Chapter 546

Taesan made his decision.

Since the most important core had already been judged by his own will, there was nothing more to say. The Transcenders began quickly carrying out what they had prepared.

“First, if you’re going to enter beyond it, you’ll need to hide yourself. It’ll be easier to move if the beings over there don’t notice you and regard you as one of their own.”

Beyond the boundary, it wasn’t only the Old gods.

There were also many monsters and underlings born from them. It was necessary to hide himself from them.

“You can probably do it.”

He could. Boundary rose and wrapped around Taesan’s body.

[Gray] covered Taesan perfectly, without a single gap.

Then Taesan gradually reduced the ratio of divinity.

Like an underling of the Old gods, he increased the ratio of black and wrapped it around his entire body. His presence and rank were completely buried in black, and that color began to seep into him.

“Is this enough?”

“Plenty.”

The Magician exclaimed in admiration.

“I thought it’d be possible since you possess black, but I didn’t expect you to do it this perfectly.”

Even the Transcenders couldn’t read Taesan’s rank.

It wasn’t simply that observation was impossible— they couldn’t even determine whether he was strong or weak.

But Taesan was different now. Disguising himself in black, he felt as if he were one of the Old gods’ underlings.

If even a Transcender’s gaze perceived him that way, it meant only an extremely rare few could notice the truth. Arilnan reacted much like the Magician.

“If you act appropriately, it’ll be flawless.”

“Is it fine even if I have a human form?”

“There were plenty of humanoids over there too, so it doesn’t matter. A long time has passed, so I don’t know how it is now, but it shouldn’t be a problem. They look at essence more than form.”

“Here. Take it.”

The Magician handed Taesan a bead. Taesan accepted it and frowned.

“…This is.”

Inside the bead, the powers of countless Transcenders were condensed together.

[You have obtained an Unstable Collection of Ranks.]

“What is this?”

“A disposable bomb? Beyond that boundary is an unknown place, and even if you reach the treasure chest, it might be hard to break it with your own power. It’s a tool for that.”

“This doesn’t seem like something you can call a disposable bomb.”

It contained the full might of multiple Transcenders. If he used this as a material to create an item, it would easily surpass ordinary sacred relics. And unless you were a Transcender who ruled over a complete concept, it would be impossible to even handle it.

The value of this single thing easily exceeded dozens of planets.

And they were telling him to use it up in one shot.

“Because that’s how much burden you’re carrying. Honestly, I’d like to grant you protection too… but we don’t have that kind of leeway right now. That bead is something we prepared long ago, and we’re only taking it out now.”

The Transcenders, like the Old gods, were giving everything they had.

That was how important Taesan’s role was. Taesan stored the bead away.

“Alright.”

Now all that remained was execution. With calm eyes, Taesan looked at the Magician.

“Preparations are done. We move right away.”

—

And Taesan arrived.

At the Exile Boundary of the world that had banished the Old gods.

Kuuuuuwoong……

The boundary was shaking violently.

Countless Transcenders were holding it back, but the cracks continued to widen. Through the gaps, the Old gods’ aura seeped out, defiling the universe.

“Brutal.”

“Very brutal.”

With a bitter smile, the Magician clapped. Authority activated and reinforced the boundary.

But there was nothing he could do about the cracks that had already spread.

The boundary was slowly breaking.

“Then you know what to do, right?”

“See you later.”

“Hope we can see each other again without any issues. Go.”

Receiving the Magician’s send-off, Taesan hurled himself toward the crack.

Ssssslide. Boundary rose and wrapped around Taesan. The gray gradually dyed into black, masking his presence.

And then, one more layer.

[You have activated Baal’s Layered Darkness [Boundary].]

A layer of darkness wrapped around Taesan.

Baal’s Layered Darkness. That black magic had originally been able to conceal one’s body even from Transcenders.

Now Taesan activated its true authority.

Taesan’s body vanished.

Literally, to the point that no one could find him. Even a Transcender or an Old god wouldn’t easily notice him.

Taesan flew straight toward the boundary.

He found a point where he couldn’t feel the Old gods’ presence and placed his hand on the boundary.

Uuuuuwoong……

The boundary that touched his hand trembled unstably.

It rejected Taesan, denied him, and tried to push him away.

Countless fissures and cracks formed in the boundary, yet it still divided the world. It was impossible to break with mere individual strength.

But for Taesan, that didn’t matter.

Taesan raised Boundary. [Gray] touched the boundary that sealed the Old gods.

And the boundary opened.

It didn’t shatter. Like something melting away, a passage formed that accepted only Taesan.

Taesan slipped his body beyond the boundary. The boundary returned to its original form.

“Hoo.”

After a short breath, Taesan lifted his gaze.

Before him was a world dyed in pitch-black.

It was black, but it wasn’t mere darkness.

Even with nothing but black, his vision wasn’t obscured—he could clearly distinguish objects.

“Interesting.”

Taesan gave a brief impression.

Gravity, light, shadow, and countless other concepts of the world.

He couldn’t feel a single one.

There was only one thing he could feel.

Black.

The Old gods’ black ruled over the world itself.

This was the world of the banished Old gods.

A realm beyond, where the concepts of the universe did not apply.

[Umm…….]

[Uuuuumm.]

Bardray and Akasha groaned.

Having entered a separate domain, their souls were gradually being corroded. Taesan quickly strengthened Boundary even further.

[Whew. Thanks. Thought my head was going to crack.]

“Even under my control, it’s hard to endure?”

Bardray and Akasha belonged to Taesan.

They were synchronized to his soul and rank to some extent.

Even so, until Taesan wrapped them in additional Boundary, they could barely hold on.

That meant this realm was that alien and twisted.

Taesan wrapped himself in Boundary and waited quietly.

But nothing happened. He couldn’t feel an Old god’s presence.

It meant they hadn’t noticed he’d entered.

“Success.”

Then all that remained was to find the Usurper’s treasure chest.

He roughly knew the location. Arilnan had synchronized her mind with Taesan and shown him everything she knew. Taesan headed there.

Wavering black things obstructed Taesan’s view.

Bardray muttered as if uncomfortable.

[It’s too… different. What kind of place is this?]

To Bardray, the universe was common sense.

Things fell from above to below, fire burned wood, plants withered and died without moisture.

Facts so obvious he had never doubted them even once.

But here, that common sense didn’t apply.

For Bardray, who was born and raised in the universe, an instinctive revulsion rose up.

[Let’s finish this fast and get out. I don’t want to be here.]

Taesan marched forward in silence.

After moving some distance away from the boundary, a few shapes came into view.

‘Planets?’

They were gigantic structures, like planets in the universe.

But their forms were extremely alien.

They weren’t spheres. They were square.

And it wasn’t only squares. One looked like a colossal stele, another wasn’t even a shape—just a flat square plane. Some were endlessly warped, trembling, an amorphous form of negation.

Those planet-like things—more than ten of them—were gathered at regular intervals.

[…This doesn’t feel good.]

Bardray swallowed.

[This is bad. We should avoid them.]

Taesan didn’t answer.

After staring at them for a moment, Taesan moved. His body began flying toward the square planet.

Tap!

And Taesan landed on the planet.

Kiiiiing.

A covert but swift search swept across the planet—so subtle no one would notice.

And from the result, Taesan understood.

Countless filthy, vile things existed here.

Taesan walked on. Before long, he saw a massive group.

‘So many.’

Countless underlings of the Old gods were there.

Like warriors awaiting battle, they formed ranks, their emotions bared to the fullest.

At the front stood a being that seemed to be their leader.

Warped, with a fluttering cloak like a reaper, holding a scythe in one hand. A highly powerful existence.

The reaper noticed Taesan’s presence.

Their gazes met.

Taesan walked forward calmly. He stopped right before the reaper.

[…This is an unfamiliar anomaly.]

A wave filled with will trembled and reached Taesan.

It wasn’t language.

It was beyond any domain a being of the universe could comprehend.

But Taesan immediately understood the meaning contained in that will.

Taesan stared at the reaper. The reaper continued in a low will.

[Who are you?]

Taesan didn’t answer.

The reaper said Taesan was an unfamiliar anomaly—meaning it thought Taesan was of the same kind as them.

Hiding himself had worked.

So now, what to do?

Hundreds of possibilities and judgments flashed through Taesan’s mind.

[…You are.]

At Taesan’s silence, the reaper—its wavering form—shuddered for an instant.

Taesan made his decision.

Instead of answering, he lightly flicked his finger.

Kiiiiing!

And the world twisted.

Crack.

The axis distorted.

That was the only way to describe it.

The aftermath of a distorted, twisted authority swept over the reaper.

[Ah.]

The reaper reflexively retreated.

Taesan looked at his hand with a strange expression.

He had just activated Time Interference, the authority of the monster that walks time.

But time as a concept did not exist here. Perhaps because of that, the authority activated in a completely different direction.

‘What is this?’

As Taesan thought, the reaper panicked and cried out.

[We behold a fragment of the Great One!]

The reaper slammed its head down. A posture of perfect submission.

That motion spread like a wave to the monsters behind it.

Thousands of monsters prostrated themselves toward Taesan in unison. They lowered their power and aura completely and yielded their control to Taesan.

‘Good.’

He’d thought that if he used the authority he had stolen through Soul Rank Ascension, they would accept him without needing to wrap himself in any other pretense.

Taesan’s prediction was correct. They had completely mistaken Taesan for a shard of the monster that walks time.

‘Still, a fragment.’

Taesan fell silent. Perhaps fearing that silence, the reaper asked with trembling will.

[Fragment-nim… may I ask what brings you here?]

After staring at the apostle for a moment, Taesan opened his mouth. But he didn’t speak in words.

Like the reaper had, he released a wave filled with will.

Like an Old god.