Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

The Underground City of Grandol

AS I STARED up in wonder, Greed said, “It’s an artificial sun. But if it’s been activated, that means…”

“Somebody is living here?” I interjected.

“Right… Fate, look next to that building over there!”

I assumed it might be Myne and Shin, but when I saw what Greed was talking about, I was at a complete loss for words. Roxy and Eris were no different. Both stood as still as statues, their mouths open in disbelief.

“Are they…people?” asked Roxy.

“But they’re partially transparent… Ghosts?”

We approached the human-like shapes and called out to them, but we received no response. They all resembled Myne, with tanned complexions and white hair…the unique traits of the now-extinct Galian people.

“It’s like they don’t even know we’re here.”

“They’re not aware of our presence.”

“They don’t look like they even have minds,” said Eris

The Myne-like figures endlessly repeated basic gestures with no apparent aim.

“They’re clinging to tattered memories, and those slivers of life power their movements,” Greed said quietly, then sighed. “They’re partial resurrections.”

“What does that mean?”

“They were all long dead, yet they were summoned back to our world against their will. That’s why they look like ghosts.”

“They’ll remain like this?”

“Who knows? If the Door to Distant Lands continues to open, perhaps their resurrections will complete. Or perhaps not.” 

“I don’t get it.”

Greed paused for a moment. “In the end, it’s up to them.”

“You mean they each decide whether to come back or not?”

“Indeed. These ghosts are in a state of confusion. Do they want to remain dead, or do they want to return?”

“What would they be confused about?”

“At the very least, they all have their own regrets. You saw your parents’ graves yourself. One of those graves was unsullied, untouched. The other, however…”

“The other came back.”

My father had regrets, and they were reason enough for him to choose to live. My mother, on the other hand, had no such thing. I’d never seen my mother’s face. The only shape of her that I knew was the shape of her gravestone. My father said she was a person who often smiled and laughed. Even now I wanted to meet her, if only for an instant.

“What’s wrong?” asked Greed.

“It’s nothing…” I muttered.

“You’re an open book to me.”

“Huh?”

“Part of you wishes your mom had come back for you, huh? But she didn’t have any regrets like that, so you’re sulky about it. Grow up, boy.”

“Wha…?!”

Greed had hit the bull’s-eye, and I didn’t know what to say. 

Roxy and Eris didn’t know what we were talking about. To them, it looked like I was simply muttering to myself.

“Is something wrong?” asked Roxy with worry in her eyes.

I shook my head, “Just Greed being Greed.”

“I see…”

I hid my embarrassment from Roxy by not going into the details. Meanwhile, Greed continued to speak, but I didn’t pay any attention to him. Eris smiled at me when I glanced at her, like she saw right through me. There was no hiding from her insights.

“Still a child at heart, aren’t you, Fate?”

“That’s rich coming from you.”

“Well, from my point of view, both you and Roxy are significantly younger than me.”

“Have you considered maybe acting your age then? That’d be really helpful.”

“Hmph. I’ve got it covered.” Eris raised her gunblade up high, as though she were ready to lead us into victory.

“That doesn’t inspire much confidence…” I sighed.

“Unfortunately not…” added Roxy.

“You two are awful! You don’t have any idea how much I’ve prepared for what’s ahead.”

Since the battle with the Zodiac Scorpion, Eris had often gone off somewhere by herself. Was it possible that she really did spend that time training? It was hard to imagine, given that she usually gallivanted around with a carefree attitude.

“But I’m still not back to full power,” added Eris.

“Well, don’t overdo it,” I said.

“Oh? Are you worried about me?”

I pointed at Eris’s eyes. “Your arcane eyes. Don’t overuse them.”

“You really are kind, aren’t you? Hard to believe half of you came from their bloodline.”

My father was one of the Zodiac Knights, which meant that he was in all likelihood one of the holy beastfolk, like Libra and Snow. That made me half human and half holy beast. But I still didn’t know what that entailed….

“Fate, look,” said Greed.

As I looked up at the artificial sun, a red-haired girl flew through the air. She wore the same clothes as Snow. Whereas once those clothes had been much too big for her, now they were a perfect fit.

“Is that… Is that Snowy?” asked Roxy.

“I don’t think it could be anyone else.”

Perhaps Libra’s influence had changed her.

“Snow!” I called out.

She headed north and then dropped to the ground.

“Let’s go,” I said.

We ran off at once, passing spectral figures as we chased after Snow. The ghosts seemed to hover between dimensions. We passed right through them, but as we did, my Telepathy skill picked up fragments of memories. I saw happy families eating together, confessions of love to long-adored crushes, and successful research. I saw both the fortunate and the unfortunate. The Galians were not unlike us, I realized; they had lived each day as it came.

“Hey, Greed?” I said.

“What?”

“Why did the Galians go extinct?”

“Why that question all of a sudden?”

“To begin with, they were so technologically advanced. Secondly, I sense from the memories of these spirits that the people seemed happy. I can’t connect those two facts with the fact that they all perished.”

Greed laughed. “In every generation, the people at the bottom of the ladder always get caught up in the schemes and machinations of those on top. You had firsthand experience of this before your Gluttony awakened. You were on a different rung back then.”

He was right. From the moment my Gluttony awakened, my life was forever changed.

“It wasn’t the average citizen that destroyed Galia,” he said. “It was those with much more power.”

“Does it have something to do with Skills of Mortal Sin?”

“That’s one reason. I’ll tell you about it when we’re finished here.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, really. It’s about time you knew anyway. So don’t die out there.”

“I made a promise to Aaron. I intend to keep it.”

Yes! At last, the always-cryptic Greed is going to open up! I thought. But I couldn’t let myself get too excited, since I still had to fight a literal life-or-death battle. Even so, as I ran, I couldn’t hide my surprise at Greed’s rare display of kindness.

“Fay! Snowy stopped!” Eris said.

We drew to a halt and looked up at Snow, still floating in the air. She looked down at us, her eyes devoid of her will.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” said Eris.

An instant later, Snow plummeted from the sky and hurtled toward us with incredible speed. 

“No choice but to fight, huh?” I muttered.

“Fay…”

Roxy frowned as she said that, but the truth was that if we did nothing, we’d be killed. I took Greed from his sheath and stood ready to face Snow.

“Roxy, Eris, get away from here,” I said.

“What are you going to do?” asked Eris.

“Libra forced those memories into her. Snow has lost her senses, that’s all.”

“Do you have proof of that?”

I had no concrete evidence—none solid enough for Eris. But as I parried Snow’s attacks with the black sword, I was absolutely certain. Her attacks were clumsy and awkward, exactly like those of the Zodiac Scorpion that had rampaged through the Desert of Extinction.

“You remember it too, don’t you?” I said to Eris. “This fighting style.”

“She’s gone berserk.”

“It’s the same as before. If I’m right, she’ll calm down if we can knock her unconscious. Just like last time.”

Still, I hadn’t expected to have a rematch with Snow in this place. Not here. A bloodred ichor welled up around our feet.

“Fay!” Roxy cried.

Then she unleashed the Grand Cross tech-art. The holy light purified the floor, revealing the source of the oozing ichor: Shin. He was the superorganism that had tempted Myne before disappearing with her at his side.

“You all look like you’re having a wonderful time. Can I join in, Gluttony?”

Countless tentacles sprouted from the red liquid and congealed into the forms of various monsters: goblins, kobolds, sandmen, orcs, gargoyles, and so on. There were even crowned beasts among them.

“Soon the Door will be fully open. I’ll need you all to wait patiently until then.”

I shook Snow off of me and shouted, “Where is she?! Where’s Myne?!”

“Gluttony is the last thing I want her seeing right now.”

Shin rushed in with an attack. Simultaneously, the rampaging Snow approached from behind. All opportunities for escape were cut off as we were surrounded by translucent red monsters.