I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-53

Ch-53

—

“—Are they truly… heroes who devoted themselves to the continent and humanity?”

Priest Andrew simply could not understand.

How could they so easily destroy the tombstones beneath which their comrades—those who fought and died together—rested?

They were the five hundred knights who went on the Grand Expedition into the Demon Realm, who led from the front, and who gave everything.

They were not renowned across the continent like the Eight Heroes, no one praised them, no one remembered their names—but here, in the ‘Garden of Knights,’ the citizens had spent their own charity to erect these memorial stones to honor them.

He could not comprehend why anyone would break and defile them.

“…”

I stood silently at the center of the city plaza, staring at the shattered fragments of the tombstones.

Originally, the names of the 500 knights should have been engraved there—

“James, Noah, Lucas, Jacob, Shion, Bihma, Bram…”

Their names were still vivid in my mind.

They deserved to be here.

They had risked death alongside me at the vanguard of the Demon Realm, dedicating themselves wholly.

They were honorable people—people who could throw away their own lives to protect their families, their friends, or someone else in need.

But the monument was shattered, its surface scraped off, and new names carved in their place.

**『Maxim.』
『Gracia.』
『Master.』
『Darkstar.』
『Blackflame.』
『Banhee.』
『Wilhelm.』
『Lucifer.』**

—The Eight Great Heroes
who saved the continent from the Demon Realm,
who saved humanity from the Demon King.

As if praising themselves mattered more than honoring the 500 knights.

They had filled the entire surface with their names.

I could tell, at least, how Maxim felt about those who died during the Expedition.

He was pushing aside and erasing the ones who truly fought.

He was eliminating even the fact that they had participated in the Expedition.

Just like what he did with Wilhelm.

“…The truly honorable ones all died back then.”

Only those who knew nothing of honor—
only cowards and shameless wretches—survived.

But I never intended to blame those who fled out of fear.

Fear is instinct. And that place was hell.

But to run away, pretend it never happened, and then stain the honor of those who fought with everything they had—
that, I could not tolerate.

It wasn’t enough that they destroyed their honor—
they even claimed their achievements as their own, turning truth into lies and lies into truth.
I was sick of it.

And among those eight shouting about “honor,” hilariously, there were even some who had *never taken part in the Expedition at all*.

I truly wondered:

Why are they doing this?

The world is in danger.
Pangaenia, Earth—everyone is on the brink.

Even united, we would barely be enough.
So why create division?
Why provoke my anger so deliberately?

“Push it down!”

“Over there! Put in more strength!”

“Hey—hey, it’s falling!”

*KUUUUUNG!*

A thunderous crash rang out. I turned my gaze and saw statues being toppled.

Statues modeled after the honorable knights who had led the Garden.

They were this city’s identity, its pride.

And these statues were being toppled by conscripted civilians.

“I can’t do this anymore!”

“Why do we have to do this?”

“If you want them down so badly, do it yourselves!”

The people resisted.

A soldier drew his sword.

“You want your heads chopped off and hung in the square too? This is a direct order from Hero Maxim! Even Marquis Weiser agreed!”

“He must have been threatened! There’s no way the marquis would agree to this!”

“You bastards… What heroes? What did old lady May ever do wrong?!”

“How dare you treat someone who only just began to gather the strength to live again!”

“You sons of bitches! I won’t stand for this!”

The people rose up, and the soldiers stood against them.

“Anyone who resists dies!”

“You think we’re afraid of you?!”

“Draw blades!”

Even if they were Maxim’s soldiers, Maxim was still part of the Valan Kingdom.

These soldiers were Valan soldiers, and this city too belonged to Valan.

Yet they so casually drew their swords on their own people.
Even killing them without hesitation.

I looked up at the severed heads hanging in the plaza.

*‘May.’*

The old woman who had sobbed at the monument the first time I visited this city.

The grandmother of Shion, one of the 500 knights whose names were engraved there.

I recalled carrying her collapsed body to Priest Andrew.

She had barely—*barely*—begun trying to live again, even though she could not accept her grandson’s death.

And then this happened.

The stone.
Her grandson’s name erased—
she must have protested, and they cut off her head for it.

*—Ignore it. Avoid them. If Maxim learns you are here, he will not stay quiet.*

Priest Andrew’s words echoed in my mind.

Ignore it. Avoid it.

He wasn’t wrong.

Maxim was strong.

Even if he was a deserter, he had once been the leader of the mercenary corps I personally hired.

A minimum level of 10.

And not just level 10—he had the “qualifications to transcend.”

Qualification to transcend meant maxing out every stat up to the level cap.

Only those who reached level 10 and raised every stat to 100 could transcend.

And if he had become even stronger than back then—
or worse, if he *had already transcended*,
then I had no chance of winning.

The most realistic option would be to ask the White King for help.
Blow up the entire city alongside Maxim.

“Aaagh!”

“You bastards!!”

So should I endure?

Compromise with reality?

Pretend I didn’t see any of this for now?

“I’ll do it.”

“This is why you hired me—to dirty my hands in your place, right?”

Isabella and Isaac raised their weapons.

At that moment—

**《A ‘Party’ has been formed.》**

**《‘Bond’ effect activated.》**

For the first time, I was completely in sync with the two of them.

**《‘Iron-Blooded Monarch’s Heart’ does not reject the emotion ‘rage.’》**

**《This is an event where a monarch must rightly feel rage.》**

**《‘Hidden Trait Quest: Iron-Blooded Monarch’ has begun.》**

I shook my head.

I would not endure.

As a king of knights,
as the one who led them—
I *had* to rage.

—

—

 

**Maxim Appears**

“So you’re the fraud claiming to be the Knight King’s successor?”

Maxim twirled a dagger, sneering.

He had wondered who caused such an uproar—
only to find a “fraud” claiming to be Wilhelm’s successor.

How many people had claimed that after the Knight King died?

“Interesting. A mere level 6, claiming to be the Knight King’s heir!”

Maxim burst into laughter.

The one causing all this trouble was only level 6.

Maxim could see the levels of others.

His observation skill, **Level Confirmation**, which he transcended twice, allowed him to see the exact “level” of all beings in Pangaenia.

It revealed nothing else—but that was enough.

Except for those with the “Unobservable” trait, he could identify everyone.

This ability was why Maxim survived this long.

He only fought enemies he could win against.

A level 6?
He could kill one with a flick of a finger.

*‘He’s not alone. But his allies must be around the same level.’*

There was no way this fake successor reached this place alone.

There were still people slaughtering the soldiers of the lord’s castle—
likely his party.

“Marquis Weiser, did you bring this fake here to kill me?”

“—!”

“Hmm… I suppose I’ll have to kill him, and punish you too—”

“Deserter Maxim.”

“…?”

Deserter?

Maxim’s brow furrowed.

“You talking to me?”

“The moment you saw ‘Ahram,’ you ran without even looking back. And you dare call yourself one of the Eight Heroes?”

“…”

“You abandoned even the 300 mercenaries who pledged to live and die with you—how could you ever become a hero?”

“—!”

The smile vanished from Maxim’s lips.

Almost no one knew he ran.

Except for the remaining Seven Heroes—all dead or killed by him.

Yet the “self-proclaimed successor” in front of him was spouting secrets no one could know.

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“Come to think of it—you still owe me money.”

“Money?”

“12 million gold. The fee I paid to hire scum like you.”

“—!!!”

The payment apart from hiring the mercenary corps—
a detail known only to two people:

Himself.
And Knight King Wilhelm.

Maxim’s mind snapped alert.

This man knew everything no one should know.

“You… don’t tell me…”

Impossible.

Ridiculous.

But if, by a one-in-ten-million chance…

If the man before him wasn’t a fake…

If he was Wilhelm’s true disciple,
an insider—
or…

“Phantom…”

The Player, Phantom.

If not, none of this made sense.

But he was too low-leveled to be Phantom.
Phantom, like Maxim, never fought losing battles.

Still—he was definitely someone extremely close to Phantom.

*‘Push him to the brink of death, and he’ll spill everything.’*

If he could identify Phantom, lure him out, capture him—

He could grow stronger faster than anyone.

Become the sole hero—surpassing the Eight Heroes.

*FOOOOSH!*

Black flames surged across Maxim’s entire body.

**Demon Heart.**

The star-like power that made him even stronger.

*‘I’ll finish this quickly.’*

A mere level 6.

He could tear him apart with one finger.

The boy wouldn’t even see him move.

Maxim kicked off the ground.
Accelerating, he closed the distance instantly and swung the dagger at the boy’s shoulder blade.

He’d sever the muscles and tendons, and later pour boiling water and salt into the wound—
even forgotten memories would come spilling out under such torture.

*CHAAAAAANG!*

…But it was blocked.

The boy saw his movement—
and blocked the strike perfectly.

Maxim was baffled.

*‘What was that?’*

That movement was not of a level 6.

His hand and wrist throbbed painfully.

That crude iron sword should never have inflicted this much pain.

“Holy water…”

Only then did Maxim realize:
both swords were coated thickly with holy water.

The highest grade.

Just clashing blades with it caused this much damage.

“So that’s what you were relying on.”

Maxim smirked.

Sure, he must have come prepared with this “advantage.”

But he still couldn’t win.
He just had to avoid being touched by it.

And that tiny amount?
It wouldn’t last long.

At best, a thin layer on the blade.

*‘Acceleration of Malice.’*

Maxim’s heartbeat roared.

His eyes darkened, the world slowed.

A world accelerated solely for him.

The absolute authority he gained from absorbing the Demon Heart.

He moved around the boy, leaving afterimages.

It was mockery.

The boy would fall without even knowing where he’d been stabbed.

Repeat it a few times and he’d be crushed by helplessness.

With a confident grin, Maxim thrust his dagger.

*Ssshhh—!*
*PUK!*

“Ghh—?!”

But the scream that erupted…

was his own.

The boy had struck his true body among the countless afterimages.

He didn’t understand how—
but normally, Demon Heart regeneration would heal a wound this minor.

Yet Maxim couldn’t regain his focus.

*‘W–what… how much holy water is this?!’*

The flesh around the stab wound was rapidly necrotizing.

A high-level body was as strong as steel.
With Demon Heart enhancement, nothing could cut it.

But it had been cut.
Cut—
and rotting.
And couldn’t regenerate.

Unbelievable.

Impossible.

How could a mere level 6 see through the movements of someone beyond level 10?
And even deal damage?

This wasn’t “a bit of holy water.”

The entire blade was *drenched*.

—