I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-396

**396. I Became a God**

—

“The air of the Central Continent is certainly different from the south.”

“A cool breeze without a speck of dust. The blue sky and the sun—everything is beautiful.”

“By the way, they called it the Golden City. But it doesn’t look like the entire city is made of gold, does it?”

Pitch-black beasts surveyed their surroundings.

Each and every one of them was enormous beyond comparison with ordinary beasts—ferocious and immensely powerful.

Yet contrary to their casual remarks, the surroundings were already utterly devastated.

*Fwoooosh!*

“S-save me!”

“Aaaagh!”

It was like a black tide surging forward.

The black beasts were trampling a human city.

Once called the *Golden City* and admired by all—Arcana.

A city like the hub of transportation, connected to the greatest number of cities via warps, and thus immensely prosperous.

*Fwoooosh!*

“Aaaagh!”

“P-please, save us!”

“Run…!”

…They were utterly helpless before the onslaught of the black beasts.

Arcana possessed nearly ten thousand private soldiers—an extraordinary number for a single city—but compared to the black beasts that had invaded, both quality and quantity were woefully insufficient.

It was, quite simply, overwhelming.

The sight of countless buildings collapsing and everything being consumed by flames was truly spectacular.

And the one who orchestrated all of this—

The Black King merely stood still, gazing upon the scene of ruin.

“Beautiful.”

It was beautiful beyond words.

Because destruction itself was the greatest art.

More than that… those black beasts were the Black King’s own works of art.

After countless trials and errors, he had finally completed them.

Using the corpses of Raktusha and the Ant King Pheromone, along with the blood of *High Elves*, he had created an entirely new life-form.

The Black King.

He had become a true creator.

He had challenged the domain of the gods—and succeeded.

“Behold, Despair.”

Behind him stood a gigantic, colossal giant.

One of the ancient calamity beasts once called the Four Calamities.

Among them, the one said to be the most dreadful.

…Despair.

Cells of Despair had been implanted into those black beasts as well.

Thus, all the weaknesses once possessed by the Ant King Pheromone were corrected.

They could rightly be called complete beings.

“Isn’t it a truly intoxicating sight?”

Humans could never stop the Black King’s legion.

They could only be slaughtered as they were slaughtered.

*I have become a god.*

A creator god.

Only the life-forms he had created would be allowed to tread this world and live.

*Swoosh.*

Soon after, dark elves gathered silently around the Black King like shadows.

“The seizure of the warps is complete.”

“All warps have been fixed.”

“At your command, we can immediately enter the ‘Labyrinth.’”

It meant that all of Arcana’s warps had been secured.

It was a sudden ambush, leaving no time to freeze the warps.

Thus… access to all cities connected to Arcana became possible.

The Labyrinth City was one of them.

The connection between the Golden City Arcana and the Labyrinth City was clear.

Using Arcana’s warp, one could directly enter the central area of the Labyrinth City.

Grasp the heart in a single stroke.

However, after checking the warp, the Black King frowned slightly.

“…They’ve already altered the warp’s destination.”

Instead of the central area of the Labyrinth City, it had been shifted to the entrance.

Strange.

Had they foreseen the attack on Arcana?

It had been a covert assault, carried out without a sound.

Only the Reaper Cult and the Black King himself should have known about this attack.

“Shall we proceed?”

“Hm.”

The Black King stroked his chin.

He did not trust the Reaper Cult completely.

He knew they were manipulating the Balrog Cult and commanding numerous other factions, but they could not control the Black King as they pleased.

*This already differs from what they told me.*

They had clearly said entry into the center of the Labyrinth would be possible.

Yet upon confirming the warp’s destination, it led not to the center, but to the entrance.

Meaning they would have to break through the Labyrinth from the very beginning.

Either the master of the Labyrinth City had altered the route in advance, or the Reaper Cult had lied.

Neither option sat well with him.

If it was the former, it meant the ambush had been exposed.

If it was the latter, it meant he would have to assume betrayal from them at any time.

Of course, he wasn’t afraid of taking control of the Labyrinth.

He was confident he could do so.

The problem lay in what would happen afterward.

What if the Reaper Cult betrayed him?

What if they struck him from behind?

*My goal is the White King. His head.*

If he conquered the Labyrinth City, whose master was Fifth-Pillar, the White King would move.

Perhaps he already had.

The Black King’s sole objective was to kill the White King.

Even if the Black King didn’t conquer the Labyrinth himself, the White King would be forced to act anyway.

The Black King knew his temperament well.

“Where is the Reaper Cult’s entry route?”

“Well… I apologize. We lost track of it.”

“…Lost track?”

The Black King tilted his head.

Even he admired the dark elves’ stealth techniques.

For them to miss the large-scale movement of the Reaper Cult made no sense.

The reporting dark elf lowered his head as he answered.

“They suddenly moved into the Abyss… We are ashamed.”

The Abyss. The Abyss, huh.

Had they all gone mad?

But thinking about it differently, the Empire possessed the most extensive knowledge of the Abyss.

Under Raiga’s command, they had conquered Abysses and led the Empire’s territorial expansion.

The Reaper Cult would likewise possess related information.

And as far as the Black King knew—

“…There are passages even within the Abyss.”

The Abyss, like Pangaenia, was interconnected.

They might have identified a secret route connecting it to the Labyrinth.

After all, the Labyrinth had originally risen from the Abyss.

Then…

*Did they plan to enter while I attacked, using the opening I’d create?*

The picture came together.

While the Black King and his legion drew the Labyrinth’s attention, the Reaper Cult would enter without bloodshed.

“Tsk. Insolent fools.”

He had no intention of dancing to their tune.

Still, he couldn’t deny his curiosity about what lay inside.

“Since we lost them, we’ll have to make up for it.”

The Black King looked at the dark elves.

They immediately began sweating profusely, realizing what “make up for it” meant.

“…Yes. We will scout the Labyrinth and return.”

—

—

“So we can really see everything.”

Abelof, vice-captain of the Round Table, spoke.

“Wow… that’s incredible.”

Balte, the spear master, couldn’t help but marvel as well.

“…Hypnos. Is this the power of a god?”

The White King felt the same.

Before them was a massive crystal sphere.

The Dream God Hypnos had bestowed upon them an ‘Eye’ imbued with his divine authority.

Hypnos, who in ancient times had been the Eye of Destruction.

For him, observing a single Labyrinth City was trivial.

Thanks to that, they could monitor everything happening within the Labyrinth in real time.

“The dark elves have entered.”

“As expected, they came through Arcana.”

Hudson responded to Isaac’s words.

The Empire knew that Hudson was the one truly managing the Labyrinth.

Since Hudson had strong ties to Arcana, they had predicted an attack there.

The only question had been *who* would attack Arcana.

“If dark elves are involved… it must be the Black King.”

Priest Andrew forced himself to speak.

And if they had crossed over, Arcana would already be in ruins.

They had tried to evacuate in advance, but Arcana’s council had not listened to Hudson.

“Priest Andrew. Are you all right?”

Hudson asked with concern, and Andrew nodded.

“…Yes. I’m fine.”

Priest Andrew had gone to the Elven Forest to find his wife, Elder Aruwen.

But they had been attacked by dark elves, and many elves and high elves had been abducted.

It hadn’t been difficult to determine that the Black King was behind the dark elves.

The White King himself had said so.

And among the abducted was his wife, Elder Aruwen.

“….”

He said he was fine—but could he truly be?

Everyone gathered there knew Andrew was rotting inside.

Hudson changed the subject.

“The Reaper Cult and the Balrog Cult are also entering the Labyrinth.”

What appeared in the sphere wasn’t limited to the entrance.

From below the Labyrinth—

Those approaching through Abyssal routes.

The Reaper Cult and the Balrog Cult.

They likely believed they wouldn’t be noticed.

“But it’s all right. The Golden Goblins and the Golden Goblin Lord have already blocked everything.”

Everything was visible.

The Golden Goblins had sealed all passages in advance.

Especially the Golden Goblin Lord, *Greed*, did not wish for them to discover the Labyrinth’s treasures.

He had blocked every route with utmost effort—so their plans would ultimately fail.

If they wished to enter the Labyrinth, they would have no choice but to start at the entrance.

“Executioners, please receive those who come seeking entry.”

“…Very well.”

Phantom’s avatars were already appearing one after another before the Labyrinth.

Thunder Lion nodded and moved together with the Executioners.

*The Reaper Cult, the Balrog Cult, the Black King. For now, that’s about it.*

Hudson thought carefully.

The scale of the enemies was becoming clear.

As expected, there was no massive offensive from the Empire.

That said, it would be a lie to claim the Reaper Cult’s true strength wasn’t frightening.

However… those gathered here were no pushovers either.

And the fact that they could track all movements through Hypnos’s sphere was significant.

“Then…”

…It’s doable.

This battle—we will surely win.

And to do that—

“…We’ll begin the counteroffensive.”

Hudson smiled.

—

—

“…Blocked?”

Golden Mask frowned.

Their plan to assault the Labyrinth through the Abyssal routes had failed.

The Labyrinth City had originally risen from the Abyss and was once ruled by the ‘Hexagram Hero Riley.’

They had found secret passages to the Labyrinth in documents from the Old Empire.

Yet now, those passages were blocked.

*There’s no way they could have known and blocked them…*

Was it coincidence?

Or were the routes already blocked from the start, contrary to the records?

“What about the alternative routes?”

“A-all of them are blocked.”

Hah.

All blocked.

What in the world was this situation?

“…We retreat.”

Regardless, this was the Abyss.

No matter who they were, they couldn’t remain here for long.

The Reaper Cult’s forces immediately turned back toward the path they had entered through.

How much time passed like that?

“Aaaagh!”

“M-monster!”

Screams rang out from ahead.

Someone had blocked the entrance they had come through.

Enormous monsters beyond belief.

Seeing them, Golden Mask couldn’t help but panic.

“…Star Guardians?”

Why were they attacking them?

And while sealing off the Abyssal entrance they had used?

“Don’t tell me…”

Had attacking the Labyrinth mobilized the Star Guardians?

And worse, did they already know every move the Reaper Cult made?

Impossible.

Their movements had been covert.

So covert that even the dark elves couldn’t follow them.

Unless an insider had betrayed them—unless one of the Reaper Cult’s leaders had leaked information—it couldn’t have happened.

So then…

“…Who betrayed us?”

Golden Mask’s gaze sank like a bottomless abyss as it swept over the Patrons of Lineages.