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“Give back the land you stole, you savage.”

“It has been a long time, Your Majesty.”

Despite the emperor’s outburst of insults the moment they saw each other, Chief Dunadan of the Great Plains maintained a stoic expression and greeted politely.

He seemed quite accustomed to this, as if it were not the first time such an exchange had occurred.

Even though a significant diplomatic incident was unfolding in real-time, no one around them did anything to stop it, only offering awkward smiles.

Regardless of the accusations about stolen land, it was the emperor himself who had ceded that territory to the tribal alliance, which had been a reliable ally throughout the war.

“How is the Empire’s war division this time? Are they as healthy as always?”

“They’ve thinned out a little compared to before. Toward the end of the war, a bit…”

The emperor swallowed his words for a moment.

“…there were some things that happened.”

Understanding what the emperor was referring to, Dunadan smirked slightly. 

There had indeed been a terrible incident.

The event where the Empire’s brightest star fell.

“The position of the Warden of the Realm will be filled by someone, Your Majesty. The prince will also return to how he was before, eventually—”

“Enough, how are your war divisions?”

The emperor cut him off sharply, and Dunadan smirked inwardly again.

He knew all too well that this wasn’t an event that could be soothed with a few comforting words.

It was better to go along with the flow of conversation.

“I’ve brought a group of young warriors full of energy and eager to fight.”

“Isn’t that just a nice way to describe a bunch of greenhorns?”

“And knowing that, why would you send someone like her?”

Dunadan glanced up at the stage where the duel was set to take place.

While the warriors of the allied tribes were warming up for the battle, the Empire’s side looked rather sparse.

One woman sat calmly with her eyes closed, as if in meditation.

Yet even in that stillness, her very presence seemed to weigh down the atmosphere around her, exuding a heavy, almost oppressive aura.

It was the very embodiment of a predator’s majesty.

“Aren’t you taking this too seriously? You’ve sent the Lionheart to what’s supposed to be a mere exchange event.”

Even Dunadan’s voice carried a hint of awe, to which the emperor chuckled and took another drag from his cigarette.

“She’s just one person. It’s not like I’m unaware of how well your warriors can fight.”

“You’re exaggerating too much.”

As Dunadan spoke, he looked down at the stage.

The Lionheart was preparing for the duel, taking a deep breath and channeling her energy.

From her chest, a white aura began to rise and soon expanded into a dome-shaped barrier that covered the entire arena.

It was a safety precaution, meant to prevent the impact of the fight from spreading to the surroundings.

Still.

The sight of a single human creating such a massive hemispherical barrier was almost awe-inspiring.

Even though aura-based abilities naturally had a power output advantage, normally it would take an entire division of specialized soldiers to create something like that.

“…It’s ridiculous, really.”

Having someone who was about to fight perform such a task was nothing short of absurd.

And yet, not a single person in the room protested. 

In fact, there was an air of inevitability about it, as if it was perfectly natural.

The reason was simple.

The Lionheart was a monster who could handle something like that.

‘The Pure White Aura.’

Dunadan’s eyes swept over the dome made of aura.

It was the pinnacle of the energy that every knight in the Empire aspired to wield.

The fact that the Lionheart could function as a human ‘power plant’ was all thanks to her special ability.

“She’s a warrior who was called a one-person army, even on battlefields where countless others fell like leaves in the wind. Isn’t she more than enough on her own?”

The emperor’s face broke into a mischievous smile.

“To be precise, she’s not alone.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s someone else, though they haven’t come up yet. I’m curious to see what they’ll show.”

His voice was undoubtedly filled with anticipation.

***

He ended up going to the restroom because he was so nervous.

How did things end up like this?

His gaze drifted forward.

The sight was filled with rugged men who looked like living embodiments of the “barbarian warrior” stereotype, completely out of place in this era of concrete buildings, black-and-white TVs, and telephones.

‘Am I really supposed to fight those guys?’

If there were a negotiation table where he could avoid this, Aiden would gladly give up a year of his life. He wasn’t joking—he was absolutely serious.

“Sorry for dragging you into this, Mr. Aiden.”

It was clear that Aiden wasn’t the only one aware of how troubling this situation was.

The apologetic tone in Noel’s whispered words made that apparent.

Even though from her perspective, Aiden was someone hiding mysterious powers and a strange past, forcing him into such a dangerous situation was a different matter altogether. She seemed to feel guilty about it.

The problem was that Noel had no excuse to strongly refuse either.

Not long ago, Aiden had completely crushed a high-ranking combatant just below knight level in a single blow, and even a royal of the Holy Empire who wielded divine power had met the same fate.

Considering that the emperor had gone to such lengths to arrange this, he must have been aware of all those facts.

“Besides, you probably won’t need to do much yourself. I just have one simple favor to ask.”

The fortunate thing was that she herself had more than enough ability to handle such situations. 

Before Aiden could ask what that meant, the sign in the center of the arena changed from red to blue. It was the signal for the start of the duel.

At the same time.

“Orb, lotus, shine forth!”

A fierce battle cry erupted from among the allied warriors.

Immediately after, light began to shine from the characters written on their bodies. Bright beams of light burst out, flowing around them, and several spheres of light also floated up among the radiance.

“Is this your first time seeing this?”

Seeing Aiden’s wide-eyed expression, Noel tilted her head and spoke.

Despite the savage-looking warriors in front of her, she remained as calm and composed as ever.

“It’s divine power. The warriors of the great plains place restrictions on themselves and, in exchange, are granted power.”

It was the power granted by Urgan, the God of Ascension, whom the allied tribes worshipped.

Those who served him received power by imposing a form of self-restriction.

“They’re more than worthy opponents for proving the value Your Majesty spoke of.”

As she said this, pure white aura began to gather around Noel’s chest, swirling outward.

Aiden was familiar with this sight. He had seen firsthand just how powerful it could be, having used it himself.

‘Is she really going to be okay?’

But despite that, worry crept into his thoughts.

The pressure emanating from the warriors before them was overwhelming. Even though she could handle aura, facing warriors of this caliber, especially one against many, was a completely different matter.

However, as if to dismiss his concerns, Noel calmly stepped forward, pushing Aiden back behind her.

And as if that was a signal, the warriors of the allied tribes let out a deafening war cry that made the air tremble as they charged toward them.

The sight of their charge was enough to make one’s legs feel weak. 

Though they were human, it felt as if a massive vehicle was speeding toward them at full force.

And yet, despite that.

The person standing in front of them remained as calm as ever.

“Shall I give you a little demonstration?”

With that, the pure white aura enveloping Noel’s chest began to surge and spread across her entire body.

“-Rhythm (律).”

Noel’s lips moved reverently as she spoke the word.

“I swear.”

It was a vow offered directly to the gods, one of the methods of communication with the divine that heightened her abilities. It was the primary prayer offered to the empire’s deity, Karva.

“To achieve victory in battle.”

The heavenly authority responded to her vow, and the pure white aura around her arms grew even more intense, far stronger than before.

“When this divine power is imbued into something tangible, it becomes even more precise. While it’s effective in the body, it’s more efficient when channeled into a weapon.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Of course.”

Noel calmly took a stance, similar to the one Aiden had used a few times before—a simple straight punch.

However, unlike his, her movements were far more refined and practiced.

“When you can handle pure white aura, you can at least do this with your bare hands.”

It was as if her entire body became a launchpad for a missile, with her fist acting as the projectile.

From her legs to her waist, then up through her back, and finally her arm, her entire body moved in perfect synchronization, focusing all that power into the tip of her fist.

And.

The pure white aura, the most refined of all auras, which, due to its purity, produced explosive power unmatched by any other supernatural ability, erupted with incredible force.

—!!

—-!!!!

Aiden’s mouth dropped open in shock.

It was as if the entire area in front of them had been pushed back all at once.

The air itself seemed to rip apart. The barrier surrounding the stage crackled as it shook, and screams erupted from the audience.

In an instant, it was as if a storm had swept through, causing everything around the arena to flutter wildly.

She hadn’t even directly hit the warriors. It was just the shockwave from the end of her punch, yet the allied warriors, who had been charging forward with terrifying force, were sent flying across the arena, screaming.

Like a group of runaway trucks, these superhuman warriors, charging with destructive power, had all been blown away by the mere shockwave of a single punch.

Aiden stared blankly at Noel.

Is she really human…?

“Do you understand a little now?”

Unfortunately.

Even after performing such a feat, Noel turned to him with a completely expressionless face, asking a question that only left him more bewildered.

It seemed like this was really nothing at all to her…

‘I don’t understand?’

What exactly was he supposed to realize from that? 

One thing was abundantly clear: Noel and Aiden were fundamentally different from the start.

“If you can replicate something like this, I think it should be more than enough to prove the ‘value’ His Majesty was referring to.”

“Huh?”

“If you can use pure white aura, this technique is nothing special. You know better than anyone the potential that ‘color’ holds. This time, I only want you to show a fragment of it.”

‘Am I supposed to copy what she just did? Me, Aiden?’

Before he could fully grasp the dizzying feeling, the warriors of the allied tribes in front of him were already getting back on their feet.

Since they had only been knocked back, it was natural that they wouldn’t have sustained any serious injuries, so it made sense that they would rise again.

The unfortunate thing was that the warriors clearly found what had just happened humiliating.

Their faces were flushed with anger, and veins bulged on their foreheads, indicating just how enraged they were.

They likely thought that Noel was toying with them.

And unlike before, Noel didn’t seem inclined to stop them as they charged again.

‘…This is my fate.’

Aiden barely managed to hold on to his spinning thoughts and came to that conclusion.

‘Still, I have to do what I need to do…’

From the moment he got involved in this fake marriage with her, he had already prepared himself to face dangerous situations of one kind or another.

That’s why he had even told the emperor he would step forward.

He wasn’t confident he could replicate what Noel had just done, but there was one thing he could rely on.

He quickly pulled up his status window.

What he intended to use was Noel’s skill copy, which he had one use of left.

-System Message  

▶ Copying ‘Aura Reinforcement: Consecration.’

The same method of aura manipulation that Noel had just used. 

The moment he learned the skill, the knowledge of how to use it naturally flowed into his mind, as if someone was writing instructions directly into his brain.

“律 (Rhythm). I swear.”

Facing the charging warriors head-on, aura began to seep out from around Aiden’s body.

He noticed Noel, standing beside him, nod slightly, as if she had expected him to pull it off. 

It seemed all he had to do was swing the aura in the same way Noel had, and everything would go smoothly.

There didn’t appear to be any room for things to go wrong—at least, Noel didn’t seem to think so.

Aiden himself was thinking something slightly different, though.

He turned his head and looked around.

He looked at Noel.

He also took in the sight of the emperor and the chieftain watching from the audience.

If things went well, there would be a clear reaction from them.

And if things didn’t go well?

‘…I’ll figure it out when the time comes.’

After all, this was the only option he had at the moment.

He parted his lips to complete the consecration.

With that simple act, pure white aura surged from his chest, spreading through his body. The pressure weighed heavily on him, binding him.

Even though it was a one-way message from him to the heavens, it was immediately clear that the being on the other end was a truly divine presence.

It felt as if a constant whisper urged him to speak his desire, to offer his vow.

But instead of speaking further,

Aiden was preparing to do something a little different.

‘Please, let this work…’

With that prayer-like thought, the divine power began to rise from his body.

Colorless flames—the same supernatural ability he had taken from the princess of the Holy Empire, whom he had never even met.

He saw Noel’s face turn pale beside him.

“That… divine power? How on earth do you…?”

But before she could even finish her sentence, he pushed the divine power into the pure white aura emanating from his chest.

The colorless flames, rising from his feet, clashed fiercely with the aura. 

At first, it was like they were probing each other, but soon the two energies began to blend, as if melting into one another.

“…Aiden?”

And from the side, Noel’s voice came out, sounding as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Her face had gone pale, and her trembling eyes conveyed just how surreal the scene before her was.

The power of a god.

Had merged.

Two domains that should never have mixed had fused together.

And as this phenomenon unfolded, a message appeared before Aiden’s eyes.

<System Message>  

[Divine power cleanses the backlash of consecration. Aura and divine power have merged!]

!! System Message !!  

[You are now using two supernatural abilities simultaneously.]  

[<Unique Trait: Omnipotence> has been unlocked.]

Aiden scanned these messages with a deep breath.

Since these notifications appeared, it seemed his gamble had worked.

-Skill Info  

■ Omnipotence [Locked]  

The skill is locked. Unlock the first stage by using two or more supernatural abilities simultaneously.

‘…This.’

He had been waiting for a chance to use this ability ever since he saw it.

The only issue now was how powerful the combination would be.

[<Unique Trait: Omnipotence> has developed new effects from combining the abilities!]  

[You have combined <Pure White Heart> and <First Oath> to develop <Flame of the Guardian>!]

…Fortunately.

It seemed he didn’t need to worry much about that part.

The divine power handled by the royals of the Holy Empire took the form of colorless flames.

As expected of a power granted by the god of purification, Seor, it was the purest form of energy, untouched by anything.

And now.

Just as the pure white aura and those flames had merged, a ‘white divine power’ spread around Aiden.

The divine flames, now influenced by another supernatural power, had gained a ‘color.’

The flames burned so intensely that the surrounding air seemed to form a vacuum, making the scene look as if someone had crumpled up the scenery like paper.

“…”

Aiden blinked, dazed.

‘…This looks more dangerous than I expected.’

And yet, in the midst of this duel, it was clear that no one else seemed to be paying attention to what had just unfolded.

Noel, the allied warriors, and even Dunadan, who was overseeing the match.

The moment the flames rose, no one moved.

!

And in the next instant.

The massive pillar of flames that surged around Aiden collided with the dome surrounding the stage.

And completely shattered the defensive barrier that Noel had set up.

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