The Berserker’s Second Playthrough in the Game - Chapter 157



Only Krnovel

Episode 157. Heaven for You (3)

Kadim took the ‘needle of engraving’ from the priestess’s forehead and dipped it into the iron water jug.

Fortunately, even though it was stuck in a hard place, there was no problem with its function. I stabbed the tip, which was red and filled with the devil’s blood, into his back. As expected, because it was poisonous blood, I felt dizzy and excruciating pain that made me frown.

As time passed, the strokes of the pattern became stable. I exhaled the compressed air in my lungs all at once.

This time too, Kadim successfully completed the ‘Tattoo of Aculanos’ without resorting to the help of a priestess.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. At this rate, I’ll probably be good at getting my own tattoos. Last time, a crazy shaman showed up, and this time, a dead shaman… … . I thought it was incredible luck that I had met sane shamans one after another in the beginning.

Kadim approached the shaman’s body with a sigh.

The mark left in the exact center of my forehead was a span of depth. No matter how long and strong the needle was, no amount of willpower could create a scar this size. Even more so if it was swung at oneself.

Judging from the posture and angle, the culprit who stuck the needle in the forehead was none other than the shaman herself.

“… … .”

It was unclear why the priestess took her own life. It must have been a long and lonely wait, so it wouldn’t have been strange if she had simply given up… … .

The real reason might have been the stone tomb at their feet.

Kadim turned the priestess’s body back. Then he scattered the cairn in front of him. Soon, strange remains emerged from between the rubble.

The bones of a dwarf that are too small to be human.

And a pea-sized, light green orb stuck to the sternum.

My heart was pounding, the sphere was pulsating like a sick heart. Horns of different lengths sprouted up on each side. It means that he was a mid-level devil who grew up to be a high-level devil.

As expected, I thought it would be here. Schistomatous devil’s core.

Without hesitation, Kadim took it off and popped it open.

Tsu – Wow!

– Kiyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu… … .

The sphere let out a final scream. Kadim ignored it and caught the pouring blood in an empty water bottle. The blood of the schizoid was somewhat ambiguous in terms of its uses, but if he collected it, he might find a use for it somewhere else.

As the devil died, the slight remaining magic energy was removed. I got tattoos, got rid of demons, got blood… … Actually, I have finished everything I have to see in this ruins. Just like before, the only thing left to do was to destroy the space and tear up the scenery to get out of the ruins… … .

“… … .”

Kadim couldn’t leave easily.

The sight of the remains left in the stone tomb and the shaman guarding in front of them caught my ankle.

“… … .”

Suddenly, there was a sound of something falling down.

Kadim’s eyes twitched. The shaman’s body, which had been placed behind her, collapsed toward the stone tomb.

Objectively speaking, it could have just been a coincidence… … But Kadim could not possibly think of it that way. The remains as small as a newborn baby, the devil’s strange way of speaking, the priestess who took her own life with a needle, but who desperately guarded the stone tomb until the very end… … The various pieces of evidence and circumstances were tightly intertwined.

After some speculation, Daejeon Temple put together the basic truth.

‘… … This priestess entered the ruins while pregnant.’

There was no other way to explain it.

Perhaps that fact was a secret that only the priestess herself knew, or that even she didn’t know. If Cyril had known in advance, he would never have allowed her to enter the ruins.

Was it intentional or a mistake? … Anyway, hundreds of years ago, the shaman was imprisoned without a single body. It was not difficult to guess how she felt as she watched the ship being brought in. Anxiety about the closed environment, worry about the child’s health, fear of the dark future, and yet a glimmer of anticipation.

However, such true and deep maternal love ended up being all in vain.

The child dies as soon as it comes out of the shaman’s womb.

“… … .”

The skeleton of the remains was clearly that of a newborn. The child must have died immediately after birth, or even before birth.

Emotions cannot be quantified. It is ridiculous to divide superiority and inferiority based on the intensity of emotions. However, the despair the shaman must have felt the moment she broke the hard bricks into small pieces, made a stone tomb no bigger than a toad’s nest, and buried the cold newborn child inside, it was clear that it must have been heavier than the compressed emotions the culprit felt throughout his life.

It wasn’t just about losing a child.

It was an event that determined that he would spend his years in isolation forever, losing hope that would never return.

And such heavy despair is bound to be seen as sweet food by some beings.

It was obvious even without looking. It was a sight of demons swarming around the stone slab, like flies flocking to rotten meat. They must have been talking all sorts of sweet nothings in hopes of somehow entering the ruins and taking the priestess’s despair.

The devil’s whispers can crush even the most noble spirit like a sand wall. It is almost impossible for someone who has fallen into despair worse than hell to endure it…

Amazingly, the priestess resisted the temptation for over a hundred years.

The priestess waited alone for the Great Master, without bringing anything into the relics, until her entire body shrank beyond the lifespan allowed for humans. Carrying such despair and maintaining her mission for more than the lifetime of an ordinary person was nothing short of a superhuman display of self-denial.

However, no matter how hard a rock is, if you pound it endlessly, it will eventually break.

It was probably a whisper like this that broke the shaman’s heart, which had been cracking little by little.

– Mom, please let me in. Mom, please let me in. Mom, please let me in… … .

‘… … !!’

Is it because of a moment of carelessness or accumulated fatigue? … The shaman accidentally let her fission-species demon into her ruins. By the time she came to her senses, it was already too late. In the meantime, her demon had firmly attached its ‘core’ to her remains buried in the stone tomb.

In order to expel the devil, the child’s remains must be thrown out of the ruins. It was not a sacrifice worth making. Eventually, the shaman gives up on chasing away her demon.

Then began a nightmare from which one could not wake up. The demon imitated the voice of a child with hundreds of mouths, and cruelly squeezed despair out of the priestess.

– Why did I die, Mom? I wanted to live. Why did I die, Mom? I wanted to live. Why did I die, Mom… … .

– Mom, I’m feeling stuffy. Take me out of the grave. Mom, I’m feeling stuffy. Take me out of the grave. Mom, I’m feeling stuffy… … .

– What does the outside world look like? Why do I have to live locked up? What does the outside world look like? Why do I have to live locked up… … .

The priestess’s mind quickly deteriorated. At some point, she began to confuse the devil’s voice with the real child’s will. In the end, she reached the point where she chewed her fingers and drew landscape paintings on the walls with the blood, for the devil who was curious about the outside world.

Nevertheless, the shaman was not completely defeated. There was still a glimmer of hope left in her heart. A savior who will one day return and destroy this terrible evil, a great warrior of Atala who will restore our lost power and lead us to heaven where the Father of the Wild resides.

But the problem was that as the years of suffering passed, the demon continued to grow. Swallowing the pain and despair he had vomited out, he grew into a giant lump of flesh. If he grew any further, it wouldn’t be easy for the Great Warrior to deal with him…

After much agony, the priestess finally made her final decision.

To eliminate the source of despair that gives the devil.

– … … Mom, I’m suffocating, take me out before I chew me up and kill me. Mom, I’m suffocating, take me out before I chew me up and kill me. Mom, I’m suffocating, take me out before I chew me up and kill me.

The priestess smiled on her dry lips.

‘… … Stop it. you are not my child ‘Don’t insult that poor soul that died without being able to bloom any more.’

Then he went to the stone tomb and sat down.

‘The time of gluttony is over. Now you won’t be able to take even one more drop of despair. Suffer from famine, struggle with pain. If we endure such pitiful years, one day, the Great Warrior of Fighting God will return and pass judgment… … ,’

Holding the brilliantly shining needle tightly with both hands.

‘… … Until then, I fervently hope that this place becomes a hell just for you, devil.’

The moment I put all my might into my forehead.

Deep.

A cold, piercing sensation, a sudden darkening of the vision.

Kadim opened his eyes wide and came to his senses.

‘… … what?’

The scene I just saw was not an area reached by inference. No, at some point, I was remembering too many details to be just my imagination. It’s like… … It was as if I had received the shaman’s memories directly… … .

As I was thinking about what the cause might be, the object in my hand caught my eye.

The ‘engraving needle’ has fulfilled its role and lost its luster.

This needle was originally stuck in the shaman’s forehead. Then he soaked her demon blood and stuck it in her own back. However, if some of the shaman’s blood remained in that touch and passed on her memories… … .

It was not an easily understandable causal relationship. However, from a magical perspective, blood was not simply a bodily fluid that flowed through the flesh. It was not so hard to understand that the blood of the demon had engraved its power, and that the strong will of the priestess had been passed on to her.

Kadim looked down at the priestess’s body. The scar on her forehead looked somewhat different than before.

“… … .”

The shaman did not give up because the mission was too burdensome. She was a shaman and she fulfilled her mission by killing herself. This was not a coward’s way of giving up and leaving the rest to others. It was Atallain’s way of offering his body as a foundation stone to build an altar to reach a powerful enemy.

If the split-type demon had taken the priestess’ despair by now, he wouldn’t have been able to deal with it so easily.

When a criminal faces the devil, all noble will in life is broken. However, the shaman fought without giving in to the end. And now, finally, the great warrior has returned and judged the devil, and his indomitable will has finally succeeded in being rewarded.

“… … .”

But… …is that really enough?

Doesn’t it change the fact that the priestess lost what was most precious to her?

The fallen corpse was still looking toward the stone tomb. Its gaze was desolate and sorrowful, as if it could not be forgotten even after death. Fingers with their flesh worn away like a pencil were also visible. The crimson landscape painting outside that filled the entire wall was painted with the paint of that pain and self-reproach.

Therefore, Kadim made up his mind.

To appease the shaman’s spirit, let’s give the child a chance to see the ‘real outside’.

He retrieved the small remains from the tomb and placed them in the priestess’ arms. Then he grabbed Atala’s judgment and recited a prayer.

“[Atala, god of struggle and wilderness. Look upon your great warriors, lift the torch and lead them to the battlefield… … .]”

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch… … .

Since he had already done it once, the second time wouldn’t be so difficult. Swinging the axe in all directions, he collapsed the cramped room without hesitation.

――――――――― Kwakwakwakwakwa – !!

I carried the remains of the priestess and the child and broke through the stone wall. Darkness with a rough texture blocked my path. I cut through the darkness with a firm swing of my axe. I passed through the gap where a halo of light suddenly seeped in, and finally I arrived.

Tsk tsk tsk tsk… … .

Outside the ruins.

In a landscape that is awash in natural colors rather than crimson hues.

The world that the shaman so desperately wanted to show to the souls that died without being able to bloom.

A brilliant beam of light, a sky without a single cloud, dry bushes swaying gently… … . A flock of dragonflies were bustling in the wind, and maple leaves were fluttering, leaving handprints on the grass. It was an ordinary autumn field scene that can be seen anytime, anywhere.

But at this moment, that trivial ordinariness became more special than anything else in the world. The lips of the old woman holding the child trembled faintly in the gentle breeze.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to enjoy it. The power of the spell that preserved my body after I left the ruins had run out. The dried flesh fell away like dust.

Passssssss… … .

In the meantime, the priestess desperately protected the child she was holding in her arms.

My rough forearm shriveled. The skinny waist was bent inward. If the arm was broken, the child was protected with the body, if the body was broken, the child was protected with bones, and if the bones were broken, the child was protected with bone fragments. Because of this, her child’s remains maintained their shape until the shaman was completely shattered.

But even so, I couldn’t escape the merciless weathering of time.

Passssssss… … .

Before long, only a fleeting pile of dust remained where the two people had been.

Kadim carefully swept up the dust. They dug a large hole and buried them in one place. He even placed a stone slab of the remains as a tombstone and recited a eulogy as if complaining.

“… … The law of the wilderness says that warriors who have completed their journey of life will have the opportunity to face Atala, and if they see his blood, they will reach a paradise where war and feasting never cease. However, I wonder if such a crowded place is not suitable for raising a child in peace.”

A great warrior who solemnly declares, with his axe handle planted in the ground.

“So, I will pray in the name of Atala.”

I spent a lot of my life trapped in the hell that tormented you.

In heaven, there is a separate heaven for you.

So, for example.

In the fields where the sun never sets, I hope we can meet again, smiling like the moon.

Please, I hope we never have to lose each other again there.

When I opened my eyes after silently praying, dusk had already fallen over the entire field. I wasted quite a bit of time because of various things.

‘Duncan must be waiting for you.’

Kadim hurriedly tried to go back the way he came.

The moment I turned my back and started walking, something brushed my foot and fell onto the path in front of me.

Two maple leaves stuck together.

One was as big as a woman’s palm, and the other was as small as a child’s palm. Although the sizes were different, they were tightly overlapped as if they had been one from the beginning. From then on, no matter how strong the wind blew, it stayed in place without being blown away.

“… … .”

It didn’t seem to be an accident. The firm lips drew a faint curve. Kadim lightly picked up the leaf and hurried his steps that had stopped.

I think it was truly polite of him to leave a farewell message like this.

*

The barbarian who had come to look around for a moment did not return until near sunset. It looked shabby, covered in a lot of dirt and stone chips.

Even then, Duncan had been left lying in the field like a lost object. As soon as he spotted Kadim, he rushed over and started making a fuss.

“My lord! Why are you so late? What happened? Why are you looking so disheveled… .”

Kadim glanced down. He finally let the maple leaf he was holding drift away in the wind, and answered in a voice with his emotions slightly subsided.

“… … It’s nothing. “Wait a minute, I came here to bury someone.”

“… … ?”

Duncan opened his rabbit eyes wide.

At first I was surprised, but when I looked closely, it wasn’t that surprising. What kind of person was this savage? I nodded my head as if I understood what was going on.

Ah, I see you brought a few more fish.