Copy Skills with Affinity!

Chapter 125

Distortion (2)

First, two Holy Flame barriers were hastily generated right before my eyes.

One belonged to the Pontiff, and one belonged to Aiden.

Even though the attack had flown in within less than a fraction of a second—truly in a fleeting instant—the two of us somehow managed to react and produce them.

Thanks to that, although they were unbelievably thick for something formed in such a brief moment of response, the one who had unleashed the attack was none other than a Dragonkin.

The ruler of the Old Continent. A walking calamity. A monster that only humans who had stepped into the realm of Saints could possibly face as equals.

Before I could even be struck by something like that, someone abruptly yanked the body of Aiden—who had been carrying the Pontiff on his back—away.

“-Get a hold of yourself!”

At a voice I had never heard even once since arriving here, Aiden snapped back to his senses and turned around. What I saw there was Morrigan riding atop Reaver.

She must have bitten down on his body and dragged him away from the straight trajectory along which the dragon’s breath had been flying.

“……Ms. Morrigan?”

“That is a real Dragonkin. If you don’t come to your senses, you will die!”

“A real one?”

Unfortunately, something that supported her words was also appearing before Aiden’s eyes.

-Side Quest

▶ A major shift in the Main Scenario has been detected.

▶ You encounter a ‘Dragonkin.’

▶ Defeat the target while minimizing casualties as much as possible!

▶ Upon success, the Affection Level of target ‘???’ will greatly increase!

▶ Upon success, abilities related to ‘miracles’ will be strengthened!

…Even the System Window itself was proving that what I was facing was the real thing.

Thus, the atmosphere shifted drastically in a very short span of time.

Perhaps no one here knew who Morrigan was, nor what relationship she had with Aiden. But the words ‘real Dragonkin’ she had spoken could not have sounded more vivid than anything else.

“R-run away—!”

That scream someone let out became the signal flare.

Chaos and fear spread like a plague. Soon, royals and students alike were all mixed together as they retreated backward like an ebbing tide.

“Wait, everyone calm—!”

Before that sentence could even finish forming in Aiden’s mouth, the wave of screams and pandemonium shaped like a mass of people spread outward around him.

In truth, it was absurd to expect commoner students—who were not battle-hardened heroes—to maintain their composure.

Even the royals who were supposed to protect them were the first to flee.

From the beginning, with a living Dragonkin right before us that had just fired an attack filled with killing intent, I could not even bring myself to blame them.

Of course.

‘……This is dangerous……!’

That thought reflexively flashed through Aiden’s clenched mind.

The dragon was already preparing its next strike. I could see an enormous amount of mana gathering once more beneath its jaws.

I could not block all of that.

There would be casualties. Without fail!

As red warning bells rang inside my head, the dragon exhaled that breath once again.

Due to the influence of the Analysis Skill that had taken Meyer’s line of sight as it was, that breath I analyzed contained an output so immense that even if Aiden defended with his full strength, it would be impossible to match.

Fortunately, when it came to ability operation, there was a human present here who surpassed him.

-!!!

-!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unlike before, perhaps because we were given ample time to prepare, a much thicker Holy Flame barrier collided with the dragon’s breath.

The two flames, emitting a blindingly white light as they clashed, soon concluded with the curtain deflecting the dragon’s breath away.

-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

……And then.

Even though its force had clearly weakened, the deflected dragon’s breath shaved off an entire corner of the mountain. Seeing that, Aiden’s mouth fell wide open.

The Pontiff and that dragon—both were unquestionably absurd monsters……!

“……Tch.”

The Pontiff clicked his tongue and let out a breath.

Without the help of any sacred relic or auxiliary equipment, a single human had created a divine barrier and deflected a dragon’s breath—an insane spectacle.

Yet a chilling sensation slid down Aiden’s spine.

‘……Is he tired?’

Since I was carrying him on my back, I could tell for certain.

This man’s breathing was slightly ragged.

It was a sign that the two consecutive Holy Flame barriers he had just created had placed some burden on his stamina.

‘Why?’

Considering the Pontiff’s capabilities as I knew them, he was not someone who would grow fatigued from merely deflecting a dragon’s breath.

If he was a monster who possessed Holy Flame operation that surpassed Katya, then he was originally the kind of monster who could openly engage that dragon in a one-on-one duel without issue. That was what should have been normal!

‘……The reason.’

I could think about that later. It would be better to ask in a situation where there was no possibility of casualties.

For now, I understood clearly that I could not leave everything in this place entirely to the Pontiff.

Having reached that conclusion, Aiden clenched his teeth and opened his mouth.

“First, we need to buy time for the others to evacuate—!”

As he said that and looked around, Aiden’s gaze abruptly fixed on one spot.

……It was clearly.

The place where the first dragon’s breath— which had broken through despite the double-layered barrier raised by him and the Pontiff—had passed.

At the end of the trajectory that had pierced through them because we ultimately failed to stop it—

There was a commoner student, charred pitch-black, who had failed to evade the attack that had flown in.

The dragon’s breath possessed more than enough power to turn a single person into that state even after piercing through all the barriers we had erected.

“-”

For now, he appeared to be alive. I could see his chest faintly rising and falling.

But anyone who saw that sight would reach the same conclusion.

He had long since suffered a fatal wound.

This person would not survive.

Simply because he had been standing behind them.

As that thought reached its end—

“……!”

Sparks flew beneath his eyes.

Click— a switch flipped inside Aiden’s head.

His gaze rotated back toward the dragon, which was preparing yet another breath.

“……Ms. Morrigan.”

Unlike before, his voice had sunk all the way to the bottom, heavy and subdued. Morrigan flinched and turned to look at him.

True to her nature as an excellent secretary, she was sensitive to people’s moods.

Which meant—

Among everyone present, she was the one who most keenly perceived just how deep the ‘anger’ settled beneath Aiden’s head was.

“If it’s a real Dragonkin, it should be able to use miracles. Then why is it just firing breath from that spot? Is it choosing not to use them, or is it unable to?”

“It’s closer to the latter. If it could use them, there would be no reason not to in the middle of battle.”

“……So it’s not even a complete one.”

Muttering that, Aiden shrugged the Pontiff off his back and cracked his neck.

If it was a Dragonkin that could not exercise miracles, then its combat power would inevitably drop sharply.

Compared to a ‘true’ pure Dragonkin, it was certainly weaker.

In that case—

One could consider things that would be absolutely impossible against an ‘original Dragonkin.’

“……Hey.”

The Pontiff, who had dropped heavily to the ground, frowned and spoke to Aiden.

“What are you thinking?”

He had always been the type to commit unpredictable eccentric acts without hesitation.

But the ‘aura’ emanating from Aiden right now was on a completely different trajectory compared to usual.

As if he could truly do anything.

“I’m thinking about what can be done.”

Though a horrifying, blazing anger was consuming one corner of his mind, another corner of Aiden’s head remained chillingly calm.

I measured the possibilities. I formed a plan. I distinguished between feasibility and risk.

The area I prided myself most on having developed while working as a con artist was the ability to weigh the likelihood of success against the possibility of failure.

“……If we play defensively here, casualties will only increase. There’s a limit to how long we can block someone who’s indiscriminately raining down bombardment.”

Saying that, Aiden calmly turned his gaze toward the Pontiff.

“-Your condition isn’t normal either, so maintaining that would be a problem.”

“…….”

Hearing that, the Pontiff closed his mouth without replying.

Seeing as he did not refute it, he seemed to have no intention of denying his own condition.

“Then what are you going to do?”

“They say the best defense is offense.”

Aiden spoke as if spitting the words out. His eyes burned with hatred.

“Let’s kill that bastard.”

“…….”

“…….”

Morrigan—and even the Pontiff—stared at him as if he were absurd.

“……So.”

“Yes.”

“You’re saying the three of us, as humans, are going to beat a Dragonkin to death……?”

“Yes. Since it can’t even use miracles, it should be possible.”

“Sorry, but while I may be rather capable, I’m not exactly in normal condition right now…….”

“You rest. I’ll handle it.”

Aiden rolled his shoulders loosely as he stretched and replied.

“No, I mean, I’m asking how you’re planning to do tha—”

“I’ll just die once. I do it hundreds of times every day anyway.”

“……What?”

“You just need to help me a little.”

No one understood what on earth he was talking about.

……But the impression that he was insane was something they all shared.

▣

Katya Heinkel Craven was running in haste.

Originally, as Aiden had said, she had intended to observe near the island where the event was being held to see if there were any unusual occurrences this time as well. But now, there was no reason to do such a thing.

From the island, along with tremors pounding as if an earthquake had struck, screams loud enough to tear her ears—even from quite a distance away—were erupting incessantly.

Anyone could see that something abnormal had exploded into full crisis!

‘Please, please……!’

With a pale face, she kept repeating those words to herself.

Thanks to reinforcing her entire physical output with Holy Flame, the scenery split apart at a terrifying speed—but even so, the anxiety in her heart showed no sign of settling.

The root of everything lay in the behavioral patterns of that man named Aiden.

No matter what, it was obvious that something major had happened—but that man would surely try to hold it all back by himself again, throwing his own body into danger without hesitation.

She had to go and protect him. She had to go and stop it!

With those thoughts, the moment she arrived at the scene and saw what was before her, Katya barely managed to steady her reeling mind.

‘-A dragon?!’

With a look as if she might faint, she stared at the colossal lifeform towering like a mountain before her.

It had loaded another destructive breath into its mouth and was aiming directly at Aiden standing right in front of it.

“……!”

Her entire body went cold.

For two reasons.

First, she instinctively recognized the level of destructive power contained in the breath forming within the dragon’s mouth.

Second, despite such a strike clearly being aimed at him, Aiden was walking forward without blinking once.

As if preparing to ‘fight’ it.

‘……But……!’

There was a reason the phrase dragon scales was used like an idiom. A dragon’s body itself boasted defense close to invincibility.

Fighting was not an option to begin with. Running away was the most appropriate choice……!

In Katya’s eyes, that dragon did not appear to be handling any special supernatural ability—but even so, considering only the combination of such destructive breath and an invincible body, that conclusion naturally followed.

“Wait, what are you doing—!”

But before that scream could burst from her lips, the dragon had already begun its next action.

The destructive breath coiling in its mouth once again scattered the aftertaste of death into the surroundings. It aimed directly at Aiden nearby.

‘I have to help……!’

Clenching her teeth with that thought, Katya tried to draw forth Holy Flame in front of Aiden.

……Perhaps.

Had the dreadful sense of foreboding she always felt from Aiden not struck her head at that moment, she would have done so.

That same feeling she always had whenever Aiden committed insane acts as if headbutting straight into them.

Only—

“…….”

The sensation she felt now was several times greater than usual.

Ah.

No.

No way.

Even that madman would not do something like that.

Any rational human would surely ‘dodge it first’ and then figure something out—

“……Hey, no.”

Katya trembled as she let that sentence slip out like a groan.

In that instant, Aiden crouched his body.

As if to ‘leap.’

“Hey, heyAAAAA—!”

As Katya cried out with tear-filled eyes—

……Aiden shoved his body straight into the dragon’s fire-breathing maw.