The Berserker’s Second Playthrough in the Game - Chapter 233



Only Krnovel

Episode 233 A star with its back to the light (1)

News of the return of the Golden Lord, Remillion, quickly spread throughout the alliance.

And to say that its impact was enormous would be an understatement.

It was as if the entire alliance territory had become the center of an arena where the champion of the century was born. Family, relatives, neighbors who were always at odds with each other, mortal enemies, debtors, and creditors, all the alliance members became one in body and soul, embracing each other and celebrating a festival of joy day and night.

“Remillion is back!! “The great golden leader has returned to us!!”

“The Dragon’s friend protects us!! “The imperial army and holy knights who serve the wicked evil god will collapse like a pile of straw before the roar of the leader!!”

“Hey, hey! Put that bonfire out! Your house is burning too!!”

“Hahaha, what does that matter! “I heard that Remillion-nim, Remilion-nim is back!!”

It was not without its share of people who were suspicious of the leader’s return. No one other than the citizens of Delutana had the opportunity to welcome him directly, and he had not made a public appearance in Delutana since the Great Talk.

“however… … “Is it true that Remillion-sama has returned?”

“Hmm, that’s strange… … . How can you still be alive after more than 200 years since you left the alliance? … .”

But the suspicions were quickly dismissed.

“All members of the Galentana Council, including Council Chairman Docles Barov, and 100 others, pledge absolute loyalty to the returned Golden Lord, on behalf of the honor of the ‘City of Knowledge.’”

“All members of the Vestana Council, including Council Chairman Konrad Bukaluti and 100 others, are also alumni.”

“I, the ‘Endless Storm’ Wendigot, the 2nd seat of the Magic Tower’s Elders Council, put all the knowledge accumulated by the Magic Tower and the mysteries I have cultivated over a lifetime to guarantee that the progenitor of the great alliance has returned… … !!”

All members of the Council of Councilors and the deputy elder of the Magic Tower toured each city to announce the return of the leader. ‘Endless Storm’ even recreated Remillion’s declaration of return through the illusion of wind, relieving the allies’ desire to see the leader with the naked eye to some extent.

In addition, the information about the ‘Free Cities Alliance Re-establishment Treaty’ that would unite the divided cities spread, and the fact that three of the Empire’s highest-ranking knights, ‘Decagram’, had been killed in battle was revealed, and the alliance was thrown into complete frenzy.

The effects were immediately visible. The rate of volunteers joining the disaster force jumped nearly tenfold, the wealthy of each city rushed to provide military supplies and mercenaries, the battle mages of the Magic Tower began preparing to go to the front lines… … and most of all, regardless of origin, all allies began to see each other as one.

War is a flow. And the flow was clearly flowing toward the alliance. No matter how much the Crusade had a mission to raise the glory of Elgar, they could not overcome the morale of the allies who had gathered around the divine being who reigned on earth.

The Lucaonia Empire and the Elgar Order were in dire straits. The situation that had pushed Untana and Delutana to the brink of collapse had been reversed, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to even defend the border area.

Looking back at history, there are two types of people who win a great victory in war. Those who are so full of morale that they are not afraid of even a battle with a hundred men against one, or… … those who crush the enemy with overwhelming force that surpasses a hundred men against one.

The latter method is the only thing on which an empire that has failed the former can place its hopes. If Elgar’s star, ‘Decagram’, went to the front again, they could easily turn the situation around. However, even that was not a method that could be taken willingly.

Because of the existence of the ‘Demon Slayer’, the evil spirit of the alliance that caused the stars to fall.

If they mobilized the stars, it was obvious that the alliance would also use the demon. If he invades the imperial territory while Decagram is gone… … The course of the war might become irreversible. Therefore, the denomination postponed the introduction of new ‘stars’ and was carefully watching the trends.

Ironically, the alliance was also keeping an eye on the ‘demon slayer’.

He was a hero comparable to the golden leader, but he was greatly feared because of what he did during the great meeting. If he converts or changes his mind… … It was obvious that the alliance would be helplessly defeated. As a result, quite a few lawmakers were obsessively watching his movements and trying to find a way to stop him.

What on earth was the ‘Demon Slayer’, who unintentionally attracted the attention of both the Empire and the Alliance, doing in this turbulent war?

He lived up to his name… … and was hunting demons.

*

As the name suggests, the ‘Star Crusher’ is a weapon created to crush Elgar’s stars. However, it was effective enough to crush other things as well.

―――― Kwa- Ang!!

– … … Kahak!

The blow smashed the skull into a ball. The eyes, with their bundles of optic nerves attached, rolled out onto the steaming mass of blood. The only evidence that the creature had ever been a demon was a single fully grown horn and a small horn with a wheel carved into it.

A mid-level demon that is a mysterious species and is in the process of being promoted to a higher level.

“Ugh, uhhhhhhhh… … .”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

The survivors who were watching from afar were frightened and ran away. Just hearing the sound made me wonder if they were scared, not saved. Kadim didn’t care. I didn’t mean to be thanked anyway.

I wiped the scraps of flesh off the hammer head and furtively looked down.

Not everyone was saved from the devil. One woman who had been possessed by the devil before he came did not escape death. Because she had been soaked in the magic and cursed by the witchcraft, her cold body had fingers sprouting all over it like oyster mushrooms.

Frequently -!!

To prevent the monsters from eating the flesh and turning into monsters, they immediately burned the corpse with a hellfire dagger. However, instead of burning the devil’s corpse right away, he looked down for a moment and was lost in thought.

Demons thrive on pain and despair. The tragedy of mass-producing human suffering and despair was a welcome luxury for demons. Furthermore, demons higher than the highest level demons could have other demons as their servants and even take a portion of the despair they had gathered.

In other words, ‘war’ was a carnival that made all demons grow, and was no different from the eve that triggered the birth of the Great Devil.

I forgot. The world of this second episode is a place where devils are rampant like wild animals. Sure enough, in the aftermath of the war, demons gaining horns and being promoted were appearing one after another.

In fact, there was a more certain way to end this festival. It was to invade the Empire’s territory, destroy the Elgar Order, and end the war.

But that wasn’t something that should have been done. If you leave your seat to invade the Imperial Territory, all of Elgar’s stars will also invade the Alliance Territory. Under the predicted mutually assured destruction, many people would die, creating pain and despair, which might hasten the descent of the great evil.

Besides, if it is true that the World Keeper’s precognitive dreams have never gone wrong, then even if the war ended like that, the Great Demon would eventually appear…

Still, I couldn’t sit still. Kadim set out to kill the rampaging demons instead of the hissing stars of Elgar. Of course, there was no way to prevent the descent of the great devil by just killing a few of these little bastards, but there was another reason for being so absorbed in hunting down devils.

To prepare for the second form of the divine realm, ‘Blood Calamity’, a state of deep transformation that burns a huge amount of blood and creates flames.

Crunch!

For now, it was the most powerful weapon Khadim could wield. He mechanically removed the debris stuck to his neck and collected the blood of the mysterious demon he had hunted into the canteen. The blood that had accumulated in my inventory over the past few days was dripping with every movement.

But at one moment, Kadim’s eyes suddenly turned bright red.

Kadim reacted immediately as if he had experienced this several times. He closed his eyes tightly, clenched his fists, and suppressed his impulses. However, the scent of blood that penetrated his olfactory nerves stimulated his desires more and more strongly.

After a brief respite, it has already been a few days since the ‘longing’ for the devil’s blood was reawakened. It is now even more vicious as if it wants to collect the blood debt.

‘Mania’ had not exploded yet, but since ‘craving’ had returned, it was only a matter of time. I didn’t know what kind of catastrophe would occur if I suppressed my impulses with my current body and my mania exploded. In the end, I took just one sip of blood and was just about to quench my craving while I was alone.

A sob suddenly penetrates my ear.

‘… … I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Kadim… … . If only my, my sorcery had been just a little bit better… … .’

Kadim turned his head hastily.

There was no one nearby. Only the winter wind naturally stirred the dust. However, the afterglow of the hallucination did not easily go away. My lost gaze rolled around the ground in a daze.

Eventually, Kadim recalled the contents of another precognitive dream he had heard from Remillion.

‘… … He said he saw a scene where he met a white-haired priestess with bandages wrapped around both eyes. The time and place were also unknown. However, judging from the fact that he felt a sharp heat and cold that made his skin burn and freeze at the same time, it seemed like it was definitely not a place a normal person would go… … .’

“… … .”

It was still too early to give it much significance.

This is a world where methods to create fake people are rampant. He might also have been an alter ego created by the sacred laws of darkness, or a demon who had stolen his appearance. Also, there was no way the shaman with bandages around her eyes was the only one in her world. She could be someone else who closely resembles her, or she could be a shaman who imitated the great shaman out of admiration.

But… …it was inevitable that my heart would be shaken.

300 years ago, he was left behind without a word of farewell, wandered blindly across the continent until his toes were worn out, and eventually sacrificed all his soul and magical powers to prepare a fetish for himself. Is that old friend still alive? A small possibility that it might be possible. Just seeing that possibility brought a dry storm to the heart of Daejeon Temple.

If the precognitive dream does not go astray, the dream will definitely come true.

After hesitating, Kadim put the blood in the canteen. Then, instead, he took out a canteen filled with strong liquor and drank it down.

In order to stay sane as long as possible until the truth about the advent of the ‘Great Demon’ and ‘Cyril’ is confirmed… … I had to somehow refrain from drinking the demon’s blood.

If nothing else came up, Kadim planned to continue hunting demons and collecting their blood. But before he could even take a step, something unusual happened.

Duncan came galloping from the distant fields, faster than any galloping horse in the world.

“I’ll get better, I’ll get better!!” Hehehe, hehehe… … . “I’m in big trouble, big trouble!”

“… … .”

This place was about 30 kilometers away from Delutana. It didn’t seem like he had come to deliver unusual news.

The prediction of unknown amount of money was correct. It was news that ‘Decagram’ had appeared in the border area, on the front line where General Goltaran was. That’s as many as two people.

But it seemed like it might be too much to call it a ‘big deal’. Wasn’t there already a precedent of killing two guys at the same time in Delutana? As usual, Kadim almost thought Duncan was making a big fuss over something trivial… … .

No it wasn’t.

“Well, that’s it, I’m better! Well, one of the Decagrams who appeared on the front lines… … .”

*

The center of the continent, the border area of ​​the empire and alliance.

A giant and a man with a long neck confronted each other across a battlefield strewn with corpses.

The distance is about 1 kilometer. It wasn’t a short distance, but you couldn’t help but notice that they were looking at each other. Because of his sharp, wedge-like eyes and strong presence, as if he was staring right in front of me.

They were two people who found it difficult to find anything in common.

One side is slender, the other side is muscular and sturdy. One side holds a gleaming spear, the other a bloodstained axe. One side is heavily armed with white plate armor, the other side is clad only in rough leather armor. One side is a paladin who serves the god of light and order, the other is a barbarian who serves the god of the wilderness and strife.

The two had only one thing in common: they were human weapons that were considered the greatest force in their respective factions.

Therefore, it is a self-evident fact that the outcome of the battle between the two will determine the outcome of this battle.

But there was no clash today. The knight of the first rank quietly averted his gaze and retreated. The knights and soldiers on the battlefield followed him and retreated to the rear.

The Allied Commander-in-Chief, General Goltaran, furrowed his brows in confusion.

“… … What did you say the author’s given name and alias were?”

The adjutant hesitated for a moment and then reported.

“Surely… … I heard that it was Hendark, the ‘Star that Pierces Truth,’ General.”