Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 438 (Part 2):

An unbelievable reality. Who could accept it so easily? One High Priest spoke up.

“H-How can that be?”

Levina’s response flowed smoothly.

“The demonic beast that attacked the temple said it came from the Forest of Roots. Because of that, I examined the Sacred Barrier earlier. You may go to the sanctuary and see for yourselves.”

Urgent questions poured forth.

“Is this the work of those archmages? Have they turned to dark magic?”

“We don’t know. They are suspected as the cause.”

It was unprecedented for a High Priest to personally restore the Sacred Barrier.

There was no doubt that the archmages who had interfered back then were connected to this incident.

Yet, no demonic aura had been detected from them. Those named as the temple’s enemies or tied to the powers of darkness were not among them.

If they had become dark mages, no matter how powerful, a High Priest would have sensed it.

Moreover, there was another, more likely connection.

“What about Renosa’s heir? Could he have done something? Perhaps when he emerged from the Forest of Roots…”

After all, hadn’t Helmut defeated them?

Though the temple had initiated the attack, Helmut had boldly revealed his identity, as if daring them to come.

For one bearing the Seed of Darkness to act so confidently!

Clearly, he had made thorough preparations long before becoming Renosa’s heir.

Perhaps the Sacred Barrier’s damage was one of his schemes.

“Yes, he may have tampered with the barrier,” Levina said gravely, nodding. “Unbelievable as it is, he’s escaped the Forest of Roots twice.”

Romulo spoke again.

“If we infuse the barrier with holy power, could we stop it? All of us together this time?”

If all four High Priests poured their holy power into the Sacred Barrier, could the situation be salvaged?

But Levina crushed their hopes gently.

“The barrier’s balance is disrupted. From its very source. That’s what I felt.”

It was a possibility she had considered countless times in the short span since discovering it.

Had they acted sooner, they might have delayed the crisis.

But the cracks had grown too large. The crumbling Sacred Barrier was wrapped around the immense Forest of Roots.

Even if the four High Priests poured their holy power into it with all their might, it would be like pouring water into the sea.

“Lady Levina, you restored the barrier with your holy power before, didn’t you? How could—”

“What I did back then… was likely just a temporary patch. Not a true restoration. It seems it was never possible to begin with.”

Back then, it wasn’t just a tremor in the barrier—it was the beginning of its collapse. The Sacred Barrier, an intricate holy relic of Lumen woven with immense holy power, was a seal holding back a demonic force capable of reducing the world to ashes.

Whether due to a single definitive cause or the cumulative effect of many, the barrier’s balance had been shattered. Now, only its collapse remained. For the first time in a thousand years, the world would face the raw, exposed Forest of Roots—the legendary demonic realm itself.

“Then… what do we do?”

Even the voice of a High Priest, always calm and reverent before the faithful, trembled.

In that moment, even a High Priest commanding thousands of priests and holy knights became like a lost child.

Levina, head bowed, raised her chin. She spoke as if acknowledging defeat.

“We must announce this to the world.”

“Lady Levina!”

One High Priest cried out her name, as if she were proclaiming the temple’s impotence.

At a time when all were turning their blades against the temple!

“I’ve thought long and hard, though the time was short. But… there’s no solution. Even if we gather all the temple’s relics and priests to pour holy power into it, the Sacred Barrier will still collapse. We might delay it by a month at most.”

One High Priest shouted desperately.

“If we can delay it even a little, shouldn’t we try?”

“Then who will stop the demonic beasts flooding out of the Forest of Roots like a tidal wave?”

Her low, grounded retort brought a heavy silence to the room.

“If we use all our strength to protect the barrier, when it collapses, humanity will face the demonic beasts with no sacred magic or Lumen’s blessing—bare and defenseless. And it’s not just beasts we’ll face…”

Levina’s calm voice began to tremble, as if suppressed emotions were breaking free.

“What we must face is the Demon King.”

The moment that word was spoken, the High Priests’ bodies shivered, as if they had glimpsed a horrific monster.

That sinister, ominous word—Demon King.

“When the seal breaks, the Demon King will appear. A second coming of the Holy-Demonic War.”

It was as if an ancient myth had stirred to life from the pages of a sacred text. Unreal, distant.

Yet it was the reality unfolding, the fate awaiting them.

The High Priests sat frozen, listening to her words.

“We cannot stop it. We must prepare to face it.”

High Priest Levina spoke with resolve.

“We must inform the world of this truth.”

No one could argue against her words any longer.

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