Kays Translations

Chapter 35: An Elf Named Yelquq, Part One

The Beast Tamer waiting on the hill looked up at the night sky. A smile showed beneath the edge of his hood.

“Sorry, but I have a contract to fulfill.”

The flower-covered hillside began to tremble. The earth rose in dozens of places, and a shrill chorus sounded from below.

“You have no intention of surrendering, do you? Then I’ll take you by force. And if that proves impossible, I’ll simply kill you.”

Two black vortices opened behind him. A Mana Eater crawled from each one, stretching out its unnaturally long arms. At the same time, monsters burst from the soil around Ren and Licia—some resembling insects, others giant rats or other small beasts.

(At worst, they’re E-rank.)

Ren recognized every species. None was individually terrifying, but their number was another matter. There were fewer than a hundred, yet enough to cover the hillside around them.

Then voices rang out from the forest behind them.

“There they are!”

Viscount Given’s knights had finally caught up.

Their triumphant shouts immediately changed into screams.

“What—? Why are they attacking us?”

“Stop! We’re on your side!”

The monsters swallowed the mounted knights like a black cloud. Metal buckled amid the cries of men and horses, and Ren tightened his grip on the reins.

“They arrived before I could issue new orders,” the Beast Tamer said from the rock. “No matter. They would only get in my way. They’ll make better bait.”

His words held not a trace of loyalty toward the men who had employed him.

“Ren,” Licia said, her voice taut. “May I borrow your sword?”

“The magic sword is—”

“Not that one. The dagger you used to start the fire.”

“Of course.”

Ren handed her the fire-starting dagger Weiss had given him.

At that instant, the surrounding monsters leaped.

Ren pulled the reins and swung the Wooden Magic Sword. He smashed the first creature across the eyes. Licia cut the throat of another with one clean stroke.

Countless enemies remained.

They urged the horse across the hill and met the swarm head-on. Ren made thick roots burst from the soil, tangling the creatures’ legs and dividing the mob. Licia struck down anything that slipped through. Their path became a trail of fallen monsters.

From his position on the rock, the Beast Tamer watched with growing irritation.

“A rabble of this level was never going to be enough.”

Ren and Licia were too occupied to hear him. They galloped in wide arcs, using the horse’s speed to keep from being surrounded.

“Ren!”

“I see them!”

A new group rushed them from the front. Ren swept the Wooden Magic Sword sideways, and rope-thick roots rose in a wall across the creatures’ path. Several tripped, while the rest were forced apart.

“The blade is shorter than I’m used to,” Licia said as she leaned from the saddle, “but I can manage!”

Her swordsmanship had improved over the winter. Even while ill and armed with an unfamiliar dagger, she moved with dignified precision. Her strokes were fluid and economical, more beautiful than anything Ren could produce through raw strength.

“You’ve grown stronger again,” he said.

“Of course I have. I wanted to defeat you!”

(We never got to finish our last spar because she fell ill.)

She was not in perfect condition even now, and the dagger had far less reach than her normal weapon, yet she remained dependable.

“And you’re stronger too,” Licia complained while cutting down another monster. “Why? I’ve been working so hard!”

“That is difficult to answer.”

“Then we’ll settle it with another duel after this!”

“Very well. Bring it on.”

Ren’s answer carried far more than a promise to spar.

(We will survive. I’ll return her safely, and I’ll find out whether Mother and Father are unharmed.)

With Licia at his back, he felt strangely certain they could overcome the horde. Her presence steadied him. Licia seemed to draw courage from him in the same way.

(If Ren is here, I won’t lose.)

A monster slipped past Licia’s dagger. Its claw grazed Ren’s cheek.

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s only a scratch. Don’t hesitate—fight as you need to.”

Her momentary stiffness vanished.

“You’re too kind,” she murmured. “When we reach Clausel, will you come straight to my mansion?”

“Why ask that now?”

“Because then we can duel every day. And when I become angry with Father or Weiss, you’ll surely take my side.”

“I don’t recall agreeing to that part.”

Licia laughed as she continued fighting. Bodies already covered the ground around them.

Then something enormous moved beneath the soil ahead.

Licia swallowed. “Would you mind handling that one?”

A worm several times larger than their horse erupted from the earth. Its mouth split sideways like a pair of shears.

“Leave it to me.”

Ren dismissed the Wooden Magic Sword and summoned the Iron Magic Sword. He drove the horse directly toward the monster. The worm opened its mouth to bite them in half.

Ren slashed as they passed.

The pressure of the swing reached even the distant Beast Tamer.

“What…?”

Licia stared as the worm’s immense body separated cleanly into two pieces. It crashed to the hillside with a tremor that shook the grass.

“Ren is much stronger than I am,” she said.

“I’m honored by the compliment.”

“We’ll still duel when we return.”

“Agreed.”

A shriek interrupted them.

The two Mana Eaters stirred beside their master. The Beast Tamer stroked them and smiled.

“It is time.”

His intention was obvious. He had waited for the lesser monsters to exhaust Ren and Licia before sending in his strongest creatures. Yet neither child showed despair when the Mana Eaters spread their wings.

“Tell me honestly,” Licia said during the few seconds before they attacked. “Can you defeat them as you are now?”

“I’ll do everything I can.”

“That isn’t what I asked. Can you win or not? My decision depends on your answer.”

Ren had no time for evasions.

“Against both of them, victory is unlikely. Each is roughly D-rank—the same rank as the Thief Wolfen.”

Licia did not falter.

“Have you forgotten? I am a saint.”

“I could hardly forget that.”

“Then let me help.”

Small spheres of white light formed above her palm and sank into Ren’s body. Strength flooded his limbs. His body felt lighter than it ever had, and the effect was distinct from his own Physical Ability Boost. The two enhancements overlapped rather than replacing each other.

“Sacred Magic…?”

Licia nodded. “I’ve never used it on another person before, but it seems to have worked.”

The two Mana Eaters launched themselves into the air.

Their movements, which should have been difficult to follow, now appeared almost slow to Ren.

(I can fight them. No—I can win.)

“I need to concentrate on maintaining the magic,” Licia said.

“Then leave the rest to me.”

Ren did not notice the fever returning to her body. He was too focused on the monsters descending from above. Sweat had already begun to gather on Licia’s brow, and her voice was becoming slightly muffled, but he missed the signs he would normally have noticed.

Several lesser monsters sprang from the side. Ren cut them apart with the Iron Magic Sword. The blade seemed sharper than before, as if Sacred Magic strengthened not only his body but the sword he wielded through Magic Sword Summoning.

The Beast Tamer took an involuntary step backward.

“What is that power? That isn’t the movement of a child!”

The first Mana Eater dove like a bird of prey. It attacked with speed and timing that should have been impossible to counter.

“Stay back.”

Ren swung overhead. The Iron Magic Sword sliced through the membrane of one wing. Black blood scattered as the creature lost control and spiraled to the ground.

The horse continued toward the Beast Tamer without slowing.

The fallen creature began crawling after them, but Ren left it behind.

“Burn them!” the elf shouted.

The second Mana Eater opened its jaws and poured fire across the sky.

The night wind became a wave of heat. Ren pulled the reins, but there was nowhere to evade in time.

(We won’t make it.)

“Keep going! I’ll protect you!”

Licia raised one hand. A veil of white light covered Ren, Licia, and the horse just as the flames arrived. Cracks spread across the barrier like thin ice, but it endured until the fire passed.

The veil shattered.

Licia’s body shook violently.

“Licia! Thank you, but—”

Only then did Ren realize how badly her condition had deteriorated.

She had used too much mana while already ill.

Licia turned when she saw his alarm. Her face was pained, but she forced a strong smile.

“Don’t worry about me. Keep going.”

Stopping Sacred Magic would condemn them both, and she had no intention of doing so.

The Beast Tamer finally understood.

“So that is the power of the saint! Sacred Magic is what transformed Ren Ashton!”

The rock beneath him rushed closer.

“You can keep being amazed,” Ren shouted. “This ends now!”

The horse sprang onto the rock. Ren’s Iron Magic Sword flashed from the elf’s neck toward his torso.

Blood flew—but the cut was shallow.

Ren’s body had been pulled backward at the last instant. Vines were wrapped around him.

The horse carried Ren and Licia down the far side of the rock before coming to a stop.

“I’m sorry,” Ren said when he saw Licia’s worsening condition. “I failed to finish him.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Her brave answer made his failure hurt more.

Above them, the Beast Tamer touched the shallow wound and laughed.

“That was close. Ren Ashton, you mustn’t push me so hard. Using Nature Magic without a staff is rather difficult while my seals remain intact.”

The slash had torn away his hood and robe. Long golden hair spilled around a finely shaped face.

Ren knew him.

“So it really is you,” Ren said. “You’re not merely a Beast Tamer. You’re also a Nature Magic user.”

The elf’s smile tightened.

“You speak as though you know me.”

Ren saw little advantage in revealing his knowledge, but no great disadvantage either. At the very least, he might unsettle his enemy.

“Yelquq. Why are you here?”

For the first time, genuine shock crossed the elf’s face.

“How do you know that name?”

“Who can say?”

Yelquq was a male elf born on another continent. Cruel from birth, he had murdered many of his own people. Elven society did not practice execution, so he had been banished after powerful seals were carved into his arms to suppress his mana and physical abilities.

In Legend of the Seven Heroes I, he was a midgame boss.

When Ren had first discovered Nature Magic (Minor), and later when he fought the Thief Wolfen, he had repeatedly borrowed ideas from Yelquq’s combat style. It was a bitter coincidence to meet the very enemy whose tactics he had studied.

(Why is someone like him serving Viscount Given?)

The grounded Mana Eater crawled toward them, wary of the Iron Magic Sword. Although its injured wing prevented flight, it remained a D-rank threat. The other spat another stream of fire, but this attack was weaker. Whether from fatigue or fear of striking Yelquq, it gave Ren enough time to guide the horse aside.

Yelquq waved his arms in frustration.

Ren pointed at the intricate patterns exposed on them.

“You contracted with Viscount Given because he offered information about breaking those seals. You’ve traveled across the Elfen Continent searching for a way to remove them. That is why you became an adventurer.”

Yelquq’s eyes widened.

“How could you know that?”

The markings were not tattoos. The seals reached even into his bones, constantly draining his mana and lowering his physical abilities. Without a staff, using Nature Magic and controlling multiple monsters at once was difficult.

“I also know you’ve concealed your origin since becoming an adventurer. You weren’t born in Leomel, so the empire’s courts never knew the crimes that led to your exile.”

Yelquq’s surprise sharpened into anger.

In the game, he eventually sought the wisdom of the dean of the Imperial Military Academy, one of the world’s greatest magicians. Unable to defeat her directly, he targeted students on field training, set traps for the heroes, and tried to use them as hostages.

None of that mattered now.

Licia’s breathing grew harsher by the second.

Ren leveled the Iron Magic Sword and drove the horse toward the great rock once more.

“This truly is the last attack.”

He closed his eyes for one breath, then released a storm of slashes. The great rock split into tumbling boulders beneath Yelquq’s feet.

“Cursed Sacred Magic!”

Yelquq fell with the collapsing stone.

The horse was near exhaustion, but Ren pulled the reins and asked it for one final effort. It charged into the debris while Ren cut a path through falling rocks.

He found Yelquq and thrust for his throat.

“Protect me!” the elf screamed.

The uninjured Mana Eater threw itself between them. The Iron Magic Sword pierced straight through its body—and continued into Yelquq’s shoulder.

The dying creature struck the horse with its last strength.

Horse, Ren, and Licia were hurled apart.

Ren twisted in midair and caught Licia against his chest. They crashed onto a bed of monster corpses, which softened the impact. Nearby, the horse lay stunned but alive. Its unusual toughness strongly suggested monster blood.

“Licia!”

She was breathing, but unconscious. The Sacred Magic had vanished.

Ren forced himself upright. His head rang, and his entire body felt close to collapse.

One Mana Eater remained on the ground. If Yelquq still had enough power to command it, the battle was not over.

Then Ren saw the elf kneeling beside the wounded creature. Blood poured from a hole in his shoulder deep enough to expose bone, yet he laughed with bloodshot eyes.

“It reached me… even through my shield.”

The creature had failed to stop the Iron Magic Sword completely.

“You’re finished,” Ren said, though he lacked the strength to approach while the Mana Eater protected its master.

Yelquq looked at the blood soaking his body and laughed harder.

“So much blood. All of it mine.”

The Mana Eater crawled close, sensing that its master was near death, and glared at Ren.

Yelquq’s delight was more disturbing than his wounds.

“I haven’t killed enough,” he said. “I endured these seals because I expected to break them and slaughter as many people as the years of restraint demanded. Now I may die before I can kill anyone else.”

“Yes. It ends here.”

“Ends? I can no longer kill you?”

Yelquq looked from Ren to the unconscious Licia. His smile became serene and hideous.

“There is no pleasure like watching life leave a person’s face. Greater than any bodily pleasure. That is why I kill.”

“You’re insane.”

“I only wanted you to understand my reason.”

He turned to the surviving Mana Eater.

“Eat my arms.”

The command thundered across the hillside.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter