I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-330

Ch-330. **I will not allow that to happen.**

—

*Taboo.*

An act that must never be committed.
A rule that must never, under any circumstances, be violated.

Most of the Knights of the Round Table were composed of those who had broken such *taboos*.

They disliked even having their names spoken, and were therefore often referred to by numbers instead.

The standard for assigning those numbers was simple.

They were lined up purely in order of combat strength.

That suited me just fine.

In that sense, our understanding aligned.

However, the fact that they had wished to be *forgotten* even after death was deeply shocking.

And yet…

The *taboos* they had broken were not of their own choosing.

*Experimental subjects forcibly crossbred and cultivated by the cults of the Evil Gods.*

The Cult of the Evil Gods.

A collective term for religions that worship the four most powerful Evil Gods.

Balacas, Angra Mainyu, Gaz, Diablo.

They operate in secrecy, hidden in the shadows, rarely revealing themselves openly.

Because they continually conduct all manner of abhorrent experiments to summon Evil Gods into the world.

Most of the Knights of the Round Table had been experimental subjects created for that very purpose.

*The secret mining city where Isaac awakened, the desert city of Cramdel where Isabella endured the experiments of the Desert Queen, and countless other survival runs—there were facts I had learned through them.*

Through over a thousand *survival runs*, I came to know the truth.

About the cultists of the Evil Gods, who continued their experiments in secrecy.

While playing Wilhelm, I tracked them down, purged them, and raided countless laboratories.

In doing so, I rescued eleven experimental subjects.

Those very subjects became the foundation of the *Knights of the Round Table*.

Children of taboo, born from black magic and crossbreeding experiments that violated every conceivable rule.

*At first, I thought they were just special NPCs…*

But as I attacked the cults of the Evil Gods, the experimental subjects began to follow me of their own accord—and grew at an explosive rate.

Watching them, I’ll admit I felt envy.

Their growth speed was absurd, and even their base stats were on an entirely different level.

And that wasn’t all.

They never ran, even in the most dangerous situations.

Once given an order, they carried it out without fail.

That was why I was certain—

If I bound them together as a knight order and raised them properly, they would rise to become the strongest force on the continent.

Bringing Serengeti in as the thirteenth member was, in a sense, camouflage.

By placing her—pure and upright to a fault, Serengeti in spotless white—as the public face of the order, I could conceal the true identities of the others.

If it became known that the knights were born from the taboos of the Evil God cults, the very existence of the Knights of the Round Table would be deemed dangerous.

…But in the end, they all died during the *Grand Expedition*.

*The Third Lord Mammon, who wielded primal spirits, and the Seventh Lord Basara, the pinnacle of martial might. Killing those two required the greatest sacrifices.*

The Lords of Hell.

When they are within their own hells, their power defies imagination.

Even the First Lord, Ahram the King of the Dead, and the Second Lord, Issera of the Scorching Hell, had been brutally difficult opponents.

But starting from the Third Lord, the difficulty became outright unreasonable.

The Knights of the Round Table suffered their heaviest losses when fighting the Third and Seventh Lords.

They were first crushed by Mammon’s unpredictability as a wielder of primal spirits.

And by the time they reached Basara, the Seventh Lord, I had honestly wanted to give up.

Without the sacrifices of the Round Table, we would never have reached the Demon King.

*And yet… they wished to be forgotten?*

My heart felt heavy.

Knights who had not chosen to break taboos, yet chose to erase themselves because of society’s prejudice and perception.

Those who chose oblivion so that Wilhelm would not be harmed.

As a result, they became wandering spirits, drifting through the void, until they were drawn here by the *Forgotten Gods*.

…To be forgotten means—

To lose one’s name.
To wander endlessly.
To never be saved.

It means no one calls you, and you are never called—until you are erased.

Knights who were infinitely honorable, yet believed themselves unworthy of honor.

That was the kind of people gathered here.

The Knights of the Round Table were no different.

“That’s not all. The ‘Souls of Forgotten Knights’ seem to be connected to the Evil Gods,” Serengeti added.

“…What kind of connection?” I asked.

She swallowed hard before answering.

“Since time immemorial, knight orders and knights who died fighting Evil Gods… they were forcibly *forgotten*. And it seems they were drawn here.”

“Then what are the Forgotten Gods trying to do with those souls?”

Every time we cleared a Miraculous Feat, we gained a soul.

There were 370 Miraculous Feats—meaning 370 souls.

Yet earlier, the Forgotten God had demanded that we hand over all the souls instead of proceeding to the next tier.

I had been deeply curious as to why.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know that much,” Serengeti said, biting her lip and shaking her head.

Then Saintess Seia spoke up beside her.

“…The souls of great knights who were forgotten and erased. Perhaps they’re trying to *resurrect* themselves using those souls.”

“Resurrection… you mean regaining their names?” Albino asked.

But Saintess Seia shook her head again.

“It feels like something else. As though they want to be reborn as entirely different gods—new names, new qualifications, new authorities. A completely new beginning.”

“So that’s why they were so twisted,” Albino muttered.

“Most likely… the more souls we gather, the more aggressively the Forgotten Gods will target us.”

To be reborn anew.

The Forgotten Gods.

Perhaps they, too, were gods who had been forgotten after fighting Evil Gods.

We wouldn’t know until we went deeper into the dungeon.

But one thing was certain—

This place held the souls of roughly 370 great beings who had once fought the Evil Gods.

The Knights of the Round Table were likewise deeply connected to the Evil Gods.

And it was clear that the more Miraculous Feats we cleared—and the more souls we gathered—the harsher the interference from the Forgotten Gods would become.

*The appearance of the seven knight orders was the trigger.*

Seven knight orders, gathering souls by clearing feats.

The 91 challengers who entered this dungeon had awakened the dormant will of the Forgotten Gods.

Perhaps this wasn’t merely a competition between knight orders.

What if the order that gathered the most souls *lost* to a Forgotten God?

Or handed the souls over to them?

*Would we then have to fight a resurrected Forgotten God?*

…For now, it was only speculation.

So I didn’t voice it.

There was no need to sow fear prematurely.

“Let’s move.”

But that didn’t mean we could afford to hesitate.

If anything, we needed to clear feats faster.

Above all else…

I do not want the Knights of the Round Table to be left abandoned here.

I want to save all of their souls.

Number 12—Banyan.

If his soul was here, then the others would be as well.

And there was something I wanted to tell them.

*You must never be forgotten. I will not allow it.*

…So wait for me.

At that moment, everything became clear.

The separation between Park Hyun-myung and Randolph.

The reason good and evil inclinations had been cleanly divided.

And the connection that led me—here, at the World Tree of Honor—to open the *Primordial Dungeon*.

All of it was a fate left behind for me, the one who had played Wilhelm.

I now clearly understood what I had to do.

Forgotten Gods?

If they stand in my way, I’ll smash every last one of them.

All that remained—

Was action.

*All of you, wait for me.*

I stepped through the door without hesitation.

Then—

【Three routes leading to the ‘Roots of the World Tree’ are presented.】
【You may choose one of the three paths to advance.】

【1. Normal Room】
【2. Question Mark (???) Room】
【3. Boss Room】

【‘Normal Rooms’ are of low difficulty. ‘Question Mark’ rooms have random difficulty. ‘Boss Rooms’ are the most difficult, but depending on how they are cleared, they can yield the greatest number of ‘Miraculous Feats.’】
【In Boss Rooms, a ‘Forgotten God’ may occasionally appear and propose a duel.】
【Victory in such a duel allows you to obtain a ‘Symbol.’】

【A ‘Root Map’ is provided.】
【Use the ‘Root Map,’ clear the trials, and reach the Roots.】

【In ‘Question Mark’ rooms, bonus stages may occasionally occur. After selecting five paths, you may reach a ‘Hidden Room’ accessible via a ‘Symbol.’】
【However, ‘Hidden Rooms’ can only be opened if you possess a ‘Forgotten God’s Symbol.’ The type and number of symbols required vary.】

Three branching paths appeared.

There was no need to think.

【Entering ‘Boss Room.’】

*

【The ‘Golden Scale Knight Order’ has entered the Boss Room.】
【Waiting for other knight orders to enter.】
【Waiting for other knight orders to enter.】
【Waiting for other knight orders to enter.】

…

【The ‘Annihilation Knight Order’ has entered the Boss Room.】
【The duel between the two knight orders will now begin.】

【The knight orders must cooperate to defeat the opposing order’s commander.】
【The victorious order will seize one random ‘Soul of a Forgotten Knight’ from the defeated order, and will plunder all ‘Miraculous Feats’ and ‘Souls of Forgotten Knights’ the enemy order obtained in this Boss Room.】

【Warning. If you lose all Souls of Forgotten Knights, you will lose your way. You will then be eternally forgotten and trapped within the dungeon.】

【The battlefield for the duel has been selected as the ‘Land of Stars.’】
【Each ‘star’ contains a monster. Defeating the monster and claiming the star grants special effects.】

【Battle type: Free-for-all melee.】
【Time limit: 1 hour.】
【If the battle is not decided within the time limit, both orders will lose one ‘Soul of a Forgotten Knight.’】

…I thought a true *boss* would appear in a Boss Room.

I never expected we’d be fighting another knight order instead.

That meant the opposing side had also chosen the Boss Room—confident in their own strength.

And the opponent was none other than the Giant of Ruin and the Star Guardians.

“The Star Guardian group, huh…”

“So all we have to do is take down the Giant of Ruin?”

“Which means we just have to protect our commander.”

Everyone murmured as they read the rules.

The Giant of Ruin.

And the Star Guardians.

Their strength was nothing to scoff at.

Especially the Giant of Ruin—a monster who had beaten Ahram, the King of the Dead, into submission *alone*.

“I’ll protect you.”

“Leave it to me!”

Hudson and Serengeti.

In an instant, the two pressed in close to me.

*…What is this?*

Was I imagining it?

Was this how a mother bird shielded her chicks?

Their eyes were filled with an almost excessive concern for my safety.

*One hour. We have to decide the battle within that time.*

I shrugged and considered the trial.

The Land of Stars.

A battlefield fought atop countless stars.

If we split up, we risked being picked off one by one.

But if we stayed grouped, we might run out of time without deciding the battle.

I decided to start with what I could do immediately.

《The knight order has been strengthened using five ‘Souls of Forgotten Knights.’》
《The knight order’s Dignity is now ‘25.’》
《Dignity Effect Tier 2 has been activated.》
《All knight order members’ stats increase by +3.》

《TIP: All ‘Knight Souls’ retain the name of the knight order they once served. Completing a ‘Knight Order’s Souls’ grants additional effects.》

For now, this would suffice.

With Tier 1 and Tier 2 combined, all stats increased by 3.

It sounded small—but it wasn’t.

The stronger one became, the more decisive even small differences grew.

The more souls we gathered to strengthen the order, the higher the Dignity—and the more effects we gained.

One line stood out in particular.

*Dignity 500. Strengthen the knight order with 100 souls to obtain ‘Divinity.’ Surely that doesn’t mean actual godhood… right?*

The effects gained as Dignity rose.

The higher the tier, the more absurd the effects became.

Especially that *Divinity* at Dignity 500—it made my curiosity run wild.

*It’s not enough to just win within an hour. We need to clear as many Miraculous Feats as possible.*

To do that, both our side and the enemy side would have to act in a way that triggered feats.

The easiest method was likely—

*The monsters on the stars. Clearing them should count as feats.*

The Land of Stars.

Monsters stood atop countless stars.

Defeat them, claim the stars, and gain special effects.

A kind of territory capture.

The side that controlled more ground would gain the advantage.

“All units, disperse and eliminate the monsters.”

“…Are you planning to act alone?” Hudson asked.

I nodded.

“That’s the plan.”

The moment I finished speaking—

Hudson shouted at the top of his lungs, as if I had just said something outrageous.

“Absolutely not!!!”

“…?”

 

 

 

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