I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-87

Ch-87

—

“Of course…! The moment I saw the name, I was certain. It had to be you.”

The Death King nodded.

At that moment—

“The master of the Labyrinth City is the Fifth Pillar?”

“Heh. How long has he even been a Fifth Pillar, and already he…?”

“This should quiet the noise.”

“Those trying to seize the Pillar’s seat won’t even dare utter a peep now.”

“He’s not stronger than the White King, is he?”

I felt like a spectacle on display.

This was the entrance to Cramdel—
a place where countless monsters passed through.

The Death King already drew attention wherever he went, and thanks to everything he was saying, misunderstandings about me kept swelling.

“Is *that* what you were curious about, *caw*?”

The Death King shook his head.

“Not exactly… More importantly, I sense a far more ominous aura from you than before. This aura—is it perhaps… the Sinfiend ‘Baal’?”

The Baal Helm’s effects remained permanently applied unless replaced with another helmet.

Still… I didn’t expect him to notice.

Since we’d come this far, there was no need to hide it.

“That’s right, *caw*.”

“You truly possess the power of the Calamity Baal?” the Death King said, sounding genuinely shocked. “Then the increase in your crows must have been due to Baal’s authority.”

Caw! Caw!

Countless corpse crows circled above.

But they were no ordinary corpse crows.

They had been strengthened by the Baal Helm—and had even undergone Ultimate Enhancement.

As a result, the high-grade corpse crows started mimicking the skills I used.

When I used *High-Grade Corpse Crow Summoning (Lv. 2)*, the eleven high-grade corpse crows I summoned each used *Corpse Crow Summoning (Lv. 10)*.

Because of that, one hundred and ten corpse crows now filled the sky.

All without any additional expenditure of Star power.

This must be the power of Ultimate Enhancement.

“Sinfiend Baal?”

“That legendary Calamity?”

“Heooooh!”

The uproar around us intensified.

Even to monsters, the Calamities were legendary beings.

Just like the Sword Saint of the Old Empire, the Calamities were myth and legend to them.

At any rate—

I understood now.

Why the Death King had come out to meet me.

“Death King, *caw*. I do not have the corpse of Sword Saint Riley with me right now, *caw*.”

He’d mentioned Riley right from the start. He had been waiting here because he wanted to ask whether I possessed Riley’s corpse.

He couldn’t bring himself to ask directly, so he circled around it.

As expected—

The Death King’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly.

“Mm, is that so.”

“I simply don’t have it *now*, *caw*. If we search the labyrinth, we may find it, *caw*.”

The labyrinth still held many secrets.

Just like the Ruined City, where relics continued to emerge, I too needed time to continue exploring the labyrinth.

The Death King spoke with a hint of hope.

“Then that means…?”

“We’ll talk on the way, *caw*.”

“A fine idea! It was an emergency summons—no time should be wasted.”

He was delighted.

He must have been extremely interested in Riley’s corpse.

Was he planning to challenge the labyrinth for that reason?

Better this way.

I could use Riley’s corpse as leverage to receive help from the Death King.

And if we happened to find it along the way, I had every intention of handing it over without hesitation.

There was no harm in owing the Death King a favor.

“But do you know why an emergency summon was issued, *caw*?”

I asked as we walked.

Might as well know in advance.

The Death King stroked his chin.

“I do not know the details. Only that there are two agenda items. One is likely about your city.”

“I didn’t think the White King had any interest in the labyrinth, *caw*.”

“It won’t be for the reason you’re thinking. Rather…”

“…?”

“No, never mind. It doesn’t concern you.”

“That only makes me more curious, *caw*.”

“Mm… Since you’re a Fifth Pillar now, you may need to know.”

After a moment’s hesitation, the Death King continued.

“A few years ago—embarrassing as it is—we tasted defeat at the hands of a single human. The White King even lost his fang then.”

Suddenly, Wilhelm’s story began.

The only one who had defeated the Four Pillars and stolen the White King’s fang— was Wilhelm.

Seeing my interest, the Death King shrugged.

“Third Pillar Gunggi claimed the fang might be inside the Labyrinth. We all dismissed it as nonsense, but perhaps it’s related.”

“I see, *caw*.”

“Aren’t you curious? About the human who defeated all of us?”

“Not particularly, *caw*.”

“…As expected, you’re no ordinary one.”

There was no reason for me to be curious about *my own* story.

The Death King seemed freshly astonished.

Still, the fact that the White King was still searching for his fang was surprising.

‘The Fang of the White King is still in the Golden Scale Shop.’

A thousand Hour Shards could purchase it.

Whether such a cost would be worth extracting something from the White King… unclear.
But if he was truly desperate for it, there was no harm in keeping it in mind.

While chatting, we arrived at the White King’s Hall.

*

*

 

Stifling air.

All the Pillars again stood in their positions—

The Great Earth Dragon, the Death King, Gunggi, Medusa.

Monsters known as absolute pinnacles.

‘Still as murderous as ever.’

Nervous, but not intimidated.

Just as the Death King had noticed, they too clearly understood that I had become master of the labyrinth.

Their eyes toward me had changed.

From *What is this thing?*
to
*This one is definitely something.*

“You are all here.”

The White King appeared—still wearing his White Tiger mask.

“You must be curious why I urgently summoned all Pillars. I shall speak without delay.”

The White King met the eyes of each Pillar in turn.

Finally, his gaze reached me.

With an inscrutable expression, he spoke.

“The first reason concerns the Abyssal Labyrinth. Fifth Pillar, Randolph. Are you truly its master?”

Under everyone’s gaze, I nodded.

“That’s right, *caw*.”

“To seize the labyrinth before the Death King—impressive.”

“What business do you have with the labyrinth, *caw*?”

“Good. I intend to officially proclaim the Fifth Pillar’s labyrinth-city under my name. I will connect it to Cramdel via warp and declare it formally.”

“…!”

“…!”

“You wish to *officially* proclaim it, White King? But aside from Cramdel you have never done so before.”

The Great Earth Dragon spoke in shock.

Cramdel was the only city the White King had officially sanctioned.

That was why no one dared touch the northern route.

The White King sighed lightly at the dragon’s question.

“It leads into the second reason for summoning you. The Southern Black King’s movements have grown suspicious.”

“The Black King…?”

“Is he trying to break free of the south?”

The Black King.

If the White King ruled the north, the Black King ruled the south.

Hearing this, Gunggi and the dragon paled.

The White King nodded.

“That one is moving aggressively—expanding his influence boldly. I have a bad feeling.”

The White King’s ‘bad feelings’ had a 100% success rate.

If his intuition was dark, something dark *was already happening*.

“If he were to target me, he would attack the Fifth Pillar first. And since this is former Empire land, the Arhon Empire would also covet the labyrinth. By officially proclaiming it under my name, neither the Black King nor the Empire would dare lay hands on you or the labyrinth easily.”

…All I wanted was to connect the warp.

I never expected an official proclamation from the White King.

If this worked, the labyrinth would truly become a safe zone.

Fools and lunatics would always exist, so invasions wouldn’t disappear entirely—but no major powers would openly step forward.

Absolute deterrence.

Nothing could be more reassuring.

The White King’s protection felt almost like the warmth of a mother’s embrace.

“The final reason for summoning you is to select someone who will uncover the Black King’s intentions.”

So there weren’t two agenda items after all.

In short: infiltrate the south.

A spy who would secretly learn the Black King’s plan from within his domain.

A mission as dangerous as they came.

“Who volunteers?”

The White King scanned the Pillars.

Of course, no one volunteered.

The Black King was nothing like the White King.

He was no gentle ruler.

He was a madman who slaughtered anything that displeased him.

The White King’s gaze finally settled on me.

…And then it didn’t move.

‘Wait.’

This unspoken pressure—
Was he telling *me* to go?

As if to say:

*I will protect you, and in return for my proclamation, you will go south.*

No—
perhaps he wanted me and the Black King to clash.

Everything he had said until now might have been nothing but bait for this final moment.

‘…So he wants to test me?’

To hell with that “motherly embrace.”

Thus, I did not avert my eyes.

I had no intention of dancing to the White King’s obvious scheme.

Caaawk! Caaaaw!

The corpse crows above cried more aggressively.

Slowly, I raised my hand.

Every Pillar understood what that gesture implied.

“Hmm.”

“What is the meaning of this, Fifth Pillar!”

Murmurs erupted.
The Great Earth Dragon even shouted.

Naturally.

This gesture meant:

*If you try anything, I will shatter your mystique.*

Not only that—

“White King. If you don’t want to die, don’t try anything stupid, *caw*.”

A bluff.

A technique where, with an inferior hand, one bets boldly through deception.

A type of threat.

Exactly my situation now.

If even *one* of the Four Pillars attacked me, my life would be gone.

A baseless bluff would lead only to disgrace.

But what if the bluff had foundation?

‘The situation is very different from when I achieved the Crown of Mystery.’

Everything I heard at the entrance echoed clearly.

Rumors about me—spoken with my own ears.

There was no way the Pillars or the White King were unaware of those rumors.

Besides—

‘The Death King set the stage perfectly.’

He had sprinkled all the seasoning:
the Abyssal Labyrinth and Sword Saint Riley.

Even the White King had said “impressive” about it.

He must have praised me endlessly behind the scenes.

Back when I surpassed myth at the Crown of Mystery, and when I sealed the Dead King Ahram, no one could truly estimate my actual combat power.

But this time—

They *could* make an educated guess.

They must have been very surprised.

*Conquering the labyrinth before the Death King—
killing Sword Saint Riley!*

‘Sword Saint Riley was comparable to the Calamities.’

To them, the Calamities were legends and myths.

Riley had seriously wounded one of those Calamities.

Which meant my minimum combat ability was enough to threaten a Calamity.

At least, that was likely what they believed.

And that wasn’t the only basis—

‘If the Death King noticed, the White King definitely noticed.’

The Baal Helm.

A relic containing the authority of Baal, one of the Calamities.

By now, the White King must have realized I possessed it.

‘The White King does not want internal strife. The bastard’s a coward.’

My final piece of evidence.

That wretched cowardice of his that I had grown sick and tired of while playing Wilhelm!

Whenever the White King senses a strong, ominous premonition, he hides first.

Even when all four main forces were defeated and taken hostage, the guy still refused to show himself.

In the end, things were only resolved through the dramatic “deal” called the Fangs.

And since he had already mentioned that he had a bad feeling about this situation as well, the White King would absolutely not want internal conflict.

More than anything, he was extremely wary of me destroying his mysteries.

If he tried to kill me, he would lose at least one of them.

“…‘If you don’t want to die, don’t try anything funny’? Did you truly say that to me?”

The White King opened his mouth.

At that moment, everything froze.

Threatening him that he would die if he pulled any tricks?

To say something like that here, in the White King’s own battle hall.

He could never simply let that pass.

Nor should he.

This statement had clearly crossed a line.

And this reaction from the White King was something I had already anticipated.

No matter how much of a coward he was, if he backed down immediately in front of all the main forces that followed him, he would no longer be worthy of the title “King.”

‘Ugh…!’

I had expected it, but my mouth still felt dry.

If not for the Heart of Eternal Monarch, I would probably be drenched in cold sweat right now, my heart pounding to the point of bursting.

I might have already fainted.

Because in the end, this was nothing more than a prediction.

No one but the White King himself could be 100% certain of how he would actually respond.

“I told you clearly, caw. The main forces and the White King hold *equal standing*, caw. I am not beneath you. Thus, this so-called ‘emergency summons’ feels extremely unpleasant to me, caw.”

But once you start a bluff, you cannot simply stop.

A launched rocket only halts when it is shot down.

I made it clear that the White King and the main forces had no special hierarchical relationship.

But that was only in words—there *was* a real hierarchy.

The White King had summoned all main forces through an “emergency call.”

The authority to issue that call belonged solely to the White King.

The point was: this entire thing felt extremely uncomfortable to me.