WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
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◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈
Chapter 61: Vengeance
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Haaah...
Rad let out a deep sigh when they saw Aiden drag them out.
It almost looked as if they were holding back their anger.
There was plenty they needed to ask, but something else came first.
“...!”
Aiden frowned at the black demonic energy rising from Rad’s body while he still held Rad by the collar, then released them.
“How did you know I was here?”
“With the Empire’s greatest knight and the Holy Empire’s Second Princess using most of their strength to monitor the area, it’d be shameless to think you could slip out unnoticed.”
Rad’s face twisted further at the openly sarcastic voice, which contained not even a fingernail’s worth of respect.
Of course, it was not merely because Aiden had offended them.
They could feel it in the atmosphere.
Previously, Aiden had at least appeared to respect Rad’s role as Minister of Administration. Now, he had no intention of doing so whatsoever.
Of course.
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
Rad put on the usual pleasant smile they always wore.
If Aiden acted like this, there would be work for them to do as well.
It meant they no longer needed to keep wearing the Minister of Administration’s skin and playing a role. Black demonic energy poured from their body all at once.
It did not seem as though either of them would back down easily...
“I think I told you to lie low last time.”
Yet Aiden answered without caring, irritably running a hand through his hair.
“What you’ve been doing is so petty that it’s hardly worth calling you out anymore. What the hell is this? All because you wanted to damage someone else’s fiancée’s reputation?”
“... Hm.”
Rad snorted and spun their demonic energy.
At the same time, the black energy spreading through the area slowly began to sharpen itself into weapons.
“Well, I have no desire for such childish games either. Our Prince keeps spouting nonsense about wanting everything to end peacefully and not wanting to use extreme measures.”
The words continued with a bitter, mocking laugh.
“Though thanks to you, I think I can stop holding back.”
“...”
“You called me a Puppeteer just now, didn’t you?”
Aiden had certainly named them precisely.
“I did.”
“How much do you know?”
Aiden had once implied that he knew Rad’s true identity, but this was different.
This exact identification was something even Rad had not expected.
“How do you know that name, and how did you find out that it was me? There are quite a few things I’d like to ask you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Respecting the wishes of our contractors as much as possible is... one of my race’s rules.”
The smile Rad always wore slowly vanished.
What showed clearly in their gaze upon Aiden was calm yet piercing hostility.
“At the very least, I must hear those answers before I leave. Otherwise, I won’t be able to put this unease aside.”
After hearing this much, Aiden was no longer merely a threatening variable.
They had to find out just what this man knew and where he had obtained that information. They needed to pry every last detail from him.
“What would demons know about unease?”
“...”
“You’re mental parasites. You wouldn’t even understand sensation.”
Aiden sneered again at Rad’s stiffening expression.
“The god you served was sealed away, and now you can’t even keep your bodies properly intact in the material realm. Who are you to imitate humans? Know your place.”
Rad gave a hollow laugh.
“... I did not think there would still be a human in this era who knew of us.”
The word most often attached to the demon race was forgotten.
The forgotten demons. Centuries had passed since Wornil, the God of Devouring, had been sealed by the Pantheon and become an Outer God. Everyone had forgotten their existence.
And yet.
Who was this man, casually reciting facts about them?
Their shame. The way they existed.
Perhaps he even knew their purpose.
“...”
Once that thought reached them, alarm bells rang in their mind.
Beyond simply knowing Rad’s identity, certainty grew that this human would become the greatest obstacle to their race’s long-cherished goal.
In other words.
‘This man...’
Had to be eliminated here.
No, eliminating him would not be enough.
“I suppose I’ll have to tear open your brain and take a look.”
Rad spoke calmly as they walked toward Aiden.
The Prince who had contracted with them demanded the safety of all Imperial citizens. Directly harming Aiden, who was included among them, would place an enormous burden on them as well.
For beings with the nature of demons, a contract meant more than a simple promise.
Still, this man was worth removing even at that cost.
The demonic energy flowing from their body grew far denser than before.
“It is fortunate that you are arrogant.”
Though he could have brought monsters like Lionheart and Deathwish, he had come alone.
In a one-on-one fight, subduing this man would not be difficult.
“I think I can throw that right back at you.”
Even so, Aiden replied in an indifferent voice.
“What makes you think you can beat me alone?”
Then.
A revolver flashed out from his clothes, imbued with abilities.
Three abilities were imbued at once. A single shot with terrifying firepower, enough to shatter even Katia’s and the Pontiff’s bodies.
The moment Aiden pulled the trigger, the supersonic bullet pierced Rad’s head. Their body snapped backward.
But.
“Ah, I know. You are a user of multiple abilities. When you imbue them into a weapon, their power doubles. Is that correct?”
The words flowed out as if nothing had happened.
Rad approached with a sneer, not even stopping because their head had been blown apart.
Ordinarily, imbuing an ability into a weapon roughly doubled its firepower.
But Aiden was a user of multiple abilities who could handle several at once.
Two times two times two was eight. Eight times the power of an ordinary ability. That was why even bullets from a small-caliber weapon like a revolver had enough force to make Lionheart stare in disbelief.
And yet.
Even after taking that hit.
“... Do you think demons can be subdued by something so trivial? Even I, the youngest among us, have lived for centuries.”
Endless demonic energy poured out around Rad, whose head remained shattered. It was like a tidal wave.
The squirming energy began to take complete form.
Like blackened tar crawling and clumping together. Like soot stuck to the bottom of a filthy gutter.
The revolting, nauseating energy, enough to make one want to vomit just by looking at it, soon took the shape of spikes blacker than the night sky.
“I already know that is the greatest power you can produce. You should quietly prepare to die...”
“Are you stupid?”
“...?”
“Why do you think I brought up something I didn’t need to? It was obvious that talking about demons would only make you more cautious.”
“What are you talking about?”
It was simple.
Aiden had confidence.
“I’m answering because you asked how much I knew. There are two things I know for certain.”
One was that simply inflicting physical damage on mental parasites like demons was meaningless. The bodies being damaged were not their true bodies to begin with.
And the other was this.
“When you reveal your true body like you have now, hitting you is a different story.”
Of course, the Puppeteer was particularly devious even among demons, so they likely had several such imitation bodies.
Even so.
It was possible to strike their true body meaningfully with overwhelming force, using everything Aiden had.
“... So.”
Rad let out a hollow laugh.
“You provoked me on purpose in order to strike me meaningfully?”
What absurd bravado.
Hadn’t Aiden just watched Rad shrug off his trump card as though it were nothing?
Demons were an especially powerful race, befitting their long lives, even with their various restrictions.
This man’s sense of reality was seriously warped...
“I said, are you stupid?”
Aiden tilted his head.
“You’re way too behind on the latest updates.”
With those words.
Other abilities burst from Aiden’s body in an instant.
“People can apply what they know, you know.”
Abilities gathered around the revolver once more. It was the same attack Aiden had fired at Rad moments before.
But the kinds of abilities imbued into it were different.
The first was Guardian’s Flame, combining Pure White Ki and First Vow.
The second was Radiant Brilliance, combining Savior’s Vow and Pure White Ki.
The third was Purifier, combining First Vow and Savior’s Vow.
It was simple arithmetic.
Imbue three abilities, each of a single type, and it was two times two times two.
In other words, eight times the power.
But if he imbued three abilities already amplified by combining two different types of ability...
Roughly speaking, it was four times four times four.
In other words.
Sixty-four times the power of an ordinary ability.
“...”
The color drained from Rad’s face. Even to them, the combination of abilities gathering within the gun Aiden held was...
Something.
Something utterly absurd was taking shape there.
Their movements became hurried. They immediately gathered all the demonic energy they had amassed and formed a barrier before them.
“... Damn it!”
No matter how fast they were, they could not move faster than a supersonic bullet. It was better to block it and seek another chance afterward.
With that much power, they might somehow survive if fortune favored them. The odds were terrible, but they had to stake everything on them...
“That’s why I asked you before.”
But Aiden immediately added a card that would shatter even those terrible odds.
-System Message
▶ “Skill: Divine Power Manipulation: Detonation” activates.
A skill that, once per day, instantly doubled the power of Divine Power.
Aiden himself did not know exactly how it would work.
But even at the lowest estimate, it doubled the power.
Twice the power of abilities already amplified sixty-four times.
In other words.
One hundred and twenty-eight times the power of an ordinary ability.
“...”
An ability bright enough to burn one’s eyes gathered around the revolver. Though it had not even been fired yet, the blinding light bursting forth like a flash was battering the curtain of demonic energy Rad had deployed.
The attack had not even come.
Yet the mere aftereffects of the ability gathering there were tearing apart their demonic energy.
“...”
Rad’s face went blank.
Beyond their thoughts, their instincts knew.
They could never defeat this man.
Not even if they died and came back.
Only one word came to mind.
“You fucking monster...”
“Go sleep until the end of Act One. Stop being a nuisance.”
Then.
A dazzling flash, as though it had blown away the entire night sky, was the last sight Rad’s consciousness captured.
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