I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-347

Ch-347. **Another Destruction, Its True Meaning**

—

‘…In the end, a mortal after all.’

The **Forgotten God** regained her composure.

The irresistible primordial power possessed by Lilith—
once her own curse was added to it, the balance of power reversed.

Naturally so.

A being bound to a mortal fate, one that could not be altered even by a goddess’s love.

How could a creature destined to perish possibly withstand the combined power of Lilith and an evil god?

‘You possessed unexpected divinity… but even so, saving everyone is impossible.’

Still, it *was* unexpected.

Ordinarily, mortals cannot endure primordial darkness.
They are inevitably eroded, turned into puppets that obey its commands.

Wasn’t everyone here already being controlled by her power?

The ruler of the North, the legendary druid, even the Empire’s strongest—no exceptions.

Those fated to perish are helpless before the **Origin**.

And yet, the Druid of the Golden Scale was different.

Thanks to the nameless eagle, and the qualifications of countless divinities, he had endured.

Only divinity can withstand the darkness of the Origin.

But it wasn’t enough.

Even powerful divinity could only save the Druid of the Golden Scale himself.

He did not possess divinity vast enough to save everyone gathered here.

The proof lay plainly before her eyes.

“Give up and accept the darkness.”

The Forgotten God smiled.

Though the Druid of the Golden Scale had embarrassed her several times, it was obvious he was being overwhelmed.

Summoning an existence beyond Truth was an impressive feat.

However—

“Your act of pretending to be a ‘god’ was quite convincing. But you are not a god, child.”

Now she was certain.

He was not an immortal god, but a mortal human.

He merely possessed the *qualification* to wield divine power.

But having the qualification does not change one’s essence.

He held a fragment of a god—he had not *become* one.

…Ha.

Ridiculous.

Truly ridiculous.

That she had been so tense around him.

She had been completely deceived by his performance.

Though he possessed considerable divinity, he was nowhere near capable of facing both her and Lilith at once.

And yet—

‘You overcame the Trial of Truth with *this* much?’

Impossible.

The Trial of Truth is an eternally verified impossibility.

An ordeal that cannot be conquered—one that drove countless gods to despair.

Its power is so overwhelming that the laws of the world revolve around **Truth** itself.

…She knew this from firsthand experience.

Thus, perhaps the Druid of the Golden Scale overcoming the Trial of Truth and summoning an existence beyond it meant—

‘The power of Truth has weakened.’

Perhaps Truth itself had grown weaker.

That thought gave rise to hope.

‘If I win this battle, I will reclaim everything that was taken from me.’

The Forgotten God.

She does not know her own name.

She forgot it.

She remembers only that she was once a powerful evil god—erased by Truth.

Among the many Forgotten Gods dwelling within the World Tree’s dungeon, her position was prominent, yet even for her, reclaiming her name was no simple task.

There was only one method.

Touching the roots of the World Tree.

However, Forgotten Gods faced several restrictions to do so.

First, they had to defeat challengers and obtain at least one hundred **Forgotten Knight Souls**.

They also needed the symbol of another Forgotten God.

Only then could they reclaim their name while avoiding Truth’s gaze.

But if Truth’s power had weakened…

‘I can reclaim everything that was forgotten and stolen from me!’

Even touching the roots of the World Tree would grant only her name.

Awakening to her existence—that was all.

But Truth had taken far more than that.

It destroyed all who followed her, everything that bore her name.

Not only that—

Everything that symbolized her power was gone.

Perhaps she could reclaim them.

The method was simple.

Face the Trial of Truth head-on.

Touch the roots of the World Tree and do not avert one’s gaze from Truth.

Do not flee.

In that moment, Truth would look upon her.

And then—

“I admit defeat. I acknowledge my loss.”

The Druid of the Golden Scale, cornered, spoke.

So he would surrender willingly.

Well, his act had been exposed—he had no choice.

However—

“It’s too late, child. Die quietly.”

Had he accepted her proposal earlier, perhaps things would have ended differently.

Had he become her other half, he could have attained true immortality.

He made the wrong choice.

【The ‘Duel’ continues.】
【The rules are changed.】
【Only ‘Erasure of Existence’ shall determine victory and defeat.】

The Forgotten God altered the rules at will.

An act beyond the regulations set by Truth itself.

Though Truth might turn its gaze upon her, she did not care.

She was convinced Truth had weakened.

What she desired was annihilation.

To erase that impostor forever.

To take everything, to claim everything.

Especially those two detestable goddesses—she could never forgive them.

‘That place was mine. It should have been mine from the beginning.’

She could not recall the exact reason.

Yet deep regret and resentment toward the goddesses remained.

Perhaps once she reclaimed her name, she would remember why.

One thing was certain—the Forgotten God believed the seat of the goddesses was originally hers.

At first, she intended to prove her superiority by taking the Druid of the Golden Scale from them, but—

‘After reclaiming everything, I will return to my rightful place.’

…There was no longer any need for that.

She would simply take the goddesses’ place herself.

If she could reclaim everything from Truth, it would be possible.

If one asked how an evil god becomes a goddess—the answer was right before her.

A being loved by two goddesses.

A being whose intense divinity could even create the illusion of godhood!

If she could kill that being and keep him as her puppet, becoming a goddess would be trivial.

‘Die. Die and become my puppet.’

There were no variables.

No escape.

Certain victory in hand, the Forgotten God smiled brightly.

…And then—

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

What nonsense was this?

True darkness?

Was the darkness of the Forgotten God and Lilith not real darkness?

‘Delusional.’

Unable to accept defeat, he must have gone mad.

And how could a purely divine being know ‘true darkness’?

Yet the Forgotten God’s smile faded.

‘Another evolution…?’

His form began to change again.

Absurd—yet it seemed he was evolving once more.

Useless.

A mere death throe.

But she soon realized she was wrong.

Fssss—

His divinity was disappearing.

Cracks spread—

And from within them, *darkness* began to flow.

It wasn’t just his appearance that changed.

His very nature inverted.

Light instantly became darkness.

In a fleeting moment, it was devoured and vanished entirely.

Darkness took its place.

No—this was not merely darkness occupying where light once was.

This darkness was so immense that his former divine radiance seemed pale by comparison.

Thus, the Forgotten God froze.

All existence froze.

As though time itself had stopped.

And it was not limited to this place.

Krrrrrumble!

【‘???’ has appeared.】

【All ‘Forgotten Gods’ detect the manifested existence.】

【All tier trials are suspended.】

【The roots of the World Tree are shaking.】

【The existence of ‘???’ begins to erode the World Tree’s dungeon.】

The World Tree shook.

Violently.

The Forgotten God’s eyes trembled.

“Y-you are…!”

She knew the instant she saw it.

What that *existence* was.

And she realized—

“The one who overcame the Trial of Truth wasn’t the Druid of the Golden Scale…”

It was that being.

That darkness.

The one who surpassed the Trial of Truth was that **Destruction**.

Brrrr!

The Forgotten God trembled.

She stepped back instinctively.

She had experienced Truth.

Thus, she also knew Destruction.

For among the powers wielded by Truth was the power of Destruction.

‘I have to run.’

She was afraid.

For the first time ever.

Beyond mere fear—

‘I don’t want to die…!’

…Not wanting to die.

Wasn’t that something only mortals said?

Beings with predetermined ends—humans.

But she was a god.

Born a god, an immortal existence.

So why—

Why did she want to live?

Was it fear?

Because that being had overcome the Trial of Truth?

No.

It was something else.

‘This is different. That… that is another Destruction!’

…It was fundamentally different.

Destruction can erase a god’s name and expel them beyond the world—but it cannot completely annihilate a god.

But that—

That was *another* Destruction.

Called Destruction, yet not Destruction itself.

‘Ah…!’

I understand now.

What it is.

And how it escaped Truth!

“You are…!”

The Forgotten God stepped back again—

But could move no further.

His darkness had already coiled around her.

An absurdity.

A darkness surpassing even that of an evil god.

Could such a thing exist?

Yet it was more primordial, truly at the end of all things.

Destruction, yet not Destruction.

A darkness that annihilates gods.

What should such an existence be called?

And if such a being truly exists—

“You are… the End…!!!”

…There could be only one answer.

**The End.**

*

*

 

Destruction destroys everything.

But the End declares the conclusion of all things.

Even gods are no exception.

The natural enemy of immortals—

That is the **End**.

Destruction can destroy the world, but it cannot declare the world’s conclusion.

The End can.

‘This is another world.’

When I transformed into Randolph, I saw the truth of this world.

The World Tree’s dungeon was itself another *world*.

A world of Forgotten Gods.

A warped, corrupted world they had ruined.

‘From the start, only defeated and forgotten evil gods existed here.’

Why did Forgotten Gods dwell within the World Tree of Honor?

Why did they summon the souls of honorable knights, only to make them forgotten?

The answer was simple.

They wanted to be reborn.

They wanted to reclaim their names, erase their past as evil gods, and begin anew as sacred beings.

Their presence within the World Tree of Honor was, in a way, inevitable.

‘They were the true cause of its withering.’

And the reason I could open this dungeon.

At last, I understood what the World Tree of Honor wanted from me.

‘It wanted me to cleanse the forgotten evil gods.’

The fundamental beings that polluted the World Tree of Honor by invoking false honor.

It cried out for their erasure.

Only then would truly honorable souls cease to wander.

“I lost. So please, stop…!”

The Forgotten God declared her defeat.

She must have realized that a clash of darkness against darkness was no contest.

But it was too late.

Had she done so from the beginning, she would not have seen the end.

Had she accepted my surrender when I acknowledged defeat.

Her choice came far too late.

‘Given the conditions of victory, it can’t be helped.’

Victory and defeat had already been defined as **erasure of existence**.

Her fault—for changing the rules at will.

Sliiice!

I reached out and grasped the Forgotten God’s heart.

“No…!”

She screamed, knowing what I would do.

I didn’t care.

Crunch!

“Aaaaargh!”

Without hesitation, I crushed what I held in my hand.

《You have destroyed the ‘Symbol of the Forgotten God’.》

《You gain 1 point of ‘Destruction’.》

《You can strengthen the power of Destruction using ‘Destruction Points’.》

She vanished.

The Forgotten God.

Her soul rose above Lilith—and faded away.

—If I could just… become… a goddess…!

The last regretful cry of one who could not let go.

Soon, the Forgotten God was gone.

Thud.

At the same time, Lilith’s divine form collapsed.

Then—

《You have triumphed over the Trial of the 3rd Tier.》

《You seize all ‘Forgotten Knight Souls’ obtained by the ‘White King’s Order’.》

《13 additional ‘Incomprehensible Feats’ have been completed.》

《You now possess a total of 121 ‘Forgotten Knight Souls’.》

《The Forgotten God of the 4th Tier refuses to duel.》

《The 5th Tier, ‘Hidden Room’, has been opened.》

《You possess a symbol suitable for the ‘Hidden Room’.》

《Within the ‘Hidden Room’, the entrant may set the rules against the Forgotten Gods.》

《‘Another Destruction (The End)’ forcibly summons all Forgotten Gods.》

……

……

《You have acquired the ‘Supreme Soul (Lilith)’.》

《The ‘Supreme Soul (Lilith)’ yearns for a soul.》

《You use 1 Destruction Point to bestow a soul.》

《The ‘Supreme Soul (Lilith)’ becomes imbued with a soul and evolves into the ‘Primordial Soul (Second Retainer)’.》