Kays Translations

Chapter 27: The Priest of Regeneration [Part 1]

A mountain path they had walked before.

They raced along the mountain path at night, magic lights illuminating the route they had once used both up and down, hurrying toward the temple above.

They reached the stairs leading into the temple square.

The square opened beneath a sky crowded with stars, bright enough that their light alone illuminated the area.

Even the stones used in the temple were faintly glowing.

As soon as they entered the square at the top of the stairs, they found a man standing there.

Orphide had arrived before Vayne and the others. Hearing their footsteps, he spoke.

“I see. This is your doing, isn’t it?”

Orphide smiled coolly. Vayne and the others glared at Orphide, each readying their weapons.

Orphide paid it no mind and continued into the square. 

Along the way, he snapped his fingers, generating a pitch-black magic power beneath Vayne and the others’ feet. It was like a bottomless swamp trying to engulf their feet, but when Squall used his magic to repel it, Orphide launched his next attack on the stairs. He swung his arm, and the magic power he had wrapped around it was fired like bullets. Kaito, this time, blocked the multiple magical bullets with Airia.

While Orphide adjusted his glasses in the square, the lenses reflected the starlight eerily.

“So, you’re the priest in question after all.”

“I’m not sure who you’re referring to by ‘the one in question.'”

Information about Orphide’s appearance and abilities had already been shared: a Demon King cultist with abnormal regenerative ability and extraordinarily destructive magic.

“In any case, I don’t have much time to play around,” 

The pressure Orphide released through the air was terrifyingly powerful.

“Everyone,” 

Vayne spoke, and the others nodded. This was the climax of Legend of the Seven Heroes II, Chapter 1: the battle against Orphide. Yet in this world line they were facing a foe stronger than anything they had ever fought.

“First, allow me to give you some credit. You truly are descendants of the Seven Heroes.”

Vayne questioned Orphide’s words. 

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean? There’s no reason to hide it, is there? An impressive deduction, even from an enemy. I was surprised you had the Ring of the Goddess of Water removed and hidden beforehand. And…”

Before Vayne and the others could make sense of it, he continued.

“It seems you also have skilled knights hidden below.”

They still had no idea what he meant. They did not know that knights had been deployed to Windea, nor that anyone had removed and hidden the Ring of the Goddess of Water.

Vayne and the others did not even know where the Ring of the Goddess of Water was. They only knew the legend that it slept somewhere in Windea. Unlike players in Legend of the Seven Heroes, they had never searched for it and did not possess the information Orphide’s group had.

“Oh?” Orphide looked slightly surprised.

“It seems, then, that the Hero Houses weren’t involved after all.”

Without answering Orphide’s words, Vayne spoke.

“Did you expect to obtain the Ring of the Goddess of Water on Water Saint’s Day?”

“Yes. I thought the Goddess of Water’s power might grow stronger at this hour and change the situation. Apparently I was wrong. The ring being removed before today proves it. How did they manage to take it out, I wonder…”

Orphide’s objective was exactly what they had suspected, but the missing ring still confused Vayne’s group.

In this world line, the cult had already tried once to remove the Ring of the Goddess of Water and failed. Orphide concluded that this special day might change the conditions, which was why he came to Windea.

When Orphide received the report in another country, all he had been told was that the ring could not be removed. Only after the Demon King cultists he had sent withdrew from Windea did someone else carry it away.

As soon as Orphide reached Windea, he was surprised when a cultist told him the ring was gone.

Legend of the Seven Heroes had unfolded differently. There, the Demon King cultists had never found the Ring of the Goddess of Water at all, and Orphide had guessed that it might appear at the temple or spring on Water Saint’s Day.

No one could fully understand these differences, nor could anyone explain them. What was certain was that a battle was inevitable.

“How foolish. Instead of attacking other towns, you should have focused your efforts here.”

Sera made a reasonable point.

“I had my reasons. I came to claim a holy relic and found only Leomel’s forces waiting for me. …Either way, I would have bared my fangs at Leomel again sooner or later.”

“Did you think we took the Ring of the Goddess of Water because it wasn’t there?”

“Exactly. However, since you seem not to know, what can you do?”

Orphide sighed briefly.

“I wanted that ring in order to enhance the effect of Elfen’s Tears.”

It was only a whisper, too quiet for any of the seven to hear.

He reluctantly rolled up his shirt sleeves a bit, as if to show it. He had an expensive-looking silver watch on his left wrist.

“No. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to kill you.”

Although slim, he had a muscular, fair-skinned body. He unbuttoned one extra button at the collar.

Priest Orphide began bouncing lightly on his feet. Raising both hands, he layered dense reddish-black mana around them and used it like a pair of gloves.

The first to act was the man himself…

“Now, let me show you how adults kill!”

Orphide drove one arm deep into the square’s paving stones. A wave of mana tore up debris and surged toward Vayne and the others.

“Bring it on!”

Kaito Leonaal raised a wall.

Orphide frowned in annoyance. “How irritating,” he muttered as he advanced toward the wall of mana created by Airia.

“Your attacks won’t get through!” 

“Very well. Then endure it.”

Orphide was formidable at close-quarters combat. After a barrage of murderous punches, he shifted smoothly into polished kicking techniques.

The expanded wall of mana took even more punishment than it had in their first exchange.

A rapid attack. His arms, wrapped in denser, reddish-black magic power, struck the shining wall created by Airia repeatedly.

“What’s with this guy’s power!”

“Oh, are you already struggling?”

“Don’t be stupid! I can’t afford to take it easy right now!”

Despite his words, the tremors were intense. Kaito stood firm to protect his comrades, blocking the consecutive attacks.

Airia remained unscathed, but her light wall was different. It made a sound similar to the breaking of glass when it cracked, and a large crack appeared.

“What about my magic?”

Squall excelled at healing, but he could also wield offensive White Magic. In raw magical power he could never match Lizred, nor were his spells built for the same direct physical impact as Vayne’s attacks or Charlotte’s powerful offensive magic.

However, there was one thing.

Sacred power often worked especially well against Demon King cultists who relied on evil mana. Squall released more than a dozen arrows of light. One flew like the wind into Orphide’s fist, yet still drew no blood.

But it did have an effect, slightly slowing Orphide’s movements.

“Go, Vayne!”

Vayne, who had somehow managed to get behind Orphide, now acted.

Through repeated training after the battle with Giant God’s Messenger Wadatsumi, Vayne had gradually learned to wield the sacred power within him. It manifested as light.

It was the power of a hero, especially effective against those aligned with the Demon King.

It differed from the sacred power used by the Holy Palace Knights. Brilliant mana unlike anything before wrapped Vayne’s sword until the entire blade was outlined in light.

Orphide deftly rolled his body to avoid Vayne’s sword, kicking Kaito’s wall aside in the process, levitating himself and regaining his balance.

Even so, the tip of Vayne’s sword grazed Orphide’s neck, vaporizing the blood that flowed out in an instant.

“Don’t forget about me!”

Charlotte, who had changed her position without anyone noticing, had a bow drawn deeply and was ready.

The released arrow carried a sharp, blade-like wind and was released with a swirling motion, piercing Orphide’s shoulder.

“I had heard the rumors, but I’m truly surprised that the blood of the Hero Ruin still lingers!”

The arrow that pierced his shoulder was embedded in the cobblestones. Orphide’s wound instantly closed.

“…What’s with his power?”

“Sharo-senpai, just as we heard. His regeneration is abnormal.”

“Yes, I know, but… with that…”

“It doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. My power certainly worked.”

No matter who attacked or wounded Orphide, they couldn’t make him bleed.

But Vayne’s sword had undoubtedly made him bleed.

“In that case, there’s no choice but to continue.”

But that wasn’t the only reason.

Vayne had heard valuable advice from Ren.

As Vayne and the others spoke during that brief lull, Orphide watched them from the side.

…Who should I take down first?

Orphide calmly considered his priorities and fixed his gaze on one person.

He aimed and lowered his hips, then charged.

Squall was surprised, but Kaito stood in his way.

“Do you think you can do something?”

“Yes, I thought I could.”

“Don’t underestimate me!”

“No way. It’s an objective fact.”

Following his cool smile, Orphide unleashed a series of brutal punches.

Kaito, who was protecting Squall, couldn’t move, but there were six other people present.

However, Orphide had a different target in mind.

He abruptly changed the direction of his attack.

Wrapping one of his arms in even denser magic power than before, he swung it down towards the cobblestones in a certain direction.

Standing in that direction was….

“…………..”

Charlotte Rofelia.

A wave of mana rushed toward the long-range specialist.

However, because Orphide’s attack was continuously directed towards Kaito, he couldn’t create a wall to protect Charlotte.

While Lizred tried to offset the impact by releasing fire magic, the residual force reached Charlotte.

The force hurled Charlotte several mel away, and Sera rushed to her.

“Sharo! Are you all right!?”

“I…I’m okay, but…”

Charlotte had twisted her ankle, and her face contorted in pain.

“I was planning to take both legs, but…”

Orphide, targeting that moment, quickly changed direction towards Sera and Charlotte.

Sera swung her sword to protect Charlotte.

“Haaaah!”

Sacred Sword Art: Lightfall—an Art of the Sacred Sword Style.

Swordmasters of the Sacred Sword Style could wield it, and a successful strike drained vitality from the target.

Vayne followed up with Sacred Sword Art: Lightfall of his own.

While Orphide’s arms, clad in dense reddish-black magic power, blocked their attacks, it had an effect.

Vayne and Sera exchanged a glance and nodded with determination.

…It happened just after they left the Imperial Capital.

While Deus was flying through the night sky, everyone was gathered in the control room.

“Oh, Ashton?”

“Ren heard it from an adventurer who survived one of the attacked areas. Apparently it was something the man had picked up in passing, but the more clues we have, the better.”

“I see. But… what’s the real story?”

“You know, Kaito-kun, you won’t know unless you try.”

“I get it! But seriously, will it work on that priest everyone’s talking about? He’s supposed to have an incredible regenerative ability, right?”

Charlotte, speaking up in the control room, addressed Kaito’s doubts.

“Why not try it? Let Vayne-kun and Sera use Sacred Sword Art: Lightfall against the mana that priest wraps around himself.”

Directly confronting Orphide’s regenerative ability in a head-on battle would be almost meaningless.

Orphide’s power was not infinite. Every use of his abnormal abilities consumed mana. If they could not wear down his body, then they should attack the mana sustaining him.

Since attacks other than Vayne’s did almost nothing to deplete Orphide’s stamina, it was better to focus their efforts on a target they could actually reduce.

Sacred Sword Art: Lightfall used the mana wrapped around the sword to weaken an opponent’s magical defenses and inflict damage.

Ordinary sword attacks from a Mighty Sword Style user had a broadly similar quality, but Lightfall also carried the power of the light attribute, just as its name suggested.

Those effects combined almost perfectly against Orphide’s regeneration.

The seven of them were now confident in how they should fight.

Vayne and Sera would be the core of their strategy.

“Hmm.”

Orphide exclaimed in admiration.

He hadn’t expected them to find a way to effectively wear him down in such a short time. Truly, they were the descendants of the Seven Heroes.

“But not bad at all.”

However, Orphide was still formidable.

Orphide released a kick that traced a circular path and moved away from them, creating distance between himself and the two swordsmen.

Even though he was alone, this man was able to hold his own against all seven of them.

Charlotte, struggling with pain, stood up and drew her bow.

Kaito once again stood in front of everyone with his shield raised, but…

“At this rate, we’ll be at a disadvantage.”

He was not speaking pessimistically; he was warning them that unless they found another approach, they could lose.

Sacred Sword Art: Lightfall had shown some effect, but it was still not enough.

“We can make him stagger, but unless we somehow create a chance for Vayne to land a full-power blow, I don’t think we can finish him.”

If they could somehow land a fatal blow on Orphide…

The problem was, there was no opening.

Think carefully about why I have this power in the first place.

Kaito nudged Vayne with his elbow, reinforcing his point.

“Kaito-senpai?”

“You’re not fighting alone. Don’t forget that we’re fighting as a team of seven.”

Orphide launched another attack.

For the second, third, and fourth times, Vayne and the others were noticeably fatiguing.

Unlike Orphide, who seemed to have an endless supply of magic power, the seven of them were becoming breathless, and Kaito was starting to show signs of fatigue as well.

Vayne’s sacred blade and the Lightfall attacks used by him and Sera had unquestionably worked.

However, Orphide’s resilience was gradually pushing the seven of them into a corner.

…What should they do?

As panic began to appear on Vayne’s face, Lizred took the initiative.

She held her staff horizontally in front of her eyes. 

“Buy me as much time as you can!”

“How much time do you need?”

“As much as you can possibly get!”

After answering Vayne, Lizred closed her eyes and began chanting ancient words, offering a prayer to the god who governed mana as flames gathered around her staff.

Kaito, Vayne, and Sera.

The three who formed the vanguard stood to protect Lizred, tirelessly guarding against Orphide’s continuous attacks.

One second, two seconds.

They thought they had bought much more time, but in reality, only five seconds had passed.

Orphide’s straight punch and sharp kicks threatened the lives of all six who were buying time for Lizred.

The moment the six of them had been waiting for came after thirty seconds had passed since they were instructed to buy time.

“How about this!? If you can wipe out this little girl’s magic in one blow, then go ahead and try!”

Dragon’s Breath.

A high-level fire spell named for its resemblance to the flames breathed by a mighty dragon.

From Lizred’s staff erupted a torrent of flame nearly ten mel across. It writhed as it advanced, its leading edge forming the face of a dragon like a great beast raising its head.

At this moment, Orphide, who had been facing it, opened his eyes wide and put all his strength into his body for the first time.

“I never expected you to wield such power!”

Orphide caught the dragon-headed torrent with both arms spread wide, and for the first time sweat beaded across his forehead. Lizred thrust her arms forward as though physically driving Dragon’s Breath into him.

The result was clear.

Unable to suppress the pressure of the Dragon’s Breath, Orphide was pushed back with tremendous force.

When Orphide was smashed back against the rocky ground, the still-raging flames extended for roughly a hundred mel beyond him and swallowed his body.

After regenerating again and again beneath the attack, Orphide clicked his tongue in exhaustion.

Suddenly, Lizred dropped to her knees.

To Vayne, who tried to rush to her side, she said.

“Don’t worry about me! Think of something now!”

Everyone nodded at the girl’s cry, and in the short time it took for the Dragon’s Breath to dissipate, they came up with a plan.

The seven quickly settled on a plan for how to bring Orphide down together.

“Now that it’s decided, we can’t afford to let this opportunity slip away!”

First, Squall fired multiple arrows of light, and almost simultaneously, Charlotte fired a series of arrows covered in even sharper wind than before.

“I won’t miss for sure!”

The arrows targeted Orphide’s mana-wrapped limbs through the dust.

Orphide, who had been slammed into the rocky ground, had not yet shown himself, but because they had seen his silhouette in the midst of the dust cloud, they aimed for that.

In the midst of the dust, Orphide’s body had shaken a few times, and he let out a short groan.

“Don’t hold it against us just because we’re attacking seven against one!”

Sera swung her sword after the dust cleared.

Perhaps because of Dragon’s Breath, Orphide was panting when he faced Vayne and the others again. His monstrous regeneration remained, but his exhaustion was obvious.

That alone was enough.

It was worth the seven of them attacking with all their might.

Once, a single arrow fired by Charlotte pierced Orphide’s hand.

“Gah!”

His body swayed.

“Not done yet!”

Sera struck him with Sacred Sword Art: Lightfall two, then three more times.

The exhausted priest of the Demon King cult tried to glare at Sera and the others.

“A light bullet—!?”

A projectile of light flashed in from the edge of his vision at extreme speed and pierced his temple.

“Even I can do this much!”

Nemu, who was not particularly suited to direct combat, fired a bullet from a homemade magic tool. It interfered with the enemy’s mana and hindered its movement.

While it didn’t look like it was consuming much, the effect was there.

“…Descendants of the Seven Heroes…!”

Yet Orphide was one of the Demon King cult’s elite.

He was a priest who commanded numerous cultists.

Reddish-black mana erupted around his entire body. The pressure alone blew Sera, Charlotte, Squall, and Nemu away, while Orphide remained standing there with imposing dignity.

However, he was still worn out.

…Did you forget about me?

Lizred grinned as if to say, Have you forgotten me? Large drops of sweat ran from her brow down her cheeks and fell to the ground.

She raised her staff again and began chanting ancient words.

She thought it was an attack that couldn’t be ignored, and when Orphide tried to step forward and kill Lizred in an instant,

“Sorry, but you didn’t forget about me too, did you?”

“The Leonaal shield…!”

“Sera said it too—don’t complain just because it’s seven against one!”

Kaito created a wall with Airia and drove it forward together with the shield itself, crushing Orphide beneath the pressure.

Every muscle in Kaito’s body creaked under the strain.

Even so, he resisted Orphide’s pressure with every ounce of strength he possessed.

“The descendant of Leonaal…!”

The wall blocked the front. Whenever Orphide tried to move sideways, Kaito shifted with him; retreat was impossible because the broken rock face stood behind him. The only open route was straight ahead.

Kaito held Orphide fast. With no need to divide his strength to protect anyone else, he could devote everything to the contest of power with the priest before him.

Without Airia, things might have gone differently.

There was little value in imagining alternatives, but Airia’s power clearly mattered in this struggle.

And then, once again—

“Remember this well! This is how powerful Arkei magic is!”

Dragon’s Breath came again.

A more powerful mass of flames than before was released from the front of Lizred’s staff.

Kaito put all his strength into it one last time, pushed Orphide’s body away, and withdrew before he was consumed by the flames.

Dragon’s Breath twisted through the air like a serpent and skillfully swallowed only Orphide.

“…Now it’s up to you.”

With a sound that might have been a soft thud, Lizred lost consciousness as she fell.

During that time, the Dragon’s Breath continued to rage, scorching Orphide, who repeated regeneration within the flames, over and over and over again.

This second attack lasted longer. Rather than being pinned against the rock face, Orphide was driven toward the temple.

The temple floor melted, and at the deepest part, the flames finally disappeared.

Unlike the first time, Orphide managed to withstand Dragon’s Breath.

“Haa… haa…”

Gasping painfully, Orphide considered the worst possibility.

How many of the seven had attacked during that sequence? Six.

One remained.

Vayne, descendant of Hero Ruin, had been waiting for precisely this moment.

“Orphide!”

There was no escape, it was certain.

His regeneration still functioned, but the accumulated exhaustion was so severe that his legs no longer obeyed him. Even dozens of Holy Palace Knights had never worn him down this far.

As expected of the descendants of the Seven Heroes.

How many times had he died in this series of attacks? He couldn’t count them all, but Orphide still enveloped both arms in magic.

He looked at the tip of the sword glowing with light and said.

“Was I the one… who underestimated you?”

He smiled defiantly at this moment.

Even now, he refused to be anything less than a formidable opponent.

Facing Vayne, who aimed the tip of his sword at him, Orphide grabbed it with both hands.

A direct confrontation, a final showdown.

“I must not die before His Majesty returns!”

“Ugh…”

As Vayne gritted his teeth and exerted his strength, the light grew brighter.

As the light intensified, Orphide smiled through the growing pain. Through both hands gripping Vayne’s sword, he forced the mana coating his arms into Vayne.

Vayne endured the pain rising from deep within his body. Both hands around the sword reddened as though burned.

However, he continued to push the sword forward without fear.

At last, light mana and dark mana collided head-on—

The light shattered the evil mana.

The instant Orphide’s bare skin touched the hero’s power directly, all mana vanished from his body.

The light had won.

The end of the battle was in silence.

Orphide knelt on the cobblestone with a thud.

“…It truly was an accursed power.”

Vayne’s sword pierced Orphide near the collarbone and blood flowed freely. It no longer stopped, and the wound showed no sign of closing.

Unable to support himself, Orphide stared up at the temple ceiling.

When Vayne pulled his sword free, black mana flew from the priest’s back like a flock of bats.

The priest collapsed onto the paving stones.

“…We did it.”

With Orphide apparently dead before him, Vayne exhausted the last of his strength and sank to his knees.

“Vayne!”

The voices of his comrades overlapped, and they all gathered around him.

Sera supported Vayne from the side.

Kaito, Charlotte, Nemu and Squall brought the unconscious Lizred to join them.

Everyone was smiling at the end of this victorious battle.

They gathered roughly ten mel from the fallen Orphide.

“You did it, Vayne!”

Kaito said exactly the same line he had in Legend of the Seven Heroes.

The battle of Legend of the Seven Heroes II, Chapter 1 had finally ended here.

Kaito vigorously rubbed the exhausted Vayne’s head, unable to hide his delight.

…Even so, they were all utterly spent.

For a while, none of them wanted to fight even a weak monster.

Yet the faces of the seven who had finished the battle looked more mature than they had only a few dozen minutes earlier.

The unprecedented intensity of the battle with Orphide had pushed all seven of them to grow.

As they were doing so, Lizred woke up and stood up on her own.

“Oh my… the fact that I’m alive means you did it,” 

She said with a cute smile, and all six of them nodded and smiled in response.

“By the way, Kaito, when I heard you earlier I thought you meant, ‘Hit him even if you have to hit me too!’ But you dodged properly after all. You tricked me, didn’t you?”

“Don’t be stupid! If I took a hit from that magic, I’d be done for!” 

“Hahaha~! Well, well, if you make too much noise, getting back will be tough!” 

“It’s already going to be hard enough,” Charlotte laughed. “Agreed. Even walking sounds difficult,” Sera added.

They would rest before trying to return, and hope the knights reached them soon.

The seven were still savoring the reasons for their victory when—

Thump.

Orphide’s chest heaved once.

The sight left all seven speechless.

There was no way the sound of a heartbeat could be heard from that distance, but the seven of them definitely heard it.

It should have been over.

According to Ren’s knowledge, Orphide should never have awakened again.

Orphide unmistakably opened his eyes. He pushed himself upright, blood still flowing, and said:

“It isn’t over yet.”

As he spoke, he tried to unleash a vicious wave of power.

Vayne and the others remained in a state little better than total exhaustion.

It was nearly impossible for them to fight another battle like the one they had just survived. Orphide showed no sign of stopping, however, and another wave surged out.

The seven forced their battered bodies to move against the oncoming attack.

But what could seven people barely steady on their feet do? They endured the pain and prepared to resist—

A wall of golden flame appeared.

The golden wall sprang between the two sides and effortlessly burned away Orphide’s attack.

The flames were so dazzling that they illuminated Lizred’s eyes.

“Stronger than my flames…?” she said, her voice filled with amazement.

Protected by the flames that suddenly appeared, the seven looked at Orphide, who was dumbfounded.

Orphide noticed something before Vayne’s group did. For the first time, he concentrated dense mana around his legs and launched a razor-sharp wave with a kick.

However, that also failed to reach its target.

The wave he had sent out disappeared before reaching Vayne and the others.

The attack that had demanded everything Kaito could do to block was cut down by a single sword stroke.

A boy had appeared, a Magic Sword in his hand.

“—Sorry. I’m late.”

The sound of a magic ship could be heard in the nearby sky.

Nemu looked toward it and saw a sailboat-like magic ship pulling away from the rock face.

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