Ascension Through Skills

Taesan’s advantage against the Immortal was that the opponent had no will of its own.

The Word of Command wielded almost absolute power over targets without a will.

Clank!

Sure enough, as the Word of Command activated, the Immortal’s movements halted. The machinery that had been spinning wildly came to a stop in an instant.

At that moment, as Taesan prepared to spring forward—

Screech!

A tremendous force emanated from the Immortal.

The Immortal forcibly broke free from the Word of Command, unleashing dozens of beams of light.

Boom!

“No matter how mindless, an Immortal is still an Immortal.”

It actually broke free from the Word of Command through sheer force.

Taesan activated the Declaration of Stillness once more. The Immortal released its power again, breaking free.

It was faster than when the Word of Command had first activated.

The constraint was so strong that it halted the opponent’s actions completely, yet it seemed breakable through brute force.

In that case…

“Slow down.”

[You have activated the Declaration of Slowness.]

The Word of Command engulfed the Immortal. The mechanical parts slowed down to a visible crawl.

Screech!

Beams poured forth again, but this time, they were easy to dodge.

Unlike the Declaration of Stillness, the Immortal couldn’t break free from the Declaration of Slowness.

“As expected.”

It seemed capable of breaking strong restrictions that froze actions entirely. However, it couldn’t overcome partial constraints that affected movement speed.

Screech!

Beams rained down. Missiles zoomed through the air, barreling toward Taesan.

Taesan clenched his fist.

[You have activated Magic Overlay.]

He overlaid three Starlight Arrows and released them.

[You have activated Magic Explosion.]

He detonated the Starlight Arrows near the missiles, turning the sky white.

Screech.

A red dot appeared on Taesan’s chest.

Simultaneously, something rushed toward the red dot at a speed too fast to track. It was a force he hadn’t detected before activating the Declaration of Slowness.

Taesan quickly spread his wings. The red dot’s location exploded, and the shockwave reached him.

However, thanks to his previous battles, Taesan had already grasped the explosion radius and had gathered his magical energy in advance.

[You have activated Marbas’ Pitch-Black Wave.]

A wave of darkness engulfed the explosion.

The Immortal swung its arm. The mechanical components expanded, releasing tiny particles.

Focusing his vision, Taesan realized what those particles were.

Screech!

The particles freely moved, swarming toward him. They were drones, flying in the air like attackers. There were thousands of them.

Taesan swiftly pulled out his arrows. The arrows, imbued with will, charged forward, colliding with the particles.

Boom!

The Immortal’s chest opened, spilling a massive mass of metal in a wave.

Taesan dodged the all-encompassing attack with a restricted blink.

As he evaded, another red dot fixed itself on his chest.

He didn’t have time to dodge, so he tried to block it, but it was impossible.

Boom!

[Your Second Attack Nullification has activated.]

Taesan continued fighting hard.

He activated the Declaration of Slowness, using every possible means to fend off the Immortal’s attacks.

But that was all.

A power gap still remained between them that was insurmountable.

Moreover, the Immortal’s strength showed no signs of bottoming out.

Rays that could scorch the heavens surged toward Taesan, threatening to consume everything.

Under the relentless onslaught, Taesan allowed another hit.

[Your Third Attack Nullification has activated.]

“Mmm…”

The ghost groaned. All of Taesan’s attack nullifications were used up. Both mana and magic were depleting rapidly.

Meanwhile, the Immortal’s power still seemed endless, and Taesan couldn’t even get close.

The situation was undoubtedly grim.

Yet Taesan’s expression remained as calm as ever.

“I’ve roughly figured it out.”

The Immortal had no will of its own. It was merely a puppet, moving according to programmed responses.

In other words, its behavior pattern wasn’t too different from Malakas on the 73rd floor.

This meant he could analyze its pattern, and now, he had completed that analysis.

All that remained was to land a single decisive blow.

He created an opening for it.

Taesan prepared materials he had readied beforehand and fitted them into his wrist guards.

[You have activated Partial World Transformation.]

A defined range of the world transformed into Taesan’s domain. He focused his power toward the barrage of light.

[You have activated Naberius’ Golden Sword.]

Clang!

The golden sword clashed with the beams of light.

Until now, he hadn’t been able to block the beams and had only been able to dodge them, but that was no longer the case. Taesan held his ground. He gripped his sword firmly and took a step forward.

Clang!

The beams splintered into dozens of rays. Taesan kicked off the ground.

Screech!

The Immortal responded. An immeasurable force poured forth all at once.

The Partial World Transformation collided with the Immortal’s power, causing the domain to warp.

It wouldn’t last long. The overwhelming force brought his mind close to its limit.

This time, he would end it.

[You have activated the Greed of Destruction.]

[You have activated the Call of Destruction.] Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Destructive forces surged forth, clashing with the beams of light.

As they vied to consume each other, a gap opened for Taesan to charge through.

The Immortal wouldn’t stand idle. It was pouring all its strength into crushing Taesan.

Taesan dodged and blocked those attacks.

The closer he got, the stronger and faster the Immortal’s power became, but from the battles so far, he had already figured out the pattern.

Thus, Taesan could reach the Immortal without taking any damage.

Screeeech!

Upon reaching a certain distance, the Immortal’s machinery began accelerating wildly, overheating as smoke started to leak out.

A power that distorted space itself gathered in the Immortal’s chest.

Taesan instinctively realized this was the moment of decision.

He dashed forward, disregarding all defenses, flying directly toward the Immortal.

A light was fired.

A light that could split the world.

A concentration of overwhelming power that pierced the sky and affected the cosmos.

It was a deadly light that could neither be dodged, countered, nor blocked, and it engulfed Taesan.

[1,323,241 damage inflicted on you.]

[Your Endurance activated. The fatal attack was nullified. All damage becomes 0 for 1 second.]

And the moment it touched Taesan, it vanished.

Sssst—

As the overheated Immortal’s body began to cool, Taesan darted forward. By the time the Endurance duration ended, he was only a step away from the Immortal.

Being so close, he could feel the Immortal’s power directly. The concentrated force stifled his breath, and the pressure that could melt space seemed to crush Taesan’s mind.

[You have activated Adventurer’s Will.]

With the Adventurer’s Will, he overcame the mental pressure, summoning his strength against the barrage of beams.

[You have activated Magic Overlay.]

He layered three shields of the Guardian in succession to protect himself. The multiple shields collided with the beams.

Crack!

And then, the shields shattered.

The Immortal’s force was about to reach Taesan.

[You have activated Distortion.]

He adjusted the trajectory of the beam slightly.

Taesan raised his sword.

[You have activated Naberius’ Golden Sword.]

[You have activated the Blade of Fighting Spirit.]

[You have activated Copy.]

He poured all his strength and authority into the sword and swung down.

The sword clashed with the light, screeching as its blade began to break.

But it held.

Through the numerous skills Taesan used, the Immortal’s beam noticeably weakened. He poured everything into his sword and doubled its power with Copy.

He braced himself and took a step forward.

Boom!

The light scattered into dozens of rays, pulverizing everything around.

The Immortal condensed its power. A shockwave devoid of damage.

[You have activated Boundary Shield.]

The moment the wave touched the black sword, it vanished.

Then, Taesan shattered the balance of the Boundary Shield. The mingling power turned gray and embedded itself in his sword.

Crack.

The boundary pierced through the remains of the Immortal.

At the same time, the power of the god of an ancient era residing in the Immortal tried to invade Taesan.

You are mine.

It was a force filled with that intent.

“Get lost.”

Taesan forcibly detonated the boundary. The invading power of the ancient god vanished as the world turned to ashes.

米 * 米

Taesan tossed his sword.

The sword had broken, likely because it had reached its limit in containing the boundary.

“I’ll need a new sword again.”

Taesan clicked his tongue and put away the sword, forcibly suppressing his trembling mind.

With a shaking hand, he pulled out a potion and drank it.

Only then did he finally regain some stability. Taesan steadied his breathing and opened the system window.

[Your proficiency in Twisted Soul Manipulation has increased by 5%.]

[Your proficiency in Word of Command has increased by 4%.]

[Your proficiency in ??? has increased by 3%.]

[Your proficiency in Black has increased by @##%.]

[Your proficiency in Boundary Shield has increased by [email protected]#@!%.]

[Your proficiency in Boundary Line has increased by [email protected]@%.]

Half of the system messages were unreadable. Taesan gave a bitter laugh as he read on.

[You, a mortal, have defeated an Immortal without a will. You have achieved a feat that no one else could accomplish. You have obtained the special activation skill [Immortal Adversary].]

[You have acquired the title [One Who Achieved the Unachievable].]

[Your Soul Ascension has activated. You have obtained the soul skill [King of Machinery].]

[Your authority lies on the boundary line. Whether to proceed or not is entirely your choice. You have obtained the special activation skill [Beyond the Boundary].]

[So, you did it… Truly. Against an Immortal…]

The ghost groaned, filled with astonishment.

The Immortal was a lifeless being. The High Gods had forcibly connected with it, controlling it like a puppet.

And Taesan had also possessed the powerful trump card of the Boundary Line.

But an Immortal was still an Immortal. And Taesan was a mortal.

Even transcendents would find it hard to accept the feat Taesan had accomplished.

Taesan felt various gazes from beyond the sky.

Those gazes held astonishment and curiosity, a myriad of emotions.

[The gods outside the Labyrinth are showing interest in you.]

“Let’s go back for now.”

Taesan waved his hand, and his body returned to the Labyrinth.

“Goodbye.”

[…]

Balbabamba opened its mouth quietly.

But it closed again, giving Taesan a look filled with complex emotions.

[I thought you would run back to the Labyrinth.]

Balbabamba had thought that, given his current state, Taesan would be able to escape the damaged Immortal. It fully believed he would put distance between them so the Immortal couldn’t interfere and then summon himself back to the Labyrinth.

But Taesan had defeated the Immortal.

[Incredible.]

In the end, Balbabamba could only say that.

[Though you teeter on the edge, it’s truly remarkable.]

Balbabamba, barely calming its surprise, spoke again.

[Impressive, but… dealing with magic is the wizard’s task. I will continue my duty as the Labyrinth’s overseer.]

All quests were completed.

Taesan had perfectly finished the 74th floor. The reward for clearing the 74th-floor quest wasn’t predetermined; it depended on what Taesan had accomplished.

Now, Taesan had flawlessly cleared the quest.

It was time to bestow upon him the reward he deserved.