I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-374

Ch-374.

—

**“….”**

Arin stared at the man who had suddenly appeared.

The half-man, half-dragon who had already driven Agnis into a corner.

And yet… he was someone who clearly had not been there before.

They had entered with exactly five hundred people—had he slipped in unnoticed?

Even so, it made no sense.

If he had followed them in, there was no way she wouldn’t have sensed his presence.

Despite possessing the hidden trait **‘Great Sage’**, she had failed to detect him.

And her perceptiveness went far beyond simply maxing out an observation skill—

it was on an entirely different level.

In short, the idea that he had secretly followed them in was absurd.

‘He didn’t follow us… he was *assimilated*.’

Arin immediately realized why she hadn’t noticed him.

If he had been hiding or tailing them, she would have found him.

But that *existence* had blended into someone else’s presence, like a shadow.

To an eerie degree, he had mastered the art of mimicking another’s aura.

And that wasn’t all.

“……This is ridiculous.”

Gracia muttered.

As he said, *ridiculous* was the perfect word.

Agnis, whose head had been severed, regenerated almost immediately.

All the rampaging fire spirits on Fire Mountain surged forth at once, beginning to restore the Spirit King’s body.

“Is that thing… a monster?”

The real problem was the man’s behavior.

He suddenly discarded his greatsword, then rushed in and bit into Agnis’s neck.

And then he devoured him, savagely.

Chewing noisily, as if it were delicious.

…It was dizzying.

That sight hardly looked human.

There was no fixed pattern to his actions; the way he moved was far removed from anything that could be called human.

If anything, he was closer to a beast—or a monster.

And a very primal one at that.

‘The thirteen hidden traits that were confirmed at entry… could it be that *he*…?’

It was possible.

Perhaps the one who possessed the **Primordial Fire** was that man as well.

And yet, it was puzzling.

If he were truly that extraordinary, there was no way she wouldn’t know of him.

Judging by the suit he wore, he was clearly a modern individual.

“Who is he…?”

“I’ve never seen him before…”

“Could it be… Randolph?”

“P–Phantom?”

The crowd buzzed.

There was no one else who came to mind capable of something so extreme.

**Phantom.**

Once believed to be Wilhelm’s player, the man who had swept the entire Hall of Fame as Randolph—

the one called the strongest of humanity.

Compared to Phantom, even the Top Ten of humanity were considered nothing.

The prevailing opinion was that all of them combined couldn’t measure up to a single Phantom.

There had once been rumors that *Oliver* was Phantom, but they were unfounded.

Arin hadn’t believed it either.

In fact, no one knew Phantom’s true face or identity.

But what if—just what if—that man really *was* Phantom?

…And if the **Unborn One** had fled because of *him*?

“…….”

Arin quietly watched the being devouring Agnis.

If so, then the one she had long sought as one of the Seven Lords, Basara, was this man.

But…

To think he was the player who had controlled Wilhelm—

…wasn’t his method far too crude?

Wilhelm had been elegance itself: refined swordsmanship, disciplined posture, not a single wasted breath.

But that thing…

Calling it crude was being generous—it was outright gluttonous.

Her thoughts, however, didn’t continue for long.

《‘Rampaging Fire Spirit King Agnis’ has been subdued!》

《All ‘contaminants’ that drove ‘Agnis’ berserk have been removed, and ‘Agnis’ has returned to his original state.》

*

…He exceeded expectations.

**Alkar, Tainted Black.**

His power—

Though labeled rank three, depending on conditions, Alkar was a monster capable of contending for first place in pure combat.

That was why the Blade Dragon God had assigned Alkar to me alone.

To protect Oliver, numerous demon-blooded had been deployed—

but Alkar alone was worth more than all of them combined.

More than anything…

‘…He resembles me.’

It felt like looking into a mirror.

Alkar was profoundly greedy.

In fact, he pursued power even more instinctively than I did.

Had there ever been such a being among the demon-blooded?

No—definitively not.

The Bloodspawn were a race created like components by a Dragon God.

They lived solely according to the Queen’s will.

Their growth limits and bestowed power were all fixed.

But Alkar was different.

He had no limits.

How had such a mutant ever been born?

‘I’ll have to ask her about it someday.’

If Alkar could be mass-produced, conquering the Demon Realm might be trivial.

He was that exceptional.

—Where… am I?

In that instant,

Agnis—now reduced to the size of a fist—looked around in confusion.

—Mammon… did he touch something he never should have?

He spoke with a voice heavy with regret.

“By Mammon, do you mean the third lord of the Demon Realm?”

Arin asked.

Agnis nodded.

—That’s right. Mammon, lord of the primordial spirits… took advantage of our moment of negligence and destroyed the core of the Spirit Tower. Now, all spirits in the world will lose balance and run rampant…

“Spirits running rampant? What do you mean?”

—The Spirit Tower wasn’t merely a place for spirits. It confined spirits that must never be released, purified contamination, and maintained the balance of the world.

“Spirits that must never be released?”

—The spirits of chaos. And…

Agnis trailed off.

If the spirits of chaos began to run wild, there would be no stopping it.

The entire system that sustained the world would collapse, and living beings would come to distrust one another.

But there was an even greater problem.

—The **Golden Spirit**… will be enraged.

—If the Spirit Tower is not restored as soon as possible, the world will be destroyed by *that being*!

The Golden Spirit.

The existence said to be capable of awakening the Empire’s Emperor.

That name had been spoken.

—Mammon committed an unforgivable folly. That being must never be awakened… our god must never be released into the world… never!