Chapter 551
The concepts of the universe strewn across the treasure chest.
They were the authorities the Usurper had stolen while facing Transcenders in the war long ago.
Now those authorities slipped free from the Usurper and fell under Taesan’s control. The Usurper’s twisted form hardened, as if his face were freezing in place.
[You—]
The Usurper quickly swung his hand. The authority of decay activated, and dust swept over Taesan.
Taesan swung his hand in response.
What burst forth from it wasn’t Boundary Line or Physical Force.
It was a brilliant white light, more dazzling than anything else.
Kiiiiiiing!
The light and the dust of decay collided. Authorities of equal rank neutralized each other and shattered.
[…You.]
In the war long ago, the Usurper had defeated countless Transcenders and stolen their authorities.
Among them was a god who shone more brilliantly than anything, purifying the world.
The God of Purification – Bright.
What Taesan had just wielded was Bright’s authority of light. He had intervened in the concepts the Usurper had stolen and swung them as if they were his own authority.
[Don’t make me laugh.]
A stiff voice, devoid of mirth, rang out. Countless authorities rained down on Taesan.
Taesan didn’t move. He simply focused his mind on the authorities that came into contact with him.
[You have activated Soul Rank Usurpation.]
The light became Taesan’s once more. The pure concept of radiant light covered the domain.
KAA-AAAANG!
Concepts collided and shattered. Fragments scattered in all directions.
Taesan laughed.
“Come on.”
He crooked his finger. Wrath seeped into the Usurper’s aura.
[This is mine!]
The domain trembled in response to his emotions. The authorities strewn about began to shudder.
[Something you can’t meddle with—something that’s wholly mine!]
“That’s what you think.”
Taesan answered calmly. The Usurper stomped with a warped face.
Krrrk!
A massive authority of Forced Expulsion charged toward Taesan.
A coercive authority that sought to exclude, deny, and drive out Taesan’s very existence.
Taesan darted away. He placed his hand atop one of the scattered authorities.
[You have activated Soul Rank Usurpation.]
Thump.
An authority strewn across the domain, once the Usurper’s, resonated with Taesan.
He forcibly usurped its ownership and control. Part of the authority began to turn into Taesan’s.
Then Taesan swung the authority he had taken.
A lash rippled through space. Space itself turned to liquid and struck the void.
KRRRANG!
The liquefied space collided with the authority of Forced Expulsion.
And canceled it out.
“What kind of authority is this now?”
It was an authority he’d never seen before. He couldn’t grasp its exact effect.
But one thing was certain.
It was useful.
Taesan stomped his foot.
Slosh!
A portion of the domain liquefied. It truly became a wave and surged toward the Usurper.
The Usurper’s aura stiffened until it couldn’t stiffen any further.
KUGUGUGUGUNG!
A white surface covered the world and collided with the wave. The authorities canceled each other out, both shattering.
And the Usurper was furious beyond what he could endure at that fact.
[That is mine.]
Every authority Taesan was wielding right now belonged to him.
Even if only partially, the Usurper remembered clearly.
What fight he’d gone through to steal that authority, which god he’d brought down, and how he’d taken it.
This treasure chest was everything the Usurper had piled up as a being.
And now it was being stolen by Taesan.
[How dare you! How dare you! How dare you!]
The Usurper’s body trembled. The domain resonated. Countless authorities writhed like mad.
[My things—someone like you stealing them!]
“Ridiculous.”
And to the Usurper’s rage, Taesan replied with a sneer.
“You’re saying that? When you’re the Usurper?”
No matter how grueling the battle that ended in success, it was still theft in the end. He had stolen another’s essence at will and made it his own.
And yet he dared to call it his and spit rage at Taesan.
“You stole the concepts of the universe after fighting for them. Same here. Why are you acting like you’ve got a right to rage?”
[…!]
The Usurper spewed silent fury.
Kaga-ga-ga-gak!
All the scattered authorities rose.
Not one.
Several complete authorities tried to crush Taesan.
Taesan stomped his foot, his expression serious.
—
Kuuuuung!
Countless authorities engulfed Taesan.
Each one an absolute authority. Concepts that influenced the universe itself and shook the world.
But Taesan didn’t retreat.
He moved swiftly, making contact with the scattered authorities.
[You have activated Soul Rank Usurpation.]
And usurped them.
He stole their ownership, made them his, and wielded them. Authority collided with authority.
[….]
The Usurper seethed.
But the emotion within that fury was restrained.
He was an Old God.
One who had defeated countless Transcenders and stolen their concepts.
He wasn’t foolish enough to keep denying what was happening before his eyes.
‘He is stealing the concepts of the universe that I stole.’
It was as if he were another Usurper.
But one crucial thing was different.
For the Usurper, usurpation was only possible if he had defeated his opponent.
Only after trampling and crushing the opponent’s mind and body could he steal that concept.
He couldn’t meddle with a concept when the opponent existed wholly on their own.
But Taesan was different.
What existed in the treasure chest were concepts the Usurper had stolen—entirely his property.
Yet Taesan was forcibly intervening in that ownership and stealing them.
‘…A higher concept?’
He didn’t want to acknowledge it. He didn’t want to accept it. But no matter how he looked at it,
Taesan’s Soul Rank Usurpation stood above the Usurper’s authority.
That fact was deeply humiliating to the Usurper.
He was only a part of the Usurper.
A paltry fragment that hadn’t been granted true authority and didn’t even know the Usurper’s real root.
But even so, he was the Usurper.
The only Old God who could steal and wield the concepts of the universe. This fragment of the Usurper took pride in that fact.
And Taesan had shattered that pride to pieces.
Grrrk.
The sound of teeth grinding rang out. The Usurper couldn’t hide his anger.
But he restrained it.
He assessed the situation coldly.
‘…He can steal them, but there’s a limit in the end.’
Taesan was only pulling out the stolen power in a simple way and handling it.
More than anything, it was a temporary usurpation. He couldn’t steal power and make it permanently his own.
If so, he could aim for that gap.
The Usurper reached that judgment and acted at once.
Kuuuuuuung!
The Usurper raised his authority. Higher and stronger than anything else. With full power.
At a level Taesan couldn’t properly respond to.
[Pierce.]
With that short word, the authority of Guaranteed Strike aimed at Taesan.
It couldn’t be avoided or denied.
A concept of the universe that could only be blocked head-on.
That was the Usurper’s full power.
The Usurper had no doubt Taesan wouldn’t be able to stop this blow.
But Taesan’s response didn’t change much.
Even as he ran, he placed his hand on an authority in front of him.
[You have activated Soul Rank Usurpation.]
And made that authority his.
He stole it from the Usurper’s control and turned it into his own. Even if temporary, it became wholly Taesan’s.
Then he swung the authority he had dominated.
The authority of Forced Expulsion activated from Taesan’s hand.
KRRRRAAAANG!
Forced Expulsion and Guaranteed Strike collided.
Perfectly opposing concepts tried to deny and shove each other away.
The Usurper was certain of victory. With opposing concepts, it was only natural that he—the original owner of the concept—could draw out a deeper rank.
Krrk.
But a result completely unlike the Usurper’s certainty appeared.
The two authorities collided and shattered.
And canceled out.
A powerful shockwave swept the domain. The Usurper’s body trembled.
[Why!]
“Because you can’t handle it properly either. So it’s the same.”
Taesan charged. The Usurper hurriedly swung his authority at full power again, but the result was the same. His full power canceled out against Taesan.
[I am the Usurper!]
“So what.”
Taesan replied flatly.
Taesan could guess what the Usurper was thinking. His Soul Rank Usurpation wasn’t complete. He couldn’t usurp concepts perfectly—only a temporary theft. An extremely unstable, twisted power.
But the same was true for the Usurper.
He wasn’t properly handling the concepts strewn across the treasure chest either.
‘It shouldn’t be only this much.’
Of course, even that was powerful. With so many authorities, he could bring down most gods.
But it didn’t seem like he could reach Rakiratas or a Demon God.
Even if the Usurper could only imitate the concepts of the world, it didn’t feel like he should be stuck at this level.
‘Because he’s a fragment?’
The Usurper before him was only a fragment.
A small existence granted only a tiny portion. As the Usurper, he could wield the treasure chest’s concepts, but his limits were clear.
‘Then.’
That was good news for Taesan. It meant his chances of defeating him had risen.
Kugugugung!
The battle continued.
The Usurper wielded concepts to bring Taesan down, and Taesan stole concepts to block them.
His [Gray] was nearly depleted. [Multiplication] was spent as well.
But it didn’t matter.
The concepts within the treasure chest were his property. He usurped and usurped again, wielding them as his own.
The Usurper was on the verge of going mad. Things he had permanently stolen—things he believed no one could ever meddle with—were passing into Taesan’s hands one by one. It was denying the very reason he existed.
And above all, Taesan was growing steadily more accustomed to using Soul Rank Usurpation.
The Usurper began to be pushed back more and more.
Kugugugung!
At last, a concept Taesan had stolen broke through the Usurper’s defenses and collided with his body.
[U, Uooooh!]
The Usurper’s emotions burst out. He could no longer endure it and pulled everything up.
And a single authority revealed itself to the world.
It was a flower.
Countless flowers bloomed and began to cover the domain.
‘What is that?’
Taesan reflexively widened the distance.
That was dangerous.
It was higher than any authority the Usurper had handled so far.
[…Ah.]
And the moment the flowers blossomed, Akasha reacted.
Akasha trembled. That emotion spilled out and began to affect the domain.
The rank Taesan had sensed from Akasha felt closer.
Taesan understood instinctively.
“That’s it.”
[…Yes.]
Akasha affirmed in a trembling voice.
[That is… Lady Arilnan’s.]
Authority.
“I don’t know what kind of authority it is, but it manifests as flowers. That’s not what I expected.”
Taesan lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Pulling it out at this timing means it’s a pretty powerful authority.”
Then all he had to do was steal it for himself.