I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-299

Ch-299. **Completion**

—

For an ordinary god, it was something they would never do—for the sake of their dignity, if nothing else.

Crawling on all fours for over ten days just to escape the Forest of Nibelung!

If that wasn’t worthy of being called a *damn* god, then what was?

Of course, Wilhelm could not help but acknowledge that one thing—the unyielding, never-give-up spirit behind it all.

But escaping the forest was only the beginning.

With nothing but a wooden sword in hand, the place he arrived at was a massive mountain.

*What is he doing now?*

At a time when he should have gone to a city and purchased the necessities of daily life, why leave the forest only to head straight into a mountain?

Was he planning to withdraw from the world and pursue some ascetic training?

But if that was the case, this mountain was far too dangerous.

It was crawling with orcs.

*…Don’t tell me he’s going to crawl again? Up this mountain?*

Here too, the *damn* god’s *damn* behavior repeated itself.

Never in his wildest dreams had Wilhelm imagined he would climb a mountain by crawling.

If there was one thing better than the Forest of Nibelung, it was that there was plenty of drinkable water and fruit to stave off hunger.

*Why is he avoiding them?*

The orcs on this mountain were weaker than the monsters in the forest.

With an ambush, it would have been possible to kill one or two.

Yet he killed not a single orc, spending a full seven days doing nothing but climbing the mountain.

And when the damn god finally reached the summit—

He carried out a *challenge* that no sane person would ever attempt.

*…Is he out of his mind? He’s challenging the lord of the mountain?!*

He had issued a challenge to the master of the mountain—the king of the orcs!

It was so absurd that Wilhelm almost laughed in disbelief.

Had all that non-lethal escape from the forest and that painstaking climb up the mountain been for the sake of challenging the lord of this enormous peak?

There was no chance of victory.

Even if, by some miracle, he won, descending alive would be even more impossible.

“O great King of Bloodhorn Peak! I request a *warrior’s duel*!”

…It was sheer madness.

Only at the summit did he finally stand upright, but this was the dwelling place of the orc king.

Countless orcs gathered.

And the King of Bloodhorn Peak was not a monster one could face with nothing but a wooden sword.

“…An interesting human has appeared.”

A physique easily more than twice the size of any other orc.

The scars covering his body proved that he was a powerful warrior.

And what if he refused the duel?

“The countless souls of the orcs of Bloodhorn Peak acknowledge you. I do not know how you climbed this mountain without killing a single orc, but you are one who knows honor! Your duel is accepted!”

…He accepted it.

Wilhelm felt dizzy.

Before he realized it, he was watching the duel with sweaty palms clenched tight.

“But you can’t have a proper fight with a wooden sword. Take this!”

The King of Bloodhorn Peak threw one of the scabbards at his waist.

All of them had been seized from challengers who came before.

Among them, he had chosen and handed over a rare and powerful treasured sword.

“This is a warrior’s battle! If you defeat me, your life will be spared along with that sword! But if you lose, there will be no mercy!”

*Shing!*

Thus, the warrior’s duel began.

At least it was a one-on-one fight—but the gap was still overwhelming.

Did the damn god truly believe he could win this?

*Clang!*

The sword shook.

The body shook with it.

No matter how much swordsmanship one trained, an overwhelming difference in strength could not be overcome.

Wilhelm found himself swinging his sword within the swamp of consciousness without realizing it.

Desperately, with the thought that he *had* to win.

*I don’t have the strength to pierce his hide. I have no choice but to turn that power against him!*

No matter how fine the sword, if you lacked the strength to strike, it was useless.

And the monstrous strength possessed by the King of Bloodhorn Peak was enough to make one click their tongue in awe.

If only that power could be used against him, it might be possible to dig into that tough hide.

That was when it happened.

《The level of the special stat ‘Evasion’ has surpassed a certain threshold.》

《You have learned the skill ‘Blade Flow’.》

Wilhelm’s will crystallized into a skill.

Of course, it wasn’t solely because of Wilhelm’s will.

It was because he had crawled like a *dog*, nonstop, building up enough evasion to form the skill.

*Huaaaaang!*

In that instant, time itself seemed to slow.

He could see the strike unleashed by the King of Bloodhorn Peak.

《‘Blade Flow’ has been activated.》

At the precise moment, he let the blade slip.

But this alone was not enough.

《Perfect timing! ‘Counterattack’ is activated!》

He used that power.

In the next moment, the King of Bloodhorn Peak lost his balance and collapsed.

He had evaded, diverted, then struck the shifted center of gravity at the knees—successfully counterattacking.

The fallen king’s eyes shook violently.

Yet a smile formed at the corner of his mouth.

“Impressive…!”

*Thunk!*

He stabbed the neck, then cut it clean through.

*Ah…!*

At the same time, an overwhelming rush surged through him.

Wilhelm’s entire body trembled.

He was alive.

This—this was the sensation of being alive!

But that was not all.

《Hidden Quest Complete!》

《‘Hunt the King of Bloodhorn Peak’ has been completed at Level 1.》

《This is astonishing.》

《A unique achievement never before accomplished by anyone.》

《You have obtained the title ‘The One Who Hunted the King of Bloodhorn Peak at Level 1’.》

《You can acquire the hidden class ‘Indomitable Challenger’.》

《Proceed to the Kingdom of Valan to claim the bounty.》

《Honor +500 and SP +500 awarded.》

《Level Up.》

《Level Up.》

……

……

*

*

After winning the duel against the King of Bloodhorn Peak,

Wilhelm felt an intense exhilaration for the first time in his life.

Challenging an impossible trial—and emerging victorious.

That moment of ecstasy made Wilhelm feel truly alive.

Yet at the center of everything stood not Wilhelm, but the *damn god*.

*I can’t understand it at all.*

Escaping the forest, climbing Bloodhorn Peak—

All of it was tantamount to certain death.

And yet he never hesitated to challenge it, and in the end, he succeeded.

Why?

It wasn’t even his own body—he was merely controlling it.

So why devote himself so desperately, so obsessively, to such challenges?

By Wilhelm’s common sense, it was incomprehensible.

His next move was no different.

*A port city?*

The damn god did not head to the Kingdom of Valan.

Instead, he went to the port city known as *Yasum*.

A place where countless ships came and went, anchoring there.

As the center of material exchange, it prospered greatly, drawing in all manner of rare goods from across the world.

“P-please… spare me…”

“Ugh…”

“Hurry up and move!”

*Smack!*

At the same time, the trade of *slaves* was thriving.

Slaves, bound in chains, disembarked from ships in long lines.

Men and women, young and old alike—every one of them so emaciated that their bones showed.

Here, slaves were not human.

They were merely goods. Consumables.

That was why there was no guilt in whipping or beating them.

*What is he trying to do here?*

Why come here, of all places?

Naturally, Wilhelm had thought he would head to Valan to claim the bounty.

Was he trying to save slaves?

*…He really did save them.*

Against all expectations, he did.

Not by buying slaves—but by freeing them outright.

As a result, he was hunted by countless soldiers, yet he paid them no mind and liberated every slave in Yasum.

*Why?*

Why would the damn god willingly do something so pointless?

Something with no benefit and nothing but loss.

Wilhelm could not understand it.

Unlike the previous challenges, this was simply self-inflicted hardship.

Yet incomprehensible events continued one after another.

Saving the weak, performing good deeds, refusing to bow to the powerful—and eventually arriving in the Kingdom of Valan to be granted knighthood.

At first, Wilhelm wondered if these acts had been calculated steps toward becoming a knight.

But even after that, his path did not slow.

…And before he knew it,

Wilhelm was walking alongside him.

*I won’t lose.*

Perhaps it was nothing more than childish stubbornness.

But for some reason, he didn’t want to lose.

The grit to achieve a goal even if it meant crawling like a dog.

The confidence that never bent.

That was why.

Wilhelm continued to swing his sword.

If there was one thing he was better at than the damn god, it was his *sword*.

Someday—

If he kept swinging his sword without end,

It felt as though he might reach the damn god.

*I want to know you. I want to make myself known to you.*

…Perhaps he simply wanted to make his existence known to him.

And at some point, Wilhelm came to be called the *Knight King*.

An honorable being, revered by all.

He created the sword art of Heaven-and-Earth Genesis, and launched the Grand Expedition that everyone tried to stop—

…Yet even then, he could not reach him.

The damn god.

He cursed and resented him.

But now, at last, he understood clearly.

*Only now… have I finally known myself.*

Who I am. What I am.

After wandering endlessly, only upon death did he finally arrive at that understanding.

Yet once again, he stood on the brink of death.

All these memories were like the lantern images seen just before dying.

It was far too late to awaken and move forward.

But even so, it was enough.

*Look. This is the final question I send to you.*

It was the last question—

And the final task he left behind.

Wilhelm grasped his sword.

He had finally reached *completion*.

To know myself, and to open myself.

The *Wall* of Heaven-and-Earth Genesis.

But from the very beginning, this sword art was never meant to use only one part of Heaven-and-Earth Genesis in isolation.

It was a sword art that reached completion only when all parts became one.

《Activating ‘Heaven-and-Earth Genesis’.》

And thus, I will reach you.

…O damn god.

*

*

 

*KWAaaaaaAAAAAAANG—!!*

When the Supreme Sword struck the ground, it summoned death along with a terrifying shockwave.

The absolute decree of death!

No living being could endure the death delivered by this blade.

“…What?”

Randolph could only frown.

Because the Supreme Sword had not fully reached the ground.

Someone had stopped it.

Wilhelm—he had.

“You…”

But it made no sense.

The Supreme Sword was a blade that could never be stopped.

Only something *outside the system* could block a sword outside the system.

Yet Wilhelm did not wield a sword outside the system.

If such a thing were possible—

*He himself has become outside the system…*

Outside the system.

Becoming a god oneself!

Yet even that was strange.

Anyone could awaken, transcend, and obtain the rank of a god.

But becoming a god itself was impossible.

Gods are not created.

They are born alongside the world itself.

Just as Randolph, despite possessing the hidden traits *Eternal God* and *God of the Blood Demons*, was not a true god.

He merely possessed qualifications akin to one.

The words sounded similar, but they were not the same.

And yet—

Even so—

Randolph could not help but be shaken.

For even the Gate of Truth contained no information about such a phenomenon.

Wilhelm’s swordsmanship controlled phenomena.

And at the very end, he had become *phenomenon itself*.

As the dust settled, Wilhelm was revealed—

“Did you… become a god…?”

He had caught the Supreme Sword not with a sword, but with his bare hand.

He had turned the fate of *death* into *life*.

He had become a being who could decide his own fate.

That figure—

Without a doubt—

Deserved to be called a *god*.

 

 

 

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