Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Snow’s Holy Seal

A RED TATTOO advanced across Snow’s face—her sacred mark. I thought of what Libra had said back in Tetra, that the sacred mark was a revelation from God… Did that mean that the reawakened Snow was guided by divinity itself?!

“Fay!”

“Is this what Snow got back?” I asked Greed.

“Even I don’t know what’s happening, but you’d best ready the magic shield.”

Greed’s words brought me back to the present. I drew my sword, transformed it into the black shield, and stood in front of Roxy. 

“The town…”

There was every chance that Snow would unleash the massive magical energy building within her. If that happened, it would be pure devastation, with us at its center. The magic emanating from her was exactly as I feared, and my vision seemed to fade before it. I realized that if I hadn’t been behind the black shield, it could have easily rendered me unconscious.

“Are you okay?” I asked Roxy.

“This power is making me dizzy, but yes, I’m okay.”

“Good,” I said, looking around, “Seems like the city is fine too.”

“Fay, look!”

I turned to look where Roxy was pointing to find a hole bored deep into the earth, straight through the beautiful stone paving. Peering down into it, I couldn’t see the bottom.

“She must have gone down there,” Roxy said.

“Into the subterranean depths beneath Hausen?”

“Is there any sort of structure down there—a basement or underground area?”

“Nothing that I know of, not besides the sewer system.”

Aaron had once told me that Hausen had a thousand-year history. But he made no mention of underground depths when he outlined that history.

“It seems unlikely that she would simply burrow without reason.”

“The Galians ruled these lands four thousand years ago,” I said. “I wonder…”

Roxy and I stared at each other, considering the possibility.

“Whatever the case may be, after Snow’s burst of magical energy, we had better check to see if the people of Hausen are okay,” said Roxy.

“No need to worry; looks like backup has arrived,” I said, sensing their presence. “Hausen’s city guards are a truly exceptional bunch. It’d be safe to say I rely on them a little too much.”

The captain of the arriving guards stepped out in front of the others to report. “My lord, we detected an unbelievable amount of magical energy. What was it?”

Before giving an explanation, I introduced Roxy to Baldo, the man whose party I had met in the Desert of Extinction when I saved them from the sand golem. Before Aaron’s retirement, Baldo had been in the employ of my adoptive father; afterward, he and his friends formed a mercenary company that wandered the lands. When they heard that Hausen was being restored, they hurried back, and now they worked under my command to maintain peace within the city walls.

“Looks like you’ve got trustworthy people around you, Fay,” Roxy said with a smile.

I wondered if she’d thought that my only real companion was Greed… In any case, I was happy if she was happy. I summarized the situation for Baldo: Snow had awakened to herself. Baldo and his men were already tasked with keeping an eye out for Myne, so he immediately grasped that this was a related incident.

“In that case, my troops and I will manage the citizenry,” he said. “But what should we do about this Libra fellow?”

I shook my head and told Baldo to avoid getting entangled with Libra. He was too strong. If we did something to incur his wrath, he could change his plans in an instant. It was entirely possible that Libra was powerful enough to level Hausen if it suited his fancy. That was the degree to which his abilities were still unknown to us.

“We’ll start searching for Snow,” I said. “If the worst comes to pass, you’ll need to evacuate the citizens. I want you to report to Set and make preparations for that eventuality.”

Baldo’s eyebrows anxiously knit together. “Is the situation so dire?”

I nodded slowly. “You felt that magical surge. You know the answer to your question. That’s what we’re facing.”

“I thought I’d heard it all, but that magical power is well above my pay grade,” said Baldo with a wry chuckle. “Well then, we’re in quite the situation, aren’t we? We’ll start preparing immediately.”

Baldo turned to his troops and began to bark orders.

“Looks like the others have finally arrived,” I said.

Roxy noticed them as well. When Libra turned up, she had been unable to focus on anything besides him and Snow, but now that the situation had calmed down a bit, she had a chance to take in her surroundings. I was worried that Snow’s sudden transformation had unsettled her, but her inner strength proved that my fears were misplaced.

“Indeed,” Roxy said. 

Eris arrived with her black gunblade hanging from her waist. She was prepared to do battle. Her sweet voice rang out, “My, oh my. And here I was, so sure that Snow would reveal her true colors…”

Eris still didn’t care for Snow—or rather, the holy beastfolk in general.

“This was Libra’s doing,” I said, gesturing at the hole in the ground. “He said he’d give us a hand in finding Myne, but then he did something to Snow. Her sacred mark became visible.”

“Ah, so that’s what happened. I don’t like this at all. He’s got us wrapped around his little finger.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“We don’t have a choice,” said Roxy. “We must follow Snowy.”

If Myne really was somewhere at the other end of this tunnel, the only way to find her would be to see where it led.

“Then let’s go!” said Eris. “Fate, you first!”

“Huh?! Me?”

“Of course. Better a tough young man than us delicate young maidens. Right, Roxy?”

“Er, Fate, if you don’t want to, I can go first.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s fine. I’ll go.”

Since I could use the Fireball spell to light our way through the darkness, it did make the most sense for me to take point.

“Just give me a sec,” I said. “I need to kindle a light for the dark—NESSSSSSS!”

Eris took me surprise and kicked me down into the hole. 

How heartless! Who does she think she is?! 

In any case, Eris dived in soon after me, cackling. “Serves you right, Fate! You’ve been spending far too much time with Roxy. You need to reflect on your selfishness.”

“There’s a time and place for that!”

Eris was awful, but as a queen, I should have expected her to be somewhat tyrannical. I ignored Eris and cast Fireball. Then she grabbed me tightly as we fell through the air.

“What are you doing, Eris? I’ll never be able to land like this.”

“That’s true. Sucks to be you!”

“How can you be like that?!”

“Well, I’ll be fine. I have you to cushion the impact. That said, I am a little worried about how much of the impact you’ll actually absorb, given your sinewy thighs.”

I tried to squirm free, but Eris was serious. She gripped me so tightly that I couldn’t move at all.

“You’re joking, right?”

Eris laughed. “Sometimes a girl’s gotta get serious. Besides, you’re in the Domain of E.”

“That’s not an explanation! I’ll still have to take the impact of the fall!”

“Not to worry. If you get knocked out, I’ll simply nurse you back to health!”

Such selfishness! But there was truly no way to escape my destiny: I was Eris’s cushion.

Fortunately, the fall didn’t render me unconscious, but it did rattle me so much that I could only lay on the ground for some time.

“Well, let’s get to it. Quit slacking, Fate. You disappoint me.”

“Like you can talk after what you just did…”

“Want to know how you could stop me talking?” Eris leaned over my prone body and brought her lips ever closer to my face.

“Wha?!”

Eris loved putting me in a compromised position. Before she could do anything more, Roxy’s shriek reverberated above us.

The hole was apparently much deeper than she’d expected. I hoped she’d be okay, but as soon as that thought crossed my mind, she landed right on top of me.

“Gahh—oof!”

“I-I’m sorry!” cried Roxy.

Eris laughed. “Serves you right!”

There I lay while Eris laughed above me and Roxy apologized profusely. I felt somewhat alarmed; this didn’t seem like a good omen.

“I’m really so sorry, Fay! I didn’t mean to land on you.”

“It’s all good,” I said, my voice faint. “As long as you’re safe, I don’t mind.”

“What?!” Eris said, taking offense. “You didn’t say anything like that when we fell! You treat her like a princess and me like a pauper!”

“How about you reflect on the circumstances that led to you landing on me, then tell me if my response was undeserved?”

Eris took a moment to consider the situation, then she grinned. “It was your fault!” 

“Eris…” I sighed. Once a despot, always a despot, I guess.

Roxy and I were at a complete loss over how to handle our queen.