Ascension Through Skills
chapter-257

‘Greed, huh.’

Why would the High God give him such a look?

First, it was exploration. At a glance, it was an extremely wide area. It was impossible to understand everything just by running around.

“I’ll handle the exploration.”

Anetsha struck the ground with her staff.

The staff resonated with her magic, spreading in all directions.

Uuuung.

The power amplified and amplified. The energy of exploration, which would have been impossible with Anetsha’s strength alone, dispersed.

The extended energy of exploration brushed past the aura of the High God and inspected the surroundings.

Anetsha infused her magic and spoke.

“This is the staff of detection bestowed upon us directly by the demon god. If one’s ability allows, it can detect the entire demon world in an instant.”

Anetsha, having sensed many things around her, raised her staff and pointed in a direction.

“There are five presences felt about thirty minutes from here at my pace.”

‘Good.’

It seemed that the staff, given directly by the demon god, had a considerably wide detection range. Even for Taesan, it would be challenging to explore this distance so quickly.

Taesan stomped his foot.

“Follow slowly.”

“Huh?”

Boom!

As power exploded, Taesan flew in the direction Anetsha pointed.

Taesan arrived at the destination in mere seconds. There, five heavily distorted beings were present.

“Hello.”

“What the…!”

They were startled to see Taesan.

“Your enemy.”

Taesan calmly answered, observing them.

Their essence was of demonic beings.

However, their fundamental nature was so twisted that they could no longer be called demons in form and power.

They were closer to Arulia, a human who had contracted with the High God in the spirit world. They were similar to him.

“Why is an outsider here?”

“A human?”

They were surprised beyond expectation. But soon, they collected themselves and their eyes gleamed.

“Die!”

“To those who don’t believe in the old demon god, % O O 門 =『*=!”

They charged.

Wielding the power of the High God, they attempted to kill Taesan. Taesan casually flicked his hand, brushing them off and analyzing.

‘They’re much weaker than that.’

The human who contracted with the High God in Arulia had directly made the contract. In contrast, these beings seemed to have absorbed the remnants of the High God while staying here. They were similar, but their power was vastly different.

‘But they are not weak.’

Objectively, they were at the level of the 30th floor of the labyrinth. All five of them.

Considering that those called the Demon King’s knights were around the 20th-floor level, it was overwhelming strength.

“This makes me curious.”

“Die!”

With a mad laugh, one man charged fiercely.

“He’s mine!”

“Don’t touch him!”

Others shouted and tried to hinder the man. It seemed they were desperate to be the one to kill him.

Taesan moved his hand.

Crushing and trampling the energy of the High God, he pierced the man’s chest.

Crunch.

“Ugh.”

The man collapsed with a sound of swallowed breath.

It was a single strike. The others who had been rushing forward hesitated.

[Your Soul Ascension has been activated.]

“Interesting.”

Taesan’s eyes gleamed.

Black energy from the man’s body was absorbed into Taesan.

There was no noticeable change, indicating it wasn’t enough to raise his proficiency, but it meant Soul Ascension had been activated.

“Not bad.”

Taesan turned his gaze to the remaining ones. Their reactions were odd. They were utterly terrified and stepping back.

“Ah…”

“The soul has been snatched.”

“Run!”

They began fleeing in terror.

Taesan frowned, not expecting them to flee without looking back.

“Running away?”

[You have activated Mephisto’s Black Lightning.]

Boom!

Lightning struck the one running the fastest.

The spear penetrated him. A weak stiffness overtook him.

“Kaak!”

Taesan kicked.

He pierces through the chests of the other two who were running away. They died with faces full of terror.

[Your Soul Ascension has been activated.]

Crunch.

“Kaak!”

Leaping up, Taesan stomps on the head of the one who was trying to flee in a panic as the stiffness released.

“Please don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!”

“Depends on what you do.”

Taesan replied.

After a moment, Anetsha and Quaned arrived.

“Sir Taesan. You’re too fast…

“Oh. Is that one a believer of the old demon god?”

Quaned’s eyes gleamed. Minerva also looked at the subdued being with interest.

“Completely consumed by the power. Is that what happens over a long period?”

“Consumed?”

“It’s literal. The mind and body, everything, twisted by the power of the High God. Once it’s like this, they probably can’t die at will.”

“Hmmm.”

Taesan looked at the man in his grip.

The man screamed.

“Please don’t kill me!”

“Quiet.”

Taesan tightened his grip on the man’s neck. A choking sound echoed.

“What are you going to do?”

“First, information.”

The quest he received was to annihilate the believers of the old demon god in the abandoned land.

So he needed to get some rough information first.

When Taesan asked for information, the man’s eyes rolled nervously.

“If I answer, will you spare me?”

“I won’t kill you right away. Try to escape if you can.”

The man began to speak hesitantly.

“We have been here since the old demon god was banished.”

“Since he was banished?”

Anetsha was shocked. The man looked young. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties in human age.

But the banishment of the old demon god was a matter of legend, something ancient.

“We do not believe in the current demon god. We believe in the one who originally ruled this land. So when the great demon god was banished, we migrated here.”

The High God was banished by the demon god and could no longer exert influence in the demon world.

But the demon world was created by the High God. The demon god couldn’t completely remove all of the High God’s influence, and that place became the abandoned land.

“We have been living here, embracing the power of the old demon god.”

They were slowly corrupted.

Their limbs twisted, and their minds began to collapse. Their bodies and minds started to become bound to the land.

“We have become unable to die.”

“Get it straight. It’s not that you became unable to die; you can’t even die.”

Minerva corrected him. She was right. The mortals twisted and mixed with the power of the High God were eventually bound to the land itself.

Even if their limbs were torn and heads split, as long as the power of the land remained, they couldn’t die.

They had become part of the land.

The moment they tried to escape, their souls would likely vanish.

But the man spoke confidently.

“This is immortality. It is the grace given to us by the High God. It’s a power that those outside cannot even imagine.”

Suddenly, the man widened his eyes and shouted.

“Yes! This is the grace given directly by the High God! We must embrace this grace and grow stronger! To the point where he will call us, to the point where we can assist the saint guarding the thorn!”

A fanatical belief in the High God.

Minerva clicked her tongue.

“Even the mind is ruined. Twisted by the flow of time. Or maybe it was already broken.”

Taesan asked.

“For someone like that, he was begging me not to kill him.”

“The ones you killed died for real. Not just losing power, but their souls couldn’t return.”

The man’s face was filled with fear as he spoke.

Taesan could easily guess the reason.

Soul skill, Soul Ascension. A skill that even stole the power of the High God.

They were beings no longer considered alive, bound to the land.

But with that power stolen, they met death.

“Alright.”

Taesan had roughly gathered the information. He loosened his grip on the man.

“Then, get lost.”

“…Really?”

“Do you want me to kill you?”

“No, no.”

The man hurriedly ran away.

Anetsha asked.

“How are you going to handle this?”

“I’m thinking.”

The man said they had been here since the old demon god was banished.

If that was true, the plan had gone awry. Taesan looked at Anetsha’s staff.

“Can I use that?”

The staff clearly covered a wider range than Anetsha’s power alone could comprehend.

With Taesan’s power, it wasn’t impossible to cover the entire area.

But Anetsha shook her head.

“No. Only demons can use this. It’s not about having magic power, but about where it originates from. No matter how strong you are, Taesan-nim, it would be difficult.”

“Then what if I sync with your power to use it?”

A method of channeling power through magic. It was something Anetsha and Quaned had done for him before.

“Well…”

Anetsha hesitated.

“If I’m the user, it might… be possible.”

“Good.”

Taesan approached Anetsha. She shuddered.

“Spread out the detection like you did before.”

“Ah, yes.”

Anetsha hurriedly grabbed the staff with both hands. After a brief moment to steady her breathing, she struck the ground with it.

Uuuung.

The wave spread in all directions.

Information about the surroundings began to flow to her, and Taesan placed his hand on her shoulder.

“O…”

Anetsha let out a weak moan.

Magic power started pouring in, more than she could handle.

‘…A lot.’

Even her father, the demon king Vesehta, didn’t have this much magic power.

Taesan synced with Anetsha’s magic and opened the channel.

[You have activated Leraje’s Territory Detection.]

Kiing.

The spreading waves rippled. The power spreading rapidly in all directions brought back all the information.

Absorbing the power of the High God from the land, the detection accelerated further.

As the flood of information came in, Anetsha’s face turned pale. It was too much for her to contain.

Taesan, recognizing her limit, lifted his hand from her shoulder.

Anetsha collapsed, gasping for breath.

“Princess!”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes…”

Anetsha steadied her breathing and stood up.

“…It’s endless.”

Using the channel, they had utilized Leraje’s Territory Detection, along with the staff that amplified its power by absorbing the High God’s energy.

Even using both simultaneously, they had only managed to survey a part of the abandoned land. All they found was that the land expanded endlessly.

“This is…”

Rather than just being vast, it felt as if it connected to something beyond.

No matter how far they went, there was no end.

“And… there are many.”

She spoke with trembling eyes.

“Even with the small detection, the number is uncountable.”

“Just as I thought.”

Taesan frowned.

The demon world was extremely vast. And the man he had captured said they had been here since the old demon god ruled.

They continued to live without dying. Their numbers couldn’t have decreased.

A land without end.

And countless beings who believed in the old demon god.

“What should I do?”

Taesan muttered.

Killing them all was nearly impossible.

Of course, it would be possible if he invested an infinite amount of time. But that would be meaningless. It would take decades at least, so it was better to give up and descend the labyrinth.

So, another method had to be found.

Taesan looked at the ground.

A thick and deep power of the High God was flowing out.

The man had said they were bound to the land.

If the power of the High God disappeared, their souls would be freed as well.

“Can I erase this darkness?”

“No.”

Minerva said decisively.

“That’s impossible. This is a domain created by the High God. Even the current demon god couldn’t erase it and left it be, right?”

To the demon god, this land, imbued with the power of the old demon god, must have been extremely annoying.

But she had done nothing to interfere with the vast domain and its countless inhabitants.

Even the power of a transcendent couldn’t interfere with the domain of the High God.

There was no way Taesan’s power could manage it.

The demon god must have known this.

But she had given Taesan the quest, thinking he had a way.

[You have activated Divinity.]

Light manifested on Taesan’s hand.

The light twisted and affected the power of the High God. But that was all. It didn’t erase or purify the power.

‘This is impossible.’

The power existing within the laws couldn’t erase this darkness. Taesan extinguished the divinity.

Then, what about the power beyond the laws?

[You have activated Blackness.]