Berserk of Gluttony Vol. 3

by Isshiki Ichika

  “Oh. Yeah. What is this place?”

  “Well, I suppose you can think of it as a spiritual plane where Gluttony deposits the souls of those it devours. I used my power to create this quiet part.”

  “Hm…”

  “You don’t get it, do you? I can see confusion written all over your face! You’re going to hurt yourself thinking so hard. Well, just so you know, the whole reason your Gluttony has had a harder time breaking free and running wild lately is because I created this space for you. Now do you get it?”

  Whoa…

  When I thought back, it was true that ever since I had devoured Haniel’s soul, Gluttony had been oddly quiet. Even though I’d worked diligently to control the hunger through training, something about the suddenness of the change had struck me as strange. Now, I finally had an explanation.

  In all my wondering, I never could have imagined that a soul I devoured would protect me.

  “But why have you done all this?” I asked.

  “I already told you,” Luna said. “I’m grateful you killed me. This is my way of saying thanks. However…I can’t hold on much longer. It looks like I can’t be your bastion.”

  Luna stared sadly at the world she had created, her clear white eyes turning a bright red, just as they had been stained when I’d first seen her. As that crimson leaked in, her world began tearing apart at its edges.

  “You shouldn’t devour the Divine Dragon,” she said. “If you do, my power can no longer help you. You will become something other than what you are now. It’s inevitable.”

  No matter what it cost me, I knew that I couldn’t stop. I had to ask Luna how to get out of this plane, back into the world. But as I began to do so, the white ground split around my feet, and holes opened into the darkness below.

  “Whoa!”

  Just as I was about to fall into the dark pit, crowded with the howling souls of the damned, a hand reached out and grabbed me. It belonged to a man I’d never seen before. He was tall, a bit handsome, and he looked older than me. He sported a striking head of red hair and a set of Galian tattoos.

  “Jeez,” the man said with an arrogant air as he hoisted me back up. “I wondered why you weren’t replying. You’ve just been hanging out in here, huh? You know there’s only so much I can do on my own, right? The Divine Dragon’s about to break loose.”

  “Wait,” I said, still disoriented from meeting Luna, from the fall, from everything. “I know that voice. You’re not—Greed?!”

  “The one and only! This is my temporal form. But don’t go thanking me as your savior just yet—thank Luna. She’s the one who called me here.”

  Greed gestured to Luna, and a flash of annoyance crossed his face. I wondered whether he and Luna knew each other; he didn’t look like he wanted to be here much longer.

  Still, I’d only ever known Greed as a weapon. It was refreshing to see him in a form with visible expressions, and I took a moment to study him.

  “Hey,” Greed said, crossing his arms. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to stare?”

  “Wait, Greed, did you…did you used to be human…?”

  “Does that even matter right now? C’mon. Let’s go, Fate. We’re running out of time.”

  He was right. And it looked like Greed knew how to get me out of here.

  “Greed, I need your help.”

  “Of course you do,” he snorted. “That’s the whole reason I’m down here.”

  I turned to Luna. “I have to defeat it. The Divine Dragon. Now that it’s lost its master, I can’t just let it go.”

  Luna remained silent, but after a moment, she nodded.

  Greed reached out a hand, and I grasped it with my own. The two of us were wrapped in light, and…

  When I came to, I was back on the battlefield in Galia. In my right hand, I clasped the black sword.

  “We’re back…” I muttered.

  “Of course we are,” Greed said dismissively. His voice had returned to the imperious echo I accessed through Telepathy. “And look at all the trouble I had to go to just to get you!”

  “I’m sorry.”

  The light crosses still trapped the Divine Dragon in the air, but the bindings were growing thin, and they looked near the breaking point. It was just a matter of time before they failed.

  I looked down at Northern’s corpse. Even though I’d devoured his soul, I’d gained nothing but his stats. Why hadn’t I received any skills? It shouldn’t have mattered that he bore a Skill of Mortal Sin, should it?

  “He was just a puppet,” said Greed, reading my thoughts. “The real culprit was Envy. I never would have imagined Envy was equipped with that kind of ability. The ability to control people… But I guess it comes with the territory, when I think about it.”

  “If that’s the case, we can’t just leave Envy like this.” I raised the black sword high, preparing to shatter the black gunblade.

  “It’s useless,” Greed said, stopping me before I struck. “Don’t bother. Weapons of Mortal Sin are indestructible. We can’t be broken, even by our kin.”

  “But it’s only going to be a nuisance if we leave it here.”

  Instead of trying to break Envy, I swung the black sword like a club and sent the gunblade flying deep into the depths of the Galian region. I figured Envy would have a hard time finding another human puppet out that far in the wilderness, and any monsters it tried to control would be killed on sight in Seifort.

  The gunblade quickly disappeared from view.

  “That, uh, that went much farther than I expected,” I said.

  Greed cackled. “Oh man, I can just picture it! Envy flying through the air all vexed. Completely humiliated! Marvelous work, Fate. Splendid!”

  As if cued by his glee, the cross binding overhead broke. The light flared, then snapped as the dragon launched itself back into the sky. It was time to deal with the Divine Dragon.

  Now that it had lost its master, the monster was crazed with rage. It lashed out at anything around it. If I left it as it was, there was every chance that, in its madness, it would turn toward Babylon and attack at full force.

  “Let’s do this, Greed!” I shouted.

  It was time to go wild one last time. I would use all the power I had to take this ruler of the skies and bring it down to earth.

  In that moment, I felt an odd sensation, like I could achieve anything I wanted.

  Chapter 31:

  To Feast

  THE DIVINE DRAGON opened its mouth wide and gathered a charge for another roaring blast. It faced Babylon. Even now, it was still trying to follow its master’s last orders.

  Not if I could help it.

  “Hey, Greed, you ever want to know what it feels like to fly?”

  “Huh?! What are you talking about?!”

  I didn’t answer. Instead, I launched Greed like a javelin. I gave the throw everything I had, aiming at the Divine Dragon’s lower jaw. Greed shouted something as he left my grasp, but I figured whatever he had to say at this point couldn’t be very important.

  Usually, I would never have done anything so reckless, but without my left arm, wielding the black bow was no longer an option. Even with Health Regen, it seemed like growing an arm back was impossible for a human. I glanced at the ragged stump and was glad to see the bleeding had stopped. I could still feel my arm where I had none, perhaps because it was still such a recent injury.

  Greed carved a black line through the air and slammed the Divine Dragon’s mouth completely shut mere moments before it roared. An instant later, with nowhere else to go, the roar exploded inside the beast’s mouth. The shock tilted the Divine Dragon, and it dropped slightly from the sky.

  Yes! I should be able to reach it at this distance.

  I sent the earth around me flying as I kicked off, jumping toward the Divine Dragon like a bullet aimed at the bottom of its jaw.

  I charged power into my right fist and loaded up the skill Brawl’s tech-art, Ruinous Strike. However tough the Divine Dragon’
s skin, it didn’t matter to me; this tech-art would destroy it from the inside.

  I punched the Divine Dragon with all my might. Its skin puffed up around my fist, then burst open in a rain of vivid flesh. The momentum of the strike sent me higher. Within the scattered flesh of the still-living dragon, I glimpsed the black sword. I used the Divine Dragon’s bottom jaw as a foothold and lunged to grasp Greed in my hand.

  “Welcome to your destination, Greed. You had a pleasant flight, I hope?”

  “Fate…you better remember this. If you ever, ever think you can use the mighty black sword Greed like some kind of throwaway javelin again…”

  “I got you back, didn’t I?”

  “That’s not the problem!”

  Greed was right. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was the Divine Dragon, still alive and reaching for me with one of its monstrously thick claws. I deftly dodged out of its way and used Identify on the monster.

  The Heavenly Calamity

  Divine Dragon, Lv 1,500

  Vitality: 2.10e8

  Strength: 1.80e8

  Magic: 2.10e8

  Spirit: 2.90e8

  Agility: 1.50e8

  Skills: Vitality Boost (Ultra), Magic Boost (Ultra), Spirit Boost (Ultra), Health Regen Boost

  As I expected, the Divine Dragon was in the Domain of E. It was the first monster I’d seen with a level higher than three digits, too.

  Three of the Divine Dragon’s skills were ultra-high status-boosting skills. I’d acquired a high-boost skill, so “ultra” was clearly the next level. All the same, stat boosters were most effective when you leveled up. They did boost base stats, but they weren’t particularly delicious skills for someone like me, who was eternally Level 1. That said, collecting the whole set of stat boosters was something I’d looked forward to, like a little personal goal. I wondered whether ultra was the limit, or if there was a stat booster that surpassed even that. Not that it really mattered anymore.

  The Divine Dragon also had the Health Regen Boost skill. That was probably how it had stayed in the air even after taking such a vicious attack to its head and body. It was at least one step above my own Health Regen. I wanted to use Identify to check the skill out in more detail, but the Divine Dragon was done waiting.

  The beast reached out for me once more with its claws, but I sliced at it while I asked Greed something that was on my mind.

  “Why doesn’t the Divine Dragon freeze under the power of Gluttony’s gaze?”

  “Even if your stats are higher, that won’t work on any enemy in the Domain of E. Like I said, it’s a world beyond human. A lot of things are different now.”

  “More’s the pity…”

  I leaped onto the Divine Dragon’s forward limb, then dashed toward its back. The monster twisted violently like it was trying to get rid of a pesky flea, but I had no intention of going down so easily. I had my sights on the very thing that kept the Divine Dragon airborne: its shining set of six wings.

  I sent each wing plummeting to the earth with a slice of my blade, and with each lost wing, the Divine Dragon dropped farther. This was a monster sometimes referred to as a herald of the gods. Some of the population even worshipped it. I reduced it to a shell of what it once was.

  “You’re the one who’s going down!” I cried, slicing off the Divine Dragon’s last wing and kicking it toward the earth with all my strength.

  The dragon had lost its ability to maneuver in the air. It was little more than a sitting duck. Unlike the regeneration abilities chimeras possessed, Health Regen Boost wouldn’t regrow the dragon’s crushed jaw, shattered flesh, and wingless stumps. That worked for me. I didn’t want to have to deal with the beast flying through the air again.

  As we careened downward in freefall, I gripped Greed tight in my remaining hand. Even without its lower jaw, the Divine Dragon prepared to launch another energy beam. Just as I saw the giant beast as a target, it now recognized that I was powerless to dodge any attacks as I fell through the sky.

  “Fate!” Greed cried, ever my faithful alarm.

  “Don’t worry! I’m on it!”

  As the Divine Dragon roared another energy beam toward us, I engaged the Strength Overload skill and the tech-art Sharp Edge. Strength Overload doubled your strength at the cost of dropping your strength stat to ten percent of its total for a whole day after use. It was risky, but perfect in a pinch. And this was it—my last strike.

  When I’d multiplied my stats in the Domain of E, the Sharp Edge Tech-art had become overwhelmingly powerful—enough to slice the Divine Dragon’s attack into pieces. The energy beam broke in two halves around me, dissipating into particles of light. My attack didn’t stop there; it continued straight through the sky and sliced the Divine Dragon in half, too.

  My attack was of such power that it carved into the Galian wasteland itself, cutting a deep ravine in the earth below. Into that dark abyss, the two halves of the Divine Dragon fell, as if from heaven into the depths of whatever awaited in the darkness beneath the earth.

  It was finally over. As I tumbled toward the ground, I heard a familiar metallic voice.

  Gluttony Skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +2.10e8, Strength +1.80e8, Magic +2.10e8, Spirit +2.90e8, Agility +1.50e8. Skills added: Vitality Boost (Ultra), Magic Boost (Ultra), Spirit Boost (Ultra), Health Regen Boost.

  With the Divine Dragon now dead, there was nothing to naturally cull the monsters in Galia. Still, the enormous chasm that now ran across the earth would lessen at least some of the burden on the defenders of Babylon. It wouldn’t be easy for any monster without wings to make it across this barren wound and into the lands of the kingdom.

  Abruptly, an unbearable pain unlike anything I had ever known assaulted me. Gluttony’s bliss exceeded my limits, warping into horrific agony. It was more powerful than Luna could ever hope to control. Trying to resist the crazed energy made me feel like I would burst into a shower of blood.

  It was only a matter of time, now. Before I lost myself entirely, there was still one thing left to do. I could tell it was possible. I’d done it three times before, and I knew what it felt like.

  His conditions were met.

  “Greed,” I said. “I’m sorry…”

  “Fate! Wait! Stop!”

  “I can’t…I can’t hold on any longer…”

  It had worked. I could tell from Greed’s haste. Unlocking a new level required my permission, and I had given it. I released the stats from within me, and the power poured out of me in a forceful rush. At the same time, Greed was wrapped in light as his form changed before my eyes.

  What appeared as the light faded was an elegant black stave. I wanted to look at it more closely, but I couldn’t. I could barely even keep hold of it. Gluttony made my hand shake. As the stave dropped from my grasp, Greed’s voice faded from my mind.

  “Not you too…”

  It was an unusual tone for Greed, tinged with loneliness.

  With Greed’s Fourth Level released, I was reduced back to my base stats. It would be all too easy for any adventurer or monster to kill me. Still, there was always the chance they wouldn’t. The chance that I would manage to kill someone and grow more powerful, a red-eyed monster in the wastes. Before I lost myself completely to Gluttony, I wanted someone to end it for me decisively.

  As if to allay my fears, a girl appeared, walking toward me from the south. She had white hair and tanned skin, and she carried on her shoulder a giant black axe.

  It was Myne. She had come to keep her promise.

  Chapter 32:

  The End of the Journey

  MYNE WALKED UP TO ME as I knelt on the ground, drowned in waves of Gluttony. I couldn’t even bring myself to stand. Her eyes were the same deep, fearsome red I remembered, but besides her piercing wrath, there was something lonely in her expression. She raised her axe up high as I knelt before her.

  “I told you…” she said. “I told you not to meddle with the Divine Dragon.”

  “I didn’t have a choic
e.”

  It was true; Myne had warned me this could happen. But I had come this far because I wanted to protect Lady Roxy, and now that I had, I could leave without regret. I felt refreshed and free, somehow. My heart no longer feared death.

  “Please…” I said.

  If I was going to die, I wanted to die while I was still me. My eyes poured hot blood, spattering the ground in front of me, and my vision was scarlet. Any moment now, I knew I could lose myself to Gluttony.

  Even so, for what felt like a long time, Myne didn’t move. Finally, she spoke. Her voice was quiet. “As you wish.”

  With the last shreds of my energy, I looked up at her. Whatever doubt had been in Myne’s eyes before, it was all but gone now. I felt guilty asking her to do the dirty work for me, but there was nobody else I could entrust it to.

  I closed my eyes.

  I ran through my memories in my mind—where I had come from, and each step I had taken to arrive here. I saw where my journey had started, the time when Lady Roxy saved me from the Vlericks. I saw the tavern where I was just another local, and the barkeep who greeted me on each visit. Then, when I began my chase after Lady Roxy on her expedition for Galia, I saw the ruins of the village I had once called home.

  I also saw the Blessed Blade, Aaron. I had promised him I would visit upon my return, but that had become a promise I could no longer keep. I felt saddened at the thought that I would not be able to see the city of Hausen returned to its former glory.

  Then I saw my experiences in Galia, where I once again encountered Lady Roxy in the sentinel city of Babylon.

  I had no regrets.

  Now, I could tell that my journey had reached its end. I felt my consciousness begin to slip away.

  “Myne, hurry!” I said, my voice breaking.

  I felt the killing intent of Myne’s axe. The time had come. If I could ask for only one thing, I thought, it would be to hear Lady Roxy’s voice…to see her face…just one last time.

  “You can’t!”