Ascension Through Skills

Chapter 390: The Sixth Return, Earth (7)

A god descended upon the earth.

The players from the Three Kingdoms, who had already experienced such events, weren’t as shocked. They kneeled and showed their reverence to the god.

However, players from Russia and India couldn’t accept it so easily.

"Oh, oh..."

"God..."

They gazed at Maria in astonishment. The towering woman exuded an aura as if she were from another dimension.

With reverence and fear, they trembled and lowered their heads.

Maria spoke lazily to them.

[Do not worry. I did not come here to harm you. Rather, I have come down to protect you.]

Maria’s power surrounded the people. The death-inducing gaze that could kill just by looking at them was blocked by Maria’s power and disappeared.

"Thank you."

Taesan quietly expressed his gratitude. While the death gaze had no effect on Taesan, it was dangerous for the other players. It had been quite a headache, but thanks to Maria, the problem was resolved.

[They've really made up their minds. They’ve already sent that thing down.]

"Do you know what that is?"

[Of course I do.]

Maria cast a glance at the formless entity and spoke.

[It’s hard for Goshin to directly intervene in the world. So, they sent an apostle to destroy the world in their place. That creature is one of Goshin’s apostles.]

"Apostle..."

Lee Taeyeon murmured as she listened to the conversation. Maria's voice could only be heard by Taesan and Lee Taeyeon.

Maria continued.

[Especially that one, it’s an apostle that has survived for a long time. While its power is not that great compared to other apostles of Goshin, its abilities are quite tricky to deal with, which is why we’ve had trouble with it. It’s always been a thorn in our side.]

Maria looked at the apostle with a scornful gaze but then smiled softly.

[But that thorn will end today. Like the others, I do not plan to intervene in the battle.]

Maria quietly stepped back and spoke to Taesan with an expectant voice.

[Now then. Show me. Your power.]

"I will."

Taesan took a step forward. The people held their breath, watching him.

**Rumble.**

The apostle silently watched as Taesan approached. He turned off the system prompt that would notify of the death-inducing attack.

"I knew this day would come eventually, but I didn’t expect it to come so soon."

The monster that had killed Lee Taeyeon and pushed him to his own death.

It had played a decisive role in the world’s destruction.

Taesan bared his teeth. The ghost by his side was slightly startled. She had been with him for a long time, but this was the first time she had seen him show such intense emotion.

"I don’t know if you remember me... but it doesn’t matter. This is my revenge."

Taesan turned back time.

In a way, his anger and emotions could be seen as misguided. After all, it hadn’t happened in this world.@@@@

But it didn’t matter. This was his revenge. Taesan gathered his strength.

The opponent was the monster that had defeated him. He wouldn’t let his guard down. From the very beginning, he would fight with everything.

[The opponent is a difficult enemy to defeat.]

[You will face the creature that defeated you and fight with your life again. You have gained the special, continuously activated skill [Avenger].]

[Your Avenger skill has activated.]

[Your Destroyer of Doomsday skill has activated.]

[Your Demi-God’s Blessing has activated.]

[You have activated the Immortal Opponent skill.]

---

The skill activation prompts flashed one after another. In an instant, Taesan’s body and strength surged to a level far beyond what it had been before.

[You have activated the Avatar of Nature.]

[You have activated the King’s Vessel.]

[You have activated the Apostle Transformation (Darkened Chaos).]

His strength and body amplified again.

He realized that he was just one step away from the level of an immortal.

"Then... let’s do this."

Taesan stomped the ground. The monster responded by shaking its massive body.

The clash of their powers caused the ground and sky to tremble, and the world itself began to break apart.

---

### *Aftermath of the Clash*

"Ooohhh..."

"Lord Taesan..."

People were in awe as they prayed.

Everything was being destroyed.

The sky split open, mountains vanished, and the earth cracked, creating massive craters.

It felt as though Taesan could really destroy the world itself with his power.

The apostle tried to shift its form to counter Taesan’s attack, but Taesan’s sword was already close. The apostle tried to use its staff in desperation, but Taesan’s sword cut through it cleanly.

[!#$!# takes !@!! damage.]

**Thud.**

A painful shockwave rippled through the air.

In an instant, the apostle’s body began to grow large. It started to gather energy as though it was about to explode.

Finally, the energy erupted

, sweeping everything around it, but Taesan had already moved out of the blast radius.

[You have activated the Marked Exclusion skill.]

Taesan moved out of the explosion’s range as if he knew exactly where it would spread. And indeed, he did.

"Sorry, but this is the third time."

Once in his previous life.

And once during the Trial of the God of Despair.

Taesan had fought the apostle multiple times already. The memories and experiences of those battles were fresh in his mind.

He knew exactly what powers the apostle used and what tactics it would employ.

**Thud.**

The apostle changed shape again. It became something grotesque, its mere gaze warping reality. All kinds of mental attacks were thrown at Taesan.

"Doesn’t work."

Taesan shrugged off the attacks and charged at the apostle again.

[You have activated Gaph’s Sturdy Boulder.]

The sky opened, and the massive boulder fell toward the apostle like a meteor.

The apostle transformed again, this time into a woman holding a giant bow. She drew the bowstring tightly and shot an arrow at the boulder.

**Thud!**

The boulder shattered as the arrow pierced through it.

Amidst the breaking debris, Taesan rushed forward.

The apostle pulled back the bowstring again and fired another arrow at Taesan.

Taesan used his legs to propel himself forward, charging straight at the arrow.

[You have activated Forced Exclusion.]

**Screech!**

The mana exclusion force pushed the arrow away. The arrow struggled, but it was quickly deflected.

Taesan reached the apostle and swung his sword. Now, he no longer needed to rely on essence strikes. But that didn’t matter. Now, he could land a blow.

**Crack.**

[!#$!# takes %@#! damage.]

The apostle staggered.

Taesan bared his teeth.

It was certain.

Now, he was strong enough to defeat the apostle. He could take down the creature that had defeated him in his previous life.

Now, he was strong enough.

Taesan gripped his sword tightly and aimed for the apostle’s opening.

At that moment...

The apostle transformed again. This wasn’t unusual, as it had been changing constantly.

But Taesan had to stop.

This transformation was different.

The apostle now had blue skin, a disquietingly serene smile, and four arms.

It was an appearance that couldn’t be called human. It was a change that Taesan had never seen before.

And that wasn’t all.

This new form radiated an entirely different level of power.

"Ah..."

The faces of the Indian players turned pale. They knelt, overwhelmed by despair.

"Ts."

Taesan clicked his tongue.

"Yeah. It couldn’t just be that simple."

Maria had said this apostle had destroyed many worlds and had been a thorn in their side for a long time.

But Taesan had not yet reached the level of an immortal. While he could temporarily reach that power, he had not used it yet.

Even Taesan, who was still not immortal, couldn’t fail to notice that this creature, which had destroyed multiple worlds and survived the gaze of gods, was a force that could still outclass him.

"In my past life, I didn’t use the Immortal’s power because I could defeat you with just a mortal’s strength."

Even in his previous life, Taesan had been strong, but he hadn’t touched the power of an immortal. There was no reason to use it.

The Trial of the Fallen God was based on his memories, so he hadn’t seen this transformation of the apostle.

The apostle could change into the form of someone it had killed.

And the apostle was a being that destroyed worlds.

There were immortals among the guardians of worlds.

The apostle had now transformed into the form of an immortal it had killed during the destruction of the world.

[The opponent is an impossible enemy to defeat.]