The Berserker’s Second Playthrough Novel - Chapter 93

Chapter 93
Chapter: 93

Chapter Title: A Sharp Blade (3)

—

Kadim’s party raced through the Galentana thoroughfares, securing every necessity required for their upcoming trek. The sheer volume of equipment was staggering.

Packed meals and preserved meat, containers brimming with fresh water and vintage grape wine, rugged metal flasks and steel jugs, leather leg guards with iron fastenings and belts equipped with scabbards, light quilts, heavy-duty garments, floral oils, wax, cooking vessels, seasoning, duplicate maps…

They settled for nothing less than the premier, most costly inventory available. The shopkeepers, who had initially viewed their rugged looks with the wariness one might show a bandit, underwent a total transformation the moment Kadim produced thick rolls of gold currency from his pouch.

“That particular item is quite dear… five hundred luden apiece…”

“Give me ten of them.”

“I beg your pardon?!”

The tailor, who had just watched his entire warehouse stock vanish in a heartbeat, stood with his mouth hanging open.

“This transaction will exceed ten thousand luden… are you certain of this?”

“It is irrelevant. Bundle it all here.”

The general store owner, having just cleared a month’s worth of profit in a single afternoon, wrapped the merchandise in a daze.

“The total comes to twelve hundred luden!”

“Take it. Keep the change for yourself.”

“M-my deepest thanks, master mercenary! May the gods grant you fortune!”

The food stall owner, who had just been handed several days’ worth of earnings as a mere gratuity, bowed with such vigor he nearly folded in half.

Kadim didn’t bother with bartering or haggling. He simply pointed out the most expensive piles in every shop and settled the debt with gold coins without hesitation. Once the rumors of his spending hit the pavement, merchants greeted his approach with wide smiles and the highest degree of reverence.

Duncan, observing from the periphery, felt as though he were being skinned.

“Good grief… I could have talked him down to two hundred luden for that…”

“A thousand luden for this?! It wouldn’t even fetch five hundred in a different province…”

“Sir… is there truly more you intend to purchase?”

“…”

Kadim paid no mind to the complaints.

Currency meant nothing to him. He had no intention of wasting hours saving pennies. It was only after he bought Duncan a high-grade steel blade and a matching dirk that the merchant finally ceased his grumbling and allowed a satisfied grin to surface.

By the time their shopping concluded, their cargo had grown into a mountain. However, it proved no burden. They now possessed an ‘inventory.’ The massive pile of equipment disappeared into a deceptively tiny pouch. Yulitan, watching this, cocked his head as if the physics of the world had broken.

Following this extravagant replenishment, the sun was already sinking toward the edge of the world.

Their business in the city was finished. It was time to move toward their next objective. Kadim and Duncan made their final preparations. Yulitan, who was mentally drained from a full day of acting as their escort, suddenly jolted back to the present.

“Hold on a moment… regarding what happened at the council hall—did you actually threaten the leaders of the city?”

“I did.”

“You can’t simply admit to it like that! The tribunal councilors hold supreme power here! Coercing them is a capital offense that could result in an immediate trial! They will surely intercept you at the exit—how do you intend to leave?”

“…”

“…”

Kadim gave him a sidelong look, while Duncan took a nervous breath. The previous night, they hadn’t merely threatened the councilors—they had raided their manor and abducted one of their own.

Regardless, it was of no consequence. They had a plan. Kadim rolled his neck and answered with indifference.

“We go over.”

“…What?”

“Over the battlements. Duncan, hold onto my shoulder.”

“…I’m sorry?”

The stunned captain of the guard and the merchant both stared in silence.

Kadim threw the inventory bag onto Duncan’s back, lifted the man onto his shoulder as easily as a bundle of grain, and offered a parting word.

“I appreciate your assistance today, Guard Captain. If the Agon faction members demand to know why you helped me, tell them I held my axe to your throat and left you no choice.”

“Huh? Oh… right…”

“We’re leaving.”

With that, Kadim sprinted down the road and melted into the distance.

His massive frame moved with an impossible grace. The giant’s silhouette rapidly dwindled from a titan to a speck. Yulitan’s frantic calls—”Sir? Sir? Sir…”—grew faint until they were lost to the wind.

Shortly thereafter, atop the walls painted gold by the sunset, a familiar shape appeared.

The massive man caught hold of jutting stones, digging his toes into narrow cracks, ascending the towering fortifications with the agility of an acrobat using only a single hand. He looked less like a man and more like a predator designed to scale cliffs.

Citizens who happened to look up froze in place, wiping their eyes to make sure they weren’t dreaming. As more people followed their gaze, a crowd formed.

“What is that? Is that a person?”

“Impossible… no human can scale the walls in that manner…”

“Then what in the world are we looking at…?”

Tribunal soldiers patrolling the area on orders from the council caught sight of him as well. They pushed through the masses, sprinting toward the base of the wall.

“Pursue him! It’s the ‘Demon Slayer’!”

“Seize him! Don’t let him clear the ramparts!”

Yulitan Jermani, the captain of the Golden Highway’s Ninth Gate Guards, let out a dry, breathless laugh as he watched.

“Ha… haha… hahaha…”

He suspected he would never encounter another warrior of such breathtaking caliber as long as he lived.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The members of the Agon faction were in a state of chaos.

They had imagined the Demon Slayer was a sharp, focused blade aimed only at their rivals. They believed they would eventually take hold of the grip and direct him as they saw fit.

They had been mistaken. He was indeed a sharp blade—but one so wild it could just as easily turn and butcher them. The sheer aura of standing near him had been enough to break the spirits of these fledgling councilors, whose only taste of combat was watching games from the arena stands.

However, the immediate danger to their persons wasn’t the primary concern.

It was his vow to execute Agon’s Furious Horn.

Previously, they might have mocked it as the bragging of a conceited wanderer. But after facing him, they could no longer dismiss it. They had intended to bring him into the fold as a new pillar of their faction’s power—now they stood to lose their existing champion.

The councilors belatedly commanded the tribunal soldiers to lock down the city gates, but the news they received was grim:

“He… climbed over the walls with his bare hands?”

“That’s nonsense! Do you realize the height of those fortifications? Even a demon couldn’t scale Galentana!”

“But… it is the truth, councilors… many others witnessed it besides myself…”

“…”

The Demon Slayer had departed Galentana in the most ridiculous fashion imaginable. Even if they had cornered him, the prospect of taking him down seemed impossible… Dark anxiety settled over the councilors.

The Agon faction, comprised of rising newcomers, valued results and practicality over reputation. They wouldn’t look down on a common mercenary if he was useful, and they were willing to give leadership to a junior councilor like Adonis if he showed talent.

Yet at their heart, they were still politicians.

When a crisis erupted, a sacrificial lamb was required. And the young leader who had set the tone for the meeting was the ideal target. Councilors who had originally been hesitant to recruit the Demon Slayer now turned on Adonis with venom.

“Councilor Adonis, did you not claim the Demon Slayer was reasonable despite his wildness? Look at the state of things—how do you propose to fix this?”

“…It wasn’t a claim—it was a high likelihood. Before today, had he not only struck at our rivals? If anything, it was our own conduct, throwing harsh truths in his face, that caused the friction…”

“So you would have just let him walk away with that wealth? We may never have another opportunity to control him…”

Adonis bit his lip until it bled. The other councilors remained quiet, fearing the fallout. Only the one who had influenced the crowd with his moral stance tried to steer the conversation.

“But why does the Demon Slayer feel such hatred for Agon’s Furious Horn? The people of Atalans treat him as a savior, don’t they? Perhaps something occurred on the Golden Highway…”

“Does it matter? He has already gone to slay him—what does the reason change?”

“It changes everything! If we understand his motivation, we might still win the Demon Slayer over!”

“Are you still clinging to those fantasies…?”

The moralistic councilor and the hesitant ones argued passionately. But the Demon Slayer’s actions were too extreme; no matter how they tried to justify him, the moral faction was being drowned out.

As the accusations grew louder, Adonis signaled for silence.

“That is enough. Everyone, settle down.”

The chamber grew still as every gaze fixed on him.

“This is not the time for us to fall apart. With the path cleared, we are about to take control of Galentana and its lands. Civil war within our ranks is exactly what our rivals desire.”

“…”

“That being said, this was a significant oversight, and responsibility must be taken. I will accept it. And I will make sure your anxieties are put to rest.”

Demands for an explanation followed—how? How do you halt a monster like that? Adonis motioned for them to be quiet.

“I understand you are all rattled after that encounter. We are not soldiers, so it is a natural reaction. But consider: what forces do we command? And who is their leader?”

The councilors cleared their throats nervously. Adonis continued with renewed confidence.

“Furthermore, Agon is effectively our home. There is nothing we cannot do there. We can poison the wells and the food, strip them of resources, and hem them in with our fighters—it is simple if we choose to do it. In that situation, who is truly at risk: the Demon Slayer, or Agon’s Furious Horn?”

His logic was sound. Yet the terror the Demon Slayer had sparked remained, stubborn and cold. Hadn’t Vittorio already paid a price for underestimating him?

Adonis exhaled slowly and spoke with conviction.

“I will depart for Agon immediately to prepare the ground. With the assistance of the tribunal overseer and our benefactors, we will finish the Demon Slayer. We will construct a trap so lethal that even a being like him cannot escape…”

The councilors looked at one another and began to voice their support for Adonis’s plan.

There was no reason not to cheer for the man desperate enough to do the work they were too terrified to attempt themselves.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The woman known as Ilenia—though in reality a priestess of the God who has been Forgotten, a name she no longer carried—stumbled through the midnight streets of Galentana. Arriving at a shadowed warehouse district where even the city’s criminal element feared to tread, she forced herself to stand tall.

A man with a patch over one eye sat atop a wooden crate, guarding the path. Seeing Ilenia struggling to mask the pain of her divine trial, he gave a mocking grin.

“A truly noble display. Well… destroying the Night Raven cult and purging that greedy councilor is certainly worthy of some acclaim.”

“…”

“However, you were far too reckless. To reveal our secret to that fighter and tell him the truth. You could have been the one to face the heavens’ wrath alone.”

The man’s one good eye narrowed with intensity.

“Consider if that ‘Halo Risen in the Heavens’ continued to pursue you. The sun would burn at midnight, and the Elga Church would send out an army of trackers to hunt the source of the disturbance. It was a perilous move that could have resulted in our total destruction once again…”

Ilenia disregarded his words. There was no sense in trying to explain the massive importance of winning that warrior’s confidence—he would never comprehend it. Instead, she produced a hoard of silver currency from a lost kingdom and flipped a single coin.

Ting!

It didn’t come to that, and we secured this prize—now be quiet and move aside.

The holy aura bleeding from the artifacts made her skin crawl even from several feet away. The man bowed his head in reluctant acceptance.

“…Very well, enter. My opinions don’t matter anyway. The High Archbishop is expecting you inside.”

“…”

She stashed the coin and moved past him. Opening the warehouse entrance revealed not a dark room, but a swirling abyss of blackness that distorted the air.

Before stepping inside, she looked up at the stars. She hoped for the day she might look upon that warrior’s face once more.

Her task fulfilled, the priestess of the Forgotten God dissolved into the gloom, disappearing through the dark gateway.