Ascension Through Skills
Chapter 434: 85th Floor, The Ashen Woman. Societ Garudentia (2)

Return to Earth.

It was already the seventh time. As soon as the system window appeared, naturally, the community was in an uproar. People from various countries chatted with one another.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: This time, all the players on Earth might gather together.］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: That’s very likely.］

［Daniel Darmon［Hard］: Hmm... I can’t quite get a grasp on how things will go.］

During the sixth return, Europe, the United States, and Asia gathered separately in three groups. This time, it was highly probable that all players on Earth will gather together.

Anxiety and tension spread among the players. But the players from Asia did not fear.

They had confidence—confidence that they would win.

［Baek Sanghun［Normal］: We’ve got Taesan!］

［Gulshan Debaiah［Normal］: As long as we have Taesan, we can win! We won’t be defeated!］

They cried out Taesan’s name. They offered him unwavering trust and devotion.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: ...We’ve seen your power in person, but even then you weren’t going all out. I wonder if we’ll end up worshipping you like they do? Hard to say.］

［Kang Taesan［Solo］: Whether you believe in me or not is up to you.］

Taesan had never once forced anyone to worship him.

［Kang Taesan［Solo］: But there’s nothing wrong with worship. In fact, it might even be a good thing for humanity.］

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Worshipping you, you mean?］

［Kang Taesan［Solo］: Yeah.］

A world driven to the brink of destruction by a High God.

There, Taesan received the faith of all living beings and became the master of that world.

It was entirely possible on Earth as well.

But faith couldn’t be forced. True belief had to come from deep within their hearts—

—something he couldn’t control.

Taesan changed the subject.

［Kang Taesan［Solo］: How far has everyone gotten?］

One by one, people began to respond. The Korean Hard Mode players were around the middle of the 70th floor. In the U.S., they had just entered the 70th floor. Other countries were similar to the U.S.

Hard Mode had reached exactly the level Taesan had predicted.

The most important was Solo Mode.

［Kang Junhyeok［Solo］ : Mid-50s floor.］

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］ : I’m on the 64th floor.］

［Kamal Hassan［Solo］ : I’ve reached the upper 40s.］

Other Solo Mode players, who hadn’t drawn much attention, also began to speak up.

Overall, they had progressed deeper than Taesan had expected. At this level—

—they could become significant assets.

［Kang Taesan［Solo］ : Did something happen? You’ve progressed much faster than I thought.］

［Kang Junhyeok［Solo］ : We’ve been sharing all kinds of information. And noona was a huge help.］

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］ : I’ve been figuring out the Labyrinth on my own, but she seemed to know it even better than I did. How the hell did she do that?］

［Lee Taeyeon［Solo］: Just old-fashioned grinding. That’s all.］

Lee Taeyeon posted a message.

［Lee Taeyeon［Solo］ : You asked about what floor we reached, right? I’m on the 69th floor now.］

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］ : ...That’s disgustingly fast.］

Amelia grumbled. She had believed that only Taesan could compare to her. But at some point, Lee Taeyeon had rapidly caught up—

—and even surpassed her.

Still, she wasn’t upset or jealous. Her pride had already been shattered by Taesan. And she had gotten quite close to Lee Taeyeon through frequent chats.

She was simply curious.

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］ : Something definitely changed, but you won’t tell me no matter how much I ask.］

［Lee Taeyeon［Solo］ : It’s just a change in mindset. Nothing big.］

［Kang Taesan［Solo］ : The Deep Floors, huh. For you, that shouldn’t be a problem.］

With her current strength, she could probably break through the Deep Floors without Taesan’s help.

The conversation continued. Taesan shared partial information about the floors they needed to conquer and explained how to acquire some of the skills he possessed.

［Kang Junhyeok［Solo］: ...Even hearing it again, it sounds unreal. Can we really get them?］

［Kang Taesan［Solo］: If you work at it, you should be able to get at least a few. Don’t obsess over it.］

In fact, Lee Taeyeon had acquired Sure Hit and Addition. The others had a decent shot too.

After explaining everything in detail, Taesan closed the community.

Taesan was also making plenty of preparations for the return. He could immediately bring Veldencia and Diana to Earth.

Diana stood at the boundary of immortality. Even if Veldencia had weakened, he was still at the upper echelon level. With the two of them, they could greatly boost survival.

And then, black magic.

Taesan had acquired the Demon’s Domain, enabling him to create his own black magic.

Could he grant that black magic to Earth’s players?

It seemed possible—but since he hadn’t tested it yet, he couldn’t say for sure. If it worked, though, it would be a powerful asset.

‘Come to think of it…’

The Labyrinth had been split apart by the High Gods.

Transcendent beings weren’t affected by the division, but NPCs were. Veldencia and Diana would likely still remain in someone else’s Labyrinth, unable to fulfill their wishes.

‘I’ll have to ask Balbabamba about that.’

What happened to the NPCs separated like that? He decided to check later.

Taesan had finally come to understand the High Gods’ true goal. They must know that he was aware and would no longer bother hiding their desires. Rather than Earth—

—they would now come after Taesan alone.

And Taesan would defeat them.

Once again, Taesan headed for the 85th floor. This time, the quest window for the 85th floor finally appeared.

And the ghost, seeing the quest window, panicked.

[Huh?]

[85th Floor Quest Initiated.]

[Defeat Societ Garudentia.]

[Reward: The Ferocious Broken Sword.]

[Secret Reward: ???]

Societ Garudentia.

She, the Guide of Sin, was now the floor’s quest target.

“Did Balbabamba change it?”

The normal 85th floor could no longer stop Taesan, so it seemed the Labyrinth had changed the quest.

In other words, Societ was considered a fitting opponent—

—for the current Taesan.

[...She was a princess of a kingdom.]

The ghost spoke softly.

[One day, for no reason, she incurred the wrath of a planetary god. Her entire kingdom was cursed. Her father sacrificed himself, begging only that the people be spared—]

[—but nothing changed. Even the last dog was killed.]

The Transcendents were fickle. Hamon once tried to annihilate the demonkind of Vekveta for no reason.

Apparently, something similar happened in Societ’s world.

[She was the only survivor, thanks to others’ help. But no one accepted her. Instead, they placed a bounty on her head.]

[She barely survived and somehow made it into the Labyrinth. That’s where she met me.]

The ghost let out a sigh.

[I felt sorry for her. And I felt a sense of kinship. In the end, we were both royalty who lost everything and survived alone. So I helped her, told her many things, supported her. But……]

“You were killed by her.”

The first high-ranking member to insist on killing the ghost among the Guides—

—that was Societ Garudentia.

The ghost fell silent.

Taesan took a step forward.

He passed through the corridor, opened the door, and stepped inside.

And there stood Societ.

She was dancing.

Wearing a white dress, she performed a waltz with no partner. In her movements—

—an unmistakable elegance was present.

Taesan quietly observed. Before long, the waltz ended.

Societ smiled faintly and reached out toward the ghost. Like a princess selecting her partner at a ball, her expression was serene and graceful.

“Hello, my prince. Would you care to dance with me?”

[The Ashen Woman, Societ Garudentia, has appeared.]

---

[Sorry, but I ended up like this because of someone, so I can’t exactly dance.]

“Really? That’s a shame.”

Societ replied, her expression genuinely conveying regret.

‘She’s twisted.’

Taesan, who bore the Will of All Things, could tell. Societ’s emotions—

—were so thoroughly jumbled he could barely read them.

Resentment.

Longing.

Regret.

And—

[I must have been blind. I never imagined you would betray me.]

“You weren’t the only one. I didn’t think I would either.”

[Why did you betray me?]

The ghost’s tone turned sharp.

[You weren’t insane like the other Guides. You were remarkably human.]

The rest of the high command had all become twisted.

But Societ was different. That’s why the ghost had grown close to her.

[Not to speak too highly of myself, but I thought our relationship was quite good.]

“That’s true.”

Societ agreed, giving a bitter smile.

“Our relationship was good. Very much so. But you see, Bradley…”

Societ raised her finger and pointed at the ghost.

“You never knew anything about me.”

[…]

“You know, Bradley. You felt a sense of kinship with me, didn’t you? But I never felt that way about you. You always felt distant.”

[What?]

“You felt connected to me—

—because we were a prince and princess of ruined kingdoms. But apart from that, we were entirely different.“

Societ bit her lip.

“You once told me we should save our fallen kingdoms together. But I had no desire to save mine.”

[...Why not?]

“Because I was a cursed child.”

Societ spoke calmly.

“From birth, I was abandoned by the kingdom. Because I was born with powers that were unacceptable to the world. My existence was erased from the kingdom’s records, and the mother who gave birth to me was executed immediately. The only reason I survived—was because my power might prove useful in war.”

The ghost’s body trembled. Societ smirked faintly.

“First time hearing it, right? Of course. I lied to you. I told you that, like you, I was loved by my kingdom. That even though I was cursed, everyone still loved me.”

[That was a lie?]

“When the god trampled the kingdom, the one who offered himself in exchange for the people—wasn’t my father. My father dragged me by the hair to a cliff and shouted as he threw me off: ‘Take this child instead, spare us.’ I just… edited the story a bit.”

Societ hummed a tune.

“The kingdom perished, and I survived. But nothing changed. No one in the world accepted my existence. I ran, and ran, and ran—until I barely made it to the Labyrinth. That part was true.”

[…Why.]

After a moment of silence, the ghost asked in a tone of disbelief.

[Why did you lie to me?]

“Oh, that’s simple.”

Societ smiled sweetly.

“When you like someone, you don’t want to show them your ugly side, right?”

The ghost’s body trembled far more violently than before.

Societ saw that and looked like she’d expected it.

“You really didn’t know? Well, I figured. Back then, you were obsessed with your own goal.”

[You… liked me?]

“I love you.”

Societ’s voice was giddy, like a girl experiencing her first love.

“That hasn’t changed even now. You were the only one who embraced me, worried about me, leaned on me, and looked only at me.”

[Then why…]

The ghost barely managed to speak.

[Why did you kill me?]

“Because you weren’t looking at me.”

Societ spoke with a blank expression.

“Your only goal was to save your destroyed world, to live with the fiancée you loved. Do you know how painful it was for me to sit beside you, pretending to be fine, listening to you talk about her?”

Societ clenched her teeth.

“There was no place for me in your life. Once you cleared the Labyrinth—

—I would have been nothing more than a girl you once felt kinship with. Just that. And eventually, you would’ve forgotten me in your bliss.“

Her face twisted in anguish.

“Bradley. You’re everything to me.”

A girl who had never been loved, hated by everyone, clung to the first affection she had ever received.

“I want to remain inside you. I don’t want to be forgotten. I want to be more than a mere fragment of memory. I want to be something that pierces through your entire life. So how do I do that?”

“I know I’m twisted. I know this isn’t right either.”

She smiled.

“But this is my love, Bradley.”

The ghost said nothing.

He simply closed his mouth and stayed silent.

“Judging by your reaction, I guess I’ve achieved my goal. You won’t be able to forget me. But… this isn’t enough.”

Societ twisted her smile.

“I want you to be filled entirely with me.”

Click, click, click.

A dark energy spread from her. It was neither demonic nor divine.

It was something entirely different—deep and dense.

Societ, wearing her white dress, stood within the darkness.

“I love you. More than anything in this world. That feeling, at least, is no lie.”

Rumble!

And from the black energy, corpses began to rise.

Countless knights and mages appeared.

With unwavering tone, Societ declared:

“That’s why I will fill every part of you with me.”

The corpses moved as one.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.