Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 294 (Part 1):

Someone raised his hands and asked.

“What’s going on? Why have we been summoned, the High Priests, so urgently?”

“My goodness, what on earth is going on?”

Six High Priests who had returned immediately after the summons were seated around a round table.

High Priests. Their faces were too young for such a grand title. It was youth maintained by powerful divine force.

A round table conference unfolding in the temple. This was the most authoritative meeting on earth.

Although the temple’s influence wasn’t what it used to be, sometimes even the fate of a country was decided here. Even the life of the most noble person was meaningless before the name of God.

Countless decisions had been made at this round table, but it was rare for all six High Priests to gather in one place like this.

A round table conference that might happen once a year, if at all.

The ultimate purpose of this round table conference was one: for the continuation and maintenance of this world.

That was the will of Lumen, who had saved the world from the Demon King’s war.

These were the ones who inherited Lumen’s power and followed his will. Even if they had become corrupt and depraved, unable to properly succeed Lumen’s shining will, they hadn’t completely forgotten what they needed to do.

High Priest Agato opened his mouth, looking at them with solemn eyes.

“An anomaly has occurred in the Forest of Roots.”

“What kind of anomaly?”

“After an unknown disturbance occurred, it was confirmed that the sacred barrier has weakened.”

Suddenly, those gathered around the round table stirred. High Priest Agato added with certainty.

“It’s certain. The sacred artifact in the temple that measures the concentration of the sacred barrier showed a reaction.”

“Is this a permanent change? Or is it a temporary phenomenon? Or is it some kind of sign?”

“If it’s a sign, what kind of sign are you talking about! Are you saying the Demon King is about to resurrect?”

“It’s not an impossible idea. A thousand years have passed. More than enough time for something to happen.”

“That’s blasphemy. How can you say that about Lumen’s barrier!”

“But didn’t you say the barrier has actually weakened?”

High Priest Levina looked around expressionlessly.

The condition to become a High Priest is holy power. But it seemed only Agato and herself among them could make proper judgments.

They were, of course, among the more experienced High Priests in this group.

High Priest Paolo also had seniority, but he was notoriously greedy and obsessed with wealth.

Draped in gold and jewels and dressed in the finest fabrics, his judgments were always clouded by his desires.

Therefore, among them, only Levina and Agato could be considered High Priests with “adequate experience and sound reasoning.”

It was also a heavy burden that the two of them had to lead this huge organization called the temple.

Although it’s said there’s no hierarchy among High Priests, there are clearly those who take on tasks closer to the core.

Because of this, Agato and Levina noticed the changes in the sacred barrier faster than any other High Priest.

‘I wonder if it’s a coincidence that two High Priests died a few years ago, and now the sacred barrier is shaking. None of this feels ordinary. Everything is unclear without anything definite.’

Levina lowered her eyes. Her heart was heavy.

The vacancy of two High Priests was quickly filled. When one High Priest dies, another becomes a High Priest to fill that position, so the number is maintained constant.

It was like a law of nature. The providence set by Lumen.

It’s not common for a High Priest to be murdered or die in an unfortunate accident, but it’s not completely unheard of either. After all, High Priests are still human.

But it was unprecedented for two High Priests to die in quick succession like four years ago.

High Priest Dolos met his death after clashing with the descendant of the Sword Saint in Basor due to his unilateral actions, but High Priest Pascal had vanished, along with the knights who had been guarding him, during a roadside journey.

The problem was that there was no clue.

The forest where they were was in a state where even the High Priests couldn’t read the traces, as they were completely erased.

It wasn’t that there were no suspicions.

‘The two archmages who became public enemies of the temple.’

Archmage Antiol and Archmage Heike. Only they would have been capable of killing a High Priest and erasing all traces so thoroughly.

That was where the trail ended.

Because those two were already enemies of the temple, and there had been no way to track them down, further pursuit was impossible.

The suspicions remained just that—suspicions.

And there was no clear reason why they would have targeted High Priest Pascal in particular.

Even for them, as archmages, eliminating High Priest Pascal wouldn’t have been an easy task.

Although they were public enemies, it was true that archmages of their level had little difficulty avoiding the temple’s pursuit, allowing them some degree of freedom.

‘Losing them was a significant blow to the temple. Both Dolos and Pascal had their flaws, but they were experienced.’

They were at least sufficient to carry out missions or make decisions representing the temple as High Priests.

Despite her personal disgust toward Pascal, who had been a known pedophile, Levina had always been able to see the bigger picture.

After all, High Priests were meant to serve the higher will of God. Their cold, calculating rationality was what made them so effective in their roles.

The divine energy circulating throughout their bodies made their hearts even colder.

This detached and sometimes cruel nature made some of them seek out extreme or twisted pleasures, but that’s another story.

Levina’s memory suddenly touched on a few years ago.

‘Helmut… was it?’

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