Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 280 (Part 1):

[Why us?]

Igrelle and Elaga exchanged puzzled glances, clearly not understanding.

“The Forest of Roots is vast, but it’s divided into five regions—east, west, south, north, and the central region—each ruled by a powerful beast. Why do you think it’s divided this way? How did you come to be the rulers of these regions?”

Elaga and Igrelle felt a slight shock. It was a question they had never thought to ask.

Just like a child naturally grows into an adult, it seemed absolute and natural to them.

Elaga, recalling distant memories, began to speak hesitantly.

[Well… it’s because we were the strongest in those regions, I suppose? It was a long time ago, so I don’t remember clearly, but I think I was the strongest in the central region. Not by a huge margin, but I was stronger than the others.

I fought off and devoured those who challenged me, and eventually, I became the ruler. It wasn’t anything special. The strong survive, and the survivors grow stronger. That’s just the way it is in the Forest of Roots.]

[That’s how it was for me too. I didn’t do anything special. I just fought off and devoured others until the gap between us widened. One day, I realized I was the strongest in the south.]

They both sounded like people saying they had been geniuses from birth, the kind of talk that would make anyone jealous.

[We established our territories around the same time. At some point, we realized we were the strongest in our respective regions, and that’s how it happened.]

“How long ago was that?”

[In human terms, about 800 years ago. The Forest of Roots has been around for about a thousand years.]

Sarah and Susan stared at Elaga in shock.

They knew Elaga had lived a long time, but they hadn’t realized it was that old.

Despite its age, Elaga didn’t exhibit the wisdom or maturity one would expect from such a long-lived being.

“Why didn’t you expand beyond your region?”

[Because there were others just as strong as me in the other regions. After becoming rulers, we gradually became aware of each other’s existence.

We knew that if we fought, it would lead to mutual destruction. So, we coexisted.

Not that we liked each other very much. But if we stayed in our own territories, there was no reason to fight.]

Igrelle shot a glance at Elaga.

Naho had been particularly notorious, but that didn’t mean Elaga and Igrelle were on good terms either.

The Forest of Roots was a world of survival of the fittest. This meant that competing for strength and establishing a hierarchy was natural. It was instinct.

But the rulers of the regions, sensing that their powers were equal, had avoided conflict by establishing their own territories. They had awakened enough of their demonic nature to suppress their instincts.

In other words, they possessed suppressed instincts. Therefore, it was only natural that they would dislike other rulers who were just as strong and posed a threat to them.

‘The Forest of Roots has been maintained for a long time without change, with five regional rulers in place. The humans who entered from the outside couldn’t affect this massive ecosystem. They were simply weak beings at the bottom of the food chain.

This forest was a dormant lake. But Helmut’s appearance caused ripples on the surface. He was the first factor that brought about change in the Forest of Roots.’

Alea looked at Helmut as she organized her thoughts.

‘Elaga saved him, raised him, and that caused the conflict between Naho and Elaga. And Naho of the east was annihilated.

This event caused a slight change in the Forest of Roots.

She wasn’t sure exactly what those changes were. But perhaps those changes allowed Helmut to escape the sacred barrier.’

Helmut’s escape from the sacred barrier was a miracle. Both Antiol and Alea had come to that conclusion.

Helmut had relied on a plausible theory, but that theory wasn’t as complete as that of Archmage Antiol.

Even though Antiol knew more about the sacred barrier than anyone else in the world, he couldn’t have imagined that Helmut, carrying the Seed of Darkness, would have been able to leave the Forest of Roots.

It was something close to impossible, according to his theory.

Alea, snapping out of her thoughts, asked,

“Do you think it was just a coincidence?”

[If it wasn’t a coincidence, then what?]

“It’s a flow. And there are things that cause that flow. As I mentioned before, there were no gods in this world before the Gate to the Demon World was opened.

But when the world was on the brink of destruction due to the Demon King, the world created a god: Lumen.”

Alea posed another question.

“So, what do you think the existence of you rulers of the regions means in the Forest of Roots?”

Elaga frowned deeply.

Elaga’s brain was already steaming from all this thinking. Igrelle, who was a bit more thoughtful, answered.

[Are you saying there’s something related to the sacred barrier in the east, west, south, north, and central regions? And as a result, we, the rulers of these regions, were born?]

Alea answered concisely.

“Yes.”

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!

•