Chapter 7

Synthesis

"Give back the territory you stole, you barbarian."

"...It has been a while since we last met, Your Majesty."

Even though the Emperor hurled a vulgar insult right into his face the moment he saw him, the chieftain of the Great Plains—Dunadan simply offered a polite greeting with an expressionless face. He looked exceedingly accustomed to this, as if such incidents had happened more times than he could count.

In fact, despite the fact that a diplomatic catastrophe was unfolding in real time, no one around them made any effort to stop it. They only managed bitter smiles.

Regardless of all this talk about stealing territory, that land had originally been ceded directly by the Emperor himself to the tribal alliance, who had been steadfast allies throughout the war.

"What do you think of the Empire's current war division? Are they as robust as ever?"

"They have thinned out a little compared to before. Near the end of the war, there was a bit of..."

The Emperor swallowed his words for a moment.

"...a variety of incidents."

"..."

Understanding what the Emperor was referring to, Dunadan smirked faintly.

There truly had been a dreadful incident.

The fall of the Empire's greatest star.

"-Someone will surely fill the seat of the Warden of the Nation, Your Majesty. And the Prince will, someday, return to his former—"

"Enough. How about your war division?"

The Emperor's voice cut him off brusquely, and Dunadan held back another smirk inside.

He, too, knew well that it was not the sort of event that could be consoled with a few words. It was best to follow the shift in subject.

"I have brought mostly young warriors brimming with vigor and the will to fight."

"That's a flattering way to describe a bunch of fledglings."

"Then why, knowing that, did you send something like that?"

Dunadan lifted his gaze to the stage where the sparring match was scheduled to take place.

Unlike the dozens of tribal alliance warriors warming up before the fight, the Empire's side was almost absurdly sparse.

One woman sat still with her eyes closed, as if she were meditating.

And simply by sitting there, she seemed to radiate such an oppressive presence that even the surrounding air felt weighted down.

It could only be called the majesty of a predator.

"Are you not taking this a bit too seriously? Bringing the Lionhearted to what is, at most, an exchange event."

In that voice, tinged with even reverence, the Emperor gave a short laugh and bit down on his cigarette.

"Still, it's only one person. It's not as if I don't know how well the warriors of your alliance fight."

"...You truly do exaggerate too much."

As Dunadan spoke, he looked back down toward the bottom of the stage.

With little time left before the sparring began, he could see the Lionhearted taking a deep breath and channeling her qi.

The white qi billowed forth from her heart, soon forming a dome-shaped barrier that enveloped the entire sparring ground.

A safety measure. To prevent the aftermath of the fight from spreading into the surroundings.

Even so.

For a single human to create such a massive hemispherical barrier—it was almost majestic to behold.

Even if qi was an ability that held a relative advantage in sheer output among all powers, ordinarily it would take an entire regiment specialized in this kind of work to accomplish something of this scale.

...It was laughable, really.

To expect the person who was about to fight up there to also handle that kind of task—there was no other way to describe it than an absurdity.

Yet despite that, there was not a single person present who raised any protest about it. If anything, the air was heavy with the sense that this was only natural.

The reason was simple enough.

The woman called Lionhearted was a monster who could do something like this.

‘Heart of Pure White.’

Dunadan’s gaze swept across the qi that made up the dome.

The pinnacle of qi among all that the Empire’s knights could wield.

The reason Lionhearted could serve as a human-shaped “power plant” was all thanks to that special nature of her ability.

“She was the same warrior who was called a one-woman army on battlefields where men fell like kindling. If she’s alone, isn’t that more than sufficient?”

A mischievous smile crept over the Emperor’s face.

“To be precise, she’s not alone.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s one more. He hasn’t come up yet. I’m rather curious to see what he’ll show.”

Without a doubt.

His voice brimmed with anticipation.

▣

…I was so nervous I had to go to the bathroom.

How in the world had things turned out like this?

My gaze shifted forward.

In an era where concrete buildings, black-and-white televisions, and telephones had become commonplace, the image of “barbarian warriors” seemed to have materialized out of nowhere—rough-looking men filling my entire field of view.

“Am I really supposed to brawl with people like that?”

If there had been a negotiation table that could spare me from this, I would have gladly traded a year of my lifespan. That wasn’t just an empty thought—it was my honest conviction…

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

And it was obvious that I wasn’t the only one who recognized this as a troublesome situation.

Just seeing Noel whispering with such an apologetic look made that clear.

Even if, from her perspective, I was someone hiding inexplicable power and an unknown past, that didn’t make it any less of a problem to force me into something this dangerous. She looked like she was carrying her share of guilt.

The problem was that even Noel hadn’t had a good reason to strongly refuse.

■ Omnipotence [ Locked ]

This skill is locked. Open the initial stage by wielding two or more abilities simultaneously.

…This.

Ever since he’d first seen it, he had sworn he would find a way to use this ability.

The question was simply what kind of power it would produce when combined this way.

[ By the effect of <Unique Trait: Omnipotence>, a new effect has been developed by combining the abilities! ]

[ By synthesizing <Heart of Pure White> and <The First Vow>, you have developed <Guardian’s Flame>! ]

…Thankfully.

It seemed he wouldn’t have much to worry about in that regard.

The divinity wielded by the royals of the Holy Crown Kingdom took the form of a colorless flame.

As befitted the power granted by Sia, the God of Purification, it remained in the purest possible state, untainted by any color.

And now, here—

Just as the pure white qi and that flame had mingled, “white divinity” was spreading all around Aiden.

The flame born of divinity, infused with another power, had been given “color.”

It burned so fiercely that the air itself seemed to be drawn away, creating a vacuum that made it look as though someone had cut the scenery out and crumpled it in their hands.

“…”

“…”

Aiden blinked blankly.

…Somehow.

This looked even more dangerous than he’d expected.

And indeed, even as the duel continued in earnest, it was clear that no one dared to interfere with what he’d unleashed.

Not Noel, not the alliance warriors, not Dunadan presiding as referee.

The instant those flames burst forth, not a single person moved.

-…!

And in the next moment—

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

A colossal pillar of flame erupted around Aiden, smashing into the hemispherical barrier surrounding the stage.

And it shattered the protective field Noel had set up—

In the most spectacular, resounding fashion imaginable.