Ascension Through Skills
chapter-291

Of course, it wasn’t a proper reward.

Even though there was a time limit to disperse the will, and direct attacks from the star could be avoided, the star had already recognized Taesan.

If he stayed any longer, the star would try to overturn the planet to kill him, so the materials he could bring back were only those he had obtained before.

It was a level of reward he could understand.

However, it was still a reward he wouldn’t have been able to obtain originally.

Taesan took all the materials he could from the ruins. As he came out, the world was violently shaking.

The waves of power carried growing annoyance and anger.

“I should wrap this up soon.”

His headache was getting worse. It was time to end it.

When annoyance towards bugs reached its peak, you tended to turn the entire house upside down to kill them.

Now was the limit.

Taesan moved. He headed towards the quest’s target location. He descended to the deepest part of the world and discovered a transparent-colored spring.

[Water of Purity] [Water that has existed since the conception of the star. This liquid, which existed with its birth, was complete in itself.]

Taesan collected the water.

The quest condition was fulfilled. However, Taesan did not return immediately.

Taesan looked at the earth. The ghost asked.

[What are you doing?]

“You don’t feel it, do you?”

The giant will he felt since stepping into the destroyed world of Hafran.

He could feel it now, with his concept skill proficiency at 60%, which he couldn’t sense during his previous visit.

It was strong enough to be felt from a distance. The will from it was wrapping around the world.

And it was what he felt right below.

“If it’s the owner of the will that wraps the entire world, it’s probably the star itself.”

[That... seems likely.]

The ghost trailed off. After a moment of contemplation, Taesan made a decision.

[You activated Earthquake.]

The cave floor collapsed.

Everything crumbled as Taesan’s body began to fall. There was nothing below the collapsed cave, only a deep abyss.

[You activated Landing.]

How far did he fall? After several minutes of freefall, Taesan reached the bottom.

It was a pitch-black passage.

Even for Taesan, who surpassed human limits, it was darkness where he couldn’t see an inch ahead.

[You activated Scorching Light.]

He used magic for light, but the passage remained dark. This darkness existed as if it had been there before light itself, swallowing even the light.

And at the end of the passage, he sensed something huge.

[Uh... dangerous.]

The ghost seemed to sense it too, swallowing nervously.

[What will you do? I would recommend turning back immediately.]

“I’ve come this far.”

Since he was already here, he should at least take a look.

Taesan walked through the dark passage.

And at the end of the passage, a huge plaza appeared.

There was a pure white sphere.

A sphere emitting light like the sun. What he felt from it was the will and power that enveloped the entire planet.

This was the core of the star that destroyed Hafran’s world and was trying to kill Taesan.

[You have encountered the World.] [This is...]

The ghost let out a groan.

As Taesan arrived at the plaza, a gigantic killing intent was directed at him.

Unlike before, it was a gaze that recognized Taesan accurately.

It was not sensed through will, but witnessed directly.

What it contained was extreme hatred, anger, and hostility.

How dare you.

It spoke. Pure will, not language, penetrated Taesan’s mind.

How dare you. In my domain.

The star declared.

Die.

A declaration filled with will echoed.

[Instant death judgment in progress...] [Judgment failed!] [The declaration of death engulfs you.]

It was a declaration of death. The World, like a god, rejected the judgment itself.

[Ah...]

The ghost was astonished. Death itself caressed Taesan’s neck.

system_sart

[You activated Mental Acceleration.]

system_end

Taesan concentrated his will. Gathering the scattered energy, he enveloped his entire body and declared:

“Disappear.”

It was a declaration of denial.

A declaration with an absolute will, like that of the world, influencing reality.

[Declaration of Denial activated.] [The declaration of instant death disappears.] [You have influenced the world by declaring your own will. You have acquired the special continuous activation skill [Word of Power].]

Death, which had been caressing his neck, departed. Taesan drew his sword.

[The opponent is an unbeatable enemy.]

An unbeatable enemy. It was the world itself, so it was natural. He didn’t mind.

However, what happened next was unexpected.

The system window started to distort slowly.

[The opponent is @##@#!.]

The collapse of the system window.

It was the first time since facing the Apostle of the High Gods.

[You activated Apostle Transformation [Darkness and Chaos].] [You activated Vessel of the King.] [Battle Craving activated.] [You activated Disdain for the Strong.] [Anti-Divine activated.] [Giant Killer activated.] [Opposing the Great Will activated.]

A strong annoyance lingered in the gaze directed at Taesan.

The power contained in the sphere began to gather.

The power spread across the entire world started to concentrate.

Die.

With the declaration, the white power was shot at Taesan.

That was the power of the star itself. The power that had targeted Taesan so far was merely local, a small fraction from a global perspective. That’s why Taesan could block it.

But this was the source of the power held by the world itself.

The manifestation of power alone began to distort everything around it, making things lose their shape.

Creak.

[Your First Attack Nullification has been activated.] [Your Second Attack Nullification has been activated.] [Your Third Attack Nullification has been activated.] [You took 1230 damage.] [You took 1101 damage.] [You took 1023 damage.]

Even with absolute protection against the formless power, it was useless. Absolute protection was a skill that blocked the opponent’s attack in proportion to Taesan’s stats. The enemy in front of him possessed power that couldn’t be blocked with just those stats.

Boom!

The world itself was trying to crush Taesan.

Despite his resilience, Taesan momentarily prepared for death.

Time slowed down, and mental acceleration occurred.

Could he block it?

Magic was impossible. Intermediate magic was powerful, but ultimately it was a power meant for mortals. That thing’s power exceeded that category. It wouldn’t even buy time.

Black magic was not much different. If he poured all his mana into opening a passage, he might buy some time, but that would be the limit.

Moreover, opening the passage required time, and the immense power would engulf him before black magic could activate.

Swordsmanship was also impossible. This was not a power that something like Flow Skill could activate.

The power attacking Taesan now was the power of the world itself.

It was closer to transcendence rather than being something mortal. Such a being was manifesting its power to kill Taesan.

Therefore, what was needed was a power of a higher rank, surpassing the category of mortals.

Light enveloped Taesan’s hand. It was divinity.

Then it was covered with black. It was the power of the High Gods.

The mixed power created something grayish.

Taesan grasped it and swung.

White power and gray power clashed and mixed.

Boom…

Space collapsed. Everything distorted and lost its form.

Only gray ashes engulfed everything around.

And Taesan lay within the collapsing space.

[You took 49532 damage.] [You blocked a strike from @!##. You have acquired the special continuous activation skill [Last Chance].] [You have acquired a fragment of Will.]

The damage that could have rendered Taesan on the brink of death from a single strike had struck him.

But Taesan smiled.

The world’s attack just now was a kind of instant death strike where damage was meaningless.

He had reduced such an attack to mere damage, which he could endure without even triggering resilience, due to his arrogance.

“Not bad.”

Taesan endured the shock and stood up.

The white sphere stood loftily as before.

However, a tiny part of the sphere’s edge, so small it couldn’t be seen clearly with the naked eye, had turned gray.

No damage window appeared. It meant it wasn’t even a significant wound.

However, he was satisfied that his power had made even a small scratch on a being beyond mortals.

And the world seemed to be very displeased with that, as its anger deepened further.

Materialized emotions began to influence reality. As if it could easily do so, the same power that attacked Taesan gathered instantly.

“See you next time.”

Taesan muttered as he took out a marble.

As the power shot towards Taesan, his body moved to the labyrinth.

“You’ve returned safely… is what I’d like to say, but I can’t.”

Hafran’s face was filled with confusion and astonishment.

“What was that just now?”

Hafran seemed to have felt the power beyond the space. Taesan spoke as he drank a potion.

“It was the core of the world. Did you know?”

Taesan explained. At the deepest place Hafran had requested through the quest. There was a space below it, and when he fell down, he saw a giant sphere containing the will of the world itself.

Hafran’s pupils widened.

“Something like that… exists?”

“So, you didn’t know either.”

“I didn’t know. I knew the world was trying to kill us, but I had no idea there was something that gathered such will… Not only me, but no one in my world knew.”

It wasn’t strange. Taesan wouldn’t have noticed either if his concept skill proficiency hadn’t risen. Hafran’s gaze towards Taesan was filled with astonishment.

“So, you faced the world itself and returned?”

“That’s right.”

“How?”

There was a question contained in it.

“How did you survive?” It wasn’t something one would say to a survivor, but it was a reasonable question.

Taesan was undoubtedly strong. But his strength was still within the realm of mortals.

Even if Taesan possessed some extraordinary powers, that fact didn’t change.

And the opponent was the world itself.

A transcendent existence, beyond mortals.

It was an impossible opponent. Even just a gaze could have overwhelmed him.

Yet Taesan had returned alive. Without any particular abnormalities.

“I have a card that works even on such an opponent.”

The gray power. The power that even the High Gods coveted, seen as alien even by transcendent beings.

With that, he had confidence that he wouldn’t die, which was why he approached the world.

After a moment of collecting himself, Hafran’s eyes sparkled.

“Anyway, it’s a good thing. You brought the Water of Purity, right? Give it to me. I’ll make what you want.”

“Here.”

Taesan handed over the Water of Purity. Then he opened his inventory.

A pile of materials from the destroyed world fell out.

Hafran’s pupils stopped at the sight of over ten materials.

“What is this?”

“With these materials, what level of equipment can you make?”

Taesan asked.

“Heh.”

Hafran, staring blankly at the materials, chuckled. He then looked at Taesan with a genuinely joyful gaze.

“I didn’t give you a quest to bring these.”

“I brought them along the way.”

“That’s interesting. Not bad…”

Hafran’s eyes sparkled as he mumbled.

“With this, I can make something more useful.”

After contemplating, he made a decision.

“I’ll use the Giant King’s material you gave me and all these materials to make one piece of equipment. Is that alright?”

Taesan nodded. Soon it would be the deep floor. It was meaningless to make multiple pieces of equipment.

Hafran happily gathered the materials.

“Great. Come back later. I’ll make something very useful for you.”

“Before that, I want to ask you something. You said you could make higher-level equipment with materials from that world?”

“Yeah. I was a resident of that world. I can handle items born and raised there the best.”

Hafran spoke confidently. Taesan opened his inventory. There was still one material he hadn’t given him.

“Then, can you use this as a material too?”

[Fragment of Will] [Will of the World. The tiny remnants.]

A white flickering mirage.

Hafran hesitated.

He stared at the mirage blankly and then chuckled.

“You really… keep surprising me.”

“Can you handle it?”

Taesan was also uncertain about this. Hafran was undoubtedly remarkable. The fact that he made the pair of rings Taesan possessed was proof enough.

But what Taesan showed now was the will of a world itself. A power beyond mortality. Even Hafran’s capability to handle it was uncertain.

Hafran shook his head.

“I can’t touch that. The materials I used to make your rings were remarkable, but they were within my handling capability. Even the Light of Origin was just a material without consciousness.”

Hafran said as he looked at the Fragment of Will.

“But that’s different. That’s a being beyond mortality. It has its own will. If I tried to handle it, the will remaining in the fragment would try to devour me.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Then there was no use for it. He was considering trading it with gods when Hafran spoke.

“But I know someone who can handle it.”

He spoke with a subtle expression.

“A blacksmith at the entrance of the deep floor. A madman pursuing beyond mortality with a mortal body. The dwarf Kosrun. He can process what you have.”