Ascension Through Skills-Chapter 416: 82nd Floor, Lemegeton (5)

Taesan had obtained everything he could from this place.

Having made this judgment, he moved quickly.

Crack.

He swung his arm. The small, relentless creatures, like a swarm of locusts, were crushed instantly.

There was no need for magic or dark magic. With just his body, he could plow through them.

As Taesan moved forward, the ghost spoke.

[By the way, you said these weren’t skills from your previous life. Have you obtained everything there is to get now?]

“No, not yet. There are still some truly powerful skills left.”

Multiply, basic time stop, designated skill reset.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

The Essence Strike could be achieved by simply raising proficiency, but the three others—Multiply, Basic Time Stop, and Designated Skill Reset—seemed nearly impossible to obtain. Their acquisition conditions were exceedingly difficult to fulfill. Even after conquering over 80 floors, he hadn't encountered a floor that fulfilled their requirements.

'Maybe a floor meeting the conditions will appear before I clear it.'

He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t ready to give up, but the possibility seemed slim.

Even if the conditions were met, he couldn’t be certain that he would be able to acquire them.

Most of the skills Taesan had obtained were like that—his acquired skills weren’t always a result of mastery and judgment, but rather, something simpler was required.

That something was luck.

No matter how perfect the plan or how well one adapted to all variables, without luck, acquisition was impossible. Even if he went back in time to try again, there was no guarantee he would succeed.

'What should I do?'

He wasn’t ready to give up. The value of these skills was too high.

However, these weren’t skills that could be obtained just by fulfilling conditions and trying hard, as he'd done before.

As Taesan organized his thoughts, he continued forward.

He was growing tired of dealing with the small obstacles and waved his hand.

[You activated the Frozen World.]

Shhhh!

Magic engulfed the demonic realm. One of Belial's servants beside him hurriedly shielded himself with his power.

Crack.

“Ugh!”

The oncoming cold shattered his strength. Desperately gathering his energy, the servant barely managed to block it.

“...”

The servant’s eyes shook with anxiety.

Taesan had used the skill casually, as if swatting away an annoyance, but the servant had to defend with all his might.

"...Who are you?"

The servant asked in a trembling voice. By this point, there was no way he didn’t know. Taesan had reached the level of his master, an immortal.

“Adventurer.”

Taesan gave a nonchalant answer.

“By the way, I was hoping you'd answer me soon. When the other contractors claimed they were qualified, you must have laughed at them in your heart, didn’t you?”

The servant flinched. Shock was written all over his face.

“How... how do you know...”

“That’s not important.”

The servant believed he had perfectly hidden his emotions.

But Taesan, with the Will of All Things skill, could read even the emotions buried deep inside.

It was mockery and disdain.

It was contempt for those who acted arrogantly without even knowing their place.

“As if they were unworthy of it.”

The demons had granted Lemegeton to allow the contractors to enter their domains. It was safe to say they were qualified.

But the servant had been certain.

They were unqualified.

“...It’s a story I don’t need to hear. They are unqualified.”

The servant glared at Taesan with rough eyes.

“And that goes for you as well. I acknowledge your strength, but that’s a separate matter.”

“Don’t be like that. If I become the master of this place, you’ll be my servant, right? So just tell me what I need to know.”

“...”

Taesan said playfully. The servant’s face contorted, as if he no longer wished to converse and leaped away.

“Has he gone?”

Taesan didn’t bother chasing after him.

“I have a few guesses.”

Since Ba’al had acknowledged that he could claim the domain, Taesan assumed that it could be obtained.

But Ba’al never said it would be acquired in the usual way.

The castle wasn’t far. Taesan took another step.

***

“Ugh!”

An old man gritted his teeth, stamping his foot. The earth trembled, and twisted spikes shot up, striking things so small they were barely visible.

But they didn’t disappear. They bounced away, rolling on the ground, only to stagger and rush back at him again.

“What the hell is this!?”

The old man ground his teeth.

After barely breaking through the sea of spiny plants, the next challenge appeared—countless tiny servants of Belial sprang up in what seemed like an endless swarm.

Although they were small, each of these beings was remarkably powerful.

Even with all their strength combined, it was difficult to defeat them.

A shadowy man raised his trembling hand. A gust of harsh wind swept through, flinging the servants away.

In response, the old man summoned roots to form a path.

They quickly ran along the path they had created.

After a long sprint, they managed to escape the attacks from the servants.

“Huff... Huff...”

The four contractors panted, wiping the sweat from their brows. The old man gritted his teeth, glaring at Halid.

“You!”

“What’s wrong?”

Halid responded nonchalantly. His expression was noticeably more relaxed than the others.

The old man shouted furiously.

“Because of your nonsense, one of us is dead! Why did you do that!?”

When they were fighting back the servants of Belial, Halid had clearly done something strange.

He had targeted a succubus with his dark magic.

The succubus, who had been defenseless, was immediately knocked back and buried by the servants.

Halid chuckled quietly.

“What are you talking about? Why are you blaming me? Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“We’re all competitors here. Only one of us can become a demon. I just helped reduce the competition. You should be grateful.”

“You crazy bastard.”

Halid’s words weren’t wrong. They were all competitors. Sooner or later, their alliance would fall apart.

But, at least for now, they had agreed to cooperate in breaking through.

And it was Halid who had said that first.

The shadowy man spoke softly.

“...For now, we are in a cooperative relationship. If that changes, I won’t be able to trust you.”

“Fine, don’t trust me.”

Halid replied with a calm attitude. A sly smile spread across his face.

“But if you try to ostracize me, someone will definitely die. I have that much power.”

“Heh.”

It was a clear threat, but none of them could deny it.

Halid was certainly stronger than they were.

The difference wasn’t huge, but it was enough to make a significant impact.

Halid had managed to conserve a lot of his power during their journey, which gave him an advantage over the others. If they fought seriously, even if the three of them teamed up, they would likely suffer.

For now, they had no choice but to continue working together and wait for the right opportunity.

“Looks like you’ve been carrying a snake in your bosom all this time.”

“Say whatever you want.”

Halid laughed.

He would become a demon.

He would rise to a place beyond mortality, to the eternal and immortal realm.

And for that, he was willing to do anything.

They all marched toward the castle.

And Taesan was already there.

***

Taesan placed his hand on the massive, pitch-black door.

The final gate protecting Belial’s castle.

The door was extremely sturdy, imbued with immense power, making it nearly impossible for challengers to break through.

But this wasn’t meaningful to Taesan.

He exerted force on his hand.

Screech!

With a sound of metal grinding, the door crumpled like foil.

Taesan swung his arm.

Boom!

The crumpled door shattered and flew off.

Taesan stepped into the castle.

And at that moment, the castle shook.

The floor, the decorations, and the walls all moved. They twisted and swirled, beginning to exude murderous intent.

Taesan didn’t panic and raised his weapon.

Throughout Belial’s domain, traces of Belial remained.

These remnants were designed to repel intruders, and the area with the most concentrated traces was, of course, the castle.

The castle itself was moving to erase the intruder—Taesan.

The decorations hanging on the walls rushed toward him, as if alive.

Boom!

Taesan sliced through the approaching objects with his sword.

Pillars broke free and flew at him. Taesan raised his sword to block them. The heavy weight of the impact was felt through his blade, and his body was pushed back.

Boom!

The floor began to crumble, and the remaining debris gathered into a swirling vortex.

The vortex rushed toward Taesan.

‘Strong.’

Taesan couldn’t help but admire it.

The force rushing toward him now was merely the remnants of the dead Belial.

Even so, the power contained within it was monstrous.

In terms of pure power, it was superior to Taesan.

‘Is this what a demon is?’

It was a force greater than Ainzhar.

‘But.’

That was all it was—remnants of a dead being. The power contained within was mere fragments. There was no sense of depth, nor the will of a living being.

Taesan infused his sword with his own power and will.

He swung it at the approaching remnants.

Boom!

The immense force of the attack met the thin blade, but Taesan didn’t retreat. Instead, he channeled even more of his own power and advanced forward.

Boom!

The castle’s remnants shattered and scattered.

But they immediately reformed and charged toward him once again. Taesan declared, infusing his will into his words.

“Collapse. Break. Shake.”

[You activated the Declaration of Collapse and Crumbling.]

Boom!

The gathered remnants trembled violently. Though they struggled to hold on, they exploded in response to Taesan’s declaration.

“Explode.”

[You activated the Declaration of Explosion.]

Boom!

The remnants burst apart, scattering in all directions.

The remnants of Belial were not yet gone. The debris of the castle creaked and rose again, rushing toward Taesan.

[You activated the Internal World.]

Taesan’s strength and will consumed Belial’s domain.

Normally, Belial’s force would have prevented the expansion of the Internal World, but with the remnants of a masterless being, it could not stop Taesan. As the Internal World overtook the castle, the power from the remnants noticeably weakened, and their movements slowed.

You can’t win just by being strong.

In battles that surpass mortality, it’s not about strength—it’s about depth.

[You activated the Great Collapse.]

Kiiiing!

The Great Collapse, which destroys all things, was brought into the world.

[You activated Magic Separation.]

The black sphere created by the Great Collapse scattered in all directions.

Tiny spheres filled the space.

Boom!

The separated Great Collapse collided with the castle’s debris, causing it to begin to disintegrate. Taesan clenched his fist.

[You activated Magic Explosion.]

The scattered Great Collapse exploded.

A tremendous force swept through everything, engulfing all.

***

All the power settled, and nothing remained.

What was once a grand castle had vanished, leaving not a single fragment.

[Is this really the extent of it, even against a demon...?]

“It’s just the remnants of a dead demon. If this were during its mortal days, I might have been worried, but now it’s no problem.”

[Is that so? But despite all this destruction, is the throne still intact?]

“It’s fine.”

Even after the castle had vanished, the power still felt as strong as ever, showing no sign of weakening.

Taesan walked toward the source of the power.

[Oh...]

The ghost let out a soft groan, almost involuntarily.

In the vast wasteland stood a single, twitching, pitch-black throne.

What could be felt from the throne was a fully realized force.

It was the very power of Belial himself.

Taesan knew immediately. It was an instinctual realization. If he sat on that throne, he could claim Belial’s power and domain.

The master of black magic, the ruler of demons, from the dawn of time.

Taesan took a step forward.