Helck – 13-14

Episode 13

Episode 14

「弟と共に / 傭兵団」 (Otouto to Tomo ni / Youheidan)
“With Younger Brother in Tow / The Mercenaries”

While the demands of the professional life forced me to skip a week with Helck (and a few fall show intros beside – the joys of being on call), I dare say it was the opportune moment for it. Besides fleshing out Helck’s backstory we also got the goods on humanity’s recent past and also some very tasty ideas on what’s driving the current wave of heroic violence. And the best part? Haven’t even hit the part that makes Helck into a supposed pariah.

With how fantasy stories usually play out I cannot say I’m too shocked that Helck and Cless wound up being orphans who maxed out their luck stats at the right possible moment. It’s fitting in a way: it shows the humility on the part of Helck especially isn’t an act, it highlights why the guy is so damn good at a few things (and not some others), and also slyly reveals that yes, Helck is in fact a hero himself. Admittedly the last part could have been guessed earlier considering the sheer disparity in power between him and Vamirio, but much like the rest of this series it’s one answer for two further questions. Just how did Helck wind up with his hero powers? Was it similar to Cless in rewarding struggle with ability? Or did someone else have a hand in rewarding the two with a seriously overpowered skill unlock? Considering how the rest of humanity has turned out so far the answer to that is likely to yield far more than you might think.

Helck’s backstory too wasn’t the full extent of the reveals – indeed some more generic history shook itself out of the woodwork in terms of Cless and that first duel with the Demon King. Much like with Helck’s hero powers there’s a major detail missing: monsters are appearing all over, some are directly linked to the same ones appearing across Vamirio’s homeland, and the killing of the Demon King did nothing to stop their appearance. My personal wager remains the miasma brought up way back at the start being responsible for it all, but that then gets into who is spreading the stuff and why; the human world for one remains bright and lush compared to the demon lands, if miasma is involved it’s being deliberately and selectively applied. If true it certainly hints towards a different sort of mastermind at work, however considering how Helck loves to take its time I don’t expect learning more on that for a while.

After all, still have to learn how Helck supposedly kills his brother and winds up with new mercenary friend Alicia’s broken hero-killing sword. Something tells me that will prove to be a bit of an experience.

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