Chapter 569

Taesan checked the changed Boundary Negation.

[Transcendent [Boundary Negation]]

[Proficiency: 100%]

[Negates all interference. It rejects, negates, and tries to kill anything that interferes with you, whether it belongs to this world or not.]

Taesan smiled.

The description itself had not changed.

But the proficiency section had changed dramatically.

Boundary Negation’s proficiency had reached 100%.

It had completely devoured the World Destroyer’s Immutable Self. Because of that, the Boundary Negation surrounding him had grown enormously stronger. Even its sheer thickness was on a completely different level from before.

Breaking through that and landing an attack on Taesan would be extremely difficult even for an Old God or a Transcender. It was no exaggeration to say that he had effectively devoured the World Destroyer itself.

[Is there anyone left who can even hit you?]

Bardray muttered, sounding newly aware of it.

Anyone facing Taesan was effectively facing both the Bottomless Abyss and the World Destroyer at the same time.

To land a single attack on Taesan, they first had to break through an endlessly deep abyss and the negation of all interference.

And even if they barely managed to pierce those two Divine Powers, Attack Nullification and Last Opportunity were still waiting beyond them. And after that came Endurance.

There were simply too many walls to overcome in order to inflict meaningful damage on Taesan.

“Hoo.”

Taesan exhaled.

The power of immutability wrapped around his body. It was not properly following his control and was slowly warping out of shape.

Govern it. Control it.

He gradually made that immutability his own. Before long, Boundary Negation slowly regained stability.

And then he achieved his intent.

The Divine Power usurped from the World Destroyer had become completely his.

“Good.”

He had gained perfect control.

During that process, Taesan checked the proficiency of another Skill for the first time in a very long while.

“When did this reach 100%?”

[Special Always-Active Skill: Twisted Spirit Coordination]

[Proficiency: 100%]

[Twisted beings can twist and handle their own Soul Ranks. They gain the ability to control the Soul Rank dwelling within them or possessed by them. Furthermore, they can use their Soul Rank to directly influence the world.]

Twisted Spirit Coordination’s proficiency had reached 100%.

The newly added effect was that a twisted Soul Rank negated the interference of righteous things.

It likely meant that it negated concepts of the universe.

The problem was that, for the current Taesan, that held little meaning.

The Bottomless Abyss and Boundary Negation already fulfilled that role.

[Special Activation Skill: Essence Identification]

[Proficiency: 100%]

[Identifies the target’s essence. It can discern the origin of their power. It can also identify corresponding weaknesses. It can perceive their ideology and foundation. It can see the deepest part of the target. Even if the opponent’s rank is higher than yours, you can partially comprehend it while ignoring that rank.]

Essence Identification’s proficiency had also reached 100%.

Its new effect was the ability to identify opponents of a higher rank without difficulty.

But there was no longer anyone whose rank was higher than Taesan’s.

Transcenders and Old Gods were either equal to him or below him, not above him.

Seeing Essence Identification’s proficiency naturally made him think of Critical Point Designation.

[Special Activation Skill: Critical Point Designation]

[Proficiency: 97%]

[Designates one part of the target as a critical point and deals double damage when attacking that point. It can designate a critical point on the same target three times consecutively. In addition, the range that can be designated as a critical point has grown considerably wider.]

“What.”

Taesan was surprised.

He had not realized that Critical Point Designation’s proficiency had already reached 97%.

‘Is that even possible?’

Thinking about it carefully, it was not strange.

A Skill’s proficiency depended on how often it was used and what it achieved.

Taesan had activated Critical Point Designation every time he used Multiplication.

Considering the destructive power of that attack, it would have been stranger if it had not reached 100%.

He simply had not been paying attention, but it was still a good result.

The Skill obtained when Critical Point Designation reached 100% proficiency.

Essential Strike.

That Skill could still hold meaning even for the current Taesan. To strike essence itself meant exactly that.

If it were combined with Boundary, it could deliver a proper blow even against an Old God.

Because the Skill synchronized with Taesan’s rank, it would be able to produce an effect worthy of him.

But his other Skills were not like that.

Most of Taesan’s Skills were now merely inferior versions of the Divine Powers and Boundary he possessed. No matter how much their proficiency rose or how their descriptions changed, it no longer meant much.

He had become far too strong.

Originally, the Labyrinth’s Skills had been made for mortals, so it was already strange that some of them were still useful even now.

‘It’s a little disappointing.’

His main Skills had now lost much of their value.

He had gained power that surpassed them, so it was simply something he had to accept, but he could not help feeling a sense of regret.

After finishing a general check, Taesan moved.

He left the Labyrinth and traveled through the universe.

He had no intention of remaining idle just because the Magician had not appeared. He intended to hunt down the Old Gods himself and deal with them one by one.

As he moved through the universe, he searched for traces of the Old Gods. The universe was vast, but their powerful, overwhelming wavelengths spread throughout the cosmos, so finding them should not have been that difficult.

Taesan traveled through the universe for several days.

He crossed galaxies, saw countless planets, and passed them by. He spread out his senses in search of the Old Gods’ wavelengths.

And Taesan found nothing.

The universe was eerily quiet.

As if it were peaceful.

As if there were no problems at all.

“What?”

It was too quiet.

It truly felt as if the Old Gods had disappeared from the universe.

What should he do?

After stopping to think for a moment, Taesan moved his foot.

[You activated Teleport [Boundary].]

Taesan returned to the Labyrinth.

Before long, the Magician appeared.

“Hello, Taesan.”

“You seem to have some free time.”

“Yeah. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not.”

The Magician wore a rather ambiguous expression.

“As you’ve probably already noticed, the Old Gods have vanished from the universe.”

“Since when?”

“Since you defeated the World Destroyer.”

“So from the very next day.”

“I knew the Old Gods would respond… but I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

Taesan was a being capable of killing Old Gods.

And he could defeat an Old God alone.

If things went on like this, the war would unquestionably end in the Old Gods’ defeat.

The Old Gods were not dull or foolish beings. If anything, they were cunning. It had been entirely predictable that they would prepare some sort of countermeasure.

But for all of them to hide like this had been unexpected.

“They can hide like that?”

“At their core, they’re beings from outside the universe. If they’re determined to hide, they can. But if they want to exert influence on the universe, they have no choice but to reveal themselves…”

No presence could be felt at all.

As if they did not exist in the universe.

“Simply put, it’s good for us.”

The power of the Old Gods was immutable and did not run dry. Recovery was not especially necessary for them.

But the Transcenders were different. They had to recover the Divine Power they had spent.

Being able to restore the power they had consumed while fighting the Old Gods was certainly a good thing.

But it was unsettling.

Since no one knew what the Old Gods were aiming for, no one could think of a proper response.

The Transcenders were taking an uneasy rest.

“So there’s nothing to do?”

“For now, yes.”

As he said that, the Magician suddenly seemed to remember something and bowed toward Taesan.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t properly thanked you yet. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For dealing with the World Destroyer.”

That had been completely separate from the Labyrinth’s quests.

It had been Taesan himself who moved and dealt with the Old God. Thanks to that, the Transcenders had gained considerable breathing room.

“I’d like to give you some kind of reward. Is there anything you need?”

“A reward.”

Taesan had already decided.

“Can you raise a Skill’s proficiency?”

“Proficiency?”

“Critical Point Designation’s proficiency.”

“Wait a moment.”

The Magician snapped his fingers.

Whether he had checked Taesan’s proficiency status or not, his expression grew deeply ambiguous.

“…I see what you’re aiming for.”

The Magician stroked his chin for a moment.

But he did not think for long.

“All right. It isn’t a quest, but I can at least do that much.”

The Magician flicked a finger.

Taesan let out a wry smile. A Skill he had acquired through tremendous hardship in both his past life and this one was now being handed to him as if it were nothing.

The Skill’s proficiency changed.

[Critical Point Designation’s proficiency has reached 100%.]

[You possess Essence Identification. Also, Essence Identification’s proficiency is 100%.]

[You have obtained the Special Activation Skill [Essential Shattering].]

“Huh?”

The Skill was different.

It was not Essential Strike.

Taesan opened the system window.

[Special Activation Skill: Essential Shattering]

[Proficiency: 1%]

[It directly affects the opponent’s essence. It does not simply inflict damage, but shatters and breaks that essence.]

“This is… new.”

In his past life, he had never raised Essence Identification to 100% proficiency.

So he had always wondered.

What would happen if Essence Identification reached 100%?

In reality, Essence Identification itself had not changed very much.

Instead, Essential Strike had changed into Essential Shattering.

“So it’s a Skill one level above it.”

Critical Point Designation had also changed quite significantly.

[Special Activation Skill: Critical Point Designation]

[Proficiency: 100%]

[Designates a critical point on the target and deals double damage when attacking that point. It can designate critical points on the same target consecutively. In addition, the range that can be designated as a critical point has become very wide. It can designate three critical points at once.]

The damage remained doubled, but the restriction on consecutive Critical Point Designations had disappeared.

On top of that, it could now designate three critical points at the same time.

That was a highly meaningful change when striking multiple points simultaneously. Since it was a Skill directly related to damage, it still held value even for Taesan.

“I knew that Skill could change like that, but you’re the first Adventurer to actually pull it off. Well, isn’t that something?”

For Taesan, it was an excellent outcome.

If it truly was a higher-tier Skill than Essential Strike, then its effect would likely be on that level as well.

There was a strong possibility that it would remain meaningful even for the current him.

“By the way.”

He had checked everything he needed to check.

Now he had to decide what to do next.

But what should he do?

The Magician seemed to be wrestling with the same issue.

“The 99th floor quest I was going to give you isn’t much different from what you’ve already been doing.”

In the end, it all came back to the Old Gods.

At this point, there was no reason to hand out a quest unrelated to them.

But those Old Gods had all vanished.

It was awkward to assign a new quest now.

“For now… let’s wait.”

The Magician stroked his chin.

“I’ll also try to gather information on my side. Until then, rest.”

Taesan nodded.

The Magician left.

Taesan stared blankly into empty space for a moment, then flicked a finger.

If there was nothing to do, then he would make something to do.

[You activated Teleport [Boundary].]

His body leaped through space and landed.

His hometown.

Earth.

The current Taesan could reach Earth whenever he wanted.

He looked up at the sky.

The giant hole torn open in the sky.

It was currently sealed.

But it had not disappeared.

That enormous hole still covered the heavens.

Taesan narrowed his eyes.

Could he, as he was now, block that hole?

He had defeated the Gatekeeper, and he had grown stronger by another level. It was not impossible.

‘Should I try it?’

The moment Taesan made up his mind and was about to move,

the universe twisted.

[Huh?]

[What?]

It was not only Taesan who felt it.

Bardray and Akasha felt it as well.

Something was twisting.

Taesan frowned.

“What is this?”

He looked up at the sky.

Beyond the part obscured by the Rift, the universe was visible.

Countless stars.

The stars of the solar system.

All of them were falling.

The universe had begun to descend.