I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-291

Ch-291. **Wilhelm**

—

The Tower of the War God.

When Swordmaster Raktusha slew Baal, one of the Four Calamities, in Phase 1, and even the Blade Dragon God was repelled in Phase 2 for reasons unknown, people were swept up in excitement and began to harbor *hope*.

—Maybe this is actually doable?

—Let’s keep pushing like this!

—The more people climb the tower, the more it really feels like the tower’s overall difficulty drops.

—I’m going up soon too!

Everyone, without exception, began climbing the *Tower of the War God*.

Of course, it wasn’t merely for the sake of challenge.

If it were nothing but hardship and suffering, there was no way hundreds of thousands would be ascending the tower simultaneously.

—Whoa. The rewards are insane.

—Apparently once you pass the 20th floor, you can obtain special kinds of “Mysteries.”

—Not just Mysteries—equipment, classes, all sorts of things are there.

—Second-generation Awakeners will hit the jackpot if they push the main quest alongside this.

—Even the Constellations of People’s Hall are drooling and begging people to climb.

—They’re giving SP? Is that for real?

—This is crazy. The experience gain is insane!

What could be obtained from the Tower of the War God was endless.

A tower where, in proportion to the trials endured, one could gain *everything*.

And when word spread that even special “Mysteries” unattainable by humans could be acquired, an overwhelming crowd surged in.

There wasn’t a single reason *not* to climb.

If anything, people were actively urging one another to do so.

Those whose growth had stagnated were especially desperate—
those whose level caps had risen but who couldn’t acquire experience,
those lacking SP and unable to progress their talent trees, and so on.

Even the Constellations of People’s Hall stepped forward, urging people to climb.

At that point, not climbing was practically a loss.

But—

—They say everyone got dominated by ‘Eternal Randolph’…

—This is impossible to clear, isn’t it…?

—Are you serious? Even Raiga got dominated? What the hell is going on?

The strongest individuals who had reached the 25th floor—

All of them were dominated by *Eternal Randolph*.

It was likely connected to the tower’s abnormalities.

It seemed they had been forcibly dominated while trying to flee, ensnared by the *black hands* that wrapped around the entire tower.

—You can’t even enter the tower anymore.

—Looks like you can’t get out either.

—Don’t tell me… this was all bait?

—Are all those challengers dominated now?

More than five hundred thousand challengers.

If they and the strongest figures were all dominated at once, the situation was even more despair-inducing than when challenging the Blade Dragon God.

There was no one left to challenge at all.

—There are only two days left.

—What happens if two days pass like this?

—Don’t tell me… all the challengers will turn into enemies…

Once that thought took hold, everyone turned pale with horror.

This was far worse than the tower collapsing and a cursed Randolph emerging.

It couldn’t be stopped.

No one—no one at all—would be able to stop it.

Because everyone who *should* have stopped it had already become the enemy.

And as if to confirm those fears—

《Remaining Time: 47 hours 43 minutes.》

《When the time expires, the tower will collapse onto the surface, releasing the curse.》

《When the tower collapses, all beings within the tower who bear the curse will invade ‘Pangaenia’ and ‘Earth’.》

Less than two days remained.

—Ah…

—What are we supposed to do? We can’t even challenge it anymore!

—H-how… what do we do…?

—Should we get as far away from the tower as possible?

—Shouldn’t we start evacuating people right now?

Everyone’s eyes were dyed in despair.

The collapse of the tower felt inevitable.

They couldn’t challenge it.

And even if they did—who could defeat that alliance of the strongest and Randolph?

Then—

《Due to abnormalities within the tower, the rules are revised.》

《From now on, the ‘Boss Room’ will be broadcast in real time.》

《Using ‘Fragments of a Broken Golden Scale’ or a ‘Complete Golden Scale’, you may support either a challenger or Eternal Randolph.》

《The greater the scale of support, the stronger the blessing granted to the supported target.》

Before the eyes of every Awakener—

A transparent screen appeared simultaneously.

And like a live television broadcast, the scene began to play vividly.

—What the…

—Do you guys see this too? The Boss Room right now?

—This is insane.

—A war?

—All the challengers are in the Boss Room?!

An overwhelming tide—easily numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Two massive forces facing one another across a vast plain.

Those who had yet to climb the tower swallowed hard and stared at the screen.

—…This is a fight of overwhelming numbers versus overwhelming quality.

—But who are we supposed to support?

—Lucaria?

—Both sides feel wrong somehow.

—If we support someone, wouldn’t the Curse of Dominion be lifted? It says blessings are granted—maybe curses can be undone too?

—Yeah, curses and blessings are completely opposite forces.

—Then… Raiga?

—Raiga’s the one who hosted the tournament in the tower. He might’ve contributed to this mess.

—What about Serengeti?

—She’s strong, but… I don’t think she can do it.

—Then should we just support Eternal Randolph?

—Are you insane?

—There *might* be a chance, but ordinary Golden Scale fragments probably wouldn’t even make a dent.

Player Talk and countless Awakener communities erupted into heated debate.

Yet no consensus could be reached.

There was no one who stood out as an obvious choice.

—There’s no time.
—They’re about to clash!

Time was running out.

The two factions were steadily closing the distance.

Once they collided, it would spiral completely out of control.

…And then—

—?
—???
—??????????????????

The instant *his* name appeared—

The two charging factions froze as if by lie.

And as they saw the man who appeared at their center, everyone could only fill the screen with question marks.

—…What?

—…Wilhelm?

—Is it just the same name?

—No… that really looks like Wilhelm…

…Something impossible had happened.

Had it been just the name, no one would have believed it.

They would have dismissed it as a namesake.

But the man standing vividly before them—

Was unmistakably *King of Knights Wilhelm*.

—But Wilhelm died during the Grand Expedition…

—All of Wilhelm’s gear was dismantled and appeared in the Golden Scale shop, wasn’t it?

—Yeah. That definitely happened…

—Wait, hold on. Weren’t both Randolph and Wilhelm Phantom?

—Uh… then what is this?

—How can both of them exist at the same time?

—So Wilhelm, who we thought was dead, is alive—and Wilhelm wasn’t Phantom’s main character?

—Randolph and Wilhelm are separate characters???

—Holy shit… chills.

Wilhelm had died.

During the Grand Expedition.

Not long had passed since Serengeti publicly declared the truth of Wilhelm’s story—

And yet here he was, as if resurrected.

But Wilhelm had been believed to be Phantom’s *main character*.

The condition for being summoned to Pangaenia was the death of the gamer’s strongest character—their main character.

Indeed, when Wilhelm died, Randolph appeared.

All of Wilhelm’s equipment had been dismantled and shown in the Golden Scale shop.

By all appearances, Wilhelm being Phantom’s main character seemed certain.

…It should have been certain.

—Isn’t he a fake?

—But Serengeti’s reaction…

—And Saintess Seia too…

—There’s no way those two, his closest companions, couldn’t tell real from fake.

—If Wilhelm didn’t die, does that mean Phantom hasn’t been summoned yet?

—Then Randolph isn’t Phantom?

—Then who is Randolph?

—Could Wilhelm also have been summoned by a curse?

—Then shouldn’t he appear as a boss instead of challenging?

—I’m telling you, he’s real. Look at their reactions.

—What the hell is even going on?

It was chaos—utter confusion.

Everything they had believed to be fact was tangled together beyond recognition.

Yet one clear truth remained.

No matter what, Wilhelm had appeared—and he was challenging Randolph.

And then, at what followed—

—Ah…!
—Aah…!

They could no longer remain confused.

They couldn’t afford to be.

All doubt and hesitation vanished in an instant.

…Someone had begun charging toward Wilhelm.

*

*

 

—G-go on! Please keep moving forward! I will give my life to bless you!
—But!

—You must not stop! Never look back! This area is the ‘Hell of Flies’! Where the Demon King’s miasma is strongest! Those who turn back will rot!

The eighth and final hell.

The last scene Saintess Seia remembered.

The very place where she had last guided King of Knights Wilhelm.

“Ah……”

Forgotten—long-forgotten memories came flooding back like a deluge.

Saintess Seia had lost her memories.

Forcibly erased by the Demon King.

But the moment she saw *him*—

From the instant Wilhelm appeared—

“Aah……”

…They were returning.

The expedition with Wilhelm.

The beginning, the end, and everything in between.

All of it came back at once.

*At that place, I…*

She had continued chanting sacrificial prayers so the knights would not be affected by the miasma.

Her once clean and beautiful face and body were covered in boils swollen with demonic energy, and her eyes were turning pitch black like a demon’s.

Saintess Seia did not care, even as her body rotted away.

She threw everything away for the sole purpose of defeating the Demon King.

But that wasn’t what she had wanted.

The true reason she fell into despair—

The trigger that caused her to forget everything—

“King of Knights, Wilhelm……”

…Was Wilhelm’s death.

When she realized his body had been dominated by the Demon King, she gave up everything.

That was why—

This was impossible.

That body had been taken by the Demon King.

“Is he… truly that person?”

“……Yes. It is him.”

Serengeti nodded, her entire body trembling.

That utterly arrogant presence.

Even the ease in his expression.

It was unmistakably Wilhelm—the man she had watched over for so long.

No one in the world could imitate him.

Wilhelm’s unique aura was something no one could ever replicate.

Thus, Serengeti slowly lowered herself to one knee.

“I pay my respects to the King of Knights.”

“…My one and only.”

Saintess Seia did the same.

She soon realized that the body before her was not Wilhelm’s original one—

Yet what mattered was clear: Wilhelm had *descended*.

That soul and that rank were undeniably Wilhelm’s.

His body may have been taken by the Demon King, but his radiant soul had not.

“Wil! Hel! Luuuum!!”

That was the moment.

Someone began charging forward, screaming Wilhelm’s name.

Former Champion Sansha.

The strongest who had reigned atop the Tower of the War God for countless years!

“I have waited for this moment alone! For our duel!!”

Wilhelm.

He had once climbed the Tower of the War God.

But his battle with Sansha never came to pass.

Sansha waited and waited, yet Wilhelm never reached the summit.

Because the Demon of Jealousy had forbidden their duel.

And now, that opportunity had arrived without warning.

“You too must have longed and longed for our duel!”

Wilhelm—did you not await this battle as well?

He had once believed Randolph to be Wilhelm’s predecessor—or Wilhelm himself.

But that was not the case.

The real Wilhelm was here.

Now there were no more interlopers.

Only a pure duel between the two remained.

*Shing!*

Sansha gripped his sword.

At the same time, the energy of *River* surged across his entire body.

He activated every unique skill he possessed.

Azure Dragon Horn, Sword of the Four Dragons, Unity of Divine Sword, Final Strike, Heaven-Shattering Dance, Storm Wind, Bloody Slaughterer……

A hundred techniques fused into a single unique skill.

A complete attack sublimated into Sansha’s ultimate art.

**The Perfect.**

*Sssssssss!*

The River condensed into one, forming a blue ring.

The droplets of River clinging to Sansha’s blade shifted into different colors, embracing all elements.

Water, Wind, Earth, Fire—

They merged back into one—

*Gooooooo!*

With a thunderous roar, the form of a massive golden dragon took shape.

*KWA-A-A-A-A-A-ANG!*

The moment it struck, an explosion erupted.

An absolutely unavoidable, fatal attack engulfed Wilhelm.

As the thick smoke slowly cleared—

“……!!!”
“……!!!”

Only one man stood there.

It was not Sansha.

The Sansha who had launched the attack lay on the ground, his head severed, rolling lifelessly.

And the man—Wilhelm—did not even glance at Sansha.

He looked toward them and said calmly,

“Next.”

 

 

 

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