Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

A Fortress of a Shield 

TWO SQUADRONS OF ORCS. With that many ears, I could sort my money issues in a single hunt. The only potential problem was figuring out how to take down all of them. If I used the phenomenon of hate to pull their attention, though, I could take out all four hundred orcs in one clean sweep. 

To start, I barged directly through the center of the four-hundred-strong squadron. 

“Greed, you good to go?” 

“Hmph. You know me—I’m always ready!” 

I charged recklessly right at the orcs. The high orc leaders barked orders, and in the next instant, the sky filled with a seething swarm of arrows and fireballs, all aimed right at me. 

“Fate, incoming.” 

“Got it.” 

Now for what I’d been looking forward to since arriving in Babylon. It was time to experiment. 

I thrust the black sword forward and called forth its new power, the Third Level. The blade transformed in my hands from the familiar one-handed sword into a black tower shield taller than I was. Just as the shield finished its transformation and I braced for impact, the torrent of arrows and fireballs rained down on us. 

The shudder of hundreds of impacts ran through my right arm. The barrage continued without pause, an ongoing assault that was a far cry from the power of the goblins I’d first faced. Regardless, none of the attacks punctured my enormous shield. Greed’s Third Form absorbed or deflected every last one of their missiles. 

Now this will definitely come in handy , I thought. 

Greed chuckled triumphantly. “Behold the power of the Third Level! Watch as it defies all attacks—physical and magical. This shield is practically a fortress! Fear not, Fate! I give you permission to praise my might! Worship my greatness!” 

Honestly, it was hard to concentrate on the battle with Greed’s boasting echoing in my head. “Would you keep it down? I’m sort of in the middle of something here!” 

We hadn’t even reached the two squadrons, and already Greed had decided that we’d won. Who was he to be so arrogant? I was the one doing the actual fighting, and it was my life on the line. 

“Keep riding your high horse while I’m trying to fight, and you can kiss that brand-new custom-forged scabbard goodbye!” 

“Hey, hey, wait a second. No need to be hasty. It’s not like you to be so cold-hearted, Fate. Besides, it wouldn’t look right if you were dressed in handsome new clothes while your trusty scabbard hung in tatters. Usually it’s the opposite way around! You keep your tattered rags, and the mighty Greed sports a beautiful new sheath!” 

“According to who?! No one does that! Why would I even consider it?!” 

Greed definitely had his own special line of logic. According to him, the wielder of a sword owed everything to their weapon. I wouldn’t admit it, not with his already inflated ego, but in my case, he wasn’t wrong. Still, he could have a bit of decorum! 

The orcs’ assault rained down upon the black shield. Greed and I bickered as we continued to dash forward. We were almost at the front line of the horde. My plan was to dive into their midst, unleashing the form of the adamantite-cleaving black sword just as we hit their ranks. 

Just before I leaped, Greed interrupted me. “Wait, Fate. Trust me. Barge straight through!” 

“Huh? Really?!” 

His idea seemed liable to get me killed. Was Greed trying to off me just because I’d threatened to deny him that scabbard? 

Greed exploded into an arrogant laugh. “Let me demonstrate the true reason for the shield’s impressive size. Don’t stop for anything! Run those orcs down like beasts!” 

“Okay, but don’t blame me for what happens next!” 

Yet again, Greed confidently urged me into danger. Where did that reasoning even come from? Then again, whenever he encouraged me like this, it went surprisingly well. 

Fine then! Instead of transforming him into the black sword, I plowed head-on into the squadron of orcs. 

My arm met incredible weight, followed by shrieks and blows pounding against the shield. The orcs snarled and grunted as my momentum threw them into the sky. As I charged onward, a familiar metallic voice rang in my ears, informing me that my stats were steadily increasing. 

“This is…this is amazing!” 

“It is! It is!” Greed laughed. “This move is called the Shield Bash. It requires a certain amount of strength, but with your current stats? No issue. It sends puny monsters like orcs flying to their ugly dooms. Now run, Fate! Go! Faster!” 

“All right! Let’s do it!” 

The shield was extraordinary. It was much easier to use than the black sword or the black scythe. It didn’t even require tactics or strategy. All I had to do was run down my target without stopping. I barged through the orcs and sent the monsters flying. Then I turned back the way I came and once again plowed into the squadron. All the while, the metallic voice of Gluttony echoed in my head as my stats rose. 

Barbaric, yes. Also surprisingly fun. 

The high orc leader raised its voice in a snarling command, and the squadron shifted tactics. The orcs with shields pushed toward the front line, supported by the heavily armed orcs behind them. 

“Are those shield orcs going to be a problem?” I asked. 

“Nah. Pay those grunts no mind, Fate. Send ‘em all flying. Shove in deep, and give it all you’ve got!” 

“Got it. I’ll knock that meat wall past the horizon!” 

“That’s the spirit!” 

I was basically a one-man stampede. I collided with the orc squadron. They resisted, the black shield shuddering with the impacts of their bodies and weapons as they attempted to hold their ground. But their weight did not stop me. I pushed forward with a roar. 

My voice rose in ferocity as I increased my pace, driving into the line of shield-bearer orcs until the grunts gave way with a meaty squelch. The pressure of my advance crushed them against my unbreakable shield. 

The orc formation fragmented under my assault. They snorted and squealed in their last bloody moments alive. I continued through, and with every step, the metallic voice of Gluttony updated me on my constantly rising stats. 

“Go, Fate! Go! And don’t stop until you’ve reduced them all to quivering orc mince!” 

“Do you have to be so gruesome?” I asked. “Can’t you be at least a little more delicate with your word choice?” 

“Delicate? Pah! Such a word does not exist in the dictionary of Greed.” 

Sometimes he talked more like a bludgeoning device than a sword. It was bad enough to be grinding monsters to literal pulp, but worse to have Greed describing the slaughter live as I fought. Between the pulpy remains scattered over the battlefield and Greed’s words echoing in my head, I was being put off all my favorite meat dishes. 

I’d had enough playing around with the new ability. I unleashed the full power of my strength and rammed into the regrouping orcs. I left none standing. The shrieking monsters exploded, their bodies painting the wasteland with blooming flowers of blood. 

Gluttony Skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +940,800, Strength +921,600, Magic +729,600, Spirit +768,000, Agility +729,600. 

The two orc squadrons were in a state of utter collapse, the survivors scattering in panic. Little by little, I ran down the last straggling beasts with the black shield. I could have easily cut them down with a sweep of the black scythe, but I wanted more practice with the blunt feel of this fighting style. 

Just as I settled into the weight of the black shield, I noticed the two high orcs turn to flee. 

I’d fought orcs a few times now. Their chain of command struck me as tough and totally unforgiving. Orc foot soldiers often gave their lives to protect the higher-ranking, blue-skinned high orcs. I didn’t know what reason or logic their hierarchy relied on. Perhaps it was purely instinctual. Whatever the case, the high orc in charge was everything to its squadron. In a way, it seemed similar to how human citizens were unable to disobey the orders of holy knights. 

“What do you want to do, Fate?” said Greed. “Run down those two high orcs with my Shield Bash?” 

“No, I’m done. Let’s end this.” 

I was finished with the magic shield today. I transformed Greed into the black bow, pulled back the string, and nocked a black arrow imbued with my magic. Greed guided the arrows, and they never missed their target. My personal archery experience was limited at best, but this bow was easy to handle. However, if I fired straight ahead, any remaining orcs would throw themselves between the arrows and their swiftly retreating leaders. I needed a different angle of attack. I pointed the bow up at the sky and released two shots. 

The arrows cut a black arc across the sky, flying over the surviving orcs and plunging into the heads of the fleeing high orcs. The two commanders fell to the ground with a spray of blood, magic arrows sprouting from their skulls. 

Gluttony Skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +406,800, Strength +435,000, Magic +350,600, Spirit +308,600, Agility +336,800. 

I nodded, satisfied. I felt Gluttony crawl within me, reveling in its feast. For now, it was fine. It had no reason to complain, given the millions of stats I’d just fed it. 

Ever since the battle with the chimera Haniel, Gluttony had been strangely quiet. Almost as if it were sleeping. Perhaps it was only a temporary reprieve, but I was grateful for it all the same. Who knew, maybe it was a result of my training to control my Gluttonous urges. I hoped so. 

I scanned the battlefield for the few remaining orcs. Their high orc leaders lost, they fell into disarray—some running to attack me, others running for their lives. Without the orders that governed their squadron, the orcs weren’t so far removed from goblins or kobolds after all. Any that managed to come close fell to the blade of the black sword. The rest, I picked off from a distance with the black bow. 

“Looks like that’s all of them,” I said finally. 

“This should earn you enough gold to buy some new gear,” said Greed, “so let’s get to chopping ears and head back to Babylon already.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” 

I wandered the battlefield, slicing off any ears in recognizable condition and throwing them into the burlap sacks I’d brought. It was tedious work, given the number of orcs and the state they were in. In some ways, rounding up the bounty trophies felt more laborious than the actual fighting. Still, I made sure to gather every pair I could. By the time I’d collected most of them, the sun had risen high up in the sky. 

“Fate,” Greed said, “aren’t you forgetting something important? The ears of the high orcs?” 

“Oh, you’re right.” 

I’d meant to do them last, and here they’d completely slipped my mind. Greed was oddly useful in times like these; he was smart about the strangest things. I was glad his blunt personality still had an eye for detail. 

With all the ears finally sliced from orc skulls, I hefted the two bloodstained sacks up on my shoulder. “Well, shall we head back?” 

“Seems like a good idea to me, but…looks like we’ve got company.” 

I lifted my head at Greed’s comment and noticed a large party of adventurers walking toward me. It was the group I’d seen earlier. They’d been fighting another squadron of orcs, and apparently, they’d won their battle too. So why were they heading in this direction, and what did they want with me? 

I dropped the two sacks to the ground, unsheathed the black sword, and readied myself for their arrival.