Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 399 (Part 1):

Alea secured her spot in the semifinals by facing an opponent far easier than Helmut’s.

This was the greatest achievement a mage had ever attained in a tournament of this kind.

Had she encountered someone like Helmut’s current opponent, it wouldn’t have been so simple—But Alea had enjoyed good luck in her matchups all along.

In particular, she didn’t face anyone who was used to battling mages or had enough experience to handle any unexpected situation.

Moreover, Alea wasn’t just a mage—she was a breathtakingly beautiful woman. Simply raising a sword against her felt almost sinful. It wasn’t so easy for opponents to charge in recklessly.

A moment of hesitation was all she needed. With her artifact shortening her spellcasting time, Alea swiftly paralyzed her opponent’s vision and seized the advantage.

From the audience’s perspective, darkness or mist would descend upon the stage, followed by a dazzling burst of light—and then the opponent would already be down.

But even that looked like a glorious magic show, so the crowd couldn’t help getting wildly excited.

‘Violet! Violet! Violet!’

Of all the favorites who advanced to the semifinals, the most popular was Alea.

—

“Congratulations on making it to the semifinals.”

Helmut delivered those words to Alea when she returned to their lodging, though he didn’t seem entirely pleased. Alea smiled as though it were no big deal.

“Thank you. Congratulations to you, too.”

The brief silence that followed carried not warmth, but an unspoken tension. Surprisingly, Alea was the more relaxed of the two.

“Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for.”

Sian’s eyes gleamed. As if his bloodied collapse had never happened, he had recovered swiftly after a short period of rest—thanks to the top-tier healing mages assigned to the tournament.

However, once the mage-healers of the Mage Association who treated him discovered he was a rare all-attribute spirit mage—and that he was from Rodril—they caused quite a stir.

After resting thoroughly, Sian’s cheeks had even regained a healthy plumpness, his face radiating energy with no trace of psychological trauma.

“As long as that bastard doesn’t win, I don’t care who takes it.”

In contrast, Asuka, still nursing a grudge, grumbled under his breath.

“Did you get an earful from your father after getting eliminated?”

Asuka had been summoned by Grand Duke Farnese immediately after his loss and hadn’t returned for a while. Having used the tournament as an excuse to skip his heir training, he’d likely been subjected to a crash course in suffering.

Asuka snorted.

“An earful? Please. If my father had competed, I doubt he’d have even made it past the preliminaries.”

The rewards for this tournament were so immense that even the qualifiers had been fiercely competitive.

Grand Duke Farnese was every bit as skilled as any Imperial Knight, but it’d been a long time since he’d had real combat experience. When did a grand duke ever need to wield a sword?

Duty came first for him; swordsmanship was secondary. Meanwhile, Asuka, who was in his prime, had skills that stood out even among the Imperial Knights.

He didn’t fall short in skill; he’d simply run into a formidable opponent and had the misfortune to lose.

“Well, for the record, I’m cheering for Alea. Alea, you’re the pride of mages everywhere! Win the championship for me! Go, Violet! Go, Purple Witch!”

Sian pumped his fists enthusiastically. Alea shot back with a caustic reply.

“I have no interest in fighting for a loser’s vicarious satisfaction. Especially one who got knocked out ages ago.”

“Helmut, you hear that? Show this wicked woman what you’re made of! Unleash the power of darkness!”

Sian switched sides effortlessly. Asuka, watching as though it were none of his concern, mumbled:

“Come to think of it, this is the first time you two will fight each other, isn’t it? Helmut, you feel confident?”

Alea’s gaze locked onto Helmut, as if curious about his answer.

Helmut’s body twitched imperceptibly. He had to choose his words carefully here. A misstep would only bring trouble.

If he said he was confident, Alea might take offense. If he said he wasn’t, he’d seem weak.

In the end, Helmut opted for evasion.

“…We’ll let the results speak for themselves.”

Asuka raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“What’s that? Are you just trying to smooth things over? You think you can fight properly on stage like this?”

“I can see your future already: you’re going to be under her thumb. Snap out of it now! Otherwise, you’ll spend your whole life like that.”

Sian shook his head mournfully. While Helmut responded with silence, Alea glared at the two with sharp eyes—as if they were bad influences she needed to pry away from her boyfriend.

“Enough noise. All of you, quiet down.”

[Sometimes even among demonic beasts that pair up, the male ends up yielding to the female.]

Elaga, who had sidled up quietly, added with an air of understanding.

Once again, Helmut had no choice but to respond with silence.

Finally, the semifinals came, almost in the blink of an eye.

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