The Berserker’s Second Playthrough in the Game - Chapter 201



Only Krnovel

Episode 201. The Flame That Never Goes Out (7)

The great forest lost its beautiful night.

Hellfire and meteor showers devastated all life. The glow-in-the-dark insects and the naturally growing bioluminescent plants disappeared without even a trace. In this land where only death and ruins were rampant, it seemed like a night view like a paradise would never come again.

But one day, today, the day of destruction, was an exception.

―――――― Ugh, Ugh, Ugh, Ugh -!!

A dazzling blue light illuminated the darkness of the night. Wandering around like a group of lively spirits, they colored the entire forest in dreamy colors.

The identity of that halo of light was ‘mana.’

The ‘Ancient Mana’, which was known to have been depleted due to the ancient great magic, was returned to the world after the great magic that poured down meteor showers was scattered and replaced by the heart of the great magician.

Hurrrrrrr… … .

Around that time, Kadim also turned off the ‘Blood Calamity’.

“… … “Hmm.”

As expected from a state of deepening that surpassed the ordinary divine power, the level of side effects was dizzying. Every second, a burning pain as if I was going to die would surge in. However, after a single groan, he did not show any sign of pain.

Beneath the steps was a woman who was truly on her way through life.

“Cluck, clack, ugh…” … .”

Melissa watched the light rising from her broken heart, waiting for a slow death.

―――――― Ugh, Ugh, Ugh… … .

‘Mana’s Protection’ had saved his life, but it wouldn’t last long. Kadim watched in silence for a moment as the flame of life was fading away.

Then, a face suddenly came to mind and I opened my mouth.

“… … Do you remember the magic tower you left behind on the magic tower?”

“Kuluk, hmph… … Ah, Acula… … Are you saying… … ‘?”

“Yeah, that was the name.”

“Acula… … Why all of a sudden… … .”

“I remembered what he told me before he died. He told me to embrace you, understand you, and not to abandon you. If I had to kill you, I told him to make sure I gave you peace with my own hands.”

“… … .”

“It’s not what I wanted, but… … “It really happened that way.”

The corner of Melissa’s mouth twitched bitterly.

“huh… … Acula said that… … . That’s right, that kid… … You thought of me like that… … He was such a good kid… … .”

“… … .”

“That kid too… … I did something really bad… … . That kid always did his best as a ‘human’… … . It’s just that, because he was a devil at heart… … I didn’t take good care of him… … .”

“… … .”

“Well… … It’s not just Akula… … . Over the years… … I’ve ruined so many precious relationships with my own hands, and let them slip away… … . Sister Cyril, Gordon, Liliana… … . They were all people who would always be on my side, cough cough… .”

“… … .”

“You were right, Kadim… … . Yes, the wooden doll is only blind to the woodcutter… … Even my friends were burned like pyre… … .”

Although her physical condition was dire, Melissa’s mind was more peaceful than ever.

I didn’t know if it was because death was imminent, because all the flames contained within had been vomited out, or because he was resting next to the man he had waited so desperately for. What is certain is that she has finally become closer to the young girl wizard that Kadim remembered.

Melissa continued speaking in a quiet voice.

“From the records I left… … “Do you remember the preface I left before talking about my breakup with Cyril?”

“… … “Isn’t it about regretting why I behaved like that?”

“Yeah, I still keep thinking about that… … . If I could go back to the old days… … I wonder if I can handle everything better… … . My feelings… … My dedication and effort… … So, the undying fire inside me… … Even if you weren’t left by my side… … I could have used it more wisely… … .”

“… … .”

“However, one thing is certain… … It’s not your fault that I became like this… … . No matter how much you swallowed my fire, that fact won’t change… … . It’s not all your fault… … . So, hmph, you don’t have to blame yourself at all, Khadim… … .”

He was already too emotionally tied up to do that. Kadim just kept his lips tightly shut without answering.

Melissa slowly studied his appearance before changing the subject.

“Oh, right, those tattoos that have the same effect as demon blood… … “Is this by any chance Cyril’s work?”

“… … Yes. Cyril left behind relics all over the continent with fetishes for this tattoo.”

“Yes, as expected…” … It’s Cyril. Hmm… … Well, I can’t help it either… … . Even in the midst of this, I see that you don’t want to lose… … .”

A shaking, shaking hand beckoned her to come closer. As Kadim approached and lowered his posture, she gently stroked the side of his neck.

Tsutt …

A cool sensation and a warm sensation were felt at the same time. As the contradictory sensation subsided, a pattern made of mysterious letters was engraved, emitting red and blue lights at the same time.

“This isn’t really a named spell… … Yeah, well… … ‘Protection of Fire and Ice’ would be a good idea… … . Gulp, gulp… … Now, unless it’s the hellfire of the abyss or the cold wave of extreme ice… … moderate heat and cold won’t be able to harm you… … .”

“… … .”

“So… … Don’t rely too much on that tattoo, and the demon blood… … . The abilities the blood gives, and the madness… … Both of them seem to be related to the ‘being inside your body’… … I have a feeling that if it really awakens… … just like when you were in the Demon Realm, your mind will be in a lot of danger… … .”

“… … i get it. “Be careful.”

“Oh, and there’s one more thing I want to give you… … .”

Melissa unexpectedly pulled Kadim’s body towards him. Then he gently kissed the other side of her neck.

“This is… … ‘Protection of the Archmage’… … . The effect is… … You can make others envious of you for stealing the first kiss of the beautiful Archmage… … .”

“… … Your lips are so rough that I think there will be a scar on your neck.”

“Hehehe… … . Who made a lady’s lip pop like that? … . She would have been as soft as a flower petal if it hadn’t been for her crazy fists… … .”

“They kept saying it didn’t hurt, so I thought I could bear it.”

“… … Ugh.”

The two men exchanged farmland stories for a moment as if it were a long time ago. However, with my blood-stained face and the reality weighing heavily on my shoulders, I could not shake off the feeling of disconnection, as if I was playing house in a battlefield.

Melissa quickly erased her sense of playfulness, as if the long wait had been sufficiently compensated for by this sudden foolishness. She gazed endlessly at the distant night sky and started talking about her old relationships.

“Then Cyril… … What happened? I broke up so foolishly… … Cyril too… … I’m sure we’ll meet again… … I need to apologize… … .”

“… … That’s the question I was going to ask. Have you ever seen Cyril in Hell, other than Gale?”

“Yeah, Sister Cyril… … Cool, cool, I’ve never seen her… … . Actually, that’s right… … . If Atala is a sane author… … When a good person like Sister Cyril dies… … He should take responsibility and take her to heaven… … .”

“… … .”

“But if by any chance, my sister is still alive… … I think we can find a clue to her whereabouts in the ‘Wilderness’… … . That’s the hometown of all Atalains… … . If she wants you to come… … In such a timely place, gulp, gulp… … She must have left something behind… … .”

“… … .”

It was a reasonable guess. I heard that the stone tablet that traces the ruins that Ilenia told me was also found in the ‘wilderness’. Kadim chose that place as one of the candidates for his future destination.

“Oh right… … . That’s the same alter ego I had when I was young… … “Gordon made it, right?”

“Perhaps, I think it is highly likely.”

“Hehehe… … As expected, that stupid priest was still alive… … . But I think the possibility is high… … ? I haven’t met you in person… … ?”

“I don’t know if you know, but Gordon left the Elgar Church. “Based on the circumstances, it looks like she joined the Forgotten God Church, but perhaps because of Elga’s eyes looking down from the sky, she didn’t show her face directly.”

“Hmm, I vaguely heard that he apostatized from Elgar… … That’s it. Well, maybe the priest was like me… … It might be quite different from before… … . “What do you feel?”

“First of all, I see it as more of a helper. Even if he didn’t show his face directly, he sent a priest under his command and helped him a lot on his journey.”

“I see… … . Yeah, well, I’m probably good at it, but… … Don’t let down your guard though. Is that priest truly helping you right now? … I wonder if you are considered a ‘means’ for some purpose… … Because it’s something we don’t know… … .”

“… … Remember to keep that in mind.”

Since all the other members of the group have been mentioned, only the last one remains. The only colleague that I have met with both of them, but who is not in this world.

Melissa licked her parched lips. Little by little, the peace on her face disappeared and a secret nightmare took over. Covering her face with her palm, she asked Kadim in a barely trembling voice.

“Kadim… … Did you hear from when you met Gale in Hell… … how Gale died?”

“no. “At that time, I was in no condition to have a conversation due to my mania.”

“… … .”

“Now that I think about it, it didn’t look like he died after his lifespan ended… … What happened to Gale after he defeated the Great Demon? Did you hear anything?”

“… … No, I haven’t heard it yet either. Now go ahead and cluck, cluck… … “I have to ask.”

Melissa slowly removed her palm from her face and stared through the crack. What she had just said reminded them both of the truth they were trying to ignore.

The woman who is reduced to ashes will go to hell.

“Yeah, well, I can’t help it… … . Because of me alone, demons were rampant, countless people died, elves lost their lives, and the world was almost destroyed… … . Of course he deserves to fall into the fiery pit of hell and suffer… … .”

“… … .”

No matter how many times she saved the world or how many times the man shared the burden of her sins, that fact did not change.

For a moment, Kadim suspected that Melissa had intentionally committed a heinous act to send her comrades to hell. But she soon realized that it was a useless idea and gave up. Whatever her circumstances, the weight of her sins was not something that could be taken into account.

A heavy silence fell like an abyss. Her eyes lost their light, her mana became dim, and her heartbeat slowed. Melissa’s signs of life were quickly fading away.

Kadim spoke firmly before her heart completely stopped.

“Atonement.”

“……huh?”

“Your journey is not over yet. If you fall into hell, somehow find a replacement for ‘mana’. He’s a great wizard in name, but I’m sure he can’t do something that even a devil with half a penny can accomplish. “Once you regain your magic, sacrifice your whole body to kill demons and atone for those who innocently fell into hell like Gale.”

“… … .”

“Don’t give up and lose heart. Even if you carve sentences of wanting to give up into each page of the record like you did when you were young, don’t give up until the very end. If you continue to stubbornly hold out in hell like that… … I will definitely come to rescue you and Gale.”

“… … .”

“Isn’t the place where we all promised to meet again the pit of hell?”

For a moment, a dull flame sparkled in the eyes that were fading away.

The mouth curved softly. Her eyes turned red. Her pathetic, trembling hands traced the rough face of her man. She stared into the dark eyes that sparkled detachedly in the darkness.

Just looking into his eyes was enough to tell. The promise that they repeated like a habit whenever they were going through a very difficult time in the devil’s eye, that old, worn-out promise, connected their hearts as one.

The woman who resembles fire opens her lips first.

“someday… … The sun never sets… … In the field… … .”

The steel man followed suit and parted his lips.

“… … “I hope we can smile like the moon and meet ‘all together.’”

Fragmented phrases are connected to form a complete sentence at the same time.

The delicate hand suddenly fell.

The archmage closed his eyes in relief.

――――Woong, woof, woof… … .

Mana flowed from the heart like the last breath. The blue energy that was floating leisurely joined the group of lights that illuminated the forest, and then, driven by the merciless night wind, disappeared into the distant, bright starry clouds. At first glance, it seemed like the final dance of the soul leaving for a place of no return.

Kadim did not shed tears, sigh silently, or become sorrowful.

The words not to sit back and be discouraged were not just directed at her. She calmly lifted up her woman’s cooling body, cupping her neck and waist.

But as soon as she lifted it, something fell out of Melissa’s hand.

A burning, pure white piece of paper.

“… … .”

Kadim put the woman down for a moment and picked it up. The identity of the piece of paper was quickly revealed.

He pretended to burn it to provoke himself, but he couldn’t bear to burn it in the end and secretly hid it in his hand.

The end of an unforgettable memory.

*

The eastern part of the continent, the outskirts of a quiet, remote village.

“Hmm… … Ah, really… … Oh my god, I can’t believe it, really… … .”

Long hair fluttered about as if a red carpet was being swept away. A girl wizard with a youthful look was disgusted as she hugged a book as big as her body. Walking in front of her was a barbarian who appeared out of nowhere and devastated the entire village.

“No, wait, wait a minute! Is that all you’re going to do, just destroy everything and leave? How am I going to live in the village from now on, Mr. Savage? Huh?”

“… … .”

The girl thought that the barbarian was a human trafficker because he asked her to accompany her from the first time she met him. That guess became closer to certainty when I heard the village chief, whom I was close to by helping me in various ways, advise me to be careful of barbarians because they were dangerous.

The truth was quite the opposite. The person who tried to sell the girl wizard was the village chief.

The eastern part of the continent is currently rife with all kinds of power struggles, and the price of strategically valuable wizards is skyrocketing. Her village chief showed the unrelated girl sorceress her kindness for a while to catch her off guard, then kidnapped her by surprise with his men with the intention of selling her to a slaver.

However, all the plans were foiled when the barbarian suddenly broke in and recklessly destroyed the entire house, breaking the limbs of the men and chopping off the village chief’s head with a hatchet, then rescuing the girl.

In other words, for the girl, that barbarian was something close to a savior… … Because the scale of the riot was so large, it became difficult to figure out what to do next. First, she was chasing after a barbarian who was leaving the village without a plan and holding her responsible, when the barbarian turned around and asked her:

“… … Is it really necessary to continue living in such a trashy village? It seems like all the other guys in the village were in cahoots with that village chief?”

“uh… … Well, that’s true, but… … I have nowhere else to go right now… … .”

“Good. “Then follow me like I said the first time.”

“No, look! Why on earth do you believe in following a savage who splits people’s heads like firewood!”

“I did that because you were dangerous. Didn’t I tell you that there is something very important that only you can do? I had no choice but to do it to save you, and I didn’t really… … “I don’t like seeing human blood.”

“… … .”

For a long time, I stared at the man who had somehow suddenly become less like a savage.

The girl magician sighed deeply and shook her head as if defeated.

“Oh, okay! I’ll follow you! I’ll follow you!”

“… … “Really?”

“Yes, really! It’s a bit weird to keep calling you a savage, but what’s your name?”

“It’s Khadim. Your name must be… … .”

“balm! “I’m going to become an archmage in the future, so I’ll just speak quickly and informally!”

The girl wizard shrugged her shoulders confidently. The barbarian, as if he had seen that sight somewhere before, snorted without any embarrassment.

“Oh, that’s right, that’s right! Wait a minute, I’m going first! “I’ll do something and catch up with you right away!”

While the man was ahead, the girl quietly opened her record.

She had a habit of carefully recording anything new she learned. So, I’m taking a look to see if I can edit the information I recorded about that man before… …

‘Atalian from the wilderness beyond the mountains, with copper-colored skin, enormous height and the size of an ogre! (Mixed human and monster? Is it possible? → See Research Topic 31), who suddenly asked to accompany me as soon as we met… … .’

… … As I read it, I didn’t see anything that needed major revision. Most of the time it was only about appearance and actions.

In the end, the girl wizard thought for a moment, then smiled and added just one sentence to the bottom.

“… … What did you write there?”

“Huh? No, no! It’s nothing!”

As the man followed suit, he looked at her with suspicious eyes, but the girl wizard paid him no mind. She snapped it off, took off her hour hand, and moved forward, humming or humming to herself.

With brisk steps, hair fluttering in the warm spring sun, we take the first step together on a journey to save the world.

*

Before the piece of paper crumbled, I read the contents one last time.

‘… … But he doesn’t seem like a bad person!’

The man laughed bitterly like a pile of ashes.