Copy Skills with Affinity! - Chapter 46

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈

Chapter 46: Subjugation (2)

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The paving tore away beneath Noel's feet as she took an absurdly sharp turn.

To change direction, she drove a hand into the ground and used it as a pivot. It made it painfully clear just how fast Noel was moving.

And then.

They reached the suburbs at the edge of the Imperial Capital, a ghost town filled with nothing but abandoned buildings.

This was where Aiden had led Noel. Just as he had requested, it was wide open and completely deserted.

“Is this the place?!”

Noel's voice was urgent as she looked at the Lord Protector charging toward them like a tank.

Of course it was. If they stopped even briefly, the other side would be on top of them.

The Lord Protector was not even out of breath as she ran toward them. Compared to Noel, who was at least sweating, she looked impossibly energetic.

In other words, even after an exchange that had drained Noel's stamina, she was still in that condition.

Her strength was clearly abnormal.

And ordinary means would never be enough to restrain someone like that.

Aiden glanced around.

“What on earth did you prepare here...?”

“That.”

Noel's expression twisted when she saw where Aiden was pointing.

“... Princess?”

The moment she said it, a massive pillar of flame surged up as though it would tear the sky apart, dyeing the area in fire.

Katia had unleashed the attack without so much as a preparatory movement. The sight alone was chilling, but something even worse followed.

The Lord Protector charged straight through Divine Power, which held an elemental advantage over spirits, simply taking the attack head-on.

Watching the Lord Protector charge while taking the attack head-on drew an involuntary groan from Aiden.

“... Ugh.”

“It didn't work...”

“Of course it didn't.”

Still, there was one fortunate thing.

That attack had only been groundwork for what came next.

Before Noel could even finish saying it was useless.

Boom!

More than a dozen pillars slammed into the ground around the Lord Protector in rapid succession.

They were what Katia had prepared here in advance.

Noel's eyes widened as she recognized them.

“... Suppression Pillars? When did you prepare those?”

“I decided I had to use them the moment I saw them.”

They were among the items Aiden had taken after subduing the group that had been supplying goods to the Imperial Capital under orders from the Prince and the Minister of Administration.

He had begun planning this after checking the inventory, ever since Noel had testified that he had gotten everything there was to get.

“You really do make the most of everything you have.”

“...”

It was a strange sort of compliment to receive in a situation like this, but still.

Noel had broken through those Suppression Pillars easily before, but this time they had used several times as many.

Then.

Boom!

A pressure wave on an entirely different level from the one used to restrain Katia before began to crush the Lord Protector.

The constructs made from spiritwood resonated with one another, forming a flawless barrier.

Its sole purpose was to keep the target in place, not attack her. Yet the air split apart and pressure poured in every direction.

The entire group could only stare in disbelief.

“... No one, not even the Empire's founder, could endure being trapped in something like that.”

Aiden silently agreed with Noel's pained observation.

But.

‘... It's still ridiculous that she can move.’

Aiden let out a hollow laugh as he watched.

Even trapped inside that, the Lord Protector still had enough monstrous strength to move her limbs.

Even so.

‘This is still going according to plan.’

Her movements were visibly slowing. No matter how strong she was, maintaining her condition inside that barrier had to be nearly impossible.

Slower.

And slower.

Until, finally, she dropped to one knee as though even moving had become difficult.

That meant it was Aiden's turn.

He took a deep breath and drew his sword.

The attack Meyer had taught him did not have a particularly long range. He would have to get close.

He approached the slowed Lord Protector and readied his sword.

All he had to do was use the technique he had prepared.

Then he would win.

And at that moment.

Aiden met the Lord Protector's eyes.

Suddenly.

A chill swept over his entire body.

His instincts screamed that something had gone wrong.

Those eyes said she had been waiting for this. As though she had deliberately exposed a weakness to lure a fleeing enemy close.

‘She exposed an opening on purpose...’

Before Aiden could fully process that realization, the Lord Protector's arm moved.

Not with the sluggishness of someone being restrained.

With the same terrifying speed she had shown until now.

“Dodge!”

Someone slammed into his side.

It was Katia. Since she had been watching the situation most objectively from the side, she had understood what was happening first.

That was probably the only reason he did not die instantly.

The sword came at Aiden's side like a flash before he could even defend himself properly.

It cleaved through both the Divine Power barrier in its path and Katia, then cut halfway through Aiden's side.

The feeling of his skin and muscle splitting, nearly reaching the bone, gnawed at his nerves.

As Aiden gasped soundlessly through pain so intense he could barely breathe, the Lord Protector had already moved into her next motion.

[People of the Empire, do not fear-]

The same cold voice fell from beneath the battered armor.

Ki gathered along with the Lord Protector's words.

Savage killing intent, concentrated at a single point like a bomb on the verge of exploding, gathered at the tip of her sword.

[-For I have come.]

The next moment.

Aiden's vision went black.

▣

His consciousness buzzed.

His vision was blurred. Every nerve in his body tingled.

‘... This really isn't fair.’

Aiden coughed up a lump of blood and found himself thinking that.

He had copied and used all kinds of terrifying skills from all kinds of people, so he had not truly felt it until now.

At heart, he was an ordinary man who had somehow wandered into the world of superhumans.

If he allowed even one unexpected strike at close range like this, he would immediately end up near death.

No.

If Katia had not covered him with her whole body, that would have been his grave.

-System Message

▶ A critical injury has been detected.

▶ ‘Skill: Sacred Body’ activates.

▶ Wound recovery and regenerative ability accelerate.

Fortunately, he had somehow acquired a skill that could help in moments like this.

He did not have Katia's innate Divine Power, so it was far weaker than the original. Still, he could feel injuries severe enough that it would not have been surprising if he had died of shock slowly beginning to heal.

“... It hurts. Damn it...”

He barely managed to hold himself up, leaning his entire body against a nearby structure he could not identify.

Then Aiden saw that he was no longer in the alley from before, but on an entirely different main street.

He could not even guess how far that strike had sent him flying.

At least, the scenery around him was clearly different. He must have traveled no ordinary distance.

Thud!

And despite having been thrown so far, something landed nearby.

The Lord Protector.

She raised her sword toward him and approached one step at a time.

‘Danger...’

His mind understood that, but his body would not move. Even with Sacred Body healing him, he was far too slow to respond.

The Lord Protector's sword rose as she came within arm's reach.

It was enough to make him see an illusion of the Grim Reaper raising its scythe.

But then.

The sword stopped dead.

“...?”

Even with his body crushed, Aiden looked up at his opponent in confusion.

It was strange for him to say it himself, but was this not the perfect chance for her?

There was no reason not to kill him. Why was she hesitating?

As he wondered that.

Someone rammed into the Lord Protector.

Even through his blurry vision, he could clearly see the knight wrapped in Pure White Ki.

With a thunderous shout, Noel waved toward Katia, who had followed after her.

Her attitude was firm, but even Aiden could see the trembling in the hand gripping her sword.

She was clearly shaken by the fact that she was pointing a blade at someone who had been both her teacher and like a parent to her.

But then.

Resolve filled her eyes, as though she were reminding herself that the other person was only a puppet.

“Stand back!”

With those words, Noel charged at the Lord Protector.

The Lord Protector, who had stopped her sword just before striking Aiden down, seemed to recognize Noel. Her red lantern-like eyes turned toward her.

A boiling battle cry erupted from beneath her visor.

Soon, an exchange powerful enough to overturn the entire surrounding area erupted between the two knights.

Meanwhile, Katia reached Aiden and supported him with a strained groan.

“Get up, quickly! Let's run!”

“... Run?”

“Lionheart can handle herself. Someone like her won't lose!”

“...”

Theoretically, that was true.

Even if the Lord Protector was a knight on Noel's level, she could not surpass Noel.

But if the Lord Protector had not been strengthened by the quest's influence.

“Ghk!”

Noel focused on defending.

Lionheart was being pushed back.

She kept deflecting the attacks, but wounds were steadily accumulating across her body.

If she kept fighting like that, she would lose.

It did not take long to reach that conclusion.

“... What's wrong? I said we need to run...”

Katia hurriedly urged him from outside his field of vision.

But Aiden stood rooted to the spot, scanning the area again and again through blurred eyes.

‘A way...’

The plan he had prepared had gone wrong.

Find another way. Improvise.

He needed to find a way to win, or Noel would die.

He watched the Lord Protector.

Then he looked at what he had been leaning against earlier.

He examined the object the Lord Protector had seen and stopped attacking.

A statue.

One with the Empire's flag draped over it.

It was the Harvest Festival, so Imperial flags were hung from decorations everywhere. This was probably one of them.

And when he recognized exactly what it was.

Something clicked in his mind.

“...”

Realization came to him. He understood what he had overlooked.

‘Ah.’

Aiden let out a long breath.

What an idiot.

He could not help making that harsh judgment of himself.

‘... If I was going to restrain her, I never needed Suppression Pillars in the first place.’

Once he considered what that person was fighting for.

The conclusion was obvious.

“Katia.”

He took a deep breath and barely forced out the words.

“Please help me.”

▣

Noel's breathing was ragged.

Not because she was tired. Noel's body had been trained never to betray her will, no matter the situation.

Even so.

Clang!

She could not even remember the last time she had faced an opponent this strong.

Once again, sparks flew where their swords collided, and both figures retreated.

Noel gripped her trembling wrist tightly with her other hand.

Cold sweat ran down her skin.

A feeling she had not experienced in battle for a long time pressed down on her entire body.

Anxiety.

Fear.

‘... Why?’

There was fear of defeat and death.

But something else was mixed into it as well.

Noel could not accept that she was fighting Teresa with her life on the line.

‘Still!’

She forcibly pushed those feelings away and gripped her sword again.

The Lord Protector adjusted her breathing, her eyes shining viciously as she pointed her sword at Noel again.

So Noel responded in kind. She controlled her breathing technique and aligned the flow of her Ki.

The tension rose to its breaking point. Cold energy spilled from the tips of their swords.

Then, a single flash.

The sword lights of the two knights scattered in every direction.

“...?”

Noel's eyes widened.

She could not immediately understand the sight before her.

Then shock filled her wide eyes.

“Aiden!”

She thought she had started getting used to all the absurd things this man did.

But she had never expected him to throw himself into the exact center of two incoming slashes.

With a body battered that badly, ignoring her order to run as stubbornly as ever.

Noel gritted her teeth and focused every nerve on the wrist holding her sword.

As a superhuman near the peak, she managed to alter the path of a slash already launched in less than a fraction of a second.

Her redirected slash missed Aiden and tore huge sections from several nearby buildings. Noel immediately rushed toward Aiden without even having time to think.

There was no guarantee that her opponent would show the same restraint. If she left him there, he would definitely get hurt!

“Aiden, you need to get out of there...!”

But Aiden did not move. He wrapped something around his body.

It was a flag bearing the lion, symbol of the Empire.

Even as he watched the Lord Protector's slash rush toward him.

“I'm sorry, Lord Protector.”

He offered that inexplicable apology, wrapped only in the flag as he looked at the Lord Protector.

‘Why? What is he doing?’

Noel's thoughts went blank.

She did not know what he was trying to do, but despair immediately welled up inside her. It was already too late.

A horrible scene flashed through her mind.

Aiden being cut in two.