Chapter 550
KWA-AAAAANG!
A thunderous roar exploded. A blast powerful enough to grind a planet to dust with the shockwave alone.
And Taesan punched through it and stepped forward.
He advanced on the Usurper. The Usurper stamped its foot.
[You cannot reach me.]
With that short sentence, an authority activated. The distance between Taesan and the Usurper was forcibly increased.
Like two magnets repelling each other, every time he closed in, the Usurper retreated by the same amount.
“What authority is this now?”
Taesan grumbled and swung his arm. Mana condensed, and thousands of gray streaks manifested.
[You have activated Rainbow Rush of Diverse Colors [Boundary].]
[You have activated Guaranteed Strike.]
Kugugugugung!
The gray streaks swept through space and charged at the Usurper. They forcibly compressed the widening distance and closed in.
KAAANG!
But the moment they touched the Usurper, they shattered like glass.
Taesan frowned.
The streaks made of mana and gray had turned into matter—then broke apart. He couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but it looked like another concept.
‘No bottom in sight.’
Corruption, exile, suppression, exclusion, monotone, and more.
The number of authorities the Usurper had pulled out was already over ten.
Of course, it was no more than imitation. It couldn’t wield authorities and concepts in a way that drew out their essence.
It was closer to a foolish brute swinging weapons at random.
But those weapons were enormous.
And there were many of them.
So many that it more than compensated for the inability to truly “use” them.
Every time Taesan succeeded in breaking one authority, the Usurper immediately produced a new one.
‘How many are there?’
Taesan kicked off. His body surged forward—transcendent speed, fast enough to circle a planet in an instant.
And the Usurper tracked it all.
[You cannot escape my sight.]
That was the authority of observation.
A massive universal concept that watches and contemplates, grasping everything.
Gray and concepts collided. The Usurper raised its fist and swung. A huge condensation smashed into Taesan.
KWA-AAAAANG!
Taesan felt a heavy impact.
It wasn’t merely physical.
It tried to strike his soul directly.
That, too, was an authority. Clicking his tongue, Taesan wrapped himself in Boundary—protecting not only his body, but his mind as well.
“Rise.”
A beast’s howl echoed.
The Boundary Beast fully revealed itself.
With a twisted, negating form, it tried to devour the Usurper.
The Usurper didn’t retreat.
Rather, as if delighted, it rushed into the Boundary in a distorted shape. Countless authorities burst forth as if they’d been waiting.
KWA-AAANG—
Power collided.
Even after pulling out the Boundary Beast, Taesan gained no real advantage and widened the distance again.
‘Annoying.’
Any one of them alone wasn’t a problem. Since it was closer to random swinging, he could break through even a concept.
But because it wielded multiple authorities and kept pulling out more, breaking through became effectively impossible.
‘What do I do?’
Taesan fell into thought while keeping his distance.
And the Usurper was surprised in its own way.
[You’re holding out well.]
Each concept it was wielding was a complete universal concept.
Even if it couldn’t handle them “properly,” simply swinging them could affect the entire universe.
It was equivalent to wielding the authority of choice, struggle, death, victory, magic, and sword all alone.
Though it was weak as merely a portion of the Usurper, within the treasure chest it was confident it would lose to no one.
But Taesan was enduring.
Breaking its authorities one by one, he kept charging in.
[Strong.]
The Usurper had to admit it.
Taesan was extremely powerful.
Including his alien nature, even a Transcender who ruled a complete concept—or an Old god—could be met head-on if their soul rank was lacking even slightly.
[Excellent.]
The Usurper acknowledged Taesan.
But there was no hint of crisis on its face. Only immutable confidence that it would win.
[If I make that mine… I might truly usurp the me outside and become whole.]
Greed flooded the Usurper’s face.
It chuckled and snapped its fingers. Powder of corruption swept out in all directions.
[You will be consumed eventually.]
Boundary was not infinite power. It had grown to the point where its bottom was hard to find on the path to becoming whole, but even so, Taesan couldn’t draw it out without limit.
[Will you be consumed first, or will this place be consumed first? That too is entertainment. Come—enjoy yourself.]
Another authority surfaced in the domain.
—
Taesan widened the distance. Thousands of blades plunged down toward him.
Taesan drew Boundary in and compressed it. Several gray spheres formed.
Then he detonated them.
The thousands of blades collided with the exploding gray and canceled out.
‘That makes fourteen.’
The number of authorities the Usurper had wielded.
‘Way more than I expected.’
He’d assumed there would be at most ten complete concepts, and the rest would be minor concepts not worth worrying about.
But it had easily surpassed ten.
And even so, the Usurper’s expression remained relaxed—like the bottom still hadn’t appeared, like it was only just beginning. It kept pulling out more.
‘It killed a lot.’
It meant that at least fourteen Transcenders who ruled complete concepts had their soul rank stolen.
“Hm.”
Taesan lightly flicked his sword.
‘Do I change the plan?’
His original plan had been to endure until the Usurper pulled out all the universal concepts it possessed.
Since it couldn’t wield them properly, it seemed doable.
But the quantity was larger than expected.
At this rate, Taesan might be consumed first before he could break through them all.
After a brief consideration, Taesan decided quickly.
Change the plan.
Abandon the long fight.
Find one opening and end it.
And Taesan had a card strong enough for that.
Kugugugung!
The moment the decision was made, Taesan launched himself forward. He spread gray in all directions, seized control of space, and surged ahead.
[I exile you.]
JJEONG!
The authority of exile covered Taesan.
But Taesan didn’t retreat. The Boundary he’d condensed in his hand manifested as an authority.
JJEONG!
The world was severed.
The authority of the beast that walks time activated. The domain itself was cut, and exile could not reach Taesan.
KWA-AAANG!
He put strength into his feet.
The Usurper swung its hand.
[You cannot reach me.]
Space itself stretched. The faster Taesan approached, the more the distance expanded.
Taesan didn’t care.
He simply accelerated harder.
Kugugugugugung!
The expanding space began to forcibly narrow. The authority’s effect couldn’t keep up with Taesan’s speed.
KWA-AAANG!
He broke through the authority with pure force and charged.
Space couldn’t withstand the speed and cracked apart. Extremely compressed Boundary shook everything.
The Usurper didn’t stand still. It swung its authorities to stop Taesan.
Taesan didn’t dodge.
He didn’t block.
He just pushed through with his body.
KWA-DR-DR-DR-DEUK!
Boundary Negation was ground away in an instant.
But he didn’t stop. Ignoring the cost, he kept closing in.
[Hm.]
The Usurper realized it. Taesan had changed how he would attack.
And it was the correct answer.
The Usurper had too many authorities to count. Before Taesan could discern them all, his power would be consumed.
So a short fight was right.
Taesan could reach that answer without difficulty.
And naturally, the Usurper knew it too.
[Come.]
The Usurper opened its arms, welcoming Taesan like a demon king facing a hero.
Authorities poured down.
Concepts of the universe in countless colors crashed over Taesan.
KWA-AAANG!
And Taesan pierced through.
[You have activated Denial of Possibility.]
He denied the possibility of being hit, and charged the Usurper.
KWA-AAANG!
But the Usurper’s authorities were universal concepts.
Denial of Possibility couldn’t solve everything. Boundary Negation was finally fully consumed, and the attacks reached Taesan.
[Your First Attack Nullification has activated.]
And nullification triggered.
The skill he gained the moment he entered Solo Mode worked even against universal concepts.
He exhausted all his nullifications, and even his last chance activated.
And Taesan arrived before the Usurper.
Taesan tightened his grip on the sword.
[You have activated Addition.]
[You have activated Blade of Fighting Spirit.]
[You have activated Conversion.]
[You have activated Heavy Strike.]
[You have activated Vital Point Designation.]
[You have activated Multiplication.]
Physical force stacked onto the sword.
The domain trembled from that alone. Extremely compressed physical force manifested into the world.
And Boundary covered that physical force.
A colossal physical force mixed with Boundary.
If it struck directly, no one could claim they would endure it.
And the Usurper, as if it had been waiting, bared its teeth.
[I knew you could draw that out.]
The Usurper brought both hands together.
[Come. Authority of defense.]
Kugugugugugung!
A massive concept rose.
The concept of defense—protecting and guarding something.
A perfect aggregate of every “defense” that existed throughout the universe wrapped around the Usurper.
Taesan didn’t back down. He raised his sword and swung.
The condensed gray physical force collided with defense.
Kugugugugugugung!
Space warped.
The Usurper’s treasure chest couldn’t endure the shockwave and twisted.
Taesan poured more 힘 into the blade. The authority began to crack with a grinding sound.
Then a roar erupted.
Kuuwoong….
The shockwave slowly died down.
And what remained was a devastated domain—
And the Usurper, standing calmly.
Outwardly calm, but awe lingered on its face.
[…The authority broke.]
What it had pulled out to block the gray physical force was the authority of defense.
It had drawn out the concept of defense itself from the universe.
A concept ranked among the greatest of the great.
It had wielded it in full to protect itself.
And yet that authority of defense—the universal concept—was broken.
So broken it could no longer be used or restored.
The gray physical force had shattered the very concept of “defense.”
And it wasn’t only that.
From the mere shockwave, many minor concepts had broken and collapsed.
They weren’t “minor” enough to ignore.
They were only smaller compared to complete concepts, but their realm vastly surpassed a faith god.
They could have easily defeated Old god shards or fragments.
Yet more than ten of those concepts vanished from the shockwave alone.
The Usurper let out a hollow laugh.
Boundary’s physical force was beyond even its calculations.
But in the end, it did not fall.
It had spent the authority of defense and succeeded in protecting itself.
And Taesan had become empty-handed.
[Your Endurance has activated.]
[You have lost.]
The Usurper shouted with conviction.
Taesan didn’t deny it.
The Usurper wasn’t wrong.
He had poured everything into destroying a single authority completely.
But that was all.
The Usurper still had many authorities.
Breaking through them was impossible.
For Taesan as he was now.
‘I think I get it.’
The Usurper’s authorities.
How they were being used, and how they were intervening.
And as a result, Taesan learned one new concept.
Taesan stepped forward.
The Usurper didn’t stop him—watching as if to say, try it if you can.
Taesan placed his hand on a scattered authority.
[So that’s what you were doing.]
The Usurper sneered.
[Trying to steal control, are you? It’s true I wasn’t properly handling what’s here.]
The Usurper was an Old god.
And the universal concepts that existed here—
The Usurper could do no more than imitate them.
[But even so, these are mine.]
Even if it couldn’t control or command them, ownership belonged to the Usurper.
[As you became whole, you lost the authority that came from me. You cannot usurp.]
“Is that so?”
The Usurper was right. Soul Rank Ascenscion was gone.
Even if Soul Rank Ascenscion still existed, it only activated after defeating the opponent, so it meant nothing in this situation.
But Soul Rank Ascenscion had changed into Soul Rank Usurpation.
And unlike Soul Rank Ascenscion, Soul Rank Usurpation was an active power.
Against Rakiratas, it had activated unconsciously. Even Taesan hadn’t known how to handle it.
But not anymore.
Now he could wield it with his own will.
Taesan put strength into the hand resting on the authority.
The power he had used without understanding—yet had become wholly his—activated.
The Usurper froze for a moment. Sensing something wrong, it tried to move.
But it was already too late.
The authority activated.
[You have activated Soul Rank Usurpation.]
The universal concept began to fall under Taesan’s control.