The risen ntal image swallowed Taesan.
It tried to seize and devour everything he had, turning it into its own.
Taesan put strength into his whole body. The Boundary Line surged up roughly.
Booooom!
He pierced through the ntal image and broke free.
[You have activated Blink.]
He rapidly opened distance. With a furrowed face, Taesan stared at the usurper.
“…You.”
The usurper raised its hand.
At the sa ti, distorted Black covered the world.
Taesan understood instinctively.
That was ti interference.
A transcendent authority he had stolen through Soul Rank Ascension after bringing down the incarnation of the Ti Walker. And the usurper was activating it.
Taesan quickly manifested Black in response.
“Stop.”
Kiiiiiiing!
Their frozen tis charged and collided. With the sound of sothing cracking, the scenery of the ntal image twisted.
Craaaack!
Avoiding the fragnts of ti, Taesan clicked his tongue.
‘What?’
Ti interference was the Ti Walker’s authority.
But what he was facing now was the usurper’s clone.
Yet the usurper used the authority of ti interference.
Just like Taesan.
And it didn’t end there. The usurper stretched its hand into the air.
Craaaack!
Space split apart, and a gigantic sword revealed itself.
Taesan knew what that sword was.
[You have activated the Sword of the World.]
[You have activated the Sword of the World.]
Taesan drew his sword as well. The swords that cleaved the world itself collided, and a thunderous roar spread. The ntal image was violently distorted.
Rumbleeeee!
Shaking off the shockwave, Taesan muttered.
“Why can you use that?”
The usurper smiled quietly.
[Good.]
Gush. Black poured out. It rose into the air and ford several square shapes.
Then, one by one, they began to compress. Before long, multiple orbs took shape.
“…You.”
Taesan’s face twisted.
That was the authority he had obtained in his previous return by bringing down the Gatekeeper.
Compression.
The usurper flicked its hand. Pitch-black orbs flew toward Taesan. Taesan gripped his sword. The Boundary Line compressed sharply.
Kagagagak!
He swung. With the compressed Boundary Line, he could shatter the orbs. He split each orb apart and launched himself forward.
“Tch…”
It was utterly unpleasant.
It felt like a parasite clinging inside him had been quietly sucking him dry without him noticing.
No. It wasn’t any different from reality. Right now, the usurper was handling the powers Taesan had stolen through Soul Rank Ascension as if they were its own.
“Like a parasite.”
[No.]
The usurper denied Taesan’s words.
[You’re mistaken. I’m not sothing clinging to you.]
A finger pointed at Taesan.
In that mont, Taesan’s entire body shook.
Taesan had wrapped his whole body in the domain of boundary through Chaos Domain. That domain was cracking apart now. As if declaring that Taesan was not its master, the boundary began to twist and break.
“What?”
Taesan was thrown into confusion. Even though Chaos Domain was his skill, it was slipping out of his control.
[Your Chaos Domain has been canceled.]
Craaaash!
The chaos wrapping Taesan shattered.
And the usurper’s power crashed down on Taesan. Taesan quickly pulled the Boundary Line together.
But the Boundary Line wavered.
As if it refused Taesan’s control. He tried to block sohow with the shaking Boundary Line, but gaps were inevitable.
Booooom!
They collided, and Immutable Self shattered.
Until now, Immutable Self had always blocked most attacks. It had boasted absolute defense close to outright nullification.
But not now.
It was smashed to pieces in an instant, like a sandcastle.
[You are my vessel.]
The usurper stamped its foot. Taesan’s ntal image rose and attacked Taesan. Distorted, broken things took on hostility.
He launched himself and evaded. He tried to draw out the Boundary Line, but it didn’t co properly.
Kagagagak!
He forced it out and swung, blocking the attack.
And in the process, Taesan realized.
The Boundary Line he pulled out was flowing into the usurper.
It looked the sa as it had on Earth.
Like when Taesan used the Boundary Line and it was sucked into the rift in the sky.
It kept trying to slip beyond his control and handling.
Only then did Taesan understand.
This was definitely his ntal image.
But it wasn’t wholly his.
Part of the ntal image belonged to the usurper.
[I am you.]
With a quiet murmur, the ntal image rose. Following its true owner’s will, it tried to exclude and deny Taesan.
[So beco .]
Power exploded.
—
Booooom!
Power burst forth. Attacks that threatened countless lives aid for Taesan.
And all of them were powers Taesan had obtained through Soul Rank Ascension.
“This is ridiculous.”
Taesan spat a curse. They were clearly powers he had obtained, and the things he had used effectively—now they were aiming for his life.
[You have activated Call of Ruin.]
[ has activated Call of Ruin.]
Like a mirror, identical power erupted. They canceled and shattered each other.
Taesan swung his hand. Mana condensed and took form.
[You have activated Great Collapse.]
Rumbleeeee!
The magic of collapse manifested in the world. The usurper flicked a finger. The Boundary Line flowed out.
Booooom!
Great Collapse shattered. Taesan quickly prepared the next magic.
[You have activated Rainbow Rush of Diverse Colors.]
Rainbow light dashed through the twisted, distorted world.
The usurper lightly stamped its foot. The ntal image rose. Taesan’s own rose and blocked Taesan’s enemy’s attack.
Rumbleeeee!
The rainbow battered it, but it couldn’t pierce the Boundary Line.
Instead, the usurper swung an arm. The Boundary Line trampled and crushed the rainbow, advancing toward Taesan.
Clicking his tongue, Taesan canceled the spell and drew his sword. The Boundary Line coiled around it.
Claaang!
Only then could he block the usurper’s Boundary Line.
Taesan also had to use the Boundary Line to respond.
But when he pulled it out, a portion kept being sucked toward the usurper.
‘Got it.’
The opponent was using the powers he had stolen through Soul Rank Ascension.
He didn’t see it using powers it had obtained itself, or skills directly bestowed by gods.
That ant one thing.
What was the being in front of him based on?
‘Soul Rank Ascension.’
The soul skill he had obtained in his previous life.
It was a being parasitizing that.
[Good.]
The usurper looked extrely satisfied.
What Taesan had slowly got absorbed into the usurper. The ntal image itself was being dyed by what lay beyond.
And the usurper was becoming more and more accustod to this world’s concepts.
The usurper swung its arm. Distorted Boundary Lines surged.
That distortion was more natural than when it had first drawn it out.
[Your first absolute attack nullification has activated.]
He couldn’t block perfectly, and the nullification was consud. Using the opening created when the attack recoiled, Taesan quickly widened the distance.
The usurper bared its teeth.
Greed filled its face.
[You are. Mine.]
“That’s all you can say?”
Rumble.
They surged and swung. Taesan blocked and knocked them away.
But there was no sign of a winning line.
This ntal image itself was slowly being dyed into the usurper.
The more Taesan used the powers he had obtained through Soul Rank Ascension, the stronger the usurper beca.
But if he relied only on his own power or skills given by gods, there was no way to break through the Boundary Line.
Rumble.
In the end, he started getting pushed back. He was losing control over the ntal image—over the Boundary Line.
[So this is this world’s concept.]
With a delighted face, the usurper swung. As ti passed, the Boundary Line crossed over.
Rumble.
All attack nullification was exhausted.
Taesan staggered, gripping his sword.
‘A vessel.’
Taesan recalled a skill he had obtained.
[ ’s Vessel]
[ ’s Vessel. It can hold many things, and take them.]
It can hold many things, and take them.
When he obtained the skill, he thought it referred to himself.
But it didn’t.
It ant his body was nothing more than the usurper’s vessel.
Even Chaos Domain had been written as changing under ’s influence.
aning the usurper could exert influence.
Only now did Taesan understand.
In his previous life, he should have surpassed mortality and reached transcendence. He had been qualified.
But the usurper’s existence blocked that arrival. Because of that, Taesan obtained a twisted power called Soul Rank Ascension instead of ordinary transcendence.
The problem was that Soul Rank Ascension wasn’t wholly his.
Since it was a twisted point of arrival distorted by the usurper’s contamination, part of Soul Rank Ascension belonged to the usurper.
What he had believed was his all along wasn’t his.
Of course, it wasn’t purely the usurper’s either. It was a realm ford by a twisted point of arrival. Taesan did possess control as well.
But in the end, half of it was the usurper’s.
No. More than that. That thing had a rank higher than Taesan’s. If they had the sa control, it was only natural that the higher-ranked one would handle it more smoothly.
Taesan still couldn’t perfectly control the Boundary Line.
At first, its influence must have been weak. Even if part of the usurper was inside him, it wouldn’t have been even a fragnt or a shard—literally dust.
But the more he utilized Soul Rank Ascension, the more his rank grew, the more the usurper also grew stronger.
Strong enough to swallow Taesan.
That wasn’t the usurper’s clone.
It was his clone.
From the start, the half of him that was distorted and broken had been slowly swallowing him under the usurper’s control.
The Boundary Line slowly swallowed the domain, making it impossible to escape.
And finally, the Boundary Line coiled around Taesan.
[You are mine.]
His body was swallowed by pitch-blackness.
Control began to shift to the usurper.
‘From the beginning, I was the vessel.’
A vessel that let the usurper handle both the world’s concept and the Old gods’ power.
That was Taesan’s role.
The Boundary Line swallowed his entire body. Taesan’s presence could no longer be seen.
Only the ntal image dyed in the usurper remained.
[Finally.]
The usurper revealed emotions it had no intention of hiding. In its voice was the joy of soone who had realized a lifelong wish.
The usurper slowly walked forward.
Its hand touched the Boundary Line that had swallowed Taesan.
And at that mont—
[You have activated Addition.]
[You have activated Blade of Fighting Spirit.]
[You have activated Conversion.]
[You have activated Heavy Strike.]
[You have activated Critical Point Designation.]
[You have activated Multiplication.]
[You have activated Copy.]
Crunch.
A sword strike covered the ntal image.
—
Physical Force manifested in the world. Sensing sothing ominous, the usurper reached out a hand.
Gush.
Grayness covered Taesan more strongly, more densely.
A power that stood above all affinities. No enemy had ever defeated pure Boundary Line head-on.
They either endured with extrely compressed Black and aid for an opening, or piled it up endlessly and endured through sheer quantity.
Crunch.
But the Boundary Line began to break.
An enormous Physical Force carved an indelible scar into the ntal image.
The usurper wavered. The Boundary Line it had spread was cracking apart.
It had definitely swallowed Taesan’s Boundary Line completely.
Taesan could not resist.
Yet its Boundary Line was breaking.
It pulled together more power. It gathered the Boundary Line and swung.
But even so, Taesan’s black did not stop.
Crunch.
The Boundary Line shattered.
Powerful, highly compressed Physical Force was itself an authority. Even if it was Boundary Line, it could not block it. Taesan unleashed the power he had held back.
Booooom!
And everything was blown away.
The Boundary Line shattered into fragnts and burst apart.
A massive force covered the usurper. The usurper quickly wrapped its body in the Boundary Line.
But the Physical Force that spread out destroyed even that.
The usurper was struck directly by the enormous Physical Force. Its body vanished beyond the ntal image.
“With Physical Force on this level, even the Boundary Line can be shattered. That’s a delightful fact.”
Taesan lightly swung his sword.
His expression was utterly at ease.
“Then how should I win?”
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