Copy Skills with Affinity! - Chapter 64

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈

Chapter 64: The Night of the Hunt (2)

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“That damn Noel, Noel, Noel...”

Katia grumbled under her breath.

Her face was full of dissatisfaction. She was clearly irritated at having been separated from Noel and Aiden again and left to wander around alone.

Her arms were loaded with the stakes she had taken from Aiden. Her instructions had been to drive them into the ground here and there as she went.

The man himself had made it clear that he did not particularly want her doing such menial work. Even so, she had practically forced him to let her take them, thinking it was better than being the only one doing nothing.

‘... Fine. I can handle a few errands.’

With that thought, Katia pouted but got moving again.

She drove the stakes steadily into the ground. It was a boring, simple task, but it felt a little better knowing it was helping Aiden.

The work itself was not difficult. Her main complaint was being left by herself again.

‘Why does he always take care of that woman?’

It really was true.

Whenever there was something to do together, Aiden had made a habit of looking after Noel before Katia.

Watching him practically radiate how much he relied on Noel naturally made Katia pout.

Well.

Sometimes, it felt like this.

‘He thinks I’m a nuisance.’

Turning that thought over made her feel strangely gloomy.

She had once pressed Noel for answers about their relationship, but whatever their circumstances were, it was an undeniable fact that the two had promised to marry.

Whatever lay between them, it was officially acknowledged that they were closer to each other than either was to Katia.

“...”

Naturally.

From Katia’s perspective, it was a situation she found utterly unpleasant.

As she walked along the edge of the cliff overlooking the gorge, she repeatedly hammered stakes into the ground as if venting her anger.

What exactly should she call what she was feeling?

She did not like Aiden being with anyone but her. She was well aware of that possessiveness.

Then was it jealousy, because she wanted to take Noel’s place?

But that definition did not quite fit either.

‘I don’t even really know what a wife is...’

Wasn’t marriage, by definition, accepting an outsider as part of one’s family?

But whether Katia herself wanted that was unclear too.

To begin with, family, to her, was...

“...”

Katia froze as something tugged tightly deep in her chest.

‘Ah.’

Dangerous.

Realizing that, she calmly suppressed the Divine Power surging within her.

Even in a body incapable of feeling anything, there were things that sometimes disturbed her mind beyond that lack of Sensation.

Emotions.

Humiliation. Contempt. Shame.

Of all the violent movements of the mind that took shape most distinctly beyond those troubling memories, there was one she could name.

Rage.

A black rage so fierce it felt as though it would rip her mind apart, as though it would bleach her reason white.

To Katia, the word family did nothing but trigger that feeling.

Her body flinched. Her breathing was about to grow ragged.

‘... Friend.’

Until she thought of that word, her condition had been severe enough that flames might have burst out around her without her realizing it.

Aiden.

Aiden Kellermain.

That man was her friend.

Not family.

“...”

Repeating that word to herself, Katia barely regained her composure and took a breath.

Yes. So in a way, trying to pull Lionheart away from his side meant she was helping him.

Was she not freeing him from the terrible shackle called family?

So if she saw that woman wagging her tail at him again, she would have to interfere by any means necessary to feel satisfied...

“Can’t you run any faster?!”

“I’m sorry, but this is my top speed!”

“...”

Behind Katia, Noel and Aiden burst fiercely out of the forest, clinging tightly to each other. Their faces were filled with an uncharacteristic panic.

Then Katia’s eyes immediately narrowed when she saw Noel carrying Aiden over her back like luggage again, just as before.

She had only just thought how unpleasant it was to see them stuck together...

“What are you two do...”

Before Katia could continue speaking with her eyes flashing furiously, Noel swiftly lifted her and slung her over her shoulder.

It happened so naturally that Katia had no time to resist. She dangled like a sack over Noel’s left shoulder, eyes wide.

“What is this? What’s happening?!”

She asked Aiden, who was hanging over Noel’s right shoulder, and received a breathless reply.

“I’ll explain later, but please fire a shot first!”

“...?”

The question of what exactly she was supposed to shoot immediately came to mind, but apparently no further explanation was needed.

She quickly realized what they were running from.

A magical beast sprang up from below the slope beside them.

Yes, sprang up was the right way to describe it.

It must have braced its legs against the edge of the slope and pulled itself upward. But its absurd leg strength had launched it into the air as though it had fired itself from a cannon.

Katia’s mouth fell open when she saw the corner of the hill where she had just been standing collapse simply from the impact of the magical beast pushing off with its legs.

It was a four-legged magical beast resembling a feline predator.

But comparing that horrifying thing to a mere predator would be a considerable insult to it.

To begin with, Katia was not even sure it was a living creature that could be classified as a predator.

It was as large as two houses put together. Its limbs, like building rebar, rippled with vicious muscles.

The primal violence pouring from its entire body in waves meant that it would be more accurate to call it a living tank.

The ground shook with each movement.

Seeing it made her realize once more.

The magical beast that had grown from the ducal young lady’s body before had been...

‘... Nothing at all.’

This was a monster that boasted strength at the very top among magical beasts.

This was the sort of creature that made other magical beasts, driven only by instinct, flee in terror.

As those realizations came one after another, Katia twisted her lips.

“... What is that?”

Aiden did have a very precise answer to her question.

⊙ Soul Reaver [Berserk]

A magical beast that stands at the peak of the ecosystem among quadrupedal magical beasts within the Void Zone. Very few creatures besides dragonkind can compare to its pure physical abilities, and it surpasses even dragonkind in some areas.

It possesses intelligence and pride high enough to hold a conversation, but it has entered a berserk state for some reason. It is currently incapable of proper thought and hostile toward everything before it.

- Weapon: Entire body

- Strengths: Mobility at the pinnacle among magical beasts, defensive power tougher than dragon scales, vitality bordering on immortality

- Weaknesses: None

Of course, rather than listing off such absurd specifications, Aiden thought it would be better to simply keep his mouth shut.

Then Soul Reaver landed with a shriek like metal scraping against a steel plate. Its four legs began tearing across the ground again at a terrifying speed, and the wind pressure scattered all the dust before it could even rise.

It was clearly faster than Noel, even while she was using her ability to run at full speed!

“... Ha.”

At this point, Katia could not help deeply sympathizing with Aiden’s request to worry about explanations later and fire a shot first.

Divine Power surged through Katia’s entire body.

A vast amount of Divine Power pulsed within her, enough to call her, alongside Lionheart, a walking power plant for abilities.

As she formed a hand seal, that Divine Power sharpened further. Every royal of the Holy Empire actively trained in Sacred Flame Art, which allowed them to use their innate abilities more destructively.

And Katia was not someone who could be rated poorly in skill, not just output.

Blades of Divine Power, given rotational force, formed all around her. The blades, which could easily melt through and pierce thick steel plates, shot directly toward Soul Reaver’s eyes.

No living creature could train vital points such as its eyes or internal organs at all. And Katia’s blades of Divine Power, which had struck those weaknesses with perfect precision...

Bounced away in a shower of sparks.

Katia’s mouth fell open.

It was not as though the attack had done no damage at all. Soul Reaver, which had been charging forward with fierce momentum, let out a pained roar and slowed slightly.

“... Did I really see that correctly?”

Naturally.

It made no sense for an attack created by one of the Holy Empire’s royal family, a person among their very strongest ranks, to strike a vital point and merely slow its target down.

Katia’s fingertips trembled faintly, a rare sight. Her pride was deeply wounded.

No, it went beyond wounded pride.

That attack would have inflicted damage tantamount to instant death on even a fairly powerful ability user. And it took that straight in the eye without suffering any real damage?

“... How are we supposed to kill that thing?”

It was only natural for that question to slip out.

Now she could understand why even Lionheart, who had distinguished herself in the Coalition War, was helplessly fleeing.

But Aiden answered as though there was nothing strange about it.

“It’s fine. We can’t kill it anyway!”

“... What?”

“I wasn’t planning to kill it in the first place!”

Though it was not the utterly hopeless kind of immortality Katia possessed, it was still a monster the system had compared to dragonkind.

Considering dragon scales were considered the symbol of impenetrable defense, even with Lionheart and Deathwish here, they would be unable to kill it simply because they lacked the firepower.

Killing it had never been an option.

“Then what are you going to do? Tell us the plan!”

Fortunately, Aiden had a clear answer for Noel’s near-scream.

“I’m going to tame it!”

“...”

Noel and Katia looked at Aiden simultaneously, their expressions blank.

“... Tame it?”

“Yes!”

“... That?”

“Yes! I’m going to raise it!”

“...”

“My goal is to ride it!”