Ascension Through Skills

Chapter 380: The 78th Floor, The Library of All Things (5)

Despite a sense of unease, Taesan had no reason to refuse Ainzhar’s invitation. He followed the paladin deeper into the library.

“It’s all thanks to you that I found Lady Levienoff,” Ainzhar murmured, almost humming as they moved. Without Taesan’s hint, Ainzhar would likely still be searching aimlessly for his beloved goddess.

“Since it was you who helped me reach her, it’s only fitting you’re given the honor of seeing her.”

“I appreciate it,” Taesan replied, watching Ainzhar with a careful gaze.

The holy knight’s demeanor was markedly different from before. Something felt off.@@@@

“This way,” Ainzhar gestured, leading Taesan toward the library’s edge.

**[Well, old man, congratulations. You finally found her? Took you long enough—you’ve been in this labyrinth longer than I have.]**

The Wraith’s teasing tone made Ainzhar pause, as though only just noticing the Wraith’s presence.

“Ah, hero! You’re here too!” Ainzhar’s eyes gleamed. “All of this is thanks to Taesan! Because of him, my hope has been fulfilled.”

He laughed as he rearranged several books on a shelf. Moments later, the shelf shifted, revealing a hidden passage.

“Come in. Lady Levienoff awaits within,” he said, stepping into the darkened corridor. Taesan followed.

While the library itself was brightly lit, the passage was dim and shadowed as if sealed off from the outside world. With each step further inside, a strange, warped energy grew stronger.

**[...Wait a moment.]**

The Wraith’s voice wavered as he sensed the same unease. Taesan’s expression hardened.

‘This energy...’

He couldn’t quite identify it, though he felt it was something familiar. This chaotic, twisted force was not the organized energy of a transcendent being but rather something mangled, almost tainted.

It felt disturbingly similar to his own boundary power, yet it was different.

‘A corrupted boundary?’

Taesan steeled himself and continued through the passage. Ainzhar smiled, opening a heavy door.

“Behold! Lady Levienoff!”

Beyond the doorway lay the goddess Levienoff, hovering serenely in a vast, empty chamber.

Her face radiated a gentle beauty, her presence soothing to behold, filling the viewer with peace.

But the aura emanating from her was twisted.

From her heart spilled a tainted, decaying energy—something vile and rotten that had no place in this world.

**[Ugh.]**

The Wraith instinctively clamped a hand over his mouth. Though he was no longer alive, an impulse to retch overwhelmed him. Such was the malevolent energy that flowed from the goddess.

**[What... is this?]**

Taesan’s body tensed, reacting to the sight before him. It felt like gazing upon a masterpiece defiled in the most grotesque way.

While Levienoff’s form was still beautiful, there was a profound wrongness to it—something that no longer belonged in the realm of gods.

“Kneel! Show reverence to the goddess!” Ainzhar cried, stretching his arms wide, his hollow gaze fixed upon her.

“My goddess, Lady Levienoff!”

**[You have discovered the goddess Levienoff, tainted and corrupted by an elder god.]**

---

**[Old man...]** the Wraith’s voice trembled as he addressed Ainzhar.

**[What happened here?]**

Levienoff’s condition was unmistakably unnatural.

Ainzhar, however, seemed unfazed.

“What do you mean?” he asked, his voice calm.

**[What else could I mean? Look at the goddess! What happened to her?]**

“Ah, you mean that.” Ainzhar smiled thinly. “The goddess is simply... unwell at the moment. There’s no need to worry. In time, she will recover and return to her former self.”

**[...Return? To her original state?]**

“Of course,” Ainzhar said with conviction, though his tone felt more like he was reassuring himself than addressing the Wraith.

**[If you say so...]** the Wraith muttered, trailing off. As Levienoff’s follower, Ainzhar would know her condition better than anyone, so the Wraith held back further comment.

But he couldn’t shake the unease in his heart.

Could such a corrupted state truly be healed?

“She seems to be tired,” Ainzhar murmured, leading Taesan out of the chamber with a regretful expression.

The power of the elder gods had tainted Levienoff’s domain, corrupting it. For a god, their domain was everything.

Even other gods couldn’t interfere with such a corruption.

**[The God of Knowledge has safeguarded Levienoff within this library, but even he cannot cure her.]**

Valvavamba’s voice was laced with frustration.

**[To be blunt, I would rather remove Levienoff from this place immediately. She’s far too unstable.]**

As if to emphasize his point, a violent wave of power erupted.

The sickeningly twisted energy—half divine, half elder god—pulsed through the air.

**[Again...]**

Taesan leaped towards the source, arriving at the secret chamber where Levienoff lay.

Ainzhar was desperately channeling his energy, his face etched with worry.

“Oh, my goddess... please!”

Levienoff’s once-peaceful face contorted, her eyes wide open, streaming black tears.

From her chest

gushed a dark aura, one that seemed to corrupt everything it touched.

**[Aaaaaaah!]**

A shrill, tormented scream echoed. Ainzhar flinched at the sound, his expression pained.

Shadows spilled from the wounds in Levienoff’s body, spreading an aura of contamination over everything they touched.

Taesan manifested his divine power, countering the dark energy with purifying light.

**[What a disaster.]**

Valvavamba released a powerful force, attempting to contain Levienoff’s energy within the labyrinth itself.

*Rumble!*

It seemed to work. After a tense moment, Levienoff’s eyes closed once more.

**[Ainzhar. Is this really the conclusion you desired?]**

“....”

Ainzhar knelt on the floor, his eyes fixed blankly upon his goddess.

**[Though I intervened this time, I have no intention of continuing to interfere. In the future, Jorge will handle any issues. But as her only true devotee, would it not be better to grant her peace rather than prolong her suffering?]**

---

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this,” Ainzhar said, looking weary as he apologized to Taesan.

“It’s nothing,” Taesan replied calmly. Then he asked, “You knew, didn’t you?”

“...How could I not?”

Ainzhar’s face twisted in anguish.

He was a powerful warrior, far stronger than Taesan, perhaps even ranking among the upper echelons of the immortals. Someone of his caliber couldn’t fail to notice what Taesan had observed.

But he had chosen to avert his gaze, clinging to denial.

“Lady Levienoff suffers. I wish I could do something to help her, but I’m utterly powerless.”

His face was etched with helplessness.

“She sacrificed herself to save me, and yet, I can do nothing for her. She endures this torment on her own... but I have no way to ease her suffering.”

Though Levienoff still resisted the elder god’s influence, her tears and screams made it clear—she was fighting back, even if only barely.

However, as Ainzhar said, there was nothing he could do. The issue was beyond any mortal or immortal means—a hopeless struggle.

“Perhaps Valvavamba is right...” Ainzhar muttered, clenching his fists so tightly that his nails drew blood.

Taesan contemplated for a moment.

The goddess was resisting the elder god’s corruption, though just barely.

And Taesan did know of a power somewhat similar to her corrupted state.

“Let me ask you something,” he began carefully.

“Hm?”

“In the unlikely event... that there is a way to cleanse her of that corruption...”

Ainzhar’s eyes widened, a spark of hope igniting within them. Taesan’s voice remained steady.

“What would you do?”