Ascension Through Skills
chapter-31

The Lord shook his head roughly.

[Judgment failed!]

The confusion check failed, and the recovered Lord moved his great sword. He dropped the flaming arrow and extinguished the fireball. Then, he swatted at the ivory decoration falling towards him.

Crash!

The ivory decoration was knocked away, altering the trajectory of the other falling decorations.

Only the area surrounding the Lord was peaceful amid the ruinous debris.

That was a sword technique that had reached its zenith.

Taesan couldn’t do that. Even if he could, he wouldn’t. It would be the epitome of inefficiency for him.

Forced Duel.

Nothing but the target can inflict damage.

The implied meaning was quite simple.

Taesan ran directly towards the Lord through the falling decorations. A decoration shaped like a blade dropped right in front of his nose.

He would have taken quite a bit of damage if it hit him.

Ting!

But it was deflected.

It wasn’t just the decorative blade. All the falling debris colliding with Taesan scattered in all directions like billiard balls. It was as if they were rejecting contact with Taesan himself as if some sort of law was in effect.

[What's this...?]

Taesan charged directly at the Lord while the Lord was still focused on knocking away the debris.

Taesan swung his sword from out of the Lord’s field of view. A long line appeared on the Lord’s chest.

“Huh?”

[You've activated a continuous attack. The next attack will be used twice.] [16 damage to Hage-Ha.] [16 damage to Hage-Ha.]

Confusion overrode pain on the Lord’s face. Taesan, who had broken through the rain of debris, also looked puzzled.

“How did you…?”

In response, Taesan swung his sword, and the Lord lifted his great sword but couldn’t block in time due to Taesan’s speed. The damage window appeared. It was a continuous attack.

“Hmm.”

The Lord composed himself, his face returning to its usual calm expression, and he moved the handle of his weapon.

[Hage-Ha activated Heavy Strike. The next attack will inflict significant damage.]

Heavy Strike. A skill that gave additional attack power in proportion to the consumed mana. If Taesan took a single hit from this attack now, he would be in critical condition. He absolutely had to avoid it.

[You activated Counter. The next attack of the opponent will be retaliated against.]

A skill that ensured any attack that could be avoided was avoided and then countered.

His body moved automatically, dodging the plunging handle to the left. Taesan’s sword moved, and once again, the damage window appeared.

Another continuous attack.

“Ho-ho.”

A smile touched the Lord’s face as he took 100 damage in an instant.

His hand moved swiftly. Faster than before. At a speed that left afterimages. His blade and hand were aimed at Taesan.

Taesan also moved his sword.

Clang!

A harsh metallic sound echoed through the room as he blocked every attack aimed at his entire body. Taesan shook off the blade, sending the shockwave away.

A favorable judgment against an impossible opponent. Thanks to the overall increase in his stats, he could now manage it to some extent.

Parry, push, dodge. Numerous attacks and defenses were exchanged in close-quarters combat.

Clang!

The Lord’s weapon was massive, a great sword the size of a stout man. It could respond to close combat due to skill, but its weakness was clear. Instead of gaining distance, Taesan pressed in even more.

[You have activated Breathless Attack. You have the freedom of breath for the next 10 seconds.] [Hage-Ha has activated Breathless Attack. He has the freedom of breath for the next 10 seconds.]

Both swords moved even faster.

Their hands were now too quick to follow.

Clang!

Taesan swung his sword roughly to create a slight distance. The Lord, who was about to thrust with his blade’s handle, hesitated as the distance became unreachable. Taesan did not miss that brief gap.

He changed his sword to a staff, then back to a sword.

It took less than 0.2 seconds.

[You have activated Fireball.]

Fire ignited. The Lord, undaunted, shook off his hand and dispersed it. However, the flames obscured his vision for a moment, causing him to lose sight of Taesan. Taesan went behind the chair.

Thud.

[15 damage to Hage-Ha.] [15 damage to Hage-Ha.]

He pierced through the chair and stabbed into the Lord’s abdomen. The Lord calmly held his weapon in one hand and grabbed the armrest with the other.

Swirl.

The chair rotated smoothly. Taesan clicked his tongue at the speed. It was not much different from turning the body.

“Why are you so fast?”

“I had to adapt to this weakened body.”

Along with his leisurely reply, the Lord moved his arm. Taesan stuck to the side of the chair while dodging the swirling great sword.

[You have activated Forced Duel. For the next 10 seconds, no one but Hage-Ha can damage you.]

Thunk!

Forced Duel. Nothing except Hage-Ha could interfere with Taesan. The only exceptions being the weapons he used and subordinate creatures.

The chair wasn’t included in that. The chair, repelled like the same poles of magnets, was flung away.

Sitting on the chair that was flying into the air, the Lord gasped in awe.

“You’re using your skills that way? Incredible! Warrior! Give thanks to the gods that I am your final battle!”

There was no time to respond to the praise. The Lord, flipped upside down, was flung into the air. In a posture with nowhere to anchor his strength, it was difficult to defend against an attack.

Taesan gripped his sword and charged as the Lord came down in his flipped position. Taesan met him head-on in an upright stance.

With a sound like a lightning strike, they both flew together.

“Kuk!”

“Uhm!”

Taesan barely managed to steady himself, and the Lord’s situation worsened. After a large force of their midair collision, he tumbled roughly on the ground.

This was a chance.

Taesan pounced. Some system windows obscured his vision, but he had no time to care.

However, the Lord wouldn’t let it happen easily. He quickly regained his posture and swung his sword.

[You have activated Counter. You will retaliate against the next opponent's attack.]

Counter. Its functions were forced evasion and counterattack.

However, the opposite was also possible, depending on how you used it.

Taesan forced his body, which was moving automatically, to resist. He withstood the instinct to dodge and charged toward the tip of the sword. The ghost was aghast.

[Damn it, you!]

The sword pierced through Taesan’s chest.

[462 damage to you.] [Your Endurance has been activated. The attack leading to death has been nullified. All damage becomes 0 for 1 second.] [What, Endurance?]

Counter was based on retaliation. A retaliation that inflicted more damage.

In other words, if you charged at the opponent’s attack while using Counter, the damage from that attack would become part of your retaliation.

Thanks to this, he could activate Endurance in a state of full health. The Lord tried to push Taesan away, but all damage had been nullified for 1 second. Taesan struck the Lord’s whole body as numerous damage windows obscured his view.

1 second had passed. Taesan deflected the trajectory of the downward-striking greatsword and struck once again.

[16 damage to Hage-Ha.] [16 damage to Hage-Ha.]

Another series of consecutive attacks.

This was not an opponent that could be defeated by holding back, so Taesan unleashed everything he had. The Breathless Attack also activated without a moment’s rest. His mana was drained in an instant.

Taesan quickly drank a mana recovery potion from his inventory and attacked again.

His breathing quickened.

His mana was almost depleted. Fatigue has significantly accumulated throughout his body.

Breathless Attack removes the constraint of breath, allowing for free movement, but it didn’t help with muscle usage. Moving more than usual led to faster exhaustion.

Taesan had plenty of health left, but given the power of the attack, a few hits could leave him at death’s door. So having a large amount of health didn’t mean much. Since Endurance was also gone, there was no way out.

But the Lord’s situation wasn’t good either. He had taken an immense amount of damage. As a living being, the limit of his health was clear. He was probably nearing the end.

So, this was the end for him and for the goblin.

From now on, he wouldn’t try to avoid attacks perfectly. Instead of blocking perfectly, he decided to take minor damage and attacks. They repeated the exchange of damage.

His sword pierced through the Lord’s shoulder.

Taesan’s pupils shook as he saw that the Lord’s expression was infinitely calm as if he had anticipated this.

The Lord yanked at Taesan’s wrist. The sword was embedded deeply, unable to be pulled out.

Using that moment, he kicked Taesan’s abdomen.

[35 damage to you.]

“Kuek!”

His body was lifted momentarily, and a dull pain was felt in his chest.

His ribs were broken. Judging from the sensation, it seemed more than three were broken.

[You have activated Indomitable Will. You ignore all injuries and act for 10 seconds.]

The pain didn’t disappear, but he no longer felt the unpleasant sensation. Taesan pushed the sword deeper.

[25 damage to Hage-Ha.] [25 damage to Hage-Ha.]

The handle of the greatsword struck Taesan’s back.

[46 damage to you.]

Taesan lifted the sword that had been stabbed into him. His shoulder, leather, skin, and all were torn apart.

The Lord hit Taesan with his own shoulder, and the sound of bones breaking echoed through the room.

[35 damage to you.]

His whole body creaked as he forcibly moved his damaged body. He repeatedly stabbed the sword while enduring his own damage to his body.

Taesan plunges his sword into the chest of the Goblin Lord.

The blade sunk deeply. He could feel the heartbeat at the end of the sword.

At that moment, the Lord’s face relaxes. With a gentle face like one who had found rest, he whispered to Taesan.

“Holy. Warrior……!”

Something seemed to leave the Lord’s body.

Taesan felt that it was his soul.

That spiritual something scattered, not toward the ceiling, but along the floor.

It seemed to be going deep, deep down.

[You have won against the former Goblin Lord Hage-Ha.] [You have cleared the quest of Lakiratas.] [You have deciphered the hidden element of the 3rd floor. You received the reward [???].]

A system window announcing the end of the battle appeared.

It was over.

Taesan slumped down.

“Phew.”

He exhaled, eyes closed, leaning against the wall. His level had increased, relieving all physical fatigue, but the mental burden was substantial.

‘So this is a Lord.’

It was a strength that didn’t seem goblin-like. His power, calmness, situational awareness, and responses to all variables were perfect.

If there had been even a slight or even minute mistake, he would have been the one to die. It was dangerous during the Lakiratas incident, but it was truly close this time.

[Are you alright?]

“Somewhat.”

He rubbed at his eyes, easing his fatigue. As his consciousness gradually returned, he suddenly had a thought.

“Why so quiet?”

The ghost hadn’t said a word since the end of the battle. It just silently stood by Taesan’s side.

[Just... nothing.]

The ghost trailed off. Taesan felt something was off about its unusual behavior but didn’t press further. He didn’t have the energy to worry about that now.

“Phew.”

He stretched.

His body had finally calmed down.

His heart, which had been beating wildly, had returned to a normal rhythm.

“Time to check things out.”

He opened the system window that was blocking his view. Lines of text densely filled his field of vision to the point where he could hardly see in front of him.

Firstly, the victory rewards.

[You have won against an unbeatable foe. Your health increases by 50. Mana increases by 5. All stats increase by 7.]

Victory against an unbeatable foe bonus. He had never seen this before. It was impossible to encounter such a foe in Easy Mode, and after leaving the place, it was not possible to receive rewards, so this was his first proper reward.

All stats +7. On top of that, his health and mana increased. This was far more than any reward he had ever received.

And it didn’t end there.

[You fought a bloody battle against an unbeatable foe. You acquired the special permanent skill [Thirst for Battle].] [You fought and won a bloody battle against an unbeatable foe. You acquired the special permanent skill [Thirst for Victory].] [You successfully faced all trials against an unbeatable foe. You acquired the special activation skill [Contempt for the Strong].]