I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-243

Ch-243 **Heavenly Demon VS Randolph**

—

The Star Breaker.

A red-skinned ogre.

An old, ragged cloak, armor chipped in countless places, and two greatswords the size of his own body gripped in both hands.

He looked at the “mass of calamity” crawling before him.

Sss. Sssssss.

The unpleasant sound of flesh scraping against the ground.

A stench thick enough to clog the nose.

A monster among monsters that devours everything it touches—

*The ‘Unborn Existence.’*

One must not look at it.

The moment you meet its gaze, it will swallow you whole.

But that only applies to those who do not know what an “Unborn Existence” truly is.

“…It’s like the residue spilled from a Holy Grail.”

A Holy Grail.

An artifact revered by countless cults as sacred.

An object shaped to symbolize the god they serve.

But that was not the Grail he meant.

*That* thing was born from the Grail of the gods.

Within the deepest inner layer, where the souls of countless gods were gathered and condensed.

The innermost dregs—where everything unpleasant and vile accumulated.

Yes—if he were to put his impression into one word:

“Disgusting.”

Utterly revolting.

Even from the perspective of the Star Breaker, who had devoured innumerable abyssal monsters, the Unborn Existence was not something he welcomed.

Its very presence made it feel as if the Abyss were some filthy landfill.

Like a sewer rat clawing through every corner of the Abyss, devouring anything, yet never satisfied—an unending calamity.

*Such a thing should never have come here.*

The Star Breaker was perplexed.

Why had that thing drifted all the way to the Island of God?

It wasn’t the type to follow anyone’s commands or intentions.

Its kind possessed nothing but the instinct to *be born.*

It advanced endlessly, winning and consuming by instinct alone.

But because it carried a curse that ensured it could never be born, one could even call it the saddest creature here—

“If not for you, I wouldn’t have bothered to look. Should I thank you for the spectacle?”

With a faint smirk, the Star Breaker looked at the woman standing before him.

The Celestial Whale.

An icy face, eyes devoid of emotion.

She gave no reply.

Even if she spoke, he wouldn’t understand.

Only **Ruin** could communicate with the Celestial Whale.

The Star Breaker shrugged.

“And to think—you’ve changed as well. When you first stepped into the Abyss, you were but an innocent young whale.”

“……”

“I remember it vividly, as if it were yesterday—the moment the Heaven collapsed.”

He recalled the event.

When countless divinities and the goddess Lea sacrificed themselves to stop “Ruin.”

The whale shattered Axis, and all boundaries vanished.

And from the sky, things that should never fall… rained down, plunging the world into chaos.

The dead rose.

Things that should not exist manifested.

Creatures that vanished eons ago revealed themselves again.

…And thus the Abyss was completed.

Had the goddess Pina, Leah’s twin, not barely lifted the remaining continent—

Those “stars” in the sky, the continents—would never have been seen from below.

“Now, pollutants falling from the heavens are burned through certain ‘towers,’ but… what had fallen then were toxins accumulated since the beginning of time.”

It was too vivid.

So vivid, it drove him mad.

No matter how much time passed—he could not forget.

He wanted to forget, but it refused to fade.

Was there a curse worse than this?

“So I must ask—you Celestial Whale, why did you do it?”

“……”

“And why does *that* ‘mass’ linger near you?”

“……”

“Are you feeding it? Just as you fed the ‘Amplifier of Storms’ to it?”

The Star Breaker had already realized it.

What the cursed mass—the Unborn Existence—was digesting.

It was the “Amplifier of Storms.”

A participant of the Island of God, and a ruler of numerous abyssal domains.

Yet even devouring such a being did not satisfy it.

Sssss…

Sssslither…

It roamed about, eyeing *him* next.

*So it didn’t simply drift here.*

Ah—

Only now did the Star Breaker become certain.

It was *brought.*

By the Celestial Whale.

By the princess of the Abyss, as she was called.

There were those who called themselves kings, queens, or princesses within the Abyss…

But the only true one was *her.*

So it was not strange that the Unborn Existence followed her.

“What are you trying to create? What do you plan to bring to life?”

Yet that mass could *never* be born.

Giving it food meant she had a clear intention.

What was it?

What was she trying to give birth to?

Would she feed it every being on the island?

What was worth such an effort?

Ruin?

But the one leading Baal was present here.

The Terrible Omen.

The man believed to be the next “Ruin.”

Of course, that was only speculation—

*So she refuses to acknowledge him?*

Ah.

So she intended to create her own Ruin?

To revive it herself?

“I cannot allow things to proceed as you wish, Celestial Whale… pitiable princess of the Abyss.”

Shaaang!

He extended both arms and shook his greatswords.

He had no intention of using a starlight duel.

The Celestial Whale. The Unborn Existence.

*He would kill them both.*

That was all he thought.

—

—

The island trembled.

Somewhere, overwhelming beings were clashing and destroying one another.

For half a day, the chaos continued—

Then, as if a conclusion had been reached, the noise died down and night arrived.

Night.

A sky without a trace of light.

The Heavenly Demon began to move.

*“My inner strength and body… fully recovered.”*

Everything was normal.

No—better than normal.

He felt himself one step beyond what he had been.

*“I will achieve Great Completion here.”*

His Heavenly Demon Arts had advanced a stage.

As he expected—this island was indeed a place capable of fulfilling his purpose.

Endless energy, and overwhelmingly powerful foes.

Even the Heavenly Demon Blade lent him strength.

“Refreshing.”

Though the recent events were utterly unpleasant, he didn’t mind.

They were simply steps toward completion.

Battles with the strong had always been his desire.

But in the end, the one who remained standing would be him.

As always.

*“Those damned worms took some effort to deal with…”*

The worms of the Sunken Emperor that had infiltrated his body refused to die.

He had to boil and burn his inner strength to the limit to finally incinerate them.

He nearly died several times in the process.

His inner strength tangled, he nearly became crippled more than once.

*“But I advanced because of it.”*

And realization came with it.

Surpass—or die.

Between those two outcomes—he had surpassed.

Within the endless universe of martial arts, like the sea and cosmos, he had marked a milestone of his own.

He now clearly stood on the path toward Great Completion.

*“The Sunken Emperor. The Terrible Omen.”*

Those two—

He would kill with his own hands.

Early this morning the island shook violently, but their presences could not be sensed.

So he lost interest for now.

He would deal with the two, then clean up the rest afterward.

He searched the island tirelessly for a familiar aura—

*“…Found him.”*

One of his targets.

But he did not rush in.

Because that target was with the Night Wraith.

Night belonged to the Wraith.

A duel at this time could never be won.

He would lose his “most precious thing” again and be sent back to prison.

So he watched.

*“…What are they doing?”*

The Terrible Omen.

And the Night Wraith.

Together, they were looking at something gleaming beneath a large boulder.

*Starlight.*

A starlight.

But not a normal one—this was a radiant crimson starlight.

Yet even so—something was strange.

Why were the Wraith and the Terrible Omen together beside starlight?

*“…The Night Wraith guided him to starlight?”*

What kind of Night Wraith *helped* someone?

Even protected him?

Their cooperation was a problem.

Morning was the time for duels of starlight—

But duels could not kill.

And what the Heavenly Demon wanted was *death.*

Which meant he had to do it at night, yet with a Night Wraith present, that was impossible.

*“I must annihilate the Wraith first.”*

If he remained patient, there was a way.

He had learned how to erase a Wraith after being imprisoned twice.

“Stop hiding like a rat and show yourself, Heavenly Demon.”

It happened then.

The Terrible Omen’s voice.

Sssk.

Heavenly Demon stepped forward, revealing himself.

“You sensed me well.”

“You were leaking killing intent openly. It would be strange if I didn’t notice.”

True.

From afar, Heavenly Demon had deliberately released killing intent.

Keeping distance from the Wraith while provoking the Terrible Omen.

He wanted to see how he would react.

The Heavenly Demon taunted:

“How about it? Shall we kill each other? If you’re afraid, you may seek help from the Wraith.”

The Terrible Omen picked up the starlight and laughed.

“A crude provocation. And yet… I like it. I’m in quite a good mood right now.”

He accepted the provocation.

But the Heavenly Demon was puzzled.

He accepted too easily—but more importantly—

*“…Something is different.”*

He didn’t know what, but something had changed.

He had only met him twice, yet he could tell—

More unsettling. More obscure.

As though he were becoming something else entirely.

*“Even the Heavenly Demon Blade doesn’t react anymore.”*

The Blade hid itself.

As though it were afraid.

Even though it should have grown stronger after his advancement.

What had the Blade sensed that frightened it?

*“…No matter.”*

He was strong without it.

Now that he stood one step closer to Great Completion, no one could match him.

Then—

**KWA-ROOOOM!**

The Terrible Omen stomped.

The ground shook, energy rippled violently.

Pressure constricted his entire body.

From a single step—an overwhelming presence.

The Heavenly Demon frowned.

“Heavenly… Demon… Dominion Step…?”

His thoughts froze.

How could *that man* use this technique?

The Heavenly Demon Dominion Step.

A step only the Heavenly Demon could use.

And if he could use that step—

“You…!”

Impossible.

When they first met, he had shown nothing like this.

Even afterward, nothing.

So when?

How?

“You… learned the Heavenly Demon Arts?”

His arts—exclusive to him—had been mastered by this man?!

The Terrible Omen smirked.

“Didn’t the Heavenly Demon Blade tell you?”

“…The Heavenly Demon Blade?”

“Yes. I suppose it judged that I, not you, am the one suited to bring the Heavenly Demon Arts to completion.”

“…You’re insane.”

Insane beyond salvation.

The Heavenly Demon Blade taught *him* Heavenly Demon Arts?

He had never heard anything more insane in his life.

His face hardened.

“You will not die peacefully.”

He must tear this man to pieces.

—

 

 

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