Copy Skills with Affinity!

Chapter 191

Poor Harvest (3)

The first to notice that something was off was Noel.

It might have been because she possessed the most sensitive qi sense among those present, but even upon closer observation, it was clear that it wasn’t simply because of that.

“Something’s…?”

“I’m busy as hell, what now?!”

And right beside her, Princess Katya, who was preoccupied with brushing away the black fog of the Harvester that kept surging in, snapped irritably.

Just as it looked, they were so persistent that it almost felt like she was literally fighting the air itself. No matter how much she drove them back using her divine power, they showed no sign of retreating at all. Fighting something like that inevitably brought out such irritation… it couldn’t be helped.

However, even Noel, who was right in the middle of that battle, couldn’t help but have her attention drawn elsewhere.

After all, if such an overwhelmingly elegant qi was billowing out right behind her, who wouldn’t?

In fact, even Princess Katya, who had just snapped at her, flinched and turned around.

Normally, when Noel handled that mysterious power that wasn’t originally hers, a golden aura would flow out around her, but the color flowing from Aiden and Cretin now was slightly different from that.

It clearly had a ‘color,’ and while it somewhat resembled the yellowish hue of her golden aura—

‘…Pink?’

How should I put it, beyond just being yellowish, the color felt somewhat… suggestive.

As Noel blankly stared in that direction with such a thought, the presence of Cretin, who was spreading that pink energy around, felt anything but ordinary.

It was already unusual that she was drawing that out endlessly from within her body while floating lightly above the ground, but even Aiden, standing beside her, seemed to realize that the ‘output’ coming from her right now was anything but normal, as he watched her with slightly widened eyes.

And on her finger was a ring.

“……”

Hmm.

Hmmm.

Noel drew in a deep breath.

…If she didn’t, there was a good chance she might charge not toward the black fog coloring their surroundings, but toward Aiden instead. It was an unavoidable process.

Calming herself a bit and observing further, she noticed that the energy flowing out was gradually pushing away the black fog covering the area.

No, pushing it away…?

After watching more carefully, Noel let out a quiet exclamation.

‘…Amazing.’

It wasn’t pushing it away.

…it was ‘devouring’ it.

Something that seemed like a divine proxy in its final form was exerting a terrifying authority, and yet whatever was flowing out from Cretin’s body was steadily consuming it.

There was no clear outlet showing emotion, but perhaps it was just her imagination—the black fog drifting around seemed somehow flustered, as if retreating.

And that realization immediately gave her certainty about what was floating around them right now.

‘…A god.’

The only thing that could directly push back a divine proxy was the god itself.

Reaching that conclusion, Noel narrowed her eyes and looked at Cretin, who was slowly descending to the ground.

She had wondered what Aiden had been preparing, but she never imagined he would be preparing something like ‘actively’ infusing divinity into a human body.

No, more importantly… was something like that even possible in the first place…?

‘…In all of history.’

Even making contact with a god was enough to be recorded as a great human or a saint, yet this man was now summoning gods whenever he wanted, as if calling over a distant friend.

While Noel let out a hollow laugh in disbelief, the Harvester, whose domain was being gradually torn apart, clearly interpreted this situation far more negatively.

[----!]

No actual voice was heard, but a savage, wailing cry seemed to leak out between the fog.

Accompanied by a sound filled with deathly aura that would make any living being’s legs tremble and heart tighten just by hearing it, the fog immediately surged toward Cretin.

Meanwhile, Cretin, who was the target of that attack, clearly didn’t care in the slightest. No, beyond not caring—

“Haam—”

As if she didn’t even properly recognize what situation she was in, a languid sigh slipped from her lips.

And the pink energy that spread from the end of that sigh—

—…

…met the black fog.

—………………………………!

Without leaving a trace.

With a soft, smack.

It devoured all of it.

It wasn’t even a fight. The difference in their levels was simply too vast.

[----?]

To the point that, even as it was being consumed upon contact, the Harvester’s final reaction was closer to ‘confusion.’

It couldn’t even bring forth fear, regret, or any intense emotion.

As if it didn’t even understand what was happening to it.

Like suddenly dying in a natural disaster.

The black fog was instantly devoured and disappeared by that energy.

“……”

I stared at the scene with my mouth agape.

“……”

“Why?”

The very person who had caused such a scene was instead tilting her head at Aiden, who stood there dumbfounded.

It was as if she didn’t even recognize what she had just done.

“……I knew there was some difference between the main body and a proxy, but still……”

As Aiden trailed off while saying that, Cretin scratched her cheek and gave an awkward smile.

“Ah, did something happen?”

“…….”

…Well, yes.

What stood here right now wasn’t someone who occasionally borrowed a god’s authority, but a human who actually contained the ‘main body’ of a god.

I already knew that the level of authority they could wield would be worlds apart.

I knew that, but still.

“…………………….”

A stunned silence blanketed the surroundings.

This was too much.

What had just existed here, even if sealed, was a proxy of an Outsider feared by all gods….

As I blankly mulled over that thought—

“Aha, so you guys are ‘first,’ huh?”

Cretin—no, more precisely, ‘Aria’ inside her—clearly had her attention on something else entirely.

It was obvious from how she showed not the slightest interest in the Harvester she had just erased and instead immediately darted toward Noel and Princess Katya.

“……Uh, um?”

Sensing instinctively that the being before her was not the usual Cretin, Noel stammered as she spoke.

“Aria. God of Love and Intercourse.”

“……May I address you as Lady Aria?”

“Yeah, yeah! Call me whatever you like!”

Saying that, Aria spread her arms wide and pulled Noel to one side and Princess Katya to the other into an embrace as she spoke brightly.

“You’ll all be living under the same roof together soon anyway!”

“………….”

Just from the words alone, it sounded warm, like a mother reuniting with her daughters after a long time.

But everyone here could tell that wasn’t what she meant.

At the casually dropped bombshell, Noel’s body seemed to crack apart.

…Not literally, but her reaction was so intense that anyone would have believed it if there were visual effects to match.

“……C-Could you, perhaps, explain what you mean by that…?”

At that reaction, Aria tilted her head.

“Huh? You’re not married yet?”

“…….”

“From our perspective, timelines are usually all tangled up front and back, so we end up making mistakes like this all the time. Honestly.”

“…….”

…Noel’s face was turning paler and paler.

And that was only natural, because the meaning implied in Aria’s words—

“……Forgive me, Lady Aria.”

“Hm?”

“Does that mean that later, Sir Aiden will form something like a polygamous relationship and live together with multiple partners—”

“He’ll have multiple children too, though?”

Noel staggered.

Beside her, Princess Katya, who had been quietly listening, nodded as if she somehow found that believable.

“Th-that, I-I—”

“If you mean it’s hard to accept, honestly, it’s better to just give up.”

“…….”

“It’ll happen whether you accept it or not. You can already feel it yourself, can’t you? Trying to monopolize him alone is already an impossible situation—”

As Aria continued speaking, her head suddenly jerked forward.

It looked as if someone had struck the back of her head violently from behind.

Judging by how she grimaced, she might have even bitten her tongue from the impact, as she glared at empty air.

“Say it with words, with words. Seriously….”

“……Pardon?”

“There’s someone nagging me not to reveal too much since you’ll experience it anyway. Maybe because he’s the God of Ascension, he prefers humans to change on their own.”

Though words with unclear meaning kept spilling out one after another, in any case—

Noel, clutching her dizzy head, spoke again.

“-So, to summarize what you’re saying.”

“Yeah.”

“Sir Aiden will, besides me, also enter into engagements with other women—”

“Yeah.”

“-And even in that process, everything that engaged partners would normally do will all be carried out to the very end—”

“Yeah.”

Just hearing those casual affirmations already made her insides feel like they were turning over, but Noel still managed to continue speaking with difficulty.

“……And you’re saying I will accept all of that?”

“You’re already half-giving up, aren’t you?”

“…….”

“So, here’s some advice from the God of Love.”

Saying that, Aria let go of Princess Katya and placed her hands on Noel’s shoulders.

“I can tell you’ve got something you want to do. You’ve prepared something, right?”

“…….”

Noel’s eyes widened.

“If you’re going to do it, do it quickly.”

“…….”

“That way, it’ll be easier for you too.”

“…….”

As Noel stared blankly at her, the pink energy behind Cretin suddenly withdrew in a rush.

As if she had said everything she needed to say, it looked like Aria was leaving that body.

“When you have the group wedding later, make sure to invite me too—”

Watching her fade away while leaving those lingering words behind, Princess Katya finally spoke in a low voice.

“……Hey.”

“…………Yes.”

“Is ‘group’ and ‘wedding’ something that can even go together in one phrase?”

“Please shut your mouth.”

Rarely, Princess Katya did not get angry even after being spoken to harshly.

…No, more precisely, it was clear that she still had enough sense left to realize that getting angry right now would not be appropriate.