I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-294

Ch-294. **Damned God**

—

The strongest.

For a man who wields a sword, what word could be sweeter than that?

—Raiga. You are a genius the likes of which this world will never see again.

—Can I become even stronger?

—Of course. You will become the strongest man in the world!

When Raiga opened his eyes, he was in a slave market.

For a war orphan, there was nowhere else to go.

After being sold from place to place, drifting endlessly, he eventually met the previous master of the Fang.

From that day on, Raiga swung his sword without missing a single day, determined to become the strongest—and in time, he was acknowledged as the Empire’s First Sword.

For the man who recognized his worth, and for the Empire, Raiga devoted himself completely.

Exploring the Abyss—an endeavor for which even multiple lives would not be enough—he accomplished again and again.

—Filthy blood.
—In the end, he’s just a war orphan, isn’t he?
—How dare a man with no lineage…
—Just breathing the same air as him is disgusting!

Yet there were those who refused to acknowledge Raiga.

That was why *Sacred Blood* was needed.

If the Emperor himself bestowed Sacred Blood upon him, no one would dare question his origins.

Otherwise…

Only overwhelming might—

Power so absolute that no one could even think of opposing it—would force them into submission.

That was why he had to be the strongest.

*To create the world I desire, I must always be the strongest.*

A world where talent alone allows one’s will to flourish.

A world where effort alone, regardless of birth or lineage, can bear fruit!

An ideal Empire where all are acknowledged, and all acknowledge one another.

That was the Empire Raiga wanted to create.

That was why he was obsessed with the word *strongest*.

“Fifth Gate—open.”

…Even if it meant death.

Swoooosh!

Crimson energy surged upward.

The blood beading across his skin evaporated, scattering into the air alongside his mana.

In this state, Raiga’s physical abilities and mana density increased dozens of times over.

A finishing technique that granted explosive power at the cost of one’s life itself.

However, the sole weakness of opening the Fifth Gate was its duration.

At most, only a few minutes.

If the opponent stalled for time, or if the fight could not be decided within that span, defeat was inevitable.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you ran. Right now, I am the strongest.”

“……”

*Shing.*

Wilhelm raised his sword.

Seeing that, the smile on Raiga’s lips deepened.

He would not run.

The audacity to take everything head-on.

*As expected.*

Just as he had anticipated.

He would never evade.

After crossing blades, Raiga had come to understand Wilhelm to a certain extent.

Just as Wilhelm had grasped Raiga, Raiga had grasped Wilhelm as well.

*We are both twisted.*

Wilhelm was twisted.

Not normal.

But the same was true of Raiga.

That was why he felt a sense of kinship.

A clash of abnormalities.

Yet both were monsters forged through efforts beyond imagination.

When was the last time he had felt like this?

The exhilaration he felt each time he faced a stronger enemy.

But at some point, there had been no one left to oppose him.

And yet—this tremor, this ecstasy—was something entirely new.

…Yes. The first time.

For the first time, Raiga had met someone to whom he wanted to show everything he was.

So please—

*Let neither of us be disappointed.*

*

*

—……
—……

As the true finale began, Player Talk filled endlessly with nothing but dots.

No one had the composure to type anything else.

Nothing else even came to mind.

They were experiencing a kind of shock they had never known before.

—That…
—A battle between the strongest…
—This is insane. I can’t even close my mouth…

Wilhelm and Raiga.

And tens of thousands more present at the scene.

Yet no one could interfere.

Both sides could do nothing but watch in awe.

Their clash was laying waste to everything around them.

For the first time, everyone was witnessing both warriors’ true might.

—Who said Wilhelm was weaker than Raiga?

A single doubt surfaced.

There had always been debate about how strong Wilhelm truly was.

Some claimed he was an unrivaled strongest, beyond comparison.

Others insisted he was overrated, nothing more than a braggart.

Because almost no one had ever seen Wilhelm swing his sword in earnest.

Only in trials and decisive battles had Wilhelm ever gone all out.

—He got underestimated because of the Eight Heroes’ Association.

—They spread the failure of the Grand Expedition like propaganda.

But that wasn’t all.

From the beginning, players who possessed others in Pangaenia had deliberately concealed and monopolized information.

At times, they distorted it, engaging in countless schemes.

Information was power—and the more one monopolized it, the greater the profit.

Naturally, Wilhelm became an eyesore in that process.

Believed to be Phantom, he freely shared his know-how on the official site, allowing countless others to break through their limits thanks to his information.

That was why—

why powerful players, including the Eight Heroes’ Association, subtly pushed “Finding Phantom” and “Sabotaging Wilhelm” as content.

And why Wilhelm’s achievements were downplayed and undervalued.

So that no one would idolize him.

But such schemes were powerless before reality, before truth.

—Wilhelm!

—Wilhelm!

Everyone united in shouting Wilhelm’s name.

Now they understood.

What was false, and what was true.

…Who the strongest really was.

*

*

It was war.

A duel between two men, yet one that could rightly be called a large-scale war.

But the fight did not last long.

In a single moment.

Right now, before everyone’s eyes—

“……”
“……”

Wilhelm’s sword—

brought Raiga down.

*Thud.*

A sword thrown toward the ground.

Raiga, who had been called the Empire’s strongest, who had overwhelmed all others—

the man who seemed to have no equal—threw his own sword to the floor.

The blood-red aura that had enveloped his body faded away.

He had given everything, shown everything—and still failed to reach him.

“…How absurd.”

There was no strength in Raiga’s voice.

His once-bloated body shrank, his voice cracked and withered.

He stood at the threshold of death.

And still—he could not reach him.

…Raiga had never encountered such a monster before.

And so he became even more curious.

“Let me ask one thing. Is the Demon King stronger than you?”

About the Demon King’s might.

After all, a being that had defeated even Wilhelm existed.

The failure of the Grand Expedition—and the one who had killed Wilhelm—was still out there.

If so, then Raiga had not lost to the strongest.

So he asked, tense.

Wilhelm answered.

“Weak.”

“…!”

The Demon King was weaker than him?

Then why had he lost?

Perhaps there had been another reason, as announced by the Valan Kingdom.

Still, it was a relief.

Raiga let out a quiet sigh.

“However.”

As if something far more important remained—

Wilhelm looked around.

Then he spoke slowly.

“You must prepare yourselves. The Demon King to come will not be the same as before.”

…What did that mean?

No one fully understood Wilhelm’s words.

But that was enough.

Raiga straightened his posture, his expression firm.

“I, Raiga—once called the captain of the Palga Knights and the Empire’s First Sword—”

…Though he had not achieved his dream.

He was glad to have met such a twisted being, to have reached the end together.

Perhaps he had been waiting for a day like this.

The day he would meet an overwhelming genius who surpassed him—and accept defeat.

His shoulders felt lighter.

He felt, instead, at ease.

Because someone like this could surely change the world.

“I acknowledge Wilhelm as the strongest.”

…This damned world as it is now.

*

*

 

The moment Raiga declared his defeat—

*Thump!*

He collapsed.

Death was approaching rapidly.

Swaaaa—

A vast shadow of despair spread across the entire area.

The shadow stopped before Wilhelm and Raiga.

Wilhelm gazed at the shadow of despair and said,

“…You are a good child.”

With gentle eyes.

He had noticed Lucaria crying within that shadow.

Wilhelm slowly reached out his hand.

“Were you trying to protect everyone?”

His hand touched the shadow.

At the same time, countless black hands shuddered and froze.

The despair that had bloomed, dominating hundreds of thousands—

even following them here—had all been to protect everyone from Raiga.

Wilhelm patted Lucaria’s shadow gently and spoke.

“It’s all right. I’ve defeated the bad man who made you cry. Leave the rest to me now.”

Sssssss……

In an instant, the black hands turned into smoke and began to vanish, one by one.

The smoke that had enveloped the entire tower evaporated as if it had never existed.

“Just as I thought. A good child.”

Wilhelm smiled faintly.

The shadow that had plunged everyone into despair and terror—

to Wilhelm, it looked no more than a child’s cute tantrum.

“W-what?”
“Where… are we?”

At the same time, those who had been dominated began to regain consciousness, one by one.

A crowd of over five hundred thousand looked around in confusion.

“Th-that is…”
“What is that now?”

And then it happened.

《‘Eternal Randolph’ has completed molting.》

*Crack!*

The chitin of the ant split apart, and something burst forth.

Eternal Randolph.

The being that the damned god had poured even more effort into raising than Wilhelm himself.

The one who had taunted him—*Try defeating this.*

That being now stood before him.

*Twisted.*

That Eternal Randolph also seemed deeply twisted.

And yet—familiar.

Was it because they shared the same pain?

Or because, like himself, it was twisted beyond reason?

Wilhelm steadied his breath and gripped his sword.

*Watch carefully, you damned god.*

*

*

It was darkness.

So dark that nothing could be seen even an inch ahead.

Like sinking into a swamp, struggling helplessly, unable to do anything.

From there, I watched Wilhelm in the distance.

*So this is what it felt like.*

To have one’s body controlled.

Now I understood what Wilhelm had felt when I controlled him.

In this utterly powerless state, Wilhelm had not given up.

It wasn’t just helplessness.

An unending wave of unpleasant sensations surged in.

A well that made one want to abandon everything, to forget it all.

*This is different from the Heaven-and-Earth Genesis I used.*

And so, I chose not to give up either.

I decided to quietly watch Wilhelm’s life unfold.

To observe his movements, to realize, and to build an even firmer foundation.

“…Impressive.”

Nothing but admiration escaped me.

This was on a completely different level from the swordsmanship that existed only in memory.

Wilhelm’s swordsmanship, fully unleashed—

This was the first time I had seen it like this.

And so I understood.

How much effort he had poured in here as well.

How relentlessly he had pushed himself to the limit.

The reason he had not given up, despite wanting to countless times, was me.

He had struggled desperately to make his voice reach me.

And yet I had not understood—so being cursed as a damned god was only natural.

“Go wild once. I’ll watch properly.”

I focused.

So as not to miss a single movement, a single breath.

To face the being called *Wilhelm* in full.

The moment when, for the first time, we could truly face each other.

…At last, I was ready to hear Wilhelm’s voice.