Ascension Through Skills

The giants held their weapons with stern faces as a chilling wind passed by them.

“Are you ready?”

Taesan nodded in response to the Giant King’s question.

The Giant King turned his gaze toward the giants.

“Giants, we are the strongest race. No one has ever been able to oppose us, not even the great transcendents could withstand our power.”

His voice, quiet but full of strength, spread among the giants. Their eyes began to gleam fiercely.

“Prepare yourselves. Let’s trample and tear apart the filthy beings who dared to mess with us.”

“Yes!”

A short shout echoed.

The Giant King waved his hand. A massive power dug into the palace, and soon the seal of the monster was broken.

Clank!

The Giant King clenched his fist.

A huge barrier formed around the palace, and a strange, dense aura surged wildly.

Crack!

The aura aggressively pounded on the barrier. The Giant King’s expression became serious.

At the same time, the sky split open.

A vast space appeared as if a hole had been punched through. From it, a tremendous aura emerged, causing the giants to grip their weapons tighter, and Taesan grimaced.

A huge hole in the sky.

It was exactly like the rifts that appeared on Earth.

Crack!

Monsters fell from the sky, stumbling as they landed on the ground.

Taesan examined the monsters but found none too strong. They were all around B-grade.

The problem was their number, which exceeded hundreds.

Squirm.

The monsters slowly approached the giants.

The Giant King spoke to his warriors.

“Then, I entrust this to you.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

The warriors stomped the ground.

The giants shouted and charged at the monsters.

The Giant King turned his gaze to Taesan.

“Then, human. I ask of you. Please save us.”

Leaving the Giant King’s words behind…

Taesan entered the palace.

The moment he stepped into the barrier, the monster’s aura tried to devour him.

“Get lost.”

Taesan effortlessly trampled over it and moved forward.

The palace was engulfed by the monster’s aura, rendering visibility to less than an inch ahead. Yet, Taesan, with his empathetic eyes and enhanced senses, navigated his way with familiarity.

Outside, giants and monsters were locked in fierce combat.

“Hmph!”

Umberak slashed his sword, bisecting a monster.

“Hahaha!”

He erupted in laughter.

The dormant sense of combat within him awakened. Not just him, but the other giants too engaged the monsters with maniacal laughter.

However, their strength was not particularly impressive. The battle between the monsters and giants was evenly matched, with the giants occasionally being overpowered.

The turning point in the intense battle fell to the great warriors.

One great warrior, blindfolded, soared in the sky and gestured with his hand. Like a grand wizard, his movements opened a foreign space, and beams of light descended.

Boom!

The monsters that were directly hit vanished without a trace.

Another warrior unleashed invisible blades, slicing through dozens of monsters at once.

The observing giants were in awe.

“Is this magic?”

They had forgotten this power due to the monsters.

And now, they could reclaim it.

Their eyes blazed with determination.

The monsters were swiftly subdued.

Taesan reached the location of the monster.

Gurgle.

As Taesan approached, the monster reacted. Its writhing tentacles slowly extended towards him.

Taesan fixed his gaze on the monster, emanating a dreadful aura.

[Mental Domination Judgment in progress…] [Instant Death Judgment in progress…] [Frenzy Judgment in progress…] [Madness Judgment in progress…] [All Judgments Successful!]

Such judgments had not occurred even when he faced an S-grade before.

The strongest monster Taesan had encountered in this life was A-grade.

However, the monster before him was far beyond that.

‘S-Grade or higher.’

Under normal circumstances, this monster would not have been something that Taesan could face as he was now.

However, Taesan gripped his sword.

[The opponent is an unbeatable enemy.]

Skills and mental judgments sharply increased his stats. Feeling the enhanced strength, Taesan gripped his sword tighter.

This monster, unlike Earth’s monsters, specialized in fighting giants.

And its most powerful ability, the mental wave, didn’t affect Taesan. The condition of not being able to kill giants was as good as nonexistent for Taesan, a human.

Then, what remained was the monster’s physical ability.

That was something Taesan, in his current state, could definitely break through.

[You have activated Essential Understanding.]

Suddenly, his vision cleared.

Information about the monsters came in, crackling like noisy interference in his mind.

Exact details were unknown, but he could grasp the general aspects.

The monster’s health was unbelievably high.

It was several times that of the A-grade monster he had faced before. Taesan looked at the writhing tentacles emerging from the monster’s body.

That was the monster’s main mode of attack.

Woo.

While Taesan was analyzing the monster, it suddenly trembled. Its rippling waves assaulted Taesan’s mind.

The shockwave that had been flipping the giants’ brains and pounding their hearts now focused on Taesan.

“It doesn’t work.”

Taesan shook his head, clearing it. Realizing its mental attacks were ineffective, the monster moved its tentacles.

Taesan stomped his foot.

At the same time, the tentacles struck down.

Boom!

The tentacles pounded the ground, dominating the space. Taesan swung his sword, slicing through the tentacles, and evaded the unstoppable attacks by leaping off the ground.

Swiftly reaching the tentacles, Taesan drove his sword into them.

Crunch.

The sword stuck into a tentacle.

But it didn’t penetrate deeply. Realizing their sturdiness, Taesan maintained a distance, dodging the swinging tentacles, and charged again.

Boom!

The tentacles struck down.

Taesan raised his sword.

[You have activated Strong Blow.]

Crunch.

He cut down the flailing tentacles one by one as he advanced. Soon, he stood right in front of the monster.

[You have activated Vital Point Designation.]

He targeted the junction where the tentacles connected to the monster and drove his sword into it.

Crunch!

The sword penetrated deeper than before.

Taesan twisted the sword in place.

The tentacle fell away.

Taesan backed off.

It wasn’t difficult.

The monster was originally designed to kill giants. Although it surpassed an S-grade in mental aspects, its physical abilities were not much different from those of an A-grade monster.

The tentacles, sharp as thorns, aimed directly at Taesan.

Taesan didn’t dodge.

[You have activated Random Blink.]

Taesan’s body moved through the air.

He had already marked a spot near the tentacles. The moment he teleported, he brought his sword down like an axe.

Crunch.

The tentacle shook violently. As Taesan continued to strike, the tentacle fell away.

Rumble!

The tentacles attacked again.

Taesan raised his sword.

[You have activated Flow.]

The trajectories of the tentacles twisted, crashing into the ground and walls. He deceived all the attacking tentacles and moved again, swinging his sword.

Taesan eliminated the tentacles one by one. As the number of tentacles decreased, facing the monster became easier.

And the same was true outside.

“Uwaaaaa!”

A giant roared fiercely, gripping a monster tightly. The monster made uneasy noises before being torn in half.

The giant flung the monster’s carcass aside, shouting.

“This is nothing!”

It was an overwhelming victory for the giants.

The great warriors’ help was immensely significant. Their attacks felled dozens of monsters at a time, turning the numerical disadvantage from the giants to the monsters. And so, they almost completely cleared the monsters.

The watching Giant King muttered softly.

“Is this only the beginning?”

Boom!

A massive wave spread from the sky. Amidst their shouts, the giants hesitated for a moment.

From the rift, monsters began to fall again.

And the monsters that appeared were clearly stronger than those they had dealt with so far.

“No matter!”

One of the giants charged, shouting. A monster in front swung its long arm. The giant confidently held up his shield.

Crunch.

The shield crumbled, and the giant was thrown back.

These monsters were significantly stronger than the B-grade ones.

If Taesan had seen them, he would have classified them as A-grade.

Hundreds of A-grade monsters rushed in at once. The giants held their weapons with stern faces.

Crunch.

Taesan shook off the tentacles. Only three remained now. He was almost done.

Whoo.

A space opened above the monster.

Dark, dense energies poured down like a waterfall, beginning to inhabit the monster.

“Well, that figures.”

[Again with this. Again. Again. Aren't they tired of it?]

The ghost muttered in disbelief.

The High Gods used every means to kill Taesan.

It was no different here. Taesan wasn’t flustered as he had anticipated such a change at least once.

Crack.

The severed tentacles of the monster wriggled, growing back with small thorns on them.

Simultaneously, the thorns on the tentacles shot out like arrows.

Pffft!

The thorns stuck into the ground. Taesan leaped, swinging his sword.

Crack!

The thorns were sliced all at once.

But again, more thorns shot out from the tentacles, targeting Taesan.

There were too many thorns to deflect with a sword.

Taesan quickly decided there was no need to use two swords. Instead of a sword, he pulled out the Shield of Aegis.

Clink!

The thorns pounded the shield. There was a rebound, but it was bearable. No damage was taken.

Taesan exerted force in his feet.

[You have activated the White Rune Shield.]

Boom!

A bright white shield materialized in front of Taesan. The incoming thorns pounded against the shield. It didn’t last long, but it afforded Taesan enough time to move.

Crack!

Taesan swung his sword, shattering the thorns like brittle straw. However, the tentacles continued to produce more thorns.

Cutting the thorns proved pointless.

He needed to sever the tentacles that were producing them.

To accomplish this, he had to approach the tentacles, just as before.

Sizzle!

Dozens of tentacles spread out simultaneously.

And thousands of thorns hurtled towards Taesan.

Taesan exerted force in his feet.

[You have activated Apostle Transformation [Lakiratas].] [You have activated Marbas' Pitch-Black Wave.]

Boom.

A black wave surged through the intervening space. The waves rose greedily, rushing towards the thorns.

The thorns were engulfed and obliterated by the waves.

The black wave continued unabated.

It devoured everything in its path, as if to envelop it all.

Taesan directed the waves as he charged forward. The monster gathered its tentacles and fired thorns in unison.

The thorns became stuck in the black wave. The wave hesitated for a moment, then surged forward even more fiercely.

Boom!

The wave exploded.

In an instant, thousands of thorns were annihilated.

Thud.

Taesan stomped his foot.

Suddenly, now ahead of the tentacles, Taesan raised his sword above his head.