The Berserker’s Second Playthrough in the Game - Chapter 193



Only Krnovel

Episode 193. The Calamity That Kills the World (7)

oh… … What!

“Ugh!”

Duncan slapped me in the face.

It wasn’t that simple. If he passed that giant now, he might survive, but Illenia’s death was almost certain. Furthermore, if he absorbed the mana of the gift, the Infernos would become even stronger than they are now. There was no way that he or the core squad that left for the World Tree would be safe afterwards.

but… … An irresistible fear bound my ankles.

The experience of seeing hell had left a huge hole in the peddler’s mind. Courage, courage, responsibility, and all those neat emotions had long since leaked out. No matter how hard he tried to block them with material desires or desires for recognition, it was only temporary, and no matter what he did, the hole could not be completely filled.

The fundamental fear that all living things cannot help but have: the fear of death.

The fear that I had forgotten while with Kadeem was resurrected with even greater intensity, swallowed up by the spark of ‘hell’. I really, really, really hated the idea of ​​being separated from my family and dying like this, of being stuck in that horrible hell forever, more than dying.

Moreover, inferno is a disaster that humans can do nothing about. Wasn’t even the great golden leader, Remillion, helpless? Even if I run away like this… … Yes, it was an extenuating circumstance, an extenuating circumstance.

“Heo-eok, heo-eok, heo-eok… … .”

When I came to my senses, I found myself running in the opposite direction, panting.

Inside him, there was no longer the best guide, no warrior recognized for defeating Agon’s angry horn, and no comrade who shared the blood of the great warrior. Only cowards who are desperate to save their lives remain.

What suddenly stopped the coward in his tracks was one absurd thought.

‘Oh, but… … If you’re going to die and go to hell anyway… … ‘Isn’t it better to go now rather than later?’

The reason why hell is so feared is, above all, because of those grotesque demons. But now, there is a worst enemy in hell that even those demons fear.

Kadim, a demon slayer who is more serious about killing demons than anyone else.

“… … .”

If you die any other time, you will become a plaything of demons, but if you die now, you will be able to receive help from Khadim.

Even to himself, it was a somewhat cheesy idea… … but it wasn’t wrong. Duncan’s trust in Kadeem was absolute, to the point where he believed that even in hell, he would somehow save himself.

Not only that, but if you run away because you are so scared of a fireball, how will you look upon the family who boldly let you go, or the warrior who left without fear of hell?

After closing his eyes and thinking for a moment, Duncan finally turned with determined eyes.

The fear of death has definitely become less. My heartbeat, which had been beating irregularly, gradually became even. As the wall-like figure of fire approached, Duncan recalled Kadim’s teachings to dispel even his lingering fears.

Words have the power to change actions.

“Yaaaa!! Hey, hey, you little bastard, worse than a spark on a rat! Oh my gosh, my gosh!! “Look at Duncan Wheeled, who was recognized by Agon and the great warrior of Atala!!”

– Gurruruk, gurrurur… … .

――――――― Qua-Ang!

He shouted and threw a rock at his foot, and immediately the sole of his foot, which was as big as a yard, hit the ground violently.

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

… … Of course, it has the power to change actions, but it doesn’t have the power to change the size of the enemy.

Although he managed to somehow draw attention away from Illenia, he had no idea how to deal with it. Duncan hurriedly ran away and checked the weapons he had.

Hellfire Dagger? The enemy was already hot, so there was no need to supplement the firepower. Invisible Sword? With about thirty thousand slashes, it might be able to cut off an arm. Night Shadow Cloak? Oh, this might be somewhat effective… … .

Quagwagwagwanggwang, Quagwagwagwagwang – !!

“Ugh, ugh!!”

… … I cancelled the thought.

As soon as he turned his cloak over, Inferno exploded his palm, sending sparks flying everywhere. Even his excellent means of hiding were nothing more than a useless piece of cloth in the face of the indiscriminate wide-area attack.

There was nothing of use in the inventory. The only thing left was the purse that Illenia had given him. It was quite light for a trip to the afterlife. The peddler belatedly regretted that he had done business that was not profitable.

At that moment, I felt a strange sensation in the hand holding the money bag.

“Heo-eok, heo-eok, heo-eok… … ?”

It wasn’t a feeling of ignorance. A similar feeling as when I held Lilia’s hand in the resting place before. The remembered sensation led to the next action as if possessed, causing me to spread my palms downwards.

Goooooow –

There was a black ‘distortion hole’ in the floor.

“uh… … ?”

Thump, thump, thump – !

Inferno was right behind me. Without time to think, I jumped into the hole and looked. But for some reason, I couldn’t get in, as if I had jumped into a hole-shaped picture.

– Kufuuuuu – !!

A memory that passed by like a flash of light, I recalled the moment when Ilenia opened a ‘distortion hole’ at close range.

‘Ah, an exit! I have to make an exit… …!’

He made another hole a little further away, and only then was his body sucked in. Inferno let out a roar as he narrowly missed his prey.

– Khoooooooo – !!

Duncan rolled out of the hole on the other side. He stopped in a daze and emptied his purse to check its contents. There were three silver coins of an unusual shape mixed in with the familiar Luden gold coins.

It was a relic containing the sacred power of a forgotten god, the ‘Silver Coin of the Fallen Kingdom’.

“… … .”

I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Could it be that Ilenia knew this would happen and gave her this money bag?

However, it didn’t matter what the English sentence was. What’s important now is that he can draw holy power from this silver coin and create a ‘distortion hole’ like a priest of a forgotten god.

The tide has turned.

“Whew… … Immaaaaaaa!! Where are you lookin’ athhhhhh!! Over herehhhh!!! Duncan Wheeled is right herehhhh!!”

– Kook? Khoooooooo – !!

Cooung, cooung, cooung, cooung – !

Duncan lured Inferno right in front of him and easily escaped through the hole. He provoked again and escaped before any sparks or footsteps reached him, then he provoked again and again and escaped through the hole. For a while, the peddler bided his time by toying with the giant, who was raging like an angry bull, like a matador.

However, it wasn’t long before it reached its limit.

He was not as skilled a user of holy magic as Ilenia. As a side effect of continuously creating distortion holes and constantly changing my sense of direction, I experienced extreme fatigue and dizziness.

“Ugh, ugh, ughweeeeek… … .”

Kwagwagwagwa-!!

“… … “Huh!”

In addition, the hellfire that Inferno poured out through the hole that was not closed in time almost caused him to burn to death even after he managed to escape. Duncan was terrified and quickly closed the hole.

But that crisis led to an unexpected idea.

“… … .”

Maybe… … I could not just avoid it, but also take down that giant.

It was a very dangerous method, but there was no other alternative. I soon realized that the number of times I could use ‘Distortion Hole’ was running low. So, rather than giving up and running away or just waiting to die, shouldn’t we at least gamble with our lives?

‘That, the darkness of the beginning or whatever… … Anyway, you are a great forgotten god… … Since you have helped me, please help me cleanly until the end… … .’

After offering a cursory prayer to a forgotten god who probably gave him strength, Duncan made his final provocation.

“Yaaah, you little bastard, worse than a lump of charcoal in a dwarf’s shit bag!!!! “Duncan Wheeled, the great peddler chosen by the forgotten God, is right here!!”

– Kowaaa …

――――― Boom! bang! bang! bang!

The furious Inferno now looked more like an exploding volcano than a burning giant. With only the sole intention of crushing any escaping rat, it charged furiously, scattering light flames and shaking the earth.

That was why I didn’t notice the hole Duncan had made under my feet.

Swish, the foot that had stepped forward was sucked in like a swamp and shot up from the opposite hole that had been dug somewhere else. Duncan closed both holes at the same time as if he had been waiting.

Wooooow, wooooow!

– Kukkeuk – ?!

Inferno staggered and fell, one of his legs was caught and he couldn’t move. It would have been best if the hole’s blocking or cutting power had been strengthened to amputate the leg… … but that was still too much for Duncan. Just maintaining a hole of that size made his vision shake dizzyingly and his head throbbed.

Still, that was enough.

“Hhhhh!!”

Duncan ran towards the giant with a scream. With his feet tied, Inferno had no choice but to use his fists as a means of attack. A magnificent, blazing punch surged towards the peddler who was running towards him.

-Kurberr -!!

――― Crumbling – !!

But that was Duncan’s plan.

Just before the punch landed, Duncan turned sharply and threw himself to the side, simultaneously creating a hole in his original spot and the spot next to it.

“Look back, damn it!!”

And so, the fist that had been falling like a meteor passed through the black hole and rose up from the ground… …

―――――― Kwa-Ang!!!

… … He returned to the culprit who had swung his fist and struck him squarely in the blazing face.

He swung with such force that an explosion occurred in an instant and his head fell off. Inferno didn’t even leave a final cry. He just collapsed like a volcanic ashfall, having lost his head.

Ku – Ugh!! Frequent, Huh!

The forest turned to ashes shook and flames spread everywhere. Thick smoke poured out from the corpse of Inferno, who had killed me with his fist, and it collapsed.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh… … .”

Duncan panted and wiped away the dark sweat.

Because I was so close to the hellfire, my skin turned bright red and blisters appeared here and there. I felt a heavy nausea and weakness that I couldn’t even feel the pain. And then a strong sense of accomplishment and relief came over me, enough to completely cover up the pain.

I did it.

Seriously, really, I took down Inferno!

The giant who spread fire throughout the forest, the spirit of hellfire that was thought to be incapable of fighting with mortal strength, the incarnation of disaster that not even the great Remillion could do anything about, even the fear of death was overcome alone. Knocked it down!

“Hehe, hehe, hehe…” … .”

A hearty laugh burst out. Even my vision, shaken by dizziness, was as ecstatic as a sweet dream. If you tell this saga to Kadim and his family, what kind of expression will they make? … Just thinking about it made her whole body tingle.

One, the Inferno we just defeated was only a small part of it.

… … Cooung, cooung, coo googong, coo goo goong… … .

“… … Huh? Huh huh… … .”

Before there was time to rejoice, a crowd appeared in the distance, rushing like a moving mountain range.

One, two, three, four… … There were more than ten of them. The Inferno hordes that had been shaken off earlier had finally chased Mana and found Illenia. Duncan’s face, which had brightened for a moment, turned pale with shock.

Suddenly, a blue glow was added to the pale color.

――― Woof woof woof… … .

The source of the brilliance was none other than the infernos. Blue energy leaked from my heart, head, and every corner of my burning body. At the same time, the flames surrounding the body gradually began to weaken, as if the fuel had been leaking out.

– Gulp, gurgle gurgle – !!

– Rumbling… … .

Hurrrrrrr… … .

The blue energy that escaped was thick and dense like dark clouds. After repeatedly weakening the firepower, the Infernos eventually turned into withered smoke and disappeared. The dark blue clouds that had been floating in the air as if teasing the spirits also suddenly flowed into one place and disappeared.

To the place where Ilenia had been, where she had asked me to prevent anyone from approaching.

Duncan jumped up from his seat.

‘A gift! A gift that is said to contain the great law! That girl has finally finished preparing and used it!’

Her words were not bravado. The gift truly had the power to completely eliminate the inferno. It was so hard to catch just one, and then annihilate more than ten Infernos in the blink of an eye! A sense of futility and overwhelming wonder rushed over me.

I couldn’t stand to wonder what it was. I ran towards Illenia, panting, not caring about the pain in my lungs that felt like they were going to burst.

But the moment I confirmed the identity of the gift.

“… … .”

Duncan froze like a stone, forgetting even to breathe.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch… … .

A red-haired girl standing next to Illenia, holding a vast amount of mana in her arms.

“… … “Who are you again?”

Just looking at cancer… … She looked exactly like the ‘Grand Mage’ I met before.

*

It’s sweet.

– Ugh!

The blood is sweet.

– Queeeeeee!!

The blood of the original demon that I tasted by splitting open its throat, the blood of the possessed demon that I took by biting its neck, the blood of the parasitic demon that I squeezed by digging into its rib cage, all of these bloods were incomparably sweeter than any other blood I had ever tasted.

Indeed, the blood freshly made in hell, the home of demons, was different. The heart, drenched in fresh blood, gave a satisfying thump. The echoing screams of the demons were as sweet as a lullaby.

But Kadim was not as excited as he had been the first time he tasted blood. There was one major obstacle to enjoying the scent of blood comfortably.

‘Melissa… … isn’t chasing me.’

Expectations were different.

Although I had almost reached the level of blood I needed, there was no sign of Melissa appearing through the crack.

There were two main possibilities. Either Melissa had figured out the lure and had chosen to chase after him later, or Melissa was being overwhelmingly outmaneuvered by the dragon.

Neither of them had a very good flow. In the former, there was a risk that the recapture team would be exterminated, and in the latter, there was a chance that Melissa would die before the truth could be found out. Before she came, she asked the dragon not to kill it either… … There is a possibility that the situation may be difficult to deal with.

Kadim turned towards the crack.

It was a pity to leave like this. The deeper you go into hell, the better blood bags appear. However, if you go deeper, it will take too much time to get out. I decided to take more blood on the way back and escape from here without delay.

That moment.

“… … !”

Suddenly, an unidentified light flashed behind me.

It was not the light emitted by the devil. The surrounding demons had long since run away in fright when they saw the barbarians slaughtering them and taking their raw blood. The source of the light was beyond an arched gateway that resembled the entrance to hell.

Looking at the hill where white flames were burning, Kadim had a vague intuition.

Maybe inside there, the one that ruined Melissa… ̷̧̨̡̢̯̭̱̦͓̈́̌̔̾… ̴̨̢̲͇͖̭̩͚͉̱̞̫͐̑͌́͜… there would be much more delicious blood spread out.