I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-119

Ch-119

—

“Didn’t they say recently that one of the Four Calamities, Baal, has awakened?”

“Yes. The breaking of the Four Calamities’ seals was only a matter of time. It’s known that they were sealed at the four ends of the world — east, west, south, and north. And it seems the Black King has recently awakened something in the south.”

“Are you saying that was Baal?”

“Well… whatever it was, it’s certain that after *he* died, a ‘new game’ began.”

The resurrection of a Calamity, the Black King’s movements, the re-emergence of the long-sunken “Abyssal Labyrinth,” and more.

The board had changed.

A development completely different from anything so far.

A new game.

All across the world, tectonic shifts were taking place.

And all of it started after *his* death.

“‘He’… who do you mean?”

“The Knight King.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of him. But are you saying his death is what’s changing the world?”

They hated to admit it, but everything happening now was happening *because he died.*

A knight blessed by the Goddess and the mightiest warrior who launched the Great Expedition.

He created more legends than one could count.

They had been watching Wilhelm for a long time.

But they never tried to make contact.

They couldn’t.

*The royal family’s disgrace…*

Wilhelm.

Or rather, “that brat,” was originally someone from the imperial family.

A being akin to the shame the imperial family had tried to hide.

One day, he suddenly “fell ill” and vanished, only to reappear as Wilhelm.

Then he carved out countless legends and even sparked the Great Expedition.

Of course, the Great Expedition failed.

Wilhelm died there, and the imperial family’s disgrace disappeared forever.

No — *that was wrong.*

The Golden Mask shook his head inwardly.

*The criminal. The thing that used Wilhelm’s body is still alive.*

The one who newly rose under the name Randolph.

Everyone assumed he was Wilhelm’s predecessor.

As long as that thing existed, their “disgrace” hadn’t vanished at all.

*…Baal is invading Earth, the homeland of those criminals. For us, that’s welcome news.*

Earth — where the criminals gathered.

They also knew that if the cartel fell, Baal of the Four Calamities would invade Earth.

Yet they let it happen.

Lord Darkan had assembled a subjugation force on his own, but that would only make Baal stronger.

*Burn everything. And make them experience the reality we suffered.*

*

I completed the Baal Set — commonly called the “Basset.”

One of the myth-grade sets known only to a tiny handful of people, yet no one had ever completed it.

Originally consisting of Baal’s armor, helm, and talismans, one more item had been added.

The Swordsaint’s Journal.

And based on what was written in the final chapter of that journal, I learned how to “control” Baal.

—We studied Baal, and have finally found a way to control this Calamity.

—With Baal’s blood, skin, bones, and heart used to forge Baal’s armaments — and with the “life” contained within this Swordsaint’s Journal…

—O Completer. Offer your “life.” Then you shall be able to control Baal.

The method of control.

It required offering *my life.*

But there was no need to control him.

I had found a different way to face Baal.

*Transcended Baal.*

A hidden option: Transcended Baal.

A hidden attribute that appeared when all equipment was elevated to the “Transcendent Myth” tier.

【Baal Armor (Transcendent Myth)】

—Armor containing the essence of “Baal,” one of the ancient “Four Calamities” that once made the world tremble

—Grade elevated through completion of the “Baal Set.”

—Hidden Option: When stat exceeds 1,000, the wearer gains “Transcendence.

—Transcendence (Transcended Baal) [1]: When facing the “Four Calamity,” performance of Baal equipment increases by 100%.

—Transcendence (Transcended Baal) [2]: You perceive Baal. You may travel to Baal’s location.

—Physical Resistance: +30%

—Natural Regeneration: +100%

—Mana: +10

—Bound

—Indestructible

—Requirement (1): Title “One Who Completed Myth” or higher

—Requirement (2): All stats 90+

—Set Armament (3/3)

My greatest weakness had always been physical resistance.

Attacks using mana were blocked with “Giant’s Anti-Magic,” and mental attacks with the “Heart of the Eternal Monarch.”

But I had *no hidden trait* that blocked physical damage.

“Thirty percent physical resistance plus regeneration… insane.”

No single armor granted 30% physical resistance.

Even unique-grade tops out at 25%.

While its other stats were slightly lacking compared to unique-grade, regeneration +100% and mana +10 more than made up for it — overwhelmingly so. Many myth-grade items couldn’t even compete.

Especially regeneration — surpassing 1,000% allowed even severed body parts to regrow.

“And the helm and talismans got buffed too.”

At this level… it was doable.

I immediately used Transcendence to open a warp and headed toward Baal.

*

CRACK!

Instinctively, I crushed a demon’s skull.

At that moment—

《Transcendence activates.》

《You are in ‘Abyss of the Revived.’ This is the domain of Baal, one of the Four Calamities. Baal equipment performance increased by 100%.》

《Curse Penetration +30%, Curse Reflection +60%, Curse Duration +60%.》

《Natural Regeneration +200%.》

《Star Force +40.》

《Star Force exceeds 120 — all attacks gain ‘Absolute Penetration (12%).’》

《You hunted a “Bell of Curse” created by Baal.》

《Contribution +15.》

《A large amount of experience gained.》

The messages rose rapidly.

I nodded quietly.

Doubled on top of already-transcended stats.

As expected — Basset was absurd.

Above all—

*Absolute Penetration…!*

Stats exceeding 120 triggered additional effects.

Mana granted mana penetration; elemental force granted elemental penetration.

But “Star Force,” altered after inheriting a star, granted *absolute* penetration.

Meaning: physical attacks, curse-based attacks — all gained +12% penetration.

… No wonder everything felt *so* satisfying to hit.

“Heir!”

A familiar voice close by.

Serengeti— no, that was Hudson.

“Why are you here? Where’s Balte?”

“Well… we were in the lord’s castle, but Lord Darkan forcibly brought us here. And Balte sensed something abnormal and disappeared somewhere.”

“Abnormal?”

“Yes. As soon as we sank into the Abyss, everyone began to go mad. Completely mad. As if possessed by evil spirits. Heir, are you unaffected?”

Am I?

I nodded.

Completely unaffected.

“I’m fine. What about you?”

“Yes. I don’t know why, but I’m okay.”

Hudson alone was enduring Baal’s curse.

Was it due to the saintess’s blessing?

Otherwise, I had no explanation for why *only* Hudson remained sane.

Then I looked down.

“And what I’m looking at right now isn’t Gracia, is it?”

“… It is.”

At the end of my gaze—

“Angel, where are you going without me!?”

“… Ignore him. He’s rambling.”

Gracia stood there — his entire body blood-soaked, mind half gone.

White hair.

Deepened wrinkles.

He was aging and weakening in real time.

A being that powerful unable to endure Baal’s curse meant Baal was draining his “youth.”

Life itself withering — no one could defeat Baal, who controlled life and consciousness, in such a state.

I rubbed my chin quietly and took out the “Flame of the sinner.”

“Ah… aaah… that, that is my youth, isn’t it!?”

Inside the Flame of the sinner — Gracia’s reflected youth.

The moment he saw it, Gracia reached out desperately.

“You want it back?”

“I want it back. Golden Goat! It is mine!”

“Then get up. Stand, take up your sword, and fight.”

“You want me to fight Baal? That monster cannot be defeated. That monster grew stronger by absorbing the ‘Ouroboros Venom!’”

He trembled.

Entirely unlike the Gracia of before.

He was terrified — clearly not in his right mind.

“Gracia. Your duty is to protect those you must protect. If you hold the title of ‘Hero,’ then you know what you must do.”

“I… I… I am no hero. I am… a man of many sins.”

“You’ve become quite the coward.”

“W-what meaning is there if I step forward? Why continue a fight we cannot win?”

Hah.

He’d lost his mind, but this was pitiful.

This wasn’t the same man who was always bragging about being number one.

Facing him like this was hardly entertaining.

But the moment I arrived in the Abyss, I noticed something.

The five fallen cities — not everyone had died.

A significant number were still alive here.

But there wasn’t enough time for me to rescue them all one by one.

I had to finish the fight before Baal evolved.

Saving them — that was something *Gracia* was suited for.

So go. Save them. Like a true hero.

“Don’t worry. I will kill Baal.”

… I will annihilate Baal.

—

Jeju Island.

The man wearing the golden goat mask and the pure-white knight Serengeti.

Once the two left, Gracia was alone.

—Die like the insect you are, or do what you must.

The voice lingered in his ears.

But more than that, what replayed in his mind was the man’s eyes.

A man he had certainly never met before.

Yet the moment their eyes met, Gracia shuddered.

He could not put it into words, but if he had to define it — Gracia had been *overwhelmed* by that man’s gaze.

Not even Riley had ever shaken him like that.

*I must have seen him… somewhere…*

Unfamiliar, yet familiar.

As if he had brushed past that gaze before.

There weren’t many people with such overwhelming eyes.
If he’d seen them, he wouldn’t have forgotten… but he couldn’t recall.

If he faced him once more, he was certain he’d know.

*Insect, huh.*

A gaze looking down as if he weren’t even worth killing.

A first in his lifetime.

Never had he been treated with such contempt.

He had always been the strongest — an object of admiration.

But now?

Now he was a picture of a defeated man.

Contempt was natural.

*…My repeated failures have ruined me.*

Where did it go wrong?

His defeat against Baal?

The demons stealing his youth?

Running from the Abyssal Labyrinth?

Cornered again and again — Gracia had finally broken.

He lost his mind and showed disgrace.

*I am no insect.*

He refused to believe he was a worm.

Gracia stood.

He grabbed the “Azure Radiance” that lay on the ground.

—Kyaaaaaak!

SHRRK!

He cut down a charging demon in a single stroke.

Then Gracia began to walk the Abyss.

*I am Gracia — the strongest warrior known as the Sword Saint, and a hero.*

To do what he must.

*

The black cocoon.

The path toward Baal was a literal *mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.*

Countless soldiers of the Darkan Territory and “Bells of Curse” lay dead, tangled together.

The trail of bodies continued all the way to the cocoon, and—

“…Not helpful.”

The moment I stepped inside the cocoon, the sight was even worse.

First of all, Lord Darkan was lying there, dead — his neck twisted around.

Considering how confidently he had begun, his end was pathetically anticlimactic.

Even the expression on his corpse was unpleasant to look at.

A face full of shock and terror.

Eyes as if they had witnessed something they should never have seen.

The other corpses around him were the same.

*Strange.*

There was something odd.

A considerable number of the dead had not fled *from inside to outside,* but had instead died while running *from outside to inside* the cocoon.

…Weird.

Normally, wouldn’t people run *out* of the cocoon, not *into* it?

Just what had they seen outside that made them flee into an even more dangerous cocoon?

But the confusion didn’t last long.

I soon learned the reason.

*Thunk. Thunk.*

A heavy set of footsteps approached.

And above the creature’s head, letters floated up.

【Baal’s Thrall — ‘Guardian Knight Pamel’】
【Lv.13】

…It was Pamel, the Guardian Knight of the Darkan Territory.

Their strongest defender had turned into one of Baal’s cursed thralls.

If Pamel suddenly attacked them, of course the nearby soldiers would flee deeper inside.

He must have changed after being overwhelmed by Baal’s influence inside the cocoon.

But even so — could someone that strong undergo such a transformation so suddenly?

*He was never human to begin with.*

Pamel hadn’t transcended by consuming a star.

Instead, he had *abandoned his humanity* and leveled himself into power.

Meaning—

He had always been a “monster.”

Naturally, a being like that would be far more susceptible to Baal’s cocoon.

Especially seeing him now, I could guess exactly how he abandoned his humanity.

“…A demon.”

Eyes without whites — ink-black through and through.

A body entirely dyed in darkness, two massive black wings larger than his torso, huge horns sprouting from both sides, a lizard’s tail, a beast-like lower body, and sharp talons.

That appearance was a “Demon,” plain and simple.

The very beings worshipped by those who rejected the Goddess — the demon-worshippers.

Maxim had only used a demon heart to grow stronger, but Guardian Knight Pamel… was a “Demon” from the very beginning.

Or he had become one through a different method.

*Did the Empire know and tolerate this? Or…?*

Why had a Demon — the very foundation of the demon-worshippers — been in an Imperial territory?

How had he even become a Guardian Knight?

The Empire may hate players, but it didn’t seem like the sort to openly ally with demon-worshippers who denied the Goddess.

It was possible he had been hiding his identity so well that not even I had recognized it.

*But that isn’t the issue right now.*

What mattered now was how to deal with the monster standing before me.

Pamel, now a thrall of Baal, further strengthened by the curse.