I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-413

**Chapter 413. Resurrection.**

—-

Phantom’s avatars.

Those who had awakened their lost memories gathered in the labyrinth as if by prior agreement.

For Phantom’s resurrection.

For his **survival**.

Yet only five hundred had assembled.

Barely half.

And among the three once called the “strongest” avatars, only one—**the Salgwi**—had managed to arrive.

……It was not enough.

Far too little to awaken Phantom’s soul.

However—

**Phantom** rose on his own.

He completed the Great Expedition alone, severing his lingering regrets with his own hands.

The process was so overwhelming that it was impossible to look away.

‘On a different level.’

……The level was different.

Only then did they truly understand.

The depth of Phantom’s strength—the Phantom who had kept **them** alive.

Despite facing the same conditions, he had defeated the Demon King.

And he had done so in a single attempt.

‘I gave up on myself.’

‘If it weren’t for Phantom… I would’ve died anyway.’

They were people whose deaths had already been decided.

There had been no way to survive by their own strength alone.

That was why they had made a contract with the Blue Bird.

They had forgotten everything, lost everything—solely to live.

But if not for Phantom, most of them would have died regardless.

So—

“Hold the line!”

“Damn it, you monster bastards!”

“No matter how many we kill, they just keep coming…!”

This time, it was **their** turn to protect Phantom.

Even if they died again.

Lives that were already forfeit—there were no regrets left now.

They had cursed Phantom as the incarnation of evil, branded him a sinner and hated him—

But shouldn’t they correct that now?

“……Strong. Haaah!”

The **Thunder Lion** grit his teeth, tears of blood running down his face.

The Executors gathered here, and the other Phantom avatars as well, all met the criteria of true **powerhouses**.

They were Transcendents—or possessed strength comparable to Transcendents.

No doubt because Phantom had laid the foundation.

The ones gathered here alone could easily bring down several renowned great cities.

……Yet the **legion of Annihilation** was stronger.

Just the number visible to the naked eye exceeded a thousand.

Each individual soldier possessed mana comparable to a **two-star Transcendent**.

The one saving grace was technique.

Annihilation’s soldiers lacked refinement in skill.

If their weapon mastery had matched that of two-star Transcendents, the labyrinth would have already been conquered.

Even so, it was only a matter of time.

‘Too many.’

Annihilation’s legion surged like a tidal wave, steadily pushing them back.

At this rate, it would soon reach the **First Fire**.

“This… is my grave.”

Kurrung!

The Thunder Lion summoned lightning into his own body.

A resolve unto death.

He intended to burn himself out, squeezing out even his last drop of mana.

……He knew they couldn’t win.

But knowing that, he still couldn’t run.

“Raaagh!”

“Ghk!”

And the same was true for the others.

To stop Annihilation’s soldiers even at the cost of their lives.

To protect the First Fire—to protect Phantom’s soul—

That was the only sincerity they could show.

Yet even such resolve is erased before an overwhelming difference in power.

Kuuuuuuuuung—!

With a thunderous roar that rattled eardrums—

《99% of the “Labyrinth City” has been destroyed!》

《Protect the “First Fire”!》

《If the “First Fire” is extinguished, there will be no turning back.》

《The aura of “Destruction (Annihilation)” suppressed by the “First Fire” will begin to consume Pangaenia.》

……The ceiling of the labyrinth was blown away.

Walls collapsed, and Annihilation’s soldiers poured in from all sides.

At the same time, they looked up at the sky.

A sky dyed black.

“Th-that… what is that?”

“It’s Einhassar! Dragon God Einhassar!”

“And beside him—War God Karas!”

There, War God Karas and Dragon God Einhassar were fighting Annihilation.

Ah—

The gods had appeared.

If those who protected Pangaenia had joined the battle, there was hope.

No matter how powerful a monster was, how could it defeat gods?

Each of them alone could shake the heavens and the earth—and there were two.

But—

“…….”

“What… what kind of monster is that?”

The two gods were already in a dire state.

Dragon God Einhassar’s scales had been torn away in many places, and not a single part of War God Karas’s body remained unscathed.

In contrast, **Annihilation** was perfectly fine.

He was overwhelmingly dominating them with ease.

The spark of hope that had ignited was snuffed out in an instant.

“Insane.”

“It’s way too strong…”

“How are we supposed to beat something like that…?”

……There was no way to win.

Annihilation was stronger than even the Demon King during the Great Expedition.

A monster standing above every being they had ever seen.

Beyond a difference in level—an unfathomable, unseen realm.

Even if Phantom—if Wilhelm—returned alive, it didn’t feel like they could win.

That thing was not designed to be defeated.

And to think it was being restrained to this extent even by the **First Fire**.

If they failed to stop it here, the world would be destroyed.

—Pathetic gods.

Annihilation was disappointed.

—Is this all the ones called the strongest of this world amount to?

Neither Dragon God Einhassar nor War God Karas met his expectations.

Of course, that was simply because his own power was that overwhelming.

Mana overflowed endlessly.

He could not imagine his own defeat.

“Don’t… act so grand. You’re weaker than ‘Destruction.’”

Yet War God Karas mocked him.

Karas was a god who had already experienced **Destruction**.

Compared to Destruction, Annihilation was merely a newborn just learning to walk.

Even so, the reason they couldn’t stop him was because Pangaenia had grown that weak.

A world where most gods were gone.

A place where the beings once called **Progenitors**, the strongest of each race, had sunk into the Abyss and become corrupted—

That was Pangaenia.

If Destruction had not appeared and ruined the world once before, Annihilation would not be acting so leisurely now.

—…Don’t worry. I’ll surpass it soon enough.

Even so, Annihilation smiled.

For one just born, reaching Destruction was still a distant goal.

But this world overflowed with possibilities and miracles.

Because it had once been destroyed by Destruction, even more primordial mana was being generated.

Like fertile land after a wildfire.

And this world was **connected**.

The Abyss, the Demon Realm, and Earth.

If he annihilated them all, he would surpass even Destruction.

—Now, die.

Flick.

Annihilation snapped his fingers.

Then—

Whooooooom!

A compressed, violent gale surged toward him.

Shiiiiii—

In an instant, the world fell silent.

As if all sound had been swallowed.

Like the calm before a storm.

And then—

Kuaaaaaaaaang!

A massive shockwave erupted centered on Annihilation.

The sight was akin to a **supernova**.

As when a star dies and releases immense energy, infinite mana spread outward, burning and erasing everything it touched.

The wave expanded endlessly, turning all the land around the labyrinth into scorched earth.

Not a blade of grass remained—only a land of death.

Even Dragon God Einhassar and War God Karas were swept away by the force.

…However, one place alone remained.

—The First Fire… a work of the primordial age, perhaps.

Only the domain protected by the **First Fire** was intact.

That fire was likely not an ordinary flame, but something tied to the **Primordial**.

Only something like that could withstand Destruction’s power.

Still, it was strange.

He had felt it from the beginning—the presence emanating from that fire was beyond that.

—Is that your hope?

The reason they had all gathered in the labyrinth.

To protect the First Fire.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

There was someone connected to the First Fire.

Most likely—**Phantom**.

Phantom was their hope.

But Phantom was, at best, human.

Unable to become a god—never meant to.

What hope was there in a mere mortal, destined to die anyway?

……Annihilation calmly watched as his soldiers slaughtered them.

He didn’t even need to intervene.

Soon the fire would go out, and their hope would vanish as well.

Once the First Fire disappeared, nothing would bind him anymore.

Phantom?

‘It’s always been the same. He’s just a coward.’

Yes. A coward.

Hiding himself, changing his identity, never revealing his true self.

And even now, at this point, he still hadn’t appeared—clearly having fled in fear.

Isn’t it laughable?

Isn’t it ridiculous?

So many humans are risking their lives to protect him, yet he hides instead of showing himself.

‘I alone am unique.’

Annihilation thought.

Who he was, who he had been—it no longer mattered.

He had always agonized over his identity, nurturing rage—

But now he realized how futile that had been.

All that mattered now was power.

Greater power.

Power no one could oppose!

Wilhelm. Phantom.

They were nothing but fleeing losers now, unfit to stand against him.

Even possessing that mysterious twelfth Lineage meant nothing if, like the Emperor, he ran away in fear.

Power unused is the same as incompetence.

Tap—

—……?

At that moment—

Footsteps.

If it were just any footsteps, they wouldn’t have bothered him.

The problem was their source—the **First Fire**.

And the way they made his hand clench involuntarily.

A presence that put him on edge.

Legendary Druid Albino. The Black King. Extinction King Mork. Even the two gods—

None of them had made him feel this tense.

Yet mere footsteps sent a shiver through him.

Who was it?

Was there still such an existence left in this world?

It wasn’t the Demon King of the Demon Realm.

The only ones he might consider true opponents were the Chief Gods of Omen and Ash deep within the Tower of the War God—

But they couldn’t directly affect the world.

Their conditions for appearance were far stricter than Karas’s.

No… perhaps—

If it were the **Golden Spirit**, maybe.

The primordial god of the Spirit Realm could certainly oppose Destruction.

But the Spirit Realm was gone, leaving only the Spirit Tower behind.

The Golden Spirit’s authority must have diminished from its primordial peak.

And above all, it could never appear through the First Fire.

Annihilation looked toward the First Fire with keen interest.

Tap—

The footsteps grew clearer.

With them, the presence intensified.

……Annihilation realized he was tense.

An existence he could not grasp despite possessing an eye that saw the entire world.

Something not registered even in **Truth** itself was emerging from within that fire.

Neither darkness nor light.

Not even chaos.

Something that felt like many, yet also like one.

—……I see.

Ah.

Annihilation nodded.

The one who stepped out from the First Fire.

He still couldn’t fully understand—but after seeing him, he could no longer deny it.

Looking at him, Annihilation spoke.

—So you are **Phantom**.