“What, what do you want!”

“The thorn. And tell me the location of the apostle guarding it.”

The demon began to babble nervously.

Taesan memorized every piece of information and let go of the demon.

“Cough, cough!”

“Get lost.”

“……Really?”

“Didn’t I say I’d spare you? Do you want me to kill you?”

“No.”

The demon quickly shook its head and started to run away in a hurry.

“Good.”

He identified the location. It’s about a month’s distance north from here.

Since it takes a demon a month, Taesan could arrive much sooner.

Before heading toward the thorn, Taesan opened the hidden system window.

[Your Soul Ascension has been activated.] [The proficiency of Twisted Soul Tuning has increased by 8%.] [You have acquired the special continuous activation skill [Cradle in the Abyss].]

Although not very powerful, the proficiency of Soul Tuning increased significantly due to the number of demons defeated, and a new skill was acquired.

[Special Continuous Activation Skill: Cradle in the Abyss] [Proficiency: 1%] [Those who live in the dark depths perceive it as a sanctuary and gain strength from it. When within the domain of the high god, the power of the domain can be enhanced. Currently, it is very weak and seems to affect the mind when drawing upon this power.]

The demons of this place had lived in the forsaken land for countless years, their lifespans ended, bound to the earth.

It seemed to be a skill that could use part of their power at will. Taesan tried gathering the power spread across the ground, and it started to infuse him.

As the power was drawn up, his body began to twist. From deep within his mind, an alien transformation began.

“It’s hard to use.”

If he mishandled it, he would end up completely ruined like them.

But if used properly, it could enhance his power significantly. It was not a bad skill.

“Found it!”

Squash.

With a cry of joy, Taesan crushed the demon’s head underfoot.

[You have activated Perfect Fairy Wings.]

Wings unfurled.

[You have activated The Deer Walking on the Wind Path.]

Then, the wind enveloped his body.

The distance to the thorn was about a day’s travel. He planned to fly without using too much power.

“Minerva. Follow me.”

He muttered softly and flew in the direction the demon had indicated. He could feel Minerva following quickly.

The scenery began to change rapidly. The demons who had been shouting at Taesan from a distance were quickly stunned as he passed by and then hastily tried to chase after him.

But the more they chased, the more the distance increased. Minerva, who was following, clicked her tongue.

“Too fast. Even I can’t keep up properly.”

“Hi, hiik.”

Anetsha, who was in her arms, tightened her grip, her face pale.

Minerva’s speed was like a storm. Just passing by caused weaker demons to be torn apart.

Yet the distance continued to widen. Though she was conserving power to avoid being reverse-summoned, even as the Spirit King, she couldn’t catch up.

“As a king, I can’t afford to whine.”

With a determined face, Minerva sped up.

Taesan was sprinting.

The demons tried to catch him, but it was useless. Each time the wind surrounding Taesan flowed out, the demons burst apart.

There were still five more fingers. But they didn’t appear, seemingly biding their time.

He could guess where and what they were doing.

A week passed like that.

Taesan reached his destination.

“It really is the thorn.”

A massive jet-black thorn was embedded in the earth.

The thorn, as tall as a mountain, exuded a palpable power even from a distance.

‘……A rift in the sky on Earth.’

The total amount of power felt was overwhelming, but there was a familiar sense to it.

“Whew. Master.”

Minerva, arriving late, caught her breath. Anetsha slumped down.

“Ugh.”

“Are you alright?”

“No……”

Anetsha huddled, trying to regain her composure.

Barkaza, arriving even later, complained.

[Isn't this too fast? If the king hadn’t lent me her power, I’d still be far behind.]

“Still, I did adjust for your sake.”

Minerva would have been reverse-summoned by now if Taesan had truly sped up.

Barkaza snorted.

[He's really a monster.]

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“First… I’ll approach. And handle the ones in front.”

A multitude of demons were waiting in front of the thorn.

Among them were five particularly strong demons. One of them saw Taesan and spoke proudly.

“See? I told you he would come this way eventually. Why run around and get tired?”

“Hmm… It’s true. I was half-skeptical, but you were right.”

A woman with a rapier smiled and took a step forward.

“I am the second finger serving the proud and great god. Have you met the other fingers by any chance?”

Taesan nodded.

The woman’s smile grew wider.

“So, coming here means you defeated them all? Good. Very good. This means I can become the first finger.”

She laughed loudly.

“Now the great god will pay attention to me!”

“Really?”

Taesan nonchalantly drew his sword.

The woman twirled her rapier.

“You must be strong. You must have fought and defeated the other fingers. But they weren’t weak either.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Even though you’re not showing it, you’ve used a lot of power, right? Running here, avoiding fights with demons, you must have exhausted yourself.”

Taesan realized what she and the other demons were aiming for by waiting here.

She stomped her foot in excitement.

“I won the gamble!”

The other fingers targeted Taesan. And Taesan defeated them.

In the process, Taesan got injured and exhausted, which they aimed for.

“Hyenas.”

All the demons gathered here must have been aiming for that.

The demons, except for the fingers, probably came here gambling on the possibility that the fingers might fail. They came to kill the severely weakened Taesan.

“Call it what you will. What’s important is to win.”

The woman bared her teeth.

“So die!”

The woman rushed at him, her posture incredibly urgent as if she didn’t want anyone else to steal the kill.

Fwish!

The rapier aimed for Taesan’s head.

Taesan raised his hand.

Bang!

The wind burst and struck the woman’s face. Her expression wavered.

“Huh?”

Her rapier was caught in Taesan’s fingers.

“It wasn’t a bad plan. You aimed well.”

But the premise was wrong.

Taesan wasn’t weak enough to get injured while fighting with his fingers.

Crunch.

“Keuh.”

Taesan’s sword pierced the woman’s chest. She coughed up blood and staggered back.

“W-Wait!”

“I have no intention of dragging this out.”

[You have activated Frozen World.] [You have activated Starlight Arrow.]

A severe cold stormed around them. The woman reeled back in horror.

Crack!

She barely avoided the freezing cold that clung to her. Those around her who couldn’t avoid it froze solid.

Taesan fired the arrow in his hand.

The light flickered at close range.

“Aaaah!”

The woman’s body burned. The other fingers were no different. Their abilities were too lacking to avoid it.

Taesan rushed at them as they floundered in the light.

His sword pierced their hearts.

“Keuk.”

He swiftly dealt with the other confused fingers. It was much easier than before, probably because they underestimated Taesan, thinking he had weakened.

“Hyenas are always like this.”

Having dealt with them all in an instant, Taesan turned his gaze.

The thorn was inside a huge black wall. It exuded powerful energy from beyond the wall.

The waves spread in all directions, creating the domain of the high god.

And he could feel someone next to the thorn.

“The twisted demons that will rush here now. Please take care of them.”

“Got it.”

[Understood. Master.]

“I’ll do my best.”

Leaving the approach of the demons to them, Taesan advanced to the wall.

He placed his hand on the wall and applied force. The wall shattered with a roar. Fragments flew in all directions towards the thorn.

At that moment, darkness rose.

The fragments flying toward the thorn were instantly swallowed and disappeared.

“You are quite the violent one.”

A gentle voice echoed. It was a calm voice that seemed unrelated to battle.

“This thorn is the last thing our god left us. I can’t allow mere fragments to touch it.”

It was a man dressed in black.

His hair was long, reaching the back of his neck, and his face looked too delicate to harm even an insect.

He smiled at Taesan and held the hem of his robe.

“Hello. You are a strong one.”

Bowing, he spoke softly.

“I may have a weak body, but I hold the position of the apostle of the great one. My name is Ilain.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Taesan drew his sword. At his ready-to-attack stance, Ilain raised his hand.

“I don’t deny your actions. You and I will inevitably fight. But before that, could we have a brief conversation?”

Taesan looked at Ilain’s face.

There was no hostility.

However, it was impossible for someone who believed in a high god for countless years to be sane. His expressions could not be trusted, but Taesan lowered his sword for now.

The apostle of the high god wanted to talk.

And Taesan also had questions.

Ilain smiled gently.

“Thank you.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“It’s not difficult. It’s very straightforward.”

He looked at Taesan and began to speak.

“When you set foot here, the great one showed you an emotion. Do you know what that was?”

“It was greed.”

The high god showed Taesan greed.

Ilain nodded.

“That’s strange.”

The high god was a perfect being from birth. Their power does not diminish and is formidable.

Even transcendents struggle to fend off the gods who interfere in the world.

Such a being showed greed towards a mortal like Taesan.

Although Taesan was strong, he was still incredibly weak compared to transcendents or immortals. His potential was just that - potential, not yet realized.

It was not mere strength that made the high god show greed towards him.

Something different.

“What do you think the great one desires from you? Why do you think they chose not to kill you?”

Ilain spoke softly.

“You know the answer.”

There wasn’t much to think about.

What did the high god desire from him?

It was not mere strength.

What he had that caught the high god’s eye was clear.

Soul Ascension.

The power of the high god he obtained through it.

And the boundary that was made by mixing divinity.