. What did you do?”

“I filled it with my complete self.”

Essential let out a hollow laugh.

“Amazing.”

It wasn’t impossible.

There had been cases where a Transcender’s concept was distorted and broken, then that part was emptied and filled anew. It was so rare you could search from the birth of the universe and barely find it, but it wasn’t unheard of.

But it was extremely difficult.

To throw away what you had devoted your entire life to and fill it anew—most Transcenders would collapse, unable to endure the mental strain, the consumption, and the shaking of their Divinity.

Taesan had attempted something that carried a high probability of failure even if done slowly with long preparation and rituals.

And he succeeded while fighting a formidable enemy, without any problems.

“I don’t even know where you’ve reached now……”

Whether Taesan’s realm was higher or lower than Essential’s—he couldn’t judge. Even though it had become Taesan’s complete self, no, because of that, it had become even more unreadable.

“Can I read you for a moment?”

“If you wish.”

With Taesan’s permission, Essential activated his Divine Power. The gaze that read the Essence of the universe tried to read Taesan.

‘…What is this?’

As a result, Essential was confused.

He couldn’t read it. Not a single thing.

If he used his Divine Power in earnest, he could read even an Ancient God. Even if he couldn’t reach the deep inner core, he could at least grasp the surface—approximate Divinity, the level of power.

But Taesan was different.

He felt like he was here, but not here. Essential couldn’t tell what Taesan’s Divinity or power was.

The fact that even the God of Essence couldn’t read it meant no being in this universe could grasp Taesan.

“……You’ll have to figure it out yourself. I don’t know either.”

“I intend to.”

Taesan nodded. He had half expected it, so there was nothing to be surprised about.

“Thank you. For giving me [Self].”

If Essential hadn’t given him the concept of himself, filling his mental image with himself would have been far more difficult. Essential waved a hand.

“It’s a reward for what you’ve done, so there’s no need to thank me. I didn’t expect you to handle it so well.”

Essential wore a satisfied smile.

He had roughly said what he needed to say.

Now it was his turn to ask.

Taesan looked beyond the universe.

A massive Rift gaped there.

Auras that seemed to be Old Gods seeped out from beyond it.

And several Transcenders were visible. They were trying to block the Rift with their Divine Power, but it wasn’t going well.

To rebuild a dam that had already collapsed, you first had to empty everything behind it.

But emptying it was impossible.

“What was inside you was the Usurper. It escaped to the outside.”

“I know.”

An Ancient God had descended. Though it wasn’t a proper descent, the Ancient God itself had appeared in the universe.

“But it shouldn’t have been able to do this.”

The Old Gods had already been expelled. Now that a single Ancient God—one that wasn’t even a proper descent—had come, it shouldn’t have been able to do anything to the [Boundary] that expelled the Old Gods.

“Originally, that’s right. But…… if a Transcender in this world intervenes, the story changes.”

Taesan immediately thought of one Transcender.

“Essence.”

“Damn God of Fall. What is he trying to do?”

Essential clicked his tongue.

“It happened so suddenly that we have a lot to confirm right now. For now, go back to the Labyrinth. We’ll talk after we’ve finished sorting things out.”

“If that’s the case.”

Taesan nodded. The condition of the quest was to see Essence. Taesan had completed it.

[Floor 95 Quest Complete.]

[You have obtained a stable Essence.]

[You have obtained ???.]

And Taesan returned to the Labyrinth.

The Magician wasn’t visible. He must have been busy, given everything. That wasn’t bad for Taesan, either.

He had reached a new realm.

Taesan himself didn’t know where it was. If even the God of Essence couldn’t grasp it, no one would.

What had changed, and where had he reached?

He needed to grasp it properly.

Chapter 532

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