I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-422

**Chapter 422. It’s a Hassle, So Come at Me All at Once**

—

This wasn’t a threat.

I meant it.

If they refused to grant the mantle of a Dragon God to either of them, I intended to burn this place—the *Dragon God Council*—to the ground.

No matter how extraordinary they might be,

…they still wouldn’t be able to withstand **Destruction**.

A group said to stand against the heavens, a place that housed Dragon Gods who claimed to protect the world.

No matter how they tried to dress themselves up, they had failed to stop the heavens—failed to stop Destruction.

So then.

Neither would I.

Even if it meant turning every world into my enemy.

I no longer wanted to lose what was *mine*.

—Your arrogance pierces the sky.

—Do you think the Dragon God Council is so easily dealt with?

—You may have killed ‘Destruction,’ but that’s all it amounts to.

—Kneel.

In an instant, a powerful pressure of absolute command words tightened in from all directions.

“…Kgh!”

Basara, standing behind me, couldn’t endure the pressure and collapsed to the ground.

At the word *kneel*, her body reacted automatically.

It resembled dragon speech, yet was on an entirely different level—a binding of absolute authority.

Even my own knees itched to give way.

*They’re certainly on a different level from ordinary dragons.*

But that was all.

Their presence surpassed any dragon or dragon god I’d encountered, yet they couldn’t force my knees to bend at will.

Not now—when I could wield Wilhelm’s power and the force of the End.

In fact—

Step.

I took a step forward.

With a relaxed, almost mocking smile.

“It’s a hassle, so come at me all at once.”

I wouldn’t dodge.

Just attack together.

Facing them one by one would be far too troublesome.

…In the past, this would have been reckless bravado.

Perhaps just an act to seize the initiative.

But I had no need for that now.

And there was no need to explain my resolve any further.

They were Dragon Gods who wielded command words.

They would grasp the intent behind my words instantly.

—An existence unaffected by ‘Primordial Command Words’…

—…So Destruction is still Destruction, is that it?

A hint of confusion.

Proof that they hadn’t fully grasped me yet.

But one thing was clear.

They feared **Destruction**.

Especially me—who wielded the End without being a heavenly weapon.

Then—

“Please forgive this discourtesy, O Absolutes.”

Amid the tense atmosphere, a colossal golden dragon appeared.

Shrouded in resplendent Golden Scale, fully restored, it stepped in front of me.

Seeing him, the Absolutes spoke.

—…Einhassar.

—With what face do you dare return to the Dragon God Council?

—You have yet to be punished for violating the rules by using ‘Dragon Speech.’

Dragon God Einhassar had used his authority across all of Pangaenia to awaken Phantom’s avatars.

An act that influenced the world itself—

A clear violation, far removed from the conduct expected of a guardian.

Einhassar bowed his head slightly.

“I will accept any punishment for violating the rules. But please—grant proper qualifications to those two Dragon Gods.”

The ancient Dragon Gods known as Absolutes responded the moment he finished.

—A mutant cannot become a Dragon God.

—Indeed. Since the founding of the Dragon God Council, not once has a mutant ascended.

…Unyielding.

They would never allow a mutant to become a Dragon God.

Well… if they were the sort to listen, they would have done so long ago.

I shrugged lightly and said,

“Let’s see if you can still refuse after you’re all dead.”

If they were dead, refusal wouldn’t matter.

Hearing my blunt intent to kill them enraged the Absolutes.

—You cross the line.

—Truly an arrogant wretch.

—How dare you…!

Just as the atmosphere was about to explode—

Einhassar stepped in once more.

“O Absolutes. You must not dismiss his words lightly.”

—…?

—…?

Then he said something completely unexpected.

Einhassar was still a Dragon God.

Naturally, one would expect him to side with the Council.

The Absolutes’ reactions were identical—

Stares of disbelief.

An air of *What kind of lunatic is this?*

Einhassar didn’t care.

“I personally witnessed him fight ‘Destruction.’ That sight was… like watching the battle of the Primordial Dragon God, ‘Yung.’”

—…Careful. Do not invoke Lord Yung’s name so lightly.

—You’ve never even laid eyes upon him.

Strong objections.

It seemed Yung’s name carried immense weight even among them.

*Primordial Dragon God…*

*Is he similar to the one I saw in the Primordial Dragon God’s Treasury?*

I had encountered such an existence once.

Because I found the *First Flame* there and forged the *Primordial Armor*.

“I have never met him in person,” Einhassar continued. “But I clearly saw him forcibly close the ‘Gate of Truth’ that the heavens sent to retrieve the Essence of Annihilation.”

—…!

—…What?

—…The truth sent by the heavens?

The Absolutes were visibly shaken.

I had indeed forced shut the Gate of Truth sent to reclaim the Essence of Annihilation.

Telling it to get lost while I did so.

Honestly, it hadn’t taken much effort.

I’d simply closed it by my will.

Einhassar went on,

“Like Lord Yung—or like the very few among the heavenly gods—he is one who handles ‘Truth.’ That means his soul already exceeds even the standards of the Absolutes gathered here. Therefore…”

He then looked at me.

“…If Phantom truly wished it, the Dragon God Council would be reduced to ashes.”

A shocking statement.

Delivered in a grave, unwavering tone.

It lent weight to my threat.

—……
—……

The Absolutes said nothing.

They hadn’t witnessed the events within the labyrinth themselves.

But Einhassar had no reason to lie.

“Moreover, Earth currently lacks a Dragon God. Earth’s assigned guardian, Lucaria, was killed while fighting Issera, the Second Lord of the Demon Realm. The Council cannot simply leave that vacancy unfilled, can it? And since this Blade Dragon God’s dragon vein lies on Earth, if you merely grant the qualification—”

—There are already candidates.

—We will send a far stronger Dragon God.

—One so powerful that even the Demon Lords would dare not oppose it.

—The Supreme Council has already decided as such.

—Even if he truly can forcibly close the Gate of Truth, we cannot overturn the Supreme Council’s decision.

—Earth’s Dragon God is—

—Hm?

At that moment, the Absolutes fell silent.

Then they spoke again, astonished.

—…The Supreme Council has convened again.

—‘He’ has submitted a new agenda.

—I can’t believe it. ‘He,’ who has never voiced an opinion before…

—Wasn’t he merely an observer?

The air shifted strangely.

One thing was certain—the Supreme Council’s decision had been overturned.

Yet such a thing should have been impossible.

Unable to contain himself, Einhassar asked,

“Who is ‘he’?”

At last, the Absolutes answered.

—The Primordial God of Earth.

—He personally selected those two as candidates to oversee his world.

—This has never happened before.

—Did this one truly move even the Primordial God?

—But… mutants…

The Primordial God of Earth.

Familiar.

Most likely the *eye* I had seen within my mind.

The eternal observer had begun to move.

Earth was his world—he surely had the right to choose its Dragon God candidates.

The problem was that both Basara and Hana were mutants.

They would never willingly grant Dragon God status to mutants.

But if they refused even this, then *I* would become the issue again.

A deadlock.

Step.

I moved forward once more.

A stance that didn’t shy away from war.

This was the Dragon God Council—their world.

If a battle broke out here, it was obvious they had far more to lose than I did.

After a long silence—

—…Only one may be granted the qualification of Dragon God.

—You choose.

One of the Absolutes spoke.

Between Basara and Hana.

Only one could receive the qualification.

That was their final offer.

No further concessions.

But—

*I choose?*

An unexpected dead end.

Yet I couldn’t insist on making both of them Dragon Gods unless I truly intended to start an all-out war.

I had to step back—just once.

*…Basara is the one who truly wants to become a Dragon God.*

I had seen it.

Just as she had seen me, I had seen her life.

Born a mutant, Basara had been oppressed by Dragon Gods.

She fled to the Demon Realm, but what she truly desired was to become a Dragon God.

Hana, on the other hand, had become one by chance.

She began as the Queen of the Bloodspawn Species and simply became the Blade Dragon God.

It hadn’t been her original wish.

Basara spoke calmly.

“I’m fine. Choose her.”

“……”

“I can live without the qualification of a Dragon God. But without it, the Blade Dragon God will die.”

That was true.

Hana, the Blade Dragon God, was dying.

This was her second *frenzy*.

Normally, triggering frenzy meant death.

But the first time, she survived by creating two Overlords with the hearts of Issera, the Second Demon Lord, and Lucaria, Earth’s Dragon God.

The conditions of frenzy had been nullified.

But this second frenzy was different.

*The condition can’t be nullified.*

Even though I had revived, Hana’s condition hadn’t improved.

As Basara said—without the qualification of a Dragon God, Hana would die.

—…I’m jealous.

Basara’s voice from before we arrived echoed in my mind.

She had said she was jealous of my relationship with Hana.

The Cold-Blooded Lord.

One of the Seven Demon Lords, filled with nothing but cynicism—she shouldn’t have been capable of envy.

Perhaps she had foreseen this situation.

She must have been certain the Dragon God Council would never accept her.

She had already been persecuted once.

She’d lived her entire life branded a *mutant* from birth.

*She planned to save Hana from the start.*

Only now did I realize.

Basara had never believed she herself would receive the qualification.

Yet she came with me anyway.

Showed me the way.

…Why?

What did she gain by helping me?

By awakening me—and trying to save Hana as well?

I couldn’t understand it.

She had treated even her brother Issera’s death with cold indifference.

There was no way she harbored affection for me.

No matter how many times I thought it through, there was no answer.

That blind resolve—abandoning even her own dream—made no sense.

A brief silence.

…The moment of choice could be delayed no longer.

Slowly, I opened my mouth.

“I…”