Copy Skills with Affinity!

Chapter 189

Poor HarvestThe first to react was Katya Heinkel Craven.

As expected of someone who had risen close to the head of a religious nation, she seemed accustomed to observing the nature of such beings. The moment she saw the Harvester lifting its body, she immediately began operating her supernatural ability.

Her expression had stiffened, clearly having realized that its state had changed compared to before.

“-This lowly one offers a prayer.”

Hearing her murmur that sentence under her breath, Aiden flinched and turned his gaze toward her.

A vow offered to Sia, meant to amplify and utilize divine power.

Ever since her prior contact with Sia, he had never once seen her use divine power in a way that involved ‘enhancing’ it like this.

It was proof that she considered the opponent that dangerous.

In an instant, colorless flames formed around Katya’s body. The sheer heat radiating in all directions made Aiden instinctively take a step back, as if his entire body were being scorched just by being near.

And toward the staggering black energy that was beginning to rise, Katya fired it without hesitation.

As the flames, filled to the brim with divine power, struck its body, the black energy seemed to evaporate once again along with a choking plume of smoke.

But despite landing such an attack, Katya’s face only grew more distorted than before.

“…This isn’t good.”

Watching the Harvester scatter and disperse in all directions, Katya muttered with a sigh.

Sensing that she had realized something from that single strike, Aiden glanced at her.

Meeting his gaze that seemed to demand an explanation, Katya spoke while once again aligning several flames around her.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s taking any damage at all.”

“Didn’t it just disappear?”

“It feels like fighting air. Even if it scatters for a moment after being hit, it comes right back immediately.”

Soon after, she formed several hand seals.

The flames around her began to shift chaotically, aligning, merging, and eventually taking the shape of a far more threatening ‘weapon.’

And then all of those flames poured down toward where the Harvester’s presence lingered.

It was a bombardment of such overwhelming firepower that any ordinary human wouldn’t even leave behind a corpse, let alone withstand it.

It was such a terrifying chain of attacks that even Cretin, standing behind Aiden, let out a quiet gasp without realizing it—but what remained in that place was still that faint, boundary-like presence of the Harvester.

“…That said, it doesn’t seem like facing that thing head-on will lead to anything good either.”

“Want to test it?”

Saying that, Katya shrugged her shoulders and created a blade of fire, slicing off her own arm—

“…Ah, that hurts! Damn it, I have pain again now….”

“……”

Seeing that old habit still remained, Aiden was once again reminded of just how insane the things she used to casually do had been.

While he was mulling over that thought, Katya, on the verge of tears, threw the severed arm she had cut off toward the place where the Harvester’s energy was churning.

And then, immediately after—

Crunch—

The arm she threw was instantly dragged into the darkness and ground to pieces.

Or rather, it was torn apart and ‘digested’ as if something were devouring it.

It truly felt like it was being consumed.

“…So it really is something acting on behalf of the God of Devouring. The name fits perfectly.”

As Katya twisted her lips and said that, Noel—who still had a clear ‘井’ vein mark on her forehead but was now beginning to grasp the situation—took a deep breath and turned her head in that direction.

…Of course, before turning, she shot a sharp glare at Aiden and Cretin, clearly expressing that she would demand a proper explanation later.

“Then, what about this?”

A mixture of white and gold energy burst out from her body.

Soon, that energy intertwined with her sword and was released forward in the form of a fierce slash.

But once again, the opponent’s reaction to being struck was utterly lukewarm.

The part that was hit scattered, but the rest steadily filled the empty space, returning bit by bit to its original form.

“…It has no effect whatsoever.”

As Noel clicked her tongue and muttered that, Aiden quietly nodded in agreement.

And it wasn’t just that their attacks weren’t working.

“Isn’t it spreading?”

Just as Noel pointed out, the range affected by the Harvester was actually expanding the more it was struck.

If anything, the more it was attacked, the more its influence spread.

And it was also noticeable that any ‘living being’ within that range was being completely devoured.

The weeds on the ground, the insects flying nearby, even the small wild animals that had raised their heads in surprise at the commotion—

The moment they entered the black mist spread by the Harvester, they were all crushed and devoured with a grotesque crunching sound, causing everyone present to frown.

“…I think I understand why that guy Wornil was sealed away.”

“If that’s truly the power of a god… shouldn’t it have been torn to pieces completely instead of merely being sealed?”

Leaving Noel and Katya exchanging such words, Aiden rolled his eyes around, organizing the situation.

‘In truth, if you think about it—’

This was a situation that could be called a desperate, life-or-death crisis.

To begin with, the enemy’s abilities alone were absurd—immune to physical attacks, immune to supernatural abilities. It was truly a maddening combination.

It was such an unreasonable setup that one couldn’t even understand how it was meant to be dealt with.

“…Wasn’t it made so we’re not supposed to fight it in the first place?”

“……”

“Isn’t the very idea of trying to somehow beat something like that fundamentally wrong?”

Hmm.

That was a fair point. There was nothing to refute…

As Aiden found himself unconsciously agreeing, Noel and Katya—who had been glaring at him as if they could devour him—let out a sigh and began walking forward.

“…Everyone?”

As Aiden spoke in a flustered voice, Katya waved her hand dismissively, as if wondering why he was making such a big deal out of it.

“You’ve got something prepared again, don’t you? We’ll play along, so hurry up and do it.”

“……”

“You think we’ve only been running around with you for a day or two? Experience doesn’t pile up for nothing.”

Even so.

The fact that they stepped forward without hesitation against something like that, trusting him—it was something he couldn’t be grateful enough for.

Aiden let out a faint smile at that thought.

“…I need some time.”

Asking them to stall for time against something that was effectively immortal and devoured any living being on contact was one thing—

…but Noel and Katya, who calmly nodded and entered a combat stance against it, were something else entirely.

Aiden suddenly turned toward the two of them and spoke with a serious expression.

“Are you really sure this is—”

“You know.”

Before he could finish, Katya spoke, releasing divine power in all directions.

At the same time, Noel began circulating her qi fiercely throughout her entire body, and the sheer backlash from the power erupting between the two of them began to create storm-like pressure in all directions.

They hadn’t even used any abilities yet, and just by releasing their power, this was the level of impact.

“……”

If one were to think in terms of growth curves in a game, these two were individuals who had already hit the ceiling.

And from Aiden’s perspective—

ever since coming into contact with the gods, they had been growing at a terrifying speed that made that evaluation entirely believable.

He had felt Noel’s strength several times before, but he hadn’t realized that even Katya had become this strong.

“Who do you think is worrying about whom?”

“……”

That was true.

If they were capable of this, then at the very least, things wouldn’t spiral completely out of control.

As the two of them faced the Harvester’s energy, which had already spread wide and engulfed the surroundings, Aiden turned his head and grabbed Cretin’s shoulder tightly—

“……”

“……”

“…Sir.”

“…Yes.”

Feeling Noel’s gaze as she emitted golden energy in thick waves, Aiden called out to her in a low voice.

Judging by her curt reply, she clearly wasn’t pleased with the situation at all.

“I’ll explain everything later.”

“You’d better.”

“I’m confident.”

“……”

Noel took a deep breath and shut her eyes tightly.

“I’ll ask just one thing.”

“Yes.”

“Are you planning to do something that will make me even more furious than I already am?”

“…Yes.”

Noel’s face began turning red.

No—beyond red, it almost looked like it was turning blue from how enraged she was.

“…May I ask just how infuriating it’s going to be?”

“…Dame Noel, there’s no need for you to hear that—”

“Say it. Now.”

“……”

…This was the first time he had ever been spoken to informally to his face since meeting her.

In a way, it felt like the personality she had shown when she once connected with Karva was becoming more and more convincing.

Aiden shut his eyes tightly as cold sweat trickled down his face.

In some ways, saying this in front of her right now felt more terrifying than the life-threatening situation they were in…

“…I’m going to give her a ring.”

“……”

“…Something like an engagement.”

As Noel and Cretin both froze blankly at the same time—

the golden aura erupting around Noel’s body intensified several times over.

Soon, she drew her sword with the clear intent to tear apart anything in sight.

Aiden instinctively stepped back, but fortunately, the blade didn’t come flying at him.

“You bastard!!!”

“……”

Leaving behind Noel, who charged forward while shouting something that could have been directed either at him or at the Harvester, Aiden cleared his throat and turned toward Cretin.

“…Well, as you just heard.”

“……”

“I’m not actually going to do it, but we at least need to make it look like an engagement.”

Saying that, Aiden fumbled inside his coat, pulled out a ring, and firmly placed it on Cretin’s ring finger.

“…No, no, no—what kind of meaning does this even have?”

“It has meaning.”

The moment Aiden answered firmly—

“It’s the God of Love and Intercourse, after all. This is practically a ritual offering to that side—”

[Did you call me?]

“……”

Before he could even finish, a voice rang out, causing both Aiden and Cretin to stare blankly into the air.

Familiar—was that the right word?

For Cretin, it was a face she had already seen once before.

[To be called by someone so popular… what an honor.]

As a giant version of Cretin appeared, winking as she spoke, both Aiden and Cretin stared at her with dumbfounded expressions.