I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-287

Ch-287. **First Love**

—

Isabella von Dersian.

That cursed name spilling from Raiga’s lips.

After meeting Randolph and learning the truth behind the *Divine Sickness*, Isabella found herself genuinely curious.

“Raiga. Did you know about the Dersian family’s illegal human modification and cloning?”

The horrific human experiments conducted by House Dersian.

Isabella herself was the ninth clone created there.

Countless people—including Sonora—had fallen victim to those experiments.

That was why she asked.

Raiga.

The Empire’s strongest knight, the man who led the Eight Houses’ Knight Order and embodied half the Empire itself.

Had he known about House Dersian’s crimes?

Had he turned a blind eye to those brutal acts?

At her question, a smile bloomed at the corner of Raiga’s lips.

Even back when he was an apprentice, he had been cold—but now it was clear that even that had been an act.

“So that’s what you’re curious about? Is that why you’re with them? Wilhelm’s strays?”

Wilhelm’s strays?

Isabella tilted her head inwardly.

It seemed he had jumped to conclusions after seeing the Pure-White Knight Serengeti and Saintess Seia.

After all, the two of them had participated in the Grand Expedition alongside Wilhelm.

Raiga stroked his chin and continued.

“When I asked you which of us was stronger—Wilhelm or me—you answered without hesitation that Wilhelm was stronger. I’d always wondered where that unwavering belief and conviction came from. Now I see… there was a reason.”

“……”

“Do you still think so? That Wilhelm is stronger?”

“That’s obvious—”

“Pure-White Knight Serengeti. Do you think the same?”

Raiga turned his gaze to Serengeti and asked.

Someone who had spent so long by Wilhelm’s side would be able to compare them more accurately.

Nod.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Serengeti agreed.

Even after clashing blades just moments ago, her expression held not a shred of doubt.

But in truth, the question itself was pointless.

From the start, both Isabella and Serengeti belonged to Wilhelm’s side.

If he truly wanted confirmation, there was only one way—fight him directly.

“…I’d truly like to cross blades with that man called Wilhelm.”

Of course, it was a battle that could never happen.

Wilhelm had died during the Grand Expedition.

If there was an afterlife, perhaps it would be possible there.

Then again, that wouldn’t be far off.

Raiga’s remaining lifespan was, at most, one year.

Even that had only been extended recently, after he barely broke through a wall.

“Are you curious about House Dersian, Isabella? Then defeat me. Do that, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“I intend to.”

*Snap!*

Once again, Isabella lashed out with her whip, forcibly binding Raiga’s entire body.

An extremely brief moment.

*Shhraak!*

Seizing that instant, Serengeti charged in.

“Will the two of you be enough?”

*Clang!*

Yet Serengeti’s blade failed to reach Raiga’s restrained body.

Something invisible had knocked her sword aside.

“A sword…?”

For a split second, Serengeti glimpsed the shape of a blade.

But there was no sword anywhere.

If it had been formed of mana, she would have felt it—but that wasn’t the case either.

“Danger…!”

Once again, she felt the threat of instant death.

Serengeti hastily retreated.

But this time, it didn’t end there.

*Boom!*

*Crash!*

Isabella’s body was flung back like a compressed spring after being struck by that invisible blade.

“Ugh!”

Serengeti crashed into a wall and collapsed to the ground.

“Cough!”

Spitting up clotted blood, she pressed a hand to the floor and forced herself back up.

Seeing Serengeti wipe her mouth and grip her sword again, Raiga let out a note of admiration.

Despite clearly feeling the gap in rank, her fighting spirit hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

“Impressive. To sense that and block it.”

“…Heart Sword?”

“I realized it recently.”

The sword of the mind.

A blade formed from one’s will.

That was the Heart Sword.

It was a form of power on an entirely different level from simply levitating a sword or coating it in sword force.

Beyond cutting or piercing—if one wished, one could shatter an opponent’s heart or crush their organs outright.

Realizing this, Serengeti’s brow furrowed slightly.

*Half-god, half-human. He’s a monster.*

A Heart Sword user.

It meant he had ascended to the realm of a demigod while still possessing a human body.

At this moment, Raiga was half god, half man.

*Snap!*

…Isabella did not give up.

Three stacks.

When *Serpent’s Bind* reached five stacks, Jörmungandr would devour Raiga.

No matter how monstrous Raiga was, he couldn’t be completely free of Jörmungandr’s influence.

“Th-that man… he’s s-so scary…”

“Lucaria. Please calm down. Please.”

The two children.

Issera was holding Lucaria, who was curled up and trembling—desperately trying to calm her.

They clearly had no room to help.

“Damn it.”

And Isaac was the same.

He had been fine while climbing the Tower of the War God.

But after witnessing the truth within the tower, he could no longer keep his composure.

“Why… why that name…”

Isaac recalled what he had seen once more.

Park Hyun-myung.

Those three syllables.

That name…

It was the name of the *Sinner* who had controlled him.

The Star of the Beheaded.

When he consumed that star and transcended, Isaac had heard the name Park Hyun-myung.

Isabella said she had seen Park Hyun-myung’s face.

Park Hyun-myung was the one who had freely manipulated Isaac’s body, destroyed the mining city, and forced him to live as a fugitive for the rest of his life.

A sinner who could never be forgiven.

Then why had that name appeared here?

“I have to kill him.”

Kill him. He would kill him.

From the moment he heard that name during his transcendence, Isaac had sworn to find Park Hyun-myung and kill him without fail.

Yet Isabella—whom he had met again recently—showed no anger toward the sinner.

She had burned with rage and left for House Dersian to uncover the truth behind his *Divine Sickness*.

So why?

What had she experienced there?

More than anything, Isabella also knew the name Park Hyun-myung.

Because Isaac had told her.

“Isabella… are you really okay?”

That was what he wanted to ask.

Isabella.

How could you be okay after seeing the sinner’s name?

How could you act as if it didn’t matter?

When he himself couldn’t remain sane?

“Ghk…!”

“Serengeti!”

Hudson threw himself forward, barely catching Serengeti as she was flung into the air.

Her body was in tatters.

There wasn’t a single place left uninjured.

But because of that, they had bought time.

*Snap!*

Five stacks.

“Jörmungandr!”

*Creeeeak!*

Behind Isabella, a massive white serpent rose into the air.

The serpent that devoured the world—Jörmungandr.

“…Ho?”

Raiga watched the sight with admiration.

But Jörmungandr’s authority was absolute.

*Crunch!*

Where Jörmungandr bit down, Raiga vanished without a trace.

“Did we… get him?” Isaac murmured.

That was when—

*Kyaaaa—!*

A scream rang out from somewhere.

*Ssssss!*

Along with the sound of something burning, a crack split the air.

*Thud!*

“Ghk!”

A sword flew in, piercing Isabella’s abdomen.

Immediately after, a man stepped out of the air itself.

“Interesting. Jörmungandr’s subspace, huh.”

…Raiga.

Covered in green blood, he looked like a living slaughter-god.

“To think a mere hatchling would try to devour me. Such greed. Don’t you agree, Isabella?”

“……”

Isabella clenched her teeth.

Her trump card.

Even five stacks of Serpent’s Bind hadn’t worked on Raiga.

Now both Serengeti and Isabella were no longer in any condition to fight.

Step.

As Raiga took another step forward, Hudson moved to block his path.

“Stop.”

“Hm? Ah, you were so weak I didn’t even notice you.”

He was utterly indifferent to the weak.

To Raiga, Hudson was less than a passing ant.

Even acknowledging his resolve to stand in the way felt undeserved—he was simply too weak.

Raiga waved his hand.

*Boom!*

“Urgh!”

Hudson was sent flying, crashing into a wall.

“Ugh…!”

Balte, the spearman, had been trembling in fear.

Suddenly, he convulsed, his eyes rolling back as he entered *Berserker Mode*.

“As expected, the cursed Berserker Set.”

This time, Raiga showed a bit of interest.

The Berserker Set was a cursed armament that killed its wearer.

Only those with talent befitting a true berserker could reach that state.

Normally, once in that state, one became several times stronger than when conscious.

*Whoosh!*

A spear swung at near-light speed.

Raiga narrowly dodged it and calmly observed Balte.

“A talent worth coveting. But… it doesn’t suit the Eight Houses.”

A state where the mind was gone, driven solely by bloodlust.

That couldn’t carry on the will of the Eight Houses.

Someone who challenged the Abyss, only to become the Abyss itself.

Even so, there was no denying Balte’s talent was extraordinary.

“Give him five more years of refinement, and he could easily be famed as the continent’s greatest spearman.”

Balte was raw ore.

The ability to wield a spear without losing balance even in a berserk state.

That kind of talent couldn’t exist without a solid foundation.

It meant he was a relentless hard worker.

A person who never gave up.

And with that groundwork, he would bloom even further.

…So long as he didn’t die here.

“What a pity.”

*Slash!*

*Shrrrk!*

Raiga’s blade moved at high speed, severing all of Balte’s tendons.

This was the only way to subdue a berserker.

Otherwise, he would continue attacking until death.

Serengeti, Hudson, and Balte—all were now incapacitated.

All that remained were the two young Dragon Gods and Isaac.

But Raiga wasn’t worried.

“Dragon God power weakens in the domain of another god.”

This was the Tower of the War God.

Another world, ruled by a different divine authority.

If they recklessly unleashed Dragon God power here, the clash of divinities could lead to mutual destruction.

“Isabella. If you want them to live, then speak. Where did the ‘Golden Goat’ go? And what happened there?”

He wouldn’t kill them yet.

There were things he needed to hear.

That place.

Everything that had happened in the Abyss.

He needed to know.

His erased memories—and why he had opened the Five Gates and been cast into a state of absolute death.

Isabella would know.

“……”

Isabella didn’t answer.

She couldn’t.

Raiga shrugged.

“Then I’ll start by killing Serengeti.”

If he killed them one by one, she would eventually speak.

Just as Raiga stepped in front of Serengeti—

*Clang!*

A sword slammed into the ground between them.

“Hm?”

Raiga turned his head in surprise.

“Take one more step, and the next thing I cut will be your neck.”

“Who are you?”

“…Gracia. The strongest knight.”

Gracia stood there.

When Serengeti was about to die, his body had moved on its own.

Previously, in the Abyssal Domain, Gracia had been defeated by Baal and lost his mind.

There, he met Serengeti and fell in love at first sight.

Of course, that Serengeti had actually been Hudson transformed through a potion—but Gracia had no way of knowing that.

“…She’s still beautiful.”

Thump. Thump.

His heart pounded violently.

Before him stood an angel.

A pure-white angel—Serengeti.

When Gracia first saw her in the Abyss, it was the first time in his life he had ever thought someone was beautiful.

It was also the first time someone had slapped his face and told him to get a grip.

And now, that woman was dying.

He had thought he would never see her again.

He had thought that even if they met again, it would just be a mistake—that his heart wouldn’t race again…

*Is this… is this what they call love?*