# 404
◈
404
It was a private training center allocated for the finalists of the martial arts competition.
Today, just like yesterday, Helmut was there.
It’s not like I’m nervous and immersing myself in training against the Holy Knight sent from the temple. It was everyday life for him.
We have long since gone beyond what talent can take us.
The opportunity to learn the sword and the hard work that went into it. The adversity that brought me to the bottom.
It all added up to make him who he is here.
As a prosecutor, Helmut reached a level that very few people have reached at an earlier age than perhaps anyone else in history.
I don’t know how much higher I can go. I can’t even receive lessons from anyone anymore.
There is no one to help him. A lonely road that only one can take.
However, we are accustomed to putting in endless effort even if there is no visible result. Just like it was every day for him.
But today.
Helmut’s sword stood still for a while.
The lights of the banquet flickered in the distance. It’s a light that sucks your nerves horribly. It seems like a sound can be heard, albeit faintly.
Unclear sounds that you can’t tell for sure who they belong to.
But it was somehow annoying. So much so that I couldn’t concentrate on the sword for a moment.
“How do you feel.”
Helmut looked away at the insinuating question. Silver hair sparkling like snow under the moonlight caught my eye. It’s area.
“It’s the eve of the finals.”
Mysterious purple eyes were watching him. Maybe he looks worried. There was no need to hide it from Area. Yes, he knew what bothered him. His eyes moved again. Towards the banquet venue.
“My mother is over there.”
Definitely the place where the banquet lights flicker.
Asuka informed Helmut that he was going to a banquet with representatives of the Empire and Rinosa.
That alone was enough to notice something.
Helmut let out a short sigh.
“My enemy.”
Area blinked. I know how much time it took for Helmut to finally define his mother in that way.
Not because she still had affection for him, but because she was his mother despite betraying him. Because he was the owner of the voice that gave birth to him, gave him his name, and brought him out of the Forest of Pahe. That meant something in itself.
She put a smile on her lips.
“The resolution is good. “I was wondering what if it came out soft.”
“She is no longer someone I can go soft on.”
[Okay, I thought well.]
A white cat wandered in from the direction where Area came from. It seemed like he had followed her.
[There is no point in having a clumsy attitude. This is just the beginning. How vicious these temple bastards are.]
Helmut raised his eyebrows.
“Elaga has never dealt with temple bastards.”
[They are the ones who trapped me in the forest of Pahe for nearly a thousand years. When you think about it, how vicious is it? What a barren environment it is inside. [The idea is that you should fight fiercely among yourself over this good outside.]
First of all, he lived without much awareness of being trapped, and Elaga rose to a dominant position in the Forest of Pahe from an early age.
It was not something he would say as he rose to the top in the world of monsters, where you have to eat and be eaten and be strong to survive. How much must Elaga have felt that barrenness?
Rather, he was so leisurely and bored that he even raised humans.
“It’s animal abuse.”
Area nodded, understanding a different meaning. Elaga pleaded with God.
[Anyway, Helmut, make sure to teach that guy tomorrow. Kill me or make me tremble at the sight of your shadow.]
“I plan on doing that.”
[If you don’t do it right, I’ll jump on stage.]
“That won’t happen, so just watch quietly.”
Helmut’s emotions went through many ups and downs when he was dealing with Elaga. That guy’s nagging. I can’t get used to it at all.
Helmut frowned.
Anyway, Elaga’s nagging really got on Helmut’s nerves. I’m so annoyed that I forget everything else.
[You speak well. Yes, you have to have confidence. But that temple guy. He had something strange.]
“…Did you ever approach him?”
Didn’t I tell you to be careful because your identity might be discovered? Helmut’s eyes became sharp. But Elaga shook her head.
[No, I was in the bushes and by chance that guy passed in front of me. I was crouching down to avoid getting caught! But I felt an unpleasant energy from that guy’s sword.]
“A sword?”
Area explained.
“The Paladins of Lumen use specially manufactured swords. I heard that the temple is being blessed. “It’s probably filled with divine power, so it’s natural for Elaga to feel that way.”
[Hmm, is that so? It was a bit strange.]
‘It was as if it was alive…’
Elaga tilted her head. The moment the paladin passed in front of Elaga, he felt divine power fluttering like a living fish.
It was as if the sword sensed a nearby gigantic concentration of demonic energy called Elaga as a single creature.
However, the paladin did not realize that his sword was reacting. Because he was concentrating on something else.
‘Actually, the reason I went there was to see that woman.’
Coincidentally, the paladin’s goal was the same as Elaga’s. Grand Duchess Linosa.
It was Elaga who had returned to the Forest of Pahe and found Helmut lying like a half-corpse in despair.
I was curious to know what kind of person his biological mother was that caused such a huge shock to Helmut.
However, the player was taken away. The paladin missed Elaga’s presence as he was moving towards her.
It was fortunate for both Elaga and him. Even if a paladin had the holy sword, it would be nearly impossible for a paladin to defeat Elaga.
Immediately after the paladin approached, Helmut’s mother left the scene.
Elaga’s plan to sneakily approach Marguerite by pretending to be a cat and witness her vicious nature of hating cats was ruined.
I tried to test my standard of judgment, which is that villains tend to dislike cute animals.
‘As expected, I don’t like the temple things.’
Still, Elaga saw her, albeit from a distance. His biological mother, who did not resemble Helmut at all.
She was a beautiful and elegant human woman with golden hair that Ygrel loved.
‘It was surprisingly different from Helmut. Besides, he looked so fine.’
Her bright face, which looked younger than her age, showed no signs of agony or pain from the past.
Even animals have their babies. She must be one of the rarest evil women, seeing that she is so fine even after abandoning her children twice. If we were to call it a monster, it would be like Naho.
Helmut was soft and weak by Ella’s standards, so he deserved to be treated like that.
‘As expected, there is nothing better than the information cultivated.’
Elaga felt proud inside. Helmut, who rejected the person who raised him and ran away to find his biological mother, was as foolish as any other child in the world, and he himself was a dedicated and excellent caregiver.
The conclusion of his thoughts was to praise himself for not only being strong but also having character.
Area glanced at Elaga and made another assumption.
“The paladin’s sword can pierce even the toughest monster. “It’s understandable that you feel threatened.”
[Who feels threatened? Only against humans and such.]
“Just as you said, you are a human with the power of Lumen, who trapped you in the Forest of Pahe for nearly a thousand years. We have never seen the true power of the temple.”
[Did you hear that, Helmut? Don’t let your guard down and fight.]
When Area pointed out, Elaga ignored it and handed it over to Helmut. Helmut looked at Elaga in bewilderment for a moment.
“…okay.”
Helmut’s gaze moved to the sky, where the red color above the banquet lights had completely disappeared.
It was a starry night. Just as the stars dotted in the night sky shine brighter, the darkness was becoming darker as midnight approached.
It’s probably going to be a long night.
Now there is only one step left.
*
As the day of the finals dawned, there was a huge bird flying at such a fast speed that it seemed as if it was splitting the sky in two.
The colorful fur was so colorful that it could be seen from afar, but there was a fluffy cloud beneath the bird. It is so high that it cannot be seen from below.
It would be impossible for an ordinary bird to fly that high, but it was a different story for the monster Ygrel, the most powerful flying beast in the world.
[Hmm, I don’t know where this is.]
Igrel muttered as he lost his location after wandering around without thinking.
Ygrel wandered all over the world, high above the human eye.
The world outside the forest barrier of Pahe was new and beautiful, and Igrel enjoyed it all as he flew through the sky.
When I was flying at this high altitude, I could see all kinds of scenery below.
What adds strength to his wings is powerful demon energy.
The high sky where Ygrel flew was filled with clean energy, and that energy was naturally absorbed by Ygrel.
Because of this, Ygrel’s magical energy gradually wore off. Enough to fly in the sky without having to land on the ground for a very long time.
So Ygrel was able to move around without being noticed by any human.
[I want to get down and take a nap.]
Even Igrel needed a break sometimes. However, in order to avoid being noticed by humans, we had to get off in a place with few people.
But the problem is that I don’t know where this is.
‘Shall we go down first?’
Igrell was slowly lowering his altitude and flapping his wings for a while, and at some point, something came into his field of vision.
The unpleasant energy first touched the feather, and then what caught my eye was the curved barrier of white light below.
[huh? I guess I wandered and ended up back in the Forest of Pahe.]
Igrel was trembled at the terrifying return instinct that took control of his body.
I was able to escape by overcoming the risk of death, but it was impossible to go to the Forest of Pahe. He soon calmed down and made up his mind.
‘Now that things have come to this, let’s fly along the barrier.’
After passing through the Forest of Pahe, you will be able to roughly guess the location. All you have to do is pass through the Forest of Pahe and get down. Because humans do not live near the forest.
Wouldn’t it be fun to look down on the place where I was born and live from outside the barrier?
Igrel flew leisurely, drawing a gentle upward curve along the increasingly higher barrier.
To avoid being affected by divine power, maintain a certain distance from the barrier.
Then, when he reached the center of the Forest of Pahe, which he had worked hard to escape, Igrel found something and was shocked.
[huh? What is that?]
A black dot spread at the center of the topmost layer of the sacred barrier.
The ugly spotted mole was squirming as if it were alive.
It’s like a caterpillar gnawing on a leaf and damaging it. The mole was slowly but steadily eating away at the barrier like a plague.
‘What the hell…’
For the first time in his life, Igrel was overcome by an indescribable ominous feeling.
