Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Hall of Memories

“I’M SORRY FOR GETTING you wrapped up in all of this, Fate,” Kairos said, draping an arm over my shoulder.

He spoke energetically, as if he wanted to lighten the mood that clung to us like an oppressive pall. Though he was blunt with his words, he had a good heart.

“We’re going to infiltrate a particular facility. We’ve got someone on the inside, and their last message said this is our only chance to make a move.”

“Okay,” I said. “But is it okay to trust me with a plan like this?”

After all, I thought, I literally appeared out of nowhere.

“This isn’t a case of needing more time to get to know each other,” Kairos said. 

“Then what is it a case of?”

“All we need are similar goals. I can tell you’re interested in Galia. And I also saw the spark in your eyes when I told you about the facility. That’s more than enough for me.”

“A little too quick to trust people, no?”

“You think so? I’ve always been like this. I’d love a world where I could trust everyone, but it’s not always so simple,” said Kairos. Then he addressed Myne. “I’ve returned Sloth to you, and now you have to hold up your end of the deal.”

“Fine,” Myne replied, axe in hand. “And when I’m done, so’s our agreement.”

“Hey now. You’re not angling for a rematch, are you?”

“I am. I will take your head home with me.”

“Why waste your time…?” Kairos sighed, gazed up at the sky, and then laughed heartily. “Okay! Then we’ll fight until you’re satisfied. Not as if you can win.”

“I won’t lose again,” she hissed.

The tension between them was thick, and I didn’t want to get caught up in it. In any case, Kairos was clearly open to the challenge. If you want it, come get it, his aura said. 

Myne always stuck to her values above all. It was the only thing stopping her from breaking her promise and starting the fight right then and there. I chuckled; the Myne in this place was just like the Myne I knew in the real world.

“Something funny?”

Myne’s glare threatened to crush me. It was the glower of Wrath. Nonetheless, I noticed that the heavy atmosphere that pressed down on us in Babylon had dissipated. It seemed like Kairos succeeded in lightening the mood. Greed, who had been silently watching the whole time, sounded the alarm.

“All right, enough of the buddy-buddy stuff. We’ve got enemies incoming.”

“Nice work, Greed.”

“I don’t need your flattery. But, Kairos…don’t overdo it.”

An enormous horde of monsters encroached upon us, a few chimeras among them. Kairos had said the empire regularly sent stampedes like this to their base.

“Guess we’ve got our warmup waiting for us. Fate, Myne, are you ready?”

“Yes,” Myne and I replied in unison.

I drew the longsword that Kairos had given to me. I was worried about its durability, but the Weapon of Mortal Sin I was most used to was currently in Kairos’s hands. The only weapon capable of withstanding the force of my power was this longsword. All the same, I felt an uneasy chill run through me. To think that a battle without Greed would leave me feeling so nervous… I was becoming acutely aware of just how much I relied on him.

“Leave no survivors,” said Kairos. “Any that make it past us will reach Babylon.”

He unsheathed the black sword and transformed it into the black bow. As he poured his stats into the weapon, it began to grow. With a smooth, flowing motion, he unleashed the Bloody Ptarmigan attack.

“Huh?!”

The power of the attack was on another level. It didn’t look like he had sacrificed a significant portion of his stats, which provided further evidence that I was still a long way from having mastery of Greed’s abilities. 

With half of the incoming force annihilated, I didn’t sense any lingering reverberations of Gluttony from Kairos.

“Whoo! Nothing quite like reaping such a filling harvest! That’s one reason I love the Bloody Ptarmigan!”

“You can pat yourself on the back later!” said Greed. “You still have the other half to deal with!”

“Don’t be so dour, Greed. You worry too much!”

“Hmph.”

Kairos’s opening strike did its job. Unleashing an attack of such incredible power routed the remaining monsters and they began to scatter.

“Now’s our chance!” said Kairos as he broke into a sprint. Myne and I followed close behind.

This was an opportunity to find out if my Gluttony skill worked in this world. I started small, decapitating a charging orc. It collapsed, blood spurting from its neck, but no metallic voice rang in my ears to inform me of a stat increase. I slew other nearby monsters indiscriminately, but still heard nothing from my Gluttony. Collecting spheres didn’t bring me any closer to leveling either.

I shouldn’t have expected anything, I thought. This isn’t the real world, after all.

As Kairos sliced through another chimera, he shouted, “Fate, stop standing around! You can slack off as much as you like when we’re done!”

Myne looked no different than what I was used to. As far as she was concerned, these monsters weren’t worth her time, even as a warmup. The wave of monsters stretched to the horizon, but she decimated them with ease. 

“That’s the last of them,” said Kairos, lopping the head off a monster I didn’t recognize. “Fate, Myne, good work!”

“What…is that monster?” I asked.

“No idea. Probably a new species. I’ve noticed them mixed in with the others. They’re manageable for now,” Kairos said. “When I first encountered them, they were about as strong as orcs. Now they’re on par with chimera.”

“Isn’t that bad?”

“Not for me. They’re delicious. For my Gluttony, the stronger the better.”

“Ah…”

I wasn’t sure what to make of Kairos’s reply. He didn’t seem to mind the effects of Gluttony at all; he was already eager for another round. Was this guy really the bearer of Gluttony? It was hard to believe so when he could devour these monsters’ souls without concern.

“Let’s keep going,” said Kairos. “A little farther and we’ll be able to see it.”

But Kairos’s idea of “a little farther” was atypical, and we soon found ourselves deep in the heart of Galia. From what I could remember, I felt certain we were in the area that would one day become the great canyon. 

A black edifice towered above us—a research facility. It was massive, easily on par with the underground city beneath Hausen. It sprawled out so far that I wasn’t sure if we were really looking at a single facility.

“This is the place we’re breaking into?” I asked.

“Yep.”

Kairos’s voice was as clear and calm as always. It was like he literally didn’t know the meaning of fear. In this situation, Myne was our greatest liability. Stealth was not her forte. During our travels, she had always been the type to break down the front gate and storm inside.

Myne noticed my worried look and turned her nose up at me. “I’ll do this better than you.”

“Really? You don’t look like you can do ‘subtle.’”

“You’re talking to the assassin who almost killed Kairos,” Myne said, her chest puffed up with pride.

Kairos chuckled. That laugh was enough to tell me that she had barged in through the front gates or otherwise immediately failed at stealth.

“All you gotta do is keep quiet. Everything’s been prepared in advance, so just don’t make a scene,” Kairos said. “Well? Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Come on, this way.”

Kairos led us toward the infiltration point.