I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-346

Ch-346. **I’ll Show You What True Darkness Is**

—

The Forgotten God twisted her face in disgust.

An expression steeped in irritation—pure revulsion.

This was the first time she had ever displayed her emotions so openly.

*That doll dares to ignore my words?*

**Lilith.**

The first woman, the being called the root of all evil.

Yet Lilith possessed no soul.

Naturally, she had no emotions, nor could she express them.

Opening her mouth and speaking was, by definition, impossible.

For countless eons, the Forgotten God had kept Lilith at her side, yet not once had she ever seen Lilith approach someone of her own volition.

A marionette.

Nothing more, nothing less.

And yet—

“Awuu—!”

It sounded like a child clumsily imitating a wolf’s howl.

Clinging to his hand, rubbing her face against him, making strange, animal-like noises.

That behavior—

*Courtship.*

……A display of courtship.

An expression of affection and love.

But it was impossible.

Lilith, who had no soul, could not love either.

And yet now, Lilith was moving of her own will—courting him.

Without obeying the Forgotten God’s command.

*……How?*

The sight was deeply unpleasant, but even more than that, it raised questions.

Had Lilith gained a soul?

*Impossible.*

The Forgotten God shook her head.

Lilith’s soul did not exist.

From the very beginning, there had been nothing that could even be called a soul.

She was merely an empty vessel, filled with evil.

So Lilith’s actions belonged to an entirely different category.

In other words—

*She’s… imitating emotions.*

…Nothing more than imitation.

But why?

Why would Lilith obsess over the Golden Scale Druid, even at the cost of weakening the Forgotten God’s control?

The origin of all evil—the primordial woman—had never behaved like this before.

That was precisely why it was so unsettling.

She didn’t know what Lilith was reacting to.

But if she was mimicking emotions to curry favor, then it meant the Golden Scale Druid was that desirable.

*The Golden Scale Druid has changed. Become even more sacred—taking the form of a primordial beast.*

A fusion of primordial beast and human.

That was the only way it could be interpreted.

It was as if the Nameless Devourer had taken on human form.

But… was such a thing even possible?

*Primordial beasts are never tamed. Harmonizing and merging with them is impossible.*

Primordial beasts—

Those massive, brutal creatures sought to become gods themselves.

They slaughtered and devoured one another, endlessly evolving.

Though their boundless greed ultimately led to their destruction, the beasts known as the *Old Ones* possessed power that even gods feared.

In specific domains, they were overwhelmingly transcendent.

The problem was that every primordial beast was hostile to the others.

Too destructive, too instinct-driven—so they all vanished and were forgotten.

*If primordial beasts had continued to exist, no brilliant civilization could ever have been built.*

All civilizations would have been trampled at their foundations.

They would have withered before ever blooming.

To tame such a being? An Old One?

Ridiculous.

The concept of a “master” does not exist for primordial beasts.

They cannot show favor or affection toward anyone.

They were designed that way from the start.

The destructive instincts engraved into their genes do not disappear, even when evolved through Monster Souls.

If anything, they only grow stronger.

And yet—

The Golden Scale Druid had tamed one perfectly.

He had even demonstrated the anomaly of harmonizing with a primordial beast.

If such a thing were possible, then—

*A god of primordial beasts.*

……Only the chief god who designed the primordial beasts themselves could do that.

A god of the primeval age.

Gods are said to be immortal, but that is only half true.

As time passes and eras change, gods are forgotten—and they vanish.

Among the gods of the primitive age, none remained.

So the Golden Scale Druid could not possibly be a primordial god.

*It’s a lie. He’s merely seducing them with a convincing façade. Everyone has been deceived by him.*

*KRAAACK!*

The Forgotten God clenched her fist.

Putting everything else aside—

“Ua! Awuu!”

……She simply couldn’t stand watching that display.

Seeing her doll—Lilith—wag her tail for such a man was unbearable.

—Stop it.

Stop.

“Awuu—!”

—He is a fake. He is deceiving you.

“Awng!”

—……You refuse to listen to me until the very end?

The Forgotten God’s body trembled.

Lilith would not listen at all.

Then there was only one option left.

—I must move personally.

*SSSSHHK!*

In an instant, the Forgotten God’s body vanished.

And then—

“Ah…!”

Lilith’s movements froze.

“Uuuh!”

She shut her eyes and trembled, trying to resist—but it was useless.

Soon, all trembling ceased, and Lilith opened her eyes.

But her former appearance was gone.

Pitch-black pupils.

Above her head, a black sun riddled with blood-red scars.

*Snap.*

The Forgotten God, now inhabiting Lilith’s body, cracked her wrist.

Then she smiled brightly—

A smile utterly different from before, unbearably sinister.

“…I’ll show you what true darkness is, child.”

At first, she had intended to take him from the goddesses.

But she had changed her mind.

Now she understood why the two goddesses protected him.

They had all been deceived.

He must possess some power that bewitched women.

To seduce the two goddesses, herself, and even Lilith!

Therefore—

He had to die.

*I’ll suffocate you in a darkness you’ve never experienced.*

……So that nothing like this would ever happen again.

—

—

Darkness surged in.

A vast, overwhelming darkness—enough to fill the entire coliseum and more.

One by one, people were swallowed by it and vanished.

“Golden Scale Druid…!”

“This is…!”

Even Albino and Raiga could not escape.

Everyone was buried in an “evil” beyond anything they had ever imagined.

“Stop! No!”

“Aaaagh!”

Trapped inside dark, glass-like enclosures, they could not move an inch.

They screamed, clawed at their own bodies, and writhed in agony.

Their eyes burned black, and they could no longer even perceive themselves.

At least I was not directly invaded.

《The “Root of Evil” is being scattered.》

《Sacred effects are strengthened by the “Nameless Eagle.”》

《“Primordial Sanctity” effect has been added.》

Darkness—evil—circled me endlessly, searching for an opening.

The moment I gave even the smallest gap, it would invade.

“How long do you think you can endure? Even if *you* hold out, what about the others?”

The Forgotten God sneered.

This was nowhere near an honorable duel.

I looked at her and shook my head.

“Pathetic.”

She was unbearably vile.

I had never seen a god this ugly.

Compared to this, the Forgotten God I had met at the World Tree Dungeon felt almost respectable.

Unpleasant, yes—but at least fair.

This one was different.

“Stop it!”

“This isn’t my fault!”

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you…!”

*Squirm. Squirm.*

The darkness moved.

Those consumed by it soon began to rage.

And one by one, they turned their eyes toward me.

…I had to admit one thing.

Lilith’s darkness, wielding the full power of an evil god, was overwhelming.

So intense that only those with true divinity could endure it.

*So this is the power of an evil god.*

To think it was this base.

Soon, those glaring at me—

“Die!”

“Uaaaaah!”

……began charging at me.

The entire Golden Scale Order.

Every last member of White King’s legion.

—

—

 

White King had been confident.

No matter how incredible his opponent was, he believed his soul’s vessel would be larger.

That was why he created the *Sphere of Evolution* and sought to devour the other’s soul.

But White King was wrong.

That soul was far more vast than he had imagined.

No—*beyond* vast.

The moment he read its texture, Baek King lost consciousness.

*What… have I… touched…*

That soul had two distinct textures.

One was the Golden Scale Druid, along with various forms of sanctity.

But the problem lay in the other texture.

Something incomprehensible—utterly unlike anything imaginable.

Something that could never coexist, that should never coexist.

And yet, the texture of a soul can never be divided.

Just as a living being cannot separate its desires.

All things coexist as one.

And so—

*I’ll be devoured…!*

The instant he saw it, he knew.

This was something he could never devour.

That if he touched it, he would be devoured instead.

So he did not touch it.

He merely looked—and still lost consciousness.

—Get away. As far as possible.
—That thing does not exist on the path of evolution.
—Do not look at it. Do not sense it. Turn your back and run.
—Forget it. Erase it. You saw nothing.

Even the blood of the White Tiger Emperor and the aspirations of the White Tiger Clan rejected that soul.

Those who once said a king must fight were now telling him to flee, to forget.

Only then, just before losing consciousness, did White King realize where that “unpleasant smell” had come from.

That dark *texture*.

It erased everything it touched.

Not death. Not defeat.

*Erasure.*

That was why it had been so repulsive.

Yet even after that, White King felt as though he were dreaming.

Consumed by darkness, stained by evil.

“Oh, Wilhelm…”

For some reason, the opponent before him looked like Wilhelm.

White King was more than willing to fight again.

But the opponent’s form kept changing.

“Fifth-Pillar? You’re alive!”

He was happy.

He thought he had died. Thought he had been devoured.

Come back.

To Cramdel. To his embrace.

He would give him Aria.

If Aria displeased him, there were other children.

He would grant him the right to rule the North.

But then—

At that moment—

The figure changed again.

For the first time, White King hardened his expression and spoke.

“…Who are you?”

—

—

 

“Give up and accept the darkness.”

The Forgotten God spoke calmly.

The shadow of death had already fallen.

And just as she said—

…I was reaching my limit.

There was no further evolution left.

With what I had now, I could not face them all.

Even harmonized with the Nameless Eagle, I was far from enough to handle Albino, Raiga, and White King together.

*If I endure…*

Still, there was hope.

The stronger one was, the faster they would awaken from the darkness.

Indeed, Albino, Laiga, and White King were all slowly breaking free.

The problem was that I would die before that happened.

“Fight honorably.”

Suddenly, a question arose.

Was this… truly an honorable duel?

The rules that appeared upon entering the dungeon had said so.

Fight honorably.

But—

Why was I the only one expected to uphold that “honor”?

And that wasn’t the only strange thing.

*The Forgotten God hates infamy? Evil deeds?*

That evil god?

She looked more like she’d relish it.

Perhaps—

*The honor we think of and the honor the Forgotten God believes in are different.*

They might be.

Honor has always differed from one person to another.

It changes with the times.

From her perspective, perhaps *winning* alone was honor.

And so, I—

“You win. I acknowledge my defeat.”

I admitted defeat.

The Forgotten God smiled faintly.

“It’s too late, child. Die quietly.”

…As expected.

I nodded inwardly.

Even if I acknowledged defeat, she had no intention of stopping.

Was *this* honor?

It had been an unfair fight from the beginning.

If she played this way, I had no reason to observe etiquette.

My last reason to show honor to the Forgotten God was gone.

Until now, I had followed the rules in this duel.

I evolved my Monster Souls, concealed my moves, and fought to the very end.

I did my utmost to build the fairest fight possible.

Because I believed that was respect toward a god.

But then, there was no longer any need to do so.

After all, since when had I ever followed the rules?

I quietly smiled.

“……I’ll show you what true darkness really is, Forgotten God.”

【The image of ‘Randolph’ engraved upon the Armor of Omen Will manifests!】