Ascension Through Skills
chapter-227

The High God had set his sights on both this world and himself.

For Taesan, who sought the status and power of a god, a confrontation with the High Gods was inevitable should he continue on his path.

This felt like a rehearsal for that inevitable confrontation. Taesan distanced himself from the encroaching shadows.

The darkness that enveloped Hazzak was distinctly alien. Despite having faced numerous monsters before, this was fundamentally different.

It wasn’t just about strength, but something entirely otherworldly.

Shadows swallowed the earth, the very space itself.

The wind and light that were sucked into these devoured places never returned.

The sphere was enveloped by shadows.

“Barkaza. Stay away. Or go back.”

[It's a blow to my pride... but it can't be helped. Don't die, Master. It would be too vain if a contractor like you were to die here.]

As Barkaza departed, Hazzak’s face twisted into a distorted smile.

“Kahak!”

With a harsh resonance, darkness rose from the shadows. The spikes that shot up aimed for Taesan.

Taesan twisted his body sharply, dodging the spikes targeting his head by a hair’s breadth, and swung his sword, deflecting an attack meant to pierce him.

Kagagagak!

The darkness collided with the sword, twisting its trajectory.

And then the sword began to be consumed by darkness, turning black.

Taesan infused his sword with his force. The darkness was repelled by Taesan’s force, scattering away.

While adjusting his force, Taesan clicked his tongue at the burden he felt.

‘Is even blocking dangerous?’

The places touched by those shadows become the realm of the High God. It’s a power that expands its domain into the world through Hazzak’s body as a medium, rejecting harmony and ignoring laws.

Just blocking those attacks nearly caused Taesan’s sword to be overlaid with the power of the High God.

He was able to push it back by infusing it with spirit and power, but using it even for these minor attacks could put him at a disadvantage.

Darkness rose again from the shadows.

A tide of black power rushed in, and Taesan waved his hand.

[You have activated the Frozen World.]

Jejejejeje!

Extreme cold swept in all directions, freezing everything it touched and halting the flow of time around it.

Yet, the darkness nonchalantly swallowed the cold. The shadow that devoured all the ice charged towards Taesan.

Thud.

Taesan kicked off the ground, narrowly avoiding the rushing shadow and widening the distance between them.

The shadow then stretched out even more fiercely.

Spreading widely across the world, the shadow swallowed all of Taesan’s escape routes.

There’s nowhere left to escape. The only option left was to break through.

Taesan strengthened his legs and ran towards the outskirts, where the shadow hadn’t reached yet.

The moment Taesan stepped into the shadow, he strengthened his legs for a leap and pulled out a shield.

[You have activated the Shield of Aegis.]

The power of the shield enveloped Taesan.

For 1 second, the shield made him immune to all damage. The downside was that he could not move during its activation.

However, it didn’t prevent movement due to inertia; since he kicked off before activating the shield, Taesan’s body flew out of the shadow.

As Taesan flew, the shadow rose towards him.

Enveloping Taesan’s entire body, it attempted to dye him black.

The shield’s effect was immunity to damage. The shadow’s attack should not have affected him.

‘Hm?’

However, Taesan’s eyebrows twitched as he flew.

The shadow engulfing him pressed down on Taesan harshly.

Crack.

Cracks began to form in the power of the shield surrounding Taesan.

[Uh, uhhh?]

Unable to withstand it until escaping the shadow, Taesan quickly gathered force throughout his body and enveloped himself with it.

Kaaang!

The shield broke before its duration ended.

The shadow lunged at Taesan’s body. Taesan expelled the alien sensation that began eroding him from his toes upwards using force and activated a skill.

[You have activated Random Blink.]

Taesan’s body moved far away, rolling his feet to shake off the clinging darkness.

[Uh... this is...]

The ghost couldn’t continue. Taesan held his sword, expressionless.

“As expected.”

Nothing was surprising. The power of the High God twisted the laws of this world, interfering with the power of gods.

And the labyrinth had been created by a magician combining his power with that of a god.

It wasn’t strange for the labyrinth’s items to be affected by the power of the High God.

“Looks like the skills activate, so does it only interfere with items? Gathering force seems to provide some defense.”

Spikes of darkness from the shadow tried to pierce Taesan. He kicked off the ground to dodge.

“Ha-hahah!”

Fortunately, Hazzak wasn’t paying attention to the sphere. He was solely focused on gathering power to kill Taesan, so Taesan didn’t need to worry about protecting the sphere.

Thus, his focus was solely on killing the enemy in front of him.

Taesan moved.

Kagagagak!

Just dodging wasn’t enough to defeat the enemy. Somehow, he had to get close to Hazzak.

Approaching on the ground was impossible. Everything around Hazzak was the realm of the High God. The moment he stepped in, that force would overwhelm Taesan.

Then, to the air.

[You have activated Perfect Fairy Wings.]

Rainbow-colored wings spread from Taesan’s back.

His body accelerated, soaring through the sky.

“Ha-ha!”

Swoosh!

The shadow rose, covering the sky. Watching the incoming black force, Taesan maneuvered his wings.

Paaang!

He moved quickly in a straight line, dodging the shadow that filled the air like brush strokes.

“Ha-ha-ha!”

Hazzak burst into laughter again and again.

The mighty one, who had broken his contract, was doing nothing but dodging. This fact delighted Hazzak beyond measure.

“The Labyrinth! In the face of this great power!”

They were nothing.

An exhilarated Hazzak exclaimed.

“Die there, worm!”

Taesan did not respond.

He had no concern for a being that was being consumed by power, losing even its sense of self.

Taesan merely dodged, reading the trajectory of the shadows. Having understood most of its movements, Taesan made his decision.

“It’s about time.”

“Yes! It’s time for you to die…”

Hazzak’s mockery was abruptly cut short because Taesan had suddenly flown towards him in an instant.

Hazzak hurriedly gathered the shadows to launch spikes.

Taesan effortlessly twisted his body.

The flying spikes grazed past Taesan.

Crack.

Taesan’s sword, now dyed black, pierced through Hazzak’s chest.

[$#@! deals 23 damage.]

“You, you!”

Hazzak, taken aback by the attack, contorted his face in rage.

His power burst out explosively. The shadow rose, attempting to engulf Taesan.

And Taesan moved his wings to twist his body.

The shadow cut through the air in vain.

Hazzak waved his hand. The shadow surged like a tide in all directions, and Taesan dodged it again, stabbing Hazzak’s neck.

[$#@! deals 26 damage.]

“Kack!”

Hazzak screamed and retreated. The pierced part of his neck was enveloped in darkness, leaving no wound.

“Tch.”

Taesan clicked his tongue and moved.

“How dare you! Thrust a sword into my magnificent body!”

Hazzak gnashed his teeth, swinging the shadow around.

The storm-like shadow aimed for Taesan’s entire body.

The wings moved. Taesan’s sword made a long cut across Hazzak’s chest.

And that wound was once again enveloped by darkness.

“Ha-ha-ha!”

Hazzak burst into laughter.

Initially flustered by the fact that he was attacked, he soon realized. Taesan’s attacks posed no threat to him.

“You can’t hurt me with just that level of power!”

Hazzak was now imbued with the power of a High God. And the status of a High God was, literally, godly.

Even though it was just a fragment, it contained a status unapproachable by mere mortals.

Due to the difference in status, Taesan’s attacks didn’t properly reach him.

Therefore, Taesan couldn’t kill him.

Believing so, Hazzak summoned even more power.

This power, so intense it masked any lingering emotions, surged in all directions.

“Die!”

Kagagagak!

The shadow shattered into fragments, engulfing everything in its path and transforming it all into a wasteland.

It was, in essence, a storm.

After the darkness was unleashed, nothing remained.

Hazzak burst into laughter.

“This is the end! I am the strongest!”

Crack.

As he made his proclamation, Hazzak’s chest was pierced.

Emerging from the settling darkness, Taesan stood unharmed.

“How, how did you?”

“How, indeed?”

Taesan’s hand moved. His sword sliced through Hazzak’s entire body.

“Yi-ii-ii!”

Hazzak contorted his face and swung the shadows again.

“It seems you’ve managed to survive by luck, but that’s all!”

Taesan couldn’t land a proper hit on him.

His overwhelming advantage remained.

Hazzak continued to wield his power, while Taesan kept thrusting his sword, enduring through it all.

Hazzak rolled on the ground. The shadow momentarily rose, attempting to engulf and swallow Taesan.

Taesan swung his sword.

The force gathered at the tip of his sword clashed with the shadows. Through the small gap that was created, Taesan inserted his body, emerging on the other side and slicing through Hazzak’s abdomen.

“…Even so!”

His advantage remained unchanged.

Hazzak continued to manipulate his power.

And Taesan countered it.

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

A black wave arose, heading towards Hazzak.

Naturally, due to the level difference, it dissipated before reaching him, but it was enough to obstruct Hazzak’s vision. Taesan seized the moment Hazzak’s offense faltered to succeed in his attack.

Hazzak kept wielding his power.

And all of that broke, shattered, and disappeared. Taesan didn’t allow even a hint of an attack and countered Hazzak with his own.

“Ah, ahh?”

Hazzak finally realized.

More than ten minutes had passed since the battle began, and he had not landed a single attack on Taesan.

Instead, he was the only one being attacked.

“…Don’t make me laugh!”

The difference in power was clear. He had to win, no matter what.

The shadow pierced through the ground and rose up.

There was no place to escape the oncoming attack, but Taesan moved his wings without any change in expression.

Pang!

He quickly judged the areas where the density of the shadows was low and swung his sword towards the approaching shadows.

[You have activated Flow.]

Kang!

The trajectory of the shadows twisted. The twisted shadows collided with each other, creating space.

Taesan roughly shook off the sword being dyed by the shadows and escaped.

Taesan parried the attack without any significant loss and stabbed his sword again.

“What the…”

Hazzak cursed, continuing to swing his power, but the result did not change.

Taesan indifferently dodged Hazzak’s power.

‘It’s definitely threatening.’

The alien power of the High God, which merely by touching, seeks to erode the entire body and dye it black.

Had someone with legitimate authority wielded this power, even the current Taesan would have been threatened.

But if that person wielding the power was Hazzak, it posed no threat at all.

Hazzak must have only dealt with the power of spirits so far. All his battles were left to superior spirits, and taking the initiative to wield power in battle must be a first for him.

That’s why the movement of his power was too obvious. There was no need to read his intentions; just by observing the movement of his pupils and the fluctuations of his power, one could read all his attacks and targets.

He was handling the alien power of the High God as if it were just ordinary spirit power.

Having power is useless if you don’t know how to use it.

Only those with legitimate abilities posed a threat.

Taesan cut off his thoughts and continued the battle.

The fight was one-sided. However, that didn’t mean the situation was favorable.

Taesan’s attacks still couldn’t inflict proper damage.

It was simply a matter of being out-leveled, nothing more.

Though he was dealing minor damage, the duration of the Apostle Transformation would likely end before he could defeat his opponent.

Regaining his composure, Hazzak shouted roughly,

“It’s useless! You can’t defeat me!”

“For now, that’s true,”

Taesan smiled faintly.

“But the same goes for you.”

Taesan’s body trembled.

Spikes, pouring out of the shadows, cut through the air in vain.

As the battle continued, Taesan became increasingly familiar with Hazzak’s attack patterns.

Even if the Apostle Transformation ended, Hazzak’s power wouldn’t be enough to kill him.

“And time is on my side.”

“Nonsense!”

Hazzak scoffed. His power was infinite. In contrast, Taesan’s power would deplete, and his stamina would slowly decrease.

But Taesan was confident. As time passed, he would be the one to win.

The battle went on.

Taesan dodged all the attacks.

“Yi-ii!”

Hazzak gathered his power roughly. The power exploded with a strong backlash.

It was the moment Taesan kicked off the ground to dodge.

Crack.

The sphere cracked.

Wind poured out from there.

Soft and refreshing, the wind began to gently push away the darkness that had eroded the land. The rushing shadows disappeared into the wind.

Hazzak’s face stiffened at the presence felt from the breaking sphere.

Taesan sheathed his sword.

“I thought I’d have to hold out for another day or so, but it’s faster than I thought.”

“I can’t keep you waiting any longer.”

Along with the voice of a mature woman, the figure of Minerva appeared from the cracking sphere.