“The reason the immortals want to kill you is because you have a potential they lack. It means they have given up. But… I haven’t.”

The witch smiled forlornly.

“I haven’t given up yet.”

Srrk.

A whip that had wrapped around Taesan’s wrist slithered towards the witch.

The witch, who was sipping tea, laughed at the sight of the whip.

“Come here.”

The whip rubbed against the witch as if it were a child reuniting with its long-lost parent.

“That child sold this to you, didn’t he? How nostalgic.”

“Are you talking about the shop owner?”

“The Dwarf King. He lost everything but didn’t have the power to reclaim it, so he made a contract with a magician. Poor child.”

The witch from the same world as the shop owner, and the owner of the wrist protector made by Taesan.

The witch, who had been stroking the whip, stood up.

“For now, rest. We’ll talk more later.”

Taesan stared blankly at the forest.

This place, where all sorts of vegetation grew and moved, was similar to the forest where the mystic of the 51st floor lived.

[Shaking and Trembling Weeds] [They have the strength to move on their own and shake the earth. Their repulsion is very strong, and they do not easily harmonize. They can only be controlled under specific conditions.]

He could see information about many of the plants here. And this information was something he had seen before.

‘Alchemy.’

A power different from magic that the gremlin of the 51st floor had used and taught him.

Most things here were similar to that.

Alchemy was certainly useful, but it had the prerequisite that you must set up an area in advance. So, unless he returned to Earth, it was practically impossible to use.

Could he raise his proficiency enough to use it in the labyrinth as well? Taesan fiddled with a leaf.

“What do you think?”

The witch, who was now standing behind Taesan, asked.

“This is my domain. My world.”

“It’s vast. And strong.”

Taesan let go of the leaf. It wasn’t an empty compliment. This forest was more powerful than any world Taesan had seen.

A being that created a world itself—that was an immortal.

It was truly a feat of a god.

Even though mortals couldn’t even hope to achieve it, the witch looked dissatisfied.

“This is my proud world, created with an immeasurable amount of time. But you, who are receiving the gods’ attention, would know.”

The witch smiled bitterly.

“My domain is different from theirs, isn’t it?”

Taesan nodded quietly.

Transcendents. Beings who had their own domains.

Their domains were complete in themselves. No one could intrude or interfere, and the concept of the gods held absolute laws.

Having been invited to many gods’ domains, Taesan knew.

Their domains were a universe in themselves.

Domains that operated solely on their laws and rules.

In contrast, the witch’s domain, while certainly strong, was merely a simple world. It was incomplete, without the laws that marked it as the witch’s domain.

“Transcendents have domains that they govern themselves. They are akin to absolute beings within their domains.”

The witch knelt and brushed the ground. The weeds followed her will and were swept away.

“In contrast, immortals are just strong and beyond mortality. That’s the end. They haven’t seen a higher world.”

The witch muttered.

“What is the difference between me and them? What makes them transcendents and keeps me an immortal?”

The witch, muttering quietly, looked at Taesan.

“I entered here by making a contract with a magician to find that out.”

The immortals Taesan had seen. The hunchbacked man who pursued twisted mysticism was driven mad by jealousy. Unable to become a transcendent, he sought to kill mortals with that potential.

The witch was different. She wanted to transcend her immortal status and become a transcendent.

“Do you think you could know?”

The way for an immortal to become a transcendent.

Taesan shook his head. He had no way of knowing such a thing.

“I don’t know.”

“No. You will know.”

The witch spoke with certainty.

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to come here. Even if you don’t know it yourself, what you have built up will know the answer.”

The witch, who had risen, waved her staff. The forest began to shake and tremble.

The world itself began to move in her grip.

Even if she wasn’t a transcendent, she was still a complete immortal on her own.

“So let’s make a deal. You’re quite an extraordinary child.”

Leaving the shaking world behind, she smiled.

“Show me what I want. In return, I’ll give you what you desire.”

[Sub Quest Start] [The immortal Green Witch wishes to transcend and have her own domain. She wants you to tell her how to do it.] [Quest Condition: Key to Becoming a Transcendent] [Reward: The Witch's Magic.]

“Will you accept?”

Taesan nodded at the quietly smiling witch.

[Sub Quest Start]

“Thank you.”

“It doesn’t seem like I had a choice.”

If he refused, she would force him to comply. The witch smiled awkwardly.

“Sorry. But I’m desperate too.”

She clapped her hands.

“Now. Let’s start right away.”

[……So, you came to me?]

“Because you can have a decent fight with this child.”

The giant of the lake said reluctantly.

[I will follow the master's orders. So, do I just fight as it is?]

“Yes. Fight hard. With the intent to kill each other.”

The witch stepped back and began to watch leisurely.

“Though I said that, I don’t know exactly what separates an immortal from a transcendent.”

“So you’re going to try various things.”

“Right. Battle is a simple criterion.”

[Hmm… if that's the master's wish.]

The giant of the lake gathered its strength. Taesan drew his sword.

Kugugung!

Power exploded.

The Giant of the Lake aimed to kill Taesan with all its might. Taesan, too, began to confront the giant seriously.

And the witch watched the scene quietly.

“As expected, he is strong.”

She quietly admired him. Although she never left her domain, she had various eyes and ears, so she knew the overall story within the labyrinth.

Therefore, she also knew about Taesan, the adventurer who had garnered the gods’ interest.

An adventurer in whom the arrogant and strict gods took a personal interest.

And an adventurer whom the immortals hated and wanted to kill.

She was intrigued by his strength and power. Seeing Taesan’s power in person was awe-inspiring.

The Giant of the Lake he was facing now was a creation she had put considerable effort into, possessing the greatest strength among mortal beings.

Such a being was being confronted with ease by an adventurer who hadn’t even set foot in the deep layers yet.

“The level that attracts the gods’ interest is more than sufficient.”

But it was not enough.

He was certainly remarkable, but not to the level the witch desired.

What she sought was the power to become a transcendent. The strength Taesan displayed was something she had possessed during her mortal days.

But she hadn’t become a transcendent. Such power alone was insufficient.

“Is it a problem other than strength?”

When she settled in the labyrinth, she told the magician as a condition of their contract to invite any adventurer who could provide the key to the path of transcendence to her domain.

The magician agreed.

Thus, the witch and the magician made a contract.

However, it was nearly impossible. The way for an immortal to become a transcendent was unknown to anyone. If it were that simple, there wouldn’t be so many immortals driven mad by jealousy.

The witch fully understood that.

Nevertheless, the reason she made the contract was due to a faint glimmer of hope.

The witch intended to stop the fight. She was at a moment where she wanted to gauge Taesan’s power through means other than combat.

The Giant of the Lake unleashed a fierce power.

[Block this if you can!]

A swirling vortex of water. A strike that could crush mountains and split seas.

Facing such a vortex, Taesan opened his mouth.

“Disperse.”

Boom!

The vortex exploded, and water scattered in all directions. The giant was astonished, and the witch’s pupils widened.

“Word of power?”

The power Taesan had just shown was one the witch also knew.

The power to influence the material world with mere will.

It was a power that mortals couldn’t possess, only those who had transcended mortality could obtain.

“How?”

It was a question.

And she became interested.

If a mortal could wield a word of power, then perhaps truly…

The witch calmed her excitement and waved her staff. With a loud noise, the Giant of the Lake was flung away.

[Master?]

“That’s enough.”

The witch, who had stopped the fight, looked at Taesan.

The flushed witch spoke in an elevated tone.

“It seems I’ve found a clue. Let’s talk slowly now.”

The witch began to interrogate Taesan. She asked how he had obtained the word of power and how he wielded it.

Taesan provided an answer.

“Soul Ascension?”

The witch looked puzzled.

“What kind of skill is that?”

“I don’t know the details either.”

In his previous life, it was a skill he had obtained while facing S-ranks. The effect was certainly remarkable. It activated against the monsters of the ancient gods and had helped Taesan gain many things.

But it was too extraordinary to fully understand. He didn’t know where Soul Ascension originated from or its limitations. He didn’t know everything about it.

“Do you not know either, Witch?”

She was an immortal, and Taesan was a mortal. Unlike the gods who met Taesan and comprehended his powers overall, the witch seemed unaware of what exactly Taesan possessed.

“I am an immortal.”

The witch said calmly.

“I am certainly powerful and immortal, but that’s it. I can grasp the general extent of your power, but unlike the transcendent, I can’t understand everything. It’s a truly insignificant position.”

The witch smiled bitterly.

“So, I have to check everything individually. Let’s try again.”

As the witch instructed, Taesan continued to use the Word of Power.

He used it under various conditions, continually gauging its intensity and the extent of its influence.

“Try to block it. Kneel.”

[The Green Witch has activated the Declaration of Subjugation.]

The declaration, imbued with will, tried to trample Taesan. It forcibly bent his knees and made him want to surrender to the witch from the depths of his mind.

But Taesan gathered his will and spoke.

“No.”

[You have activated the Declaration of Denial.]

The will that had been trampling Taesan disappeared.

Taesan pressed his forehead. It was painful, but he could endure it.

[The proficiency of the Word of Power has increased by 1%.]

“A mortal resists the declaration?”

The witch’s face showed admiration.

“Amazing.”

“Is that such an extraordinary feat?”

“It is. To transcend mortality means to exist in a completely different realm from mortals. For example, if you tried to kill an ant trapped in a cup, could the ant resist?”

Impossible. If a human crushed the cup, the ant would die without being able to do anything.

There was that much of a power gap between a mortal and a being who had transcended mortality.

“What you just did is akin to that.”

As an ant in a cup, he withstood and endured the murderous intent of a human.

To resist the Word of Power of a being who had transcended mortality had that kind of significance.

“Does your head hurt whenever you use the Word of Power?”

The witch, thinking for a moment, spoke.

“Probably because your status isn’t sufficient to handle the power contained in the will. The higher your status rises, the less it will hurt, but it won’t be completely resolved. The power of will is something that only those who have transcended mortality can handle.”

The idea of a mortal handling the Word of Power was absurd.

But Taesan was indeed handling the Word of Power.

The witch thought quietly.

“Soul Ascension, huh.”

Taesan had obtained the Word of Power because he had faced the world with Soul Ascension and acquired conceptual skills. The witch listened to Taesan’s explanation and pondered over Soul Ascension.

The more she understood, the more astonishing it was.

Soul Ascension plundered the power contained in the soul. Up to that point, it wasn’t particularly impressive. It wasn’t uncommon to kill an opponent and steal their power.

But plundering had clear limits. No matter how extraordinary, it was extremely rare to plunder the power of someone stronger than oneself.

In contrast, Soul Ascension had no such limits.

Whether it was someone who had reached the edge of mortality, monsters trying to destroy the world as tools of the ancient gods, or the will of the world itself.

It plundered power without distinction.

“What is that?”

Even the witch, who had lived for eons, couldn’t comprehend it.

She had even brought monsters from within her domain and watched Taesan use Soul Ascension directly, but she still couldn’t understand the flow of power.

An immortal like herself couldn’t comprehend the skill a mortal possessed.

And that wasn’t the end. The witch’s pupils widened at the gray power Taesan wielded.

Taesan roughly swung the gray power. A part of the forest was crushed and disappeared.

Rumble…

The power contained within it was something beyond mortality.

The witch asked in a trembling voice.

“…What is that?”

“I don’t know either.”

Taesan dusted off his hands as he spoke. He only knew that the ancient gods were targeting him because they could do something with this power. The gods hadn’t provided a clear answer about the gray power.

“…Incredible.”

Her eyebrows trembled thinly.

The powers she couldn’t understand.

Those would be the clues to the path of transcendence.

The witch smiled.

“Was this the answer all along?”

Thousands, tens of thousands of years. She had been searching for longer than that, to transcend immortality and walk the path of transcendence.

The path she had half given up on was finally appearing.

The witch calmed her excitement and spoke.

“Let’s keep confirming.”