I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-170

Ch-170

—

“Did he get scared of the Emperor Penguin?”

“Boooooo!”

The crowd jeered.

For challengers climbing the Tower of the War God, this was humiliation itself.

Yet Karas simply turned his back and walked out of the arena.

As if he held not a shred of regret for this outcome.

Not just surprising—absurd.

And Sansha felt exactly the same.

“…Is he out of his damn mind?”

Sansha scowled deeply.

Karas was supposed to be a wedge.

Someone to test the Emperor Penguin’s limits and draw the current Champion’s gaze.

But at this rate, everything was ruined.

If he left without doing anything, Sansha’s entire plan collapsed.

“Why the hell would he do that?”

No matter how she thought about it, it made no sense.

If he intended to forfeit from the beginning, he wouldn’t have joined the match at all.

Karas had clearly recognized the Emperor Penguin and then forfeited.

Had they exchanged glances and struck some kind of deal?

‘Karas isn’t someone you can bargain with.’

She immediately shook her head.

The only person capable of moving Karas was herself.

Only she held his sole weakness—only she could make him act.

There was no way the Emperor Penguin knew that weakness.

So then, why?

“…Investigate the Emperor Penguin.”

There was something there.

Challengers of the Tower had their personal information protected—but the Emperor Penguin must possess something she needed to know.

At her command, the shadows of the Tower began to stir.

Now that he had caught her attention, the Emperor Penguin’s identity would soon be uncovered completely.

Whatever that identity was.

*Emperor Penguin. What is your weakness?*

I will grasp it—and shake you apart.

Worry was unnecessary.

She had the skill to discover even a demigod’s fatal weakness.

*

*

—*You…*

Karas. Before he left, a voice rang in my head.

It was Karas’s voice.

—*You are of the Clan of Omen.*

He had seen through my identity in an instant.

The Clan of Omen, huh.

A dreadful omen—he must be referring to that.

Although I merged with Baal and became “He Who Kindles Darkness,” the original form had not vanished entirely, so perhaps that was why he recognized me.

Karas, too, bore the face of a crow.

*So it wasn’t an act? He was actually a crow?*

…I thought that face was just a concept.

Then Karas was a god of the crow clan?

【Lv. ???】

【Due to the blessing of the demigod residing in the Tower, his existence cannot be analyzed.】

【Tip: Raise the level of the Truth-Seeker talent to pierce beings of higher rank.】

But neither his level nor his information appeared.

The Tower’s blessing was blocking even my hidden trait, “Great Sage.”

However, it only applied *inside* the Tower.
If I could drag Karas *outside* the Tower, that would change.

And that Tip was no ordinary message.

If I raised the Truth-Seeker’s level, even divine beings could be seen through.

This was a glimpse of the potential hidden within the Great Sage trait.

Karas continued speaking.

—*I never thought I would see the vanished Clan of Omen again. Your people once ‘managed’ this Tower. You are the descendant of their king…*

Wait.

The Clan of Omen managed the Tower?

Crows. But not ordinary crows.

I suddenly thought of the dreadful omen-crows I summoned.

Those crows—summoned to pressure Baal with a “bleeding sun”—were completely unlike normal crows.

Could those crows have been the Clan of Omen?

Karas then forfeited.

As if he had no reason to fight someone of the Omen clan.

He even seemed faintly friendly.

—*Be wary of Sansha, the Tower’s administrator. She is unlike anyone you’ve faced before.*

Leaving only those final words, he turned and walked off without hesitation.

*

*

 

18th floor.

Only two more floors remained before reaching the Champion.

But the unease would not leave me.

*This isn’t enough.*

There must have been a reason Sansha sent Karas to the 17th floor.

But Karas forfeited, and even the Champion showed no reaction.

*She wanted to see my true skill.*

I had completely overwhelmed my opponents so far, but that alone wasn’t enough.

The crowd’s excitement was at its peak, but I still wasn’t considered Champion material.

So she must have sent Karas to measure my ability properly.

Perhaps she believed I needed to at least beat Karas to challenge the Champion.

And of course, that meant the current Champion was stronger than Karas—the demigod who ruled the Tower.

Even Wilhelm could not face such a foe.

Just what kind of monster was he?

*There’s only one answer.*

If he wants to see it, I’ll show him.

The only question was *how*.

Through whom would I demonstrate it?

My opponents so far were far too bland.

None were worthy of my sword.

Even Karas—my best candidate—had forfeited.

“‘The Rabbit Girl’ challenges ‘the Emperor Penguin’!”

“What is happening!?”

“The two super rookies finally clash!”

Auril.

It was time to play my hidden card.

*

*

Auril took a deep breath.

—*Come at me with everything you have. As if you intend to kill me.*

She had been given another chance—another opportunity to face Randolph.

*This time, I won’t repeat the same mistake.*

She had rushed in far too recklessly.

She didn’t bother to read her opponent—just swung her sword blindly.

As a result, she lost before even showing half her true ability.

But now…

Now that Randolph’s desire no longer terrified her, the outcome might be different.

*And my laurel leaf has grown so much as well.*

Ever since forming her contract with Randolph, Auril’s laurel leaf had been steadily growing.

A miracle—something she wouldn’t have believed if she hadn’t seen it herself.

Her leaf had been nearly stagnant compared to other elves.

“The Emperor Penguin and the Rabbit Girl! Both terrifying newcomers climbing the Tower undefeated!”

“The Anger Inducer versus the Rabbit Girl who finishes every fight in under three seconds!”

“Ahh… I honestly can’t predict who’ll win!”

The commentators fanned the flames.

The audience watched with wide, eager eyes.

*I’m not afraid anymore.*

Auril looked at Randolph.

That overwhelming mass of desire—she no longer feared it.

And more importantly, the horrific “stench” she smelled from other humans was absent in him.

He was different.

Too different—so different it made her even more conscious of him.

*I’ll win. No matter what.*

Auril raised her sword.

*

*

*It’s time to let go of this lingering regret.*

The Champion still looked down toward the lower floors.

For a year, he had stared downward, waiting for Wilhelm.

Hoping Wilhelm would climb the Tower once more and challenge him.

But Wilhelm would never return.

Wilhelm had died in the Grand Expedition.

How could someone slain by the Demon King climb the Tower again?

*According to this star’s memory… Wilhelm’s death is certain.*

Fragments of Wilhelm’s memories—stored within his star—had flowed into the Champion.

Among them was the moment he died and had his body taken by the Demon King.

More importantly, one memory was buried deeply—related to the “Final Sword.”

*Wilhelm’s sword art. The Wall of Heaven-and-Earth-Genesis.*

Not all of it.

But even seeing a fragment made the Champion tremble.

The final “Wall” of Wilhelm’s Heaven-and-Earth-Genesis swordsmanship—
was a blade that could kill a god.

But to use the Wall, he would need all of Wilhelm’s scattered stars.

Only with all of them gathered could the technique be executed perfectly.

If the Demon King were to take this star—Wilhelm’s star within him—the result would be catastrophic.

*The Demon King is searching for Wilhelm’s stars.*

Thus, the Champion became certain.

The Demon King was searching for Wilhelm’s scattered stars.

Instinctively, he would know the locations of the stars that had once resided in his own body.

Even without making the first move, the Demon King would inevitably find him soon.

How did he know?

He simply *felt* it. Instinctively.

And when that time came… this Tower too would crumble.

Sansha, Karas, and even he himself would be powerless to stop the Demon King.

At this point, no one could stand against him.

So there was no need to speak of it.

Of course, that didn’t mean he would give up easily.

*Anyway…*

The Champion closed his eyes.

The remaining grace period before the Demon King found him.

He needed to let go of lingering attachments. And if so, he had to decide what he would do next.

*Karas forfeited.*

The news from yesterday flashed through his mind.

Never before had someone like Karas—a demigod of the Tower—surrendered to anyone.

Although he was being controlled by Sansha, Karas always gave his all whenever he entered a match.

By his pride, he would never yield.

Yet the moment he saw the Emperor Penguin, he surrendered.

Why?

Had he been certain he could not win?

Or perhaps he had seen something else in the Emperor Penguin.

In any case, that fact had caught the Champion’s attention.

*I need to see this for myself.*

The Champion opened his eyes.

No trace of attachment remained in them.

There was no greater folly than waiting for someone who no longer existed.

He had indulged in that foolish attachment for a year, but now it was time to let it go.

The Champion made his way down the Tower after a long while.

He was curious, even slightly, about the Emperor Penguin who had forced Karas to surrender.

He moved directly after a year, eager to witness the duel between the Rabbit Girl and the Emperor Penguin.

*An elf?*

Yet his gaze inevitably focused more on the Rabbit Girl than the Emperor Penguin.

He had recognized that she was an elf.

Though she tried to hide it, she could not deceive the Champion’s eyes.

*Why is an elf climbing the Tower of the War God?*

A people known for their exclusivity and superiority, yet here she was.

Truly a strange and fascinating matter.

Meanwhile, the Emperor Penguin…

*That one’s strange too.*

There was something unusual about him.

Not just one or two things.

He already seemed to have crossed the line beyond being human.

Perhaps that was why Karas had surrendered.

*Still… he can’t surpass Wilhelm.*

The knight who had made his heart race.

The one whose mere presence on the battlefield made his heart pound uncontrollably.

*…Strange.*

But why?

Why did the Emperor Penguin’s posture feel so familiar?

The gestures of that knight, recalled countless times over a year.

No one could have recalled him more than the Champion had, so he was sure he had imagined their countless duels in his mind.

Yet that couldn’t be it.

He simply hadn’t completely let go of his lingering attachment.

When the match finally began:

“Th-that swordsmanship…?”

The Champion’s expression stiffened.

—

—

 

Auril recalled her previous battle.

*Randolph’s swordsmanship is a technique that dominates space.*

Within his space, one is controlled, utterly subdued.

Every movement is read, the body feels paralyzed, endlessly slowed.

But Auril considered this technique from another perspective.

*The true nature of this swordsmanship is to read the opponent’s consciousness.*

It doesn’t truly dominate space.

It merely reads the consciousness of whoever stands before him, and strikes according to that awareness.

If her understanding was correct, there was only one way to face him with her sword.

*The unconscious.*

A state where the sword is not consciously wielded.

A technique where the body moves freely without thought, extending wherever the hand reaches.

And such unconscious skill cannot simply be used at will.

*The unconscious is ultimately allowing the body to react naturally.*

Yet among the Laurel warriors, she prided herself as the best in swordsmanship.

She had trained harder than anyone; she *was* the sword itself.

 

 

 

 

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