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

Epilogue:

Of Those Who Remain

IT HAD BEEN SOME TIME since Fate and Roxy had entered the Door to Distant Lands. Myne and I had somehow managed to bring down the four holy beasts guarding it, but the battle had come down to the wire. Even the wound in my chest would mend, thanks to the improved healing abilities that came with my dragon transformation.

“Myne, are you okay?” I asked.

“No problems here.”

Myne, ever a woman of few words, was sitting on my head. Even in a situation as critical as this one, she was completely unperturbed. I could probably learn a thing or two from that attitude.

Although, on this particular occasion, perhaps not. Myne was just as banged up as I was. I could feel warm blood dripping from her leg onto my head. She had taken a countless number of attacks head-on, and when up against a holy beast, some damage was unavoidable.

Forever putting up a strong front…

“If only we could rush in there and back Fate up,” I said.

“Neither of us can get in.”

We were denied access. Myne had tried to jump in anyway and was thrown backward for her troubles. Even with all her power, it was impossible. That meant all we could do was wait.

The souls that had resurrected for a time were already flowing back through the Door. If Fate and Roxy didn’t defeat Libra, it would have enormous consequences for the world as we knew it.

“What’s going to happen?” I wondered. 

I put a hand to the collar carved into my neck—a contract that bound me to Fate. Power still coursed through it.

“Fate is still fighting,” said Myne.

“How do you know?” I asked, puzzled. “Ouch! What was that for?!”

“My hand slipped.”

Like hell it did!

Myne had dropped her black axe on my head. As expected from a Weapon of Mortal Sin, it was a hefty blow.

“Actually, it’s a punishment. For doubting Fate.”

“But I know he’s okay. I can feel it. So it’s going to be okay in the end…uh, right? Ouch!”

“Will you ever learn?”

All of the ancient monsters that had come back to life were now gone, and the imperial capital of Mercadia was cloaked in silence. Many called this place home, and with all the fighting and environmental destruction that had taken place, those monsters could well have run off for somewhere safer. In any case, there was nothing around us but the sound of the wind whistling through the ravaged capital.

We stayed in the skies, circling the Door to Distant Lands. For all we knew, Fate and Roxy might get thrown out of it, and we wanted to be ready to catch them.

“Look,” said Myne.

I looked up at the Door. “It’s closing!”

The hole that had opened in the sky was beginning to lose its color and fade, blue sky returning in its place. No! Doesn’t this mean that Fate and Roxy won’t be able to return home?!

As the torn sky repaired itself, the floating continent of Galia began to sink.

“The fight is over,” said Myne.

“But… Fate…”

I panicked, desperate, and flew straight for the Door, but…

“Huh?”

We passed straight through it. We weren’t thrown backward, and we could no longer even touch it.

“There really is nothing more we can do but watch,” I murmured.

“No. Fate will return. He promised.”

Myne believed in him. I wanted to, too. I could still feel our connection. The Galian continent seemed to roar as it landed in water, the splash high enough to reach us in the sky. I felt it land on my body and lips.

“It’s salty. This is the ocean!” I exclaimed.

We’d been so focused on battle that we hadn’t realized the continent was drifting southward, leaving the capital, and ending up all the way in the ocean. We’d made it all the way to the outside world, which was where the Galian continent now resided. I knew we couldn’t stay here too long, though. This world lived by different rules than the one we called home. I didn’t like the idea of leaving the entire continent of Galia in such a place, but it was an impossibly heavy thing to move.

“Fate…” I whispered.

The Door to Distant Lands was now little more than motes of light dissipating into thin air. If that door was the only way into and out of the place they had gone, they were now trapped there.

What now?

I stayed there in stunned silence until Myne dropped from my head.

“Wait, where are you going?” I asked.

“To look for Fate.”

“But how? He’s on the other side of the Door.”

She couldn’t possibly intend to open the Door again. That was a fool’s errand, and Fate himself wouldn’t want it.

“I won’t do what I did last time,” said Myne. I breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m going to look for another way. There may still be information here that will tell us what to do.”

“Ah, I see.”

It was true that Fate’s own father, Dean, had released the seals on the door from somewhere underneath the imperial capital. Perhaps useful and valuable knowledge still lay sleeping in that very place. Collecting it and having Laine analyze it could indeed prove helpful.

Myne landed a little before me and sent the rubble around her flying with a strike from her black axe. It struck me as a bit hasty and short-tempered, but that was Myne in a nutshell.

Heck, I thought, maybe I’ll lend a hand.

“Get out of the way, Myne.”

In my dragon form, clearing away the debris around the capital was a trifle. A roar was all it would take. We would be in Galia for some time, but what we were doing was just one potential option among many. Fate had taught us that nothing was impossible. We had learned that from the way he held himself. 

For all we knew, Fate might find some other way of returning to our world. And if that were the case, we would wait for him. But now that we had come to know him, we had to look ahead and keep on moving forward. Even Myne, who had once had her eyes set purely on the past, now looked to the future. And that meant I had to, too.

If Fate could not make it back on his own for some reason, then we would find a way to bring him back ourselves.

I transformed back into my human form and surveyed the land around us. The sun was beginning to set. I put a hand to my neck and the collar that linked me to Fate once more. Warmth spread through my body as if in response.

Across the vast sea was a world that even Fate didn’t know.

Hurry back so we can set off on another journey.

***

“Master Aaron, where shall I put this?”

“Hmm… Put it in the guest room.”

“Okay.”

Sahara was once again putting her utmost effort into her work. Repairs to Barbatos manor in the royal capital were finished. It looked completely different now, and I felt like I could finally relax for a moment.

Six months had passed since Fate and his friends had gone off to close the Door to Distant Lands. The fallout from that battle—one in which the world itself had been at stake—was slowly healing.

Ancient monsters had attacked, and the dead had returned to life. Seifort had been in complete hysteria. When the ancient monsters began pushing toward us, I wasn’t sure we would be able to hold them off and protect the kingdom for a time. The holy knights around me fled in panic and confusion. It was the two white knights to whom I was most grateful. Because of them, we held off the monster onslaught.

However, Fate still had yet to return. At what I assumed was the end of his battle, the southern skies had lit up, but after that…nothing.

Myne and Eris returned, though it was only to gather up Laine and several of Seifort’s researchers before returning to Galia once more. Even now, technology lay hidden in the depths of the imperial capital of Mercadia.

As a man of the sword, it was all far too difficult for me to grasp its totality, but I at least knew this: They hoped to find a way to locate Fate and Roxy. 

I was glad to have Sahara and Memil by my side, but I worried about Aisha, Roxy’s mother.

“You’ll be visiting Lady Aisha today, yes?” asked Sahara.

“Indeed. I’ll need you to look after things while I’m away.”

“You bet! Memil should be back from her shopping trip any moment now. I can’t wait!”

Sahara was in high spirits. She’d always been a sweet, gentle girl, but there was a special reason for her more recent joy. Though one’s skill was something assigned at birth and was meant to be concrete, Sahara’s skill had changed. Her whole life shifted in an instant. Her skill had only caused her misery for so long. It was a true joy to see her so happy. I worried that even I might shed tears at the sight.

What was truly astonishing, however, was that her new skill was the holy sword skill. Sahara told me that the night before it changed, she heard Fate’s voice in a dream. Therefore, she thought her new skill a gift. The claim was impossible to prove either way.

I had yet to hear Fate’s voice myself. I didn’t know where he was nor what he was doing.

“Master Aaron, forgive my tardiness.”

“No, Memil, you’re just on time. We’re going to visit Aisha today, so we’ll be leaving the capital.”

“For the Barbatos estate, I presume?”

“Yes. I’ve been away for too long, and the people of Barbatos continue nagging me to return.”

“It’s proof of how much they love you. Please rest assured that Sahara and I will take care of the manor.”

“Thank you.”

The Barbatos estate had been supplied with technological advancements that Eris had discovered in Galia. Magitech, she called it. Though I knew little about it—old timer that I was—I knew that it would help build the cities of the future. With the true lord of Barbatos gone, it was up to me to take on the mantle of leadership.

Juggling all these new developments at my age was a handful, but it also brought much to enjoy with it. I couldn’t complain.

“You look happy, Master Aaron,” said Memil.

“You can tell?”

“Yes, especially recently. Is it because Sahara will become a holy knight?”

“She is nothing if not enthusiastic. She says she wants to use her power to become a new Blessed Blade.”

“Aiming high, I see.”

“It brings a tear to this old man’s eye.”

There was much to look forward to. It was true that I felt a little lonely with all of my old sparring partners gone. Sahara was still growing and immature, but she had great potential. At our last lesson, I marveled at how quickly she absorbed what I taught her. She reminded me very much of Fate.

Just as I was thinking of her, Sahara appeared in a ­casual dress.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said, before pausing for a moment. “Is something the matter?”

“No, I was just thinking how pretty you look,” I said.

Sahara giggled. “Thank you.”

She was still very much a child, but it was nice to see her so happy.

Memil gave her a pat on the head. “Aren’t you lucky,” she said.

“Thank you so much for helping me choose the dress.”

Memil shook her head as if to say it was nothing, and a slight blush crept across her cheeks. I was glad to see that she, too, was now comfortable with her life as part of the Barbatos family. Peaceful days were truly good days, I thought. Then, the two girls promptly pushed me out the door so I could make my journey to the Hart family.

As I left, I noticed a pair of birds flying through the sky—one black and one white. Perhaps they were mates. They glided freely around the manor for a time, then headed south in the direction of Galia. Seeing them made me think of Fate and Roxy. For a moment I felt a tremor of worry, but I knew that, as long as they were together, they would be fine. I also knew in my heart that Fate was well. I knew because we had a connection, a special bond. 

Memil and Sahara looked up and watched the birds as well. It seemed their thoughts went in the same direction as my own, for a single tear fell from Sahara’s eye.

“Master Fate… He’ll come back, won’t he?” she asked.

“That he will,” I said. “But his life is one of endless strife. Perhaps somewhere out there, he is still fighting for somebody.”

“Maybe, yes…”

I wrapped Sahara in a hug. “We both know Fate is not one to break his promises, yes?” I said.

“Yes! You’re right!”

Sahara, Memil, and I all had the same goal—to protect the Barbatos manor and domain so Fate would always have a place to call home. No matter how far we were separated, we would make sure that he always had a home to return to.

I believed in that. I believed in him.

Come home, Fate, even if such a thing is impossible. I, and all of our people, await the return of the Lord of Barbatos.