Ascension Through Skills

“Uh, what?”

The Saint was horrified.

He was a magician in his own right.

He realized that what Taesan had just done was magic.

And he could feel that its level was so high, he couldn’t even come close to it.

“It’s quite useful outside.”

Taesan muttered, stirring the air with his hand.

[You have activated Blazing Orb.]

Blazing flames formed around Taesan.

With a gesture, the Blazing Orb flew towards the followers of the God of Mystery. The Saint, terrified, raised his hands.

“Barrier!”

An opaque magical barrier appeared. The followers, who had regained their balance, reinforced the barrier.

Kaang!

It shattered against the Blazing Orb.

Fragments of dispersed flames enveloped them. Those directly hit disappeared without even screaming, and those touched by the sparks couldn’t last long.

“What, what is this!”

A flame created without chanting or almost any time for manifestation. Yet his barrier was shattered like this. The Saint’s eyes widened, and Taesan appeared confused.

“Why so weak?”

Despite being a transcendent being beyond mortals, even if of lower divine stature, Taesan’s power was incomparable to them. Yet, the magic was too low-grade.

[Gods can't easily bestow their power. Even on their own followers, they require a price. Remember in the labyrinth?]

“Then they should offer a tribute.”

[Think of the level of tributes you offered, and you'll have your answer.]

“Ah.”

Taesan nodded, repelling magic as he did.

The equipment descriptions in the labyrinth alone made it clear. The value of equipment from the 10th floor was extremely high, even outside.

Offering a few such items was necessary to learn magic.

By outside standards, offering relics that could be called treasures would not be an exaggeration.

“Definitely difficult outside.”

Taesan muttered as he continued manifesting magic.

And one after another, they failed to stop the followers.

[You have activated Wind Explosion.]

A magic rarely used in the labyrinth, at best used to block arrows. Wind Explosion.

“Aaaaa!”

“Eek!”

To them, it was like a storm. Unable to resist, they were blown against walls, disappearing into the forest.

Taesan indifferently continued to manifest magic.

The easily formed magic was a disaster in itself.

“Ah, ahhh.”

And all collapsed.

Taesan triggered Frost Arrow.

Crack.

The statue of the God of Mystery, who had crawled from the bottom, shattered.

[You have destroyed the statue of the God of Mystery, who had crawled from the bottom. The God of Mystery, who had crawled from the bottom, has been expelled from the Battlefield of the Gods.] [The gods of the Labyrinth are pleased.] [The god of magic is incredibly happy. He is utterly satisfied with your actions.]

Massive energy disappeared into the sky’s rift, along with the souls of the followers.

Taesan immediately moved to the next one.

The next god was the one who moved the twisted cliffs.

As the name suggested, this god venerated strength, and his followers were similarly inclined.

“Aaaaaah!”

Dozens of men, twice Taesan’s size, charge at him.

They grouped together and started pushing Taesan back.

“Feel our strength!”

A particularly large man among them shouted heartily.

“We are those who can push mountains!”

“You do have the strength to say that.”

Their pressure was quite heavy. With this kind of strength, they really could push mountains.

Though it would be more like very small hills.

But Taesan actually possessed the power to move mountains.

He braced his entire body and stepped on the ground.

Crack.

Just that motion cracked and depressed the ground.

He strengthened his back, pulled his shoulders, and then pushed forward.

“Wh-what?”

“Woaaah!”

The bulky men were flung away as if shot from a cannon.

The eyes of the particularly large man widened in shock.

“What the!”

In the Labyrinth, stats directly affected one’s physical body.

Increasing agility allowed one to easily break the sound barrier.

Boosting strength made one unimaginably powerful.

And Lee Taeyeon possessed the power to shatter waves and lift mountains.

‘That’s why Lee Taeyeon had to fight somewhere else.’

At Hard Mode level, minimizing damage by concentrating strength was possible. Still, at Lee Taeyeon’s level, even that became impossible.

Even light combat could cause destruction at the level of a city, so she, like Taesan, had no choice but to fight from a distance.

As he thought about this, another thought naturally came to mind.

‘That’s strange when you think about it?’

Lee Taeyeon couldn’t fight in the city due to the aftermath of battles. So, she must have fought outside, like Taesan.

But in his previous life, when he returned to the city after defeating two S-class enemies, Lee Taeyeon was there.

‘Did she come back after fighting?’

After winning a fight and returning to the city, she saw more monsters appearing. She planned to use the Ouroboros Stone, but she died without even being able to resist the apostle.

This assumption seemed plausible, but something didn’t quite add up.

Even while distracted by these thoughts, the men continued to try pushing Taesan, grunting with effort. However, Taesan’s feet remained immovable, rooted to the spot.

“Let’s finish this now.”

Taesan flexed his arms and swung them.

The bulky men were sent flying.

Crack.

Taesan broke a statue.

[The god of strength is incredibly happy. He is utterly satisfied with your actions.]

“Is there a god of strength, too?”

It seemed like a god yet to be encountered by Taesan.

Taesan looked up at the rift in the sky.

Into it, the souls of the followers and the energy of what seemed like a god were being absorbed.

“There are ten gods here, aren’t there?”

The green one had told him that. Considering the number of gods Taesan had met in the Labyrinth, ten was indeed a significant number.

“That’s fine by me.”

The more gods there were, the more certain the rewards would be.

Taesan has already defeated five gods.

Now, five remain.

“Unsatisfactory.”

Taesan waved his arm. He had just driven away the god of the solitary path of light.

That made six gods he had driven away.

He had dealt with more than half, and although the god of light was satisfied, Taesan was not.

“They’re too weak.”

There was nothing to gain from them.

None of the gods he faced were strong enough to trigger Soul Ascension.

“I thought they were the bottom of the barrel, but it turns out it was just comparing acorns.”

One could tell just by looking at the weakest ones fighting each other.

If there had been a real difference in power, higher-tier followers would have smashed them before even fighting each other.

The ghost chuckled bitterly.

[Actually, they're not that weak.]

By the ghost’s standards, they weren’t weak.

The gods Taesan first encountered here were certainly weak, but from the middle onwards, quite strong ones appeared. Even by the standards of the Labyrinth, they weren’t that low in rank.

Individually, they might be weak, but when a sufficient number gathered, they were at the level of the early 20th or 30th floors.

[It's just that you're too strong. Probably even the gods here didn't expect that.]

The gods from outside, who didn’t know much about the Labyrinth, would have based their judgment on the level.

Normally, level and strength were proportional, so that wasn’t a wrong assumption.

It was just that Taesan was an exception.

He possessed strength disproportionate to his level and also had a special skill like Soul Ascension.

[It must be confusing for them. So... now you might be able to move on.]

The ghost spoke softly.

A day had passed.

The next day, Taesan defeated two more gods.

A smaller number compared to the previous day, but there was a reason for that.

“They’ve suddenly become stronger?”

It wasn’t a concept of improved abilities or increased skills. The divine power from the followers felt more intense.

“Did the gods give them more power?”

[Probably. Normally, they couldn't grant more than a certain amount of favor due to the rules of the battlefield, but they must have agreed to do so to kill you.]

Taesan laughed.

“It’s still useless, though.”

No matter how much divine power they received, it was not enough to stop Taesan with hastily granted power. It’s not like they’re suddenly elevated to the level of apostles, so it only delayed the inevitable.

That was how he dealt with eight in total.

Only two gods remained.

Before dealing with the rest, Taesan decided to fill his stomach first. He cooked some meat he brought from the Labyrinth and ate it.

The taste wasn’t great, but it was enough to satisfy his hunger.

Taesan, who was eating slowly, paused.

He turned his gaze.

Nearby, a golden light was visible.

[Well, it was about time.]

“It’s later than I thought.”

Both the ghost and Taesan waited calmly.

The bushes parted as if they had a will of their own. A being, before whom even nature would bow and worship, had appeared.

A being adorned entirely in gold revealed itself.

[You.]

An emotionless gaze directed at Taesan.

[Before you is the brightly decorated god of swords. You've encountered Mantra.]

Taesan appraised Mantra.

At first glance, he looked similar to a human, except for the lack of hair, and could be considered a typical handsome man.

But every part of his body was made of gold.

Fingertips, irises, lips - all were golden.

It felt like looking at a giant fortress made of gold.

[For a mortal to appraise a god.]

Mantra narrowed his eyes. That action alone caused the surrounding grass to die and the ground to dry and twist.

[Intimidation Judgment in progress...] [Fear Judgment in progress...] [Confusion Judgment in progress...]

Just like when he met Maria before, dozens of judgments flashed by.

“Dismiss it.”

Taesan shook his head.

A notification of success in all judgments appeared.

The judgments of Mantra, a lesser god from the outside, were nothing compared to Maria.

‘Not even the real deal.’

Taesan knew. The entity before him was not the true form of the god. It seemed like some sort of avatar.

Strong, but that was it.

There wasn’t the sensation of seeing something enormous like when he saw the gods of the Labyrinth.

‘Is it because of the difference in rank?’

The rank of the gods from the outside was lower than that of the Labyrinth. That might be why Taesan felt no special emotion.

Mantra’s eyes, looking at Taesan, wavered.

[Why does someone like you have such a rank…]

“What?”

[No, it's incomplete. It's nothing to worry about.]

Mantra’s shaking eyes steadied.

[Mortal. Become my servant.]

Mantra spoke as if pronouncing a verdict as if a god was giving a decree.

[You have a power derived from filthy things, but it's usable. Become my servant and have the honor of dedicating your soul to me.]

“Do you think I would accept that?”

[Then there is only death.]

Mantra’s calm gaze turned towards Taesan.

Sharp blades pierced Taesan’s entire body.

It was hard to move even a fingertip, and the sensation of death crept up to the back of his head.

[Instant Death Judgment in progress...] [Judgment failed! Death descends upon you.]

Mantra spoke calmly.

[Die, mortal.]

Death descended upon Taesan.

Taesan looked on emotionlessly.

The opponent was a god.

He knew long ago that it was an entity beyond resistance.

But at the same time, he knew he would never die.

[That's enough.]

An interference occurred.

The absolute death targeting Taesan dissipated.

The space split, revealing the presence of a colossal entity in the artificial world.

[Instant Death Judgment has been lifted.]

The impending death disappeared. Taesan brushed off his clothes.

“It’s later than I thought.”

[I was aiming for a dramatic timing.]

Mantra showed panic for the first time.

[You!] [For a god to directly interfere with a mortal is quite shameful, Mantra.]

Lakiratas, who appeared on the battlefield, chuckled.