I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-261

Ch-261. **The Spear of Longinus**

—

It was absurd.

To think that I would set foot on the land of **Pangaenia** while still being **Park Hyunmyung**!

*This is beyond imagination.*

It was something I had never anticipated.

No—perhaps I had imagined it once or twice, but I had never believed it would actually become reality.

So I quickly pulled myself together.

After all, they say that even if you’re dragged off by a tiger, you can survive as long as you keep your wits about you.

*Beings of Pangaenia can head toward Earth through invasion warps.*

Right now, the situation was reversed.

A being from Earth had crossed over into Pangaenia.

The problem was that the system classified any being that entered Earth through an **invasion warp** as an *enemy*.

Wasn’t that why it broadcast messages to all players, ordering them to eliminate such targets?

I scanned my surroundings, staying alert.

**Wooooong!**

That was when it happened.

A vibration resonated through my chest.

*This is—?*

Lowering my head, I checked.

A necklace was hanging around my neck.

And the *spear tip* at its center was trembling violently.

《The “Broken Spear of Longinus” is functioning.》
《You can perform “Dimensional Leap” through the “Broken Spear of Longinus.”》
《Complete the Spear of Longinus.》
《A fragment of the spear is nearby.》

The reward I had received on the Island of the Gods.

A message appeared before my eyes, telling me that the **Broken Spear of Longinus** was the cause of this phenomenon.

*So this is what Gabriel wanted me to do—complete the Spear of Longinus.*

Archangel Gabriel.

This must have been the reason she expelled me.

An artifact that enabled **dimensional travel**.

I couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of abilities it would have once completed.

And then—

**Kooorung!**
**Thud! Thud!**

A long procession thundered through the center of the holy city, accompanied by deafening noise.

“Where has the **Order of Ru** been dispatched to?”

I asked a nearby merchant.

The Order of Ru.

One of the most powerful knight orders representing the Goddess Church, an order that moved solely for the sake of **holy war**—and they were returning in great haste.

At my question, the merchant gave me a strange look.

“You don’t seem to be from the holy city.”

“Yes. I came up from the countryside not long ago on a pilgrimage.”

It was the safest answer.

This place, **Adrium**, was the holy capital of the Goddess Church.

Naturally, the number of pilgrims who visited every year was beyond counting.

The merchant nodded in understanding and spoke.

“Hmm. You’ve heard that the **Balrog Order** and the **Goddess Church** recently went to war, haven’t you?”

“I have.”

Of course I had.

One of the hottest issues shaking all of Pangaenia was the war between the Balrog Order and the Goddess Church.

Everyone had assumed the Balrog Order would be crushed—but the outcome had been completely unexpected.

A disastrous defeat in the first engagement.

The Goddess Church had lost countless soldiers and knights, along with a cardinal and a saint.

No one could understand how a newly founded cult could possess such overwhelming military power.

As a result, the Goddess Church was now reclaiming every coin it had previously spent, preparing for a full-scale holy war.

And in the process, the **Eight Hero Councils** had fallen as well.

In any case—

*The Balrog Order is being backed by the Reaper Cult.*

I knew it.

Perhaps I was the only one in this world who knew the truth.

*The souls of the dead cardinal and saint appeared at the Reaper Cult’s banquet.*

…The **Golden Fox**.

The woman wearing the fox mask had produced their souls at the banquet.

She was likely the Balrog Order’s primary patron.

Or perhaps other executives of the Reaper Cult were also supporting them.

“I don’t know the details, but it seems they’ve figured out how those cursed bastards managed to harm the cardinal and the saint.”

“The reason they could harm them?”

“I don’t know. But how could a fledgling order like the Balrog Order ever stand against the Goddess Church? They must’ve made a deal with demons.”

A deal with demons.

That wasn’t wrong.

But if the Reaper Cult was truly pulling the strings, why would they provoke a war with the Goddess Church by putting the Balrog Order in front?

To keep the Goddess Church in check?

*That must be the reason.*

What was certain was that there was **something** in the middle of that procession.

“Ohhh, the Saints!”

“It’s Saint Ra!”

“Saint Aie!”

“Ahh! She’s so beautiful!”

At once, everyone slammed their heads to the ground and raised both hands.

A gesture of reverence.

At the center of the procession, alongside the *something* covered in cloth, two saints revealed themselves.

Saint Ra and Saint Aie.

Seeing the two leading saints of the Goddess Church together was an exceedingly rare sight.

I followed suit, assuming the posture while subtly lifting my gaze.

**Woooong! Wooooong!**

The Broken Spear of Longinus was shaking even more violently.

…Inside that cloth was a fragment of the spear.

More precisely, *something* that carried a fragment of the spear.

*What is it that’s inside there?*

I didn’t know.

It looked to be at least five meters in size.

But it was hidden by cloth, making it impossible to tell.

Cloth imbued with special properties that blocked both observation and penetration abilities.

And yet…

How should I put it?

*Why does this feel so familiar?*

As I stared at the cloth, my chest churned uneasily.

I didn’t know why, but whatever was inside seemed connected to me somehow.

At that moment—

Additional lines of text appeared before my eyes.

《“Blessing of Archangel Gabriel” – You can seek out and communicate with other archangels.》

《“Great Legacy” – You can “refine” a Hidden Class.》

《“Paradox of Fate (1)” – The closer you are to “Randolph,” the fainter the existence of “Park Hyunmyung” becomes.》

《“Paradox of Fate (2)” – If someone realizes or perceives that you are “not a human of this world,” your existence becomes fainter.》

The blessing of the archangel had activated.

Other currently applied effects were also being displayed.

*Paradox of Fate… I won’t be able to act openly at all.*

At this rate, even contacting my main body—let alone Randolph—was dangerous.

No, every being connected to Randolph was dangerous.

To have one’s **existence fade** meant nothing less than annihilation.

So this was the price of dimensional travel.

But there was something even more intriguing than that.

*There’s another archangel in the holy capital.*

Why else would Gabriel’s blessing activate here?

It meant that, somewhere in **Adrium**, there was another archangel like Gabriel.

And presumably, each archangel possessed a different kind of blessing.

If that were the case—

*The way to free oneself from the Fragment of Destruction is through the blessing of an archangel.*

I felt fairly confident.

The aura of blessing I had sensed from **Raiga** resembled Gabriel’s blessing far too closely.

*Raiga has received the blessing of an archangel.*

And perhaps the archangel who had lost their blessing, the one I saw at the Reaper Cult, was also connected.

It felt like puzzle pieces were finally clicking into place.

Only then did my objective become clear.

*To receive the blessing of every archangel—and complete the Spear of Longinus.*

That was what I, Park Hyunmyung, had to do.

—

—

 

**The desert city of Faisalmer.**

Isabella set foot there.

“Q-Queen?”

The barbarians were flustered.

It was only natural—she had returned without any prior notice, despite being the successor to the Desert Queen.

“Shh. I wish to enter quietly.”

Isabella raised a finger, asking for silence.

“Y-Yes, understood.”

A quiet escort began.

Isabella took a deep breath.

It felt like she was returning after a very long time.

After wandering endlessly, she had come back here—to the desert city.

Perhaps the place she truly belonged wasn’t her family, the **Dersian** household, but this city of Faisalmer from the very beginning.

*When I first met Lord Randolph, I wanted to find my roots.*

She recalled their first meeting.

The remnants of a defeated expedition, scattered in disarray.

And among them was Randolph.

At first, she had intended to kill him.

The Desert Queen had ordered it.

And the Desert Queen’s orders were absolute.

But when Randolph spoke her full name and revealed himself as a **Star-bearer**, her thoughts changed.

Through him, a desire took root—to escape this wretched place.

*If I hadn’t escaped with Lord Randolph back then…*

No.

Just imagining it was horrifying.

Had that happened, she would be dead by now.

The Desert Queen’s objective had been to summon the **Blood-Marrow Demon King**.

Hadn’t she polluted the entire city just for that ritual?

Isabella would have been used as a sacrifice—an impurity meant to summon the Blood-Marrow Demon King.

And that wasn’t all.

*I wouldn’t even have realized that my obsession with finding my roots was a mistake.*

Her roots.

Her origin.

The imperial **Dersian family**.

From the start, there had been no place for her there.

Nor did she wish to stand there.

Compared to that, this place was better.

This city was also filled with lies and hypocrisy—but it held memories.

*Sonora.*

Memories of Sonora.

The days they spent together.

Isabella smiled as she looked at the sleeping Randolph.

*…Someone I would never trade for anything.*

Randolph was her savior.

But calling him merely a “benefactor” wasn’t enough.

Everything had begun with meeting him.

Had she never met him—or had she not followed him—she would have remained trapped in a well, regretting forever.

“We’ve arrived at the palace, Your Majesty.”

A voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Isabella spoke.

“Announce my arrival, and have everyone vacate the palace. We’ll hold the ceremony of audience tomorrow.”

“We obey!”

The barbarians escorting the carriage entered the palace.

Before long, people began filing out.

Once everyone had left, Isabella carefully lifted Randolph onto her back.

Then she climbed the stairs.

Slowly ascending to the bedroom, she laid Randolph down on the bed.

“Please wait just a little longer. I’ll return soon.”

After covering him with a blanket and gazing at him for a long while, Isabella turned away—her expression hardening.

Now… it was time to face reality.

The secret chamber the former Desert Queen had concealed.

She remembered where the place connected to the Abyss was.

*It’s beneath this palace.*

There was a sealed door below the palace.

Beyond it lay a place connected to the Abyss.

The horrific place where Sonora and the children had been imprisoned.

Isabella moved slowly.

The study.

The statues lining its outer wall.

She adjusted their faces so that all of them faced the same direction.

**Kooorung!**

A hidden room revealed itself.

A path leading underground.

Isabella descended the stairs for a long time.

After continuing down the seemingly endless passage, she arrived before a massive door.

*Beyond this door…*

Sonora was there.

Even now, she must be waiting.

Taking a deep breath once more, Isabella placed her hand on the stone door.

And slowly pushed.

**Krrrrrung!**

The stone door scraped along the floor as it moved.

Soon, Isabella could see what lay beyond.

“Ah…”

At the same time, her face turned deathly pale.

*This is it. This is where… we were together.*

It matched the space from her most horrific memories.

This was where the children killed and devoured one another.

Isabella stepped inside slowly.

She retraced her memories, moving forward.

“Sonora?”

But her expression only stiffened further.

Sonora was nowhere to be found in the dark space.

Sonora, who had attacked Isabella after becoming a hybrid.

At the very least, her corpse should have been here.

But there was nothing.

“Sonora!”

Isabella screamed at the top of her lungs.

Yet there was no reply.

Only her lone voice echoed back.

*Please.*

Her steps quickened.

In case there was somewhere she had missed.

*Where are you, Sonora?*

But no matter how long she searched, the result was the same.

**Thud.**

In the end, Isabella collapsed to the ground.

Ah…

Her body trembled violently.

She had come too late.

Not even a corpse remained.

How could she ever face Sonora in death like this?

*What is this mark?*

It wasn’t that she found nothing.

There was a piece of cloth bearing a strange mark.

A large black dot.

She had no idea what it meant.

“……That is a special mark of the Balrog Order. It signifies the ‘Black Mark.’”

“Lord Randolph…!”

Startled by the voice behind her, Isabella hurriedly rose to her feet.

Randolph—who had been asleep all this time—had suddenly appeared.

*Now I know.*

…And only after coming here could I be certain.

The *something* hidden beneath cloth.

The reason it had felt so familiar.

*Sonora.*

Sonora was in **Adrium**, the holy capital of the Goddess Church.

…Holding the **Spear of Longinus**.

 

 

 

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