Chapter 8 - Deathwish

People who trade insults without a second thought could be said to understand each other rather well. The speed with which the Emperor and Dunadan reached the same conclusion lent that observation some weight.

“... If word of this gets out, we’ll have a mess on our hands.”

“I agree, Your Majesty.”

There was one fact known to everyone who wielded supernatural powers. Each was a god’s own authority, bestowed upon their subjects. In other words, power in its purest form, something that must neither be damaged nor altered.

Those born within a god’s domain and granted a supernatural power were bound to that authority alone. To wield another, they had no choice but to surrender it. Wielding such powers simultaneously was an extraordinarily rare talent. It meant, in other words, that several gods had chosen the same person.

And now this Aiden fellow had used two of the most unusual powers at once: pure-white energy, which only Noel had been able to wield, and divinity, which only the Holy Kingdom’s royalty could wield. When it came to difficulty of acquisition, neither would concede first place.

“I was looking forward to seeing what he’d show us, but still.”

Muttering those words, the Emperor snapped shut the folder on the table. Inside was a photograph someone had had the presence of mind to take at the time. It showed the eruption tearing through Noel’s force field as though it were cardboard.

“Even among the Holy Kingdom’s royals, only two could pull off anything like that.”

“The Pontiff and Deathwish?”

“Yes.”

“... Quite a diamond in the rough.”

Of course, it seemed premature to rank him alongside the monsters who represented entire nations. Even so, he had unmistakably shown the potential to stand among them.

On the bright side, this alone would instantly sweep away most claims that he had no right to claim the position of the Lionhearted’s bridegroom. They had accomplished what they had set out to do. The problem was that they had accomplished it rather too well.

The Emperor frowned as he relit his pipe. True to a man who had seen every sort of absurdity since ascending the imperial throne, he was making cold calculations despite his surprise.

“Dunadan.”

“Yes?”

“Make sure your people keep their mouths shut.”

“Of course.”

“Just telling them won’t be enough. Borrow personnel from the Imperial Assassination Bureau if you need to, and put every last one of them under surveillance.”

“Some people will inevitably hear about it.”

“I don’t expect to keep it completely under wraps for long. But making it obvious that the Emperor is taking this much interest should hold them off for a while. Anyone trying to lay claim to him will be picking a fight with me.”

It was absurd to expect someone so talented to remain unknown forever. But at the very least, word could not be allowed to spread right now. The continent had yet to finish repairing even the direct damage from the war. If a prize catch this appetizing landed in their midst, it was not hard to imagine the ensuing chaos.

There was another reason they wanted to avoid that situation. The Emperor and Dunadan were entertaining the same thought.

“... Too good to let someone else have him, eh?”

“Of course.”

The Emperor and Dunadan grinned at each other. Handing someone else a guaranteed winning lottery ticket would simply hurt too much.

“Noel’s already got him on the hook, so let’s use her to keep him with us for now.”

He had thought she had dragged in some scrawny weakling. What an unexpected windfall. Having said his piece, the Emperor looked down once more at the pillar of flame captured in the file.

It was, in fact, a rather intriguing sight.

‘The pure-white energy Noel uses, and divinity with temperatures extreme even for royalty...’

Energy essentially lacked any special properties, but excelled in output and total volume. Divinity offered devastating offensive power through heat, but its output was difficult to increase.

Yet the pillar of fire Aiden had produced seemed to blend pure-white energy’s strength in output with divinity’s strength in offensive power. As though their two properties had been combined. Divinity pouring forth like pure-white energy.

‘Surely not.’

The Emperor chuckled and refilled his pipe with tobacco. Even so, that was far too wild an assumption. To blend two supernatural powers, taking only the strengths of each? If such a thing were truly possible...

‘... That would be omnipotence.’

There was no telling what sort of monster he would eventually become.

▣

- System Log

▶ You have made contact with ‘the Emperor of the Empire,’ Lionel XIII.

▶ You have made contact with ‘Dragon Hunter,’ Dunadan U`zal.

▶ These are major supporting characters capable of influencing the story.

▶ Your influence on the main story increases.

▶ A new special ability has been unlocked!

- Skill Info

◈ Weaver of Fate

【 Noel Astria Seamus 】

- Bond: Level 2

◆ Heart of Pure White

◆ Energy Enhancement: Consecration

【 Katya Heinkel Craven 】

- Bond: Level 1

◆ The First Vow

『 Lionel XIII 』

- Bond: Level 1

- You may copy 1 skill.

『 Dunadan U`zal 』

- Bond: Level 1

- You may copy 1 skill.

Aiden stroked his chin as he examined the new information. Things seemed to have worked out exactly as he had expected.

‘I certainly stood out.’

He had thought these two might react if things went well, but even he had not anticipated that much firepower. Thanks to that, he had earned a chance to copy one skill from each of these extraordinary men. He had no reason to complain.

However.

- Quest Info

▶ Failure in the events listed here will incur severe penalties!

◈ Sham Marriage

- You have been chosen as Dame Noel’s spouse. Maintain your contract with her to the very end!

◈ Act 1, < Rift in the Capital >

- Your contact with key scenario figures is approaching sufficient frequency.

- You will soon be formally incorporated into the scenario. Your course of action will determine its direction!

- A related event will occur soon. (D-3)

It was good that he had received skill-copying opportunities to prepare for the event. But couldn’t it have thrown him something a little more reasonable? Wasn’t this going too far?

No. This couldn’t happen...!

He was now on the verge of entering this world’s main scenario, the very thing he had worked so hard to avoid. Gathering skills was only meant to prepare him for the dangers immediately in front of him. He had absolutely no intention of actually replacing the protagonist!

‘I’m getting out of this, one way or another...!’

Ever since he had first been dragged here, that goal had never changed. He did not even want to imagine the road through hell that awaited him if he got pulled into the scenario. Worse still, it now said that a new event would occur within three days to drag him into it.

‘Looking on the bright side...’

Something would definitely happen then, so at least he could prepare. Until now, he had simply been dragged along by events he knew nothing about. At least he had some idea of what sort of event this one might be. Whether he could escape the scenario would probably be decided here.

“...”

Aiden began painstakingly searching through his hazy memories of the original story. Given its progression, he had a fair idea of what kind of event this would be. If it was explicitly tied to the scenario itself, then, though he could not say for certain, the odds of a peaceful chat were exceedingly low.

There would be violence, blood, and someone’s suffering. In that case, what he needed right now was a combat ability.

■ Omnipotence [ Level 1 ]

You may combine two or more supernatural powers to produce more powerful effects.

▶ Combinations discovered

〓 Guardian’s Flame (Heart of Pure White ↔ The First Vow)

Properties: High Output, High Firepower

Deploys divinity using pure-white energy as its foundation. It has greater firepower than ordinary divinity and can affect a much wider area than divinity used on its own.

※ As the skill’s level increases, you may combine more supernatural powers and gain additional effects.

※ Increase the number of supernatural powers you can wield to raise the skill’s level!

■ Origin [ Locked ]

This skill is locked.

... In that respect, the entries here were quite reassuring, even if he could hardly call them a natural fit for him. They would be his lifeline when the event struck in three days.

‘So I can mix supernatural powers to amplify their effects...’

Aiden still found the very concept of supernatural powers rather confusing, so he could not tell just how significant that was. Still, with a trait like this, he could readily draw one conclusion: the more kinds of supernatural power he had, the more enormously his options would expand.

Then his best option right now was...

『 Dunadan U`zal 』

- Bond: Level 1

- You may copy 1 skill.

This man, of course. When he selected that window, the man’s skills filled his vision in a long list. Most looked fearsome enough to suit the title Dragon Hunter, but Aiden was looking for only one thing.

- System Message

▶ Copying ‘General Supernatural Power: Dharmic Power.’

The dharmic power the Tribal Alliance warriors wielded through prohibitions. He would have to learn how to use it, but given the nature of his abilities, no other skill could offer him greater efficiency right now.

“...”

Of course, one person remained as unchanging as ever, even under these circumstances. Aiden spoke as he stole glances at Noel before him. Despite yesterday’s chaos, her attitude was almost exactly the same.

“Is there something you’d like to ask?”

Apparently noticing his glances, Noel immediately offered him a faint smile and that question. Despite the enormous incident so recently, her demeanor remained unchanged. Polite. A smile worn like a mask.

“... No.”

He remembered her turning pale with shock when he wielded divinity yesterday. Now, sitting with him in her office, she was no different from usual. When he put that observation into a question, her answer came in the same even manner.

“Certainly, I was very surprised when I first saw it—”

“But?”

“Didn’t I tell you from the beginning? I brought you here because I couldn’t see the ceiling of your abilities.”

“...”

“... And frankly, you’ve made it quite obvious that you knew me long ago, Aiden, even if I don’t remember it.”

Ah. Right. Come to think of it, he had recently pulled that con to get himself out of a tight spot. From Noel’s perspective, this was merely one more hidden fact coming to light about a man whose identity remained a mystery.

“You still have no intention of explaining what you meant before, do you?”

“...”

Dame Noel, smiling with her chin propped on her hand and speaking in that quietly suggestive voice, was admittedly intimidating. But there was no way he could explain. He had never even met her before all this...!

“Then just stay as you are. Finding out for myself will be more entertaining.”

“...”

Again, there was nothing to find. Sighing inwardly, Aiden stretched back against his chair. He was trying to find even a little peace.

Of course...

- System Message

A window popping up without warning robbed him of even that modest attempt at rest.

▶ ‘Deathwish,’ Katya Heinkel Craven’s affection for you increases!

▶ Your Bond level increases!

- Skill Info

◈ Weaver of Fate

Only you know the truth of this world. Earn new rewards by building Bonds with key figures in the main story!

【 Katya Heinkel Craven 】

- Bond: Level 2

- You may copy 1 skill.

Aiden’s eyes narrowed fiercely. ... What now?

▣

There was one room in the royal palace of the Holy Kingdom of Craven that everyone dreaded entering. Its lights were always off, from morning to night, and strange noises rang from within at all hours.

Senior officials often used it to trick newcomers into believing the place was haunted, with a fairly high success rate. But no one would dare make such a joke in public. Everyone in the palace knew perfectly well whose room it was.

“Katya.”

The Holy Kingdom’s first prince, Alester Pansius Craven, spoke again in a worried voice. The golden vestments marking him as the legitimate heir gave off a faint glow, allowing him a reasonably clear view of what his younger sister was doing even in the darkness.

“... Did you hear me, Katya?”

A gunshot answered him. The sounds of flesh being mangled and bone shattering filled the room. Such things had no place intruding upon a leisurely conversation, yet neither person’s expression changed: neither the first prince, who had witnessed the gun being fired, nor the second princess, who had pressed it between her own eyebrows and pulled the trigger.

“I keep telling you to stop doing that.”

Even watching this, Alester’s voice remained level, as though he were scolding an unruly child for a prank. As though he had seen her do this dozens upon dozens of times.

And indeed, the reply came in an innocent, childlike voice that suited his tone.

“Oh, I didn’t hear you. What did you say?”

She seemed utterly unbothered despite having shot herself in the head.

“...”

Alester gazed into the darkness with troubled eyes. Wet, sticky sounds kept coming from within, seeming to burrow into his ears. Though his view was obscured, he could imagine what was happening to his sister’s bullet-pierced head.

Incomprehensible. Disgusting. Revolting. Horrific. Even the kindest description would surely struggle to escape those bounds.

Katya Heinkel Craven. A peerless genius whose talent was overwhelming even among the Holy Kingdom’s royalty. A monster who could contend for a place among history’s greatest divinity users. Yet the nature of her supernatural power was, to her, nothing less than a curse.

Alester lowered his gaze and continued calmly.

“It’s a mission. Mother issued it herself. She said someone important has appeared in the Empire.”

“Someone important?”

“Apparently, he possesses divinity. Despite not being a member of the Holy Kingdom’s royal family.”

That seemed to surprise even Katya. Her golden eyes, clearly visible in the darkness, turned toward Alester and blinked with a clear light.

“How is that possible?”

“They say he possesses multiple supernatural powers.”

“Didn’t those people only exist in historical records?”

“Apparently, they’ve found one.”

“How reliable is that?”

“Very.”

Katya blinked in silence for a moment. She was clearly piecing together the situation from what she had just heard. In contrast to her utterly bizarre behavior, her mind was quick enough to be called keen.

“Then we need to bring him here?”

Her immediate deduction of what the Pontiff wanted, without any further explanation, was proof enough. Alester nodded with a wry smile.

“I think you’ll have to go yourself. You may use force, but you must bring him back.”

“Why me? Isn’t that using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken? Has Her Holiness finally gone mad?”

Alester’s wry smile deepened at the brazen blasphemy. In truth, she had a point. Bringing the man to the Holy Kingdom would not, in itself, be difficult. Divinity belonged to its royal family, and if it had manifested in an outsider, they had to investigate at the very least. The Holy Kingdom had justification on its side.

And yet there was a reason they were sending such a profoundly unstable... monster.

“He’s the Lionhearted’s bridegroom.”

Katya’s eyes narrowed the moment she heard that.

“We can’t predict how the Lionhearted will react when her own bridegroom is involved. More importantly, the Emperor has already declared his intention to protect him. There may be an armed clash.”

“The Lionhearted’s bridegroom?”

“Yes. His name was—”

“Aiden Kellermain.”

This time, Alester’s eyebrows twisted oddly at what he heard.

“... That’s right. How do you know? He was a complete unknown until yesterday.”

“He caught my interest a little.”

With that, Katya yawned and rolled about on the bed. Apart from the gruesome surroundings, she looked exactly like a languid cat.

“Brother. This Aiden person.”

“Yes?”

“How strong is he? What do you think?”

“... Even the rumors suggest he’s formidable. I can’t say for now, but he’ll certainly become powerful.”

“Enough to kill me?”

At her still-innocent reply, Alester bit his lip until it bled. No one understood the intent behind that question better than he did.

“... There’s every possibility.”

“Oh.”

Katya beamed.

“Then I absolutely have to bring him here.”

They called her Deathwish. One who wished for death. The woman who bore that name answered with a smile of utter innocence.

“I’ll be off, then. To the Empire.”