Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 190 (Part 2):

“From 1 to 9. 10 in total. So, what should we do?”

“Find the balls in the statues.”

Helmut answered succinctly, moving without hesitation.

‘Could breaking the statues reveal the balls? Or perhaps.’

There was no need for unnecessary effort. Approaching a statue, Helmut found a ball lodged in its mouth.

“This one’s a 2.”

As he reached out, Alea shouted, “Be careful!”

The moment he removed the ball, the statue’s eyes lit up red—a startling transformation.

Magic spread, and the statue came to life. Its head lunged forward, snapping at the air. Had Helmut been slower, his arm might have been bitten off.

—Krrrrrr!

As its wings flapped, Helmut pocketed the ball and drew his sword.

“Can you handle it alone?”

Alea asked just as Helmut’s sword struck decisively.

CRUNCH! The stony material offered some resistance.

One wing fell as the creature struck with its front paw.

WHIFF! Its claws swept murderously through the air.

Helmut casually asked, “Will stabbing its heart kill it?”

“It’s not a beast; it’s a golem. It moves by magic, so its core will be where the magic concentrates,” Alea explained.

Helmut swiftly identified the vital spot. He felt the magic pulsating near its forehead.

The golem’s movements, while not slow, seemed sluggish compared to the many demonic beasts Helmut had faced. Even its solid body wasn’t as tough as a real demonic beast’s.

His sword pierced its forehead. CRACK!

The light in its eyes extinguished like a snuffed candle. Without its core, the golem reverted to mere stone and crumbled.

As it hit the floor, shards flew, brushing Helmut’s cheek. No cut appeared.

Still standing in the center, Alea warned,

“Be careful, this is Lampione’s space. The creatures here aren’t just illusions. Being in Lampione’s space means you’re subject to his magic, which includes physical attacks from illusions.”

Helmut approached Alea and handed her the ball marked with the number 2.

“Do we have to go through the same process for the remaining 5, 7, 9?”

“Yes, it’s tedious, isn’t it? I wish you’d hurry.”

While one challenge might consume time, they needed to move quickly to the next.

However, Alea quickly added,

“The golem moves by Lampione’s magic. Such magical creatures have resistance to other magics. If I used magic to deal with it, it would drain too much power. We don’t know what comes next, so I can’t afford to exhaust my magic. I knew what I had to do the moment I saw the ball in the statue’s mouth.”

Choosing not to fight the statue and instead wait for another opportunity was a wise decision. And with Helmut by her side, combat was his responsibility.

Helmut tilted his head,

“Even if that archmage doesn’t plan to pass on his magic to another mage, this’s still too much.”

It was doubtful whether they could obtain his grimoire at the dungeon’s end.

But that doubt wasn’t enough to make him give up.

Helmut swiftly dealt with the remaining three statues and handed all four balls to Alea.

Fitting the balls in place, a white light appeared at the far end of the wall, revealing a door.

“Let’s go.”

Combat continued in the next room. Although some challenges were passed easily without a fight, from the 70th onwards, solving puzzles usually involved combat.

In some rooms, the atmosphere alone was hostile, not allowing for peaceful puzzle-solving. Before approaching the central puzzle, a golem attacked first.

“I will use magic to erase my presence and solve the puzzle. Just lure it. Don’t attack!”

Alea declared firmly.

“Veil of Concealment!”

Her form vanished, and her presence was completely erased. To the eye, she became invisible. Helmut was left as the sole target.

Despite the situation being different, Helmut reiterated, “…Don’t attack?”

“Just wait until I figure out the answer.”

Alea immediately immersed herself in solving the puzzle.

Helmut faced the foe, struggling to just endure without attacking. He wished to clear it from his view as soon as possible.

A loathsome body shimmering brown, and numerous bristly legs.

It revealed a disgusting snout packed with tiny, spike-like teeth and charged at him rapidly with its many legs. Rumble!

The multitude of legs pushing against the floor was like a surge of filth.

Helmut’s skin crawled. Faced with the giant centipede-like golem, he frowned.

‘At this rate, using up two wishes wouldn’t be too much.’

Lampione seemed to share a taste similar to the dean of Greta Academy.

It would be more comfortable to quickly dispose of it. The problem was that the solution wasn’t yet known, and without someone to decipher it, they’d fail.

He glanced at Alea. The golems had initially targeted Helmut.

With magic concealing her, they wouldn’t bother Alea.

Just staring down the foe was testing his patience.

‘Hurry up with the answer.’

It wasn’t that Alea was deliberately delaying; in fact, no more than 30 seconds had passed.

It was just Helmut’s eagerness to finish the creature making time seem to drag.

Soon, Alea’s voice rang out.

“The answer is 5, 6, 2, 1!”

“…And how do we get the answer from that creature??”

A moment later, Alea responded.

“Segments.”

Otaku_Tensei

I'm currently Translating the following novel: Helmut: The Forsaken Child. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

•