“From what I’ve seen,” said Greed, “when that girl is curious about something, and it tries to escape, she chases it down without mercy. Fate, if you keep getting all flustered and flighty whenever you see her, you’ll lose.”
“I don’t get flustered! And what do you mean, flighty?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
“Just let it go, would you?” I muttered.
Still, I did know what Greed meant. When Lady Roxy wanted something, she pursued it with stubborn determination. On the surface, she was the daughter of a dignified family, and a refined and respectable holy knight. Having worked as one of her servants, though, I knew she was also the kind of girl who would drag me around to get or do what she wanted. Normally I wouldn’t have minded, but it was troublesome at the moment, and I had no hope of changing her mind.
That same insistence had led Lady Roxy to bring me to Hart Manor, then the Hart family estate. She’d introduced me to all sorts of people I never would have met otherwise. Because of her, my world broadened. We’d laughed and smiled together, and those times comprised most of my few happy memories. I stared at Lady Roxy as she hurried into the dusty distance.
“However you slice it,” I said, “we’re heading in the same direction. I wonder if their journey has something to do with what Jade mentioned? How the duskstone supply diminished?”
“It’s possible something happened in the canyon where they’re gathered. So, what are you going to do about it?”
“You already know what I’m going to do.”
If our destinations were the same, the answer was clear: we’d follow them. We just had to make sure we didn’t get spotted.
Lady Roxy’s squadron sprinted onward for several hours. I trailed behind, making sure to keep a set distance. They were a well-trained group, and strong. Still, even with their stats, they’d soon have to stop to rest. The sun began to set, and the surrounding crags grew dim. I looked up at the sky to see stars shining where, earlier, thick gray cloud cover had loomed.
“Good. We’ll be able to orient ourselves more accurately than with some weird orc-compass,” I said. “Do you know how to read the stars, Greed?”
“Of course I do. Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m the mighty black sword Greed. I can deduce our direction based on the positions of those three red stars and the blue star on the left!”
Everyone who lived in this world knew that much. It was common sense. Only Greed was bigheaded enough to boast about it.
“Hey, actually—over there in the western sky. What’s that star called?” I asked. “The golden one that shines so much brighter than the others?”
That star had appeared quite suddenly a few years ago. I often wondered whether it was my imagination, but over the years, it had almost seemed to grow bigger.
“That,” said Greed, “is Laplace.”
“Laplace?”
Laplace was a god, one worshipped in churches like the old shrine that had been converted into Babylon’s trading post. In the past, Laplace had enjoyed a large following. Since those days, however, the kingdom had torn down and built over many of Laplace’s churches. The number of their followers had only continued to drop. This was all to say that the kingdom hadn’t exactly banned worship of Laplace, but they seemed intent on suppressing the faith. They slowly washed away the deity’s name over the years, months, and days.
“Greed, do you believe in the existence of the gods?”
“The only thing I believe in is myself. But I’ll tell you what—as a token of my generosity, I’ll believe in you too.”
“A token of your generosity? Is that how much I mean to you?”
I wasn’t sure whether I should be flattered or insulted. Either way, it was just like Greed to say something like that. He’d lived longer than I could possibly imagine. Probably, the only way to stay sane over that amount of time was to be as entirely stubborn and self-confident as he was.
Laplace… The golden star shone in the night sky among the others, a color entirely of its own. That light seemed to send a message to all the creatures of this world: “I am here.”
“I occasionally look up at that star, and sometimes…” I said, putting a hand to my heart, “it scares me.”
Gluttony shivered inside me. It felt the same now too. As I looked up at that star, the bottomless hunger writhed in excitement.
“How funny,” said Greed. “It’s the same for me. Wherever we go, wherever we run, it is something we cannot escape.”
“What do you mean?”
Greed chuckled. “Don’t mind me.”
With that mysterious little remark, Greed dropped into silence. I placed the black sword on the ground and stared up at Laplace glimmering alone in the sky. My Gluttony buzzed within me, making my heart race painfully. It was nostalgia, a feeling I first encountered upon losing the village I once called home. A place I wanted to return to that I never could, and a place where important memories remained… A place my feelings were continually drawn toward.
“Do you have someplace you want to go back to?” I asked.
The question was for my Gluttony, but of course it didn’t answer. What was I even doing, talking to my skill? I was being silly. Sentimental. Foolish, Greed would say.
I looked back toward the path ahead and saw that Lady Roxy’s troops had stopped to set up tents. They were finally ready to rest for the evening.
Chapter 13:
Scorched Earth and Salamanders
AFTER SETTING UP their camp for the night, Lady Roxy’s squadron left about ten soldiers on watch around the tents. I thought about what to do now that her forces had paused their journey. I could always go ahead without them, but, well, I just didn’t feel like continuing on alone. I decided to set up camp myself, so I looked around for a suitably rocky crag and plopped down, sheltered by its overhang.
Getting a good night’s sleep in the heart of Galia was near impossible, so the best you could do was close your eyes, relax, and try to get a little rest. It was just like Myne and Greed had told me—adventurers always rest wherever and whenever they can, in preparation for the next battle. In some small way, that had become a habit of my own too. I dipped between half-asleep and half-awake as time passed into the dead of night, until a strange sensation shocked me awake.
What is that feeling?! I snatched Greed from the rock I’d propped him on. “Greed, we’ve got monsters. And based on what I sense…”
“Yeah. No doubt about it. They’re crowned beasts. More than one, too.”
Two groups of crowned beasts approached in a pincer formation, closing in from the east and west. They weren’t aiming for me, however. They honed in on the army encampment.
Lady Roxy felt the monsters’ approach just like I did. She came flying out of her tent, armed and armored. She unsheathed her sword and issued orders to her troops.
I focused my mind, reaching out with my senses to follow the flow of the crowned beasts’ presence. I needed to identify exactly how many enemies we were facing.
“There’re four,” I said. “Damn it. They’re already surrounding the tents.”
“What do you want to do, Fate?”
“We’re going in!”
I dashed out from the cover of my crag and confirmed the trajectory of the incoming monsters with Night Vision.
Should I help with the monsters to the east or west?
Lady Roxy was in position with her troops on the western front. To the east, I saw a lone, unfortunately familiar, blond holy knight. There were more troops on the eastern front, but they also seemed less prepared. I looked once more at Lady Roxy to the west. She was more than ready. She’d be okay.
“Greed, we’ll take the monsters to the east!”
“Transform me into the black bow!” Greed affirmed. “Take the initiative! Use Sandstorm!”
With the black bow in hand, I pulled the bowstring taut and nocked it with a magic arrow, which I infused with the spell Sandstorm. I launched the
crackling sand arrow as I dashed toward the army’s tents. It flew in a direct line at a giant, ashen lizard slithering in from the east.
The arrow bored into the monster’s front right leg. Stone crept up the salamander’s flesh from the wound, until the petrified leg could no longer bear the beast’s momentum and snapped off with a resounding crack. The lizard lost its balance and plowed into the earth, rolling in clouds of dust.
“That slowed one down,” I shouted. “Time to stop the other!”
I fired another magic arrow as I ran, but I no longer had surprise on my side. The remaining lizard whipped toward me. Its throat expanded, glowing hot, and gouts of fire spewed forth from its mouth. The blistering fire melted the very earth before it. The arrow I’d fired disintegrated in the flames.
“What the hell kind of fire is that?!” I yelped.
“Ah, I see,” said Greed. “These are salamanders. When they inhale, they ignite the air within their oil sacs, where they store fire for attacks. But don’t fret. They don’t have any special skills, so you’ve only got their flames to worry about!”
The monsters were still outside the range of my Identify skill, so Greed’s notes were eminently useful. I now knew the salamanders’ fire would swallow any long-range attacks. To fell these beasts, I’d have to get in close and land a killing blow before I found myself engulfed in a burst of flame. But first, I had to stop the salamander from crashing into Lady Roxy’s camp.
The blond holy knight—now closer, I saw he was indeed the irritating Northern Alistair—brought his sword up in a battle stance and charged the salamander. The beast was at least five times the size of an average human, but Northern nevertheless let out a fierce battle cry as he jumped in.
The salamander lashed out and sent Northern flying off behind the troops into one of the tents. The collapsed fabric showed no hint of further movement. That arrogant holy knight couldn’t handle a single strike from a crowned beast. To think he’d been so haughty when we first met.
Without a leader, the troops under Northern fell into disarray. However, among the disorganized soldiers was a girl with short chestnut hair, swinging a greatsword that looked even bigger given her diminutive frame. She leapt in to attack the salamanders head-on, not a moment’s indecision in her strikes.
“Her sword is wrapped in flame,” I said. “Is it spell-imbued?!”
“Sure seems to be,” said Greed. “Looks like a magical flamberge that stores elemental fire in its blade. A powerful weapon, but not against this particular enemy.”
The girl’s flamberge and the salamanders had the same elemental base. No matter how powerful her sword, its fiery strength was ineffective against these beasts. The girl brought the greatsword down from on high, but the salamander seized a small opening and swung its tail. The girl let out a cry as the tail smashed her to the ground. Then the salamander turned back toward her, jaws wide and ready to bite.
“Hold on, Miria!”
The voice came from a scruffy middle-aged man readying a bow in the salamander’s blind spot. His perfectly aimed arrow plunged into the salamander’s eye. The man rushed in to whisk Miria to safety while the salamander shrieked, writhing in agony.
“Captain Mugan, behind you!” Miria shouted.
Mugan grunted. “This isn’t good…”
The salamander had turned back, its throat bulging with seams of fire. It was about to incinerate them, reducing the two brave soldiers to nothing more than flame and ash. There was despair in their cries as they braced for their deaths, but I was grateful. If they hadn’t fought so hard, I wouldn’t have arrived in time.
Just as the salamander was about to drown them in its billowing flames, I brought the black sword down and sliced the beast in half.
Gluttony Skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +900,000, Strength +1,530,000, Magic +830,000, Spirit +980,000, Agility +1,200,000.
The dead salamander burst into flames behind me. I had cut through the oil sacs in its throat, which set the beast alight.
“Are you okay?” I asked the soldiers. “Can you still fight?”
“Who the hell are you?!”
They really were experienced—they kept up their guard.
“We can get to know each other later,” I said. “There are another two salamanders to the west. If you can, you need to support the holy knight over there. I’ll take care of the remaining monster here.”
At this point, I was little more to them than a suspicious figure hidden behind a skull mask. All the same, Mugan took Miria and headed off to reinforce the troops fighting alongside Lady Roxy. From what I’d seen, they were both formidable warriors. With their support, I had faith that the battle to the west would be settled quickly and decisively.
I turned back to the east. Even without its front right leg, the remaining salamander dragged itself closer to the camp with a deadly determination. However, something was odd about the monster’s limping movements. A serious injury like this one usually drove a wild beast to retreat. The salamander, however, was persistent, heaving itself along, intent on attacking the kingdom’s army no matter how it suffered.
“I don’t know any monster that acts like this,” I said. “It has to know it’s going to die—but it’s like there’s some kind of distinct, malicious intent driving it forward.”
“Yeah. Something’s off. Even dimwitted wild monsters retreat instinctively when they recognize overwhelming danger,” Greed agreed.
I observed the beast more closely, careful not to allow it any opportunities to belch flames at me. What could drive it to ignore its own well-being?
“Look at the monster’s forehead,” I said. “Some kind of seal is branded on its skin.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that symbol before,” said Greed. “But it’s clearly not natural. It was deliberately inscribed.”
“Yeah.”
If Greed was right, and someone—or something—had placed that seal on these monsters, then there was no doubt a connection between this ambush and the marks. Still, without any obvious answer, we were hypothesizing, not acting. The more important task was taking care of the problem at hand—killing the salamander.
Before the beast could open its mouth to release any more fire, I slashed open its throat with the black sword.
Moments later, I heard a familiar metallic voice.
Gluttony Skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +900,000, Strength +1,530,000, Magic +830,000, Spirit +980,000, Agility +1,200,000.
The salamander’s stats were nothing spectacular, but this was still a feast of two crowned beasts, one right after the other. I clenched my teeth while, as expected, my Gluttony writhed in ecstasy.
Once I forced the skill’s eager spasms under control, the two soldiers I’d helped earlier returned to my position. It seemed the monsters on the west side had been dealt with.
The stocky older man stepped forward to speak first. “You saved us. I’m Captain Mugan, a commanding officer in Lady Roxy’s army.” Mugan gestured to himself, then to his fidgeting companion. “The rambunctious one here is Miria.”
“What did you call me?!” Miria shouted. “What kind of an introduction is that?! Rambunctious?! Honestly, you’re always so weird!”
“You have the gall to call me weird when you charged into a fight with a fire salamander with a fire-based weapon?!” Mugan snapped back. “Think before you act!”
“Now you’re being cruel! My flamberge is the only weapon I have!”
The two soldiers continued to bicker while the corpses of the salamanders smoldered behind us. I felt like I was watching a concerned father scold his unruly child. They were certainly the right ages. I watched silently, and Mugan suddenly seemed to remember he was in the middle of introductions.
“Oh, I, uh…I’m sorry.” Mugan scratched the back of his head. “Old habits, you know? Anyway, based on your appearance, I guess you must be Corpse, that adventurer everyone in Babylon is talking about.”
“You guessed rig
ht,” I said.
I worked out in the open now, so I had no reason to hide my identity—at least, not that one. Still, it took me a bit off guard to find my reputation had traveled as far as the Military Sector.
“I see. Then you really are as strong as the rumors say. It’s not easy slicing a crowned beast in half with a single strike. That kind of power is sure to pique Lady Roxy’s curiosity.”
“Huh? This guy is Corpse?!” said Miria, sidling closer to me. “No way! He’s really different than I imagined. I pictured more of the bigger, dirtier type. Hey, I want to see what you look like, so could you take off your mask, please?”
I considered backing away, but I suspected that might encourage her.
“Don’t be daft!” said Mugan, fortunately moving between me and the girl. “Really, Miria… Obviously, the whole reason he wears the mask is so people can’t see what he looks like! This adventurer just saved our lives, so be polite.”
Mugan pushed Miria’s prying face away as he apologized. The girl’s eyes filled with tears as she turned to the blonde young woman in white armor walking in our direction.
“Lady Roxy, Mugan is being so mean to me again! Would you believe what he said? He—”
“I’m sorry, Miria,” Lady Roxy said politely, “but this is very important. I’ll listen to your story later.”
“What? But, but—Lady Roxy! Please!”
Miria pleaded with Lady Roxy, but Mugan firmly grasped the back of her collar and dragged her toward the tents.
What a rowdy pair, I thought. Lady Roxy really has her work cut out for her.
With the two soldiers gone, the campsite was abruptly calm. It was hard to believe that mere moments ago, four crowned salamanders had attacked it.
“What a coincidence, seeing you here,” I said coolly.
“Indeed. Thank you for your help, Mr. Corpse. I never would’ve imagined that four crowned beasts could attack in such a coordinated manner. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I fear many of my troops would now be dead.” She put her hand to her breastplate.
Berserk of Gluttony Vol. 3 Page 9