WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈
Chapter 7: Synthesis
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“Give back the land you took, you barbarian.”
“...It has been a long time, Your Majesty.”
Though the Emperor greeted Dunadan, Chief of the Great Plains, by hurling abuse straight at the chief's face, Dunadan responded with an impassive, polite greeting. Dunadan seemed thoroughly accustomed to this sort of thing.
A major diplomatic incident was unfolding in real time, yet everyone nearby merely wore wry smiles. No one made any move to stop it.
For all the Emperor complained that land had been taken, that territory had originally been ceded directly by the Emperor to the tribal alliance, a steadfast ally throughout the war.
“How is the Empire’s warrior corps this time? Are they well as always?”
“A little thinner than before. Near the end of the war, there were some...”
The Emperor trailed off.
“...Various things happened.”
“...”
Understanding what the Emperor meant, Dunadan smiled bitterly.
There had indeed been one terrible incident.
The Empire’s brightest star had fallen.
“The position of Lord Protector can be filled by someone else, Your Majesty. The prince, too, will one day return to how he was before...”
“Enough. How is your warrior corps?”
The Emperor cut in sharply, and Dunadan inwardly gave a wry smile.
Dunadan knew full well that it was not something a few words of comfort could ease. Better to follow the Emperor’s change of subject.
“I selected mainly young warriors brimming with spirit and eager to fight.”
“What a nice way to dress up hatchlings.”
“You knew that, so why did you send someone like that out there?”
Dunadan looked up at the stage where the sparring match was to take place.
Several tribal alliance warriors were warming up for battle, while the Imperial side had a pitifully small number.
One woman sat with her eyes closed, as though meditating.
And she radiated such a presence that even the air around her seemed to sink heavily.
It was the majesty of a predator.
“Aren’t you taking this too seriously? Lionheart, for a mere exchange event?”
At the reverent note in Dunadan’s voice, the Emperor snorted and worried the cigarette between his lips.
“She’s still only one person. It’s not as if I don’t know how well the alliance’s warriors fight.”
“...You exaggerate too much.”
Dunadan looked down beneath the stage.
Before the match began, Lionheart took a deep breath and began circulating her ki.
White ki billowed from her heart, soon forming a dome-shaped barrier field around the entire arena.
It was a safety measure, meant to keep the effects of the fight from spreading beyond the arena.
Even so.
The sight of a single human creating such an enormous hemispherical barrier field was almost majestic.
Ki held an advantage over other supernatural abilities in raw output, but a task like that would normally require an entire specialized corps.
‘...It’s ridiculous, though.’
Making the person who was about to fight in there handle that job as well was beyond absurd.
Yet no one here protested. If anything, they acted as if it were only natural.
The reason was simple.
Lionheart was a monster capable of that much.
‘Pure-white ki.’
Dunadan swept a gaze over the ki forming the hemisphere.
It was the pinnacle of the ki every Imperial knight could wield.
Lionheart could serve as a human-shaped supernatural ability power plant entirely because of that supernatural ability’s special properties.
“She was called a one-person army even on battlefields where warriors like these fell like grass. Isn’t she more than enough on her own?”
A mischievous smile appeared on the Emperor’s face.
“Strictly speaking, she isn’t alone.”
“Pardon?”
“He hasn’t come up yet, but there’s one more. Someone I’m curious to see.”
Without a doubt.
The Emperor’s voice was full of anticipation.
▣
...Aiden had been so nervous that he went to the bathroom.
How had this happened?
His gaze turned ahead.
Rough-looking men, the very embodiment of barbarian warriors, filled his view. In an era where concrete buildings, black-and-white televisions, telephones, and the like had become commonplace, they seemed to belong to another world entirely.
‘You want me to trade blows with those things?’
If there were a negotiating table that could get Aiden out of this, giving up a year of his life would be a bargain. That was no exaggeration. He meant it sincerely...
“...I’m sorry you were dragged into this, Aiden.”
Clearly, Aiden was not the only one who knew this was a troublesome situation.
Noel whispered beside him, her voice apologetic.
Even if she saw Aiden as someone concealing mysterious power and a mysterious past, forcing him into something this dangerous was another matter. She seemed to feel guilty about it.
The problem was that Noel probably had no grounds to refuse firmly.
Not long ago, Aiden had crushed an elite fighter just below a knight’s level in one blow. He had also crushed a royal of the Holy Empire who wielded divinity in one blow.
Since the Emperor had gone so far as to arrange this, the Emperor had probably heard about all that as well.
“But you won’t need to do much yourself. I’ll only ask one simple thing of you.”
Fortunately, Noel had more than enough ability to manage the situation herself.
Before Aiden could ask what she meant, the sign at the center of the arena changed from red to blue.
The signal for the match to begin.
At the same time.
“O jeweled orb, O lotus, give forth light!”
A fierce battle cry rose from the alliance warriors.
Letters across their bodies began glowing at once. Bright clusters of light burst forth and streamed around them, while several orbs steeped in that light floated into the air.
“Is this your first time seeing it?”
Noticing Aiden’s wide-eyed stare, Noel tilted her head.
Despite the fearsome people before them, she looked entirely at ease.
“It is Spiritual Power. Warriors of the Great Plains impose restrictions on themselves, and in return, they are granted power.”
It was authority bestowed by Urgan, the God of the Supreme Vehicle, chief god of the tribal alliance.
Those who served Urgan added certain prohibitions to their own lives in exchange for power.
“They are more than worthy opponents for proving the value the Emperor spoke of.”
As she spoke, pure-white ki began billowing from Noel’s heart.
It was a sight Aiden knew well. He had used that power himself and knew how destructive it could be.
‘...Will she be all right?’
Still, Aiden could not help worrying.
The pressure emitted by the warriors before them was no joke. Even with that ki, facing so many warriors of that caliber alone was a completely different matter.
But Noel made those worries seem pointless. She calmly stepped in front of Aiden and moved him behind her.
As if that were a signal, the tribal alliance warriors all charged toward them with cries loud enough to make Aiden’s entire body tingle.
It was a terrifying charge, enough to make his knees weaken just watching it. Humans were charging at them, yet it felt like facing massive vehicles racing at full speed.
And yet.
The person facing them remained completely at ease.
“Shall I give you a demonstration?”
Pure-white ki surged forth and began racing fiercely throughout Noel’s body from her heart.
“Law.”
The word flowed reverently from Noel’s lips.
“I swear.”
It was a consecration offered directly to a god, one method of communion with a god that strengthened a supernatural ability. It was likely the principal prayer offered to Karba, chief god of the Empire.
“In battle, victory.”
Heavenly authority answered the vow she had offered. Pure-white ki settled over her arm with far greater force than before.
“Supernatural abilities become much more precise when you imbue something with physical form. You can contain them in your body like this, but putting them into a weapon is more efficient.”
“...I see.”
“Of course.”
Noel then did what Aiden had done several times before.
She stood in place and threw a straight punch.
Only, unlike Aiden, she did it with far greater skill.
“If you can handle pure-white ki, you can do this much even barehanded.”
Her entire body became a launch platform, firing a shell in the form of a punch.
From her planted foot through her legs, then her hips, back, arm, and finally her fist, everything gathered at one point before being unleashed.
And then.
Pure-white ki, the most refined of all ki and capable of explosive power that no combination of supernatural abilities could match in momentary [output], was strengthened even further through consecration.
BOOM!
BOOOOM!
Aiden’s mouth fell open.
It was as if the whole area in front of them had been pushed away.
The air tore apart. The barrier field around the stage crackled and shook, and screams rose from the audience.
For an instant, everything around the arena whipped about as though a storm had broken out.
Without being struck directly, the tribal alliance warriors charging fiercely toward him were sent screaming across the arena by nothing more than the wind pressure from the end of her punch.
Several superhumans had charged like eight-ton trucks with broken brakes, only to be driven back by the aftershock of a punch thrown from a standing position.
“...”
Aiden stared blankly at Noel.
Was she really human...?
“Do you understand a little now?”
“...”
Unfortunately.
After doing that, Noel turned to look at Aiden expressionlessly and asked a question that left him even more stunned.
She looked as though this was truly nothing at all...
‘...No, I don’t?’
What exactly was he supposed to understand from that?
Aiden had certainly understood that Noel and he were made of entirely different stuff.
“If you can imitate even this much, wouldn’t that be more than enough to prove the value the Emperor spoke of?”
“...What?”
“If you can use pure-white ki, this is not even a difficult technique. You likely know better how much potential that color has, but this time, I would like you to show them only a fragment of it.”
“...”
She wanted Aiden to copy that?
Aiden?
“Grrr!”
“Raaaargh!”
Before Aiden could fully process that dizzying realization, the tribal alliance warriors in front of them were already climbing back to their feet.
They had merely been knocked away, so naturally they were not badly injured.
The problem was that they clearly found what had just happened humiliating.
Thick veins stood out on all their foreheads as though they were furious beyond measure.
They probably thought Noel was playing with them.
And unlike before, Noel did not seem inclined to stop them as they charged again.
‘...What a life.’
Aiden grabbed hold of his spinning thoughts and barely managed to think that.
‘Still, I have to do what I have to do...’
Ever since becoming tied to this woman through a fake marriage, Aiden had prepared himself to get involved in dangerous situations of one kind or another.
That was why he had told the Emperor he would jump in directly.
Aiden did not think he could repeat exactly what Noel had done, but there was one thing he could trust.
He quickly brought up his status window.
What Aiden intended to use was his remaining opportunity to copy one of Noel’s skills.
-System Message
▶ Copying ‘Ki Enhancement: Consecration.’
It was the same method of controlling ki that Noel had used.
As soon as Aiden learned the skill, the method of using it naturally entered his mind. It felt as though someone were carefully typing words into his head.
“...Law. I swear.”
Facing the warriors rushing fiercely toward him, ki burst from Aiden’s body.
Beside him, Noel gave a slight nod. She looked as though she had known Aiden would naturally be able to do it. All Aiden had to do was wield that ki and copy what Noel had done.
There was no room for anything to go wrong. At least, Noel seemed to think so.
Aiden was thinking something a little different.
“...”
He turned his head and looked around.
At Noel.
He also took in the Emperor and the chief, watching from above the audience seats.
If things went well, Aiden would get a direct reaction from those people too.
And if they did not?
‘...I’ll figure something out then.’
After all, this was the only thing Aiden had to rely on.
His lips moved to complete the consecration.
Pure-white ki burst outward from his heart, and a heavy pressure bound his entire body.
It was only a message sent one-sidedly toward heaven, yet the presence on the other end of that communication felt so sacred that Aiden sensed it immediately.
He felt as though he could hear constant whispers telling him to state what he desired, to offer a vow.
But rather than continue with more words.
Aiden prepared to do something different.
‘Please work...!’
With that thought, almost a prayer, divinity rose from Aiden’s body.
Colorless flames.
It was the supernatural ability he had taken from the princess of the Holy Empire, whose face he had never even seen.
Noel’s face went pale beside him.
“That is divinity...? No, how could you possibly...?”
But before she could react any further.
Aiden forced it into the pure-white ki pouring from his heart.
Colorless flames bloomed from beneath his feet and collided hotly with the ki. The two forces probed at each other as though trying to devour one another, then blended together as though melting into each other.
“...Aiden?”
From beside him.
Aiden heard Noel’s voice as she watched the sight.
She looked as though she could not believe what she was seeing. Her pale face and trembling eyes made that clear.
It showed just how surreal the phenomenon before her was.
A god’s authority.
Had mixed.
Two domains that should never have mixed had fused.
And messages appeared one after another before Aiden.
< System Message >
[ Divinity purifies the backlash of Consecration. Ki and divinity are merging! ]
!! System Message !!
[ Two abilities are being used simultaneously. ]
[ <Unique Trait: Omnipotence> has been unlocked. ]
...Aiden took a deep breath and read through them.
Since these had appeared, it seemed that what he had aimed for had worked.
-Skill Info
■ Omnipotence [ Locked ]
This skill is locked. Handle two or more abilities at the same time to unlock the first stage.
...This.
Ever since seeing it last time, Aiden had sworn to make use of this ability.
The question was how powerful the result would be.
[ Through the effect of <Unique Trait: Omnipotence>, a new effect is developed when abilities are combined! ]
[ By synthesizing <Heart of Pure White> and <First Vow>, you have developed <Guardian’s Flame>! ]
...Fortunately.
That did not seem to be something Aiden needed to worry about.
The divinity wielded by the Holy Empire’s royals took the form of colorless flames.
As befitted a supernatural ability granted by Seer, God of Purification, it was the purest form, untouched by anything.
And now.
Just as pure-white ki and those flames had mixed, white divinity spread around Aiden.
The flames born from divinity had gained color under the influence of another supernatural ability.
They burned so fiercely that a vacuum formed around them, making the scenery look as though someone had cut it out and crumpled it in their hands.
“...”
“...”
Aiden blinked blankly.
...Somehow.
This looked even more dangerous than he had expected.
Even though the sparring match was underway, it was clear that no one was concerned with continuing it anymore.
Not Noel, not the tribal alliance warriors, not even Dunadan, who was serving as referee.
The instant those flames rose, no one moved.
And the next moment.
KRAAAAAAAAAASH!
A massive pillar of fire surged up around Aiden and struck the hemisphere spread around the stage.
It shattered Noel’s defensive barrier field into pieces.
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