Ascension Through Skills-Chapter 311: Fifth Return to Earth (7)
The monsters kept appearing.
Their numbers swelled, and they grew stronger with each wave. More players fell, and the frontline steadily retreated.
Yet Taesan still held his ground at the forefront, crushing the monsters.
Boom!
With a single stomp, the ground caved in, causing monsters to fall into the depths. He swung his sword, severing them, then kicked off the ground.
---
[You have activated Acceleration.]
[You have activated Skill Acceleration.]
---
Boom!
His body, moving like a ballista, tore through the monsters.
In a single blow, dozens of monsters vanished.
Cheers erupted from the surrounding players.
“Taesan!”
“Ooh! Protect us, Taesan!”
Among those chanting Taesan’s name were some Chinese players. A considerable number had already begun to show respect and reverence for him.
---
[Your Divine Power mastery has increased by 1%.]
---
The divine power was growing steadily. Many Chinese players now looked to Taesan as their protector. Unsurprisingly, most were easy-mode players.
The easy-mode Chinese players, given the rank of slaves, lived as literal servants. They revered Jinryong only because of his overwhelming power—nothing more, nothing less.
But Taesan not only displayed greater strength than Jinryong, he actively protected them.
Their faith naturally began to shift.
The slaves whispered among themselves about Taesan. Stories spread, and even those who hadn’t seen Taesan began to believe in him.
Meanwhile, Minerva and Barcaza were also scattered across the battlefield, defeating monsters.
Their immense power only strengthened the faith directed toward Taesan.
Jinryong watched this shift with clenched teeth.
“Those lowly creatures.”
He wished he could kill them all, but he couldn’t. The players were still obeying his orders not to converse with foreigners.
All they were doing was revering Taesan. There was nothing he could do to stop it.
But his anger boiled over.
His fury and frustration toward Taesan grew stronger. After a long day of slaughtering monsters, Jinryong called his high-ranking hard-mode players to his dwelling.
“Yes, my Emperor. Why have you summoned us?”
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The hard-mode players, Jinryong’s guards, swallowed nervously.
While they were not as powerful as his elite guards, they still prided themselves on their strength. Even Jinryong’s elite guards couldn’t easily defeat them.
Yet they were trembling. Rumors had spread among the nobles—players who went to meet Jinryong sometimes never returned.
People dismissed it as nonsense, attributing their deaths to monsters, but a lingering fear remained.
Seated on his throne, Jinryong looked down at them.
“Become mine.”
Power surged.
Dark energy engulfed the tent. The players shrieked, trying to flee, but there was no escape. They were swallowed by Jinryong’s power, unable to resist.
Gurgle.
A sickening sound echoed as he absorbed them, the strength of those hard-mode players mingling within him.
“Ugh.”
Jinryong clutched his head, groaning. His skull felt like it was splitting. Ever since he started absorbing life force, each time brought a wave of nausea.
Once the headache passed, he released his power.
The energy burst from him, clearly stronger than before.
With this power...
A grin spread across Jinryong’s face.
Yet still, it wasn’t enough.
---
[Taesan has activated Marbas’ Abyssal Wave.]
---
A massive wave of dark energy surged, crushing every monster in its path.
All eyes turned to Taesan, and cheers of awe erupted.
Next to him, where Jinryong had been smashing dozens of monsters, everyone seemed to have forgotten him.
Jinryong’s expression hardened.
Faith in Taesan was growing stronger, and Taesan’s mastery over divine power had risen significantly, reaching 60%.
---
---
[Divine Power]
[Mastery: 60%]
[The power of a god. Initially insignificant, but with the belief of many, it has become divine. People's faith and devotion now carry meaningful influence over the world.]
---
“Faster than I expected.”
He had anticipated reaching 60% but not this quickly; it had only been four days since the quest began. But with the overwhelming number of Chinese players, the growth rate was incredibly fast.
While checking his skill, Taesan noticed Kim Huiyeon approaching him.
“Taesan, what are you doing?”
“Checking my skills.”
“Your skills?”
In response, Taesan raised his hand.
A faint golden light glowed above his palm. Kim Huiyeon’s eyes widened.
“Wh-what...?”
The light itself wasn’t overwhelming; Taesan’s Starlight Arrow emitted a brightness that could almost sear her eyes.
In contrast, the golden light looked fragile, like it might flicker out if covered.
But her surprise was for another reason.
“There’s... no activation window?”
Normally, activating a skill always triggered an activation window. But although Taesan clearly had a skill active, there was no activation window.
“And...”
Kim Huiyeon stared at the golden light, entranced.
It was fragile, delicate—like a small flame that could be snuffed out by her hand.
Yet, looking at it stirred something profound within her.
A feeling of pure reverence. She wanted to bow, to worship that light.
There was no compulsion.
She simply felt an innate urge to do so.
“...What is that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s your faith,” Taesan replied. “Strictly speaking, it’s not the first time.”
Both Rakiratas and Marbas had descended to Earth. However, Kim Huiyeon had been too weak to fully perceive their divine presence, so this felt new to her.
“Huh? Faith from people...?”
“Quick on the uptake,” Taesan said.
“Wow.”
Kim Huiyeon laughed in disbelief.
“It’s hard to believe. Is that even possible?”
“Not normally, but I’m an exception.”
He had acquired divine power after defeating a god’s angel in Bakethta. Because of that, he could receive people’s faith and channel it into power.
Otherwise, their faith would have dispersed aimlessly, like with Jinryong.
What could this golden light do?
Taesan looked at Kim Huiyeon. She looked exhausted, her muscles trembling slightly.
“You here to rest?”
“Ah, yeah. I’m pretty worn out.”
She rubbed her arms. Like the other Korean solo and hard-mode players, she had been fighting monsters with everything she had. She had pushed herself to the limit before finally taking a break.
“Stand still.”
Taesan directed the golden light toward her, surrounding her in a pillar of faint light.
“What are you doing...?” Kim Huiyeon gasped.
Her pallor began to glow with a healthy pink. Her tense muscles relaxed.
Her depleted stamina and mental fatigue faded, replaced by a refreshing sense of vigor.
“Wha...?”
Even her physical injuries from battle were healed.
Kim Huiyeon was stunned.
“This is...”
Stamina and mental fatigue were nearly impossible to recover without leveling up or drinking a special potion from the labyrinth.
Taesan observed her reaction with interest.
“So it recovers stamina and fatigue. Not completely, but enough.”
Unlike leveling up, which restored everything, the golden light only offered partial recovery—but it was enough to keep fighting.
After a moment of thought, Taesan released the divine power again, though it was weaker than before.
‘Can’t use it too often.’
The amount of divine power was limited, and its depletion depended on the target’s strength. With someone at Kim Huiyeon’s level, he could probably manage a hundred uses, but for someone at his own level, a single use would nearly exhaust it.
The divine power would gradually replenish over time with continued faith, but it would take a while.
Even so, it was an incredible ability. In the labyrinth, finding time to drink a potion was difficult. But with divine power, he could heal once.
He’d need to test its effects in the labyrinth, but it was promising. Even the spirit marveled.
---
[Handling divine power, a privilege usually granted only to gods, and you haven’t even reached that level yet. Truly ironic.]
---
“Amazing, Taesan...”
Kim Huiyeon murmured in awe.
“You really are a god of Earth.”
Even she, who didn’t consider him a deity, couldn’t help but feel reverence.
Seeing her reaction, Taesan stroked his chin thoughtfully.
It seemed divine power inspired reverence and devotion in those who witnessed it.
What would happen if he used it across the battlefield?
He acted on the thought immediately. As he moved through the battlefield, crushing monsters, he spread his divine power. Exhausted players on the frontlines were revived by the golden light.
“Ooooh!”
“God! Our god!”
People cried out as they felt the golden energy. Their strength returned, and their fatigue faded. The overwhelming sense of reverence radiating from the light moved them to worship.
Even those who had been skeptical began to bow before Taesan’s divine presence. Their faith grew stronger.
“Master, you’re going to gain real divine power at this rate,” Minerva remarked, watching with a mixture of awe and disbelief as Taesan’s divine energy intensified.
Meanwhile, Jinryong, hearing news of this development, was on the verge of madness.
“Silence!”
He roared at the messenger who had brought him the report. The terrified player threw himself to the ground.
“I... I apologize, my Emperor! Please forgive me!”
“If you committed a crime worthy of death, then die!”
Power surged from Jinryong.
The player’s face turned white as he was absorbed.
“Huff... huff...”
Jinryong’s breath
came in ragged gasps. No one remained near him. Even the sycophants who usually hovered around him had started to distance themselves as Jinryong’s outbursts became more erratic.
Crack.
Jinryong ground his teeth.
In the eyes of his followers, the respect and reverence once directed toward him were fading.
In its place grew fear and mistrust.
To Jinryong, this was intolerable.
“How dare they!”
Those foolish wretches!
How could they forget who had protected them all this time, for something as trivial as that power!
The chaotic energy within him began to cloud his mind.
Jinryong was spiraling into madness.
He clung to his sanity by a thread, but it wouldn’t hold for much longer.
He had already consumed even his personal guard.
With his heightened power, he slaughtered more monsters, but the fear toward him only deepened. Until yesterday, his personal guards had been a comforting presence, but after being summoned to Jinryong’s quarters, none had returned.
He had once been careful not to raise suspicions, but he no longer had the clarity to care.
Rumors about missing players began to spread.
And so, time passed, until the final day arrived.
The monsters vanished. The battlefield grew eerily quiet, as though the battle had ended.
But no one felt relieved.
Instead, they gripped their weapons with tense anticipation.
Then, pathways opened.
Dark, ominous corridors appeared across the battlefield, beyond what anyone could count.
“Everyone, get ready!”
Kim Huiyeon shouted urgently. As the pathways expanded, more monsters emerged.
---
[Monster 351 has appeared.]
[Monster 121 has appeared.]
[Monster 945 has appeared.]
---
Dozens of A-rank monsters appeared, their oppressive aura filling the air. Players went pale, unfamiliar with the power of monsters at that rank, yet instinctively aware of their danger.
Boom!
The ground shook.
A massive, jet-black giant appeared, towering like a mountain.
Holding a club, the giant looked down at the players and opened its mouth.
---
[-------!]
---
Its roar echoed across the battlefield, causing people to clutch their ears in agony. Even their hardened bodies, trained from countless battles, couldn’t withstand the force.
---
[Monster 14 has appeared.]
