I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-224

**224. The Star That Drinks the Nebula**

—

Fwoooosh!

Fully armored once more, Agnis gripped a spear of fire.

It was neither as massive nor as blazing as before—

But:

*The further something reaches the extreme, the more ordinary it appears.*

Agnis knew.

This spear was stronger than any power he had ever unleashed in the middle realm.

A child who possessed talent absurd enough to forcibly summon him.

And the child’s **First Flame** was affecting even Agnis.

He couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

He had lived for eons as the Spirit King of Fire.

Not once had a summoner ever **overwhelmed** him.

> –Disappear.

Fwip.

He threw the spear.

It flew slowly—yet pierced the Sealed Hand of the Gods with perfect precision.

> –KRAAAAAGH!

The Sealed Hand made one last desperate struggle.

Countless black hands emerged from its head, seeking to seize the children.

But they could not reach.

Fwoooosh!

Before they could touch, they burned into ash.

> –T-this…! I cannot disappear… like this…!

It vanished.

Utterly disappeared.

A spear of negation that erased existence itself—wiping out the root.

*This is the first time I’ve wielded it in the middle realm.*

Even those who summoned him in ancient times could not make him bring this out.

This spear of negation was the very foundation of Agnis’ power.

And it stirred interest within him.

In the boy.

Never once had he been interested in anyone before.

> –I am a god!

Agnis chuckled dryly.

A god?

Could that pitiful thing truly be called a god?

Agnis, Spirit King of Fire, had seen through its nature instantly.

*Pathetic.*

It was no god.

It was nothing more than a parasite born of corrupted honor.

A worm.

Its very name said it—*“Sealed”* Hand of the Gods.

A fake mimicking divinity.

Such a worm hardly deserved his spear—but Agnis wanted to show something.

To the summoner.

He wanted to show the boy **his true power.**

> –I am Agnis, Spirit King of Fire. The king who governs the root of all things.

Agnis then shifted his gaze to the demon.

The demon of Pride.

That worm he had just annihilated was undoubtedly the demon’s handiwork.

> –Begone.

Times may change. Worlds may shift.
But demons were demons.

A demon had no right to speak of divinity.

That filthy nature would never change.

So he warned:

Do not dare approach.
A demon should crawl on the ground where it belongs.

“……”

King Friedrich—the demon of Pride—froze.

Ssshhh—

He turned his back and dissolved into darkness.

“Weren’t you going to deal with that demon too?”

At Issera’s question, Agnis shook his head.

> –Do not get involved with that one.

This wasn’t about whether he *could* or couldn’t kill him.

Nothing good ever came from getting entangled with demons—especially Pride.

And with divinity and light, that demon could never be completely killed.

To kill him required a darkness **beyond** the darkness Pride held.

Besides, the true heart—the core body—of Pride was not here.

Once the situation settled, Lucaria pointed at Agnis with her index finger:

“Burning pervert uncle!”

> – ………

—

—

 

Tremble… tremble tremble…

Pride was shaking.

Humiliation.

Even if the situation was unexpected, he had shown his back—and fled.

*The First Flame… and Agnis…!*

He ground his teeth.

The Kingdom of Valan had been nothing more than a toy for him to play with.

Who would have imagined that such monsters were hiding in a tiny backwater kingdom?

Had he known, he would never have stepped foot in Valan.

*Are they truly celestial guardians?*

Their capabilities were comparable to the Guardians of the Celestial Realm.

And yet he still could not understand.

Why would Celestial Guardians be in the middle realm?

Even more absurd—why would they appear *before him*?

He had done **nothing** significant enough to provoke the celestial realm.

*I am not who I once was.*

Pride looked down at his hands.

They were trembling lightly.

Pure instinct.

The instinct of a demon confronted by divinity.

In the ancient era, demons could not even raise their heads to look at the sky.

Pride clenched his teeth.

Slowly, he forced himself to look upward.

“I am not afraid of you. You do not scare me.”

Bullshit.

The words he forced out and the reaction of his body were opposites.

The memory buried deep in his bones refused to fade.

He thought he had become something greater—something stronger than the old gods.

Yet he was still afraid.

Still terrified.

If not, he wouldn’t have run.

*Greed… how did you overcome this terror?*

He used to keep his distance because Greed was so tedious—

But now he truly wanted to ask.

How had that bastard overcome this instinctive terror and fought gods again and again?

And that boy with the incomplete First Flame…

If Pride truly wished, he *could* have killed him.

*If it were only those two.*

The boy with the First Flame and Agnis.

Fighting only those two would not have been an unwinnable battle.

If he couldn’t confront them head-on, he could corrupt them slowly, tempt them secretly—that was a demon’s way.

But the problem lay elsewhere.

There was not just those two.

*That girl…*

When he remembered the girl’s eyes, Pride clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly.

…She was unnerving.

*What was she?*

—

—

“Mmh…”

Serengeti opened her eyes.

She immediately collected her thoughts and scanned her surroundings.

*Why did I fall asleep?*

King-Slayer Yazam.

After severing his neck, the “Sealed Hand of the Gods” appeared—and her memory cut off mid-battle.

Then she awoke here.

*The royal castle’s bedchamber…*

Why was she lying here?

And what happened to that monster?

“Oh! The Goddess of Victory has awakened!”

“Oooooh!”

Goddess of Victory?

It wasn’t only one or two voices.

The castle—inside and out—was roaring.

The cheers were so overwhelming she could feel the bed tremble.

“You’ve awakened?”

Marquis Weiser entered the room.

The King of Valan followed beside him.

“…What is going on?”

“Hm. You don’t remember? Well, given how fierce the battle was, I suppose that is natural…”

The King of Valan stroked his white beard and continued.

“You single-handedly defeated all of King Friedrich’s knights. Serengeti, Knight of Pure White—there is no one left who would deny that you are the greatest knight of the kingdom.”

“…What?”

“Is there something you desire? We intend to grant you a title and lands, but I doubt that will be enough. Speak your wish. Anything within my power, I shall grant.”

“…Your Majesty of Valan. Are you saying **I** defeated the ‘Sealed Hand of the Gods’?”

“Sealed Hand of the Gods? What is that?”

Something was wrong.

Neither man seemed to recall the monster at all.

Only then did Serengeti recall…

*The children!*

…Ah.

Those children who suddenly appeared.

What were they?

Where did they go?

“Hmph. It seems your mind and spirit have not yet settled. Rest easy.”

“That is not it.”

“It is fine. You exposed a bit of vulnerability, but no one will blame you. And if they do, I—myself—will not forgive them.”

“…Vulnerability? What do you mean?”

“When you awakened, of course. Your whole body was aflame. Your clothes and armor burned away completely… but it is fine. Perfectly fine.”

“…Excuse me?”

Burned?

Her clothes and armor burned?

Then all those soldiers… saw her bare skin?

But she had no memory of it.

Unless someone tampered with everyone’s memories simultaneously—

“Haha! The Goddess of Victory indeed. The Kingdom of Valan is blessed. Marquis Weiser, would you not agree?”

“Absolutely, Your Majesty.”

What was this.

Serengeti blinked in bewilderment.

“Long live the Goddess of Victory!”

“Long live Serengeti, the Knight of Pure White!”

“Long live the true Knight of Pure White!”

Regardless of her confusion, the crowd’s thunderous chanting continued outside.

—

—

**King Friedrich has withdrawn!**

The rumor spread instantly.

The Iron Kingdom—unstoppable in conquering the Eastern Continent—

Its king had retreated for the first time.

Retreated from a kingdom as weak as Valan.

The entire continent exploded in enthusiasm for Valan.

“…Son of a bitch!”

BANG!

Inside the Hero Council’s meeting chamber.

Darkstar kicked the table.

“Has the King of Valan lost his mind?!”

Anyone would react the same.

After King Friedrich retreated, the King of Valan publicly declared:

> —The Magic Tower. And the Hero Council!

> If not for their betrayal, the Grand Expedition would have succeeded!

> The Knight-King would not have died!

> Thus I, King of Valan—and our Kingdom—proclaim our righteous fury!

> People, do not be deceived by these cowards!

> They are not heroes but frauds!

> The Kingdom of Valan shall declare them enemies of the realm!

He openly named the Magic Tower and the Hero Council as **traitors of the Grand Expedition.**

Crazy.

Completely insane.

Normally, it would have been dismissed as nonsense.

The King of Valan had neither the authority nor the military power to challenge the Hero Council.

But now—

The Kingdom of Valan was a force that had made **King Friedrich retreat.**

“Serengeti… The Knight of Pure White returned from the dead?! What is she, a phoenix?!”

By a single person, at that—

Serengeti alone.

As Darkstar ranted, Lucifer—who had been silent—spoke:

“It isn’t only Serengeti. Saintess Seia is there too. With the two of them beside the King of Valan, his claims hold undeniable credibility.”

Two who were thought to have died during the Grand Expedition.

Two who fought as the Knight-King’s closest aides.

Now standing beside the King of Valan.

No one in Pangaenia could refuse to believe them.

And the aftermath was devastating.

Without time to prepare or respond, the Hero Council was branded as traitors instantly.

Their attempts to deny it failed completely.

There was no one left who believed them.

Sitting down, Darkstar shook and chewed his fingers anxiously.

“We need a way out…”

“…The Goddess Church has withdrawn all support and is demanding compensation. Diplomatic ties with kingdoms are collapsing. Major trading guilds are cutting off commerce.”

Could things be worse?

Immediately after the King of Valan’s declaration, the Hero Council was isolated.

Their foothold in Pangaenia evaporated overnight.

Finding a solution was not just difficult—
it was impossible.

Even just paying the compensation demanded by the Goddess Church would bankrupt them.

And that wasn’t the end.

Allied kingdoms were severing warp gates one by one.

Merchants withdrew their workers and suspended all business.

The people of Pangaenia pointed fingers at them everywhere.

If this continued, they would rot away and die.

They needed an answer.

*There was none.*

No matter how they thought, there was no solution.

Everyone eventually came to the same realization—

There was **no way out** of this disaster.

False heroes.

Their faces darkened in despair.

Nightmare.

Yes—this had to be a nightmare.

BANG!

Darkstar kicked the table again, flipping it completely.

“Aaaaaaaaah! This goddamn… fucking shit—!!!”

—

—

Deep in the Abyss.

I kept talking with Isabella, walking endlessly.

Who knew how long we walked.

> 《The Star That Drinks the Nebula is seeking you.》

…What?

I froze.

**The Star That Drinks the Nebula.**

It was the star I longed for the most—

The strongest star that represented **Wilhelm.**

—

 

 

 

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