Ascension Through Skills

[You have activated Hardness.]

The howl struck Taesan. His body shook violently.

[You received 45 damage.]

“Ha.”

Just its howl caused physical damage.

Taesan clicked his tongue and raised his head.

The monster that filled the room had no proper form. It was just ashen energy, swirling and flickering.

[This, this is crazy.]

The ghost was astonished, and at the same time, a spear that signified the enemy appeared.

[The Fallen Apostle has appeared.]

The monster continued to howl.

It seemed to have no intention of attacking for now, so Taesan quickly drank a healing potion.

“What is that thing?”

A terrible power emanated from the howling monster.

However, despite the overwhelming force that dominated the space, no specific rank was felt.

[...Apostle. Only those of a higher rank could do this. But this, this is…]

“It was called Soul Descent, right?”

It caused a descent in the soul’s rank. Just hearing the name, it didn’t sound like a normal skill.

The ghost swallowed and said,

[I told you, an Apostle offers their soul to God and ascends to a higher realm. You've met them, so you should know.]

“I’m well aware.”

Attacks from those not at the rank of an Apostle barely affected them.

A realm slightly beyond the wall of mortals. That was an Apostle.

[That one has forcibly brought down its own rank. It dragged a soul that had ascended to a great position down to the rank of mortals. And then converted that dragged-down rank into force.]

[Oh! Oh! Oh!]

The monster incessantly howled.

[But this is…]

“Is it dying?”

[It's worse than that. The soul itself is breaking. As long as the soul is intact, one can remain as a spiritual being like me or resurrect like Malesten, borrowing a body by Pavsha's will. But that one… it's just the end.]

Such a thing was being used to kill Taesan.

[The opponent is an unbeatable enemy.]

A new judgment appeared.

The current fallen state was stronger than when it had an intact apostle rank.

Taesan scoffed.

“They really do all sorts of things.”

[Ohhh…]

The howling started to subside.

The monster, made of an ashen color, flicked its hand. The only passage out was crushed and blocked.

There was no escape.

Taesan gripped his sword tighter.

“How long does it last?”

[I don't know either. I've never seen it before. Since it's a collapsing process, it probably won't last long…]

The situation was the worst.

Taesan couldn’t activate his Apostle transformation due to cooldown.

He had recovered his health and mana with potions, but his magical energy was completely exhausted. The shield was the same.

Facing an unbeatable enemy in such a state was no different from suicide, but Taesan laughed. It had been a very long time since he was pushed to the edge like this.

His agitation rose.

Taesan kicked off the ground and rushed toward the Apostle.

He didn’t plan to wait quietly until the enemy attacked. Taesan charged at the monster.

The monster moved its head slightly and swung its gigantic claw.

Taesan extended his sword.

[You have activated Flow.]

Flow was a skill that redirected everything he touched with his sword. The moment his sword touched the claw, the trajectory of the claw twisted.

[Woohoo!]

The monster howled.

The trajectory, which was about to twist, was forcibly corrected by an overwhelming force.

Taesan quickly twisted his arm.

Kuwoong!

The claw struck the wall. Taesan, who narrowly escaped, shook his arm.

[You received 1130 damage.]

It wasn’t a direct hit, just a graze, and yet such damage.

“Even Distract is trampled by force.”

It wasn’t impossible. Flow was a skill that twisted trajectories.

In other words, if you could correct a twisted trajectory with force, it meant that an attack was possible.

But until now, there was no one with overwhelming stats enough to do that.

[Woohoo!]

The monster howled and swung its claws. Taesan moved.

[You have activated Mental Acceleration.]

The claw barely missed Taesan’s body.

But he hadn’t successfully evaded it.

[You received 123 damage.]

Even the aftermath of the attack was causing damage.

‘This won’t do.’

He couldn’t wait for the collapse that might happen at any moment. There was a high chance that Taesan would die before that.

Taesan decided. He would try to attack.

Taesan dashed.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

The monster met Taesan with its claw. The claw, filling the entire room, rushed at Taesan with a rough sound.

Kwajik.

Taesan stamped on the ground.

He leaped into the air, evading the claw.

[Woohoo!]

The monster pulled back its arm. A claw flew from behind Taesan.

Taesan stamped in the air again.

[You have activated Mid-Air Leap.]

His body in the air dodged the claw.

The monster raised its head. The ashen energy became a blade and rushed at Taesan.

[You have activated Landing.]

Taesan’s body forcibly landed on the ground. The ashen blade hits the wall.

But there was still a considerable distance to the monster.

‘Is this as far as I can go.’

Eventually, Taesan retreated.

[Woohoo!]

The monster swung its claws again.

Just as the claws were about to reach, Taesan activated a skill.

[You have activated Random Blink.]

Taesan’s body moved back to the position before he retreated.

After getting as close as possible, he marked the spot. Then he distanced himself, waited for the monster’s attack, and activated Blink.

The plan was successful.

Taesan thrust his sword into the opened body of the monster.

[102 damage to the Fallen Apostle.]

Taesan’s eyes clouded.

Even though his Apostle transformation had ended, the monster, too, had lost its Apostle rank due to Soul Descent. It could no longer block Taesan’s damage.

But even after using skills like Aura, Addition, Acceleration, and Strong Blow, the damage was still only this level.

It meant the monster’s defense was unbelievably high.

[Woohoo!]

The monster moved violently. Just that was a disaster for Taesan, who was close.

He swung his sword wildly to distance himself, but he couldn’t completely avoid the swung claws.

Kuuuung!

“Keuk!”

Taesan, struck by the claw, hit the wall of the labyrinth.

[You received 3012 damage.]

[What is this…]

The ghost was astonished. Taesan gritted his teeth, regained his posture, and dodged the following attack.

The monster was attacking relentlessly, leaving no room for using potions.

Taesan focused his mind.

He avoided attacks as much as possible and looked for an opportunity to counter.

But the situation was desperate.

Even avoiding attacks, the aftermath still accumulated damage, and even if he managed to attack, he couldn’t inflict significant damage on the monster.

The ghost watched anxiously.

‘This…’

No matter how much he thought of a way, there was no clear solution. The monster was slowly collapsing, but compared to Taesan’s rate of exhaustion, it was painfully slow.

The ghost started looking for a way to at least save Taesan’s soul.

But Taesan had not given up.

He had faced desperate situations dozens of times before.

Even before clearing the labyrinth, he had faced a Grade B alone.

Even in situations where everyone said victory was impossible, he won.

Even when facing two S-grades at the end, it was a situation that seemed impossible for him to win, but he did not give up and won once again.

He had overcome all kinds of despair and irrationality to get here.

If he were to give up in such a situation, he would never have made it this far.

‘I need to be calm, especially now.’

From his experience, Taesan knew. Panicking in such a situation meant the end.

Taesan calmed his heart. He settled his wavering mind and focused on one thing at a time.

He began to focus.

First, he gathered information about the opponent.

‘Swordsmanship doesn’t work.’

He was facing an opponent who crushed even Flow with force. Counterattacks or consecutive attacks were obviously ineffective.

‘There’s no attack nullification.’

But there was endurance. He could withstand a single attack.

‘The damage is… modest, but not bad.’

It was a good sign.

If the damage struck, it meant he could kill it. Just as he did in his past life against an S-grade.

He organized his thoughts one by one, creating a path to victory.

‘So first.’

What should he do first?

He didn’t ponder for long. Taesan twisted his body to dodge the swung claw.

Kuuung!

[You received 105 damage.]

Even though he dodged perfectly, he still received damage from the aftermath.

‘Perfect evasion.’

He didn’t know how much health the Apostle had, but it wasn’t an enemy he could defeat quickly. To win a long battle, he first had to avoid taking damage.

[Woohoo!]

The monster’s arm lifted.

Taesan focused his mind.

He observed the trajectory of the claw. He read the direction in which it was swung and understood the range of the aftermath it would cause.

Taesan stamped his foot.

Kwaang

The claw pressed down to the ground. The aftermath reached Taesan.

[You received 88 damage.]

The damage was slightly reduced.

Taesan was not satisfied.

To win, he needed to achieve perfect evasion.

He focused even more. Observing the monster’s movements and the direction of its power.

Seeing the arm swung as if to sweep the ground, he stamped his foot.

[You have activated Mid-Air Leap.]

He soared to the ceiling. And immediately activated Landing to land on the ground.

Kuuung!

The claw struck the ceiling. Brick dust fell down.

[You received 54 damage.]

[??? proficiency has increased by 1%.]

[Hmm?]

The ghost realized it. The damage being inflicted was gradually decreasing.

While the ghost was realizing this, Taesan was still fully concentrating.

He observed the fluctuating movements of power.

He figured out the trajectory of the swung claw.

And read the range of the bursting aftermath.

Kwaang!

[You received 28 damage.]

[??? proficiency has increased by 1%.]

Information like increased proficiency or reduced damage wasn’t entering Taesan’s mind at the moment.

He just concentrated on dodging the attacks.

Kuuuung!

[You received 9 damage.]

[??? proficiency has increased by 1%.]

The damage had been reduced to single digits. The ghost couldn’t hold back and exclaimed.

[Good!]

Although it was a loud voice, Taesan didn’t hear it.

He was concentrating so much that he didn’t even notice the increase in proficiency.

But he instinctively realized it.

He could see the monster’s movements more clearly.

No, more precisely, he was feeling something before the movement.

He could sense the monster’s intention.

[Woohoo!]

The monster howled.

Before the monster’s arm could properly move, Taesan had already stamped his foot.

Kuuung!

The arm slashed in a completely different direction from Taesan. This time, he perfectly dodged even the aftermath, receiving no damage.

‘Good.’

Taesan smiled slightly.

The first condition was cleared.

Now, it was time to meet the next condition.

Taesan gradually shortened the interval of his evasions. Finally, after adjusting his movements, he perfectly dodged even the aftermath by a hair’s breadth.

After dodging the attack, Taesan thrust his sword into the monster’s arm.

[86 damage to the Fallen Apostle.]

[Woohoo!]

The monster swung its arm. Taesan, who had already foreseen the attack, was out of its range.

Kuuung!

Taesan continued to repeat evasion and attack.

A tightrope fight where a single misstep, a slight error in judgment, could cost his life.

Taesan was familiar with it. His fights had always been like this, so he moved with concentration as always.

Whether due to the accumulated damage or the passage of time, contrary to the ghost’s expectation, the monster’s collapse accelerated before Taesan fell.

And Taesan saw it.

The flickering pitch-black energy in the monster’s head.

And he felt it. This energy was suppressing the monster’s collapse.

He found the answer to win.

But there was a problem. How to approach the monster.

Sensing the crisis, the monster swung its body more violently and powerfully. It seemed impossible to approach, let alone dodge its attacks and get close.

Taesan caught his breath.

Gathering the remaining strength in his body, he made a decision.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

The monster swung its arm violently. The speed was twice as fast as before. It whipped through the room like a lash.

And Taesan dodged it all.

He twisted his arm, ducked his body, and stamped on the ground.

[Woohoo!]

The monster brought both claws together and stabbed.

The speed was unavoidable.

And there was no need to avoid it.

He had left a mark on the spot where he attacked the monster earlier.

[You have activated Random Blink.]

Taesan’s body moved right in front of the monster’s nose.

Taesan raised his sword, and the monster didn’t just watch.

[Woohoo!]

Hundreds of ashen blades sprung from the monster’s body, all aiming at Taesan.

And Taesan dodged them all.

He didn’t allow even a scratch, as if he had foreseen the future.

The ghost swallowed hard, and Taesan thrust his sword into the monster’s core.

[Ooooh!]

The monster’s entire body shook. For a moment, its body contorted, and the ashen energy began to disperse uneasily.

But the monster didn’t disappear easily.

It stabbed Taesan with both of its claws.

Taesan didn’t dodge.

[You received 8975 damage.]

[Your Endurance has activated. A fatal attack has been nullified. For 1 second, all damage is reduced to 0.]

Taesan exerted strength in his legs.

The monster’s core engulfed Taesan’s sword.

[Oh, ooh…]

The monster hesitated. Eventually, the ashen energy exploded, scattering in all directions.

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

[You have won against an unbeatable enemy. Your health permanently increases by 1000, mana by 300, strength by 120, agility by 100, and intelligence by 90.]

[Your Soul Ascension has activated. Your health permanently increases by 1200, mana by 200, strength by 140, agility by 130, and intelligence by 74.]

[Your Soul Ascension has activated. ??? proficiency has increased by 6%. Sacred Power proficiency has increased by 5%. The rank of Apostle Transformation [Lakiratas] increases by one level.]

[Your Soul Ascension has activated. You have acquired the special activation skill [Soul Descent].]

[The special activation skill [Soul Descent] transforms due to Soul Ascension. You have learned the special activation skill [Soul Conversion].]

[You have obtained the Source of Apostle.]