[What?]
[Rakiratas. What are you talking about?]
The Transcenders voiced their bewildernt. Rakiratas didn’t react, only addressing Taesan.
[What should I call you now? It’s ambiguous to call you a Transcender or a Divine Spirit.]
Taesan considered it as well. Was he the Master of Boundaries now, or a Seeker?
After a brief pause, Taesan answered.
“You can call Seeker.”
It was an empty na, devoid of anything.
Yet Taesan instinctively knew it described him better than Master of Boundaries.
[Seeker, huh? A plausible na.]
“Rakiratas. I need an explanation.”
The Magician asked, expression ambiguous.
Rakiratas rejected it.
[No explanation is needed. I will give him a trial.]
“Why you of all people?”
[Because you are not qualified.]
Rakiratas replied calmly.
[I have goodwill toward him, but not the affection you do. And I don’t harbor murderous intent either.]
No one refuted that.
Because it was true. The Demon God and Maria—along with the Magician—favored Taesan. They treated him with goodwill and tried to give him many things.
That goodwill was close to affection. It would be difficult for them to genuinely try to kill Taesan.
anwhile, hostile Transcenders like Dersha wanted Taesan dead at all costs, even if it ant crossing the line.
[So you’re neutral?]
[I don’t think I need to explain that with my own mouth.]
It was calm, and left no room for argunt. Rakiratas looked to the Magician.
[The strong must be given trials befitting them. Through those trials, they must realize and move forward. Isn’t that why we entered the Labyrinth?]
“That’s… true.”
The Magician quietly agreed.
Why was the Labyrinth created?
To watch capable individuals risk their lives and prove themselves.
[To prove him now, an ordinary opponent won’t do. Only those who have reached Transcendence can. I intend to be that opponent.]
[Hmm.]
[It must be necessary. There shouldn’t be any problems.]
[That’s right.]
What had Taesan reached?
They needed to grasp it as well. If Rakiratas confird it through a trial, there was no reason to oppose it.
[Well. The important thing is whether he accepts.]
Rakiratas looked at Taesan with a strange smile.
There was certainty in it.
[What will you do, Seeker?]
Taesan nodded.
“I accept.”
—
[Good.]
Rakiratas looked satisfied. He clapped his hands once.
[Then that’s the end of it. Dismiss this aningless eting. As many Transcenders as possible need to see him and acknowledge him, so I ask for your cooperation on that.]
With those words, Rakiratas left, as if there were no reason to remain.
The Transcenders stirred with agitation and bewildernt.
Even to those who had reached heights close to absolute, Rakiratas’s actions were disconcerting.
[Are you alright?]
The Demon God asked. Taesan answered calmly.
“I thought it was necessary at least once.”
To understand himself, he needed to fight with all his might.
But until now, there had been no such opponent. He tried it with Ehilliye, but Ehilliye was far weaker. There was no value in drawing out his full power.
Rakiratas would be different.
A Transcender who governed two concepts, and whose equal would be hard to find even across the entire universe.
If Rakiratas would be that opponent, Taesan had no reason to refuse.
He would have to risk his life, but that was nothing new.
Taesan turned his gaze.
“This should be enough.”
At the end of his gaze was Dersha.
A being who all but represented the Transcenders hostile to him. Dersha t Taesan with a frown.
[Hmph.]
She looked dissatisfied, but said nothing more. She turned and left the temple. Several Transcenders followed her.
“About how long will it take?”
“Uhm…”
Still flustered, the Magician hurriedly thought and blurted out an answer.
“Simply creating a domain for two Transcenders to fight in… Rakiratas is a problem, and your power and rank are unknown. It’ll probably take about a week.”
“A week, huh?”
That was just the right amount of ti.
“Then can you make a personal space?”
“Personal space?”
“I need to test things.”
How to handle his power—what lay at the bottom of it.
The Magician groaned, but his eyes soon steadied.
“Well… fine. It wouldn’t be bad. I’ll make you one of a suitable size. Those who can help, help.”
[Hmm.]
[I’m uneasy… Rakiratas. What if that bastard goes crazy and tries to kill him?]
The Demon God muttered, expression uncertain.
But in the end, no one objected.
Under tentative acceptance, the duel between Taesan and Rakiratas was set in motion.
And Taesan found himself in a white space.
“It’s wide.”
An endless, infinitely expanding enclosed space. Taesan lightly stomped.
The movent was light. The aftermath was not.
Kuuuuuung!
Physical Force rippled through the space via the ground—power that could collapse a planet’s foundation with a single step.
Yet nothing happened.
The white space swallowed the shock perfectly.
“It’s sturdy.”
A space created for Taesan by the Magician, the Demon God, Maria, and several other gods.
Many Transcenders had worked together, and the result was solid enough that even Divine Power could be unleashed without much concern.
There was no need to restrain himself. Taesan could draw out his full power here.
“I should experint properly for a week.”
[Rakiratas… huh?]
Bardray groaned.
God of Struggle and Death.
One of the strongest Transcenders, governing two concepts.
Taesan intended to fight that existence with everything he had.
[Is this okay?]
“In terms of the concepts I govern, I have three. I won’t be pushed back.”
Spiritual Rank Usurpation. Boundary. Physical Force.
Three Transcendences. If he included those obtained through Spiritual Rank Ascension, there were more. There was no reason to be pushed back by Rakiratas.
[That’s… true.]
Bardray realized it as well. It was safe to say Taesan now stood on equal footing with Rakiratas.
[No. That’s right. I keep forgetting that.]
He had beco too strong too quickly, overwhelmingly so. Before he went into his inner self, Taesan was strong, but his limits were clear. He couldn’t reach a complete Ancient God, or a Transcender who truly governed a concept.
But after spitting himself out while fighting the Usurper, Taesan had grown too rapidly.
“It’s wrong.”
Taesan rejected Bardray’s conclusion.
He hadn’t grown rapidly.
He had reached the position he should have reached in the first place.
“Of course, the odds of winning are virtually non-existent.”
He had only recently obtained Divine Power. It hadn’t been long since he reached this level.
Rakiratas, on the other hand, was an ancient Transcender who had survived since the war with the Old Gods.
Now that Taesan had Divine Power, he understood: what mattered wasn’t rely possessing it, but how you handled it.
That determined how much Divine Power you could truly draw out.
Rakiratas would be able to control his concepts almost perfectly.
“So I need to properly control what I have.”
[Gray] flowed from Taesan. He planned to draw out the beast sleeping inside him once. Elsewhere the aftermath was too unpredictable, but here it was possible.
Krrr.
A gray beast erged in the white domain. Power surged. A roar spread, and the domain trembled uneasily.
“Wait.”
Taesan frowned. He tried to control it, but it was already too late. The beast, reveling as if freed, slipped loose and revealed itself to the world.
====
Kuuuuuuuuung!
Cracks spread through the absolute domain, created directly by many Transcenders.
Taesan stood before a vast land.
It was imnse.
So wide and huge that the horizon wasn’t visible. When Taesan touched the ground, he felt an enormous rank.
“It’s solid.”
[Enough for you and to rampage.]
And standing before Taesan was Rakiratas.
Brown-haired, dressed like a barbarian. His posture looked languid, yet his gaze was fixed squarely on Taesan.
His size wasn’t much different from Taesan’s.
God of Struggle and Death.
Rakiratas’s true form.
[Good.]
Rakiratas looked around the domain and smiled, satisfied.
[This should be enough. No—maybe it isn’t enough? You already broke it once.]
“It wasn’t intentional.”
The white domain had been broken by Taesan’s hand.
The Transcenders had restored it, but it still ant Taesan had shattered a domain ford by overlapping concepts.
[You couldn’t do that with simple Divine Power. I’m curious what you used.]
Rakiratas spread his hand.
[I’ll find out this ti.]
Space split, and a handle erged.
Kwaddeudeuk.
A huge double-edged axe appeared.
Large enough to cover a person’s body.
Not small, but compared to the weapons Taesan had faced so far, it wasn’t especially large. The Immortal who sided with an Ancient God had wielded a sword that reached the sky.
But Taesan could feel it.
The rank contained within that double-edged axe.
Struggle and death themselves, packed into its blade.
[This is my Sacred Relic—the weapon I’ve fought with since I was a mortal.]
Uung.
A wave spread. That typified rank tried to swallow the space.
[There’s no need to wait. We have spectators as well.]
Taesan felt hundreds of gazes on them.
Every single one belonged to a being of trendous level.
Transcenders.
[Then let’s begin.]
A crushing pressure.
Rakiratas was sincerely determined to kill Taesan.
The world itself shifted. A vast, exalted concept targeted Taesan directly.
‘This is…’
The world was aiming at him.
Taesan had confronted Transcenders before, but this pressure was far heavier than anything then.
If he hadn’t obtained Transcendence, he would have been in danger from this alone.
“It’s burdenso.”
Taesan took out Bardray.
[Ah. I don’t think this is it. I don’t think this is it.]
“Be quiet.”
Taesan cut him off.
He focused. [Gray] covered his entire body.
Rakiratas’s expression shifted.
[You’ve changed. It feels different from when I saw you before. I could read you then… but I don’t know now.]
Rakiratas smiled in satisfaction.
[Very good.]
Everything was in place.
“Before that, there’s one thing I want to ask.”
[What is it?]
“You wanted to fight from the beginning, didn’t you?”
When the others discussed what to do with him, Rakiratas had looked indifferent.
But Taesan had seen it—interest, and struggle, directed at him alone.
Rakiratas smiled.
[I can’t read you. Neither can the other Transcenders, including . You are neither a Transcender nor an Ancient God. It’s safe to say you’re a completely different, new concept.]
Emotion took form and surfaced in the world.
[What kind of struggle will soone new like you show?]
His voice was bright with excitent.
[Can the new you truly face death in that struggle? If you don’t face death, what will your end be?]
Rakiratas bared his teeth. His boiling emotion heated even the surrounding air.
[I just want to see it. Your struggle and death.]
Rakiratas was the God of Struggle and Death.
He had devoted himself to those two concepts and reached his current level.
Taesan recalled what Bardray had once said.
The God of Struggle and Death is the strangest god.
He is a god, yet he acts lightly, breaks contracts, and helps those he likes by cutting away their power.
A god who did whatever he pleased.
Rakiratas wanted to see Taesan’s struggle—and the death that followed.
So he gave Taesan a trial.
That was all. Taesan clicked his tongue.
“Your principle of action is so simple.”
[What’s so difficult about it? I reached this place by doing exactly that.]
Rakiratas laughed and raised his axe.
[Co, Seeker. I am Rakiratas, the God of Struggle and Death.]
Energy surged. Rakiratas spoke calmly.
[I will sincerely try to kill you. Prove your struggle and death to .]
—
Taesan put strength into his feet. In an instant, he moved away from Rakiratas.
First—distance. He needed to understand how Rakiratas handled the concepts of struggle and death.
Mana gathered in Taesan’s hand.
[You have activated the Frozen World.]
Jjeojeojeojeok!
A wave of cold swept out.
More than anything, it was vast—so huge it looked ready to swallow the world whole.
[Hoo.]
Rakiratas sounded impressed.
Each tiny shard of ice contained Taesan’s Physical Force.
[Infusing Physical Force…? A concept I’ve never seen before.]
Thousands—millions—of Physical Force. Taesan had spent the week experinting with Divine Power. One of those experints had been whether he could place Physical Force inside magic.
He tried it, and it worked.
Each fragnt could carry its own Physical Force. Even the smallest frost carried Taesan’s full power. That alone was an enormous threat.
Kugugugugung!
Cold carrying Physical Force surged toward Rakiratas.
A violence only soone who handled Physical Force itself could produce.
If the opponent had been Ehilliye, this would have driven him to the brink with a single blow.
But the opponent was the God of Struggle and Death.
Rakiratas didn’t even swing his axe.
He rely waved a finger.
And with it, an intangible wave spread.
Jjeoeoeoeoeoeong!
The cold shattered.
The cold containing Taesan’s Divine Power broke as if it were nothing. In an instant, the cold—and the Physical Force within—vanished.
“What is this.”
Taesan clicked his tongue. He knew it wouldn’t be enough, but for it to break so easily was unexpected.
[But it’s not enough.]
Rakiratas raised his axe.
Divine Power condensed within it.
And Taesan sensed it. If he touched that Divine Power, he would die. [Gray] surged from Taesan, and a Boundary wrapped his entire body.
[Show everything about you.]
The axe swung. Rakiratas’s Divine Power covered the world.
[Rakiratas has activated the Struggle of the World.]
The world itself changed.
Everything in the domain—space itself—fell under Rakiratas’s Divine Power.
And the world began to struggle against Taesan.
Smaller than air and wind, atoms attacked and antagonized him.
If it were rely attacks, it would be manageable. Taesan could fight the world itself now.
But this was different.
Each atom carried Rakiratas’s rank and power.
It was far more overwhelming than what Taesan had done by infusing Physical Force into the Frozen World.
The world had beco Rakiratas’s possession.
Kagagagagak!
Atoms clung to Taesan, trying to peel away his Boundary and strike his body directly. The Boundaries began to tear, ragged and fraying.
Taesan gathered [Gray].
Then expanded it into the domain.
[You have activated the Boundary World.]
Transcendence. As he obtained the Boundary, the Chaos Domain also changed into the Boundary World. A world made of Boundaries spread out, placing a certain range under Taesan’s control.
Kagagagagak!
The ranks clashed and collided for control of the world. Even within the swaying gray space, Rakiratas’s struggle did not yield much ground.
Kaaaaaaang!
And sothing broke.
Rakiratas’s struggle that covered the world, and Taesan’s Boundary World.
Dodging the scattering fragnts, Taesan clicked his tongue.
‘The Boundary World is also limited in offsetting it.’
The Boundary was a power that straddled the middle ground. In terms of compatibility, it was clearly superior. Yet the fact that it was barely holding ant the opponent’s power was overwhelmingly strong.
[Ho-oh.]
Rakiratas was impressed in his own way.
[You’re blocking it without much trouble. I thought you’d take quite a bit of damage.]
“I’m having plenty of trouble, though.”
If he hadn’t activated the Boundary World, his life would have been in danger.
If he didn’t respond actively, he would die.
Taesan raised his sword. The Boundary wrapped around Bardray.
He drew a diagonal slash. The Boundary surged across the world like sword aura, cleaving through it.
Rakiratas didn’t dodge. He raised his axe.
Kaaaang!
The axe and the Boundary collided. The Boundary didn’t budge, but it began to slowly devour the axe.
[Hmph.]
Rakiratas made an intrigued sound and drew out his Divine Power. Struggle coiled around his axe.
A wall—ant to keep the Boundary from staining it.
Crackle.
But the Boundary didn’t retreat.
Like a living beast, it clung stubbornly on, trying to dye the Struggle with its own color. In the end, Rakiratas swung his axe, knocking the Boundary away.
[I can’t annihilate it. Is it of a higher level than ?]
Muttering as if puzzled, Rakiratas quickly realized the truth.
[No. It’s not a matter of levels, but sothing completely separate. This is fascinating.]
Rakiratas smiled, thoroughly satisfied by that fact.
[Good.]
Whoosh.
The axe trembled. Rakiratas spoke to Taesan, who remained wary.
[Let tell you one thing. As long as my Struggle doesn’t stop, I am whole. Nothing can taint . Even the Old Gods couldn’t corrupt .]
“…What’s that supposed to an?”
Taesan let out a hollow laugh.
Whole as long as the Struggle didn’t stop?
The God of Struggle’s Struggle would never end. It was practically the sa as saying he could never be defeated.
[That’s what it ans to have two Divine Powers. It’s my own unique Divine Power—sothing other Transcenders don’t have. Well, your [Gray] might be different.]
Rakiratas grinned broadly.
[That would be entertaining too. Show what you’ve got.]
Anticipation burned in Rakiratas’s eyes.
“…So that’s how it is.”
Taesan’s eyes sank. He tightened his grip on the sword.
“Very well.”
He drove strength into his feet and charged straight at Rakiratas.
And that made Rakiratas smile, as if he couldn’t be more pleased.
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