I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-230

Ch-230. **The Filthy and Monstrous Evil God**

—

“……”

Isabella slowly looked around.

The scenery changed the moment she passed through the door.

An island left alone on the vast ocean of rolling waves.

A beach, a forest stretching endlessly, and a blunt mountain rising high.

Other than that…

“What, you came too?”

“Looks like the runaway apprentice is here.”

…The knights of Fang.

It seemed she wasn’t the only one who entered through the door besides the original participants.

They were all warriors who followed Knight Commander Raiga with absolute loyalty.

True monsters, their minds half-broken from countless dives into the Abyss.

“So what was that shadow thing?”

“It’s an Abyssal being. A sort of intermediary that can open and close doors.”

“Like a Golden Goblin?”

“Tch. If I’d known it was like that, I’d have killed it first and asked later.”

They too had seen the shadow.

And their conversation that followed sounded painfully familiar.

“That shadow said, ‘For your king to win, you will be needed,’ right?”

“Our king is only Commander Raiga.”

“Obviously.”

“No one else is permitted to become king except Commander Raiga.”

…They had crossed the door **to make Raiga their king.**

They followed Raiga alone.

Even if the opponent were the Emperor, Raiga’s words came first.

The Emperor’s own knight order had long rotted.

The Fang Knight Order had become Raiga’s personal force.

“Then we just need to kill everyone else.”

“Let’s see… among them should be the ‘Goat,’ right?”

“That damned Goat bastard. He dared to stand beside Commander Raiga.”

“Then he dies first.”

Isabella held her breath.

There was only one person they could be calling “the Goat.”

**Randolph.**

Ever since Randolph—an executive of the Reaper Cult—joined the expedition, the Fang knights had quietly resented him.

Because Raiga never explained *why* Randolph was involved in the “Fragment Hunt.”

What better excuse than now?

To eliminate a Reaper Cult executive and a rival competitor—this situation must have felt like a blessing to the Fang knights.

“But apprentice, didn’t you take the Goat’s side earlier?”

“…Yeah. Didn’t you say Wilhelm was stronger than Commander Raiga?”

“Tch. There’s no greater betrayal than that.”

Every gaze locked on Isabella.

Their eyes were thick with bloodlust.

This was the Abyss. A place where no one would question a sudden death.

*…Dangerous.*

If they came at her, she would die.

Their loyalty toward Raiga was absolute, and Isabella’s statement had been the worst possible treason.

—Then answer me. Who is stronger, Wilhelm or I?

And Isabella had answered without hesitation.

—Wilhelm.

She would never forget that moment.

The atmosphere icing over instantly.

The killing intent in the knights’ faces was terrifying.

…And even if time were rewound, she would give the same answer.

Hundreds of times, thousands of times—she would never regret it.

Because it was simply the truth.

But they didn’t see it that way.

She was not stating a fact—they saw it as her defending the “Goat,” as choosing Randolph.

“Come to think of it, when we entered the Abyss, only you and the Goat disappeared.”

“Were you two plotting together from the beginning?”

“Knew it. A Reaper Cult puppet.”

They spewed whatever they wanted.

There was no point protesting.

They wouldn’t listen even if she tried.

Sching. Sching.

The knights drew their swords and slowly surrounded Isabella.

She drew her sword as well.

*I have to escape somehow.*

If she fought head-on, her chance of victory was zero.

These were monsters capable of hunting Abyssal sovereigns.

There was no escaping once they closed in.

The only faint chance was to break through before they fully encircled her.

*Strike before they close the gap.*

But the knights instantly sealed all escape routes.

If they closed in any further, there would be no hope.

Isabella swallowed nervously.

She prepared to charge when—

Ssssk. Ssssssk. Sssssssssk.

A strange sound came from behind them all.

Something scraping across the ground… crawling forward.

*…What?*

A chill surged across her entire body.

A sensation unlike anything she had ever felt.

Her body froze like stone—she couldn’t move a muscle.

“Huh?”

“What is tha— AAAAAAGH!”

“Danger—khuk!”

…What?

What was happening?

Screams erupted from behind.

Isabella stared forward, and the knights’ eyes were filled with raw terror.

“Aaah…”

“Don’t look… don’t look behind you…!”

“T-T-The ‘Unborn One’…!!!”

They knew exactly what was attacking them from behind.

Knights who had slain countless Abyssal sovereigns—

Even **they** were powerless before this colossal being.

“……”

Isabella slowly brought her trembling hand over her mouth to muffle her breath.

She closed her eyes and forcibly shut down all senses.

She didn’t hear.

She didn’t see.

She didn’t feel.

She didn’t react.

She let time pass.

“……”

When she opened her eyes again—

The sky had turned dark.

Stars. And the moon.

She immediately understood.

Those weren’t stars—those were **continents floating in the firmament.**

She had never known that in the Abyss, the continents of the upper sky looked like stars.

But none of that mattered right now.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Her heart pounded violently.

Isabella slowly—very slowly—lowered her gaze.

And then—

*…All.*

She could not speak.

She simply couldn’t.

The scene before her eyes was too impossible to accept.

*…All dead.*

Every single one.

The Fang knights.

Who were they?

The strongest military force in the Empire.

Even if they could not match Raiga himself, every one of them was still called a “top-tier monster” anywhere.

And yet what she was seeing now was unbelievable.

*They couldn’t even resist.*

It was pure massacre.

Not even an attempted escape.

Pieces of flesh scattered everywhere.

Bodies mangled so badly their forms were no longer recognizable—crushed and torn as if devoured.

They were erased in the blink of an eye.

A monster that could slaughter the continent’s finest knights without allowing even a breath of resistance—

And Isabella was the only survivor.

*A creature you must never turn your back to. Never look at.*

Because she kept her eyes closed—because she didn’t turn around—she survived.

Isabella took a deep breath.

How many such creatures were on this island?

…At that moment—

> 【Congratulations! Based on survival results, you have been selected as “Evil Spirit of Night.”】

A system message appeared.

Evil Spirit of Night?

As if reading her confusion, the text continued.

> 【There are four Evil Spirits of Night in total.】

> 【At night, an Evil Spirit of Night gains 500 ATK and 500 HP.】

> 【At night, the Evil Spirit hunts escaped “prisoners” and transfers them to the Prison of Stars.】

> 【An Evil Spirit may view certain memories of a prisoner it captures, and at sunrise, it may disguise itself as any one of the prisoners.】

> 【The disguised form may freely use that prisoner’s starlight.】

> 【If an Evil Spirit loses an expedition duel during daytime, or if its disguise is exposed by a prisoner, the Evil Spirit disappears.】

> 【Evil Spirits do not know each other, but if one destroys another through daytime expedition duels, it may absorb a portion of the opponent’s ATK and HP.】

> 【Evil Spirits do NOT disappear for exposing each other’s disguises.】

> 【When the last prisoner and last Evil Spirit remain, the Evil Spirit may take everything the prisoner has—or rob them to win.】

> 【However, if the morning arrives while there are two prisoners still alive, all Evil Spirits are erased.
】
> 【Observe memories. Deceive. Pretend. And win.】

Isabella’s expression hardened like stone.

“…Randolph.”

If the rules were written truthfully—

Then there was no such thing as a happy ending in which she and Randolph both survived.

*

*

A filthy and monstrous evil god.

Just as Winter described.

The presence dwelling inside the Heavenly Demon’s Dao was disgustingly revolting.

—Eat humans.

—Blood, flesh, hearts, entrails!

—Eat your parents, your children, your friends!

—Consume them all.

—Devour everything and become Asura.

—Child of the Heavenly Slaughter Star! It is your destiny!

The memory within the Heavenly Demon’s Dao began with a child.

A star that kills the heavens.

A child born under that fate.

The very creator of Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the evil god dwelling within the blade.

The mother died immediately after childbirth, and the father was eaten alive by the child.

The boy, born with a nature of slaughter, soon killed and ate everyone in his village.

Then he destroyed multiple nations.

…Pure evil.

A monster born solely to be evil.

When that pure evil ascended Mount Tianshan, he was worshiped and named **Heavenly Demon.**

—Do you desire my power?

—Do you wish to inherit it?

—Then abandon it.

—Only one who abandons their humanity can inherit Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Countless followers worshiped his power.

But none could succeed him—his power was too strong, too pure, too evil.

No human could abandon humanity.

No one could become evil as thoroughly as he.

—Can you abandon your humanity?

—Can you consume everything?

Thus the first Heavenly Demon—the evil god—asked me.

Could I become pure evil like him, devouring everything?

The Heavenly Demon currently transferred to the Prison of Stars had abandoned humanity by becoming an Abyssal being.

That was the bare minimum resolve required to inherit his power.

Indeed.

I listened to the evil god and nodded.

“…You’re a pitiful one.”

A filthy, monstrous evil god.

He was, above all else, **pitiful.**

—Pitiful? *Me?*

The evil god let out a dumbfounded laugh.

The apex being who mocked all creation.

Who was said to have no equal beneath the heavens.

How many would dare call him *pitiful?*

Fear or hatred was understandable—but pity?

“Yes. Disgustingly pitiful.”

I answered immediately.

Because he had never once felt true affection in his life.

His mother died at birth.

His father—broken from grief—raised him like livestock.

Locked him in a pigsty, showing no affection.

So the boy raised like a beast killed his father and massacred the village without hesitation.

Even when he was later worshiped, he never possessed human empathy.

*The compassion all humans are born with—he never had it. Because of that, others decided he was “not human.”*

So they called him a god.

Because they feared him.

Born a beast.

Died a god.

From birth to death, not once was the evil god treated as a human.

How could that not be pitiful?

—…You pity me? Not fear me, but pity?

It was the first time anyone had ever said such a thing to him.

But I meant every word.

His intimidation had no weight on me.

—Good. Let’s see if you can keep thinking that.

Evil swelled.

He expanded in form, displayed hallucinations, all to break me.

Countless visions of despair—enough to destroy any human mind.

He projected all the evil he had endured onto me.

—Abandon humanity. Desire nothing but power.

Even gods would break beneath this evil.

From the moment one awakened the evil god inside the blade, the result was decided.

Clinging to humanity only led to corruption and self-destruction.

Accepting evil was the only way to survive.

And from the evil god’s perspective, my talent was exceptional.

So accept it.

Accept him.

Accept evil.

…but then—

—…Why do you not become tainted?

This human was not stained by him.

He still looked at him with eyes of compassion.

And the evil god could not understand it.

Because it was impossible.

This was his domain.

Everything within it was under his control.

He was the blackness that tainted all things.

But I did not become blackened.

There was only one color that black could not stain.

………A color darker than black itself.

—

 

 

 

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