Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

A Pendant to Remember 

I BROUGHT MY SHEATHED SWORD down hard, channeling enough strength into my attack to completely shatter Lady Roxy’s holy sword. If I let our fight continue much longer, I’d slip up and reveal another opening for her to take advantage of. I felt bad about it, but there was only one way I could finish this. I was determined to take away her ability to fight. 

However, betraying my hopes, her holy blade withstood my blow. 

The sheer impact of our swords coming together sent the rapt onlookers into a stunned silence. My strike had been so heavy that it cowed even the lowlife adventurers in the crowd, the ones forever heckling me. 

It only took a glance to discover how Lady Roxy had defended against my attack. She’d charged her own sword with the Grand Cross tech-art as well. Somewhere on her way from the kingdom to Babylon, she’d gained experience to match mine. 

“Better luck next time,” Lady Roxy said, still smiling through gritted teeth. 

“I’m not done yet,” I said. 

I was still on the offense. Our battle was far from over. This time, I would force my way through to disarm her. In a straightforward battle of strength, the advantage was in my stats. 

As our blades ground against each other, Lady Roxy’s holy sword wavered under the pressure. A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek as she struggled to hold her ground against strength she wasn’t prepared for. Gritting my teeth as well, I heaved, sending both her and the holy sword flying. 

“Ah!” 

Her startled voice in that moment was unexpectedly cute, unlike the dignified voice of the Lady Roxy I was used to. I felt the weight of guilt on my shoulders once more. The crowd watching us booed me loudly. I was the villain in their eyes, complete with the mysterious skull mask that ensured I looked the part. 

It didn’t matter what they thought. It was time for me to end this match. I launched off the ground, leaping at Lady Roxy as she completed her flying arc toward the building behind her. It would take her a few moments to recover her bearings. I’d use that time to knock her blade from her hand and make sure she couldn’t continue to fight. Our match ended here. 

Just at the moment that I prepared to strike, I spotted a sapphire-blue pendant in flight, a necklace that had been hidden under her chest piece. 

Is that…?! 

For a moment, I was unable to move. 

She’s still carrying it with her. 

In that pendant was set the jewel I’d given her back when I was still a servant at Hart Manor, during our undercover adventure. I remembered the day Lady Roxy left on the military expedition to Galia with bitter clarity. She’d turned to me and said she’d treasure the jewel always—that she would craft it into a pendant. 

And she had. 

Even now, she wears it against her heart… 

Greed barked at me through Telepathy, interrupting my sentiment. I snapped back to focus, but it was too late. Lady Roxy swung her blade as we flew through the air, knocking the black sword skyward, out of my grip. 

“Huh?!” 

It happened so suddenly that my shock made me yelp. As Greed left my hand, I heard his frustrated cry fade into the distance. 

“You idiooooooo—” 

It was only a sparring match, but that single lost moment cost me dearly. Eris, who had at some point made her way into the street with the rest of the crowd, doubled over, clutching her stomach as she laughed. No way would she let me live this down the next time I visited the saloon. 

I hit the ground before Greed did. As he fell from the sky, the remains of my skills and the force of Roxy’s heavy blow sank the sword, scabbard and all, into the cobblestones several yards away from me. I hesitated to recover the black sword, however. I’d be in for an earful the instant I touched the hilt. 

Lady Roxy stood over me as I stared at the sky, her blade pointed directly at my mask. I slowly put my hands up in a show of surrender. 

Thus, the victor was decided. 

Lady Roxy sheathed her sword, but she didn’t look satisfied with her victory. She handled the pendant with great care as she tucked it back within her chest plate, then let out a sigh as she turned to me once more. I kept my hands up as I rose to my feet. 

“Why did you do that?” she asked. “Why did you go easy on me at that moment?” 

“What are you talking about? I…” 

“I might have won, but I’m not at all satisfied with how that went! Get yourself together so we can settle things in a second round.” 

“Please,” I said, “spare me this.” 

I just…couldn’t bring myself to fight her. Not even when sparring. Our match had literally beaten that realization into me. 

“I think that was more than enough,” I said. “I’m out of here.” 

“Hey… Wait a moment!” 

The crowd cheered for Lady Roxy and booed me as I walked to Greed and yanked him from the ground where he was stuck. 

“You pitiful wimp, you loser…” he muttered. 

“Sh-shut up, you!” 

Ignoring the commentary, I made to leave. The sparring match was settled, and I’d avoided being thrown into the dungeon. It was best for me to vanish for a time. Sticking around would only earn me another shower of insults. Yet Lady Roxy continued to call out as I walked away, and when I didn’t listen, she darted forward to block my path. 

“I have one thing I want to ask you,” she said. 

“What is it this time?” I asked, exhausted. 

“Where did you learn that swordsmanship? I felt the same thing when we were in the canyon, but now I’m sure of it. You fight like Lord Aaron Barbatos. Your footwork, your bladework—you’re practically a mirror image of his techniques.” 

Something was bothering her. A sudden serious look crossed her face as she went on. 

“On my way to Babylon, I met Aaron Barbatos. He was rebuilding the once-fallen castle of Hausen. He had long ago retired and given up being a holy knight, but…” She stared into my eyes. “He told me an encounter with a particular young man gave him reason to retake his holy sword.” 

Ah, so Lady Roxy had met Aaron too, after he and I cleared Hausen of the monsters roaming its streets. If I’d lingered in Hausen a little longer, perhaps Lady Roxy and I would have reunited earlier. I shouldn’t have been surprised at this coincidence. Our destinations had always been the same, as had the paths we walked to get there. 

Lady Roxy reached out for my hand. I pulled it back in refusal. I wasn’t in control of my own skills right now, and if she touched me, I’d only end up unintentionally reading her mind. 

“Aaron wouldn’t tell me that young man’s name,” she said. “But he did tell me the young man was headed for Galia. And he told me another thing, too—that the young man suffered from a power he couldn’t control. If you are that young man, then please, let me…” 

“I don’t know what to tell you,” I said, cutting her off. “Even if I were, that problem would be mine to deal with. Alone. It wouldn’t be one for you to trouble yourself with. Here in Galia, the first person you should worry about protecting is yourself.” 

Lady Roxy was always too kind…even as calamity closed in around her. 

However, that kindness had saved me. If I’d never met Lady Roxy, if I’d never discovered the truth of the skill I was born with through her intervention, my Gluttony would have by now run rampant, turning me into nothing more than a frenzied, endlessly hungry monster. 

“You just never change, do you?” I said. “You always stick to your beliefs, no matter what…” 

My words were drowned out by the sudden wail of sirens throughout Babylon. 

What…is this? 

I’d never heard such a cacophony before. The crowds erupted into panic. Even if I didn’t understand what was going on, they all knew what the sirens meant, and they responded accordingly. Lady Roxy did as well. The heavy weight of her aura, her readiness for battle, set me on edge. 

Ah, I get it now, I thought. 

I stared out from Babylon toward the south. A black horizon swept toward the sentinel city’s walls like a storm, blotting out the Galian sky. In this air of anxiety and encroaching doom, a holy knight appeared. He pushed through the crowds with a group of hardened adventurers in tow, his blond hair tousled by the breeze. 

Northern Alistair.