The Berserker’s Second Playthrough Novel - Chapter 65

Chapter 65
## Chapter 65

### Chapter Title: There Is No Demon for the Old Man (1)

—

The landscape was one of pure wreckage.

The once-orderly cobblestones had been pulverized into sharp, uneven shards. Rubble from toppled walls and shattered trees cluttered the path like grotesque barricades. At every interval of a few hundred steps, the remains of the dead appeared—sometimes human, sometimes monstrous, often a tangled mess of both. Hovering over them, heavy crows and thick clouds of flies swarmed, feasting greedily on decaying flesh and exposed organs.

It was a rotted thoroughfare that no longer deserved the grand title of the “Golden Highway.” Even the atmosphere above felt contaminated by the carnage below, shrouded in a dismal, thick fog. The physical ruin was only part of the horror; the deeper he traveled, the more a revolting, wicked pressure began to crawl against his skin.

The only soul walking this path, however, was unmoved. Paying no mind to the grisly remains or the malevolent energy tightening around his throat, he pushed forward with the unwavering gait of a believer approaching a sacred shrine.

“……”

Kadim, having dispatched the raiding party and ventured out on his own, was deep in contemplation.

He considered the nature of the reversion-type demon that manipulated age. Based on that, he could speculate on the power held by the “central demon.” Yet, it remained a shadowy concept; he required more evidence to form a complete picture.

The raiding party might have served a purpose in this investigation. He could have utilized them as pawns to draw out the demon and its servants while he watched from the sidelines. But Kadim found the idea distasteful. It wasn’t out of a sense of morality, but rather a calculation of efficiency.

‘Sacrificing several lives would likely only yield a few weak hints. One of them would inevitably fall under the demon’s control before long…’

Furthermore, the primary issue was that as they perished, they would radiate immense “pain and despair.” Even in small numbers, it was the equivalent of hand-feeding power to the creature. Consistent with his methods thus far, Kadim concluded it was more effective to gather intelligence and execute the demon in solitude.

‘Still, I haven’t quite grasped it. How those wretches managed to wield “Atala’s divine artifacts”…’

A late-arriving theory began to take shape in his mind.

A weapon of mass destruction capable of granting divine artifacts. If someone had seized such a thing and parceled the artifacts out to others, it would explain how commoners could suddenly invoke such power.

And that specific weapon of catastrophe was exactly what Kadim sought with urgency.

Judgment of Atala.

The massive war axe that had decapitated a great demon during his first life, a harbinger of ruin and slaughter.

Yet, just before he transitioned to his second life, it had been cast aside by its wielder—a tool of dark destiny.

The original heroes wouldn’t have just abandoned it in the demonic territories. Someone must have claimed it, preserved it, or hidden it away.

But with three centuries having passed, it was entirely possible that its guardianship had failed or that some calamity had befallen its resting place. If the commander of those soldiers had stumbled upon it and shared its divinity with his subordinates, the pieces of the puzzle aligned perfectly.

It was still a theory built on circumstantial signs. There was a possibility they had accessed “divine artifacts” through a path he had yet to discover. But if his intuition was correct…

“……”

…Kadim suspected he would need to have a stern dialogue with the commander of the soldiers once the hunt was over, following the “laws of the wilderness.”

Lost in these thoughts, Kadim suddenly felt a shift in the environment.

*Woooong—*

His gaze sharpened. He reached into his tunic and pulled out an object—the stone tablet obtained from the archaeologist for finding ruins, which was now pulsing with a dim radiance.

The beam of light from the jewel wasn’t intense yet, but it acted as a clear compass needle pointing in a specific direction. It signaled a ruin was close by. It was rare, welcome news.

And yet, Kadim looked vaguely annoyed.

‘I was hoping to discover this after I had secured the blood of the “central demon”…’

He had already amassed a significant collection of useful blood. He had samples from high-ranking reversion-type demons, high-ranking enthrallment-type demons, and various mid-level creatures. However, since he could only receive a single tattoo per ruin, the loss of potential value weighed on him.

‘…Should I pass this by for now and return once I have the “central demon’s” blood?’

After a moment of internal debate, he dismissed the thought.

There were still ninety-eight ruins scattered across the lands. There was no telling what the future held. It was reckless to ignore immediate strength in hopes of a better gain later.

Kadim made his choice. He would take a detour to the ruin immediately, receive a new mark, and then continue his mission to kill the demon.

By chance, the light pointed in the same direction he was already traveling. As he moved along the broken highway, the glow intensified until it focused on a point past a village in the distance.

Kadim recognized the place. Silmont, the third objective of the raiding party.

“……”

The perimeter of the village was even more wretched than the road.

Mounds of decaying bodies lay scattered over broken grass, riddled with arrows and flanked by snapped spears and blades. The ground was stained with thick, clotted pools of blood—grim evidence of a failed struggle for life.

The conflict had clearly not favored the living. Human remains were far more prevalent than those of monsters. Fields that once grew crops were now gardens of skeletal remains and entrails, and wisps of smoke drifted from ruined homes like the dying breaths of a sick man.

But the more he observed, the more a specific detail bothered him.

‘…Why is every single body an old man?’

Skin like dry parchment, etched with the deep lines of age. Every corpse he saw belonged to an elderly male, without exception.

It didn’t look as though the villagers had sacrificed the old as a front line. There were simply too many of them, and many were dressed in the heavy gear of frontline infantry. Unless Silmont was a settlement comprised exclusively of senior citizens, the situation was nonsensical.

A dark feeling settled in his gut. To understand this, he needed someone to talk to. Just as he was about to follow the light beam further, sensing no life…

Wait. There was a person. Near the village entrance, a silhouette darted behind a large rock.

“……”

Kadim gripped his axe. A survivor in a place of such slaughter might be unstable. Bracing for a fight, he moved toward the boulder with caution.

The caution proved unnecessary.

Cowering behind the stone was a fragile old woman, far too weak for any labor. She was dressed in rags, and when she saw him, her eyes filled with tears. Kadim lowered his weapon, preparing to ask about the massacre.

But the woman spoke first.

The words she uttered were, without question, the most baffling thing Kadim had heard since his arrival in this era.

“…Daddy?”

“……”

The woman wiped her eyes and offered a shaky, hopeful smile.

Kadim could only stare. He remained as motionless as a statue for a very long time.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

A significant number of dangerous creatures still roamed the village streets.

* *Keeeh, keeeeh!*
* *Keeeeeh!*

A group of hobgoblins patrolled the alleys, their eyes burning with a crimson light. Far more lethal than standard goblins, these were swift and violent, the type of foe that gave even veteran soldiers pause.

To Kadim, however, they were nothing.

*Whirrrrr—*

* *Keeeeeh!!!*

*Craaaack—!*

* *Keheeh…*

The edge of his axe crushed their skulls. Pieces of bone and scalp sprayed through the air as dark blood erupted from their ruined faces.

Their speed meant nothing against the reach of his blade. If they managed to get close, they were simply cleaved apart. The hobgoblins couldn’t even leave a mark on Kadim. They threw themselves at him blindly and were slaughtered in moments.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whuuung, thwack!*

* *Keheeh…*

Kadim cleaned the gore from his weapon using his sleeve. Clearing out the remaining monsters was a simple task. The real problem was the living one following him.

“Wow, Daddy, you’re so strong…”

“……”

“Heh, heh… Daddy, Daddy… I was so frightened. But I did what you said, I hid and didn’t let them find me… Heh, heh… now that you’re here, I can come out, right?”

The old woman followed him like a shadow, refusing to be left behind.

Kadim’s expression darkened with frustration.

“…What happened here? Why are the streets filled only with the bodies of old men?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know… Heh, heh… My legs are sore, and I’m so hungry… Let’s go home, I want to see Mommy…”

He could get no straight answer. She spoke with the mind of a toddler. Was it trauma? Senility? Or something else…

“……”

Kadim looked back at the fallen hobgoblins.

It occurred to him that seeing so many hobgoblins together was highly unusual.

Hobgoblins were the rare survivors of the goblin species who lived long enough to evolve. Given the short and violent lifespans of goblins, having such a large concentration of evolved superiors was statistically impossible.

“……”

The evidence pointed toward a single reality. Though he didn’t yet know the full extent of the demon’s power, the pattern was becoming clear. Kadim decided he would proceed to the ruin for his tattoo, then look for more answers.

But first, he had to deal with the woman.

“Where do you live? I’ll take you there.”

“Heh, heh… really? We’re going home? It’s right there, that’s the house. Faster, Daddy!”

The woman smiled brightly and tried to run, but her aging body betrayed her and she collapsed immediately. Kadim sighed, took a spear from a dead hobgoblin, and turned it into a makeshift walking stick. Even as she leaned on it, her face remained joyful.

When they reached the house, Kadim knew that joy wouldn’t last.

The dark stains of blood were obvious, and the stench of rot was thick in the air.

Kadim pressed his lips together. He signaled for her to wait outside and entered first. The interior held exactly what he feared.

The remains of an elderly man were rotting in the corner, torn in half. Near him lay an elderly woman, her head crushed and brains splattered on the floor. Her parents, presumably.

“……”

He told himself it wasn’t his problem.

But despite that thought, he felt a knot in his chest. The image of the old woman’s innocent, wrinkled smile didn’t sit well with him.

Tsk. He clicked his tongue and quickly began moving the remains. He found a side room where he could hide them. He moved the bodies and piled furniture and jars in front of the door to block it.

After cleaning the floor of the worst of the gore, he finally allowed the woman inside. Confused, she began looking for her mother. Kadim took her by the shoulders and spoke with a firm, stern voice.

“Pay attention. The danger isn’t gone, so you have to keep hiding. I’m leaving food here—don’t eat it all at once. If you hear monsters, stay quiet and don’t move. If you hear people, check the window first before asking for help.”

“……”

“I have work to do. I’m leaving.”

The smile vanished from the woman’s face.

Her eyes began to shake, and her frail body trembled violently. She tried to find words, but only managed panicked sounds.

“…D-Da, Daddy… Daddy… no, no…”

“……”

“Don’t leave, don’t leave me…”

Kadim walked out without a second look, breaking the doorframe as he shut it to ensure monsters couldn’t easily get in.

*Crunch, clunk—*

He wasn’t someone who knew how to comfort a child. This was the limit of his charity. With any luck, some passing soldiers or mercenaries would find her.

He didn’t… need to worry about it further.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Following the guiding light, he arrived at a small rise in the land.

*Humm, humm, humm—*

A stone slab etched with ancient characters was hidden in the overgrowth. When he touched it, the world seemed to ripple and peel away, pulling him into the ritual chamber just as it had before.

*Squish, squish…*

The air inside was stale, trapped for three hundred years. Rows of torches flared to life, illuminating a perfectly smooth stone corridor. Kadim walked in confidently. Passing walls covered in crimson scripts and ancient paintings, he reached the end of the hall.

The final door opened into a large, circular room. It was a familiar sight—roughly forty paces wide with a ring of fire above, almost identical to the chamber where he had fought the earthen spirits.

However, there was a new feature.

In the center of the room was a wide, deep pit filled with a liquid that glowed with a clear light.

“……”

‘You must prove yourself through the trial once more, to show you are the “Great Warrior of Atala”…’

He recalled the words of the wilderness shaman, Beshaka. He gripped Salmon in one hand and Mosquito in the other. He moved toward the center, certain the trial involved the glowing pool.

He was right.

*Bubbling, gurgling—!*

The liquid began to churn violently, and something surged upward. At the same time, the black metal of his weapon extended from his hand.

*Whirrrrr, splash—!*

“……”

The strike was perfect. But the target was completely unharmed.

A majestic figure rose from the pool, its massive form looking down at Kadim. This was not an opponent that could be defeated by physical force alone. A clear, resonant voice spoke directly into his mind.

⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Great Warrior of Atala… If you truly hold that title, endure this trial and demonstrate your strength.]

Kadim clenched his jaw. He had tried to keep his temper in check, but he couldn’t help it.

‘Those damn shamans, always using the same tired tricks…’