Chapter 570
The entire universe was falling.
It was not a physical descent.
The scattered grass, the earth, the swaying wind, the quietly resting sea, the fragments of shattered buildings.
All of it was falling.
Its rank and concept were plunging downward.
“What is this?”
Taesan muttered.
He could feel it.
Everything in the universe was conceptually falling.
It had no particular effect on him. The effect of Descent itself was not that great to begin with. Anyone with a certain level of rank could ignore it without much trouble.
But not mortal beings.
They would be feeling a sudden wave of powerlessness and self-loathing. A sensation as if they were falling into a bottomless abyss. All kinds of negative emotions would overtake their entire being. It would not stop at emotions alone, either. It would likely affect their physical strength as well.
Every being existing in the universe would be affected.
Humans would fall to a rank even lower than insects, and insects would possess a rank even lower than dust. Even the strong would be reduced to the strength of frail old people.
“…This is.”
The God of Fall.
That being was scattering its concept throughout the universe.
And a powerful force spread from the Rift torn across the sky.
Craaack!
Cracks spread across the barrier sealing the Rift. The cracks rapidly spread through the entire barrier.
“Ah.”
A voice rang out.
The Magician, who had appeared without anyone noticing, clicked his tongue and looked up at the Rift.
“So this is how they’re going to do it.”
Almost before he had finished speaking, countless presences were felt.
“Huh?”
“W-what is this!”
“What’s going on!”
Panicked voices echoed out. Hundreds of millions of people suddenly returned to Earth.
They were all Easy, Normal, and Hard Mode Players.
“Ah…”
“Ah, ngh…”
The moment they arrived on Earth, they groaned.
The concept of Descent spread throughout the universe did not spare them either. In Easy Mode’s case, it was enough to make it hard for them to even breathe.
“Th-this is…”
Kim Hwiyeon looked at Taesan with a bewildered face.
“T-Taesan-nim? What in the world is happening…?”
“I want to ask you that. Why did all of you return to Earth?”
“Huh? Huh?”
Kim Hwiyeon’s eyes widened as she looked around.
“What? Why are there so many people?”
“So you don’t know either.”
That meant they had been forcibly returned without any explanation or system window. As if mocking and ridiculing them, the system window only appeared after everything was over.
[Forced Return.]
[All Players of the Labyrinth are returning to Earth.]
“Whaaaat?”
“What does that even mean!”
“One thing after another.”
Taesan clicked his tongue.
The people’s panic did not last long, because something even more serious than the forced return continued unfolding.
Craaaack!
At the same time, the universe began to distort.
Several powerful, warped beings revealed themselves at once. They began polluting the world and staining it with their own nature.
Old Gods.
Those who had vanished from the universe were revealing themselves once more.
“There’s a lot of them.”
And their numbers were not small. As if they had decided to end everything this time, it looked as though all the Old Gods had descended here.
They were still quite far from Earth.
But not so far that they could not exert their influence.
Creeeak!
Cracks began spreading across the universe.
People screamed and collapsed.
“Ah, aah…”
“Aah.”
The influence of the Old Gods swept over them.
Even from a distance too far to even see, they gasped for breath. Their breathing was cut off, and death pressed close.
People fell into terror and began to slowly die.
Just as Taesan clicked his tongue and was about to protect them—
[What a mess.]
A woman revealed herself.
With a displeased look, she flicked her finger.
Hummmm!
And the death that had assailed the people was stripped away.
The people barely managed to catch their breath. Taesan looked at her.
“Dersha-nim.”
The God of Death.
Dersha.
She had covered Earth with her Divine Power.
[So this is how it comes.]
[It was within the range of our predictions, but this is still quite a sight. Seeing those things gathered in one place like this. Interesting.]
With a laugh, another woman appeared.
The God of Cycle.
It was Arilnan.
It was not just the two of them. One by one, the presences of the other Transcenders could be felt. They began clashing with and confronting the Old Gods that had suddenly appeared.
The Magician clicked his tongue.
“They’re determined to finish it this time.”
“Did they decide to force a short-term battle?”
The Old Gods were immutable and did not decline. That was their advantage over the Transcenders.
Because of that, their battle strategy until now had been to draw things out. They exhausted the Transcenders’ strength and trampled them one by one.
But Taesan’s existence had distorted that method itself.
He was a being capable of granting permanent death to the Old Gods.
And on top of that, he even usurped their power and became stronger.
So the Old Gods changed their method.
They chose to surge out all at once and settle everything as quickly as possible.
Ruuuuuumble!
Grrrraaaaaah!
A shockwave swept through. People flinched and covered themselves. Even though Death and Cycle were protecting them, the fear that they might be annihilated still seized them.
Beings that could destroy the entire universe and beings that could restore the entire universe were all gathered near Earth.
As if this were the final war.
As if this were the end of everything.
Immense powers collided and distorted.
And in the midst of it all, the Descent covering the entire universe could be felt clearly.
“They’re playing games.”
The Magician twisted the corner of his mouth. Intense disgust and rage toward the God of Fall could be seen in his eyes.
“Are they trying to kill themselves outright? What are they thinking?”
“Is something like this possible for a Transcender?”
“Normally, no. But the God of Fall is a god with its own rank and history. By spreading out its concept, it can temporarily affect the entire universe.”
The Magician ground his teeth.
“But in the end, it’s a suicidal act. A mad act that consumes its own Domain. They’re serious.”
Taesan looked up at the Rift in the sky.
The concept of Descent spread throughout the universe was being felt intensely from there.
“I was wondering where it had gone. So it was hiding in that gap.”
The God of Fall was hiding inside the Rift in the sky.
Taesan looked around.
Among the countless Players, there were no Solo mode Players to be seen.
“The Usurper forcibly returned them.”
Easy, Normal, and Hard Modes belonged to the Usurper.
The Usurper had the authority to forcibly return them.
But Solo mode belonged entirely to the Labyrinth.
The Magician flicked his finger.
“This is unexpected, but it can’t be helped.”
At the same time, Lee Taeyeon and the other Solo mode Players returned to Earth. Among them was Amelia Aerin, who looked as though she had been in the middle of a fight and was still gritting her teeth as she swung her sword.
“Eek? Huh?”
Her eyes widened.
“…Taesan?”
“Uh, wait. What?”
Lee Taeyeon felt the surging powers and flinched. Diana and Beldenkia had returned as well. They gasped.
[Don’t ask for explanations. It’s been a while since the last war.]
[I don’t have anything particularly useful to do. I should just protect the mortals.]
Arilnan laughed and flew away. Dersha activated her Divine Power and wrapped Earth within it.
And then a quest window appeared.
[Special Quest begins.]
[Survive.]
Extremely short.
But above all, a clear condition.
At the same time, monsters began pouring down from the Rift in the sky. Along with the howls of beasts, warped beings began descending upon Earth.
The power coming from them was considerable. They were monsters with enough power to trample and crush people.
At minimum, A-rank.
There were also many S-ranks.
And Apostles.
Monsters covered the sky.
People screamed.
Kim Hwiyeon gasped and shouted.
“Everyone! Form ranks!”
In the midst of the confusion, people prepared for battle against the monsters.
And Taesan lightly swung his arm.
Gray burst forth from it. The monsters descending from the sky vanished all at once.
“Huh? Huh?”
People’s eyes widened.
But that was not the end.
The monsters kept pouring down endlessly, like a bottomless swamp.
Simply dealing with them was meaningless. Unless the source was removed, monsters would continue descending until every Player on Earth was dead.
Taesan quickly grasped the situation.
‘It’s in there.’
Beyond the Rift.
The God of Fall was there. A presence so intense that everyone could feel it was emanating from within.
“Ah…”
“…”
Diana and Beldenkia trembled.
The two crouched down.
Having suffered greatly at the hands of the God of Fall, they bit their lips. The gaze of the God of Fall directed toward the surface could be felt.
And another being spoke.
“This wasn’t expected, but… Taesan. I’ll give you the quest for the 99th floor right here.”
[99th-floor Quest begins.]
[Defeat the being beyond the Rift.]
[Reward: ???]
[Secret Reward: ???]
Taesan nodded.
He spoke to Kim Hwiyeon, Lee Taeyeon, and Amelia Aerin.
“I’m leaving this to you.”
“Y-yes.”
“I don’t know what’s going on either, but all we have to do is kill those things, right? Fine! We’ll do it!”
Amelia Aerin answered energetically.
The monsters landed on the surface. Despite the sudden crisis, the people responded calmly.
The battle began.
Monsters and humans collided and clashed.
“I want to help too, but I don’t have the room to. Neither do I. And neither do the other Transcenders.”
Ruuuuuumble…
All kinds of shockwaves and collisions erupted outside Earth.
The Old Gods and the Transcenders were confronting each other.
Even with two Old Gods gone, the remaining Old Gods were still powerful. The Magician did not have the leisure to calmly help Earth.
“They intend to see the end of everything this time. In other words, if we block them now, we should be able to settle things to some extent.”
And beyond the Rift, beings were waiting for Taesan.
“Win and come back. We’ll do the same.”
Taesan nodded.
The Magician kicked off the ground. His body moved beyond space.
“Then.”
“Come back safely, Taesan.”
Lee Taeyeon smiled as she said that to him. Taesan gave a brief reply and flew off.
Ruuuuuumble!
Tearing through and crushing the flying monsters, he entered the Rift.
Tap.
Taesan landed.
Inside the Rift spread across Earth’s sky.
“It’s my first time entering this place too.”
The Rift was deeply distorted.
It felt like a Domain of the Old Gods, but it was not.
Nor could it be called a domain of the universe.
It was like something straddling the middle.
Like Taesan himself.
The Rift was wider than he had expected. It was large enough to easily surpass an average galaxy.
After briefly examining it, Taesan realized something.
This place was the Usurper’s Domain.
Not a Treasure Chest, but the Usurper’s true Domain.
And Taesan saw it.
The being waiting for him.
[The God of Fall, Essence has appeared.]