Ascension Through Skills

Chapter 425: 83rd Floor, Essence of the God of Fall (7)

The Apostle hesitated for a moment.

Taesan’s face showed confidence.

Confidence that he could obtain the power of the God of Fall that the Apostle had demonstrated.

With a voice devoid of doubt, the Apostle, too, briefly thought that Taesan’s words had credibility.

“Bullshit!”

But the Apostle quickly denied his own thoughts.

It was impossible. Taesan's power could never reach him.

He clenched his fists with confidence and charged forward.

Taesan met him with equal resolve.

Crack!

The battle's course didn’t change. Taesan still overwhelmed the Apostle.

But the outcome didn’t change either.

The Apostle did not fall.

Instead, he began to respond more effectively to Taesan's power.

“Wait...”

“This is...”

Only then did the onlookers realize something was wrong.

The power that Taesan had displayed was clearly superior to theirs.

Even compared to the princess who had opened the Colosseum just days ago, he had reached a far higher level.

And the Apostle was an opponent on the same level as the princess.

There was no way he could block Taesan’s attacks.

But the Apostle, though precarious, continued the battle without major damage.

It was as though it had been designed that way from the start.

“Ah...”

“This is...”

In that moment, despair spread throughout the audience. They, too, had realized the truth of the Colosseum.

“Tch. No need to pretend anymore.”

“They probably tried to hide it on purpose, but too bad.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

The Apostle sneered.

“It may be a little early, but he’ll be satisfied. Those who believed there was an escape route will now realize the truth and fall off the cliff. This is exactly the kind of picture that Essence loves.”

The Apostle let out a mad laugh.

“Above all! You can’t give up! Even if there’s nothing at the end of the rope, you cannot let go of the only hope!”

The Apostle slammed his fist down.

“Come! Feel your own helplessness!”

Taesan casually drew his sword.

The battle continued. Taesan unleashed a great deal of power, and the Apostle responded to all of it.

Confidence appeared on the Apostle’s face, and joy spread across Taesan's.

No matter how many attacks he made, the opponent wouldn’t fall.

It was a perfect opponent to increase his proficiency.

Taesan used numerous skills to level up his proficiency.

Even if their power was roughly on the same level, the difference in strength was immense, so Taesan couldn’t increase his proficiency by much.

But it was enough to satisfy him. Taesan had meaningfully increased his proficiency in magic, black magic, and various other skills.

And during that process, he kept analyzing the Apostle’s power.

Once Taesan had a rough understanding, he sheathed his sword.

“That's it. I concede.”

“...What?”

Boom!

As the participant acknowledged defeat, the Colosseum came to an end. When Taesan suddenly gave up, the Apostle was taken aback.

“You’re giving up like this?”

“I’ve figured out everything I needed to.”

Taesan nonchalantly moved his body.

In the midst of confusion and chaos, Taesan disappeared without a word.

The Apostle stood there, dumbfounded.

***

Taesan used his remaining points to secure a decent room.

He hadn’t expected to win from the very first battle.

What he wanted was information and strategies. He had obtained plenty of what he desired. His proficiency had also significantly increased, so after recovering, he could try again.

'It's a shame I didn't gain any new skills.'

None of the skills he remembered met the required conditions. A few new skills came to mind, but the risks involved were significant. Since he hadn’t fully grasped the Apostle's power, there was no need to take any unnecessary risks.

Taesan organized his thoughts.

The Apostle was an unbeatable boss.

No matter how much health was drained, it would just refill. The Apostle gained new power in response to Taesan’s skills.

“And it even responds to the boundaries.”

This was the first time Taesan was directly intervening with the boundaries.

But he wasn’t particularly surprised.

The boundaries were powerful, but they weren’t omnipotent. He knew that transcendents and immortals could break through them. There was no reason to be surprised now.

On the contrary, the fact that he could obtain powers capable of interfering with the boundaries was exciting.

Knock. Knock.

The sound of knocking echoed. It was Princess Diana. She entered.

“Taesan, are you okay?”

“Why do you ask?”

Diana, who had entered, was flustered.

She had thought Taesan might be mentally shaken.@@@@

But Taesan’s face showed no sign of change.

“It’s nothing. I doubt you’ll need my advice.”

What he desired was control over mana.

[You activated Frozen World [Negation].]

An icy cold, as dark as midnight, swept through. The Apostle’s face froze momentarily.

“Ugh!”

The Apostle clenched his fist and swung it.

Boom!

Until now, the Apostle had continuously gained power that surpassed his opponent's strength.

But this time, it didn’t work.

The magic of Negation was a fusion of black and magic. It fundamentally had the upper hand in all interactions with the forces of this world.

In the end, the Apostle was engulfed by the pitch-black cold.

Crackle!

“...What is this?”

The Apostle, whose entire body was frozen, grimaced.

“You’re using a rather unusual power. But it doesn’t matter.”

After breaking free from the ice, the Apostle spoke with confidence.

“With this, you can’t kill me.”

“I know that.”

The power of Negation had absolute dominance in the laws of interaction. It couldn’t completely disregard the laws.

However, the Apostle couldn’t fall, but he couldn’t counter it either.

That was enough.

Negation magic was a spell that fused with the high divine powers.

It couldn’t be considered a force within the law.

Taesan’s sword mixed black and gold, then a grayish ash appeared.

Taesan swung the boundary line.

“Hahaha! Foolish!”

The Apostle mocked Taesan.

“God! Grant me your power! Drop everything that dares to oppose you into the abyss!”

The Apostle’s power struck Taesan. At the same time, Taesan activated a skill.

[You activated Choice Exclusion.]

The ability that erases the opponent’s choices, Maria's power.

But nothing happened. Taesan clicked his tongue.

“Is it not an attack, or does it not work on powers?”

Whatever it was, the power of the God of Fall engulfed Taesan.

It interfered with him, nullifying all the forces he controlled and making them meaningless.

The boundary line was included in that.

In an instant, the boundary lost its power. The blackness and divinity began to separate.

At this rate, Taesan couldn’t defeat the Apostle.

Taesan knew that fact as well.

From here on, it would be the real fight.

[You activated Frozen World [Negation].]

[You activated Mana Storm [Negation].]

[You activated the Everlasting Firebird [Negation].]

He consecutively activated the powers of Negation.

As all of them manifested along with the boundary, they began to fall. The power was erased meaninglessly.

The power of the God of Fall still surrounded Taesan. It was impossible to break free.

Yet Taesan didn’t stop.

Instead, he gathered even more mana and poured out his strength. The black and divinity mixed again to create a new boundary.

Endlessly, powers capable of collapsing the world began to emerge.

“...You?”

The Apostle’s face hardened. He realized something was wrong.

[You activated Great Collapse [Negation].]

A distorted sphere manifested in the world.

The power of the God of Fall swallowed the Great Collapse and sent it crashing down.

Crackle.

But something was different.

Through the gaps in the power that surrounded Taesan, strength slowly began to leak out.

It was as if the limits of the power had been surpassed.

“...You!”

Only then did the Apostle realize what Taesan was aiming for.

“How dare you! Are you trying to confront the power of the great one directly? Don’t make me laugh! He is a transcendent! Someone like you could never touch him!”

Transcendents rule concepts themselves.

They possess an appropriate realm for their divinity, and within it, they exert near-absolute influence.

The God of Fall was a transcendent who ruled the concept of fall.

Essence’s power over fall was the very law of the world itself, like how an apple falls to the ground or how air moves from high to low pressure areas.

To break such a power, the opponent had to have a concept and intervene in the laws as well.

In fact, it was impossible to respond unless you were also a transcendent.

But now, Taesan was trying to break Essence’s power with his strength.

“That’s not for you to decide. It’s for me to decide.”

This wasn’t enough.

What he was trying to do now was deny the very laws of the world with his power.

Even though he used both the boundary line and the magic of Negation, he still wasn’t at the level to break the power of the God of Fall.

So, one more thing.

He needed a power that could surpass immortality, a power that could reach a transcendent.

Taesan opened his demonic powers. But it wasn’t the black magic of another demon.

It was Taesan’s own black magic.

[You activated Kang Taesan’s Domain Liberation.]