I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-153

Ch-153

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*

“…You’ve grown stronger.”

The Grand Earth Dragon looked down at his own chest as he spoke.

Rak­tusha, having pierced through two spears, had surged straight ahead and finally driven his sword-aura into the dragon’s chest.

“You haven’t changed much. Not just you—your other main pillars as well.”

Gripping the Black-Heaven Sword embedded in the Grand Earth Dragon’s chest, Raktusha spoke coldly.

When he pulled the sword free, blue blood streamed out, spilling across the ground.

Landing on the earth, shaking the blood from the blade, Raktusha let out a small, mocking laugh.

“The White King is surely the same. From the moment you all grew complacent in Cramdel, your defeat was already guaranteed.”

“You… the one abandoned by Cramdel dares say such things…”

“I left. I wasn’t abandoned.”

Raktusha’s expression hardened.

Long ago—

Raktusha had briefly stayed in Cramdel.

For an orc his age, his skill had been exceptional, and he had begun to covet a seat among the main pillars.

As he slowly built influence, perhaps because he had become a threat, he was forcibly expelled.

After that, Raktusha joined the Black King’s faction and climbed to his current standing.

“You must have feared how quickly I grew stronger. But the Black King is fair. If you have talent, he will even give up his own seat for you.”

A difference in magnitude.

Between the White King and the Black King.

The White King chose only his own safety and comfort.

He hated change, and anyone who tried to climb up was restrained or banished.

And the Black King?

Utter meritocracy.

Where you came from didn’t matter—skill and loyalty were everything.

“Do you truly believe that? That you were expelled because we feared you?” the Grand Earth Dragon asked quietly.

Raktusha shrugged.

“If not, what reason would there be to expel me from Cramdel?”

“Your obsession with becoming stronger was destroying everything. Did you not turn to ‘forbidden modifications’ and ‘drugs’? Have you forgotten how you tried to distribute them in Cramdel to paralyze its order?”

The Grand Earth Dragon spoke heavily.

Raktusha *had* been expelled from Cramdel.

But not simply out of fear of him.

To solidify his standing there, Raktusha had used any means necessary.

He had attempted to destroy the order Cramdel had built over long years—thus he was cast out.

“For something that trivial? Just say you were scared. Cowards.”

Yet from Raktusha’s perspective, such reasons were incomprehensible.

Orcs were a race of struggle.

Why was using every method to win—to grow stronger—a bad thing?

Such things would have strengthened and enriched Cramdel instead.

Raktusha shouted again:

“Look at the state of the two of us now. If this isn’t proof that I was right, then what is?”

“……”

Raktusha had won, and the Grand Earth Dragon had lost.

Before long, the dragon would die.

“Now you have two main pillars left. The Gunggi and the Medusa.”

Two of the four main pillars dealt with.

If the Death King and the Grand Earth Dragon vanished too, what would the White King do?

Hide again?

Even if all his remaining main pillars were slaughtered and even Cramdel was taken from him—would he still hide?

Then the Grand Earth Dragon spoke with difficulty.

“…There is the Fifth Main Pillar.”

“The Fifth? You mean that newly appointed Crow King?”

Ah.

Right—there had been a new fifth main Pillar recently.

The Fifth Main Pillar, Randolph.

Master of the Abyssal Labyrinth, personally appointed by the White King.

But Raktusha’s attitude didn’t change.

At best, how strong could he be compared to the others?

“The Fifth is not like the others. The White King personally acknowledged him as a ‘being capable of killing him’… a monster.”

“You spout nonsense because you’re dying.”

“Fine. Believe it’s nonsense. I wonder if you’ll still think so once you meet the Fifth in person.”

The Grand Earth Dragon gave a faint smile.

He remembered the friction between the Fifth and the White King.

For some reason, he wanted to see that lunatic crow today.

Perhaps he had grown oddly fond of him.

They had clashed so many times, yet now, facing death, his thoughts seemed to shift.

“Do not worry. You’ll meet that Fifth soon enough.”

After both of them died.

The Grand Earth Dragon, the Fifth Main Pillar—

The other main Pillars, and even the White King.

They would all meet together.

The Grand Earth Dragon let out a heavy breath.

“Raktusha. Tell me one last thing. What became of the Death King?”

The Death King who had gone south—no news had ever come.

Alive or dead, no one knew.

Ssssht.

Raktusha gripped the Black-Heaven Sword.

“The Death King?”

Ziiing!

In an instant, sword-aura surged—his preparation to kill the dragon complete.

Kicking off from the ground, Raktusha thrust his sword toward the dragon’s neck and said:

“The Death King has become a vessel of ‘Despair.’”

KUUUUUUNG!

*

*

 

Leaving behind the screaming Lord Solbaren, I targeted every one of his “weaknesses.”

The endless flood of Holy Grail holy water combined with the indulgences.

After reducing the party’s sin to 0, Lord Solbaren’s combat power had dropped to -99.9%.

Defeating him was not difficult.

“This cannot… this cannot be! O Tower!”

GUOOOOOO!!

As every weakness was exploited, flames erupted across Solbaren’s entire body.

He was burning alive.

Slowly, his very presence was fading.

He no longer had the strength to sustain existence.

But there was something more bitter to him than his own death.

“To think the tower is so utterly incompetent that it cannot even filter out such an ‘irregular’…! I regret ever making a pact with the likes of you!”

An irregular.

A bug-user.

One who does not follow the predetermined rules, but creates their own.

Normally, such a being would be filtered out by the Tower on its own.

Or executed by it.

The fact that it couldn’t do even that—

Proof of incompetence.

He resented the Tower all the more.

Then—

The moment Solbaren cursed the Tower—

Shiiiiii—!

CHRRRRRRRRRRRT!

The sky opened, and countless “feathers” poured down, slicing through Lord Solbaren.

His body was divided into innumerable pieces and evaporated at once.

It happened in an instant.

As Solbaren vanished, the sky closed again.

‘What is that?’

…Silently staring upward, I couldn’t help but frown.

The sky opened in radiant light.

That was likely the Tower’s highest floor.

Was *that* the “tremendous thing” the Master spoke of?

‘It appeared with intent. Intervened directly. Erased Solbaren. That wasn’t the Tower—it was something *above* the Tower.’

The Tower’s master never intervenes directly.

Pranks, maybe—but not raining down feathers to kill someone.

Which meant the being that opened the sky was one who could exercise power regardless of “floor.”

Perhaps even higher than the Tower’s master.

But the thought didn’t last long.

Soon, countless system messages surfaced.

《‘Lord Solbaren’ has been cleared!》

《You have perfectly cleared ‘Lord Solbaren.’》

《All party members gain 10,000 SP.》

《All party members obtain ‘Fragment of the Shattered Golden Scale (500h)’.》

《Party member Max Level limit increases by 1.》

《Party races detected: Human, Dryad.》

《Maximum level cap for all Humans and Dryads increases by 1.》

《Party member Max Level cap + Racial Max Level cap → Randolph may now reach Level 12.》

《‘Randolph,’ who contributed the most to the Lord Solbaren raid, gains an additional 50,000 SP.》

《‘Randolph’ gains an additional 3,000 Achievement Points.》

《Achievement unlocked: ‘Irregular of the Rift Tower.’》

《Honor increased by 800.》

…

《Path to ‘Rift Tower Floor 2’ has opened.》

《Entry requirement for ‘Rift Tower Floor 2’: “5-member party”, “Possessor of a Hidden Trait.”》

《Please check the “Announcements” for more details.》

…

 

—

《‘The Constellation of the Most Radiant Hero’ takes profound interest in you!》

《The First Floor of the Rift Tower has been cleared.》

《The first-place party has successfully completed the “Lord Solbaren” raid.》

《The Second Floor of the Rift Tower will open in 60 days.》

《First Floor Clear Reward: The maximum level of the races (Human, Dryad) who participated in the clear party increases by 1.》

《The clearing party receives an additional +1 level.》

A message suddenly appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Not only players—anyone residing in Pangaenia simultaneously saw the exact same words.

“Maximum level increase…?!”
“Don’t tell me that really *was* the true maximum level?!”

Even those who hadn’t climbed the Rift Tower were shocked.

Regardless of race, everyone was left speechless.

They had assumed it would be something like a proficiency-type level at best.

But an increase in the maximum level of a race meant the strengthening of the *race itself*.

Moreover, the clearing party received an additional +1.

Meaning—

“…If this goes well, the ruling power of the continent might change.”
“We may all have to stake our fate on climbing it.”

Currently, no single race holds dominion over the continent.

Humans possess the most land, yes, but they cannot truly be called its “rulers.”

There are far too many powerful beings scattered across the continent for that.

But through this opportunity, humans might very well become the true rulers.

Especially if the Empire were to take action—continental upheaval would hardly be surprising.

Of course, even if the maximum level increased, it didn’t mean immediate growth in strength.

“What about the Second Floor? Does it also increase maximum level?”
“We *must* be the ones to clear the Second Floor.”

A tower that strengthened races themselves—this was unprecedented.

Naturally, interest in the Rift Tower’s Second Floor soared.

But the problem was the conditions.

“Hidden trait holders, huh.”
“Hidden trait? What’s that supposed to be?”

The requirement was “hidden traits.”

Most people had no idea what that even meant.

And even for those who did know, gathering five individuals with such traits was no easy feat.

“Where are we supposed to find hidden-trait holders?”

“Is this implying multiple races should ascend together?”

“After all, the First Floor was cleared by humans and a dryad working together.”

“Hrm. Even the entry requirement is troublesome.”

Everyone shook their heads.

Unless each race gathered and hand-picked only their very best elites, a party wouldn’t even be possible.

And while all of Pangaenia was turning its attention to the Rift Tower—

 

“…We shall move as well.”
“Your Majesty… are you saying you will open the ‘barrier’?”

“Yes. But before that, following the guidance of the World Tree, we must first meet with the High Dryads of the Rustling Forest.”

The Primordial Forest.

A mysterious land cut off from the outside world.

Even the elves of that place began to move.

*

*

《The First Floor of the Rift Tower has been cleared.》

《All challengers will be forcibly expelled.》

Raktusha frowned.

Just as he was bringing his blade down upon the Great Earth Dragon’s neck, the background had abruptly changed.

*They already cleared it?*

How much time had even passed since the challenge began?

Even if their combat strength had dropped, the invincibility phase should have remained.

He knew for certain—having fought it once—that defeating Lord Solbaren had nothing to do with raw combat power alone.
It was an exceptionally troublesome opponent to kill.

Yet the raid was cleared not long after it began.

An outcome as unpleasant as it was baffling.

On top of that—

*Tch. I didn’t manage to sever its breath entirely.*

He hadn’t confirmed the Earth Dragon’s death.

He had cornered it right up to the brink, but he hadn’t witnessed the final moment where its breathing stopped.

*Though survival would be difficult regardless.*

Even so, survival was impossible.

Anything wounded by the Black Heaven Blade could not regenerate.

And although he hadn’t fully cleaved through its neck, he had split it halfway, delivering a fatal blow.

At most, it would only cling to life for a fleeting moment.

At that moment—

“That damn Master. In the end, he was completely useless.”
“Mm. I didn’t expect him to get kicked out so suddenly.”

The Black King’s subordinates appeared one after another at the tower entrance.

They, too, found the situation absurd.

“Who cleared it, anyway?”
“…Not the White King. When the raid started, the Earth Dragon was engaged with me.”

Raktusha answered the dark elf’s question.

The moment the name “Earth Dragon” came up, everyone’s interest piqued significantly.

“Oh? The Earth Dragon? Did you kill it?”
“It suffered a fatal blow from the Black Heaven Blade. Surviving would be difficult.”
“But you didn’t confirm the kill?”
“…They should know it’s absolutely impossible to survive.”

—

 

 

 

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