Ascension Through Skills
Chapter 435: 85th Floor, The Ashen Woman. Societ Garudentia (3)

“A necromancer, huh.”

Taesan hurled himself toward the charging corpses. He clenched his fist and swung it as he stepped forward.

A fist wind exploded. Flesh from the corpses flew in all directions, and fragments of skeletons scattered everywhere.

Ruuuumble!

The corpses kept appearing without end.

Among them were even ones Taesan recognized.

Monsters he had defeated in the lower levels of the Labyrinth.

They were now moving as tools of Societ.

And those monsters were far stronger than when he had fought them below.

To use the beings she had defeated as corpses—

That was Societ’s power.

Taesan kicked forward. Dozens of beasts trying to bite him exploded at once. He kept moving his hand.

Crunch.

He crushed and smashed the corpses. Flesh stuck to his fingers.

But more corpses appeared than he had taken down.

In an instant, the room was filled with the dead.

Taesan swung his fist and opened his mouth.

“How does it feel? That feeling of knowing nothing about the one you thought you were close to.”

[Be quiet.]

The ghost replied curtly. The shock he had felt earlier had mostly subsided.

[……It’s surprising.]

He had known nothing about Societ.

He had believed her lies, and never once imagined that she might feel anything more than friendly affection toward him.

[And in the end, she killed me. I feel a bit sorry, but… the fact that Societ killed me doesn’t change.]

The ghost spoke in a calm voice.

[I’ve come to terms with it.]

“I see.”

Taesan opened his hand. Toward the hundreds of corpses rushing at him, he cast a spell.

[You have activated Mana Storm.]

Craaaaack!

A massive storm descended within the room.

In an instant, the corpses were shredded by the violent winds. Though Societ rapidly summoned more corpses, the storm did not cease. Rather, it consumed the corpses and grew even larger as it raged.

“A monster, truly.”

Societ let out a hollow laugh and placed her hand firmly on the floor with a serious expression.

“Come forth.”

Ruuuumble!

From the darkness, a massive corpse arose.

The head of a dog, the arms of an orc, the lower body of a basilisk.

A chimera made from countless corpses.

［Kyaaaaa!］

With a roar, the chimera charged into the Mana Storm.

Though the storm slowly ground its body apart, the chimera did not retreat and fiercely embraced the storm.

Ruuuuuumble!

Power clashed with power, and the Mana Storm, unable to endure, exploded. Blades of wind tore through the room.

［Kyaaaa……］

Then, having taken the brunt of the blades, the chimera collapsed, split into dozens of pieces.

Societ did not stop.

Toward the widespread darkness, she gave another command.

“Show yourself.”

Boom!

A massive arm appeared from the darkness.

It was large enough to fill the room in the Labyrinth. From beyond the shadows, a giant eye was felt.

[A giant’s corpse?]

“I went through a lot to get this one. Try to block it.”

It wasn’t just an ordinary giant. The power contained in its corpse was beyond even the top elites.

‘But still.’

To Taesan, it wasn’t anything special.

It wasn’t even worth using a buff skill. Taesan drew his sword and stepped forward.

Crack!

He severed and flung the arm away. The giant pressed Taesan with its whole body, and Taesan responded with a light swing of his sword.

Boom!

That alone shook the giant’s massive body. Taesan swung his sword and drove it into the arm emerging from the darkness.

[You have activated Collapse.]

The power flowing through the sword shattered the giant’s body.

Though the giant struggled in resistance, before overwhelming force, it was meaningless.

In an instant, the giant’s entire form collapsed and vanished.

Having lost all her cards, Societ was left alone in the room.

Taesan charged at her. Societ did not resist.

Stab.

The sword pierced through her chest.

Boom!

[You dealt 34,123 damage to Societ.]

[Societ has activated Necromancy. Her HP is fixed at 0, and her race transforms into Undead.]

“I thought maybe… but as expected, it’s not something I can stop with my power. It’s your victory.”

Societ said, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Taesan pulled out his sword.

She had survived through a skill, but that was all. Taesan no longer felt any power from her.

Taesan deliberately did not finish her off. The ghost stepped forward.

[……Societ.]

“Bradley.”

Societ smiled.

“He is your blade, huh.”

［No. This guy isn’t some tool of mine.］

The ghost denied Societ’s words.

“……That’s quite a surprising thing to say. Do you remember? Back then, you were so arrogant. You looked down on everyone. Even though you felt a sense of kinship with me, you never saw me as your equal.”

Societ chuckled.

“And now you recognize another. It seems your time with him has changed you quite a bit.”

[A lot of time has passed. I was buried alone in the grave, thinking about many things. I’m no longer the prince you remember.]

“Is that so? Then I’ve become someone from your past. How sad.”

[You killed me.]

The ghost’s voice was subdued.

[No matter what feelings you had or how you saw me, that doesn’t change. Farewell, Societ.]

Societ was the ghost’s goal.

The time had come for the long quest to meet its end.

Societ smiled faintly.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not how this ends.”

Boom!

The Labyrinth trembled violently.

Taesan swiftly swung his sword. The speed was beyond what any mortal could react to.

Screeeeech!

But it didn’t connect. A translucent barrier shielded Societ.

“He’s the one who defeated countless elites on his own. I knew from the beginning that I couldn’t win. But do you really think I’d bet everything on just myself?”

Societ stood up.

She laughed aloud and reached her hand toward the sky.

“Descend! O Great One! For your purpose, come down to this place!”

Rumble!

Space tore apart. A massive presence settled within the Labyrinth.

[The God of Lust, Exirea, has descended.]

A dense aura filled the Labyrinth.

Taesan instinctively remained on guard against Exirea.

The God of Lust. It was his first time seeing this transcendent being. And the wizard had once said—many transcendents wanted Taesan dead.

It was possible this one was among them.

Just as Taesan prepared to summon his strength—

［I haven’t come to kill you, adventurer. I have no interest in such matters.］

Exirea’s voice echoed.

［I have come to test you.］

“This is my final card. So, what do you think?”

Societ smiled faintly.

But neither the ghost nor Taesan were particularly surprised.

The descent of a transcendent—this had been somewhat expected.

[Similar to the Lion King.]

The Lion King had been the same. Knowing he couldn’t defeat Taesan on his own, he had offered himself to the God of Collapse to gain its aid.

[But it doesn’t matter anymore. You no longer mean anything to me.]

The ghost spoke in a calm, resolved tone.

Societ did not react with shock or anger. Instead, she smiled.

“I told you, didn’t I? This wouldn’t be enough. You think I’d fight using such ordinary means?”

Societ staggered and placed her hand on the floor.

The thick darkness that spread out gathered and condensed beneath her hand.

“Bradley. Do you remember your own death?”

[You stabbed me with the fixed-damage dagger while I was resting, right? I already know.]

“No. That’s something you were told by others after your death. You were asleep when you died. You never saw how it happened.”

Societ hummed.

“I am a necromancer. A wielder of corpses. Ghost—do you really think your body still lies buried in that grave?”

[……You?]

There was confusion in the ghost’s voice.

His reaction deepened Societ’s smile.

“Come out, my prince.”

A corpse emerged from the darkness. Taesan grimaced.

The corpse had platinum hair.

It possessed a balanced physique. Aside from a small scar on the chest, it was remarkably pristine. Despite its expressionless, corpse-like face, its noble aura couldn’t be hidden.

Taesan recognized that face.

[Ah…….]

The ghost let out a moan. A system window revealed the truth to them.

[The corpse of the Prince of the Destroyed World, Bradley, has appeared.]

Seeing one’s own corpse with their own eyes was not a common experience. The ghost barely managed to speak.

[You’re… insane.]

“I told you. I’d make sure you’d never forget me.”

Societ beamed.

“Want to know something even more surprising, Bradley? Your body is alive.”

She was right. The ghost’s body had a heartbeat. His face held the vibrancy of the living.

“I’m a necromancer. Giving life to the dead isn’t that difficult. Without a soul, it can’t move… but if the soul were there, it could open its eyes again. Move again.”

He could be revived.

But the ghost showed no joy.

[As if you’d actually do that.]

“You’re right.”

Societ admitted it as well.

“My original plan was to force your soul into the body and make it fight against him. But your time with him… it changed you a lot. You’re no longer the prince I remember.”

Societ twisted her lips.

“You still long to fulfill your wish… but you wouldn’t truly kill or die for it anymore, would you?”

[…]

“But your past self would be different. Back then, you looked down on everyone. You saw them all beneath you. Just tools to fulfill your own wish.”

Societ placed her hand over her chest.

“To move a body, you need a soul. But it doesn’t have to be your soul.”

She kneeled before Exirea.

“I beg you, O God of Lust.”

[You are splendid. Sacrificing everything for love and desire. As the God of Lust, I gladly grant your request.]

[Exirea’s blessing is activated for her beloved. Exirea’s sphere of interference narrows.]

[And you, caught between god and mortal—you arrived just in time. This is my trial. Prove your power to me.]

Exirea’s voice thundered.

Something left Societ’s body.

Taesan could tell—it was her soul.

Societ’s power and presence, all of it, began to plummet. In the blink of an eye, she had fallen to the level of a mere mortal.

“Your opponent… is your past self.”

Her soul was being torn away. Even in the face of excruciating pain, Societ didn’t stop smiling.

“You will never forget me, my prince.”

At last, everything about Societ was absorbed by Exirea.

At the same time, Exirea’s divine authority descended upon Bradley.

“Hoo.”

A moment later, the sound of steady breathing was heard.

Bradley’s body opened its eyes. He frowned.

“…Where am I?”

［Ha.］

The ghost let out a bitter laugh he couldn’t hold back.

［The Prince of the Destroyed World, Bradley, has appeared.］