I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-275

Ch-275. **Cataclysm**

—

*He called my name!*

Aaron’s entire body trembled violently.

The moment his name was spoken, he couldn’t contain the torrent of emotions surging up inside him.

Ever since he had witnessed the two goddesses at the brink of death—

Aaron’s worldview had been completely overturned.

It had been nothing short of a miracle.

His rotting limbs had been restored, his dried-up divine power had returned—and yet even those paled in comparison to the sheer shock of the experience. He could say with certainty that nothing in his life had ever struck him so deeply.

*I was chosen!*

If this wasn’t divine revelation, then what was?

Though he had been treated as a disgrace, a problem child, Aaron had nonetheless been a devotee of the Goddess since birth.

But he had never once met the Goddess directly.

He believed no one ever had.

He even thought that the Holy Father himself—who claimed to commune directly with the Goddess—was lying.

To Aaron, the Church of the Goddess was nothing more than a business.

A divine enterprise, no different from a religious scam.

And yet—

*That person—only that person alone—is the sole being in this world who truly receives the Goddess’s love! Therefore, that person’s choice is no different from the Goddess’s choice. I… I have been saved…!*

His sins were absolved.

His name was called.

And in that moment, the two goddesses smiled upon him.

This was true salvation.

If this wasn’t salvation, then what possibly could be?

Therefore, he had to respond in kind.

A Prayer of Adoration?

If that person was soon to become a goddess themselves, then there was no reason not to recite it.

He would shout it with joy.

Even that wouldn’t be enough.

If he wished to show his devotion—

Aaron cast himself away once more, offering up his life.

At that moment—

“A miracle…!”

Aaron beheld a miracle.

—

—

*Kuuung! Kwarrrrung!*

The instant *that man* rose from his seat and declared his challenge—

The tower began to shake.

Sansha frowned deeply.

*Power enough to shake the tower itself. It’s not Karas…*

This phenomenon was not caused by the War God Karas.

The source of the tremors stood right before his eyes.

Even so, Sansha shook his head inwardly.

He didn’t know what the man intended to do—but whatever it was, it would be useless.

No matter what he tried, it would be impossible to move Sansha from his position.

*Position Lock. As long as I remain here, I am invincible.*

This trial was designed with failure in mind from the beginning.

It was also a method for Sansha to face challengers directly.

He was far too strong to be called a mere “trial,” and fighting challengers head-on did not suit his station.

Thus, the tower itself imposed restrictions so that he could not directly clash with challengers.

Still, even that could be circumvented.

By presenting a seemingly fair trial—and stepping in personally if it failed.

Even a one-in-a-million chance of success qualified as a legitimate trial.

*The Divine Shield—Aegis.*

That was the shield created for this purpose.

Having surpassed his limits and transcended, Sansha had obtained a singular authority.

The absolute shield he gained after returning from death—Aegis.

If he remained in a fixed position, all his attributes would convert into defense.

It could never be pierced.

Never collapse.

Invincible.

*Feel it. The wall.*

A wall the challengers could never overcome.

He might have been flustered on the 16th floor—but this time would be different.

He wanted that man to feel what he himself had felt.

After the trial failed, he intended to face him directly.

After defeating all the challengers.

*Randolph.*

…Sansha longed endlessly to challenge him again.

That alone was the reason he had been revived within the tower as a “trial.”

He wanted to fight properly once more.

To experience that overwhelming exhilaration again.

Not as the Demon of Envy—but as he was now.

He wanted to face Randolph, and Wilhelm.

“Hmm…?”

But—

Once the tower began to shake, it started forming even greater cracks.

Crack!

Craaaack!

The floor split apart, and everything began to *collapse*.

Strange.

It was utterly incomprehensible.

The collapsed parts did not regenerate.

But the tower possessed automatic restoration capabilities.

Moreover, didn’t the War God Karas now hold full divinity and rule as its master?

And there was even a manager overseeing the tower—

So how could the tower be destroyed?!

A tower imbued with divinity could not be destroyed.

Even if the god were killed, the tower would continue to function autonomously as part of the “trial.”

And yet—to destroy it?

*The entire tower isn’t collapsing.*

Sansha pinpointed the issue precisely.

It wasn’t the tower.

This floor—specifically, the *17th-floor trial*—was collapsing.

“What are you doing—?!”

Sansha was certain that the one responsible for this phenomenon was none other than the *man* before him.

On the 16th floor, he had induced an inexplicable “fear of instant death.”

And now, instead of confronting the trial head-on, he was pulling some kind of trick again.

The only challenger whose depths he could not fathom.

He had offered a trial—and the man destroyed the entire floor instead!

“W-what?!”

“I-it’s collapsing!”

“What is this all of a sudden—?!”

Kuuurrrrung!

It collapsed.

Caved in.

Fell away.

It was absurd.

As he fell toward the ground—

Watching the man smile, Sansha said,

“…You pass.”

At this point, he wasn’t even flustered anymore.

Rather—

…He had no idea what the man would do next, to the point that he was actually looking forward to the next anomaly.

—

—

 

*Done.*

Watching Sansha fall, I smiled.

A trial where I had to make him move—or force him out of the circle.

In other words, all I had to do was make the circle itself disappear.

The Hidden-grade Talisman *Cataclysm* causes *absolute collapse* of all surrounding domains.

Even if it’s a dungeon or tower fixed as a trial.

*I cleaned out the Golden Scale Shop and combined them into a Hidden Talisman Cube.*

Creating that combination had been pure coincidence.

While endlessly refreshing the Golden Scale Shop, I bought up every useful talisman and tossed them into the cube—when it suddenly began to glow.

Just in case, I completed the combination.

And it resulted in a Hidden-grade item.

—

**[Cataclysm Talisman (Hidden)]**

* Equipped to the Primordial Armor, increasing its effects by 1.5×

* Inevitable Phenomenon

* Absolute Domain Collapse

* Collapse range scales with mana

* Cooldown: 15 days

That was all.

But that explanation was more than sufficient.

A power that destroys absolute domains.

Even if it’s a sanctuary, a domain created by divine authority, a dungeon, or a tower—it destroys it all.

This wasn’t a joke.

It was truly outrageous.

Similar to Mystic Destruction.

Yet similar—and subtly different.

*If I destroy the barrier over Holy City Adrium, everything blocking Randolph will be nullified.*

The Goddess’s barrier placed over Saint Adrium.

Even Mystic Destruction couldn’t remove that barrier.

But with the *Cataclysm* talisman, even that invincible barrier designed to detect and eliminate non-humans could be destroyed.

Of course, the moment it broke, they’d notice.

But the mere fact that a way in would exist was extraordinary.

A power that could shatter any barrier deployed over any domain.

Used well, uncovering treasure dungeons hidden behind barriers would be trivial.

And more than that—

*…This is insane.*

Seeing its power firsthand, even I felt awed.

The entire 17th floor was collapsing.

If used in enemy territory, they would be annihilated instantly.

This rivaled a tactical nuclear weapon.

…The problem was, I was getting dragged in too.

*How far am I falling?*

This was unexpected.

If I fell from the 17th floor, shouldn’t I land on the 16th?

But I kept falling—endlessly.

I thought that once I passed, I’d be automatically transferred to the 18th floor.

Whoosh!

Whoooosh!

As if responding to my thoughts, warps began appearing everywhere.

“A warp!”

“We’re saved!”

Those who were falling entered the warps one by one and were forcibly relocated.

The collapsing rifts slowly began to fill.

The tower was repairing itself.

Those who passed the trial were being transferred to the 18th floor.

But soon, I realized something was wrong.

*…What about me?*

Everyone around me had been transferred.

I waited, thinking it would be my turn next—

…but no matter how long I waited, no warp appeared.

I kept falling.

Downward.

Endlessly downward.

—

—

 

*Kraaak?*

*Kraaak!*

Crows tilted their heads as they looked down at the vanishing 17th floor.

The Ash Clan.

Crows who worshiped the War God Karas as their deity.

Unlike the Clan of Omen, the Ash Clan had no authority or power to manage the tower.

They were crows who presided over calamity, death, and trials.

*Kraaak!*

*Kraaaak!!*

The Ash Clan soon became restless.

What should they do?

Karas was absent.

Sensing something amiss, Karas had headed to the 30th floor—and had not appeared for quite some time.

But if they allowed the 17th floor to collapse, it would affect the entire tower.

“Kraaak! Kraaak!”

Just then—

Wobble! Wobble!

A massive crow appeared, bloated with fat, as large as a human child.

*Kraaak!*

*Kraaak!*

*Kraaaaak!*

The Ash Clan erupted in cheers at the sight.

Finally!

The Clan of Omen.

The true administrators of the tower!

It seemed that when the champion Randolph was summoned, the Clan of Omen had been summoned along with him.

“Kraaak!”

Leave it to me!

The Omen Clan crow beat its chest with its wings.

Then, with confidence, it began restoring the collapsing 17th floor.

Shooong!

Shuaaaang!

Cracks were sealed, ceilings restored.

The 17th floor rapidly returned to its original state.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The Ash Clan applauded.

As expected of the Clan of Omen.

When it came to tower management, none surpassed them.

*Kraaak?*

Then one Ash Clan crow voiced a doubt.

One challenger was missing.

“Kraaak?”

The Omen Clan crow blinked.

During restoration, it had clearly restored the challengers as well.

But one was missing?

*Kraaak!*

*Kraaak!*

*Kraaaaak!*

The Ash Clan erupted into panic.

This was bad.

Really bad!

He must have fallen into the *gap between floors*!

The Omen Clan crow froze stiff.

The *gap between floors*.

A completely different world—neither Abyss, nor surface, nor heavens.

Only the *Omen King* knew what lay there.

—

—

 

* The ‘gap between floors’ is something only we of the Clan of Omen may know.

* Administrators must never look into the gap.

* They must never enter it, nor allow anyone else to enter.

* This is an absolute rule the Clan of Omen must uphold!

* Even if the world is destroyed—this must never be violated!

An absolute rule that tower administrators must obey.

A vow passed down solemnly by every Omen King.

If a challenger had fallen into that *gap*—

Then the administrator had violated an absolute rule.

…This was disastrous.

A once-in-a-lifetime crisis.

“K-kraaak…?”

W-what do we do?

The Omen Clan crow turned pale, its body trembling.

—

—

How long had I been falling?

A day? Two?

…I didn’t know.

All I knew was that I had been falling endlessly, for a time so long I had lost all sense of it.

For a fall from the 17th to the 16th floor, it was far too long.

Just as even the concept of time grew hazy—

Flaaash!

Suddenly, light burst forth.

The entire domain began to change.

The light was so intense that I frowned and closed my eyes.

When I opened them again—

*Where am I now?*

The world had completely changed.

—Goooooo.

Before me stood two gigantic crows, towering as if they could touch the ends of the sky.