Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

A Quiet Morning

I WAS ALONE when dawn broke over Hausen. In the past, I would have simply watched as our lone sun rose on the horizon. But today was different.

Today, the rising sun was blocked by the floating continent of Galia. Sunlight streamed out from around it like a solemn halo. If I hadn’t known what I was looking at, I might have found it just as beautiful and mesmerizing as Hausen’s citizens.

“Hello, Fate.”

“Laine?!” I cried.

“Why the look of utter shock?” she asked.

“When was the last time you ever woke up this early?”

“Even I wake up early every now and again. Everyone’s been talking about this view, and I wanted to see it with my own eyes,” said Laine, seating herself beside me on the courtyard bench. “I heard that you lost Greed. Nonetheless, I’m happy to see you looking well. Looks like I had nothing to worry about.”

“I owe all that to Myne,” I replied. “She helped me realize that it’s too early to give up.”

“I see. In that case, I have something for you.” 

Laine passed me an envelope.

“Who’s it from?” 

“Your father…Dean.”

“Dad?!”

Without realizing, I crushed the previously uncrumpled envelope in my fist.

“He also asked me to give you a message. He said he’ll be waiting for you in Galia’s depths. What are you going to do, Fate?”

I didn’t waver for an instant. “Like you even need to ask,” I said.

“Like father, like son,” said Laine with a somewhat troubled smile. “You two really are alike.”

“We are?”

Those words might have brought me joy once. Now, they repulsed me. 

My own father was trying to open the Door to Distant Lands, and as a result, monsters were coming back to life all over the world. Everywhere, people were in danger, and many small villages had already been completely decimated by monster attacks. The royal capital of Seifort was the most populous location in the kingdom, and monsters were steadily gathering there, drawn by the scent of prey. If they weren’t stopped, a death parade was inevitable. Fortunately, Aaron and the white knights were fighting tooth and nail to keep the monsters at bay. 

My father caused this, and I resented the implication that we were anything alike.

“Your father is…a prisoner of that which binds him,” said Laine.

“Like Myne, you mean.”

“Yes. Neither can betray their sacred marks…their Divine Revelations.”

“Are you saying it’s my dad’s duty to open the Door to Distant Lands?”

“Based on the circumstances, it would appear so. He was obsessed with the Door, and when he started to open it, his sacred mark appeared on his cheek.”

This didn’t make any sense. Libra was trying to stop the door from opening—the exact opposite of what my father was doing.

“But doesn’t that clash with what Libra wants?” I asked.

“It’s possible that, though they are both Holy Beastfolk, their Divine Revelations differ.”

“What?!”

“God’s will is likely not a simple, solitary thing. It is almost certainly a multitude, and each Zodiac Knight is attempting to fulfill their individual duty. It’s worth noting that your father hated Libra—the two clearly have a shared past, but one unrelated to their Divine Revelations. It’s personal.”

A multitude of Divine Revelations? Why complicate matters like that? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to give all of the holy beastfolk a shared goal? If they were all assigned conflicting Revelations, there was every chance that nothing would be accomplished at all.

“God works in mysterious ways,” I muttered.

“So it would seem. If we understood exactly how they worked, perhaps we might live without pain and suffering. Instead, a variety of paths lay before us, and we are given the freedom to choose the one we walk.”

“A multitude of options, too…”

“As a researcher, I must say it’s far more intriguing this way.”

“Do you ever think about anything other than yourself?”

Laine giggled. “A multitude of potential experiments is so very exciting.”

I couldn’t believe what I heard. “Laine…” I muttered, but then she put a hand to my chest. “Huh?”

I was shocked, but Laine’s expression told me that she was no longer joking. “How have you been feeling?” she asked.

“Great.”

“Liar.”

“Why would I—”

“You’ve always been a terrible liar.”

Guilty as charged. I froze. Laine saw this as a golden opportunity to do a thorough, hands-on inspection of me.

“Enough already!” I shouted.

“It’s just as I thought,” she muttered. “How long has it been like this?”

Laine had been keeping an eye on my condition—namely, my Gluttony—back in Seifort, and I wasn’t going to conceal anything from her. Still, I had to admit I was hesitant, especially now that the changes were visible. In a way, Laine’s impromptu health check was something of a godsend.

“For about a week,” I replied.

Laine groaned. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I was busy.”

“This is why you’re always so much trouble,” said Laine. She turned me to face her and tugged at my clothes. “Come on. Off with it.”

“Here?!”

“Relax. It’s not like anybody else is here.”

“That’s not the point!”

But Laine was not so easily dissuaded. This was a bad habit of hers. When she wanted to know something, she had to figure it out right then and there. And if that meant undressing me in broad daylight, then so be it. 

Even Laine froze the moment she saw my back, though. “Oh, I see,” she said. “Like father, like son indeed. Dean has these too.”

“He does?”

“Yes. But his wings are much bigger, and much more powerful.”

“What are you getting at?”

“This is not the result of your Gluttony. This is the manifestation of your holy beastfolk genes.”

“But why now?”

Laine gazed out at the floating continent of Galia for a moment. “Your father said that the power of the holy beastfolk is awakening in you. Your Gluttony made it possible.”

“Really?”

“Yes. No ordinary human could bear such power. But thanks to your Gluttony, you’ve reached the Domain of E, which caused your holy beastfolk power to awaken.”

My mother was a human, and my father was a holy beastfolk. I was a product of the two—a hybrid. I had lived the majority of my life as a human, but now, a dormant power within me had begun to emerge.

“That power within you is balanced by your Gluttony. You feel good these days, don’t you?”

“I feel amazing. I thought things were going to be much harder after I lost Luna’s protection.”

I still didn’t know if this was good or bad though. I hadn’t been back to the spiritual plane since Luna had left. I also hadn’t encountered my Gluttony in the form of the “other” me, either. I’d fought it once before and achieved victory by the skin of my teeth, but I didn’t know if things would go the same way the next time we met. 

My Gluttony had always been silent, but now, it bubbled to the surface and asserted itself. I imagined it didn’t like the other power awakening within me.

“In any case, I’m going to need some time now that I have a great source of information on your body.”

“What do you mean ‘source?’”

“Your father gave me an ether blood crystal. It’s a kind of miracle stone formed from divine blood. Using its power, he purified the Philosopher’s Stone he took from Seifort’s laboratory.”

“The Philosopher’s Stone?!”

The stone was a part of the superorganism Shin, who I’d fought in the depths of Hausen. My father had indeed acquired a Philosopher’s Stone at the time. It didn’t look any different, but…

“Yes. I saw it with my own eyes. He purified the consciousness residing within it. It may be possible to do the same with the ravening of your Gluttony, allowing you to control it.”

“Sounds like a dream come true.”

“I don’t think it is a dream at all. Dean gave me the ether blood crystal, but he told me it was for your sake. He doesn’t seem the type to lie.”

Would my father really do something like that for me?

“Don’t get your hopes up yet,” Laine continued. “It will take time to research the blood crystal. The machinery I need is located in the underground city of Grandol. I’ll go there to focus on my work.”

“You look thrilled.”

“I was born for this. It’s my calling. Come over and clean the place for me whenever the mood strikes.”

“Did you ever consider just doing it yourself?”

“And steal your job? I wouldn’t dare.”

“You do realize I’m the lord of Hausen, right?”

Laine ignored me. She had said everything she’d come to say, so she rose to her feet. “Well,” she announced. “I’ve got work to do.”

“Hey, have you told Mugan that you’re safe yet?” I asked as she walked away.

Mugan, Laine’s father, had been worried sick since she’d been kidnapped. I knew the kind of person Laine was, and there was a possibility that she had yet to contact him. I didn’t want to assume this to be true, but I had to ask.

As soon as Laine heard my question, her jaw dropped. “Oh no!” she cried. “I completely forgot!”

“The guy was practically in tears at the royal capital! Send him word you’re safe!”

Laine only ever made her poor father worry. She’d never change. But I was glad to have her by my side, helping and supporting me.