Chapter 7 - Synthesis

“Give back the territory you stole, you barbarian.”

“... It has been some time, Your Majesty.”

Despite the Emperor hurling abuse in his face the moment they met, Dunadan, chieftain of the Great Plains, offered a polite greeting without a change of expression. He seemed thoroughly accustomed to this, as though it had happened far more than once.

A major diplomatic incident was unfolding before their very eyes, yet everyone nearby merely smiled wryly. No one tried to intervene.

For all his talk of stolen land, the Emperor had personally ceded that territory to the Tribal Alliance, which had been a staunch ally throughout the war.

“How fares the Empire’s contingent of warriors this time? As strong as ever?”

“Our ranks are a little thinner than before. Toward the end of the war, there were...”

The Emperor swallowed his next words.

“... Various things happened.”

“...”

Understanding what the Emperor meant, Dunadan smiled bitterly. There had indeed been one truly terrible incident.

The fall of the Empire’s brightest star.

“Someone will be able to fill the Lord Protector’s place, Your Majesty. And someday, the imperial prince will be his old self again—”

“Enough. How are your warriors?”

At the Emperor’s sharp interruption, Dunadan smiled bitterly to himself again. He knew perfectly well that this was not something a few comforting words could mend. Best to follow the change of subject.

“I selected mostly young warriors full of vigor and eager to fight.”

“What a pretty way to dress up a bunch of fledglings.”

“If you know that, why would you send out someone like her?”

Dunadan looked up at the platform where the sparring match was to take place. In contrast to the several Tribal Alliance warriors warming up for the fight, the Empire’s side was strikingly sparse.

One woman sat motionless with her eyes closed, as if meditating. Yet that alone was enough for her presence to radiate in every direction, seeming to weigh down even the air around her.

It could only be described as the imposing majesty of a predator.

“Aren’t you taking this a little too seriously? Sending the Lionhearted to what is, at most, a friendly exchange?”

At the awe in his voice, the Emperor chuckled and chewed on the cigarette in his mouth.

“She’s still only one person. It’s not as though I don’t know how well the Alliance’s warriors fight.”

“... You are taking false modesty much too far.”

Dunadan looked down toward the platform as he spoke. With the match about to begin, he could see the Lionhearted taking deep breaths and circulating her energy.

White energy billowed from her heart, soon forming a domed force field that enclosed the entire arena. It was a safety measure, meant to keep any fallout from the fight from spreading to the surrounding area.

Even so, the sight of a single human creating such an enormous hemispherical force field bordered on majestic.

Energy might have an advantage over other supernatural powers in sheer output, but normally a feat like this would require an entire corps specializing in such work.

‘... It really is absurd.’

Making someone who was about to fight in there handle that task as well was outrageous. Yet not a single person present raised an objection. If anything, they seemed to take it entirely for granted.

The reason was simple.

The Lionhearted was enough of a monster that she could be expected to do both.

‘Pure-white energy.’

Dunadan swept his gaze over the energy comprising the dome. The pinnacle of all the energy the Empire’s knights could wield.

It was this supernatural power’s unique properties that allowed the Lionhearted to serve as a human-shaped “supernatural power plant.”

“She was called a one-woman army even on battlefields where warriors like those fell like so much straw. Surely she is more than enough on her own?”

A mischievous smile crossed the Emperor’s face.

“Strictly speaking, she isn’t alone.”

“Pardon?”

“He hasn’t come up yet, but there’s one more. I’m curious to see what he’ll show us.”

There was no mistaking the anticipation in his voice.

▣

... He had been so nervous he’d needed a trip to the bathroom.

How had it come to this?

His gaze turned forward. Fierce-looking men filled his vision, the very embodiment of “barbarian warriors,” looking utterly out of place in an age when concrete buildings, black-and-white televisions, and telephones were commonplace.

‘I’m supposed to trade blows with those things?’

If there were any chance of negotiating his way out of this, he would consider a year of his life a fair price. That wasn’t an exaggeration. He meant it...

“... I’m sorry for dragging you into this, Aiden.”

Clearly, Aiden wasn’t the only one who understood what a predicament this was. Noel’s apologetic whisper made that plain.

Even if she believed he was hiding mysterious powers and a secret past, forcing him into something this dangerous was another matter. She looked guilty about it herself.

The problem was that even Noel had lacked grounds to refuse outright. Only recently, Aiden had crushed an elite combatant just below a knight’s level with a single blow, then done the same to a member of the Holy Kingdom’s royal family who wielded divinity.

If the Emperor had gone to the trouble of arranging this, he must have heard about all of that before setting it up.

“You won’t have to do much yourself, though. I’ll only ask you for one simple thing.”

Fortunately, she had more than enough ability to salvage the situation herself.

Before Aiden could ask what she meant, the sign at the center of the arena changed from red to blue, signaling the start of the match.

At that same instant:

“O Jewel, O Lotus, shine forth!”

A fierce battle cry erupted from the Alliance’s warriors. Then the characters inscribed on their bodies lit up in unison. Radiant light burst forth and spilled out around them, with several spheres of concentrated light rising amid the glow.

“Is this your first time seeing it?”

Seeing Aiden’s visibly widened eyes, Noel tilted her head and spoke. She looked utterly at ease, even with those fearsome men standing right in front of her.

“It’s dharmic power. The warriors of the Great Plains impose prohibitions on themselves and receive power in return.”

The authority bestowed by Urgan, the <God of the Supreme Vehicle> and chief deity of the Tribal Alliance. Those who served him received power by adding a kind of “prohibition” to their lives.

“They are certainly worthy opponents for the ‘proof of worth’ His Majesty requested.”

As she continued, pure-white energy billowed out from her heart. It was a familiar sight to Aiden. He had used it himself and experienced how powerful it could be.

‘... Is she going to be all right?’

Even so, he couldn’t help worrying. The pressure radiating from the warriors before them was that extraordinary. Wielding this energy was one thing; taking on several warriors of that caliber alone was another entirely.

But Noel put his worries to shame by casually striding in front of him and ushering him back. As though that were their signal, the Tribal Alliance’s warriors charged toward them together, roaring loudly enough to send tingles through his entire body.

The charge was terrifying enough to make his knees go weak just watching it. They were plainly people, yet it felt like facing an enormous vehicle hurtling toward him at full speed.

And despite all that, the person facing them remained utterly unruffled.

“Shall I give you a demonstration?”

The pure-white energy she had drawn out began coursing fiercely through her entire body, centered on her heart.

“Law.”

The word left Noel’s lips with solemn reverence.

“I vow.”

A consecration offered directly to a god—one means of “communicating” with the divine to strengthen a supernatural power. It could be called the principal prayer offered to Karva, chief deity of the Empire.

“Victory in battle.”

The heavenly deity answered her vow, and pure-white energy imbued her arm with far greater force than before.

“Supernatural power becomes much more precise when imbued into ‘matter’ with a definite form, like this. You can put it into your body, but putting it into a weapon is more efficient.”

“... I see.”

“Of course...”

Speaking as calmly as ever, Noel threw a straight punch without moving from her spot, just as Aiden had done a few times before.

Unlike his, however, hers was vastly more practiced.

“If you can wield pure-white energy, you can do this much barehanded.”

Her entire body might as well have been a launch platform, firing her punch like a shell. From her planted foot through her legs, up through the pivot of her waist, her back, then her arm—all of it converged on a single point at the end of her fist, ready to fire.

And pure-white energy was the purest of all energies. That purity gave it an explosive instantaneous [output] that all other supernatural powers combined could not match.

Empowered still further by consecration, the result was...

BOOM!!

KABOOM!!!!

Aiden’s mouth fell open. It was as though everything in front of her had been shoved backward wholesale.

The air tore apart. The force field surrounding the platform shuddered and crackled, and screams erupted from the stands. Everything around the arena whipped about at once, as though a sudden storm had struck.

Her fist hadn’t even hit them. The air pressure released from its tip alone sent the charging Tribal Alliance warriors flying, screaming, to the far side of the arena.

Several superhumans had been charging in with the destructive force of eight-ton trucks with failed brakes. She had driven every last one of them back with nothing but the aftermath of a punch thrown from a standing position.

“...”

Aiden stared blankly at Noel in front of him.

Was she even human...?

“Does that give you an idea?”

“...”

Unfortunately, after doing all that, Noel turned to him with a perfectly straight face and asked a question that left him even more stupefied.

She really seemed to think this was nothing...

‘... Not really?’

What, exactly, was he supposed to have learned from that? He had certainly learned more than enough to know that he and Noel were fundamentally different breeds.

“I imagine simply following that example would be more than enough to provide His Majesty’s ‘proof of worth.’”

“... Pardon?”

“If you can use pure-white energy, a technique like this is nothing special. You would know better than I do how much potential that ‘color’ holds, but I’d like you to show just a fraction of it this time.”

“...”

He was supposed to copy what she’d just done?

Him?

“—!”

“—!!”

Before he could even fully register his dizziness, the Tribal Alliance warriors in front of him were springing to their feet. They had merely been knocked away, so naturally they hadn’t suffered any significant injuries. It made sense that they could get up like that.

The bad news was that they clearly found what had just happened humiliating. Thick veins stood out on all their foreheads, as though they were beside themselves with rage.

They probably thought Noel was toying with them.

And unlike before, Noel showed little sign of stopping them as they charged again.

‘... Just my luck.’

Aiden barely managed the thought as he struggled to steady his spinning mind.

‘Still, I have to do what I have to do...’

Ever since he had become entangled with this woman through their sham marriage, he had been prepared to get dragged into danger of one kind or another. That was why he had told the Emperor he would step up himself.

He wasn’t confident he could reproduce what Noel had just done, but he did have one thing he could rely on.

He quickly summoned his status window. He intended to use the one remaining chance to copy a skill from Noel that he had saved earlier.

-System Message

▶ Copying ‘Energy Enhancement: Consecration.’

The same method of manipulating energy Noel had used. The moment he learned the skill, knowledge of how to use it flowed naturally into his mind, as though someone were typing clear, distinct letters into his head.

“... Law. I vow.”

Facing the warriors charging furiously toward him, Aiden released a sudden rush of energy around his body.

He caught sight of Noel giving a slight nod beside him. She looked as though she had known all along that he could do it. All he had to do now was wield that energy and copy what she had done.

There was no room for anything to go wrong. At least, that was what Noel seemed to think.

Aiden himself had something a little different in mind.

“...”

He turned his head and surveyed his surroundings. He looked at Noel, then took in the Emperor and the chieftain, who would be watching from high in the stands.

If this went well, he would get a direct reaction from those people, too.

And if it didn’t?

‘... I’ll just have to figure something out then.’

After all, this was the only thing he had to fall back on right now.

His lips moved as he prepared to finish the consecration. That alone sent pure-white energy surging from his heart, while a heavy pressure seemed to bind his entire body.

Even though it was a one-way message sent up to the heavens, he could immediately sense that the being at the other end truly was divine.

Speak your desire. Offer your vow. It felt as though those whispers kept coming without end.

But rather than continue speaking, Aiden was preparing to do something a little different.

‘Please, let this work...!’

With that near-prayer in his heart, divinity rose from his body. Colorless flames—the supernatural power he had taken from a princess of the Holy Kingdom whose face he had never even seen.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Noel’s face go pale.

“Is that divinity...? No, how could you possibly—”

But before she could finish reacting, he pushed it into the pure-white energy pouring from his heart.

The colorless flames rising from his feet collided hotly with the energy. The two forces probed one another as though seeking to devour each other, then mingled, seeming to melt together.

“... Aiden...?”

Beside him, he heard Noel’s voice as she watched. She sounded unable to believe what she was seeing. Her deathly pale face and trembling eyes bore that out.

Her reaction spoke volumes about just how surreal a phenomenon she was witnessing.

The authorities of gods had mixed.

Two domains that should never have mingled had fused together.

In response to that phenomenon, a stream of messages appeared before Aiden’s eyes.

< System Message >

[ Divinity purifies the backlash of consecration. Energy and divinity are fusing! ]

!! System Message !!

[ You are using two supernatural powers simultaneously. ]

[ <Unique Trait: Omnipotence> has been unlocked. ]

... Taking a deep breath, he read through the messages. Since they had appeared, it seemed his immediate goal had been achieved.

-Skill Info

■ Omnipotence [ Locked ]

This skill is locked. Unlock the first stage by wielding two or more supernatural powers simultaneously.

... That was the one. Ever since he’d seen it last time, he had been determined to put this ability to use.

The question was how powerful the result would actually be.

[ Through the effects of <Unique Trait: Omnipotence>, combining supernatural powers develops new effects! ]

[ You have synthesized <Heart of Pure White> and <The First Vow> to develop <Guardian’s Flame>! ]

... Fortunately, it seemed he didn’t need to worry too much on that score.

The divinity wielded by the Holy Kingdom’s royal family took the form of colorless flames, without a hint of any hue. Fittingly for a supernatural power bestowed by Sier, the god of purification, it could be described as the purest of forms, untainted by anything.

And now, here, “white divinity” spread around Aiden, as though those flames had mixed with pure-white energy. Flames born of divinity had gained a “color” through the influence of another supernatural power.

They burned so fiercely that a vacuum formed around them, making it look as though someone had cut out a piece of the scenery and crumpled it violently in their hands.

“...”

“...”

Aiden blinked blankly.

... Somehow, this looked more dangerous than he had imagined.

Although the match was still in progress, clearly no one cared about continuing it. Not Noel, not the Tribal Alliance’s warriors, not even Dunadan, who was acting as referee.

The moment those flames rose, everyone stopped moving.

FWOOSH...!

And the next moment—

KABOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An enormous pillar of fire erupted around Aiden and struck the broad hemisphere surrounding the platform.

It utterly shattered the defensive force field Noel had erected.