Chapter 533

The first thing he needed to confirm was where he had arrived.

Had he risen to a position equal to a Transcender or an Ancient God?

But there was a problem.

Taesan himself didn’t know what level he had reached.

A distorted, twisted realm—Taesan was the only one who had ever reached it. With nothing to compare against, he couldn’t confirm it through senses alone.

‘I’ll have to spar directly.’

At least, it wasn’t something he could solve right now.

So first, he needed to grasp what had changed.

Many skills had changed during the process of filling his mind with his complete self. Since he didn’t know exactly what had changed, he had to check them one by one.

[[Vessel of the Usurper] has disappeared.]

A vessel that could contain and take many things.

It was a skill that implied Taesan’s body was the Usurper’s vessel.

Now that he had completely excluded the Usurper within him and removed all contamination, it seemed the skill had naturally vanished.

There had been similar content in [Call of Chaos]. A line stating it would harmonize with [Chaos] and change into something new.

And as [Call of Chaos] changed into a passive skill, that part disappeared entirely.

[Special Passive Skill: Chaos]

[The power of the Apostle bestowed by many gods. It harmonizes with your complete self and transforms into Chaos. This is solely yours.]

[Call of Chaos] had been a powerful skill.

It greatly strengthened his control over the [Boundary Line], and let him handle his body almost perfectly. It also reduced Magi consumption, making Magi far more efficient.

Now it had become a passive skill.

Originally, it only lasted an hour, with a one-day cooldown. The fact that the time limit was gone was meaningful on its own.

And that wasn’t all. The effect itself had changed.

‘Chaos, huh.’

Maybe it referred to the [Boundary Line]. But too many skills had changed. He couldn’t be sure whether what he could do now was entirely due to [Chaos].

First, he needed to check further. There were too many changes to grasp everything individually, so Taesan focused on the core skills first.

The skills obtained through [Divinity Boost] had changed the most—especially the Divine Powers he had gained from the Old Gods.

[Transcendence: Immutable Self]

[Proficiency: M]

[Immutability against @!%. Gains strong resistance against [email protected]$. It is still only a fragment, so there is a gap. This skill is under the control of Transcendence [Boundary].]

A new line had been added: all skills related to [Black] were under the control of Transcendence [Boundary].

And it really did feel different.

The Transcendence skills of the Old Gods—gained through [Divinity Boost]—were things he could wield, but they had always felt like clothes that didn’t fit.

But now it was different.

The [Immutable Self] wrapping his entire body felt natural.

Taesan raised his arm.

He focused his mind and moved [Immutable Self]. The intangible energy flowed smoothly, gathering along his arm.

Whoooong.

[Immutable Self] tightly wrapped around a single area.

Taesan shook his arm. [Immutable Self] peeled away and spread back over his entire body.

“So I can use it like this now, too.”

If [Immutable Self] was like this, then the other Transcendence Divine Powers should be the same.

“Should I check them all?”

There were too many.

The Divine Powers he had obtained weren’t just one or two. Just counting the Divine Power-level ones, there were [Black], [Worthlessness], [Time Interference], [Compression], and [Immutable Self]. Five in total.

It wouldn’t be strange if it took several days to properly grasp even one.

For now, he would postpone it. He needed to focus on the bigger picture rather than detailed control.

It was absurd that something could matter more than controlling Divine Power, but it was true.

Taesan stared at the skill window.

“I didn’t think this would remain.”

He still had [Divinity Boost].

It was the most powerful card—plundering countless Divine Powers and strengths—making him who he was now.

But [Divinity Boost] wasn’t his complete self. It had been tainted by the Usurper. That was why Taesan had discarded it with his own hands.

He hadn’t expected to ever regain it, but during the process of expelling the Usurper, [Divinity Boost] was restored.

In a far stronger form.

[Transcendence: Spiritual Rank Usurpation]

[Proficiency: 100%]

[The soul has reached a higher level of the world. The high-dimensional soul steals the opponent’s power each time it wins. It partially usurps the Spiritual Rank of those who oppose you and can handle it as your own, even temporarily.]

[Transcendence…….]

Bardray groaned.

A Transcendence skill.

The Divine Power of a complete Transcender.

Its feel and concept were fundamentally different from soul skills. Taesan had many Transcendence skills until now, but none of them had been completely his. They were all plundered through [Divinity Boost].

Now, he had obtained a complete Transcendence skill that was truly his.

“Not Boost, but Usurpation, huh.”

Taesan covered the concept the Usurper had distorted, then remade it into something perfect—his own.

The base effect seemed similar to [Divinity Boost], but something had been added.

“What does it mean to partially usurp the Spiritual Rank of those who oppose you and handle it as your own, even temporarily?”

[Um…… Doesn’t it mean you can use part of the opponent’s Divine Power?]

“Does that make sense?”

To wedge into a concept the opponent dominated, intervene, and make part of it your own—it was hard to understand logically.

[But…… honestly, [Divinity Boost] itself is absurd.]

“That’s true.”

Still, Taesan had dealt with something similar before, so he couldn’t argue. Plundering the Divine Power of a defeated opponent was already incomprehensible.

“I can’t get a feel for it yet, either.”

He needed an opponent.

And that opponent had to be equal to—or greater than—Taesan. Only then could he properly confirm the skill.

One thing was certain: its value and effect had increased compared to [Divinity Boost].

To an incomparable degree.

That made him curious.

He should have reached the realm of Transcendence.

But due to the Usurper’s interference, his destination had distorted, and he had obtained the soul skill [Divinity Boost].

Then what was the true realm of Transcendence he should have reached—the concept he would have dominated?

He had a few guesses, but nothing certain.

‘There’s no way to find out now, anyway.’

He had already thrown it all away. The current him had rebuilt the broken destination into something new. There was no retrieving it, because everything had been recreated.

It was just curiosity.

Where would he have reached originally?

Taesan cut off the thought and continued checking.

Scrolling down the long system window, he reached the core.

[[Black] has disappeared.]

[[Divinity] has disappeared.]

[[Boundary Line] has disappeared.]

It wasn’t just the [Vessel of the Usurper].

[Black], [Divinity], and [Boundary Line] had also disappeared.

It was the kind of message that could only leave him stunned. Those three powers were his core cards.

Yet they were gone.

But the power within Taesan didn’t feel as if it had decreased.

Taesan raised his arm.

Ripple.

[Black] rose and wrapped around his arm. He raised his other hand. Golden [Divinity] surged there, shining brilliantly.

He hadn’t lost [Divinity] or [Black]. The same was true for the [Boundary Line].

Not only those three, but several other skills had vanished as well—most of them related to [Boundary] or [Divinity].

They hadn’t disappeared. They had been integrated.

And the result was Transcendence [Boundary].

[Transcendence: Boundary]

[Proficiency: 100%]

[The line of Boundary. Something that sits between the world and beyond.]

Most of the skills used to handle [Divinity], [Black], and the [Boundary Line] had been absorbed into [Boundary].

Taesan gathered [Divinity] and [Black], then gave them power.

Smear.

Without delay, the [Boundary Line] flowed out naturally.

“I can draw out the [Boundary Line] itself right away.”

The [Boundary Line] was a power created by mixing [Divinity] and [Black]. Until now, he had handled it by fusing the two in advance and drawing the result out.

But not anymore.

Now he could summon the [Boundary Line] itself directly.

And that wasn’t all.

Taesan flicked his finger. The [Boundary Line] that appeared warped according to its owner’s will.

Kagagak!

It ground and reshaped itself into a sharp spear.

Taesan flicked his finger again. The spear became a sword, the sword became a shield, and the shield became a bow.

He shook his hand. The [Boundary Line] vanished.

Now he could control the [Boundary Line] almost perfectly.

He couldn’t do that before.

Because the [Boundary Line] hadn’t been completely his. Half of it belonged to the Usurper. That was why he’d never been able to handle it properly.

But not anymore.

Now the [Boundary Line] was entirely his.

There were many things he could do now that he couldn’t before.

For example—when he trampled the Usurper, he had leapt through space using the [Boundary Line].

It wasn’t simply crossing space. It was moving beyond the gap in the Boundary—an unrespondable movement that couldn’t be blocked or interrupted midway.

Not just space-crossing. Many things would be possible.

As it evolved into his Divine Power, everything about the [Boundary Line] had changed.

Beyond control, even its sheer quantity and quality were incomparable to before. If it had been a small lake until now, it was now a vast ocean. Unless it was an exceptional case, he wouldn’t have to worry about consumption anymore.

‘But.’

There was a problem.

Taesan couldn’t grasp how deep the Divine Power of [Boundary] truly ran.

When he tried to draw out the [Boundary Line] with all his might to stop the Usurper, something had almost emerged from within him.

A beast.

A clear ego. It rejoiced and howled, as if desperate to appear in the world.

Taesan had instinctively canceled the manifestation. It had been a long time since he’d felt that embarrassed.

‘Can I control it?’

He needed proper experiments.

But he couldn’t do that in the Labyrinth.

He would need a wide place—one that could withstand his power—to test it and learn how to control it, even a little.

This, too, would have to be checked slowly over time.

“I can’t check everything right now.”

Taesan muttered and continued.

There was still one more Divine Power left.

[Transcendence: Physical Force]

Bardray let out a hollow laugh.

[What are you? How do you have so many Divine Powers?]

[Spiritual Rank Usurpation], [Boundary], and even [Physical Force]. Three.

The God of Fall—Essential—governed Fall and wielded it as Divine Power.

The God of Choice—Maria—governed Choice and wielded it as Divine Power.

Divine Power was a destination a Transcender reached by devoting their entire life.

It was rare to have even several. It was safe to say none existed, aside from exceptions like Lakiratas, who simultaneously governed Struggle and Death.

But Taesan had [Spiritual Rank Usurpation], [Boundary], and [Physical Force]. Three.

As far as Bardray knew, no Transcender governed three destinations.

“Is it because it’s distorted?”

Divine Power was a point of arrival—a final destination. Once you reached it, you couldn’t go further.

But Taesan had arrived at the distorted realm of [Divinity Boost].

As a result, he hadn’t reached a true final destination.

He had been able to reach higher in this life than in his past life.

He didn’t know for certain, but it wasn’t a bad thing. Thanks to that, he had obtained multiple Divine Powers.

“[Physical Force].”

He could guess easily how he’d obtained it.

A collection of [Physical Force] that damaged even Old Gods.

That was, in essence, a Divine Power.

As the wall of [Divinity Boost] broke down, he seemed to have gained a Divine Power worthy of what he had achieved.

“Amazing.”

This was easier to understand than [Spiritual Rank Usurpation] or [Boundary].

Struggle. Death. Choice. Essence.

A single concept.

He had come to dominate the universe’s concept of [Physical Force] itself.

Bardray, reminded of that fact, muttered.

[Transcender.]

“Can I call myself that?”

In terms of governing concepts, he could. But Taesan couldn’t be sure. It felt different.

Taesan checked the effect of the Divine Power.