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Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 21




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Chapter 21:

To the Depths of the City Eater

AFTER WE PARTED WAYS with the caravans and continued on, we came to a stretch of verdant greenery. It was a strange sight to behold in the middle of a barren wasteland. When we crossed into it, a familiar sweet scent wafted through the air, similar to when I’d last visited, but there was one major difference.

“It’s abandoned.” Roxy gazed out from behind me at all the empty houses. “There’s nobody left at all.”

Now that the caravans had left for new homes, the lively place I had once visited had transformed into a ghost town that would soon be swallowed by the desert. Back then, the town had been covered in farms growing all sorts of produce, some of which was used to feed the thriving livestock. As we dismounted our bikes to take a closer look around, we found ourselves beholding at a very different sight.

The fields lay fallow and disordered from a rushed harvest. There wasn’t a single animal in sight, and the fences that had once penned them in were now broken.

“This is horrible,” I said. “It’s nothing like I remember.”

“Looks like everyone got out of here as quickly as they could.”

“Sure seems like it…”

Eris and Memil stopped their own bike to join Roxy and I as we scanned the surroundings. 

“I had no idea this town existed,” said Eris. “But it was obviously built fairly recently. That said, looking at it now, I don’t know if you could even call this place a town anymore.”

“Were those caravans we met the last to leave?”

The buildings looked like they had been built quite recently, but we detected no signs of life in them. Being in that empty place brought with it an eerie, unnatural silence.

“Well, shall we have a look around for any stragglers and see if they can tell us anything?” asked Roxy.

“Good idea. Memil, will you help Roxy look around?” I asked.

“Understood.”

As the two of them walked off into the town, I looked down at Snow, her hands clasped tightly to my leg. Her fear had only grown after we entered this place. At first, I thought she was just clinging like usual, but now I felt her trembling against me. Something was definitely bothering her, but I couldn’t tell what it was from her expression. I hadn’t told Roxy and Memil because I didn’t want to worry them just yet, but Eris had noticed the change in Snow too.

“She’s haunted, isn’t she Fate?” Eris said. 

“I suppose you know what it looks like.”

Eris replied with a wan smile. Even the mere mention of Libra had taken something out of her. Roxy and Memil saw it too, and it was why they didn’t mind doing reconnaissance for intel in our stead.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” I said. “If you’re worried about seeing Libra, it’s okay to wait here.”

“I’ll be fine…I’m just worried about Snow.”

“It’s a fear that reaches beyond her amnesia.” It almost seemed like she felt it on an instinctual level.

“No matter how you look at it, she’s got some kind of past with him too. With Libra.”

“Even if she does…she still doesn’t remember what that past is.”

Snow stood frozen in place, clamped onto my leg. I put a hand through her hair and waited for her to calm down a little.

“You’re a good girl, Snow. A strong girl,” I said. “I’m going to go see Roxy and Memil. Do you want to come with me?”

“Okay. But there’s something scary up ahead. Be careful.”

“I will. Thanks, Snow.”

I took her hand and nodded. We had only just begun to walk toward Roxy when Memil called out to us.

“Master! We’ve found a few townspeople!”

“Where are they?”

“There’s a big manor down that way. It belongs to the family in charge of the town…well, the family that was in charge.”

“And there’s people there, huh? Let’s go.”

We followed Memil to the manor situated in the center of the town. On our way, I noticed several of the trees lining the main street were barren and dying. At first, I wondered if there was simply nobody left to take care of them, but on second glance, these trees were withering far too fast for that.

“Something bothering you, Fate?” asked Eris.

It didn’t seem worth mentioning, so I shook my head. “No, it’s nothing.” It was more important that we talk to people here than discuss the state of the local foliage.

“Master, Your Majesty, please hurry!” said Memil.

“On my way,” I called, pulling Snow along with me.

“Right behind you,” echoed Eris.

But when I laid eyes on what awaited us at the center of town, I was shocked.

“What happened here?” I asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“There used to be a lake. It was right here last time.” I pointed at the cracked and fractured landscape ahead. There wasn’t a single drop of water in sight. “This water… It was more than just water.”

Memil and Eris listened as I explained what I knew about the special properties of the water in this place—how drinking it had the power to heal wounds and alleviate exhaustion, and how plants watered with it grew at an accelerated pace and made for bountiful harvests. 

“I see, I see,” said Eris, nodding. “So when the water dried up, their livelihood dried up too.”

Roxy came out of the manor at that moment, so we put our conversation on hold.

“This way, everyone,” Roxy said. “Something’s happening to the people in the manor. It started very suddenly. I don’t know what to make of it.”

We entered the manor to a spacious reception area. According to Roxy, the manor belonged to a family of three, along with a full staff of servants. However, the servants had left soon after the drought began. Roxy explained this as we walked down a long corridor to a room in which a young man waited. He looked pale and sickly, like he was battling a disease of some kind.

“I’m Ted,” he said, introducing himself. “My parents are the town officials charged with its governance. Firstly, I must thank you all for coming here. I am humbled in the presence of holy knights. Unfortunately, we’re not doing so well, as you’ve likely noticed. I regret that I cannot treat you with the hospitality that your rank dictates, and for that you have my deepest apologies.” 

“You have nothing to apologize for,” I said. “But I was hoping you could answer some questions for me. Where are your parents?”


“They collapsed just a short while ago, and now they sleep in their bedroom. I was fortunate to meet Roxy here just when they did, and I was grateful for her help.” Ted turned to look at Roxy, who smiled back, before continuing. “My family and I, we grow weaker with every passing moment. I think it might be the land itself. I can’t tell if it’s because of the City Eater or because of that man, Libra. Either way, I have a bad feeling about it.”

Even as he spoke, Ted seemed to deteriorate . The mere act of talking caused him to sweat profusely. He needed to rest as soon as possible.

“Let’s get straight to the point,” I said. “The guy who came here, Libra. When did he arrive?”

“About a month ago. Then the water began to dry up. He told us there was something evil underneath the town. Said it was a monster and that we should leave as quickly as possible. None of us believed him at the time, so we drove him away.”

“So he left?”

“He did, but the water level of the lake kept dropping. The desert wastes soon started to encroach on the town. The water and the power within the lake were the reason we could live here at all, so people started to leave. By the time Libra came back, the condition of the lake was even worse.”

“I assume most of the townspeople had left by then?”

“Yes, they had. Except for me and my parents, there were perhaps only ten others.”

With the lake dried up, it was impossible to grow any more food. The town’s water reserves dwindled until they were almost empty too. Ted could see the next question written across our worried faces, and he answered before I could speak. 

“You’re wondering why we’d choose to stay here given the circumstances, yes? Those who chose to remain were the founders of this town. We discovered it when we had nowhere else to go. In our exhaustion, this place was a joy unlike any other. We promised ourselves that we would never leave this paradise. Not ever…”

“Not even when it stops being a paradise?”

“Not even then. Whatever happens to this place, we will see it through to the end.”

We could see that Ted intended to stay even if it meant enduring the weakness afflicting his body. I wanted to tell him that he should leave for his own sake, but Eris placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I know what you’re thinking, Fate, but it’s no use. He won’t listen.”

“But Eris…”

“You’re right. I know you’re right. But he won’t budge. None of them will.” She looked Ted straight in the eyes. “Right?”

There was no doubt in his gaze. His resolve remained unshaken. I sighed and glanced out the window. I was surprised to see the trees outside had changed color. It was as if the life was draining from them, the plants aging like mayflies.

“Look outside,” I said.

We rushed out there to find great fractures had opened along the desiccated basin of the lakebed. Then the earth shook violently. Trees fell and buildings crumbled. 

“This magic, it’s…”

“It’s like they’re fighting deep beneath the earth.”

I could feel it through my feet, a suddenly swelling pressure. I hadn’t been able to feel Libra’s presence in the town, but there was no doubting it now. The pressure and the magical energy were exactly the same as what I’d felt when I met Libra in Tetra. Snow froze in place, holding my hand, her face tense. Her eyes focused on the ground below.

“He’s coming, Fate,” she whispered.

“What?!” I whipped around to the others. “We have to get away from here! Now!”

“Fay?”

“Master?”

“Well, this should be interesting,” said Eris.

A giant plant root burst from the ground, so thick it seemed to engulf the world behind it. 

“Memil!” I shouted. “Look after Snow!”

“Understood!”

“Roxy, can you make sure we’ve got a way out of here?”

“I’m on it!”

Eris and I drew our weapons and cut down the root in front of us. 

“Fate, this root’s the perfect size for pruning, don’t you think?” Greed said.

“Not the time, Greed!” I shouted. “Is this the City Eater?”

Roots burst from the ground all across the town. There were entirely too many to handle. As soon as I cut one down, several others sprouted in its place. 

“Yeah, this is a City Eater all right,” said Greed. “But it’s still just a baby, so it’s on the smaller side. My guess is Libra’s doing something to it down there, and this is the result. Cutting all these down won’t be easy.”

“But why is—wait, what the hell?”

I watched as a root I’d cut down crawled along the ground, budding brand-new roots. The monster’s regeneration abilities were off the charts.

“How about a taste of this, then?” I yelled, imbuing Greed with the Fireball spell and slashing the root a second time. “Oh, come on! Seriously?!”

“Quite odd for a plant to be fire resistant, isn’t it?” said Eris.

“Isn’t it against the natural order of things for a tree to shrug off fire?”

Fortunately, the monster wasn’t in the Domain of E, which meant that Memil and Roxy could cut the roots down too. That said, we couldn’t take the monster lightly. Not only did it regenerate faster than we could cut it down, it could partition itself into independent parts from which to regrow. The more roots we fought, the worse things got for us.

“It’s not looking good,” I said. “Let’s make some space and head to the edge of town while we work out what to do next.”

“I don’t think it’s going to let us, Fate.”

Branches shot from the surrounding roots and latticed around us like a cage. The rank of the monster meant that I wouldn’t take any damage, but we were still outmatched and on the back foot. I didn’t know enough about the City Eater to identify its weak points, and Greed didn’t know how to stop it either. 

“No choice but to fight,” I said, gripping the black sword and raising it overhead, ready to strike at the root crawling toward us.

“Fate, wait!” said Greed.

“Huh?”

“Something’s happening to it.”

At first, I didn’t know what Greed was talking about, but I started to notice that the roots were losing their aggression.

“They’re withering,” I said. Then, realizing what I was seeing: “No, not withering, they’re rotting. They’re dying.”

In just a few moments, the roots that had splayed out from underground crumbled like sandcastles after a tidal wave. Eris watched, terrified by the power on display. Her fear told me who we had to thank for this tide change. 

As the remaining roots perished around us, that very person strolled out from between them, toward us.



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