How Many Champions Do You Have?

“Orphelus... My god, isn't that your ancestor?”

Upon hearing the name from Mystoria's lips, Faust blurted out the words after only a moment's reflection.

Even a young human like him, who had little research into elven history, had heard of the great name of Orphelus.

He was a hero known to every household in the Zhexuan Kingdom and any land where elven culture had spread. Although Orphelus was not considered the king of the first people of the Zhexuan Kingdom, he was the most famous great hero since the kingdom's founding and the only king to have ever ruled the entire elven realm.

The dynasty established by the founder of the High Phoenix Court represented the absolute peak of the Zhexuan Kingdom. It once reigned supreme over the world, with all other nations living under its shadow, a golden age that elves still look back on with longing even now.

Legend says that throughout his life, his deeds and miracles were countless. He passed through innumerable trials, from overthrowing usurpers who plagued the mortal world to slaying nine headed sea serpents and annihilating fire demons entrenched in rocky caverns.

He set a legendary record of being blessed by twelve fairies, a record that remains unbroken to this day.

【There were not that many. The son of man cannot distinguish the differences between fairies. In truth, our numbers are far fewer than you imagine. Often, it is the same fairy returning under a different identity.】

It was true. Even someone like Faust, who lived alongside a fairy every day, might not be able to tell the difference if he encountered another. Without the connection of a contract, a fairy's contact with mortals was purely one sided.

Mystoria sighed and admitted, “Yes... Orphelus was once the hero king we were most proud of. Even the current courts take pride in being his descendants, including the 【Dawn】 court the Princess belongs to, which is a legitimate line of Orphelus.”

“When we discovered that the ancient Phoenix King had returned to the world in the form of a fiend, chaos broke out within the Zhexuan Kingdom. Ultimately, we decided to seal away the news. Every elf who knew the truth maintained a tacit silence until the crisis could be resolved.”

“But now it seems we can no longer keep a lid on it.”

The great hero whose name the elves had sung for a thousand years had fallen and become a fiend. This sort of truth was too humiliating to speak of; they had to cover it up. If they didn't, it would become an international scandal.

Faust could fully understand.

Before this, the elves had looked down their noses at everyone. Whenever they argued with others, they loved to bring up the Phoenix King. “We have a great hero with twelve blessings. Just asking, how many champions do you have?”

“I see human heroes as nothing but rabble, not even worth a single hair of our Phoenix King.”

This boomerang hit back hard. Unless it was a crisis of total extinction, the elves would never speak of it. They were incredibly obsessed with saving face.

“And then?” Faust asked, his interest piqued.

“After the Nightmare... Orphelus was born, he did not initially show much of the danger associated with a great fiend. For the past hundred years, he only encroached upon the outer edges of the Zhexuan forest sea. Because of this, the various courts adopted a hands off attitude, with no one willing to organize a subjugation team.”

“It wasn't until the day the Princess was born that the Nightmare suddenly appeared in the court and cast his curse in a fit of absolute rage.”

“Princess Irithea grew day by day, and every blessing came true upon her. She was beautiful, quiet, kind, wise, and brave... Not a single person who saw her failed to love her.”

Mystoria fell into her memories, the corners of her mouth lifting unconsciously.

“Princess Irithea vowed to reunify the divided Zhexuan Kingdom and began a path of pilgrimage. Wherever she went, all conflict and suffering were extinguished, and all resistance and hostility were suppressed. We were moved by the Princess's charisma and gathered under her banner, winning victory after victory and earning endless glory!”

“Those were such happy times. Everyone had light in their eyes. We firmly believed that under the banner of the eternal Dawn Maiden, nothing was impossible. Even the curse of Orphelus could be easily defeated! And indeed, it seemed so. On the day the Princess reached adulthood, the Nightmare arrived as predicted to drag her into a dream.”

“The Dawn Maiden fought a great battle against Orphelus and successfully repelled him.”

“Hmm?” Faust raised an eyebrow at this point. “You mean Princess Irithea actually beat the Nightmare?”

Wait, how did this deviate from the script? Even if it's a witch, shouldn't she at least follow the basic laws of the world?

Mystoria lifted her chin with a sense of shared pride. “Of course. After all, the Nightmare is extremely dependent on his own domain. Fighting outside of it, how could he be a match for the Princess?! Since then, the great fiend no longer confronted the Princess directly. He could only hunker down within his domain and accelerate its erosion of the Zhexuan Kingdom.”

The elf martial saint's expression turned back to anger and grief, her fists clenching.

“That was the first time Orphelus eroded the kingdom on a large scale. The various courts were helpless. They lacked the courage to launch a crusade against a great fiend, so they were forced to seek help from Princess Irithea, even though they had once vehemently opposed the Dawn Maiden's rule!”

“And what is even more hateful were those of us who followed her. At that time, we were blinded by victory and lost our judgment of the future. We actually thought this was the perfect opportunity to eliminate the Nightmare and urged the Princess to go on a crusade... Heh, looking back now, the Princess probably knew the outcome even then.”

The flaxen haired elf glanced at Faust before shaking her head. “But she went anyway, without a second thought, because that is the kind of person she is. She was the destined monarch of Zhexuan. To protect her people, she would absolutely go even if faced with a certain defeat.”

“Naturally, the subjugation army suffered a crushing defeat within the fiend's domain. To protect us and to hold back the erosion of the Nightmare's domain from the rest of the kingdom, the Princess was dragged into the heart of the domain. There, in that terrifying and endless dream, she faces the Nightmare. Even now, she remains wrapped in thorns.”

“And the prophecy says we must wait for a full hundred years before the Princess can be awakened by true love's kiss.”

“How are we supposed to spend these hundred years? Just waiting like this? Are we to let the Princess endure that pain alone?”

Mystoria's voice trembled, and she gave a bitter, shaking smile. “That is everything I know. We, her followers, are such a terrible group of people. That is why I chose to exile myself. All this time, I haven't wanted to admit I am your mentor. Someone like me is simply unworthy of teaching the Way of the White Court!”

So that was it. The prince of Qingxi listened intently to the entire experience, finally piecing together what kind of modified script the Sleeping Beauty story had become in the Zhexuan Kingdom.

“There is no need to belittle yourself, Teacher Mystoria. You can hold your head high.”

Faust placed his hands on the elf martial saint's shoulders and smiled. “Because your encounter with me is the key to saving the Dawn Maiden.”