The Berserker’s Second Playthrough Novel - Chapter 73

Chapter 73
## Chapter 73: Every Moment, Every Time (2)

――――――― Kwa-ang!

The monstrously developed muscles of his calf flexed as he drove his heel down, pulverizing the stone masonry underneath. In a violent explosion of debris and fractures, Kadim’s sanctified form—which had been coiled behind a stone pillar—transformed into a crimson blur, erasing the gap between himself and the demon in a heartbeat.

The intricate designs on the mask shifted into a chaotic scramble for a fleeting moment. In a desperate reflex, the demon swung his scythe in a sweeping cross motion.

――――――――――――― Sse-geong, sse-geong!!

The blades met only air. The shimmering trails of the scythe failed to nick even a single thread of Kadim’s clothing, instead carving deep furrows into the surrounding architecture. Utilizing the recoil of his tensed frame, Kadim lunged forward like an apex stalker pouncing on its mark, driving his axe with brutal force into the throat of the adversary who had yet to process the assault.

Peu-geok!

However, the instant the edge of the axe bit into the flesh, the demon’s physical presence evaporated entirely.

――――― Huu-woong!

The devastating momentum of the axe swing cut through nothingness, leaving a turbulent gale in its wake. Kadim surveyed the hall, his composure unshaken. His eyes, drowning in a sea of blood-red wrath, cast scarlet glints where the white and the iris merged into a single terrifying hue.

He identified his quarry immediately. Atop the raised dais, the demon gripped his own neck, surrounded by a swirling vortex of disordered symbols. Kadim let out a primal, guttural scream and resumed his hunt.

“Krhaaaaaaargh!!!”

* …….

The demon let go of his throat. Regaining his footing, frigid embers ignited within the mask’s eyeholes as he braced himself, unleashing a relentless storm of scythe strikes to halt the incoming juggernaut.

―――――――――― Sse-geong, sse-geong, sse-geong!!

The strikes possessed terrifying reach, lethality, and velocity. Within the span of a heartbeat, a multitude of silver trails sliced through the air, snapping stone supports and shredding the tapestries on the walls.

――――― Kwa-gwagwagwa-!

To make matters worse, every phantom blade generated by the spinning of the scythe’s handle arched back toward him, meaning a single dodge was insufficient. Dark ribbons of severed space zipped back and forth like projectiles, knitting together a suffocating web of steel.

Yet, the body of the berserker remained untouched.

Sse-geong, sse-geong, sse-geong ―――――――――― !!

Kadim shifted his weight to avoid the strikes before his crimson-stained sight could even register the afterimages. His heightened senses, pushed to their ultimate limit, decoded the flow of demonic essence and predicted the coming paths of destruction. There was no logic or tactical deliberation involved—only the pure, unadulterated instinct of the flesh.

The returning strikes fared no better. Kadim didn’t rely on memory to map their return. At every interval—departure and return—he perceived them with a supernatural intuition and threw his frame clear. Even when the paths intersected in a lethal grid, he found the tiny pockets of safety. It was a display of predatory gymnastics, fueled entirely by overcharged reflexes and wild perception.

* …….

The demon paused his assault, seemingly stunned. Kadim, seizing the opening he had been waiting for, hurled his heavy axe.

“Grraa, krhaaaaaaargh!!”

――――― Jwae-raeraeraeraeraeok!!

The trajectory was too swift for even the keenest eyes to track. It tore through the demonic atmosphere like a hurricane, a spinning disc of iron that brought only ruin and collapse.

――――――― Kwa-gwagwagwang-!!!

As the dust settled, the axe could be seen buried deep within the shattered remains of the far wall. Tremors rippled across the structure like a seismic event, causing the compromised pillars to shudder. It was no longer a mere tool, but a localized disaster empowered by an unholy strength.

Yet, it had failed to find the demon’s heart.

――――― Jwae-raeraeraeraeraeok, kwa-gwagwang!!

Again and again, he summoned and threw the weapon, but the outcome remained unchanged. The demon simply manifested in a different location in the blink of an eye. It was an evasion that mimicked teleportation, leaving behind no scent or shadow.

Flicking the clock mechanism attached to his weapon, the demon emitted a sound of mocking contempt.

* ……You are quite the spectacle, scrambling about like a cur with its fur ablaze. Very well, let us discover how long your endurance lasts.

“Krhaaaaaaargh!!”

The battle raged on, unfolding at speeds that rendered the afterimages themselves invisible to the naked eye. Blows capable of turning bone to powder flew between them without pause. Had they been anything less than these two entities, the battlefield would have been littered with remains long ago.

Yet, neither combatant bore a mark. The berserker survived through sensory-driven evasion; the demon through an incomprehensible sovereign power. Every finishing move struck only the void.

Kwa-gwagwa, kwarrurur-!!

Only the physical world bore the scars of this clash of titans. Thrones and pillars were reduced to splinters; the floor and walls were gouged as if by a rampaging behemoth. A large section of the hall had already buckled into a heap of stone. With neither side drawing blood and the stalemate holding, the very foundation of the space threatened to give way.

The rhythm shifted only when the tide of bloodlust in Kadim’s spirit began to recede slightly.

* How much longer…… th……at…….

[…………Ssshyul…………Se-t…………Me-treda………….]
“……Grhk.”

The demon’s speech began to warp into an unrecognizable slurry, drowned out by alien murmurs scratching at his inner ear. Kadim sensed his temporary augmentations failing as a deeper madness moved in to fill the void.

However, he wasn’t lost yet. Instead, in the narrow gap between fading rage and rising insanity, he attained a state of icy, crystalline focus—the calm at the center of the cyclone. Using his combat intuition, he began to decipher the nature of the demon’s power.

‘The flying axe and the broken stone didn’t revert. This ability must only affect “living entities” or “demonic energy.” It likely applies to his own body as well. That explains how he vanishes from the path of my strikes….’

Kadim partitioned his awareness to its absolute limit—measuring time in hundredths of a second. In that micro-span, he caught a glimpse. The moment the axe was released, the hand on the scythe’s clock spun violently, and the demon appeared to step backward into the past.

Spatial positioning. He was rewinding his own personal timeline to return to a previous coordinate. That had to be the secret.

“…….”

It was a preposterous power. Beyond just aging mortals or evolving monsters, he could utilize it for perfect defense and erratic offense.

He questioned why the demon hadn’t used it on him directly. There was no reason for this protracted duel—he could simply age Kadim into dust for a swift conclusion….

‘……Is there a specific requirement for activation? Or is he intentionally limiting himself to match my current state….’

Regardless, while the last of his strength remained and the demon held back, this was his window. Kadim pushed his cognitive speed to the breaking point, shattering his consciousness into a thousand fragments to perceive the world.

* ……Slo-ow-w…… wha-t……i-is…….

[……Si-i-shar-ul…………Sse-j…………Bo-ll-t…….]
The perception of time stretched toward infinity. The air became thick, sluggish, and heavy—as if he were moving through a sea of coagulated blood.

Kwa-a-a-a-ang!

In this slowed reality, Kadim shattered another floor tile and launched himself at the adversary once more.

This time, the mechanics were visible. The fingers turning the scythe, the rotating clock hand, the demon’s retreating steps through time. This time, the demon was escaping to the right of Kadim’s line of fire.

Kadim instantly arrested his momentum, torqued his hyper-extended core muscles, and pivoted his entire weight to the right. To the demon, this was a total violation of physical laws. The patterns on the mask rippled with a sense of sudden panic.

The demon tried to spin the mechanism again; Kadim adjusted his trajectory in another impossible jerk. After several such corrections, the demon ceased his time-reversal. Instead, he pulled back the scythe, calling back every previously cast spectral blade all at once.

―――――――――― Sse-ge-reong, sse-ge-reong!

Even in this dilated state of time, the dark afterimages moved like beams of concentrated light—statistically impossible to avoid.

Kadim chose not to avoid them.

Sse-ge-re-oong!

Giving up his leg to the blades, he breached the demon’s inner circle. He unsheathed the blade at his hip and brought it down like a bolt of crimson lightning.

Jje-geok.

A scarlet arc erupted from the steel, the very air segmenting as his killing intent detonated.

―――――――――――― Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-!!

A surgical strike followed by a tidal wave of gore. The ravenous bloodlust consumed everything in its path, cutting the demon in two and leaving a permanent scar from the floor to the rafters before turning into a bloody haze.

Ku-rururung…….

The force of the impact caused the ceiling and walls to buckle. The demon’s mask fractured with a sharp sound, and the body beneath was severed as if by a massive blade. It collapsed, spilling its internal architecture across the floor.

The high-wire tension broke. Time returned to its natural flow.

“……Kgh.”

Kadim rolled across the debris and pushed himself up.

The accelerated state of mind made the pain feel vastly prolonged. But he was not concerned about his missing limb. Looking down at the stump, the bone was already knitting itself back together. The ‘Hydra’s Tattoo’ was still providing its regenerative miracle.

The ‘Blood Ghost’ sword, which thrived on the slaughter of enemies, pulsed with a sense of grim triumph. That specific strike had the power to cleave through the highest tiers of demonkind. With a body split in such a manner, no healing factor should be able to intervene.

Enough muscle had formed on his leg for him to stand. Using his sword as a makeshift staff, Kadim rose.

Then he went rigid.

His calculation was wrong.

As if the bisection had never occurred, the demon’s flesh knitted together in the air, his garments smoothed out and repaired, and the mask became whole.

The demon had reverted to the exact state he was in when they first met. A pattern of celebration appeared on the mask as he began a slow, rhythmic applause.

* My compliments. You managed to destroy the “me from thirty-two seconds ago.”

Kadim’s pupils shook, his gaze fracturing like glass.

Pebilatus threw his arms wide in a grand, theatrical gesture.

* Now, let us see if you can defeat the “me from one second ago.”

Chal-kak, chal-kak, chal-kak…….

The timepiece in the demon’s hand continued to tick away the seconds with cold indifference.

Outside the ramparts of Soltana, the demonic horde and the mutated beasts continued their frenzied assault.

* Meat, find the meat!
* They won’t slip away this time!!
* Kiehehehehehek!!

The issue was that this particular newcomer was no easy target.

Huu-woong, jjeogeogeogeogeok!

A massive axe head harvested the beasts like wheat. Agon’s Furious Horn wiped a smear of blood from his face and looked back.

“Stay right on my heels, trader. If you wander off, you’re dead.”

Duncan barely heard him. Surrounded by such nightmares, his senses had shut down. After all his effort to find safety and dodge the demons, to end up here! It felt like a cruel joke by the gods.

* Ignore the large one! Kill the small one!!
* Kieeeek!
* Just a few fingers! That’s all I want! Then I’ll leave!

“Ahaak! U, uheuk, stay back! Get away from me, you freaks!”

Hwaruruk, hwaruruk-!

“…….”

Driven by pure terror, Duncan pulled out his hellfire dagger and swung it wildly. Agon’s Furious Horn looked at the blade with a hint of curiosity. For a merchant, he carried a weapon of significant power.

Duncan’s frantic defense did little, mostly just singeing the skin of a few goblins that got too close. In the end, it was Agon’s Furious Horn who did the heavy lifting, carving a path through the monsters as they moved toward Soltana’s entrance.

Suddenly, a massive tremor shook the earth.

Kugugugugu…….

The monsters froze in place. Agon’s Furious Horn halted his axe. The shaking didn’t stop—it was a deep, rhythmic thrumming, like a buried giant struggling to get out.

Agon’s Furious Horn narrowed his eyes, his expression darkening.

“Damn it, the primary demon is already engaged…… Grab onto my back, merchant. We’re charging the gate directly.”

“……What?”

He didn’t understand. The gate was bolted shut.

Duncan received no further explanation. Agon’s Furious Horn grabbed him like a sack, dropped into a low stance, and began a solemn chant.

“[Vanguard of the Indomitable Legion, Atala. Observe your champion, ignite the signal fire to lead the way, grant me the fury to strike down the corrupted…….]”
⟨ Judgment of Atala ⟩

Uuuuuuwoong…….

Duncan’s eyes went wide. As the invocation finished, a swirling yellow radiance poured from the axe like a desert sandstorm, coating the warrior’s arms and shoulders before solidifying into a golden sheen over his skin.

With the presence of the Father of the Wilderness felt, the fear retreated. Empowered by his faith, Agon’s Furious Horn bellowed the name of his deity and launched himself forward like a runaway train.

“A-tal-la-!!!”

Peugeogeogeogeok-!

* Kieeeek!!

“Uwaaaaaaargh!!”

Any beast in his path was pulverized or sent flying like it had been hit by a heavy carriage. Duncan, holding on for dear life, felt like a rag doll in a storm. Breaking through the line, Agon’s Furious Horn reached the gate, raised the handle of his axe high, and sprang into the air.

“For the Father of the Wilderness!!!”

――――――――――― Huu-woong, jje-geong!!!

As the axe struck home, a golden wave of energy erupted, splitting the reinforced gate as if it were nothing more than dry parchment.