Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

The Second Coming of the Chimeras

COUNTLESS BUILDINGS COLLAPSED around us in the heart of Mercadia, the imperial capital—a place once renowned for its prosperity—as warred against Gemini. Unfortunately, the battle had gone on too long. Ancient beasts stirred from their slumber, beasts that should never have been woken. I felt it all around me. This aura was one I remembered from long ago, in my battle with Haniel. That same pressure now assaulted me from every direction. Haniel had been a juvenile chimera prematurely forced into an adult form, but what surrounded us now was different. These were true chimeras. 

Waves of magical energy assaulted me, making it even more difficult to track Gemini.

“What is that?” I uttered.

Above us, tendrils of blue light reached up from the ground like tangled vines, smothering the sky and enclosing Mercadia in a dome. It stretched beyond the surrounding structures, and all we could do was watch as we dealt with this half of Gemini’s relentless attacks.

Eris and I stood back-to-back.

“The defense systems should have activated before we entered the capital, right?” I said.

“I do not understand this,” replied Eris. “The only explanation is that they were intentionally kept offline until now.”

“No… My father?”

It couldn’t have been Gemini. The holy beast would have started the defense systems the moment it sensed us. But why would my father want to trap us in here? 

The sky was now completely covered, enclosing us in a blue dome. My energy started to deplete, just like when I gave up my stats to Greed. “My stats are dropping?!” I exclaimed.

“The light covering the capital hits intruders with strong debuffs,” explained Eris.

I knew she was telling the truth. We were the intruders here, after all.

“The portal jumping is accelerating!”

“Gemini is growing even more powerful,” said Eris. “The dome must be acting as a kind of blessing for it.”

Could things get any worse?!

We were almost out of options. Eris’s eyes were at their limit. She could only use her magical eye one more time, if we were lucky. Her right eye was starting to swell shut as blood continued to pour forth.

“Eris, can you really do this?” I asked.

“Yes. Do not worry about me.”

“Eris…”

“I do not need your concern. We have no other alternatives. Focus, Master Fate. You must concentrate.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. With that light bearing down upon us, our stats were plummeting. If we left things too long, we’d lack the power to fight back, and any opening we created would be pointless. There was no more time for hemming, hawing, or grumbling. We had to hit it hard and fast.

“Right,” I said. “I believe in you… I believe in the Eris inside of you.”

“Then we will survive.”

Eris’s magical eye saw Gemini’s future splinter into two paths. Usually, Eris’s future sight saw only one possible future, but there were always two for Gemini—a future where my attack connected and a future where my attack missed. Both possibilities existed simultaneously. 

I didn’t believe it when I heard it. I had always believed the future to be unwavering. The whole reason we struggled and fought was to choose the best path forward. That rule did not apply to the Zodiac Gemini, though, which could select the better of two options. It wasn’t quite altering the future. More accurately, Gemini altered probability. When I fired my sandstorm arrow, the future in which it hit was—in Eris’s eyes—a flimsy, near-transparent image. The future in which I missed, however, was the opposite. She saw it as a stark, bold vision, one so clear it seemed to crush the future we hoped for.

This probability shifting was how Gemini had evaded all of my attacks. It seemed impenetrable, but it did have one tiny weakness. And that weakness was the very reason we called the ability “probability shifting.” Gemini could not guarantee any given future with 100 percent accuracy. If it could, Eris would not have been able to see two potential outcomes. Based on the clarity with which Eris saw those outcomes, the chances of our desired ­future were almost zero, though.

But if Eris saw two futures, then it was up to us to shift the odds.

“As long as the chances aren’t zero percent, we’ve got a shot,” I said.

The chimeras in the sky headed toward us, readying long-range attacks. Gemini took up a position above them, ready to take aim at us after the chimera’s unified assault. We were surrounded.

“Eris, stand back,” I said.

“We only have one chance.”

I sent a heartfelt message to the silent black sword. Here we go, Greed…

I transformed the sword into its Fifth Level, the level Greed himself had entrusted to me at the cost of his own existence. The black gauntlets unleashed a black thread that, at first glance, didn’t seem as useful as the other levels. However, I had seen its potential in the battle against the Zodiac Aquarius. The gauntlets had shredded Aquarius, which was as big as Hausen itself, into little more than dust. In other words, the weapon was capable of widespread annihilation.

The range of attack was so large, however, that the gauntlets were difficult to wield, and subtle control was necessary to make use of its power. I had told Eris to get clear as a mistake on my part could mean injury on hers. Myne had helped me improve my control, but it was by no means easy. On a few occasions, I had almost killed her. All I could do was apologize profusely afterward. It was thanks to Myne that I could wield the gauntlets in battle at all. There was still a chance I’d hurt my companions when I used them, but as long as they stayed behind me, we were all good.

“Master Fate, here they come!” said Eris.

A combined roar signaled the chimeras’ attack. Offensive magic rained down on us. The variegated elemental magics looked like a giant flower blooming in the sky. I raised both of my arms up and poured everything I had into them.

“Cut it all to shreds!” I shouted.

Ten black threads shot from my fingertips. Each one split off into more black threads that reached out in different directions. In an instant, thousands of black threads soared toward the sky, multiplying exponentially. I had to control each and every one. I created as many as my magic allowed, turning the threads into something like a living creature all its own.

The black threads collided with the chimera’s magic attacks. The string quickly enveloped the spells like a spider web, slicing them into nothing. That was the black gauntlets’ specialty. They cut through anything, and they did not let go of their target.

As soon as the magic disintegrated, the black threads soared higher. The chimeras tried to evade, but it was useless. The black threads would not let them run.

“Devour them all!”

The black threads sliced through everything—legs, arms, wings, torsos, and heads. And still, they did not cease. If there was flesh to cut, they did so until the chimeras were nothing more than dust glittering in the blue glow of the imperial defense system.

The metallic voice of my Gluttony droned in my head as I devoured the chimeras’ souls and gorged on their stats. I noticed a rivulet of blood dripping from my left eye. I felt fantastic, yet devouring these monsters still took a toll on me. But that wouldn’t stop me. The chimeras were only an appetizer. I still intended to feast on the half of Gemini lording over us. 

Using all the stats I had just received, I engaged the Fifth Level secret technique.

“Greed! Take my stats!” I shouted.

The black gauntlets morphed and transformed. Power flooded through the threads as a golden aura began to envelop them. 

Did you get them, Greed? Did you get my stats? This was the last thing you taught me, and now, I can control it.

“Dimension Destruction!” I shouted.

The glimmering black threads of my gauntlets could slice through space itself. Gemini would not get anywhere with its portals now. I watched as the threads converged on the holy beast, surrounding it.