I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-415

**Chapter 415. Phantom vs. Annihilation**

—

“Aaah…!”

Hudson’s body trembled violently.

He had heard it before.

That the required experience was overwhelmingly high.

That even the monstrously powerful Randolph had failed to reach **Level 10**!

…Honestly, he’d thought it was a joke.

In reality, however, the **required experience** often differed greatly between characters.

Depending on the talent or traits a character possessed at creation, they might require vastly more experience.

Of course, having a high experience requirement wasn’t always a good thing.

Slower leveling meant difficulty accessing higher-tier content.

Transcendence was delayed, and limits arose in clearing main quests.

To level up, one had to fight stronger enemies—but equipment usage and many other aspects became restricted, so it wasn’t purely beneficial.

Still…

No matter what, there was such a thing as *reasonable limits*.

Were Randolph’s achievements anything close to ordinary?

Just the trials Hudson knew of were experiences that would’ve pushed most people to Level 10 several times over.

Legendary, mythical—truly one-of-a-kind adventures.

‘He topped the Hall of Fame every single time he progressed the main quest, and still hadn’t reached Level 10?’

And now he had finally reached it?

These days, among Awakeners, Level 10 marked the point of leaving “beginner” status and entering “intermediate.”

After Transcendence, one was acknowledged as an “expert,” and beyond that, called a “ranker.”

‘Wait. Then does that mean he’s *just* shed the beginner label…?’

That figure—how could anyone look at him and call him a beginner?

No one would believe that Park Hyunmyung, standing toe-to-toe with Destruction, had only just reached Level 10.

If you told them the truth, they’d probably curse you out.

They might accuse you of being delusional, telling you to stop spouting nonsense.

Only Hudson, having seen and heard enough, could barely force himself to accept it.

‘…No. There’s no way this makes sense.’

Everyone wore the same expression.

Utter disbelief.

Except for Isabella, they all looked stunned, thinking they must’ve misheard.

“So… you mean he’ve achieved a 10-Star Transcendence?”

The spear fighter Balte asked in a reverent tone.

No matter how he thought about it, it made no sense.

Even Balte, who had been neglected on the Mountain of Training, had reached Level 10 long ago.

It would honestly sound more believable to say he had transcended ten times.

That too was unprecedented—but this was Park Hyunmyung they were talking about.

Wilhelm, Randolph, and Park Hyunmyung.

This triangle was so great there was no weak link to cut out.

So Balte assumed Isabella must’ve misspoken.

In the end, Hudson stepped in.

“He really did reach Level 10. And it’s also true that he hasn’t… transcended yet.”

“…That?”

Krrrrsh!

The sky split apart.

Light poured down through the storm clouds.

Annihilation’s power destroyed all things—but Park Hyunmyung alone was the exception.

Against Annihilation, which even gods couldn’t approach—

He was advancing, little by little.

With Wilhelm’s swordsmanship, he was opening the land and the sky that had been sealed shut.

How could *that* possibly be the work of a Level 10?

“……”

Everyone stared up at the sky, speechless.

A battle beyond common sense.

Colossal powers they couldn’t even begin to comprehend were colliding.

—

This guy is absurd.

Phantom—this guy.

—Do you think you can reach me?

Kwaaaaar!

Kwaarrrrr!

Unending torrents of flame.

Circular waves of fire erupted ceaselessly around Annihilation.

All the land surrounding the labyrinth—except where the **First Fire** resided—had already lost its form, completely evaporated.

Yet Park Hyun-myung didn’t die.

He didn’t stop.

He continued advancing, nullifying the waves one by one.

Step by step, as if walking through empty air.

A stubbornness bordering on the idiotic.

‘You intend to reach me without using the power of Destruction?’

Phantom was wielding nothing but Wilhelm’s swordsmanship.

Asking if I’m ready to face the real thing.

…How insolently arrogant.

Body techniques in a battle of Destruction?

That swordsmanship—

The movements were extremely simple, yet Annihilation was certain.

‘Wilhelm. A swordsmanship he completed.’

Did I still have regrets I couldn’t let go of?

Even after becoming Annihilation and deciding not to agonize over the meaning of existence anymore—

The moment I hear Wilhelm’s name, the nightmare resurfaces.

And now, the swordsmanship he completed is unfolding before my eyes.

Annihilation reached out into the void.

【Sword of Annihilation】

The air tore apart, and a sword appeared in his hand.

At the same time, a **door** manifested within the Fissured Space.

【Door of Truth】

…The Door of Truth.

Moments later, the door opened, and Annihilation’s eyes began to dart wildly in all directions.

Thousands—no, billions—of sword techniques within the Door of Truth.

The movements of swordsmen who had reigned supreme across countless worlds.

Even minute habits, subtle to the point of being unnoticeable.

He devoured and learned them all in an instant.

Because the Destructions of Heaven were permitted to seek **Truth**.

From within the door containing the truths of all worlds, they could freely select and extract whatever they desired.

Wilhelm, at best?

Praised as Pangaenia’s Knight King—how laughable.

In the end, he was merely a swordsman limited to Pangaenia.

Sssrk!

The movement of Annihilation’s eyes stopped.

Three seconds.

That was all it took for Annihilation to absorb the swordsmanship of all worlds from the Door of Truth.

Three seconds were enough to perfectly recreate the swordsmen once called the strongest.

Compared to them, Wilhelm was merely average.

‘Wilhelm. I’ll shatter your strongest.’

Annihilation halted the release of waves.

Instead—

Spot!

Krrrrumble!

The moment Annihilation moved, violent shockwaves followed.

But before those shockwaves could even reach—

Claaang!

Sword met sword.

Blocked.

He deflected it in an instant—but could he keep deflecting?

Annihilation began reproducing the movements of the swordsmen he’d learned from the Door of Truth with increasing depth.

Clang!

Clang-clang-claaang!

Each collision rang out.

Over a hundred exchanges passed without either side yielding even an inch.

With every shift in stance, Annihilation changed sword styles and momentum, pressuring Phantom as if he were facing an entirely different opponent each time.

Wilhelm’s swordsmanship?

In the end, he was human.

A sword style completed by a single man was bound to have limits.

No matter how much experience he had, it paled compared to the “infinite possibilities” contained within the Door of Truth.

A single sword style could only express a finite number of cases.

There *had* to be an opening.

‘Power, physical balance—both are in my favor.’

He might be holding on now, but how long could that last?

Annihilation had clearly taken the upper hand.

The delusion of facing him using only Wilhelm’s swordsmanship, without Destruction’s power.

That delusion would kill Phantom.

Defeat was impossible to imagine.

There were hundreds of swordsmen who surpassed Wilhelm.

Could Phantom truly withstand all of their techniques?

‘Five more seconds.’

That was how long it would take to sever Phantom’s head.

After executing a precisely constructed sequence of 148 exchanges, he would be drained.

And at the exact 148th exchange—

‘An opening—’

A gap appeared between Phantom’s previously unbreakable defenses.

Annihilation thrust his sword without hesitation.

Slash!

And Phantom’s head was cut off.

Without a doubt, cut off.

—…?

Yet what fell was not his head—

But both of Annihilation’s arms.

Along with the Sword of Annihilation, they continued to plummet.

Impossible.

He had cut—yet he was cut in return.

Feeling the incoming blade, Annihilation hastily retreated.

Then Phantom spoke.

“Open.”

He nullified Annihilation’s power with **Heaven** and **Earth**, and with **Open**, he opened—

Possibility.

The impossible—

—Reversal….

A counter.

Not merely turning power against itself.

He had deliberately created an opening at the 148th exchange, then severed Annihilation’s arms the moment he went for the kill—all due to that power of **Reversal**.

‘He read me… and used it against me?’

Not coincidence.

Inevitability.

Calculated to the letter.

But what shocked Annihilation was that Phantom *saw* that outcome.

Among an astronomical number of possibilities, he had pinpointed a single one.

Because Wilhelm had completed a swordsmanship capable of responding to *all* possibilities.

A mere human had surpassed the human realm.

That swordsmanship didn’t exist inside the Door of Truth.

It couldn’t even be registered there.

Gloop! Gloop!

Black energy writhed, and Annihilation’s arms regenerated.

The power of **Inversion** he possessed.

Having already shed the limits of the body, reversing the previous damage was trivial.

‘A mere sleight of hand.’

Next, Annihilation discerned the essence of Wilhelm’s swordsmanship.

It took the form of swordsmanship, yet it was far removed from conventional techniques.

The **knot (結)** that exists in all things.

Reading and resonating with those knots—that was its core.

‘If there is no knot, there can be no resonance.’

Such an act was impossible for ordinary living beings.

But Annihilation was no living being.

Not even an object—he was closer to a **phenomenon**.

Could one cut an already-occurred phenomenon?

【Jade of Annihilation】

Craaaack!

This was Annihilation’s greatest authority.

The descent of a phenomenon that annihilates everything.

His body began to multiply like clones.

Twelve bodies.

The completion of twelve—eleven Lineage plus himself.

One of those bodies transformed into a black orb-like **jade**.

Limited in usage, and precisely because of that—

One of the strongest authorities he possessed.

The fact that he used it meant—

—I acknowledge you, Phantom.

It meant he acknowledged his opponent.

A single hit was enough.

The moment his arms were severed, Annihilation realized—

‘I can’t win with swords.’

Even compared to the countless sword techniques learned from the Door of Truth—

Even compared to the swordsmen once called the strongest—

…Wilhelm stood above them.

The ultimate form of the sword.

Swordsmanship of a being who had transcended humanity and created his own world.

Isn’t it astonishing?

A mortal creating his own world.

Truly a human born of the Emperor’s blood.

Of course, the Emperor who should have become Annihilation was no different from a Heavenly God, so calling Wilhelm—born of that god’s blood—human was laughable.

But—

—Even so, you cannot reach Heaven.

This is not enough to reach Heaven.

Without using the power of Destruction, blocking the **Jade of Annihilation** was impossible.

And if Phantom used Destruction’s power, the humans he protected would also be erased.

The impact would spread beyond this Labyrinth City to all of Pangaenia.

Could someone who wished to protect others truly wield power that destroyed everything?

Could he make that choice?

—Go on. Try blocking it with the ‘Destruction’ you possess.

Snap!

Annihilation snapped his fingers.

In that instant—