Chapter 108 - Team Competition

And it certainly seemed hard to argue that she lacked the skill to take that role upon herself.

“What the hell is this—”

The speaker’s head snapped backward as if it were about to break off. He immediately crumpled unconscious, in a sequence so flawless it could have been a choreographed scene in a movie...

“...”

As silence settled over the area again, someone spotted an object rolling away from beside the fallen man’s forehead. Presumably, that was what had knocked him out.

The problem was...

“... A pebble?”

...that he had been knocked out by something so trivial. It really was small enough to deserve the name—barely the size of a single finger joint.

“What? This little piece of—”

A pebble buried itself in that speaker’s head, too. He immediately passed out.

“Hey, are you all kidding—”

A pebble lodged in that speaker’s head as well.

“...”

What followed was more of the same. Before anyone could get a word out, a flying stone struck them and they dropped like sick chickens.

Aiden narrowed his eyes at Elisha, who stood in place flicking stones left and right.

The technique was originally called Coin Toss. Usually, people with deft hands threw coins to throw off an opponent’s timing or distract them, but what Elisha was doing now was practically—

'... Is she a machine gun?'

With nothing but a snap of her wrist, she sent pebbles showering all around her in a rapid barrage, as though firing bullets. That probably wasn’t an unreasonable comparison to make...

Some of them were even embedding themselves in people’s flesh like proper throwing weapons.

Amid the assorted cries of “Wah!” “Whoa!” and “Aaaagh!” came Alex’s dazed voice.

“... W-what—do people specially modify rocks to use as weapons these days?”

The situation was absurd enough to make even that preposterous notion sound like a reasonable suspicion.

“Oh, these are just pebbles. Want to feel one?”

“...”

Somehow, Elisha had caught his remark and tossed him a stone. Alex rolled it around in his hand before answering dubiously.

“... It really is just a rock.”

“Right?”

As she spoke, another stone she threw buried itself in the thigh of someone trying to get back up. The sound would not have been out of place accompanied by a bone-crunching effect, and the man clutched his broken leg, choking too hard even to scream.

“... Good God.”

Alex was horrified, but Aiden’s expression had stiffened as well.

'... That’s...'

Perhaps it was because he could see more clearly just what was behind Elisha’s extraordinary display.

'Physical enhancement...'

It was an application no divinity wielder would ever prefer. Of course, enhancing physical abilities through supernatural power was one of the most basic skills a superhuman needed, and there was no reason divinity wielders couldn’t do it.

Hadn’t Aiden himself done just that using the Pontiff’s skill not long ago?

It was a matter of efficiency. Divinity was far more effective when forged directly into a weapon than when used to enhance the body. For physical enhancement, the qi training methods used by the Empire’s knights were the most specialized.

Still, even divinity could be put to use somehow.

-System Message

▶ Activating ‘Skill: Analysis.’

▶ Displaying information on the target.

That is, if she was using the exact same method as Aiden.

'... A wielder of multiple supernatural powers.'

The thought rose within him like a groan. Someone capable of wielding several supernatural powers, divinity among them.

If she could fuse qi and divinity to enhance her body, as he did, even divinity could provide extremely efficient physical enhancement. The haze mingling like a heat shimmer with the billowing, colorless flames around Elisha’s body supported that hypothesis.

And this was the result of that ability.

Everyone here knew at least something about combat. They were by no means the sort of riffraff found on any street corner. Yet she was subduing them simply by standing in place and casually throwing stones. With complete ease.

Indeed, she showed no sign of tiring from the effort.

In other words...

'She’s far more proficient than I am.'

She clearly seemed to wield fewer kinds of supernatural power than Aiden, but her ability to combine and employ the powers she had seemed far superior to his. As if she had been using them for a very long time.

“Hmm.”

By the time she let out that satisfied hum, nobody there could remain properly on their feet except her, Aiden, and Alex.

She surveyed the unconscious royals, who could not so much as groan, then turned toward Aiden.

“Um, well, I-I’ve taken care of them...”

“...”

“W-well, then...”

“Excuse me. Just a moment.”

Rubbing a hand down his face, Aiden called her back. She was fidgeting now, looking nothing like the woman who had just performed that terrifying feat.

“... Why don’t we talk a little more before you go? Appearing out of nowhere, helping me out of nowhere, then disappearing just as suddenly—that’s rather cold, isn’t it?”

“Oh, um, this was just something I decided to do on my own—”

“I’d like to know more about you.”

... He could feel Alex staring at him in shock from beside him. He wanted to smack Alex for muttering that the rumors of him being a “smooth-talking ladies’ man” weren’t unfounded, but he wasn’t really inclined to get angry this time.

'... That line was somewhat deliberate.'

Saying something like that to someone who so clearly liked him would probably cause a change in affection, whether it went up or down. And whatever information appeared with that change could itself provide a clue to her identity.

But the system window that appeared next was completely beyond his expectations.

-System Message

▶ Making contact with target ‘-’.

▶ This target’s affection is already at maximum. Affection cannot be increased any further!

▶ A special interaction is required to copy skills.

▶ A change is occurring in the main scenario!

“...”

... What?

Bewildered, Aiden scanned the window that had appeared. He had occasionally encountered targets whose skills couldn’t be copied and received something else instead, but this was the first time he had been unable to obtain any skills because someone’s affection was already at maximum.

'... It doesn’t even show her name.'

Elisha was probably an alias. If it were her real name, it would have appeared plainly in the system window.

In other words, this woman was concealing her identity. And not even the system window could reveal it.

“...”

After gazing at him for a moment with wavering eyes, Elisha abruptly turned her head away. Even beneath the dark night sky, he could clearly see that she was bright red all the way to her ears.

“You’ll probably keep encountering people like this throughout the s-succession ceremony.”

Still flushed, Elisha bowed her head and stumbled over her words.

“When that happens, I-I’ll help you, just as I did now.”

“... No, I’d at least like to hear why you’re doing—”

“I’ll be going now!”

Before he could ask anything else, Elisha left those words behind and darted away.

“...”

“... Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was just thinking how very talented you are.”

“Talented at what?”

“Must you make me say it?”

This time, Aiden didn’t restrain himself. He smacked Alex on the head.

Of course, even as he did so, he kept wondering who this Elisha he had just met could possibly be.

'... I have no idea.'

There was nothing he could work out. But one impression had certainly stayed with him: she was a very unusual person.

▣

The Grand Temple itself was an enormous facility, but an entire island covered a considerable area, leaving plenty of places where nature remained untouched.

In other words, there could hardly be a better venue for the mock war known as the team competition.

“The event lasts three days. The royal who builds the largest force and takes the most territory during those three days wins. Territory is considered occupied when marked with the flags issued to each of you—”

Amid the dense undergrowth, a priest dispatched by the ceremony’s organizers continued explaining to the assembled royals. His audience, however, looked thoroughly uninterested.

By its very nature, the event inevitably favored those who already had an established power base outside. The gap between contestants at the outset was so large that even reasonably ambitious participants probably hadn’t arrived expecting to score highly in the team competition.

The same went for Aiden. Things might have been different if Noel or Katya could join him, but he had never intended that in the first place, and they weren’t eligible to participate anyway.

Naturally, those who had come as attendants could not take an active part in the succession ceremony. That arrangement suited Aiden better, too.

'I wonder if they’re doing all right...'

While the team competition was underway, Noel and Katya would probably be watching for unexpected developments within the Grand Temple, as he had asked. Something was certain to go wrong during this competition as well. This was his way of preparing for it.

“... Those are the rules of the team competition. I’m sure you’re all familiar with them.”

While Aiden was thinking, the priest concluded his explanation.

“And the following are special provisions issued by Her Holiness the Pontiff.”

“...?”

Everyone looked puzzled by this addition, which had not been part of the previously announced program.

“I will read Her Holiness’s words exactly as written. This is fucking boring and fucking stuffy. What’s the point of calling it a team competition or a mock war if all you do is peacefully fight over territory?”

... Their expressions grew stranger still as he continued.

“Therefore, I am adding a special rule to the team competition for this succession ceremony. Ordinarily, weapons and combat intended to actually kill are forbidden, but this time, anything goes. Everyone will have an equal opportunity. Use any means and methods at your disposal to beat your opponents down.”

“...”

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

“Oh, don’t worry. You won’t actually die. If it looks like you will, I’ll see about saving you.”

“...”

“Of course, even my abilities have limits, so if you really die, you might really die. Well, that would be a shame.”

... The murmuring grew louder.

“And this is the most important part.”

The priest, who had been reading the letter with a grimace, squeezed his eyes shut. As though reading these sentences were sheer hell for him, too.

“If combat results in casualties, the dead contestant’s land belongs to whoever killed them.”

... This time, there weren’t even any murmurs.

“There, you get the gist, don’t you?”

“...”