Ascension Through Skills

Having jumped off the ground, his body was now in free fall.

The monsters on the ground were reaching up toward him like zombies.

Taesan didn’t stop them.

Attack Nullification was applied to each individual target.

In other words, he could block any one target twice without fail.

Numerous attacks were launched at Taesan as he landed on the ground, all of which were wiped out.

[Your First Attack Absolute Nullification has been activated.] [Your First Attack Absolute Nullification has been activated.] [Your Second Attack Absolute Nullification has been activated.] [Your First Attack Absolute Nullification has been activated.] [Your Second Attack Absolute Nullification has been activated.]

Nullified, nullified, nullified, nullified, nullified…

Numerous system windows. If he hadn’t changed the preset for them, they would have covered his entire field of vision.

Taesan, having landed on the ground, moved his sword.

The first sword of the Storm Scar, Wolf’s Fang.

Crack.

Using the elasticity of his whole body, he swung in all directions. He shattered the attempts to block him with sheer force and twisted the trajectories of those trying to dodge him, stabbing them in the neck with his sword striking like a snake.

He deflected his opponents’ attacks, scattering their combos and making them attack each other.

“Cawww!”

“Gak.”

In an instant, all the surrounding monsters disappeared.

The monsters were stronger than average but decidedly weaker than him. It would have been a real nightmare if they were as powerful as their numbers, which were in the hundreds.

And this was when the Mark of Struggle shone.

[Your Mark of Struggle has been activated.]

A skill obtained by overcoming the enhanced trial of Lakiratas. During the course of a battle, every time an enemy was defeated, health, mana, stats, speed, everything improved.

Against such a multitude of enemies, it was a virtually peerless skill.

But this was a trial by the gods, a trial personally enhanced by Maria, who was presumed to be on par with Lakiratas.

It wouldn’t be easy enough to manage with just the Mark of Struggle.

Pit.

[You received 12 damage.]

A long scar appeared on Taesan’s arm. Taesan frowned.

“What the?”

Suddenly, a wound appeared. The damage taken indicated that it was more than a scrape from a piece of stone.

As there were so many, he couldn’t block all the attacks, so Taesan continued to fight nonchalantly.

Pat.

[You received 14 damage.]

But another scar appeared.

This time there was no mistaking it. The wound had appeared from the direction he had been subduing the monster. There were also no signs of magic manifestation.

‘Invisible monster.’

Taesan frowned.

‘I don’t feel anything?’

He could even feel the insects in the grass, thanks to his enhanced senses. Even if it was a stealth monster, he should feel its general location, but he felt absolutely nothing.

Meanwhile, another wound had appeared.

[You received 13 damage.]

As the damage window appeared, Taesan swung his sword. It slashed through everything like a storm, but he didn’t feel like he was hitting anything.

‘It’s not just invisibility.’

Whether it was removing its presence from this location or teleporting, it wasn’t an easy enemy to catch.

Taesan quickly made a decision.

‘I won’t target it.’

He focused on the monsters attacking him. He repelled them, knocked them down, and while more wounds appeared, he didn’t even pay attention this time.

The damage from each hit wasn’t significant. It was a level that could be recovered with the Mark of Struggle.

There was no reason to be obsessed then.

Since he didn’t know the method of the enemy’s attack, he didn’t know how to counter it.

Rather than obsessing over such a situation and potentially taking a big hit, it was a better decision to ignore it altogether.

A monster with the form of a fascinating woman laughed.

[Succubus's Charm has been activated.] [No judgment necessary!]

Kwajik.

Taesan crushed her head just like that.

‘So there are succubi, too?’

Taesan frowned as he scrutinized each one.

There were more monsters he had never seen before than those he knew.

Literally, there were monsters of every kind.

‘I think I understand.’

In the worst situation you least wanted to face, bet everything you had and win.

That was what Maria wanted. He could feel the divine joy of the god watching from afar.

‘Show them.’

He grinned faintly and gripped his sword.

The range of motion was limited.

For him, who preferred to strike and dodge, it was an extremely frustrating situation.

He had to calculate each move due to the diversity of the enemies.

‘It’s bothersome.’

But it didn’t matter much.

He blocked, stabbed, and cut down the monsters. Thanks to his Storm Scar Sword, he was able to bring down the monsters without taking significant damage.

But there was a limit to physical maneuverability. It was hard to block an attack coming directly from behind.

“Crack!”

A tiny monster, looking like a rat, scratched the ground while aiming for Taesan’s neck. The monster jumped, baring its fangs.

At that moment, a flame was kindled.

[You have activated Blazing Orb.]

Pwong!

“Kyee!”

The rat-like monster disappeared with a scream. He dealt with the monsters aiming at his back with magic. Despite the many monsters dying and disappearing, there was no end.

“Kwoar!”

A giant swung down his club, and the block momentarily pinned Taesan’s foot. At the stronger feel of force, Taesan gritted his teeth and applied strength.

[You have activated Heavy Strike.]

Teorong!

He parried the club and blocked the oncoming blades. Significant damage was taken, but with his quick response, the loss was minimized.

While blocking, he analyzed the monsters’ habits.

Taesan caught another rat-like monster aiming for his neck and threw it head-on.

The orc swinging the greatsword momentarily paused and cut down the rat-like monster.

Kwajik.

As he pierced the orc’s neck, he was certain.

Monsters didn’t attack each other.

Even if it meant showing their own weaknesses.

“Wooa!”

The giant swung his club again.

Taesan suddenly lunged forward, grabbed the neck of a startled goblin, and threw it at the giant. The goblin screamed at the club that intended to crush him.

“Kkeeeeek!”

At that desperate scream, the giant reflexively paused his club. Taesan activated his Frost Arrow.

[You have activated Magic Acceleration.]

Shwak!

The accelerated Frost Arrow pierced through the goblin and skewered the giant.

“Wooa!”

Taesan kicked the ground and reached the eye level of the giant. The giant, bursting with pain and anger, swung his club.

Tak.

Catching the club, Taesan climbed higher. He struck down his sword from above the giant’s head.

[The Giant takes 153 damage.]

“Wooa!”

The sword pierced through the head and sprouted from the jaw. The eyes lost their sense momentarily, and the mouth trembled.

Destroying the head itself dealt significant damage and momentarily erased intelligence. Taesan skillfully swung his sword on the edge, slashing and toppling the giant. The giant fell.

[Your Mark of Struggle has been activated.]

“Kyaaa!”

“Kyaruk!”

The monsters aimed at Taesan’s falling body after he toppled the giant. Taesan wrapped himself in his robe.

[You have activated the Robe of Darkness. You will become invisible for 1 second.]

His body disappeared. The monsters, screaming with their bloodshot eyes, were taken aback.

“Kaak?”

Having landed on the ground, Taesan moved his hands. The monsters, who hadn’t noticed, lost their legs.

“Kyaaa!”

Yet there was no end to them. Taesan clicked his tongue and reassessed the situation.

The monsters tried to keep their order to a reasonable extent. They did not push away a weaker monster in front and take its place.

His judgment and decision were quick.

If a weak one was in front, he would leave it and deal with the stronger ones first.

He could not afford to hesitate even an inch in such a situation.

[Skeleton Mage has launched a Fireball.] [Skeleton Mage has activated a Magic Arrow.]

Magic flew from the sky. Taesan did not evade.

[You have activated Deflection.]

The magic skimmed past Taesan, striking the monsters around him. In the meantime, the invisible monster was still attacking Taesan.

Without paying it any mind, he surveyed his surroundings. To his left was a lizardman’s spear. To his right, a fist. It was a goblin. An Ice Arrow was coming from the sky.

He traced the trajectories and lines of movement, then moved. He grabbed the goblin’s fist and shook it hard. The spear, which collided with the goblin, broke, and the Ice Arrow lodged into the goblin’s belly.

Taesan threw the corpse away. The skeleton constructing the magic was hit and fell.

Numerous monster corpses lay scattered around him.

Taesan did not stop.

By the time he had defeated 2/3 of them, no easy monsters were left.

Either they possessed strange special abilities or were simply so strong that they could withstand his sword strikes. Defeating one meant he also had to tolerate a loss of health.

The rate of recovery from the Mark of Struggle could not cope with the rate of damage. All attack nullification effects had long been activated.

Thus, the battle continued for thirty minutes, and…

With only 10% of his health remaining, the end was in sight.

“Hu.”

He wiped away his sweat and held his staggering sword. Although under normal circumstances, his stamina wouldn’t be drained after only an hour of fighting, it was literally a battle where everything was at stake; thus even he was exhausted.

It was not over yet.

Four monsters remained.

“Are you guys the last?”

The monsters dressed in red armor drew their long swords and surrounded him from four directions.

Death Knights.

If Lee Taeyeon’s words were true, they were the bosses of the 20th floor.

And that was not all.

Upon closer inspection, their armors were similar but subtly different. Human-sized decorations were visible on the chest part of the rusted armor.

It seemed adventurers had died here and became Death Knights.

“Are they similar to Lakiratas’s subjects? And there are four of them?”

Each one would be stronger than a simple 20th-floor boss.

Taesan drew the Blade of Self-harm and stabbed it into his arm. He recovered the stored health of 500, but he was still not in top condition. He was at most at around 60%.

Clink.

The enemy’s blade moved toward Taesan. Taesan quickly reacted with his hand.

“Come on.”

Four swords stabbed at Taesan from all directions.

His sword moved as the crimson sword clashed with Taesan’s, making a loud noise.

Thwack.

A long scratch was drawn on his cheek. It was impossible to block all attacks from all directions. Moreover, the opponents were not weak. They were those who had learned systematic swordsmanship, so naturally, his body was bound to suffer injuries.

It would have been tough if he hadn’t learned the Storm Scar Sword. Even with it, it was difficult because there were four opponents.

Clang!

While blocking with his sword, Taesan activated a skill.

[You have activated Forced Duel.]

A system window popped up, and all attacks except for those made by the target were erased. The moment that happened, the opponent quickly pulled back. Taesan clicked his tongue.

“Damn limitation.”

If there weren’t spatial constraints, it would have been incredibly easy. Just set a Forced Duel and follow through to knock them down.

However, due to the constraint of not being able to go beyond a certain limit, there wasn’t much he could do if the opponent immediately distanced themselves.

Taesan activated the Blazing Orb and Frost Arrows.

He mixed acceleration and explosion to attack, but none of it landed.

They seemed capable of blocking when used plainly like this, but it could be different in the heat of battle.

“Hu.”

If there was a fortunate point for him, it was that the Mark of Struggle also recovered mana. Because his magic proficiency was high, mana consumption was greatly reduced, so his mana had barely decreased.

The duration of the Forced Duel ended, and the Death Knights charged in.

Taesan grasped his sword.

[You have activated Flow.]

He activated Flow four times in a row. The attacks launched together were also held back together.

Taesan swung the sword he held with both hands roughly. The knights, who lost control of their bodies, suffered scratches on their armor.

[25 damage to Maria's Servant [Fake].]

The amount of inflicted damage made Taesan frown. As was the case with Lakiratas’s servants, their defense was quite high.

The least injured knight lunged forward with his sword.

He activated Counter. His body naturally moved to retaliate against the knight’s attack. He knocked off the sword and counterattacked. With a grunt, the knight staggered back from the chest.

Clang.

He lowered his posture and roughly moved his hands. He dodged and parried the sword aiming at his entire body, but a long scar formed on his arm.

[You have taken 56 damage.]

‘This is indeed impossible.’

Fighting against four at the same time was impossible. Taesan, who judged calmly, kicked the knight in front of him, defended against the remaining knights’ attacks, and repelled them. The kicked knight swiftly jabbed his sword.

Taesan didn’t block and spread his arms.

The sword deeply pierced Taesan’s chest.

[You have activated Endurance.] [You have taken 73 damage.] [You have activated Forced Duel.]

“Got you.”

Taesan whispered to the knight and grabbed his arm. Realizing something strange, the knight tried to quickly pull out, but he was firmly trapped and couldn’t get away.

Taesan stabbed his sword into the knight’s chest. The remaining knights moved their swords, but all were ineffective due to the activation of a Forced Duel.

Somehow the knight evaded and managed to hold on. The duration of the Forced Duel was 10 seconds. It was not impossible to endure if he devoted himself entirely to evasion.

[You have activated Forced Duel.]

So, if he used it once more, the problem would be solved.

Under the continuous attack, the knight couldn’t hold on and collapsed.

With this, he had beaten one. There were only three left.

“Ho”

Taesan defended with a vague expression.

Taesan’s health had greatly decreased. He took small amounts of damage, and the final attack was decisive. Endurance halved the damage, but still, 70 damage had been inflicted.

His remaining health was around 150.

Now, he was in a situation where he couldn’t afford to be hit even once.

He moved his body, focusing his mind even more.

Although their numbers were reduced to three, their attack was still fierce, and it was difficult to find a gap. He could have counterattacked like before, accepting a bit of damage, but his health was too low. He moved his sword to the extreme with the utmost caution, parrying and blocking all attacks.

Clash!

The swords collided and bounced off each other. Taesan immediately moved another sword and blocked the attack from the left. He gently pulled the blocked sword and parried the attack from the right.

His body started to move before he thought.

Clang, Clang, Clang!

Block the sword.

Parry.

These three actions were repeated to the point of frenzy.

At some point, the use of skills stopped. He blocked all attacks with just the sword.

He realized at that moment.

‘It’s a bit rough.’

He swung his hands roughly. The first sword technique, Wolf’s Fang, was a wild sword that attacked like a storm, pressuring the opponent and preemptively blocking the opponent’s attacks to gain an advantage.

As the name suggested, the Wolf’s Fang was a savage sword technique that exerted pressure by clawing at the enemy’s whole body like a wolf.

‘Can’t I make this a little smoother?’

With that light question, Taesan moved his sword.

The end of the movement was smooth, unlike before.

[Oh?]

The ghost, who was quietly watching, couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.