I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-62

Ch-62

—

Isabella opened her closed eyes.

The faint vision of a young child wavered before her.

Sonora.

The girl who had been one of the candidates to succeed the Queen—Isabella was the one who killed her.

“It’s true. I am the one who killed that child. The Queen was a monster who sustained her immortality with the blood of young girls, and because of the curse I could not kill the Queen myself, I instead put an end to that child’s suffering with my own hands.”

The Desert Queen was a monster wearing human skin.

She kidnapped girls who possessed blood filled with powerful magic, drained them dry, and killed them.

After Sonora, it would have been Isabella’s turn.

Even knowing her own turn would come soon, Isabella chose to end Sonora’s torment.

A truth she had never spoken to anyone before.

Isaac too opened his mouth as he looked at Randolph.

“Yes. I broke every warp in the mining city and sank the entire place into the Abyss. In that process, people who couldn’t escape in time were buried along with it. Shameless as it is, I was still glad. So what, then? Is it wrong for me to cry?”

Serengeti likewise replied without emotion.

“To be honest, when I first met Hudson, I envied his freedom. It’s true I used him as a refuge from endless training. But I believe everyone has their own beginning when it comes to love. Also, Lord Wilhelm is my teacher, my commander whom I must follow, and someone like a father whom I should emulate. What I feel toward him is completely different from what I feel for Hudson.”

They spoke the truth.

But the trial was still not over.

Even if they answered the remaining questions, the same would happen.

Yet at the same time, the three of them thought the same thing.

Isabella, Isaac, Serengeti.

All of them opened their mouths with certainty.

“…This place and these people are all fake.”

“Now that I think about it, there’s no way the Star-bearer would ask us crap like this. What gives you the right to throw questions at us, you fakes?”

“Is this enough of an answer for you now, you stupid dungeon bastard?!”

At that moment—

Crack—

The dungeon began to split.

*

*

 

The “Will” could not believe it.

It had perfectly recreated the space and the people.

Since it was constructed from memory, there was no way for them to tell the difference between real and fake.

And yet, they answered and simultaneously declared the whole place a fake with unshakable certainty.

The Room of Truth.

A room where one answers questions with truth.

But that was not the real trial.

The essence of the trial was that before the third question was even complete, all three challengers were to realize the place was fake.

“How…?!”

Humans are a species that distrusts once doubt has been planted.

There was no way they would all stand united; they should have fractured at the seams.

This blueprint—this mechanism—had never failed, not once.

“What is this? Why are they all so certain?”

Doubt should have been natural.

They had just had their deepest secrets dragged into the open!

As secrets are revealed and they search for the one who exposed them, their fingers should inevitably point to Randolph.

Doubt would become rage, and rage would rush toward ruin. A perfect picture.

That picture shattered.

In an instant.

Broken from the very first question.

Yet still, the Will could not accept it.

Such trust? Such faith?

What had been shown to them?

What had they witnessed that let them believe so firmly?

Even legendary heroes were black on the inside.

Noble humans?

None.

Only people who *believe* such things exist.

And such belief is always easily broken.

It was convinced this time would be the same.

“So you were here after all, you worthless Will of the Great Creator.”

…It had been convinced.

The Will stared with bewildered eyes at the End standing before it.

A celestial spirit—

The “Master Floor.”

Just as I expected.

The one place where the trial could be forcibly manipulated and where they could pull me out mid-challenge—the Master Floor.

The place where the dungeon’s master resides, wielding absolute authority.

When the trial collapsed, the Master Floor was naturally revealed, and in that process the Will showed itself.

—Who… are you…? I have never seen an “Irregular” like you…!

The Will of a Demigod—that great half-god—stared at me in confusion.

Its form was a black shadow.

Wearing a crown, seated at a round table, watching over the dungeon with mocking amusement.

Like someone playing a game.

But as its defeat drew near, its petty and disgraceful nature showed.

“I told you already. I am your end.”

I am your end.

It was time to end this long, twisted connection.

This absurd dungeon was better off erased.

A Trait Dungeon. From the name, it sounds like a place where one compares one’s traits and talents with one’s party to form a proper strategy.

Most challengers—including myself—thought that and challenged it accordingly.

But we were all wrong.

The Demigod Trait Dungeon could only be cleared by understanding the “Demigod’s Trait.”

Meaning this creature.

The Will’s trait—its vile nature—had to be uncovered, and all its rules overturned to reach this point.

“Damn wordplay.”

A damnable Will.

Moreover, this was no longer the trial zone.

The restrictions that oppressed me had vanished.

I drew my two Extreme Iron Swords.

At that moment—

《All Constellations of the People’s Hall begin to watch both you and the “Will.”》

The Constellations of the People’s Hall finally turned their gaze.

It wasn’t bad to be watched.

But the fact that their gazes were not only on me but also on the Will was strange.

Clang! Kaang—!

Two swift swings aimed at its neck bounced off with a dull sound.

“Physical nullification.”

Physical attacks did not work at all.

Then how to kill it?

Bzzzt! Kzzzzk!

At the same time, as if its whole body were a broken television screen, static began distorting the Will’s form.

In that state, it spoke.

—So, you must be the minion of Destruction. The “Absolute Evil” sent to annihilate me, the Great Will!

It declared me the Absolute Evil allied with Destruction.

But it was clearly different now.

Phase 2.

As expected, this thing was the final dungeon boss.

—Absolute Evil, let us play one last game. A game of rightful glory!

…Is it truly insane?

Where in this situation does anything resemble rightful glory?

That is the last thing the Will should be associated with.

Soon, the crown it wore disappeared, and three figures appeared beside the round table.

They looked exactly like Isaac, Isabella, and Serengeti.

—Your party and my party shall battle. However, they cannot move on their own. Only you and I will move them!

The static-filled Will pulled out a sheet of paper.

—You and your party shall swear! Then you shall become perfectly “One”! If you fear or tremble, feel free to flee, Absolute Evil!

What a ridiculous creature.

It proposed a game it had overwhelming advantage in—and dared call it “rightful”?

Judging by the oath, it seemed I would be able to move my party members’ bodies as if they were my own.

The problem was that pain—and all sensations—would remain intact.

If the pain grew too great, they might resist my commands.

More importantly, even if someone else’s body could move freely, it wouldn’t be easy.

“Entertaining.”

But from another angle, this was a real “game.”

Like a gamer controlling avatars within a game.

Of course, the feel would be entirely different from mouse-and-keyboard controls, but this was Pangaenia, and Isaac and Isabella were characters I myself had raised.

The Will didn’t know I used to be a “gamer.”

I didn’t know how different the control would feel, but if it allowed even finer manipulation…

—The oath is complete! Kahahahahahahaha! Show me your pathetic struggle, Absolute Evil!

The Will laughed like a madman.

*

*

 

Ssshhk.

The man wearing the crown slowly rose from his throne.

Then—

Fwoooosh!

Candles began lighting across the dark space.

One hundred candles, including his own.

“You all must have been quite curious, fallen ones.”

The Constellation of the Shining Hero.

He smiled as he looked at the other Constellations rising above the candle flames.

“The remnants of my past self and the hero who now stands hopeful—who will you bet on?”

The Constellation of the Shining Hero nudged the others toward a choice.

But they could not easily decide.

His ability to handle heroes, to shape them, to make them follow—was overwhelmingly magnificent.

How could anyone surpass the one called the “Shining Hero,” even if what stood before them was but a fragment of his past?

Whoooosh—

At that moment.

A massive wave of Golden Scale surged like a tidal wave, then gathered and landed softly on the ground as a golden bird.

Seeing that, the Constellation of the Shining Hero smiled deeper.

“Constellation of Adventure. You still enjoy hardship and adversity, I see.”

The one who makes the impossible possible.

Never surrendering, known as the indomitable Adventurer.

His choice was so natural that it drew a laugh.

Whoooosh—

Whoooosh!

One by one, following the Adventurer, the Constellations cast their votes.

Seeing the results, the Shining Hero rubbed his chin with interest.

50 to 49.

Even if those were remnants of his past, that last ability was the “real thing.”

Knowing that, for the results to be split in half…

Was it because of the miracle he had shown?

But miracles were not meant to occur twice.

“Then I shall cast my lot as well.”

Golden Scale rippled behind the Shining Hero.

*

*

“So this is the feeling.”

My vision floated in the air—I felt like an observer.

It was like watching characters through a monitor.

A sensation deeply familiar, and I moved the three of them.

“…!”

Isaac, Isabella, Serengeti.

They looked startled as their bodies moved on their own.

But they naturally entrusted their bodies to me—they could feel it was me moving them.

The sensation was exactly like gaming, except this was multiplayer.

I had never controlled three characters at once.

“Take your time and prepare. I will grant you enough to get used to it.”

The three copies on the opposite side opened their mouths simultaneously.

Replicas moved by the Will.

Their abilities and traits were copied perfectly, and the Will controlled them freely.

Acting as if offering a final mercy—disgusting, but it showed its confidence.

Absolute confidence it would never lose.

I loosened my hands, stretched my legs, and drew weapons.

Seeing that, the Will sneered.

“Already done preparing? Arrogant fool. Even after I granted you mercy…”

Even after giving this so-called mercy, this arrogant one dared raise his nose at him.

The Will shrugged.

“Scream and despair.”

This trial was one it believed it could never lose.

*

*

“What?”

The Will tilted its head.

It had begun the trial expecting to overwhelm completely.

And at first, just as expected, it held the advantage.

Each time it inflicted a wound, they groaned.

Under real pain, one’s control falters.

When control falters, consciousness overlaps—and they self-destruct.

But aside from the first three strikes, the opponent blocked every attack.

It had the experience of observing and commanding something before.

“Did his control improve while manipulating undead?”

Come to think of it, when he first entered the trial, he had become a corpse crow to control the warewolf leader.

If one can command undead, then similar control skills can be learned.

“But even so…”

Clang—!

The moment Isaac’s sword deflected an attack, he ducked low, and Isabella thrust her blade forward as if waiting for the opening. Behind her, Serengeti blocked every possible escape path.

A perfect synchronized motion.

Slash!

In the end, the Will had no choice but to sacrifice one arm of Isaac’s replica.

It quickly brought in the remaining two to protect the formation, but it still couldn’t understand.

“…What?”

When one commands while observing, movements inevitably become unnatural.

Yet their movements were not merely natural—they flowed like water.

More than that.

“They’re drawing out power beyond their limits.”

Pushing their stats and physical potential to the limit—and even beyond.

That was a power the Will itself possessed.

The Will too could push others past their limits when controlling them.

But this creature…

Was doing it to all *three* simultaneously.

How was such a thing possible?

No—more importantly—

“As if he’s done this tens of thousands… no, tens of millions of times…”

Controlling another person’s body was never easy.

Yet he was doing it like someone who had repeated it for eons.

It made no sense.

This was nothing like commanding undead.

And when they first began, the movements had been extremely clumsy.

“But the longer it goes on, the more perfectly unified they become?”

For that to happen in such a short time—absurd.

He had definitely been a beginner.

It looked like his first time ever controlling another’s body.

Let alone three at the same time?

Impossible.

—

 

 

 

 

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