I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-131

Ch-131

—

The Desert City, Faisalmer.

*Wiiiiiing—!*

At the warp gate in that desert—where there should have been no outside access—two figures appeared.

One was Aria, and the other…

“Was it… really necessary for me to follow you this far?”

Aria spoke honestly.

To Fifth Pillar, Randolph.

She simply couldn’t understand why her presence was needed for his conquest of Faisalmer.

“Since ‘Northern Heavenly Ice Sword’ is contracted to you, there’s no helping it, caw.”

Because of the mistake made by those two father and daughter, what Randolph wanted was the *Northern Heavenly Ice Sword*.

He intended to dig into the secret of this Ego Sword.

But the Ice Sword had already completed its contract with Aria.

If it was separated from her beyond a certain distance, Aria would die.

So Randolph added a condition—he would conquer Faisalmer—and brought Aria along.

“So don’t mind it, caw. You’re nothing more than a sword stand anyway, caw.”

“……”

Not even a scabbard or a sword—just a stand.

The phrasing bothered her far more than she cared to admit.

—

## The Desert City, Faisalmer

Ever since *that incident*, the White King had not taken a single step outside the White King’s Palace.

The residents of Cramdel and the four pillars remained silent as well.

Because what they had witnessed was on a completely different plane from the vague tales they had only ever heard in words.

Still, even in such times, whispers inevitably surfaced.

“So the rumors about the fifth pillar…”

“They were all true.”

“Mm. Even now, I can’t believe what I saw.”

No one had actually seen fifth pillar’s martial power with their own eyes.

All they knew was this:
He had achieved something even the White King could not inside the Mystery Coffin, had slain the Wraith King Ahram, and had claimed the Abyssal Labyrinth.

Whether these were truly his own feats, or exaggerated with someone else’s help, they had no way of knowing.

Hence, many dismissed his legend as empty nonsense.

And yet…

“And yet he blocked the White King’s attack.”

“Not just blocked—he ‘restrained’ him, even if only for a moment.”

They had seen it with their own eyes.

He evaded the White King’s strike, bound him, and even had the leisure to *give advice*.

How many in the world could show such a scene against the White King?

Did such a person even exist?

More astonishing still—

“That the White King *apologized*.”

“…This is the first time, is it not?”

There was no precedent.

The White King was the de facto ruler of Cramdel.

For a king to bow his head in his own kingdom, before his own people—this was not something small by any measure.

At this point, even Cramdel’s monsters had to reconsider the fifth pillar seriously.

“We may need to align ourselves under fifth pillar.”

“If I knew things would turn out this way, I would’ve done so sooner.”

“It’s not too late. The other four pillars are also preparing for war. Depending on whom you follow, this could be a massive opportunity to earn merit.”

The movements among the four pillars were unsettling.

One of the Four Lords had vanished, and the others were preparing for war.

Depending on whom they served, great merits could be earned.

A perfect chance to rise in status.

Even achieving the rank of administrator in Cramdel brought countless benefits.

But becoming a Pillar-level force?

“If the fifth pillar appeared, then who’s to say a Sixth or Seventh pillar won’t show up next?”

A Pillar would stand among Cramdel’s ruling class.

For humans, it would be equivalent to joining a royal family.

So countless monsters hoped to become the next Pillar.

But the factions of the other Pillars were already saturated.

There was no place to squeeze in.

‘First come, first served—whoever joins the fifth pillar first wins.’

‘Can’t let anyone else take the spot!’

Their thoughts were largely the same.

If war was coming, pillars would need manpower.

If they stood beside the man who repelled the White King, victory was all but assured.

Earn merit at his side—perhaps even aim for a Pillar’s throne.

With that belief, countless beings set out to find him—

“…He’s gone?”

“He already left?”

Fifth Pillar Randolph was no longer in Cramdel.

He had left earlier than any other Master.

Without preparation, accompanied only by Aria.

—

Fifth Pillar Randolph had left.

With Aria—his daughter.

Inside the White King’s Palace, seated upon cold marble, the White King drifted into contemplation.

—*I want that sword, caw.*

When asked what he desired, fifth pillar had answered without hesitation: *the Northern Heavenly Ice Sword*.

It was a weapon long sealed in the northern lands.

A sword dangerous and powerful enough for the White King to personally oversee its sealing.

But even the White King did not know its origin.

When it was forged, why it had been sealed—none of that was known.

One thing was certain, however:

*Those weapons each contained a secret far beyond the mortal world.*

‘Those weapons even raised the levels of Masters outright.’

Realizing the Black King sought him, the White King had unsealed the weapon vault.

He had distributed appropriate weapons to the Pillars, and their very “rank” had risen.

For mere weapons to elevate one’s fundamental “tier”—the White King never forgot how absurd that was.

‘And the Ice Sword was the deepest one among them.’

At the very deepest and darkest corner of that sealed vault lay the Northern Heavenly Ice Sword.

Sealed alone, far from the other weapons.

To choose it without hesitation—he could only admire fifth pillar’s insight.

At that moment—

“Are you truly… all right?”

Guinggi’s voice broke his thoughts.

The White King slowly opened his eyes.

“What would I not be all right about?”

“fifth pillar. Is it fine to leave him be?”

The White King snorted softly.

“How unusual. To hear you say the same thing as the Great Earth Dragon.”

Guinggi and the Earth Dragon were opposites.

Guinggi was cautious, the Earth Dragon short-tempered.

Their opinions rarely aligned—but today, they said the exact same thing.

Despite the teasing tone, Guinggi answered seriously:

“He is dangerous.”

“Dangerous indeed—and ominous as well.”

The White King nodded.

From his perspective, fifth pillar had always been dreadfully ominous—
but now he was becoming a *real* danger.

“No matter that I wasn’t in my true form, my ‘Dragon Vortex’ didn’t affect him. It seems he can ignore all attacks except those of a certain attribute.”

This was the first time they had clashed directly.

Yet fifth pillar had ignored his attack.

Not invincible, but possessing a skill with an effect of *negation*—there was no doubt.

Guinggi spoke in a tone tinged with shock:

“…But Your Majesty’s tier pierces through all attributes, does it not?”

Indeed.

The White King’s rank could pierce any defense.

Neither attribute nor resistance mattered.

So how did he evade the White King’s strike?

“In ‘ordinary’ cases, you would be right.”

“Then… are you saying fifth pillar’s attribute is not ordinary?”

“For instance—if the attribute of light transcends, it becomes ‘radiance’. Now guess what darkness becomes when it transcends?”

“…I do not know.”

Light was light, darkness was darkness—how could it go beyond that?

Guinggi had never seen anything greater.

The White King chuckled knowingly.

“The deepest darkness. fifth pillar is a being of the *Abyss*.”

“…!!!”

Guinggi’s pupils quivered violently.

The deepest darkness—
the Abyss.

The unknown land beneath the Sky Continent.

A darkness that swallowed the primordial world.

To say fifth pillar emerged from there—

Of course, Cramdel had monsters originating from the Abyss.

But they had only dipped a foot into it.

Fifth Pillar, however…

“I always wondered where someone like him came from. Now I have the answer. The Abyss—more precisely…”

The White King continued, his expression refreshed:

“…the ‘Inside of the Door.’”

“The… ‘Inside of the Door?’ What is that?”

Guinggi asked, unfamiliar with the phrase.

But the White King only shrugged.

‘If fifth pillar comes from the Inside of the Door, this may be a blessing in disguise.’

If his guess was right, disaster had become fortune.

Since Aria was with him, and they would remain together—
their relationship would naturally progress.

That ominous aura.

And when his hand pierced through fifth pillar’s body—

The White King trembled and became certain.

*“A successor of holy blood—
A bearer of the Sacred Blood.”*

—

“What are you doing, stand? Caw.”

“Please… don’t call me that— hngh!”

Aria struggled to swallow her breath, panting heavily.

The Desert City, Faisalmer.

Once the domain of the Desert Queen, where barbarians roamed.

But the place they returned to now was nothing like before.

“Heretics!”

“Kill them! Kill them!”

Barbarians who spotted them screamed like lunatics.

Eyes bloodshot, they attacked in droves.

The problem was their sheer numbers.

And their levels were far higher than expected.

*They’re contaminated.*

I realized the cause immediately.

The city—
the entire desert—was contaminated.

Those who lived on contaminated land would fall into madness.

Their bodies would unleash their full potential—
and not long after, they would die.

*Isabella.*

After the Desert Queen’s death, Isabella had set out to conquer the desert city.

Her long silence had been concerning, but to think something like this was happening…

What of Isabella now?

It didn’t end there.

—

**《Main Quest 8: Cleanse the Contaminated City has begun.》**

**《Find and eliminate all contamination sources.》**

**《Reward: Varies depending on performance》**

**《Failure: Death – your body in both game and reality will perish.》**

—

Main Quest 8 had begun.

A contaminated city.

It was an element that would occasionally appear as one progressed through the game; in this world, the “contamination sources” that polluted entire cities existed in various forms.

Main Quest 8 held the objective of eliminating those contamination sources within such a contaminated city.

There were typically between five and ten contamination sources within a single city, and eliminating even one of them would complete the quest.

*‘The reason contamination sources appear is never clearly explained in the story. Theories range from some sort of curse to the consequence of the continent rising into the sky… mere speculation, nothing more.’*

There wasn’t a single player who knew the true reason.

Even with all the knowledge contained in Pangaenia, it was the same.

It was completely different from warp ruptures or abyssal sinkings.

“Kill them!”

“Burn them all!”

Mad barbarians were hurling themselves at Aria from all sides.

Aria was fighting desperately in the middle of that chaos.

I watched the scene from a distance and lightly stroked my chin.

‘The problem here is the timing. Why did the contamination occur *now* of all times?’

Of course, contamination sources appeared without warning.

As their numbers increased, the entire city would become contaminated.

Thus, a city’s ruler had to pay attention not only to warp management but also to carefully handling the removal of contamination sources.