I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-234

Ch-234. **I Want to Kill You (2)**

—

**Kuaaaaaaaaang!**

When the Sunken Emperor swept his hand through the air, the ground split open and whirlpools surged up from the earth.

The whirlpools swallowed and sank everything they touched.

A terrifying force, rivaling the majesty of the gods.

Seeing this, the Heavenly Demon finally nodded.

“Ahh… so *you’re* that so-called Sunken Emperor, or whatever.”

**Ku-rung!**

The Heavenly Demon stomped the ground.

The earth split in two and the entire island trembled violently.

**Buuuuuuuun—**

Everything around the Heavenly Demon was lifted into the air.

Grains of sand and piles of stone shattered under his internal energy, compressing into ten perfect rings brimming with *Aura*—the strength that could annihilate even gods.

This was *Aura Rings*, formed of pure destructive force.

“Seems we’re all thinking the same thing, aren’t we?”

For beings like them, expedition duels or starlight collisions were meaningless.

Only battles of life and death—where one kills and one is killed—could express the true meaning of their existence.

So, let them kill each other.

Here.
Now.

*‘How delightful.’*

The Heavenly Demon laughed deeply.

Every being gathered on this Island of the Gods was a monster.

Rulers who dominated multiple Abyssal domains and reigned as kings.

Colossal ancient monstrosities who had grown stronger for uncountable ages—one by one, they were emerging.

To become true kings.

To become the true masters of the Abyss!

*‘And that one especially is famous.’*

The Sunken Emperor.

Not the old man he met earlier—this man was the real thing.

Self-proclaimed emperors were rare among Abyssal kings.

And the Sunken Emperor was exceptional in many ways.

*‘The one who tamed Gross.’*

The horse beneath the Sunken Emperor—

That horse was Gross, a ruler who once dominated three Abyssal territories.

A being who acknowledged no one, who obeyed no one.

Yet the Sunken Emperor tamed him.

The Heavenly Demon himself had failed to do so.

Thus, he very much wanted to fight this man.

“Die.”

At the same time—

**Shiiing—!**

**Suaaaargh!**

The ten Aura Rings shot toward the Sunken Emperor.

—

—

 

 

“…!!!”

**Boom! Boom! Kwarrrrung!**

They exploded without pause.

Each time a Aura Ring detonated, it felt as though the world underwent a cataclysmic upheaval.

The Sunken Emperor countered by forming “fracture domains.”

Just watching the clash was enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.

*‘Do they not care at all about the Night Wraiths?’*

Isabella stared blankly at the sudden eruption of combat.

Once fighting began, every Night Wraith could sense the combatants.

By now, the other three Wraiths were surely heading their way.

Not only Night Wraiths—

Everyone on the island would notice a battle of this scale.

*‘…Everyone will gather here.’*

Her mind snapped sharply back into focus.

Every Night Wraith and every participant would converge.

She didn’t know what would happen if she stayed frozen.

If the “Unborn Existence” appeared now, the worst possible tragedy would unfold.

Isabella turned her gaze.

This moment—while the Heavenly Demon and the Sunken Emperor fought—was her only chance.

*‘The Master of the Tomb!’*

Right now, she could fight him one-on-one.

But he had already stepped back.

The moment the battle began, he withdrew from the combat zone.

And drew further from her reach.

A moment of hesitation.

Then Isabella decided.

*‘…I will stay and protect this place.’*

She *could* chase down the Master of the Tomb.

But she could not leave the cave just to hunt him.

She came here only for one purpose—

To protect Randolph.

“That thing—does it devour mana? A bug technique? How amusing!”

The Heavenly Demon was excited.

In a flash, he saw the mechanism behind the Sunken Emperor’s power.

A swarm of insects—so small they were invisible to the human eye.

“Hah! So it wasn’t sinking—it was *gnawing*!’”

The insects devoured mana.

The whirlpools and dark zones used by the Sunken Emperor—

All were places filled with these insects.

They were so numerous that distinguishing them was difficult.

They even seemed capable of partially neutralizing the Aura Rings.

Fascinating—but still disappointing.

Magic tricks would not overcome Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.

His art amplified internal energy explosively to overwhelm opponents.

No matter how many insects there were, they could only devour so much.

Meanwhile, his internal energy was nearly infinite.

**Goooooooo—!**

Once again, his surroundings roared.

Everything rising around him was absorbed into him.

He possessed the power to pull in all surrounding internal energy and convert it to his own.

A boundary achievable only by transcending martial arts entirely—

The Realm of Life and Death.

*The Heavenly Demon Divine Arts alone could reach this state.*

No mere insects could resist it.

Twenty Aura Rings formed around him.

“Let’s see how much you can devour.”

It was spear versus shield.

But the Heavenly Demon was certain he could pierce that shield.

—

—

 

Heaven and earth shook.

The sky raged.

Everyone on the island stared at the battle.

“Impressive.”

Said the one known as the Multiplier of Storms, who erased starlight.

“A confrontation between deeper Abyssal beings? A rare sight indeed.”

Said the Star-Breaker.

“…”

Even the Celestial Whale, who attempted to destroy the island, watched.

“So. Are you conspiring here?”

And Raiga as well.

They all recognized one another.

But none interfered.

This moment belonged to the Heavenly Demon and the Sunken Emperor.

An unspoken agreement held them still.

*‘Absurd.’*

Raiga was genuinely baffled by their behavior.

Abyssal monsters valuing honor and etiquette?

If they attacked now, they could eliminate competitors instantly.

Every Abyssal entity Raiga had faced before was bloodthirsty.

They struck whenever a gap appeared.
They showed no mercy—not even to their own kind.

Naturally, he thought the monsters here would be the same.

*‘They’re different.’*

Completely different.

This Island of the Gods—
This Abyss—
Was unlike anything Raiga had ever experienced.

But something else shocked him far more.

*‘They all possess Fragments of Destruction.’*

Every participant was a Fragment-holder.

Raiga, too, possessed one.

To kill monsters, one had to become a monster.

It seemed the price of entry for this game was a Fragment.

*‘Then… does that mean the Goat is a Fragment-holder too?’*

Yet this raised a problem.

The Goat—known as the Dreadful Ill Omen.

A high-ranking member of the Reaper Cult.

The very Goat Raiga dragged into the Abyss.

Did he also possess a Shard?

The Goat possessed the ability to block all observation.

That was why Raiga could not discern anything about him.

But if the Goat *was* a Shard-holder…

*‘Then the Goat must also be eliminated.’*

Any creature with a Shard had to die.

That was the oath of the Eight Families.

No matter who it was.

Raiga frowned.

He could not possibly face so many Shard-holders at once.

But this was not necessarily a bad opportunity.

He could learn their combat capabilities.

*‘The Unborn Existence… and the Goat… where are they?’*

Neither appeared.

A battle engulfing the entire island—

There was no way they would ignore it.

Unless they were imprisoned… or—

*‘Is the Night Wraith guarding something?’*

A Night Wraith standing guard before a cave.

Perhaps something was inside.

**KWAaaaaaaaaang!**

“Grrrrrrr!”

Suddenly, the Heavenly Demon let out a monstrous roar.

The duel between him and the Sunken Emperor was akin to gods waging war.

But as time passed, the Heavenly Demon’s force grew unstable.

His reason faltered.

He was being *sunken* little by little.

His vast internal energy—once like an endless sea—was dwindling.

“If only I had the Heavenly Demon Blade, these bugs—!”

He was incomplete.

His most precious weapon was not in hand.

To fight without it was like entering battle without limbs.

He was an Absolute Master who needed no weapons—
But the Heavenly Demon Blade was more than a weapon.

It was his hand.
His foot.
His essence.

The Sunken Emperor, too, lacked an intact state.

**Crack!**

His armor and helmet shattered, revealing his form within.

He could not withstand the Aura Ring impacts entirely.

A young man’s face flickered into view—

Jet-black hair.

Eyes like the void.

A bloodless, pale face—eyes hollow and cold—as he stared down at the Heavenly Demon without emotion.

*‘Impossible.’*

Raiga knew that face.

His brows tightened.

His pupils trembled.

His complexion drained to blue.

He—who never lost control—lost his composure.

He must have misseen.

Yes—
It must have been a mistake.

Otherwise, it made no sense.

No familiar face should appear in this Abyss.

But no matter how many times he looked—

That face belonged to—

He could no longer deny it.

Raiga spoke, horrified.

“…Your Majesty…?”

—

—

 

A vessel.

A container that holds something.

If the content grows too much, the vessel overflows.

If the vessel is small, it cannot hold much.

The body’s capacity to hold magical power was the same.

Especially for players—whose vessels were defined by the System.

*‘Level-determined limits.’*

Higher level meant a higher limit.

And my vessel was larger than most players’.

But that alone was not enough.

To fully use the Heavenly Demon Divine Art’s amplified mana—

To truly *master* the art—

I needed a vessel of overwhelming magnitude.

A vessel capable of holding the world.

So how does one create such an infinite vessel?

*‘The answer is within me.’*

I could become anything.
I could do anything.

And—
I already had the infinite vessel inside me.

It had been prepared long ago.

I had even seen it once before.

*The Gate of Truth.*

The massive eye and mouth.

Those beings *were* the Gate of Truth.
They were the Celestial Realm.

They were the infinite vessel.

And I could find them anytime I willed it.

I could see them.

Because they had gifted it to me long ago.

Only now did I understand.

Why they gave it to me.

*“The Eye of Truth.”*

The evolved form of the hidden trait Sage—
The Eye of Truth.

Using it, I searched for the Gate of Truth.

Soon, a lone door appeared before me.

*“Open the door.”*

I grasped the knob and opened it.

Beyond it—

An infinite ocean-like vessel.

—*Congratulations. You have finally found your ‘door.’*

The mouth spoke from within infinity.

As if I had arrived faster than expected.

But it was a sincere congratulations.

At the same time—

【All tiers blend into one.】

【Hidden Traits ‘Heart of the Eternal Monarch’ and ‘Eternal Randolph’ merge.】

【The two Hidden Traits transcend into ‘Eternal Monarch Randolph.’】

…

【Shedding of the Shell is complete.】

—

 

 

 

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