Ascension Through Skills

“Minerva, how is your strength?”

“It’s still fine, but I can’t fight all of them at once.”

“Then take the two and retreat for a while.”

“Ugh, alright.”

Minerva took Anetsha and Quaned and leaped away.

Before leaving, Anetsha hastily shouted.

“Sir Taesan! Be careful!”

Taesan nodded and raised his sword.

As the dozens of twisted beings rushed at him, Taesan kicked the ground.

Boom!

His body accelerated explosively. The twisted demon in front of him was split in half without knowing what happened.

“Capture him!”

“Oh god! Grant me your blessing!”

As Taesan broke through their ranks, they shouted and rushed at him. Taesan moved both his hands.

[You activated Continuous Attack.]

As the proficiency of the Ability Sword reached 40%, some skills had changed.

One of them was Continuous Attack. Its effect was the simultaneous use of a physical sword strike and an illusory sword strike.

The afterimage of the sword was drawn.

The afterimages swirled around like a storm. Taesan struck down with his sword. Illusory sword strikes were unleashed in eight directions simultaneously.

“Argh!”

“Kahak!”

All the twisted demons were at least level twenty, and some were at level thirty.

Even so, they all died with just one skill, Continuous Attack. The power that flowed out of them gathered toward Taesan.

[You activated Strong Blow.]

He struck down forcefully with his sword.

The ground shattered, and the impact swept away the surviving demons.

“Chase him!”

The few who barely survived struggled to rise and shouted.

“Capture him! Offer him to our god!”

With their charge disregarding even death, Taesan frowned.

He looked straight ahead. Dozens of demons were rushing at him from the front.

‘This is endless.’

[You activated Starlight Arrow.]

A light arrow materialized in Taesan’s hand.

He shot it toward the demons charging at him. They tried to block it, but it was useless.

Boom!

Light exploded.

The world seemed to flicker with light, covering everything. When the light subsided, no one was left in the area.

“Is it over for now?”

He sensed the presence of others approaching from a distance, but they were still far away.

“Master, you’re too fast. It’s hard to keep up.”

Minerva landed with a slightly tired face.

“Sir Taesan, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Though he used magic power, it was at a level that he could fully recover from in an hour.

“This is troublesome.”

Although the immediate threat was dealt with, if the god had given a direct command, they would keep appearing. They would try to kill Taesan.

They would keep coming without end.

“I don’t intend to get bogged down by these.”

It was impossible to eliminate them all. He had to find the core.

But Taesan didn’t know where that was.

“Let’s look around for now.”

Taesan ran swiftly through the deserted land.

He continued to search, trying to find where the power was concentrated.

But he couldn’t find it. The area was so vast that even Anetsha couldn’t detect it all. It wouldn’t be strange if it took months to search.

“This is going to be tough.”

Taesan felt something while kicking off the ground.

A fairly strong presence was approaching at high speed. Taesan stopped.

“Hahaha! Found you!”

The demon swung his sword down with a mad laugh.

Clang.

Swords clashed.

The opponent didn’t yield easily and swung his sword. He pressed Taesan and bared his teeth.

“Very good! It’s lucky you were this close! The great god was indeed watching over me!”

The demon shouted with an excited face.

“I am the tenth finger of the great god! You cannot defeat me!”

“Finger?”

“It’s the position given to the strongest demons here!”

In other words, the demon in front of him was the tenth strongest here.

The demon looked at Taesan with joy.

A command had been given, and the news had reached him. He was thrilled to have a chance to be chosen by the great god and even more thrilled that he was the closest to the target.

This was the one and only chance to be chosen by the great god.

“Surrender quietly, human!”

The demon charged, baring his teeth. Taesan raised his sword.

[You activated Flow.]

The opponent’s sword suddenly veered off course.

Naturally, the direction of the opponent’s strength twisted, revealing a huge opening. He tried to correct his posture in a panic, but Taesan didn’t let the opportunity slip.

[You activated Strong Blow.]

Boom!

The opponent’s sword was deflected.

He hastily tried to widen the distance, but it was useless. Taesan kicked the ground.

[You activated Acceleration.]

In an instant, his accelerated body pierced the opponent.

“Guh!”

“You are strong.”

He wasn’t a weak opponent. He would be able to barely make it to the 50th floor of the labyrinth.

But that was all.

“How… how did…?”

“Just in case, do you know the location of the thorns and the saint?”

“Guh! Unbeliever! Shut up!”

The demon shouted as he was dying.

“The god has already marked you! Everyone here is after you! You will slowly wither away and die!”

The demon shouted harshly, his eyes filled with madness, making normal conversation impossible.

His mind was already broken. Using an emotion interference skill would hardly affect him.

“Then die.”

Taesan struck down with his sword.

He kept moving.

“Haha! Found you!”

A demon shouted, panting heavily. It seemed he had run with all his might, as his legs were shaking as if he could collapse at any moment.

Despite that, he charged at Taesan with an excited face.

Taesan snapped his fingers with an annoyed look.

[You activated Frost Arrow.]

Thunk.

The demon’s head was pierced.

Silence returned.

“What a nuisance.”

Taesan clicked his tongue.

The area was so vast that it took quite a while for the twisted demons to appear after he moved.

But one or two demons continuously and endlessly appeared.

While handling them wasn’t a problem, there wasn’t a moment to rest.

Taesan moved his feet again.

[You activated Leap.]

[You activated Reconnaissance.]

He surveyed the surroundings. The only things visible were the demons charging at him. There was nothing special in sight.

‘It’s hard to find it like this.’

He needed information.

But the demons here were all so mad that they wouldn’t give Taesan the answers he wanted.

First, he had to extinguish that madness to make them regain their senses.

Taesan moved to find the thorns.

As he moved, he saw several demons charging at him. Taesan took care of them one by one.

“I-I found him!”

A demon, delighted at the sight of Taesan, was about to rush at him with a sword when Taesan’s senses warned him.

Taesan reflexively moved his sword.

Clang!

With a fierce clash, Taesan’s body was pushed back. A voice filled with admiration came from the midst of the demons.

“You blocked that? Even I wouldn’t be able to do that timing again.”

“I told you I could do it. Why did you interfere?”

“If it were you, you would have been decapitated by the counterattack.”

A chuckle was heard.

Taesan turned his gaze.

Four demons were walking toward Taesan.

“Whew. You’re so fast. As expected, the god must have considerable power to give direct commands under the name of a saint.”

“If we hadn’t come this way, it would have taken a lot longer to track you.”

“A, ah…”

The demon who had luckily survived stumbled back.

Even those mad with frenzy seemed to recognize the authority of these demons.

“The fifth, the third, the first, and the sixth fingers…”

The demons showed reverence and fear. It meant they held considerable positions here.

Taesan asked.

“Are you fingers too?”

“Yes. We are the ten strongest demons in the demon realm, excluding the saints. The lower the number, the stronger the power.”

A muscular man, who seemed to use his fists as weapons, spoke proudly. Taesan gazed at him quietly.

“Then you’re the first.”

He was strong.

With that level of power, he would be able to barely reach the 60th floor.

‘If you invest enough time to be called a legend, you can become that strong outside as well.’

“Ho.”

The man bared his teeth.

“You have the eyes to see that? You are indeed strong.”

“Aren’t there ten fingers in total? Where are the rest?”

“They said they wouldn’t cooperate. They are waiting for their own opportunities. They are foolishly holding onto their pride when the great god has given a command.”

“Is that so? That’s good.”

The man’s face twisted at Taesan’s words.

“…Do you think you can win against the four of us? Arrogant.”

Taesan nodded and stomped his foot.

[You activated Apostle Transformation [Myriad Souls].]

[You activated Vessel of the King.]

Thunk!

A massive burden settled on Taesan. He immediately transferred the burden to his ring and harnessed the power.

Taesan’s presence violently filled the space.

The face of the man who called himself the first finger hardened.

“You?”

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

Taesan stomped his foot.

In an instant, they all lost track of Taesan’s movements. When he reappeared, he was striking his sword down in front of the sixth finger.

“Ugh!”

The sixth finger frantically raised his shield.

As soon as Taesan’s sword touched it, the shield was crushed and embedded into the ground.

As Taesan was about to finish him off, the remaining fingers, who had regained their senses, moved.

They rapidly launched their own attacks at Taesan.

Taesan’s hands moved.

The swords drew diagonal lines, distorting and destroying the trajectories of their attacks.

In an instant, he trampled the shield. A crater formed on the ground, and the sixth finger vomited blood.

“Ugh!”

[You activated Mephisto's Black Lightning.]

Boom!

Lightning pierced the remaining three simultaneously.

Their movements momentarily halted.

Taesan thrust his sword at the shield. The shield shattered.

“I-I can’t believe this!”

Those were the sixth finger’s last words.

“You bastard!”

The remaining fingers, breaking free from their stiffness, charged fiercely at Taesan. He lowered his stance.

[You activated Marbas' Fake Flame.]

A substance shaped like flames surged, obscuring Taesan.

The first finger scoffed and threw a punch.

“Do you think you can deceive me with such a petty trick?”

Boom!

The fake flame exploded with the punch. But that was expected. Using fake flames without even opening a passage wouldn’t work against someone in the 60th-floor range.

What Taesan aimed for was to obscure their vision.

[You activated Invisibility.]

“Huh!”

Invisibility changed with the Ability Sword. Its effect allowed the user to escape all detection for one second if they hid their presence from the opponent.

[You activated Shoes of Leaping to the World's End. You move a very short distance instantaneously.]

He moved right in front of the fifth finger.

The demon, confused by Taesan’s sudden disappearance, opened his eyes wide as Taesan appeared before him and tried to block with his sword.

[You activated Strong Blow.]

[You activated Blade of Fighting Spirit.]

Crunch.

“What?”

The sword shattered and split in half. The fifth finger’s body was also cut in two.

“You, you bastard!”

In an instant, two were dead.

Only the third finger and the first finger remained. The first finger gnashed his teeth and shouted.

“Keep your distance! Support from behind!”

The third finger was the one who borrowed the power of the old demon god that spread across the land. It was a rare power, even in this deserted land. With his support, they could be twice as strong as usual.

Taesan leisurely pointed his finger at the third finger.

[You activated Forced Duel.]

Clang!

The first finger’s punch bounced off Taesan.

The third finger hurriedly tried to gather power, but it was clearly slower than Taesan’s approach. In an instant, the third finger was also dead.

“You, you bastard!”

[There's no way to deal with him with numbers.]

Just one Forced Duel ended it all. No matter how much they tried to show numerical superiority, once Forced Duel was activated, it became a 1:1 fight.

[Why didn't you use Forced Duel from the start?]

“I haven’t used the skills I recently acquired enough. I wanted to get used to them.”

Obtaining a skill wasn’t the end. One had to use it directly to get accustomed to it.

Having roughly confirmed it, Taesan approached the remaining finger.

The finger stared blankly at the three fallen demons.

All those he had spent countless time with were brutally killed.

“…You bastard!”

“Wow.”

Taesan raised his sword.

“Ugh!”

The first finger was strong.

The power of someone at the 60th-floor level. Even the demon king couldn’t match him.

But Taesan now had the power to see to the entrance of the deep layers.

Moreover, with Myriad SOuls and Vessel of the King activated, there was no competition.

“Hahaha… Me! Me!”

The first finger screamed, denying reality.

He had trained for countless hours. He had strived to become stronger for so long that his mind was overwhelmed. He had continuously fought strong opponents without rest.

There was no death here, but that didn’t mean there was no pain. He had lived his entire life with pain as his companion.

In the end, he became the strongest here.

He thought no one could match him even in the demon realm. He believed he was the strongest, except for the saint.

But now, to be killed by someone from outside? He couldn’t accept it.

“This doesn’t make sense. For me to… Agh—.”

Taesan thrust his sword into his neck.

With a futile voice, the light disappeared from his eyes.

“Hmm.”

Taesan repeatedly clenched and opened his fist. He had turned off the system window, so he couldn’t check, but facing his fingers, he felt a strange sensation continuously.

It meant something had changed with the activation of Soul Ascension.

He wanted to check it, but there was something he needed to do first.

Taesan looked around.

The madness disappeared from the faces of the twisted demons watching the fight.

“This is…”

Those overwhelmingly strong ones. All four of them were killed without doing anything. The brutal scene shattered their faith in the god that dominated their minds.

Now was the chance.

With the madness gone and reason returned, fear must have arisen as well.

[You activated Raum's Emotion Disturbance.]

[You activated Emotion Interference.]

“Ugh!”

Slimy things spread everywhere. Taesan sensed fear, not madness, on the demons’ faces.

“Please! Spare me!”

It wasn’t a madness-filled scream, but a terrified plea for life.

Taesan smiled and grabbed the demon’s neck.

“I’ll spare you if you answer one question.”

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