Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

The Domain of E 

WITHOUT SO MUCH as blinking, the man in black shot my arrow down from the sky with one of his black bullets. Of course it wouldn’t be so easy, but I wasn’t about to stop. I continued my assault so I could get a read on the gunblade’s abilities. 

“Damn it. These slimes are annoying!” 

The omega slimes multiplied rapidly. There were nearly a hundred now. I didn’t want to waste time on them when I could get to their source, but there were so many that I barely had anywhere to stand without threat of acid rain. 

“They’re seriously really, really annoying!” 

The monsters entirely blocked my path to the man in black. I could see him through their massive, translucent blue forms. He had yet to move even a single step. He was so relaxed it was almost frightening. He figured I had no escape. But if he thought this fight over before it had even begun, he was in for a surprise. 

This guy’s taking me too lightly . 

The omega slimes were on the attack. They moved in on me as one. I had nowhere to run. They were going to wrap me up and melt me into mush, drowning me in their corrosive acid. 

“Fate!” Greed cried. “You have to fight back! Fate!” 

My vision blurred with blue, but I shoved everything away and moved forward. My sights were set on the man in black, and I tore through the wall of omega slimes to get to him. 

“Phew,” I said. “That was a bit rough. I couldn’t breathe.” 

“Fate…” Greed sputtered, “you’ve…you’ve mastered it already?” 

“As only a Glutton can.” 

The ground I walked upon turned black and melted. Any omega slime that tried to attack me suffered the same fate. All thanks to the spell Corrosion. 

I annihilated the omega slimes with the spell I’d just stolen from their original. It was a numbers game. My magic stats surpassed theirs, so my magic was stronger. 

“These slimes are nothing to me now.” 

The metallic voice rang in my head, informing me of my new stats. 

Gluttony Skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +133,600,000, Strength +87,600,000, Magic +119,830,000, Spirit +112,480,000, Agility +53,470,000. 

Now the real problem. In total, I’d just consumed more than a hundred million stats, courtesy of ten high-quality souls. This would be ten times more of a shock than eating a single omega slime. 

It was bad. The flood of sensation reminded me of eating my first crowned beast, but this…this was much worse. The vision in my right eye flared bright red as Gluttony was unleashed within me. I clenched my teeth as blood dripped from my eye down my cheek. My own blood fell to the earth in crimson teardrops. 

“I’m still…hungry…” I muttered. 

“Don’t get too greedy, Fate.” 

“We don’t have a choice. We still have to hear that guy speak.” 

Even now, that bastard stood where he always had, unmoving as he watched me struggle. I thought I’d see some change in his demeanor when I consumed his slime brigade, but he hadn’t even broken a sweat. 

“He’s waiting until you reach the point of no return. The point when you can’t devour anything more. That’s what the omega slimes are for.” 

“But my stats just grow.” 

“No, Fate. Whether your stats continue to grow depends entirely on you.” 

“What are you saying, Greed?” 

Before I could ask again, the omega slimes launched another attack blocking my path. 

I went on devouring the slimes through Corrosion, but I felt Greed was being unusually evasive. As the metallic voice echoed in my head, I grew stronger, even as waves of pain pummeled me. Gluttony’s ecstasy ran rampant. 

However, at the very limits of that feeling, by turns agony and utmost pleasure, came a strange sensation. At that limit, no matter how many omega slimes I devoured, the pleasure…dissipated. I wasn’t satiated. I no longer felt Gluttony’s ecstasy, only racking pain. 

Why? 

The metallic voice continued to drone in my head, reciting number after number, and yet I felt nothing. 

This is impossible. 

I pulled back on the black bow, filling it with every single stat of magical energy I had, and fired an arrow at the man in black. It was unlike any arrow I had ever shot, such was the power within it. 

This time, the man in black didn’t shoot my arrow down. He let the attack hit him. 

“That’s impossible…” My mouth was dry. All I tasted was ash. 

The man in black took no damage whatsoever. He fixed the slant of his skull mask, which the blow had knocked slightly askew. The gesture sent a message : Your attack was so insignificant that I need not respond. 

“Fate, look at your own stats using Identify,” Greed urged. 

When I did, my situation became clear. 

Fate Graphite Lv 1 

Vitality: 999,999,999 

Strength: 999,999,999 

Magic: 999,999,999 

Spirit: 999,999,999 

Agility: 999,999,999 

Skills: Gluttony, Identify, Telepathy, Conceal, Night Vision, Brawl, Marksmanship, Strength Overload, Holy Sword Technique, One-Handed Sword Technique, Two-Handed Sword Technique, Bow Technique, Spear Technique, Fireball (Spell), Sandstorm (Spell), Hallucination (Spell), Corrosion (Spell), Strength Boost (Low), Strength Boost (Medium), Strength Boost (High), Vitality Boost (Low), Vitality Boost (Medium), Vitality Boost (High), Magic Boost (Low), Magic Boost (Medium), Magic Boost (High), Spirit Boost (Low), Spirit Boost (Medium), Spirit Boost (High), Agility Boost (Low), Agility Boost (Medium), Health Regen, Fire Resistance 

My stats were capped at nine digits. Did that mean that, no matter how much more I ate, they would never go any higher? Was I maxed out? 

“This is the limit for humans,” Greed said, answering my thought. “Past here, you enter a zone beyond human. A place called the Domain of E.” 

“The Domain of E… You mean…?” 

I thought back to what Myne had said—that the Domain of E was where the Divine Dragon resided. She said it would take me ten years to get to the domain. 

But what else was there? 

Was I forgetting something? How could I break the barrier into the Domain of E? Did it have something to do with how I lost the ability to move when I saw the dragon? 

“Fate, this is crucial. Listen carefully. There is an unsurpassable gap between those who are in the Domain of E and those who aren’t.” 

“A gap…?” 

“None of your attacks will work on someone in the Domain of E. Physical, magical, special…none will have any effect.” 

“That’s why he shrugged off my arrow…?” 

I transformed the bow into the black sword and cut down the attacking omega slimes as I waited for Greed’s answer. 

“Yeah. There’s no doubt. This man is in the Domain of E.” 

As I stared at the man in black, he grinned. Deep within the two black eyes that stared out from his skull mask, I saw a glint of red. I knew that color so well that I hated it. They were eyes of intimidation, tinted scarlet, that brought to mind fresh blood. As they bored into me, I felt something grip and wrench at my heart. Fear, or hate, or hunger… 

“Fate, know this. However sharp my blade, in the end, I am just a weapon, and I rely on the strength of the person who wields me. Remember what I said before. The growth of your stats depends on you.” 

I gripped the black sword tighter. I didn’t have time to wait ten years. Whether I was ready or not, I was heading into the Domain of E.