Whether it was the golden flames Lizred claimed might be even stronger than her Dragon’s Breath, the mystery of why he was even there, or the way he had effortlessly nullified the shockwave that had nearly ended them—none of it made sense to Vane’s exhausted mind.
Inside the massive temple’s colonnade, the wind of Windea swept through the open space, swaying the hair of the seven youths.
"Ren... is that you?" Vane asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
Vane was too distraught to think clearly. His mind was consumed by the sight of his battered, broken companions, leaving him unable to process the level of strength Ren had just displayed.
"...That guy is dangerous," Vane managed.
"Yeah, I know."
And yet, Vane and his group should have been able to defeat him.
While Ren harbored his own doubts about how the situation had escalated, he offered a brief reply with a faint smile.
"But don't worry."
His expression shifted instantly.
"I’ll handle the rest."
As he turned away from Vane toward Orphide, the warmth vanished. The face of the classmate Vane knew was replaced by the face of a Sword Saint—a side of Ren that Vane had never witnessed.
Ren thrust the Flame Magic Sword he had been holding into the stone paving. He then drew the Mithril Magic Sword at his waist and stepped forward.
"It doesn't matter who you are," Orphide spat.
The priest swung his leg sharply, unleashing a Mana Bullet. It was a mass of red and black energy, imbued with destructive power several times greater than anything he had fired before his temporary fall. It vibrated with such intensity that space itself seemed to shiver as it streaked across the hall.
The cry of "Ren!" died in Vane’s throat.
This was a side of his classmate he had never seen on the battlefield. Ren was about to demonstrate his true nature to everyone present.
"I'm curious why you stood back up, too," Ren muttered.
In the Legend of the Seven Heroes, there were occasions where Ren Ashton would intervene to save Vane and his party during a crisis. This was exactly one of those moments.
Showing no fear toward the incoming attack, Ren moved.
The Mithril Magic Sword swept horizontally at a speed the eye could not follow. To the utter shock of the descendants, the Mana Bullet was dispersed into nothingness.
Silence reigned for several seconds. Vane and the others were speechless at Ren's sheer strength, while the revived Orphide grew visibly tense at the presence of the powerful warrior who had suddenly appeared.
Kaito was the first to break the silence. "Is that a joke, Ashton?! You...!"
He had intended to protect Ren, but his body had refused to move, leaving his reaction a split second too slow. Now, he realized his help was entirely unnecessary. In fact, he suspected that any intervention on his part would only get in Ren's way.
"That uniform belongs to the Imperial Academy," Orphide observed. "I take it you've come to rescue your friends."
"That's not the only reason," Ren answered succinctly.
He moved.
The stone paving, melted earlier by the Dragon’s Breath, crumbled and began to levitate. Mana surged between the floating rubble, gathering strength. At the center of this gathering storm was the Mithril Magic Sword.
Sanctuary Fall.
Ren was now wielding the very technique once used by the Sword Demon.
"There's one more thing I came to ask you!"
Ren swung the Mithril Magic Sword downward, unleashing Sanctuary Fall directly at Orphide. The descendants of the Seven Heroes watched in breathless awe as the boy unleashed such overwhelming power.
"What—!?"
Unable to withstand the force, Orphide was blown back. In that instant, he lost sight of the boy.
Ren’s presence reappeared directly behind him.
The priest was suddenly gripped by an emotion he hadn't felt while fighting Vane and the others. This sensation was different from facing the seven of them at once. This was the instinctual fear of facing an obvious superior.
Despite possessing the absolute power of regeneration, Orphide felt a surge of reverence for Ren’s attack. He crossed his arms and coated them in mana to block, but the Mithril Magic Sword cut through his defenses as if they were made of paper. The blade drew a clean line from Orphide's neck down to his abdomen. No blood flowed, and though the wound closed instantly, the toll was heavy. Orphide was burning through mana to regenerate at an unsustainable rate.
"I won't hold back, Orphide."
Authority Sword.
It was a specialized technique reserved only for those of the Sword Saint Class among practitioners of the Strong Sword. The color and properties of the mana fluctuations were unique to the wielder.
Ren’s Authority Sword manifested in two colors: a pure silver-white that reflected Licia’s influence, and a jet-black that mirrored Fiona’s. While the true nature of his power remained a mystery, its destructive potential was undeniable.
Ren raised the Mithril Magic Sword again.
"A student possesses this much power!?" Orphide gasped.
For Ren, this was a battle for information. By defeating Orphide, he might finally learn the truth about the silver-haired girl and the tragedy in the Legend of the Seven Heroes—the reason Saint Licia was killed. He had no reason to pull his punches.
The Mithril Magic Sword, crackling with silver and black mana like a lightning storm, unleashed its full power.
"Haaaaaaaaaaah!"
With a roar that shook the temple, Ren struck.
This was the same destructive force that had been enough to nearly kill the Apostle of the Giant God, Wadatsumi. Orphide tried to intercept the strike, confident in his regeneration. He had assumed that since Ren didn't possess the Power of the Hero like Vane, his attacks wouldn't be effective.
"Impossible!" Orphide screamed.
He was wrong. The Authority Sword was different.
Ren didn't fully understand his own affinity yet, but for some reason, he was demonstrating the same effectiveness against Orphide’s regeneration as Vane had. The silver and black energy left deep, jagged wounds on Orphide's body.
And this time, the blood that flowed was crimson.
"This isn't the Power of the Hero... so why? How can you negate my divinity!?"
Ren caught the priest’s panicked monologue. According to Orphide, this was something else entirely. Whatever it was, the fact that it was working was all that mattered.
'I can only think you're already using a special power imbued with divinity.'
Chronoa’s words from the Academy Principal's Office echoed in his mind.
Divinity was a property of mana that, with exceptions like the Hero, humans could not naturally harbor. It was equivalent to the power of a god. If Orphide's regeneration was also divine in nature, it explained why it defied common sense. Vane's Power of the Hero could compete with it because it was a high-tier divinity, but Ren’s Authority Sword was actively negating it.
Ren realized his technique was a higher-tier evolution of Star-Cleaver.
(Well, whatever. As long as it works.)
If he could suppress the enemy's divinity, that was all he needed. His only goal was to stop Orphide.
"Both the descendant of the Hero and your existence were outside my calculations!" Orphide shouted.
"So what!"
"Nothing! It's just that even though we kept the Sword King, the Witch, and the Director of the Lion Sanctum away... I never imagined it would end like this!"
Orphide leaped back to put distance between them. He adjusted his glasses with a trembling hand.
"Now... I have no choice but to stake my life to prove my worth."
He drove his hand into his own chest.
The wound didn't bleed; instead, it began to vent jet-black mana like a thick mist. Orphide threw his arms wide and looked up at the sky.
Ren prepared to step in, but Orphide's power spread across the stones faster than the wind. It flooded out of the colonnade and into the plaza, beginning to erode Windea's sacred waters.
As Ren swung his sword to clear the black mist, Orphide’s voice rang out:
"Be as darkness, deeper than the night."
The mana unleashed by the priest began to blot out the twilight sky. The Mark of the Demon King Cult on his chest spread across his entire body. He was incinerating his life force to activate the Power of the Demon King sealed within the mark. The resulting mana was so massive that all of Windea began to tremble.
"Ashton-kun! The mana is changing!" Nemu shouted, looking at her magic tools.
The wind and water mana were being corrupted, turning into a lethal miasma that would soon erode everything it touched.
"Do you intend to destroy all of Windea?" Squall asked, grit in his voice.
"Hehehe... it is a place filled with holy power, after all. Let us go out with a grand finale."
As the battle approached its end, the priest raised his fists. Windea continued to shake from within. If this went on, the entire region would likely be permanently scarred, much like the Baldur Mountains.
But Ren had a plan. He turned back to Vane and the others. They were still exhausted, but they had recovered enough to move.
"Vane, look over there."
Ren pointed to the back of the temple, where the floor had collapsed to reveal a hidden staircase. These were the Hidden Stairs that appeared only on the night of the Holy Day of Water. No one else had noticed them yet.
"What is that...?"
"His power seems to be sinking into the ground. I need you all to go down there and check the situation below."
It was a heavy request for people so tired, but Ren was thinking about their future.
"What about you, Ren!"
"That's obvious."
He charged.
To give Vane and the others a chance to reach the stairs, and to prevent Orphide from spreading any more miasma, Ren unleashed his Authority Sword. He swung the Mithril Magic Sword at the transformed priest.
When Orphide's arms met the blade, the clash sounded like two massive plates of steel colliding. Fighting at the cost of his life force had made the priest significantly stronger.
"Go, now!" Ren shouted, pushing the hesitating group forward.
As they headed for the stairs, the miasma pursued them like a living thing. Vane dispersed it with his sword and looked back at Ren one last time before following his companions into the depths.
"Is there something beneath those stairs!" Orphide demanded as they traded blows.
"I’ve never seen them before either, so I have no idea!"
"You're very convincing for someone who doesn't know!"
As they exchanged sword strikes and martial arts, the black shadow over Windea continued to grow. Orphide was now pouring every ounce of his power into the fight, ignoring his own survival.
A sharp, swift punch grazed Ren's side. Despite the near-miss, the shockwave was immense. Ren grit his teeth and pushed through the pain.
The black energy was now eroding the plaza and the sacred spring. Miasma was creeping up the mountainside, threatening the overflowing water.
Ren tried to stop the corruption while keeping up the pressure. He pictured the Water Magic Sword in his mind. It wasn't a distraction; he felt a deep calling from the sword itself.
(This sword was dropped by the Water Goddess... it should be able to do something here!)
Windea was a sanctuary of water. He summoned the blade, and as it appeared in the air, he grabbed it and thrust it into the stone paving.
"This... is..." Orphide’s voice was full of shock.
A veil of clear blue water spread across the floor, centered on Ren’s feet.
"Show your power!"
"To think you could use Water Magic as well!"
Orphide's power was purified instantly, dissolved by the Water Veil. Ripples spread across the shimmering floor whenever Ren or Orphide moved. Ren pulled the Water Magic Sword from the ground and trailed its tip across the surface, leaving glowing trails. He had successfully halted the defilement of Windea.
Orphide lunged forward, closing the distance before the ripples could even form. As he swung his fist to unleash a shockwave, Ren raised the Water Magic Sword.
The water on the floor surged upward, creating a wall of vivid blue between them. Though it swayed like a curtain, it was as resilient as the defenses used by Wadatsumi. It absorbed Orphide's attack before collapsing back into the veil on the floor.
Droplets of water caught the starlight, creating a shimmering, ethereal rain. The two warriors locked eyes through the mist.
Orphide knew he couldn't let such a threat live. Ren knew this would be a fight to the death. There would be no chance for an interrogation after the battle—he had to ask his questions now.
Orphide retreated, standing atop a pile of rubble to look down at Ren.
"Orphide," Ren called out.
"..."
"Do you know of a girl with silver and black hair?"
Orphide’s expression shifted. "Why... why do you know of that person...?"
He knew her. There was no doubt now.
"Where is she!"
"Where is she? Haha..." Orphide began to laugh. "Hahahaha! I don't know where you learned of her, but to think you believe you can meet her—"
The priest regained his composure, wearing a smile that blended madness with absolute conviction.
"How arrogant."
He let the starlight reflect off his glasses, hiding his eyes. As he moved, a small gemstone fell from his pocket.
In the Legend of the Seven Heroes, Orphide hadn't been able to stand back up after his first defeat. But this time, he had used a Holy Relic stolen from a foreign temple—a gemstone with rare healing powers. It had fallen into the water at his feet, creating a final set of ripples.
"I also have a question for you," Orphide said.
"What?"
"You're the one who took the Ring of the Water Goddess, aren't you?"
It was a guess based on intuition, but the conviction in his voice was real. Ren remained silent, but his lack of denial told Orphide everything he needed to know.
The priest looked around at the purified hall and the boy who had systematically dismantled his plans. He remembered how quickly the Empire had responded to their attacks.
He realized the truth.
"It wasn't the others," Orphide whispered. "It was you. You are the one who has pushed us this far."
Inside the shimmering colonnade, Orphide finally saw the truth. He realized that the boy standing before him was the true Mastermind behind the Cult's failures.