Copy Skills with Affinity!

Chapter 110

Tournament (3)

"…A m-monster."

"Hmm, if you don’t back off, I might really turn into one."

As Alester adjusted his glasses and muttered those words, the faces of the royals who were about to charge at him together all turned deathly pale.

The pile of collapsed humans already strewn across the floor probably made that reaction all the more convincing. But more than that, everyone could clearly tell that he hadn’t even used half of his power yet.

"…Damn it…"

"We gathered all we could, and yet…"

It was perfectly understandable that they muttered such things in frustration.

Everyone here had enough confidence in their skills to have stood out during the preliminaries.

This wasn’t just anyone—it was the First Prince, Alester. The fact that they dared to unite and charge at someone like him proved they had both the ambition and the capability.

But that was all.

The person standing in front of them now was a genius who could make the united efforts of such elites look like child’s play.

They probably thought it was a chance since he was alone. And Alester had aimed for exactly that.

'…I’d feel bad if any of the others got hurt for no reason.'

If he were to join the fight, casualties would inevitably occur. Alester didn’t want to burden the people who supported him with something like that.

Simply put—

This level of "alliance" was a burden he could handle on his own without much trouble.

"……"

"…Damn it! He’s looking down on us!"

Realizing from Alester’s demeanor just how little regard he had for them, a few of them burst out in frustration and raised their weapons again.

But even that didn’t last long. As soon as Alester let divine power flare up around his body, they instantly flinched.

Flames.

Colorless, symbolizing ‘purification,’ a kind of light that made your optic nerves feel like they were burning dry just by looking at it—this was the purest form of divine power.

There were a few royals who stood out for their use of supernatural abilities.

Julius was one, Milene was another, and though she hadn’t taken part in the succession ceremony, Katya’s divine power also had a particularly strong presence.

But even among them, Alester’s was the most faithful to the essence of divine power.

The most traditional, the most legitimate, and the most fiercely burning.

Flames that incinerated everything they touched.

It was divine power that practically declared he would one day stand at the summit of this nation.

"I won’t do you any harm. So long as you agree to forfeit and withdraw right here, right now."

"……"

Having witnessed that, there wasn’t a single person left who could still choose to resist.

Watching them all lower their weapons to the ground, Alester let out a sigh of relief and looked up at the sky.

'…What a sick joke.'

Seeing the “scoreboard” floating in the sky, Alester instinctively had that thought.

It was something the Pontiff had displayed.

Sure, it probably served the purpose of ranking who was leading, but more than that, it likely functioned as a signal—telling everyone, “This one's a high-value target, so hurry up and take them down.”

— Occupation Status —

1st. Alester (41%)

2nd. Drexler (20%)

3rd. Milene (13%)

4th. Felicia (10%)

5th. Elisha (7%)

.

.

.

Alester was, of course, in first place. That was only natural, considering there were likely people occupying land in various places in his name.

Although his internal cohesion wasn't as solid as Julius’s, the faction supporting Alester was overwhelmingly superior in numbers and scale.

Even during the succession ceremony, there had been a noticeable number of people who prioritized showing loyalty to him over making a name for themselves, hoping to catch the scraps from his table.

‘…What the hell?’

But precisely because of that, the complete absence of Julius’s name from the status board was incredibly baffling.

Don’t tell him he got eliminated early? That shrewd little brother of his?

‘Did he run into Milene early on?’

That, at least, would be understandable.

Even Alester himself found the idea of going 1-on-1 against her to be daunting.

But if that wasn’t it, then whoever overwhelmed Julius must’ve done so with enough force to not only defeat him outright but prevent him from escaping—all while hiding that power.

Other than Milene, the only person capable of something like that—

"……"

Alester furrowed his brow slightly, recalling a man with a perpetually tired look in his eyes.

Aiden Kellermain, was it?

And yet, his name wasn’t anywhere on the board. As if he didn’t care about occupation at all.

Considering the ability he showed in the preliminaries, Alester had thought he’d definitely make it into the top five.

‘…Perhaps, that man’s role is to act as the counterweight.’

Even if he wasn’t interested in occupation, there was still the possibility that he was cooperating with someone else to achieve his own goals.

And if he truly was doing that, then just that alone might be enough to tip the balance of power in an instant—

[Occupation Status has been updated.]

"…?"

That message appeared on the scoreboard in the sky, and when the screen refreshed, Alester’s expression twisted into disbelief.

— Occupation Status —

1st. Alester (41%)

2nd. Aiden (37%)

Alester’s eyes widened at the occupation rate that had skyrocketed in a matter of moments.

There was only one hypothesis.

There was only one person who could’ve caused such a massive “disruption”—besides Julius.

"……"

As he silently stared at that new occupation rate, Alester’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

The spike in “occupation rate” just now was a figure that could only be reached by absorbing someone else’s territory in its entirety.

There was only one possible hypothesis.

'…He absorbed all of Milene’s territory!'

Considering her personality—her characteristic indifference toward others—there was no way she would have been the one to make any kind of offer to Aiden. She wasn’t the type to actively participate in this ceremony either.

Most likely, that man must have presented something intriguing enough to catch her interest.

Or perhaps he ambushed her. Or even tricked her, exploiting her slightly naïve nature…

'…Just what happened between them…!'

Gritting his teeth, Alester mentally repeated that line.

That man… he might have laid some devious, underhanded trap for Milene…!

▣

"Alright."

Milene spoke absentmindedly.

"I beat you, so answer me. You’re having lunch with me this weekend, okay?"

"…Yes."

"Great. Then, as promised, I’ll transfer all my occupied territory to you."

"…Yes."

Aiden replied in a voice that sounded like he was just shy of being strangled.

Honestly.

It was strange enough that she handed over her territory so nonchalantly, but even stranger was that the only thing she asked for in return… was a single meal.

"So, what should we eat? Got a favorite dish?"

"…I like Far Eastern-style noodles."

As Aiden answered, he glanced over at the man writhing on the ground with a stunned expression.

Drexler—that was his name. The one who had been ranked second in occupation just moments ago.

He must’ve thought that if he took down Milene, he’d surpass Alester and rise to first place.

And just one second after engaging in combat with Milene… this was the result.

'…No, wait.'

Calling it “combat” would be giving Drexler too much credit.

It would be more accurate to say that this happened “one second after he caught Milene’s attention.”

Honestly, with her personality, Milene wasn’t someone who would ever build a large faction.

She wasn’t clearly leader material like Alester, nor did she have Julius’s quiet charisma.

And yet, the reason she could still function as one of the three pillars in the succession ceremony was purely due to her individual combat power.

More precisely, not her overall fighting ability, but the quality of her divine power—its nature. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"……"

Aiden glanced around.

From the battle just now, the surrounding land had turned black and was bubbling intensely.

A divine power that transformed everything it touched into lethal poison in an instant.

'…An insanely broken ability.'

Divine powers were already overwhelming among supernatural abilities in terms of offensive power, but Milene’s was terrifyingly specialized for killing.

One touch—and it’s over.

It wasn’t just a matter of damaging the insides with poison—this was more like a curse imbued with toxic energy, one that dissolved the target itself, to the point where it could be called a conceptual “extreme poison.”

In that sense, the fact that it melted its targets made it not feel too out of place to be categorized under divine power, like fire.

And in that regard—

‘I have to copy that.’

…Aiden was aware that even his own mind was starting to go a bit off the rails, considering that was the first thought that came to him upon seeing such a power.

"That’s strange."

From her perspective, that kind of reaction probably wasn’t so odd.

Milene quietly repeated those words as she stared at Aiden.

"Aren’t you scared?"

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t.

The divine power that Milene was radiating right now was so lethal that, if she wanted to, it could kill someone the moment it touched them.

Even the guy lying over there wouldn’t die, but he was going to be in more than enough pain to give him trauma.

And, as far as Aiden knew—

Milene wore that heavy armor at all times precisely because she couldn’t predict when her power might spiral out of control. It was like a self-imposed restraint.

A walking time bomb that could kill everyone nearby the moment it exploded—that was Milene.

"……"

And yet, Aiden just gave a slight chuckle.

Well.

Sure, it was scary.

"I’ve dealt with worse."

"…What?"

"I mean, compared to them, you’re nothing."

At the very least—

Aiden understood the kind of person who found the attention they received so precious that they were willing to pour everything they had into holding onto it.

And once you met someone like that, it was hard to just ignore someone like Milene.

Moreover—

"…For some reason, I feel like you’d get along really well with that person."

Milene tilted her head at that, but Aiden only responded with a faint smile.

▣

"Ah-choo!"

Katya sneezed and rubbed her nose.

"…Your Highness. You’re supposed to be completely numb. Why are you even sneezing?"

"Mind your business."

It was just a reflex. She had a strange feeling someone was talking about her somewhere.

…It just felt like it, somehow.

As Katya grumbled to herself, Noel calmly stroked her chin, contemplating their current situation.

"…How should I put this?"

"Hmm?"

"I’m starting to get curious about what Aiden actually thinks of our relationship."

To be honest, things between the two of them weren’t exactly friendly—not by any stretch.

Still, if Aiden had looked them in the eyes and said he trusted them enough to leave this to them, even they wouldn’t just brush that off and bicker like usual…

"I guess it means as long as we do our job, he doesn’t care. I mean, if we’re left alone together, this sort of childish squabble is pretty much a given."

"…Shut up. What do you see?"

"Nothing yet."

Aiden had told them—if anything strange happened nearby, even if it disrupted the succession ceremony, they were to inform him immediately.

‘…Though I have no idea what he’s planning.’

Even Aiden himself didn’t know exactly what form the “abnormal signs” would take, so he hadn’t told them that. But he had said he absolutely needed their help.

Noel narrowed her eyes at that thought.

Even among superhumans, when it came to basic physical specs, she could go toe-to-toe with anyone. If anything were to go off, she’d undoubtedly be the first to catch it.

‘…Aside from that damn Magnus.’

Except for that guy—whose stats were so over the top, she suspected he wasn’t human but a demigod.

Noel gave a wry smile as that thought crossed her mind and looked around.

But whether it was fortunate or not—

The “abnormal signs” Aiden had spoken of were the kind that didn’t require superhuman specs to identify.

"Hey, wait a sec."

"Hmm?"

"What’s that?"

Following the direction Katya pointed, Noel turned her gaze—and her expression slowly hardened.

—The sky.

Was turning pitch black.

It was a sight eerily similar to what they’d once seen back in the capital.