His body, having kicked off the ground, falls. From the ground, monsters, aiming for him, raised their hands like zombies and waved them. Taesan did not block.
Attack Nullification is target-based. In other words, he could unconditionally block twice from a single opponent. Numerous attacks were directed at Taesan as he landed on the ground, and all of them were erased.
[Absolute Nullification of the First Attack has been activated.]
[Absolute Nullification of the First Attack has been activated.]
[Absolute Nullification of the Second Attack has been activated.]
[Absolute Nullification of the First Attack has been activated.]
[Absolute Nullification of the Second Attack has been activated.]
Nullification, nullification, nullification, nullification, nullification— Countless System Windows. Had he not configured the settings beforehand, they would have been enough to cover his entire field of vision. Having landed on the ground, Taesan moved his sword.
The first form of the Sword of the Storm Scar—Wolf Fang.
Kwajik.
Using the elasticity of his entire body, he slashed in all directions. He shattered attempts to block with sheer force, and for those who tried to dodge, he twisted the trajectory of his blade, sinking it into their necks like a serpent. He parried the opponents' attacks, disrupting their coordination and causing them to strike one another.
"Kaaaah!"
"Gek!"
In an instant, all the monsters in the vicinity disappeared. The monsters were stronger than average, but they were still clearly weaker than him. If their power had been on par with their numbers, which were in the hundreds, he would have truly told them to go to hell.
And it was in times like these that the Proof of Struggle shone.
[Your Proof of Struggle has been activated.]
It was a Skill obtained by clearing Rakiratas's Enhanced Trial. As long as combat continued, his Health, Mana, Stats, and speed—everything—improved each time he defeated an enemy. When facing so many enemies, it was practically the same as being invincible.
But this was a divine trial. Moreover, it was a trial personally enhanced by Maria, who was presumed to be on the same level as Rakiratas. It was not so easy that he could overcome it with the Proof of Struggle alone.
Swish.
[You have taken 12 Damage.]
A long gash appeared on Taesan's forearm.
Taesan frowned.
"What?"
A wound had suddenly appeared. Judging by the damage taken, it wasn't a scratch from a piece of rock either. Since there were so many enemies, it was impossible to block every attack, so Taesan casually continued the fight.
Fwip.
[You have taken 14 Damage.]
But once again, a gash appeared. This time, it couldn't be a mistake. The wound had appeared from the direction he was crushing the monsters.
He hadn't seen any manifestation of Magic either, so that left only one possibility. 'An invisible monster.'
Taesan frowned.
'I can't feel anything?' Thanks to Sense Enhancement, Taesan's senses could even detect insects in the grass. Even if it was a stealthed monster, its presence wouldn't have just vanished, so he should have been able to sense its approximate location, but he truly felt nothing at all.
In the meantime, another gash appeared.
[You have taken 13 Damage.]
The moment the Damage Window appeared, Taesan moved his sword. He slashed everything around him like a storm, but there was no sensation of cutting anything. 'It's not simple Invisibility, is it.'
It either removed its body from this place, or it had teleportation. At any rate, it was not a foe he could catch easily. Taesan made a quick decision.
'I won't aim for it.' He focused on the monsters attacking him. As he struck them down and defeated them, another gash appeared, but this time, he paid it no mind.
The damage from each hit wasn't large. It was at a level that could be recovered with Proof of Struggle. In that case, there was no reason to obsess over it.
Since it attacked in a way he didn't understand, he didn't know how to deal with it. To stubbornly fixate on it in this situation could lead to a great loss, so his judgment was to abandon it entirely. A monster in the form of an alluring woman sent a smile his way.
[The Succubus's Bewitchment has been activated.]
[Judgment unnecessary!]
Kwajik.
Taesan crushed its head just like that. 'There are Succubi too?' Taesan frowned and examined them one by one.
There were more monsters he was seeing for the first time than ones he knew. Literally, every kind of monster was there. 'I think I get it.'
In the worst-case scenario you'd least want to experience, bet everything you have and win. That was what Maria wanted. He could feel the presence of the god, looking down cheerfully from afar.
'I'll show you.' He smiled faintly and gripped his sword. The distance he could move was limited.
For him, who preferred to hit and run, it was an incredibly frustrating situation. The types of enemies were also diverse, so he had to calculate and move for each one.
'How troublesome.'
It didn't matter much. Block, pierce, and cut down. Thanks to the Sword of the Storm Scar, he was able to defeat the approaching monsters without taking much damage.
However, the body has a limited range of motion. Attacks coming from directly behind his back were difficult to block.
"Karuk!"
A tiny, rat-like monster crawled on the ground, aiming for Taesan's nape. The monster jumped and lunged with its jaws. At that moment, flames erupted.
[You have activated Scorching Orb.]
Pwoong!
"Kieeeek!"
The rat-like monster vanished with a scream. He dealt with the monsters aiming for his back using Magic. Many monsters died and disappeared, but still, there was no end to them.
"Kueooo!"
A giant slammed down its club. Taesan, who blocked it, felt his ankles momentarily buckle. Against a force even stronger than that, Taesan clenched his teeth and exerted his strength.
[You have activated Power Strike.]
Teong!
He parried the club and blocked the incoming blades. He took a fair bit of damage, but his quick response minimized the loss. While blocking, he observed the monsters' habits.
Taesan caught another rat-like monster aiming for his nape and threw it in front of him. The Orc swinging a greatsword flinched for a moment, caught the rat-like monster, and set it down.
Kwajik.
As his blade pierced the Orc's nape, he became certain. The monsters do not attack each other. Even if it meant revealing an opening.
"Uwo!"
The giant swung its club down again. Taesan instantly threw himself forward. He grabbed the nape of a terrified Goblin and threw it at the giant.
The Goblin screamed as the club meant to crush him came down.
"Kkeeeek!"
At the desperate scream, the giant reflexively hesitated with its club. Taesan activated Frost Arrow.
[You have activated Magic Acceleration.]
Swaek!
The accelerated Frost Arrow pierced through the Goblin and impaled the giant.
"Uwooo!"
Taesan kicked off the ground and reached the giant's eye level. Erupting in rage from the pain, the giant swung its club.
Tak.
He grabbed the club and climbed higher. From atop the giant's head, he slammed his sword down.
[153 Damage dealt to the Giant.]
"Uwoooo!"
The sword pierced through its head and jutted out of its jaw. Its eyes momentarily lost their intelligence, and its mouth trembled. Smashing the head itself dealt massive damage and momentarily erased its intelligence.
Taesan moved his sword perilously close to the boundary line and cut down the giant. The giant fell.
[Your Proof of Struggle has been activated.]
"Kyaaaa!"
"Kyaruk!"
The monsters aimed for his falling body after he defeated the giant. Taesan donned his robe.
[You have activated the Robe of Shadowy Maneuvers. You will be stealthed for 1 second.]
His body vanished. The monsters that had been screeching with bloodshot eyes grew flustered.
"Kaak?"
Having landed on the ground, Taesan moved both hands. The legs of the monsters that hadn't noticed him were cleanly severed.
"Kyaaaa!"
Still, there was no end. Taesan clicked his tongue and assessed the situation again. The monsters, for the most part, tried to keep their order.
They didn't push aside weaker monsters in front to take their place. His judgment and decision were swift. If a weak one was in front, he left it alone and dealt with the stronger ones first.
In a situation like this, there could be no hesitation.
[A Skeleton Mage has activated Fireball.]
[A Skeleton Mage has activated Magic Arrow.]
Spells flew down from the sky. Taesan did not dodge.
[You have activated Parry.]
The spells brushed past Taesan and struck the surrounding monsters. Even amidst that, the invisible monster was still attacking Taesan. Without paying it any mind, he checked his surroundings.
To his left, a Lizardman's spear. To his right, a fist.
A Goblin.
From the sky, a Frost Arrow was flying in. He traced their trajectories and paths, then moved. He grabbed the Goblin's fist and swung it wide.
The spear that collided with the Goblin bent, and the Frost Arrow embedded itself in the Goblin's belly. Taesan threw it with great force. The Skeleton that was manifesting Magic was struck and fell.
The corpses of countless monsters lay scattered about. Taesan did not stop. By the time he had defeated two-thirds of them, not a single easy monster remained.
They either possessed strange special abilities, or they were simply strong enough to withstand his sword strikes. To take one down, he had to accept a loss of Health. The rate of his health depletion began to outpace the rate of recovery from Proof of Struggle.
His Attack Nullifications had all been triggered long ago. The fight continued like that for thirty minutes, and when his Health dropped to 10%, he could see the end.
"Hoo."
Wiping away his sweat, he gripped his trembling sword. Normally, his stamina wouldn't be exhausted from just an hour of fighting, but since it was a battle where he had literally bet everything, he too was drained. It was not over yet.
Four monsters remained.
"Are you guys the last ones?"
Clad in red armor, they drew their longswords and surrounded him from four directions.
Death Knight.
If Lee Tae-yeon's words were true, this was the Boss of the 20th Floor. That wouldn't be all. Looking closely, their armors were similar yet subtly different.
On the chest plates of the rusted armor, decorations from their time as humans could be seen. It seemed they were Adventurers who had died here and become Death Knights.
"Is it similar to a Servant of Rakiratas? And there are four of them?"
Each one would be stronger than the simple Boss of the 20th Floor. Taesan took out the Blade of Self-Harm and stabbed his arm. He recovered the 500 Health that had been stored, but he was still not in optimal condition.
At best, he was at about 60%.
Cheolkeong.
The blades turned toward Taesan. Taesan beckoned with his finger.
"Come on."
Four swords stabbed at Taesan from all directions. His sword moved. The red sword clashed with Taesan's, making a loud noise.
Swish.
A long gash was drawn across his cheek. It was impossible to block all attacks from four directions. Moreover, his opponents were not weak.
They were individuals who had learned systematic swordsmanship, so it was only natural for wounds to appear here and there on his body. If he hadn't learned the Sword of the Storm Scar, it would have been truly difficult. Even with it, it was hard since there were four opponents.
Kaang!
Taesan blocked the sword and activated a Skill.
[You have activated Forced Duel.]
A System Window appeared, and all attacks except for the target's were erased. At that moment, the opponent swiftly pulled back. Taesan clicked his tongue.
"Damned restriction."
If not for the spatial restriction, it would have been very easy. He could just initiate a Forced Duel and chase them to the end to take them down. But because of the restriction that he couldn't go beyond a certain area, there wasn't much he could do if the opponent immediately created distance.
Taesan activated Scorching Orbs and Frost Arrows. He tried attacking by mixing Acceleration and Explosion in various ways, but not a single one landed. If he mixed them with combat, it might be a different story, but used on their own like this, they seemed to be at a level his opponents could block.
"Hoo."
Fortunately for him, Proof of Struggle also recovered Mana, and because his Magic Proficiency was high, his mana consumption was greatly reduced, so his Mana had barely depleted. When the duration of the Forced Duel ended, the Death Knights charged. Taesan gripped his sword.
[You have activated Deflection.]
He activated Deflection four times in a row. The attacks that came all at once were deflected simultaneously. Taesan roughly swung the sword he held with both hands.
Gashes appeared on the armor of the knights who had lost control of their bodies.
[25 Damage dealt to Maria's Servant (Fake).]
Taesan frowned at the amount of damage dealt. It was the same with the Servant of Rakiratas, but their Defense Power was considerably high. The knight who took the least damage suddenly thrust its sword.
He activated Counter. His body moved naturally, counterattacking the knight's attack. He parried the sword and struck back.
It retreated with a loud clang on its chest.
Kagak.
He lowered his stance and moved both hands roughly. He dodged and parried the swords aiming for his entire body, but a long gash appeared on his forearm.
[You have taken 56 Damage.]
'As I thought, it's impossible.' Facing four at once is impossible. Having judged calmly, Taesan kicked the knight in front of him and blocked the attacks of the others, bouncing away.
The kicked knight quickly stabbed with its sword. Taesan did not block and spread his arms. The sword pierced deeply into Taesan's chest.
[You have activated Fortitude.]
[You have taken 73 Damage.]
[You have activated Forced Duel.]
"Got you."
Taesan whispered to the knight and grabbed its arm. Realizing something was wrong, the knight quickly tried to pull away, but it was held fast and could not escape. He plunged his sword into the knight's chest.
The other knights moved their swords, but Forced Duel was active, so none of their attacks landed. The knight somehow managed to evade and endure. The duration of Forced Duel was 10 seconds.
If it focused solely on evasion, it wasn't impossible to survive.
[You have activated Forced Duel.]
Then it was a problem that could be solved by using it one more time. Under the continuous attacks, the knight could not hold on and collapsed. With this, he had taken down one.
Three remained.
"Ho..."
Taesan blocked the attack with an ambiguous expression. Taesan's Health was greatly reduced. He had taken small amounts of damage here and there, and the last attack was decisive.
Although he had halved the damage with Fortitude, he still took 70 damage. His remaining Health was about 150. Now, it was a situation where he truly could not afford to be hit even once. Focusing his mind even more, he moved his body.
Although there were now three of them, their attacks were still fierce, and it was hard to find an opening. He could counterattack while taking some damage like before, but now his Health was too low. He moved his sword to its absolute limit, being as careful as possible.
He parried and blocked every attack.
Teong!
The swords clashed and bounced off each other. Taesan immediately moved his other sword to block the attack from the left. He smoothly pulled back the sword that had blocked and parried the attack from the right.
He reached a state where his body moved before his thoughts.
Kagagak!
Block the sword.
Parry. Deflect.
He repeated just these three motions as if in a trance. From a certain point, he stopped using Skills. He blocked all attacks with only his sword.
He had a sudden realization. 'It's a bit rough.' He swung roughly with both hands.
The Sword of the Storm Scar was a swordsmanship style that pressed the opponent with the force of a storm, preemptively blocking the opponent's attacks to gain an advantage. Among them, the first sword form, Wolf Fang, was a tyrannical style of swordsmanship that pressured the opponent by literally clawing at their entire body like a wolf.
'Couldn't I make this a bit smoother?' With that light question in mind, Taesan moved his sword. Its end, unlike before, flowed smoothly.
[Oh...?]
The Ghost that had been watching silently let out an exclamation of awe without realizing it. Leveling up through battle