I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-128

Ch-128

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“…That appearance—are you truly Fifth Pillar?”

“How many times have I said it now, kaaak.”

“Hearing that cawing noise, I suppose you are *Fifth Pillar*. But why is only your voice the same?”

Inside White King’s palace.

White King stared at me with astonished eyes as he asked the question.

My appearance had changed after becoming the One Who Cultivates Darkness, yet this cawing voice remained exactly as before.

Most likely, some traits of the corpse crow had fused together with me.

Either way, this was something I would have to address sooner or later.

“You need not know, kaaak.”

“Still… the more I look at you, the more unbelievable it is. That form is… hmm. Truly dreadful.”

Similar to the reaction of the monster rats.

If even White King found me dreadful, that said everything.

With eyes that looked as though he had just seen something he wished he hadn’t, he subtly turned his gaze away—as if afraid it would haunt his dreams.

“Why did you summon me, kaaak?”

“Ah. Why I summoned you, you ask? That is…”

At that moment, White King’s eyes turned utterly serious.

Then he stated the “reason” he had called me.

“…The Death King has been captured by the Black King. It’s possible… he may already be dead.”

I doubted my ears.

The Death King. *That* monstrous being—what?

Captured? Might even be dead?

For a moment the question flashed through my mind—*How does someone who’s already dead die again?*—but the “death” White King referred to surely meant the end of existence itself. True annihilation.

—*I will investigate the Black King’s intentions. And White King, you must remember that Fifth Pillar is different from the rest of us. Unlike us, he has received no ‘favor’ from you.*

The last image of the Death King flashed through my mind.

It was when he mediated between me and White King.

White King had intentionally tried to pit the Black King and me against each other.

There was no way I would accept such an obvious scheme, and when I openly refused, the atmosphere grew heavy.

That was when the Death King intervened.

Afterward, he left Cramdel to keep watch on the Black King’s movements.

*Given his undead-handling traits, he shouldn’t have been easy to catch if he moved carefully.*

Still, something felt off.

He dared call himself the “King of the Dead.”

A being who sublimated death into art itself—there was no way he would have approached the Black King without countermeasures.

Yet he was captured. Or rather, his life-or-death status couldn’t even be confirmed.

…And he was the only one in Cramdel who could actually “talk.”

“Regardless, the Death King left me one final ‘message.’ I summoned you to hear everyone’s opinion on it.”

The last transmission the Death King sent Baekwang before vanishing.

It was undoubtedly information about the Black King.

I was curious as well.

If White King was the King of the North, then the Black King was the King of the South.

But the Black King rarely revealed himself.

Even quests related to him were few.

Naturally—since the southern region was a wasteland among wastelands.

*Even the desert city Faisalmer is part of the southern region.*

Faisalmer—infamous as the worst starting point—was also included in the south.

“…Fifth Pillar, now that you’ve arrived, we can begin properly.”

A meeting with Baekwang and the main forces.

By now, the others surely already knew I had arrived.

Soon, one by one, the main forces began arriving at the entrance of White King’s palace.

“We greet the White King.”

The first to appear was Great Earth Dragon.

The massive dragon transformed into a dragonkin form and—as always—wore a proud, arrogant expression.

His haughty demeanor was unchanged, but something else drew my attention.

【Lv. 13】

…His level had risen.

From 12 to 13.

Something had happened while I was gone.

Noticing my gaze, Great Earth Dragon turned toward me.

“Hm…?!”

He let out a strangled gasp, his face twisting in shock.

“You look truly *hideous*…!!”

…As expected.

But seriously, what exactly was so hideous?

To me, I simply looked like a humanoid form covered in “black fire.”

Why did the monsters of Cramdel react like this whenever they saw me?

“…”

“We heard Fifth Pillar arrived. Where is he?”

Medusa and Gunggi also appeared.

They approached White King, then turned their heads to look at my face.

In that instant—

—…!!!

“What the—!”

As expected, a scream burst forth.

Was my appearance really so horrific?

Even the Abyssal Sovereigns hadn’t reacted like this.

*All three have leveled up.*

Their reactions aside, the more astonishing part was their levels—each had risen from 12 to 13.

One could rise on their own, but for all three to rise simultaneously? Highly suspicious.

Something had clearly happened without my knowing.

“I’ve never seen something so grotesque.”

“Hmm. I’ve seen many horrific things over long years, but this is on another level.”

—…

The three main pillars insulted me without reserve.

Though, perhaps in the world of monsters, “grotesque” was a compliment.

Gunggi spoke.

“White King, who is this hideous-looking fellow?”

“…He is Fifth Pillar.”

“…? But Fifth Pillar is a corpse crow.”

“Unbelievable though it may be, it’s the truth.”

“…”

Gunggi stared at me, speechless.

I let out a small sigh.

“I am Fifth Pillar, kaaak.”

“…Hearing that caw, I suppose that is true.”

“Huhh. How did you end up looking so dreadful…?”

—…

The sympathetic looks they gave me.

Now even I was starting to get curious.

…Just how horrible did I look to cause *every* one of them to react like this?

*

*

 

Once the brief commotion settled, White King immediately got to the point.

“The reason I gathered you is because of *this*, which the Death King sent me.”

His final message.

It seemed he had left something along with it.

White King reached into his robes and took it out.

“Can any of you tell what this is?”

The room grew quiet.

Naturally so.

What White King produced wasn’t an item.

It appeared to be a fragment of a *bone*.

But with only that splintered bone, determining its origin was close to impossible. It wasn’t intact—it was shattered.

“…It does not seem to be the Death King’s bone.”

“Judging by the thickness, it wasn’t from a small creature either.”

That was all Gunggi and Great Earth Dragon could infer.

White King turned to me.

“Fifth Pillar. Whose bone do you think this is?”

As if I would know.

Visually, all I saw was a shattered bone fragment.

But White King clearly already knew what it was.

He asked because he thought *I* would be able to recognize it.

【???’s Bone Fragment】

Yet nothing appeared for me either.

Even the Great Sage’s explanation didn’t reveal whose bone it was.

I was just about to shake my head when—

Thump! Thump!

My heart began to race.

A normal reaction would have been *no* reaction—this heart belonged to the Eternal Monarch.

Which meant—

This response wasn’t from *me*.

Inside my heart were two fused beings:

Baal, and the Fragment of Ruin.

Then, the question mark hovering above the bone fragment vanished.

【Fragment of ‘Despair’s’ Bone】

The moment I confirmed the revealed name, my body stiffened.

*Despair.*

There was only one monster in existence called by that name.

I didn’t know where the Death King had found it, nor how he sent it, but—

After a short hesitation, I spoke.

“It is a bone fragment of the Four Calamities, ‘Despair,’ kaaak.”

“…As expected, you recognized it.”

One of the four monsters that brought ruin to the world alongside Baal.

But unlike Baal, it had no name.

It was simply called “Despair.”

White King spoke heavily.

“Not long ago, ‘Baal’ awakened on the ‘Mountain of the Trainee.’ And the Black King sent ‘Raktusha’ there. While watching the Black King, the Death King sent me this bone fragment of Despair.”

Raktusha, the Orc Great Warrior.

He had been beaten senseless by the awakened Baal, and where he went after that was unknown.

Now Baekwang was mentioning all of this.

“Does any of this seem coincidental? The Black King is awakening the Four Calamities. He has already secured Despair, and by sending Raktusha, he awakened Baal as well. His intention is to turn those monsters into his own.”

Did the Black King truly try to awaken Baal at the Mountain of the Trainee?

*But I’m the one who awakened Baal.*

That couldn’t be right.

Raktusha, the orc swordmaster, had gone there to kidnap White King’s daughter.

He had widely advertised the kidnapping plan to draw out the other sub-commanders—but because I awakened Baal, his entire plan collapsed.

Naturally, there was no need to mention this to anyone.

“The Four Calamities…!”

“But Baal was ‘annihilated,’ was he not?”

News of Baal’s resurrection would certainly have spread throughout Cramdel.

And they already knew Baal had been annihilated afterward.

White King nodded.

“The Black King awakened Baal, but failed to control him. The rampaging Baal perished within the abyss he himself created. The question is—*who* annihilated Baal?”

“Could it be that the Four Calamities are weaker than the legends claim?”

Great Earth Dragon voiced his thoughts.

Everything about the Four Calamities was based on stories.

There was no being alive who had faced those ancient monsters firsthand.

But White King shook his head.

“The Four Calamities are beings as strong as I am. Depending on circumstances, they could even kill me.”

“…!”

The main forces stared at White King in disbelief.

Even Wilhelm—though he had defeated White King once—had not been able to kill him.

A monster strong enough to do what Wilhelm could not—and someone had killed that Baal.

“Do you have any guess as to who annihilated Baal?”

“Hard to say.”

With that, White King once again turned his gaze toward me.

…Why was he looking at me?

Could he have realized Baal had fused with me?

“One thing is certain…”

White King continued staring straight at me as he spoke.

“Fifth Pillar Randolph. The Death King asked that this bone fragment be delivered specifically to you.”

To… me?

Perhaps because I, too, was one who enjoyed “death.”

White King handed me the fragment of Despair’s bone.

…But I felt as though White King had meant to say something else before stopping himself.

“What do you intend to do moving forward?”

Gunggi asked, and White King answered without hesitation.

“War.”

Now that he knew what the Black King was hiding, there was no longer anything to hold him back.

“The Black King has declared war upon me—naturally, I should return the gesture.”

The White King smiled faintly.

“You, my main forces—each of you will ‘conquer’ one city in the south. We will use those cities as forward bases. In the name of the White King, I will support you with anything you need.”

“Aah…!”

“Finally!”

—…!

Every one of the four pillars except me was visibly excited.

As though they’d been lifelong enemies with the Black King.

To conquer one of the southern cities…

Gunggi then asked carefully,

“If the Black King appears, what will you do?”

“He won’t appear. He watches only me. The moment I show myself, he will show himself as well.”

“However, Your Majesty the White King… you have not yet fully recovered…”

“Even without my ‘Fang,’ he cannot kill me. Of course, if he fully awakens ‘Despair,’ the story might change—but I intend to settle this before then.”

Despair had not yet awakened.

It remained sealed.

If it had awakened—and if he could control it—the Black King would have struck already.

The Death King had left behind an extremely important clue.

Thanks to it, the White King could finally begin to move in earnest.

“So he will act.”

But honestly, this had nothing much to do with me.

It’s not like I bore any grudge against the Black King, and although I’d communicated with the Death King, we weren’t close enough to call it a bond.

I was curious about “Despair,” sure—but I had no desire to get squashed to death between fighting whales.

“The cities we’ll be using as forward bases are four: the desert city ‘Faisalmer,’ the Lake of Death ‘Rakan,’ the Burrow Hell ‘Hartun,’ and the Dry Wind ‘Elsaldo.’”

…But the problem was the names of the cities he just mentioned.

One of them— the desert city Faisalmer.

Isabella was still there.

“By tomorrow, each of you will decide which city you’ll target. And…”

The White King looked at me again.

“Fifth Pillar Randolph. Do you have a moment?”

“Are you asking me to take time out specifically for you, kaaak?”

“Yes. There is someone I’d like you to meet.”

“Someone you want me to meet, kaaak?”

Who would the White King want to show me?

Was it because of this “war”?

Unlike the other main pillars, I had no foundation in Cramdel. Maybe he thought I’d need an assistant or supporter.

But the White King’s next words were something I had never expected.

“I would like you to have a meal with my daughter, Aria.”

“…!!!”

“…!!!”

—…!!!

 

It was an official gathering of all the main forces.

At the White King’s statement, everyone’s eyes shot wide open.

The White King’s daughter, Aria.

His only blood relative, and the one he valued above all else.

This was not merely a meal.

Even the main pillars gathered here had never once been given a chance to dine with Aria.

For the meticulously calculating White King to show his most valuable card—there could be no reason other than his having judged that fifth pillar possessed worth exceeding even that.

No other explanation came to mind.

“Y–Your Majesty the White King, isn’t this far too sudden?”

Great Earth Dragon spoke urgently.

He had indeed joked earlier that they should trade the “Fang” for a meeting with Aria, but it had been half a joke.

He doubted whether fifth pillar could actually retrieve the White King’s Fang—and doubted even more whether fifth pillar could truly be someone capable of killing the White King.

And mentioning it here, at this moment, sounded like: *All other main forces—recognize fifth pillar.*

But the White King’s reasoning was firm.

“Originally, the one who supported fifth pillar was the Death King. With the Death King gone, who in Cramdel can assist fifth pillar and prepare for war?”

“Well… the administrators could be ordered to…”

“But for those who bear the title of ‘main pillar,’ some level of dignity must be upheld. Or does Great Earth Dragon intend to abandon his own preparations and assist Great Earth Dragon instead?”

“…”

Great Earth Dragon fell silent.

The White King meant to assign Aria to support fifth pillar so he could prepare for the war despite having no Cramdel foundation.

And none of the other main pillars besides the Death King would even consider helping.

To earn merit in this war, they had to be fully prepared.

And the White King could not personally assist.

That left only Aria.

“Will Lady Aria… be alright with this?”

Gunggi asked with concern.

Ever since returning from the Mountain of Trainees, Aria had been growing at a rapid pace.

She had shut herself away, cutting off all contact with others, dedicating herself solely to training.

Would she really take on the role of supporting fifth pillar at such a time?

The White King shook his head.

“It is already decided. More importantly—by tomorrow, choose which city you will ‘conquer.’ I can no longer stand by and watch the Black King’s meddling.”

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