I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-417

**Chapter 417. The Difference Between 12 and 13**

—

Phantom’s constellation.

Its second Star—**Randolph’s Star**.

At the same time, darkness began to creep in.

A vast darkness I had turned away from until now, a darkness I had never been able to control.

Yet the only thing that can oppose destruction is destruction itself.

If I could not accept Randolph’s End here and now, the conclusion would be nothing but annihilation.

‘Randolph. Tell me your story.’

But—

…in truth, I know nothing about Randolph.

I regarded Wilhelm as a close companion, close enough to consider him no different from the Emperor’s son, and I had confirmed that much.

Yet as for Randolph himself, I know nothing.

Even if Wilhelm’s body was stolen by the Demon King and his soul was protected by the goddesses, the problem lies in what came after.

‘Who are you?’

…This body I possessed.

A vessel strong enough to imprison the End.

Other players also possessed “people of Pangaenia” as a rule.

Finding information about the original owner of a possessed body was never particularly difficult.

And yet, there was no information about Randolph anywhere in the world.

‘He fell into the desert city together with soldiers who fled from the Grand Expedition. If so, his name should have been on the list of participants—but no matter how much we searched, there was nothing.’

I was talking about the time immediately after my possession.

I had been dragged away as a slave together with some three hundred soldiers.

They had participated in the Grand Expedition, then fled.

Which meant Randolph had fled with them.

If so, his name should naturally have been on the expedition roster.

Yet Hudson searched with everything he had and still found nothing.

Not even a single person connected to him.

As if he were someone who suddenly rose from the ground that very day.

Who was he?

The original owner of this body—Randolph.

Even within the ‘Door,’ he had merely watched me silently.

He gazed at me with eyes devoid of emotion, with no discernible intent or will.

Why?

‘…There is no story. No soul.’

I felt I vaguely understood the reason.

Randolph has no soul.

He never had one to begin with.

A body created by someone else.

A vessel designed with a purpose.

‘Ah.’

At once, every question fell into place.

And I could also guess who had made him—and for what purpose.

‘The reason they called me the Demon of Greed must also be because of you, Randolph.’

…The Demon of Greed.

Randolph’s body must clearly resemble the Demon of Greed.

I could find no information about Randolph anywhere in Pangaenia.

Yet exalted beings spoke of me as if it were self-evident, calling me the Demon of Greed.

Of course, my traits and disposition might have made it seem that way—but Randolph’s influence must also have been significant.

‘The ones who made you were the goddesses.’

I was certain that it was the goddesses who created this vessel.

The strongest being who alone had reached Destruction.

Those who aided him most closely were the goddesses.

So creating a body that imitated Greed would not have been impossible.

‘The ones who made me possess you were also the two goddesses.’

That day, when I possessed Randolph, there had been the goddesses’ influence.

Which raised a question.

‘…Am I the Demon of Greed?’

Is my soul truly that of the Demon of Greed?

The Primordial God of Earth, with whom I had spoken within my mind, answered my question thus:

—You are a more fundamental being.

For now, you are the Demon of Greed.

But you are something more essential.

I pondered the meaning of those words at length, and arrived at a single conclusion.

‘I am not the Demon of Greed.’

It isn’t me.

I turned my gaze.

He was still staring at me with empty, emotionless eyes.

Randolph—I mean you.

But—

‘You aren’t the Demon of Greed either.’

I slowly shook my head.

At the core, we are different.

We may resemble each other, but we are entirely different existences.

…Even now, Randolph’s gaze is hollow.

But my own gaze upon him had grown far more relaxed than before.

The darkness Randolph possessed—the power of the End—

Perhaps I never needed to fear it so much in the first place.

This being had neither right nor wrong.

He had merely moved according to the aura of the End.

‘Let’s use it together. Phantom’s story. Our constellation.’

I lightly extended my hand.

Now, I will no longer avoid you.

I am me, and you are you.

And together, we are **Phantom**.

…That was the moment.

Randolph reached out his hand.

The body of Randolph—who should have had neither soul nor consciousness—took my hand.

At the same time—

《The second Star, ‘Randolph’s Star,’ has been successfully registered.》

《‘Randolph’s Star’ begins to shine.》

《‘The End’ answers Phantom’s call.》

*

*

 

‘Annihilation’ opened its eyes.

『Infinitely hollow and empty—that is your mission.』

To erase everything was the mandate bestowed upon him by Heaven.

To correct the failure of ‘Destruction.’

This world, Pangaenia, no longer held any value of existence.

A land that had dared to rebel against Heaven’s will could not be allowed to remain.

—Seal of the Twelve Zodiacs.

The moment ‘Annihilation’ opened its eyes, it clasped together its twelve arms.

Twelve is completion.

It signifies the order of the cosmos.

Grrrrk!

In an instant, Phantom’s entire body was constricted as though being crushed.

The target of the Twelve Zodiac Seal was Phantom.

He could not move an inch.

Rejecting the number of completion was impossible—even for him.

In this state, he would not be able to wield that strange “swordsmanship” either.

All that remained was to await death.

…But it didn’t end there.

Rumble!

Rrrrrumble!

Twelve towers rose up around Annihilation.

All of them were **Towers of Destruction**.

Originally, Towers of Destruction were essential to creating a Land of Destruction.

To strip a god of dominion by imposing trials upon the land’s ruler, Towers of Destruction were required.

But the reason he summoned twelve of them now was different.

Wooooooong!

Terrifying mana gathered atop all the towers.

The gathered mana formed twelve circles.

—Circulation.

Shhk—

Shshshshshshshshk!

Gigantic mana cannons began firing in twelve directions.

Boom!

Kuaaaang!

Yet they still could not leave the bounds of the **Labyrinth City**.

Instead—

Whoooong!

The **First Fire** shook, its flame shrinking.

The moment that fire went out, Phantom would die, and nothing in this world would remain to stop Annihilation.

Crack—

Crackle!

Invisible walls began to fracture.

The twelve towers continued firing mana cannons, and one beam stretched beyond the Labyrinth City.

That single beam struck a distant continent.

《The western ‘Yanti Mountain’ has been destroyed.》

《The Tower guarding ‘Yanti Mountain’ and the ‘God of Yanti’ have been annihilated.》

With just one shot, an enormous mountain range ruled by the tyrant Grizzly vanished.

The tower there, and even the god who guarded it—

All erased.

Yet this was only the beginning.

His mission was simply to erase.

No process was required.

It could not be stopped.

Once Annihilation appeared, the destruction of this world was inevitable.

Phantom?

He didn’t care.

Bound by the Twelve Zodiac Seal, not even a heavenly god could move.

Above all, once that ‘fire’ went out, Phantom would vanish anyway.

But then—

Fwoosh!

The dying flame suddenly flared brightly once more.

And—

Tuk—

Two of Annihilation’s hands came undone.

One pair among the six clasped pairs.

Phantom had released two of the Zodiac Seals.

Annihilation felt it.

…Something had awakened.

Just like himself, something within Phantom had opened its eyes.

Without a doubt, it carried a similar aura of destruction.

Yet it was strange.

The awakened destruction possessed a will different from his own.

It was not connected to the Door of Truth, nor to Heaven.

—Have you too forgotten your mission, Destruction?

Annihilation asked.

Long ago, the ‘Destruction’ that sought to end Pangaenia had forgotten its mission and fled.

But the destruction before him was even worse.

—Have you chosen to be swayed by something as trivial as a human?

Two arms sprouted from behind the human’s back.

Those arms pushed aside two of the Zodiac Seals.

Destruction had responded to a mere human’s call and lent him its power.

How utterly pitiful.

—Give it up. ‘Destruction’ can never surpass Twelve.

Still, the opponent was unfortunate.

Annihilation was an existence that emerged to return everything but Heaven itself to emptiness.

A destruction specialized for that purpose.

Naturally, it was more ‘complete’ than any other destruction.

In returning all things to void, no destruction could surpass him.

Tuk—

Two more hands burst forth from Phantom’s back.

Four Zodiac Seals were released.

The power of their arms was equal.

A one-to-one exchange.

Which meant that this destruction had been born through at least four different keys.

Tuk!

Six.

Up to this point, it was expected.

No matter how much it had forgotten its mission, it should at least manage the number six.

The real trial began from here.

Even if it somehow broke the Sixth Seal—

Tuduk!!

…The Eighth Seal shattered.

Eight arms now jutted from Phantom’s back.

For a destruction that had lost its mission, that was a considerable number.

—Circulation.

All the Towers of Destruction turned at once.

Then—

Kwakwakwakwa-BOOM!

Kuaaaaaaang!

They mercilessly bombarded Phantom.

A mana cannon capable of erasing an entire mountain range in a single shot.

An absolute destructive force that could erase even gods upon contact.

It was to deny him even the time to extend his arms.

If time passed like this, victory would inevitably be his.

Tuk!

…Amidst it all, he heard it clearly.

The sound of the Tenth Seal breaking.

Five of the six pairs of arms had been released.

And then—

—…What are you?

Even the final pair of arms was beginning to come loose.

It made no sense.

Twelve should be the number of completion.

Only he should possess it.

How could this be undone?

Grrrrk!

Annihilation exerted himself to the utmost.

He could not allow the final seal to break.

For the Twelve Zodiac Seal to be undone meant that the opponent was an even more complete form of destruction.

But despite Annihilation’s efforts—

Tuaak!

…At last, the Twelve Zodiac Seal shattered.

The impossible had occurred.

He could not comprehend it.

Destruction had evolved through generations.

From Ruin, to Extinction, to Destruction—finally reaching Annihilation.

Naturally, no destruction of an earlier generation should ever reach the number twelve.

And yet it had.

Could it be that Truth was wrong?

Truth, which could never be wrong?

If not—

Could it be that this being was also a destruction completed at twelve, just like himself?

If they were destructions born at the same time, it might be possible.

Twelve arms bloomed behind Phantom’s back.

But that wasn’t the end.

Whoooong!

…One more arm sprouted from behind Phantom.

—Thirteen…

The thirteenth.

A number that surpasses twelve.

Moreover, what emerged as the thirteenth was not quite an “arm,” but something else entirely.

Something that looked like a grotesquely twisted face, or perhaps a skull.

That was the face—the true body—of that destruction.

A number that does not exist, that cannot exist.

The thirteenth number.

Thirteen is death.

It proclaims the end of all things.

In other words, that—

That ‘destruction’—

—You are… ‘the End’…

Another name for the End.

The only thing that is both the end and the beginning of everything.

—‘Heaven’?

…Heaven.

At the same time, a question arose.

…What, exactly, is that existence that follows both the end and the beginning of all things?