Chapter 560

[It’s good…… but it’s hard to be happy about it outright.]

“Why is that?”

[It’s nothing.]

The Demon God let out a bitter laugh.

[Nothing major. Just a small plan getting warped.]

She raised a finger and pointed at Taesan.

[You remember, right? The little child of mine you saved.]

“I remember.”

Vekeseta’s lamb. Annetsha.

The demon child Taesan had saved.

He knew she held affection for him.

[I was going to use her to settle you in the Demon Realm.]

“……You were?”

That surprised him slightly. The Demon God had said something similar before, but he didn’t expect she’d thought that far ahead.

[In the end, what holds on to the strong is emotion. Well…… that was only if you stopped at the level of a mortal or an immortal. You’ve come too far now.]

Taesan, as he was now, wasn’t someone who could be bound to a single mortal.

[Whew.]

With a short sigh, the Demon God rose to her feet.

“Are you fully recovered?”

[To a degree. Fully is impossible. That would take far too long.]

The contamination swallowing the universe was steadily growing.

[Before it becomes unmanageable, we need to clean it up. But…… I do have time for a light test.]

She turned and looked at Taesan.

[Taesan. How about sparring with me, lightly?]

“A spar?”

[Just lightly. A clash that won’t burden either of our powers at all.]

“If that’s what you want.”

Taesan didn’t refuse. The Demon God smiled.

[I thought you’d answer like that.]

She drew in power. Darkness gathered and swallowed the world.

She flicked her finger.

At the same time, darkness surged forth to swallow Taesan.

It was all the darkness in this world.

The absolute Authority that the one who governed Ma itself could wield.

Taesan let out a hollow laugh.

‘You said it would be light.’

This was nothing like light.

An immortal couldn’t even respond. Neither could a faith god. Neither could a Transcender who ruled a minor concept.

The only ones who could stand against it were Transcenders who had reached a lofty seat.

And even they wouldn’t be able to respond easily. The concept the Demon God held sat high among all concepts in the universe.

The Demon God. Lucifer.

She was a being who had reached that realm.

But Taesan didn’t retreat. There was no fear in his eyes.

Ripple.

Ash-gray revealed itself to the world.

Darkness and ash-gray collided. The world’s concept and that which was not a concept opposed each other, twisting.

KRAAANG!

Then darkness and ash-gray shattered apart.

Taesan didn’t yield at all against the Demon God’s power.

She let out a small laugh and gathered the darkness back in.

[You’ve reached a stable state. With you, you can win against the Bottomless Abyss. Not only that—you could kill countless Old gods and bring stability back to the universe.]

“That’s still far off.”

[It doesn’t feel that far to me. Whether we like it or not, if this war drags on, it won’t do us any good. The other Transcenders will want to end it as quickly as possible too. The last war dragged on because we had no means to finish it…… but this time, we have you.]

Taesan could kill Old gods.

He could bring an end to the tiresome war.

[We could lose. The universe might fall back into their grasp. But one way or another, there will be an end. Favorable to them, or favorable to us. So I’ll ask you one thing.]

“What is it?”

[When everything is over, where will you lay your body to rest?]

—

When everything was over—where would he lay his body to rest?

It was something the Demon God had asked Taesan before.

Back then, it was an unimaginably distant story.

He didn’t properly understand Old gods or Transcenders, and he knew nothing about his own origin.

So those words held little meaning, and Taesan had brushed them aside.

But it wasn’t like that anymore.

Now, the end was truly drawing close.

[Back then, I said you were alien, and mortals wouldn’t be able to accept you. But…… not anymore. You’ll be worshiped by all, and you’ll reign as their god.]

A superhuman who can warp concrete and tear down a house with bare hands.

Such a being is feared and admired, but can never stand close to people.

But someone who goes beyond that—parting seas, opening the sky, splitting mountains—and rules an entire planet alone?

Such an existence receives pure faith.

That was where Taesan stood.

[But in the end, it’s faith. They won’t truly draw close to you.]

“You said something similar before.”

[Right. My thoughts haven’t changed since then. They can’t easily become a place you can lay yourself down.]

They don’t see Taesan as the same kind of human.

Only as a god—an exalted Transcender who watches over them.

[That place…… won’t be able to become your refuge.]

“What are you trying to say?”

The Demon God smiled.

[For someone like you, I think the Demon Realm can also become a refuge.]

[Annetsha will be waiting in the Demon Realm. She doesn’t see you as an idol. She doesn’t see you as a god. She’ll look at you and stay by your side. Same for me. Doesn’t that sound fairly enjoyable?]

She spoke teasingly, but in the end, it was an invitation to the Demon Realm.

After staring at her for a moment, Taesan had to ask.

“Why are you being so good to me?”

At first, the Demon God didn’t like Taesan all that much.

Just seeing his attitude, she’d nearly crushed his head on the spot.

But after he passed her trial, her reaction changed abruptly.

She helped him in various ways, and treated him with favor obvious even at a glance.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her the most favorable Transcender toward him.

[It’s nothing special.]

She laughed playfully.

[Like I told you before, I like you.]

—

[Alright. Then let’s go.]

She brushed off her hands. Before her and Taesan, black paint was swelling larger by the moment.

[The Old god is in there. Deep inside. But it’s very deep, and there’s a lot in the way. I’ll open a path to reach it.]

The one who had to face the Old god directly was Taesan.

Himself.

[Then.]

Taesan nodded and raised his sword. Slithering ash-gray wrapped around the blade.

He poured in Physical Force and Boundary, and swung.

Taesan’s Authority met the black paint.

WOOOOM!

A hole opened.

As if tearing a painting itself, the far side of the black paint came into view.

And Taesan could see it.

Countless distorted beings inside the hole.

Old god’s tools beyond counting—apostle-class monsters, without end.

They all charged at Taesan. Each swung the Authority they had been granted toward him.

[Your opponent is me.]

The Demon God flicked her finger. Darkness surged. The apostles charging in were instantly shredded by darkness and vanished.

[Gather.]

She brought her hands together. Within them, the essence of darkness condensed.

It was all demonic energy in the world itself.

She extended her hand.

The condensed darkness exploded.

KRAAASH!

And the black paint was pierced through.

The blackness that had swallowed the universe was the Bottomless Abyss’s Authority.

That Authority was pierced open by the Demon God’s.

A path opened.

She clenched her fist. Strength surged into her hand.

KRA-KRA-KRA-KK!

The opened hole began to be forcibly maintained by her Authority.

Thanks to that, Taesan could see it.

A massive existence at the end of the path.

She steadied her breathing. Her actions just now had consumed a great deal of her power.

Shrrrk.

And the black paint began to crawl in, writhing.

It approached to exclude Taesan and the Demon God.

She stomped her foot. Dense darkness collided with the blackness and shattered apart.

[Then I’ll leave the rest to you.]

“Understood.”

The Demon God opened the path and blocked outside interference.

Taesan’s role was to kill the Old god in that time.

[You activated Acceleration.]

[You activated Skill Acceleration.]

He accelerated his body and dashed forward, piercing through the path formed by darkness.

And the presence he felt beyond grew stronger and stronger.

“Hello.”

[You activated Magic Overlap.]

[You activated Great Collapse [Boundary].]

With the greeting, ash-gray gathered.

The condensed gray Boundary flew toward the existence beyond.

And the existence beyond responded.

It expanded its body.

Within that expanded bulk, the ash-gray Great Collapse was swallowed.

There was no sound, no ripple of power.

As if it had never existed from the start, it vanished.

“Different from the Worthless One.”

The Worthless One had erased Taesan’s power. It erased value itself, turning things into nothing.

But the Bottomless Abyss was different.

It wasn’t erasure.

It simply stored it within itself.

It swallowed it and removed its impact.

[The Bottomless Abyss has appeared.]

The Master of the Abyss.

The warden of the bottomless hole.

Taesan stopped right in front of the Bottomless Abyss.

It looked like a massive lump of flesh.

Its black-stained form wobbled thickly, like fat. It had no legs, no arms, no head.

Only an obese mass of flesh.

Its size rivaled a mountain. Compared to the World Shatterer, it wasn’t that large.

But its bottom could not be seen.

The Bottomless Abyss was empty.

Like a monster that swallowed everything.

The Bottomless Abyss looked at Taesan.

He could feel the gaze of an Old god.

And he could feel the emotion within it.

A hunger like a maw.

Even after swallowing all things, even after swallowing the universe, it still held an endless starvation it couldn’t endure.

Squirm.

The Bottomless Abyss began to move.

Centered on the obese flesh, the black paint that swallowed everything began to spread wider and wider.

[The opponent is @#@@#@@#@$$$%% $”%%—%&&*&*]

The opponent before him was a complete Old god.

Taesan, too, was facing such a being for the first time.

Direct comparison to those beyond was impossible, but in terms of pure rank and power, it wouldn’t be wrong to say it was above the one Taesan had fought—Rakiratas.

There weren’t many Old gods.

And yet the number of Transcenders who ruled complete concepts was several times larger.

Despite that, they were being pushed back.

That meant a single Old god could overwhelm several Transcenders at once.

If it were someone like Rakiratas, maybe not, but in ordinary cases, that would be true.

And right now, a complete Old god stood before Taesan.

He had fought Rakiratas in a decent match, but Rakiratas had accommodated him.

The Bottomless Abyss would truly try to kill him.

An opponent he had never once faced.

But Taesan revealed it plainly.

In other words, if he won this battle, it wouldn’t be wrong to say he could potentially win against any other Old god as well.

“Rather, it’s a good opportunity.”

A low murmur echoed.

The black paint rushed toward Taesan.

Taesan stomped his foot.