I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-146

Ch-146

—

How could he ever forget that bastard—especially that bastard wearing the golden mask—and the eyes with which he had looked down on him?

In order to live, to escape, the Master had had no choice but to endure humiliation.

*‘I am the Master. The one who shall reign at the apex of the world.’*

Crunch!

He ground his teeth.

He was no longer the weak pig of the past.

Master.

As that name implied, he was the owner of all things—an existence that stood above all creation.

Those who mocked him?

He killed every last one of them.

That bastard would be no exception.

“M-My body won’t move!”

“Huh? My body is moving on its own, though?”

A domain skill.

And not just any domain skill—one that inflicted *confusion*.

A long-stretching darkness.

Anyone caught within it lost control over their physical body.

Truly fitting for a follower of the Reaper Cult—insidious to the core.

*‘Then all I need to do is destroy the domain itself.’*

The Master raised his right hand.

This “darkness” seized its victims from below.

When the eye engraved on one’s chest—the ominous, ill-fated eye—fully opened, they would be completely seized and controlled.

The weak were captured in an instant, but transcendents were another story.

Until all the eyes fully opened, they could still move their bodies to some extent.

In that case—

Craaaack—!

The moment the Master thrust his fist forward, space shattered like a pane of glass.

The fractures spread, and the domain of “darkness” began to tear.

A space-destroying art inherited through eating a star.

He was the natural enemy of domain users.

“I-I can move!”

“No! The darkness is coming back…!”

Those around the Master regained freedom of movement.

But almost immediately, a new tide of darkness poured down like flowing water over the shattered domain.

*‘The effect I destroyed should be permanent.’*

The Master frowned.

Any domain skill he destroyed never regenerated.

Yet that darkness was persistently restoring itself.

There was only one possible exception.

*‘So it’s not a simple skill.’*

If it wasn’t a mere skill but, like him, a power inherited by consuming a star…

Only star powers could cancel out star powers.

This dark domain was undoubtedly the bastard’s own star power.

Hah.

What a monster.

A power capable of ruling over an entire radius of more than 1 km.

Was there even a star that bestowed such authority?

*‘Perfect for fighting many at once…’*

Still, it didn’t matter.

He had grasped the situation.

He would give up mobilizing the masses to catch that monster.

Instead, he would move with a handful of elites.

Two-star.

Or rather, the four strongest 12th-level transcendents present in this place.

And these were transcendents who had cleared the 12th-level domain at blistering speed.

*‘Ground Impact.’*

The Master lowered his stance and struck the ground.

Rumble—!

The ground cracked and split in all directions.

All the way to where the 12th-level elites were standing.

“Hm!”

Soon, having regained bodily control, they aimed at “him” from the front.

Instinctively, they realized they had to drive out this darkness as fast as possible.

“Blessing of the Sky-Slayer!”

The paladin holding a hammer cried out.

Simultaneously, cloud-like black spots formed above the heads of the Master and the three others.

“Infest! Brain-Devourer Bugs!”

From the sleeve of a man dressed in a long robe that covered his entire body, thousands of electricity-laced insects burst out.

The insects gathered at the black spots, forming small lightning clouds.

Boom! Crackle!

Lightning erupted from the clouds, striking the four without pause.

This was the method they used to clear the 12th-level domain in the shortest time possible.

A method faster than even the subordinates of the Black King.

《‘Sky-Slaying Lightning’ stack 1 complete.》

《All stats +2》

《Overload 10%》

《‘Sky-Slaying Lightning’ stack 2 complete.》

《All stats +4》

《Overload 20%》

An infinite blessing that endlessly stacked buffs.

It placed tremendous overload on the body but allowed them to unleash transcendental power in a short burst.

The two skills combined to produce insane synergy.

Boom!

《‘Sky-Slaying Lightning’ stack 5 complete.》

《All stats +10》

《Overload 50%》

All their stats rose by 10 in an instant.

With equipment and other buffs, their abilities increased even further.

What kind of monster could possibly withstand this?

*Die, monster of the Reaper Cult.*

The Master used space destruction again.

The warrior of the giantfolk stomped down with a raised leg, and the lightning-charged bug tamer wrapped himself around the enemy.

The paladin of the black spot smashed toward “his” skull with a massive hammer.

But then—

“…Hm?”

“It passed through…?!”

All their attacks passed straight through the bastard’s body.

KWOOM!

Their attacks collided with each other, creating a deafening shockwave.

They barely managed to suppress the impact and retreat a few steps, but had they failed, they would have annihilated each other.

*‘Invincibility?’*

The Master frowned.

Then the paladin and the lightning man spoke.

“It’s not invincibility.”

“Mm. It’s an evasion skill. One with a forced duration once activated.”

Sharp eyes, as expected.

One wondered where such people had crawled out from.

“You cowardly bastard. How long do you plan to keep running?”

The giantfolk warrior furiously kicked at empty air.

《‘Sky-Slaying Lightning’ stack 7 complete.》

《All stats +14》

《Overload 70%》

The problem was Sky-Slaying Lightning.

It was also a forced-stacking buff.

Dragging out time only made things worse.

“Skills of that type always have weaknesses.”

“Without a doubt, it’s weak to ‘light.’ The insects are telling me so.”

“Is that so? O Light.”

Fwoooosh!

Light surged over the paladin’s entire body.

The Master had assumed he was a dark paladin who used black spots—

But he could also wield the opposing attribute, *light*.

As the paladin wrapped in light swung his enormous hammer toward “him”—

Ssssssk!

…Their movements froze again.

“…Didn’t we break the domain?”

“This isn’t a domain. It’s a curse cast by that shadow-like bastard.”

“Tsk. So it’s not just evasion.”

“But its mechanism is clear now. ‘Eye of the Dreadful Omen’—a high-level curse. You can endure it only if your total stats exceed his.”

“In other words… his total stats are higher than mine? Even with Sky-Slaying Lightning stacked to 7?”

“It’s weakened since it’s gripping several of us at once. Raise your stats just a bit more.”

Just what were these people?

Even in this situation, they were casually chatting.

Especially that bug tamer.

His ability to analyze and dissect the enemy’s skills was astounding.

“Then I’ll have to push myself a little.”

Slit.

The paladin bit his tongue.

Blood flowed, evaporated, and seeped into the Sky-Slaying Lightning.

BOOM! BOOM! CRACKLE!

“O Celestial Slayer! I offer my sacred blood!”

《‘Sky-Slaying Lightning’ stack 12 complete.》

《All stats +24》

《Overload 120%》

《Your body has exceeded its load limit.》

《If this continues, you will suffer permanent stat loss.》

These lunatics forced Sky-Slaying Lightning up to 12 stacks.

But because of that—

*‘The Omen Eye has stopped opening.’*

Instead, it was closing.

Control over their bodies returned, and their strength surged back.

*We have to finish this quickly.*

Just in time, “his” body also began returning.

The evasion skill’s duration was ending.

Gulp, gulp!

The Master pulled a potion from his coat and drank it.

At that moment—

《You have consumed the alchemist’s special ‘Giant’s Potion.’》

《It fuses with your Hidden Trait ‘Giant’s Anti-Magic.’》

《You transform into a ‘Legendary Giant’!》

His most carefully conserved trump card.

The Master’s body swelled rapidly into that of a giant.

His plan: destroy the entire domain and crush the bastard in one blow.

When the evasion duration finally ended—

“…More troublesome than I expected.”

The bastard spoke for the first time.

Grinning.

As though he found this whole situation immensely entertaining.

*

*

What were these people?

That paladin and the bug tamer were particularly impressive.

*‘They’re Hidden Trait users. At least two each.’*

The paladin undoubtedly possessed “Void,” which allowed him to wield opposing attributes.

The bug tamer also possessed both “Great Sage” and his own observation skill.

Calmly assessing the situation, analyzing the enemy, unraveling curses—he was truly impressive.

*‘Buff stacking at that level must put enormous strain on them.’*

Buffs weren’t always good.

Especially compulsory stacking buffs—though they granted overwhelming power for a short time, they came with severe side effects.

And yet these people used them without hesitation to resist the “Eye of the Dreadful Omen.”

They were willing to suffer permanent stat loss.

*‘Where did they come from?’*

He had never seen these people before.

The giantfolk warrior was impressive too, but couldn’t compare to the other two.

Moreover, the paladin’s skills were highly eclectic.

It was impossible to tell which order he belonged to.

*‘Powers from different orders are mixed together. Is that even possible?’*

Every order had its signature.

For example, the black spot—the cloud-like dark mark the paladin created—was the signature of the dark knight order, the **Balrog Order**.

Then there was the burst of light.

That spreading explosion of light was the signature of the Goddess Church.

Opposing and hostile orders—but both signatures existed within one paladin.

He had never heard of such a case.

*‘And that’s not all. There was an additional buff using blood.’*

It wasn’t just darkness and light.

Sacred blood offered to the Sky-Slayer.

*‘A name I’ve never heard before.’*

Sky-Slayer.

That name did not exist in his memory.

Nor in Wilhelm’s memories.

A newly risen religion whose paladin wielded signatures of both the Balrog Order and the Goddess Church?

*Intriguing.*

Deeply intriguing.

It seemed there would be much to uncover.

Just when he thought he understood them, more and more layers peeled away like an onion, revealing new tricks.

*‘Looks like “One Who Kindles Darkness” won’t be enough for this.’*

Of course, the One Who Kindles Darkness was still in its growth phase—nothing to lament.

*‘I suppose I’ll have to face them properly.’*

*One Who Kindles Darkness* receded.

Regaining my human form once more, I lifted **Winter**.

Rrrrraaaaang!

At the same time, attacks poured in from every direction.

I couldn’t remain still either.

《Manifesting the ‘Gae’ of Wilhelm’s Swordsmanship, *Heaven and Earth Genesis*.》

Wilhelm’s third technique—one I had never been able to manifest with this body until now.

A sword that opens the world!

That power was unleashed through my body.

—

—

 

*‘The Eye of the Dreadful Omen has vanished.’*

The Master gave a small nod inwardly.

The evasion skill’s duration had ended, and even the transformation had been undone.

As a result, the darkness that had bound the people—the Eye of the Dreadful Omen—vanished as if it had been a lie.

*‘No matter how powerful a divine authority may be, it must have limits.’*

With nearly a hundred people present—

There existed no skill or authority capable of endlessly restraining even the four who could rightfully be called the “strongest.”

 

 

 

 

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